Chapter Eleven: Bright Colours and Heartbreakers
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Our cases seemed to get solved very, very fast. Like I said, warp speed. Everything was great. It was three or four weeks after I kissed Ryan. We went out a twice - each time, Delko accompanied us which was strange, but he was nice, too - and I managed to sell my house and buy a new one. It was near Horatio's house and the lab. No crime, either! Well, very little, anyway. I wanted to rent, but buying the flat worked out cheaper. Nifty, huh? I sat across the break room table from Calleigh and Eric. It was quite clear to everyone - if they squinted or not - that Eric had very, very strong feeling for Calleigh. I was surprised that she hadn't noticed, actually. Eric was a cool guy. She was a great lady. Perfect for each other, right? Yeah, except for the fact that they fought like cat and dog. They were sitting laughing at something in the newspaper and I was desperately trying my best to ignore them. Although, they were so noisy. I frowned, putting my magazine down, hoping they'd get the hint. No such luck, of course. I shook my head, amused, and went back to the trashy gossip magazine. How they even had the gall to call it a magazine was beyond me. I saw this bright flash of orange enter the room.
"Ryan!" I yelled. Jessie...you're a CSI. Please, calm down and sit down. And for the love of God, be quiet!
He raised his eyebrows. "What?"
"Nothing...just...hi." I smiled. Nothing, just hi? Think, Jess, think! "Nice shirt."
He glanced down at his shirt. It was nice. Very...bright. I liked bright. Contrary to popular belief, I was not a goth. I was a punk-chick. That was the title I wanted, anyway. And my black hair was all natural. Tartan trousers was really the only punk thing I ever owned. Awful, right? "Thanks." He smiled, got himself a coffee and sat next to me. I grinned. Calleigh and Eric greeted him before returning to their paper. Obviously that damn thing was glued to their hands. I tutted.
"We got a case yet, Ryan?"
"Not yet...Horatio might have something later. Want some?"
I put my magazine down to see Ryan and a plate of ham sandwiches. I smiled and took one. "Thanks...uh, Eric?" I prodded Delko in the arm. He smirked and looked up at me.
"Yeah?" He wiped away the tears he had gotten from laughing too hard.
"Do we have a case, at all?"
"Uh...no. Not that I know of." He laughed. I grinned. People laughing made me want to laugh.
"Oh...okay, then." I finished the sandwich. Two bites. Had to be a record. I didn't like going to work and not doing anything. I could be visiting my mom, or chatting to my friends. Eric went back to Calleigh, but she had already finished whatever the thing in the paper was. Delko furrowed his eyebrows and stood up, on his way to his car. Calleigh left but didn't say where she was going.
"You doing anything later?" Ryan asked, engrossed in my magazine. I smiled to myself.
"Nope. Probably get phoned by my friends, mom...you know." The usual. Seriously, all my friends all had gossip. I didn't know where they got it from. "Why do you ask, Wolfe?"
"Wondering if you wanted to go out. With me."
You like me, Wolfe...admit it. Ooh, there's an idea. "Why would you want to go out. With me?"
"Because. That's what we generally do."
"What...hang out?"
"Yeah." He inhaled and exhaled quickly. Dramatically. Boy, he should have been an actor. I waited...that seemed to be the end of that thought.
"Do you enjoy hanging out with me or are you only doing it because I'm new?"
"Probably..." He thought hard about this one. "Both."
"But I'm not new anymore. There are newer people than me here, Ryan."
"Well, then. Surely there's your answer."
"Do you...is this..." Good girl...focus! "Are we dating? I-I mean, if we're not, then that's fine, but if we are, then..." I smiled. Ryan stared at me for a while. By a while, it seriously felt like a long, long time. I tapped my had against my leg. This was awkward...made me feel very nervous. "Ryan?"
"What do you think it is?" He asked me, quietly. I bit my lower lip.
"I don't know. If it is what I think it is, then it's a bad idea."
He nodded. "You're right." Then he stood up. "So, I'll meet you here later...no Delko?"
I nodded. "No Delko." Just as I said that, Delko came rushing into the room.
"I've got a case." He announced, hands on hips. "But I can't do the case. Calleigh has me working with her, so...do you think maybe you two could do it?"
I swiftly looked up at Ryan, who looked down at me. He smiled. "Yeah, we could. Where is it?"
"It's...Flamingo Grove." Eric frowned, and then pointed at me. "Didn't you just sell a place there?"
"Yes...please don't tell me it's number twenty-two...?"
"No." He smiled. "It's thirteen."
Ryan folded his arms. "Unlucky for some."
I rolled my eyes. He'd been spending way too much time with Horatio Caine.
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What a case. Truly, the worst thing I had ever seen. This little girl had been out playing in her garden and when she went in to ask her mom if she could go on the swing, she found her parents. Lying on the floor. Dead. Completely soaked in blood. I hated death, anything to do with death, and I despised blood - anything to do with blood. Why, you ask, did I become a CSI, again? Easy. I wanted to help people. This little girl...so small, cute and innocent. Her big blue eyes were now moist with tears. She had tiny pig-tails and a tiny, tiny frame. She must have only been about three feet tall, at most. She had tiny, pink trousers and a cute little baby-blue shirt with a sheep on it. Horatio gave Ryan the nice task of blood evidence and I got prints. Frank had great difficulty with the little kid. She refused to talk to him. That seemed to be the problem. I handed the officer my kit and asked him to put it in the car.
"Guard it with your life, please." I smiled. He nodded and I walked over to Ryan. I flicked my black hair and pulled my red tank-top down a little. It seemed to enjoy riding up as high as it could. Very impractical. My jeans fitted very well, however. "You get all the blood?"
"Yep. Frank's still trying to get something out of the kid." Ryan sighed. It was far too warm in Miami. How did people survive? I pulled my hair into a ponytail and licked my lips.
"I think I'll go and try." I smiled at Ryan, who merely glanced down at the ground. "See you in a minute." So, I walked over to the girl. She looked so young. I bent down next to her as she perched down on the side-walk. "Hi there."
The little girl looked up at me. Her face was as red as a beetroot and she wore a severely depressed look. "Hi." Her voice was so tiny. I inhaled.
"I'm Jessica Lucas. You can call me Jessie." I smiled, feebly. "What's your name?"
"Aimee."
"Aimee? Pretty name." I nodded, moving over to sit next to her. "So, what age are you?"
"Eight."
Eight? Ouch. Way younger than me. Then again, I got over it as much as I could. My mom constantly told me life goes on. I wondered if this little girl had anyone to tell her that. "And, tell me, Aimee...have you got any brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles? Grandparents?"
She shook her head. She looked so traumatized, so alone. "No. Just my Mommy and Daddy."
I swallowed. I saw Ryan and Horatio chatting to each other whilst looking at me and Aimee. "Okay. Could you...please tell me what happened today...with your mom and dad?" I spoke softly. The little girl puckered her face up.
"I wanted to play on the swing, but Mommy says I'm not tall enough, so I had to go in and ask her to help me up."
"Okay. And then what happened?"
Tears fell down her face, but she wasn't making any noise. "I found them on the ground covered in red stuff. I touched it." She made a sour face. "It was sticky."
I nodded. "Yeah. Did you try and wake your Mom up, at all?"
Aimee blinked. "She wouldn't get up. Neither would my Daddy."
Aimee's words sent shivers throughout me. My heart resounded in me just like a dull throb. I pulled my knees up close to my chest. Ryan and Horatio were still keeping a close eye on me. "Did you see anyone walking about around here, at all? Maybe...around the back?"
She shook her head again. "Nope. I was playing in the sand."
"So, you went in the back door?"
She nodded. I continued on. "Okay, Aimee, how would you like to come along with me?"
Aimee puckered her mouth at the side, pondering deeply.
"Okay." Her voice was so quiet. I wondered what she thought had happened to her parents, but I couldn't ask. I stood up and wiped down the backs of my jeans. I had grown to seriously dislike this place. Fair play to it, though, nobody - except the old lady who called it in - had gathered around the scene. I held my hand out for Aimee to take, and she did so, but reluctantly. "Where are we going?"
"Uh, we are going..." I didn't know. "Over to these nice men over here." I pointed to Ryan and Horatio. Horatio looked down at the ground and Ryan folded his arms. I stopped about three feet away from them, so as I could have a quick chat. Thankfully, I noticed Frank, so I grabbed him and told him to keep an eye on Aimee for a quick second. Horatio put his hands in his pockets as I walked up to them. "Okay, Aimee, aged eight. Was out playing in the sand, came in to ask her Mom and Dad if they could help her up onto the swings, found the parents covered in blood. She said she touched it and tried to wake them up, so."
Horatio nodded. "Anything else?"
I shook my head. "Not yet. Can we take her back to the PD?"
"Well, we couldn't leave her here." Ryan furrowed his brows. I glared at him.
"I didn't mean that." I tutted.
"Jessica..." Horatio started. "You did good."
"Thank you, H."
"But don't get too involved with the girl."
Whoa, up there, H. "I wasn't...uh, Frank couldn't get anything out of her." He didn't budge. "Sorry." I turned on my heel and went over to Aimee. I knelt down next to her. "Okay, Aimee...are you ready?"
"I don't want to leave."
I motioned for Ryan to join me. He came over and stood next to me as I straightened up. "This is Mr. Wolfe. He's gonna take me and you back to the place I work at, all right? He's a nice man." Ryan smiled.
"Hi." Aimee looked down at her feet.
"Hello..." He cleared his throat, leaning in to whisper to me. "Doesn't she need her coat, or something?"
I shrugged. "Uh, Aimee. Do you want your coat or...anything from your house?"
Aimee shook her head, looking at the house, disdainfully. "No."
Such a sad little girl. Then again, no wonder. I took her hand. We got into the car and turned on the radio to aid the awful silence that was lurking about. Ryan surprised me, then. "Aimee, are you hungry?" He rifled about the pocket next to him and pulled out some chocolates. Aimee smiled. I couldn't help but grin, too.
"Thank you, Mr. Wolfe."
"No problem."
"I like this song." She bobbed her head along to the music. I'd never heard it before. "My Mommy used to sing it to me." She looked down sadly at the chocolate. "Are they gonna be okay?"
I opened my mouth but I really had no clue what to say. Ryan, thankfully, took over for me. "We're sorry, sweetie, but...your Mom and Dad...they're not here anymore."
"Are they in Heaven?"
I blinked away the tears that had begun to sting my eyes and looked out the window, hoping Ryan wouldn't notice. He sighed. "Yeah."
Aimee then started crying...but who could blame her? We drove for another six minutes and then we parked. I wiped off my tears as we walked into the lab. Aimee walked ahead of us, looking very lost indeed. Horatio had texted me and told me to leave her with Alexx or Natalia Boa Vista...the newbie. Ryan walked very close to me and placed a hand on my back. "You okay, Lucas?"
I nodded. "She's just so...heartbreaking. I mean, she's just a tiny person...full of hopes and stuff and now...she needs her parents, Ryan."
"Jess...we're not her parents." He said, tentatively.
"I know, I know. Look, uh, I'll run the prints and whatnot. Could you...drop her off with someone, please?"
"Sure. I'll call you later, okay?"
I nodded again and then we went our separate ways. I had hoped that the prints would be quick, but no such luck.
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A/N: 2, 275 words! Wootage! So, hope you all liked it. I, personally, enjoyed it. Then again, I am biased. Oh, and I actually made a case. No idea where it's going, but...it is there for a reason.
Please R&R...I do enjoy reviews. Also, thanks to all my reviewers! Jasmine and Michelle; squee!
Cookies,
JauntyChick
XOX
