Chapter Eleven: Search and Rescue.
"Where are you going?" I asked Macey as I saw her coming down the hallway with a big roll-able suitcase. It was almost nine at night and I was curled up on the couch with a sketchbook in my hand.
"I have another photo shoot. I get to go to Florida this time for a few days," she responded as she grabbed her phone and keys from the table. "Bex took a case yesterday, so she's been at the office non-stop since then. I'll see you in a few days, but you'll be alone for dinner." My eyebrows furrowed.
"What happened to Liz?"
"Oh, she locked herself in a closet." I gave her a pointed look. "You were sleeping when she told us; it has something to do with work, some experiment she's doing. Don't ask me I have no clue what she's doing." I nodded and said goodbye. She walked out the door and I looked down at Ranger.
"Well, I guess it's just you and me now, buddy. What do you say, should we go wild?" He barked and then just sat there wagging his tail; I laughed. Instead I decided to go to bed early that night, but I woke up at 10:30 when my phone rang with an incoming call. I picked it up and looked at the unknown caller ID. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hands before I picked up my phone.
"Hello, this is Cameron." I always did my full name when it was an unknown caller.
"Yes, is this Cameron Morgan?" the deep voice on the other line questioned.
"Who's asking?" I walked into the kitchen and flipped on the light. I squinted against the burning brightness as I waited for an answer.
"This is Detective Michael Flynn with the Roseville Homicide Division. This is Rebecca Baxter's roommate, correct?"
"Yes, what happened to her?" I immediately knew that something was wrong.
"Is she home with you by any chance?" There was hope in his voice and I felt my chest sink. I didn't even know what was going on and I was already panicking.
"No, she's not at home. She took a case just yesterday, that's all I know. What's going on?" My voice wavered and I tried to keep down the panic that was still building within me.
"She was supposed to call in after she checked out an abandoned building, and she was supposed to be back at the office by 9:30 at the latest. When we went to the warehouse she wasn't there, and her squad car was also gone."
"Did you try using the built in GPS to track where her car is?" I asked, I hoped they hadn't tried that yet because I didn't know what else to do.
"We tried. Someone must have ripped out the GPS because we can't get any signal. We sent out some helicopters to see if they could locate her squad car and we've sent out some tracking dogs to see if they can track her scent. So far there's nothing, but I wanted to keep you in the loop."
"Thank you for that. What number is her squad car? I want to go out looking for her as well; one more person is better than one less person."
"Number 32; she was last seen at 518 West Cannon Lane. We're all fond of Rebecca and I hope we can find her. If you hear anything call me."
"Okay, thank you," I said once again before we both hung up. I put down the phone and just stood frozen at the kitchen counter for a moment before I started panicking again.
Normally I wouldn't have panicked at all, but it was Bex we were talking about; the girl I'd known since seventh grade, my sister. I picked up my phone again and called Zach. I released a deep breath when I heard him answer. His voice was deeper being coated with sleep, but at least he had answered.
I wasted no time telling him what the situation was and I knew he could hear the clear panic in my voice because he tried to calm me down over the phone and told me he would be over as soon as he got dressed. For a fraction of a second, after hanging up, the thought of him sleeping and what he slept in crossed my mind before it got edged out once again by the sheer panic. That was when I looked down at what I was wearing and saw that I was in short PJ shorts and a flimsy undershirt. I ran down to my room and put on some warmer clothes that covered more of my body.
I picked up my old army backpack that I kept in the back of my closet and I began to gather things that I might need: an extra change of clothes for Bex, some snacks, a few waters, a first-aid kit, a blanket, a knife, my gun, and a few other things.
I heard the front door open and then close and a second later Zach was at my bedroom door.
"Zach," I breathed out as he walked over to me. "They don't know where she is, they can't find her."
"I know," he said as he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight. His breath was against my ear as he tried to calm me down; I'd started shaking again. "We should head out now," he told me after what seemed like forever.
"I didn't know who else to go to about this; Liz is working and Macey's out of town." He nodded as we made our way to the front door. I grabbed my keys and locked the front door behind us.
"I'm glad you called me, I want to help in any way that I can." I nodded. "So, tell me what happened again."
"Bex took on a new case yesterday for the Roseville Homicide Division and she was supposed to call in and she didn't do that, and then she was supposed to be back at the station by 9:30 and she never showed. Someone ripped out the GPS in her car, so they can't track it and they don't know where she is."
"She's a homicide detective?" I nodded. "Okay, we'll take my motorcycle out. It can go faster and on narrower paths. Don't worry Cammie, we'll find her," he reassured me as he handed me a helmet and put on his own.
He straddled the bike as he started the engine and I swung my leg over as I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist.
We sped down a dirt path in what looked like the middle of nowhere and I could feel my tears mix with the cold sting of the wind as it hit my face through the open visor of the helmet. It was a colder night than it had been the past couple of nights, which only increased the amount of worry I was holding onto for Bex. I had no clue where she was and if she was injured or lying somewhere freezing to death. What if by the time we found her it was too late; if we even found her.
I tried to wipe the images from my mind, but they'd already buried themselves deep into my skull. I closed my eyes tightly, but that only made the images worse; now I could actually see her lying there, bloody and cold with no one there to save her. My arms tightened around Zach's waist as he picked up speed; his headlights cutting through the dark of the night. You could hear the sound of a helicopter's blades as it made its way above us.
As we sped around a turn I felt Zach's muscles tighten under his shirt; that's it, I could focus on the warmth of his skin through his shirt. I flattened my hands out; palms against the black material, and I focused on the feeling of the warmth that radiated through it.
Fifteen minutes went by, then twenty, and soon it had been an hour of us looking for Bex and coming up empty handed. We'd checked the warehouse where she had last been; nothing, and we had checked the woods that were right outside of the abandoned building; nothing there either. I didn't know where else to look for her when Zach thought of another place.
"Remember those gang members we ran into on our way to that house after the barbeque?" I nodded not sure what he was getting at. "Where did you say that they normally hang out?" I didn't remember. I know I knew it but right then the name of the place escaped my memory. I picked my brain for the name of the place, but every time I thought I had the answer it slipped away from me like soap.
Zach's hands were on my shoulders just then and I realized that my breathing had increased, my eyes were wide, and my hands were shaking.
"Cammie, calm down, stop thinking. Just relax and the name of the place will come to you; you just have to relax." I tried, I really did but I couldn't let myself let go of the panic I felt. "Cammie, listen to me. You have to relax. Think about the perfect shot; think about how you have to be calm and steady to get the perfect shot. There can't be any jitters, okay?" I nodded and closed my eyes, once again trying to calm myself down. I thought about what Zach had said and focused on my breathing.
"Wilking Lane; they hang out on Wilking Lane." I breathed a deep sigh of relief; I was finally able to take a deep breath for the first time in an hour. Zach smiled at me, nodded his head and within seconds we were off.
When we made it to Wilking Lane there wasn't anyone on the streets for it was about 11:45 at night. The clouds that hung overhead shadowed the moon, and as I stepped off the bike a streetlight overhead flickered on and off before it turned back on again. It was eerie and silent as we made our way down the street. The only sound that was heard was the scuffing of our shoes against the chipping sidewalk.
When we got to the end of the street and turned right there was an empty lot behind the buildings. The weeds were over grown and in some places they came up to our knees. We stopped and looked into the vacant lot, and looked for any movement. Zach pointed at something at the very back of the lot as the moon came out from behind the clouds. It took me a moment to see what he was pointing at, though, because a second later the moon was gone again, but I caught a glint of something shiny.
"Isn't that a squad car?" Zach asked; he turned to me when I had looked over to him. I saw the glint again when the moon showed back up, and like before it was gone within a second; it liked playing peek-a-boo. We both looked at each other, coming to the same thought and we took off across the lot calling Bex's name.
We skidded to a stop in the gravel outside the passenger side door of squad car #32. When we peered inside the car we saw that the interior had been ripped apart and wires were hanging out of the dashboard. We popped the trunk open to look in the back. The whole car was empty and we turned to the building behind us. Zach had taken a flashlight from his motorcycle and I reached back behind me to grab the flashlight from her trunk; without saying anything else we made our way to the building.
It was an old building with graffiti along every wall and most windows and doors were boarded up. There were beer cans scattered across the floors and a stale smell in the air. It gave us no light; only the occasional ray that shone through the boards as the moon poked its head out from behind the clouds.
Our steps echoed through the silence that cut through the air like a knife. A dog barked in the far off distance and I nearly jumped from the noise. I could hear Zach's breath beside me as we crawled through a hole in the wall to get to another room. This was definitely where the gang crashed; there were sleeping bags scattered across the floor and food wrappers stuffed into every corner and crevice.
I felt Zach's warm callused hand on my shoulder as he tilted his head over to the room to the right. I listened for a minute before I heard the sound, too, someone breathing. We walked across the floor to the door that hadn't been boarded up and he gently turned the handle. It still creaked when he opened it, and it sent an eerie echo through the place. I stepped in first, my flashlight cutting beams around the room before it landed on a figure crumpled in the middle of the floor.
"Bex," I breathed out, my voice just a little more than a whisper as I ran over to her. Zach was close behind me as he pulled out his cell phone.
"Detective Michael Flynn, this is Zachary Goode regarding Detective Rebecca Baxter. We found her; we're at 547 Wilking Lane in an abandoned building. She's breathing but unconscious. We're three rooms from the back and on the room to the right." There was a pause in the conversation before Zach said, "I'm here with her roommate, Cameron Morgan." After that he hung up and came over to where I was. I could feel his thigh against my leg as he bent down to assess Bex's injuries.
"He said that they were sending units out as we spoke. They'll be here soon," he spoke quietly as Bex started to stir.
"Bex, Bex can you hear me?" I asked as her eyes opened.
"Of course I can hear you, you're right above me." I smiled at her tough smart-alec tone.
"How are you doing?" I could guess how she was doing; she had cuts and bruises on her body and a pretty good-sized lump on the back of her head.
"My head hurts," she said sitting up and brought her hand up to the back of her head. There was no gash, so that was a good sign. "Those bloody bastards came up behind me." Her British accent came through heavy as she tried to stand up but fell. Zach caught her before she hit the ground, though.
"Whoa, take it easy. Maybe you should rest more before trying to jump into action." He helped her stand up and wrapped his arm around her waist to support her. I found her gun and badge hidden in the far corner and picked them up as we made our way to the door and out into the cool night air.
"You know, if I knew just how strong and good smelling you were I would have pretended to faint when I first met you just to have you carry me," she spoke slower than usual due to the head injury. Zach looked down at her and laughed as I heard the sirens in the distance getting closer. "I say he's a keeper," she winked at me. I decided to ignore that and reply to what she'd previously said.
"Well if you had fully thought it through you could have pretended to faint now and he would have carried you," I told her as we made our way to her squad car.
"Oh shut up," she retorted, but a small smile came on her face as two squad cars pulled into the lot followed by an ambulance.
When the four officers came over with the paramedics behind them Bex kept trying to tell them that she was fine, which they didn't believe and forced her to be checked out by the two men.
"Hey, look on the bright side, they're two attractive, muscular guys who will be extremely close to you and putting their hands on you to make sure you aren't too badly injured," I whispered in her ear when she still didn't look convinced. Her face softened and she agreed to the terms of her being checked out with a smile on her face. I heard a laugh behind me and turned around to see Zach with his arms folded against his chest as he leaned against the squad car. "What?" I questioned when he raised his eyebrows at me.
"Nothing," he said as he walked closer to me, but re-worded what he'd previously said when he saw the expression on my face. "The only way you got her to get checked out was by showing her the two hot guys that would be in a close proximity to her."
"For your information I said attractive, not hot."
"Oh, right because there's a difference," he nodded his head like he totally understood. Just then a guy walked up in plain clothes, a gun in the side of his pants, and a badge in the front.
"You must be Cammie Morgan, Rebecca's roommate," he held his hand out for me to shake as he spoke. "I'm Detective Michael Flynn, and you must be Zachary Goode."
The two of them shook hands, as I looked Michael over. He was tall and muscular with dark eyes that looked almost black and short black hair that was naturally spiked. He was wearing a plain shirt that was tucked into his pants and a plaid over-shirt. His shoes were worn and dirty and he didn't have a belt on. He turned back to me and continued, "I wanted to thank you guys personally for finding Rebecca, we owe you a great deal. We'll have to take her back to the station after she's done being checked out by the paramedics to get her statement and to be debriefed." We nodded our heads as someone in the background called his name. "If you'll excuse me," he nodded as he turned around and walked to the other two squad cars. As I turned to Zach I heard Detective Flynn call to Bex.
"Rebecca, come see me when you're all done over there."
"It's Bex," she growled out as he smiled at her. I laughed and faced Zach fully to see him looking over at me.
"Thank you, Zach, for helping me find her. I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have you and we didn't find her." He smiled at me as I wrapped my arms around him, taking a deep even breath and breathing him in.
"It was nothing; really, I wanted to help you any way that I could. I'm just glad she's safe and you're not panicking anymore," he teased and I looked up at him with a look on my face. "Come on let's get you home," he said as he watched the hustle and bustle of everyone working around us. "Or," he started as he looked back over to me. "You could come to my place for a drink or two." His voice was unsure as if he didn't want to push me too much.
"A drink sounds nice; especially after the night I've just had. I don't think I'll be getting any sleep anytime soon. Let me just say goodbye to Bex and make sure she's okay before we leave." He nodded his head and I stepped away from him to go over to where Bex was still sitting on the edge of the ambulance.
"Hey," I said as I approached the edge. "How are you doing?"
"Would everyone stop asking how I'm doing? It's like they think I almost died or something."
"Yeah, well you could have. It could have been a lot worse than it was and everybody's just concerned for you because they care about you is all." I sat down next to her and crossed one leg over the other.
"Yeah, I guess. I'm fine by the way; there are just some cuts and bruises. The two guys, Dean and Eric, didn't think I had too bad of a concussion, but they said to take it easy for the next few days and to stay awake for a few more hours."
"That's a good idea," I nodded my head and looked back out at the sea of detectives.
"I have to go back to the station to be debriefed, so I'm just going to stay there all night and work on the case from my desk."
"Just as long as you take it easy," I reminded her because we both knew she liked to push the limits.
"I know, and I will take it easy; I promise. You won't have to worry about me at all."
"I wasn't going to." I looked out again to Zach who had leaned against the squad car and was looking at us. He smiled when he saw me and I smiled back.
"You should go out with him," Bex interrupted my thoughts as she nodded over to Zach. "You know just take the bull by the horns and ask him out if he won't. Everyone knows you guys have a thing for each other." I scoffed and looked over at her.
"We do not have a thing for each other."
"Oh yes you do," she nodded her head and smiled. "You should go home; it's been a big day, for all of us," she added.
"I was actually going to go have a drink with Zach," I said and bit my lip after I was done.
"See that's grabbing the bull by the horns," she pointed out.
"He was the one to invite me."
"Where?"
"Where what?"
"Where did he invite you?"
"To his place for drinks."
"Okay, so if you end up missing I'll know what happened to you."
"Bex," I exclaimed and looked at her. "What happened to you liking the guy and wanting me to ask him out?"
"You can never be too cautious, especially when it's your best friend's heart at stake."
"Okay, I guess I get your point. I should go," I said when I saw Zach start to walk over to us.
"Yeah, I'll see you later. Oh and Cammie," she said right before I got up. "Kiss him for me, and then kiss him for you." I gave her a look, but laughed as I turned away.
"Bye, Bex."
"Or you could do it for just you, but I want all the details," she called as I reached Zach.
"What was that about?" he asked as he looked behind me at Bex who was smiling and giving me a thumbs up.
"Nothing." He raised his eyebrow at me. "Nothing you'd want to know about." He still didn't look convinced but nodded.
"You ready?" he asked me as he handed me one of the helmets.
"Yep, let's get out of here," I said as he kicked the stand up and stepped on the gas.
Once we got to his place he parked the motorcycle in the driveway and walked up to the front door; I followed closely behind him. He pulled out his key and inserted it into the lock. When he turned his hand you could hear the click as it unlocked and he pushed open the door; he held it open for me to walk through and followed closely behind me.
"Well this is my place," he said as he placed the keys on the table that was right inside the entry and he closed the door behind us and locked it. "Make yourself at home while I go and grab us some drinks." He made his way into the kitchen to the left and I walked straight ahead to the living room and looked at the various things that were lying around.
There was a neat stack of CD's on the floor, and a variety of DVD's in the cabinet under the TV. A picture frame was on one of the coffee tables of Zach, Grant, and another guy who I imagined was their friend Jonas. Lastly I saw a pair of shoes sitting in the corner next to the couch.
"We're kind of neat freaks," Zach spoke behind me as he walked into the living room with two beers in his hand. He handed me one of the cold bottles and took a sip of the other one. "Always have been; the school we went to was really big on clean quarters, so it just stuck through the years." He took a seat on the armrest at the end of one of the couches and I took a seat on the edge of the other right beside him.
"Did you go to a private boarding school?" I questioned looking around at the bare walls. There were only a few pictures around the living room but none of them were hung on the walls.
"Something like that." When I looked back over to him he had a sad look on his face and took another swig of his beer. "That was one of the only good things that came out of that school; I was always the only one with clean quarters on my base." He smiled at the memory.
"If your room wasn't clean what was your punishment?"
"Ten laps around the property at 2:30 in the morning. When they came into tell us we had three minutes to meet them outside at the front gates we literally had three minutes. For every minute that we were late we had two laps added onto our ten laps."
"Wow," was all I could think as I thought about what that kind of school must have been like. "How big was the property?"
"Big, I don't know exactly how big it was, but the fastest time I ever completed the ten laps was in one hour. I think that was the fastest time anyone ever completed it in." He licked his lip then bit down on his bottom one. He must have already been in incredible shape by the time he went into the army. I wondered what he looked like in high school, were his muscles like they are now?
"Did you get water breaks, or just breaks for that matter?" He shook his head.
"Well, we didn't get any breaks, but at the beginning we got one small water bottle to have for the whole time. No refills, no stopping."
"How many times did you have to do that punishment?"
"I only did it three times; it was right when I'd gotten there and wasn't used to the rules. If you can believe it I used to be pretty messy. The kind of messy where you can't find most of what you're looking for. Getting in trouble three times was enough for me to learn, and after that day I never had anything out of place. A few months after I'd gotten there, though; I started having trouble sleeping, so I ended up just running because I could work out and get myself so tired that I would fall asleep when I got back to my bunk all in one. Everyone thought I was insane for wanting to do that for fun."
"I bet," I laughed and finished off my beer. "At my school we didn't have anything like that, but our school did teach us extreme self-defense. On Saturday mornings they would set up an obstacle course around the property and we'd have races on who could get through it the fastest. It was kind of like the ones you go through for Army training." He nodded his head in understanding.
"Who held the fastest time?" he asked as he set his empty bottle on the coffee table next to me and I did the same.
"Bex and I tied for the fastest time. It was the ultimate challenge course that only the fastest people went through to see who the ultimate champion was. It was really fun."
"Sounds fun; was Bex in the Army, too?"
"No, it was just me. I followed in my father's footsteps. It basically runs in my family."
"Is that how he died; in the Army?" he hesitated in asking the question, but he kept his eyes locked onto mine.
"No, he wasn't in the Army anymore when he died." He adverted his gaze and changed the subject; he probably didn't want to cross any lines I might have. I knew that he wanted to ask more questions about my father, but he didn't press it.
"I'm sorry," he said instead.
"It's fine, life happens." He nodded agreeing with that. "Could I use your bathroom?"
"Of course, I'll show you where it is." I nodded and stood up, so did he. He led me down the hallway and to a door on the right. I thanked him and closed the door.
When I reopened the door and stepped into the hallway I saw that pictures lined the walls. I looked closely at each of them. There was one of Zach and Grant where Zach had his arm around Grant's shoulders and they were in Army gear in what looked like a camp. Zach had a half smile on his face and Grant grinned at the camera. Another one looked like they were in high school; there was a concrete building behind the three of them that had a sign: Blackthorne. I recognized the place as where Joe had gone to school. Zach was standing in the middle in a short-sleeved shirt. Even in just a picture I could see the formation of his muscles through his shirt; he was incredibly muscular.
I looked at the other pictures on the walls and slowly made my way down the wall in the opposite direction of the living room. Just as I'd gotten to the end of the wall the door right next to me opened and I snapped my head to the side to see Zach walking out of what was most likely his bedroom, shirtless. He held the article of clothing in his hand as he looked at me. My eyes moved over the expanse of his chest to his left shoulder where I could see a scar, I knew that scar. I cleared my throat and looked away as Zach pulled it over his head.
"It's a bullet wound," he finally said once we'd gotten back into the living room. I nodded as he gestured for me to sit. I sat down on the same couch I'd been sitting on before and he sat on the coffee table. "It's actually an interesting story. I normally wouldn't tell anyone my war stories, but I feel like you're an exception." I nodded. I already knew the story, I was there with him when it happened, but I still wanted to hear what he had to say.
"I was stationed on a hill above a small town that was being attacked. It was pitch black and I was still setting up when the moon decided to put me in the spot light. I saw a sniper on the roof across the street from me, and was about to shoot, but he got to me first. I went down at the edge of the trees.
I just kept thinking that I was going to die there, alone. I kept trying to cover the wound but my body was just too heavy. I knew I was going to die then; I was already going light headed and it had only been a minute or so. Then someone was above me and I remembered the person kept repeating, 'stay with me, just stay with me.' That night when you invited me over for dinner; that's the flashback I had, of someone saving me, of a woman saving me. I was too out of it to know what she looked like, though.
When I woke up it was three days later and I was in a hospital that was miles away; it was a town called Ariel. Grant was there and had filled me in on what had happened. I'd been shot, someone saved me and brought me to the hospital, I had surgery, and then there I was.
No one could really tell me anything about the girl who had brought me in, though; they were all so busy that they didn't take down her name, and most of them didn't really remember what she looked like. I have no clue who she is, I don't even know if she's alive. She could have been killed in war after that day for all I know. They told me that she carried me all night just to save me; someone she didn't even know.
When I had woken up I'd found a picture on the nightstand that she must have drawn me before she left, but that's the only thing I have of her, that's the only thing she left."
He looked at me the whole time he told his story. He had this smile on his face, one of pride that made my heart soar. It was as if he was in awe of me, of course he didn't know it was me, but he was in awe nonetheless. There was a sparkle in his eyes as he told me how she had saved him.
"Without her I would have died on the hill on the outside of that small town. I can't stop thinking about her, wondering what she looks like, if she's still alive, where she lives, what her name is. Even today all these questions are circling in my head and it's almost been a year. I keep having a dream about that night on that hillside, when she saved me. I keep hoping that it will become clearer but it hasn't," he finished and looked deep into my eyes.
A part of me wanted to tell him that I was the one to save him right then and there, and I almost did, but then I remembered why I didn't want to tell him; I didn't want him to think differently of me knowing that I was the one to save his life, that I was the one to give him another chance to live. Maybe I should have told him, but I didn't because I knew in the long run some things are better left a secret. Sometimes secrets come unraveled, but for now I was going to let it be. What happens, happens, just let life take it's own path; don't direct it in a certain direction.
"I think she's still alive," I said instead. "She's somewhere out there living her life."
He nodded his head and bit his lip, then looked down at his hands that were clasped in his lap. I realized how close we were then; he was leaning over, his elbows rested on his knees as he looked back up. I was leaning forward, too, and my elbows were also placed on my legs. It was quiet as we looked at each other; there was only about a foot that separated us as he looked right into my eyes as if he could see what I was thinking, but I had no thoughts at that moment.
My eyes moved away from his intense gaze to look right behind him, then at his chin and strong jaw line, and finally to his lips. I saw him rise a little bit from his seated position on the coffee table just as he drew nearer. I could feel his breath against my skin, it was warm as he exhaled; the smell of mint filled every one of my senses. I felt his large hand wrap around the base of my neck as my eyes met his.
He hesitated for a moment before I felt his lips brush against mine. My hand came up to his forearm when he leaned in even further, deepening the kiss. My back hit the back of the couch as he leaned into me, and the hand that wasn't on my neck moved to the headrest as he supported his weight and my hand automatically found his hair.
The doorbell rang and we broke away from the kiss at the same time. I bowed my head to the side to hide my smile as he groaned at the interruption. He pushed himself away from the couch and strode over to the door. I could still feel my lips tingling when he pulled open the door and I turned from my spot on the couch to see Grant leaning against the doorframe.
"Hey, Cammie," he waved over at me once he saw me. I smiled and waved back at him. Zach looked bored with a little annoyance mixed in as he stood holding open the door.
"Am I interrupting something?" he asked as he looked at me on the couch, the beer bottles, and then to Zach's expression.
"Are you coming in or not?" Zach asked him instead. Grant looked at him again and then stepped over the threshold into the house. Zach closed and locked the door behind him. Grant walked into the living room and plopped down on the other couch.
"Why didn't you just use your key to get into the apartment?" Zach asked him as Zach came over to the couch I was sitting on and sat down beside me but not too close.
"Yeah, you see I kind of forgot it when I left the apartment." Grant leaned back into the couch and placed his right foot over his left knee. "So, Cammie what are you doing here?" From the corner of my eye I saw Zach's head snap up in Grant's direction.
"Relax," I told Zach as I turned back to Grant. "I know what you meant. Zach invited me over for drinks and after the day I had I couldn't turn him down." Not that I wanted to – I thought, but never said.
"What happened," he questioned as he sat up even straighter. He must have seen the drained looks on both of our faces.
"One of my best friends, Bex, went missing earlier while working a case for the Roseville Homicide Division. We finally found her after hours of looking, but there was just a lot of stress that went along with it in those few hours." He nodded to what I was saying before he leaned back into the couch.
"Do you guys want to watch a movie?" he asked after a beat of silence.
"Sure," Zach said before he looked over at me. "I'll watch something with you if Cammie wants to." I nodded my head and smiled over at Zach. He kept my gaze for a moment before he turned back to Grant and asked him what movie he wanted to watch. I ended up sitting in the middle of the couch Grant was on with Zach on my right and Grant on my left. Grant turned down the lights as the movie started.
When the movie ended the three of us talked about the crux of the movie and what we thought it was really about. Grant soon excused himself to go get ready for bed and that's when I looked at the time. I leaned back into the couch and closed my eyes for a minute. When I opened them I saw Zach looking at me again.
"If you want you can stay here for the night. It's late and you've had a stressful day, I wouldn't want you to be alone." I smiled at him.
"I wouldn't be totally alone. Ranger is back at my place, and thank you for the offer. I think I'll take you up on it for tonight." He nodded and went to get up.
"You can take my bed and I'll take the couch," he stated as he started to turn away.
"No," my voice came out firm yet gentle at the same time. He turned back around. "I'll take the couch, you stay in your bed. You were already kind enough to come out and help me find Bex and let me stay here for the night. I'm not going to deprive you of your bed. I'm taking the couch." He opened his mouth to argue, but I beat him to it. "Either I get the couch or no deal." He must have known I was serious because he shut his mouth for a moment.
"I'll go and get you some blankets and a pillow." He turned and disappeared down the hallway.
"So, tell me about this friend of yours, Bex was her name?" Grant walked in from the same hall Zach had just disappeared down. "You said something about Homicide?"
"Yeah, she's a Detective for the Roseville Homicide Division. She's one of the best," I added at the end because I couldn't help but brag about my best friend. He nodded.
"Now, since I'm bored and I have nothing else to do I'm going to keep asking you questions about your friends." I laughed at that as he sat next to me and threw his arm over the back of the couch and turned to face me. "I saw a glimpse of your friends the day Zach gave back one of their cards, but I don't know who is who, so which one was Bex?"
"Well Bex is the one with darker skin and the brown hair. She's the really muscular one," I added.
"Ah yes, the fierce looking one." I laughed again.
"Yeah, I guess she is."
"Okay, and what about the other ones?" I heard a cabinet close down the hall.
"There's Liz who was the one to drop her card; she's the small one. She works at a Lab. Then there's Macey the tall one who's a model." He raised his eyebrows. "And she's also working for security for one of the power-people in Roseville." He nodded again.
A few minutes later Zach walked into the room with a pile of blankets. Grant and I had been laughing about a story he was telling me about a young Zach. Zach sent a look to Grant before he placed the blankets on the arm of the couch next to me.
"Well I'll let you get to bed," Grant said as he stood up from the couch. "It was nice to get to know you Cammie," he said as he turned away.
"You too, Grant." He waved at me and then disappeared down the hallway.
"There's also a pair of my sweatpants there in case you want something comfier than your jeans," Zach said and I nodded. I couldn't help but remember what Grant had said. I tried to hide my smile and failed as I broke into a grin.
"You never told me that you threw up and could barely walk for three days after your first punishment run and everyone else was fine," I said as he was turning off the TV. He turned to me.
"Yeah, well I didn't want my credit to be lessened by that. Besides it wasn't important." He looked down at his hands. "I didn't want you to think I was weak."
"Oh please, I could never think you were weak. You're the strongest guy I know. Besides, it makes me feel better about myself that you weren't Mr. Perfect at everything, and I have a similar story. The first obstacle course I did I had one of the worst times and I sprained my ankle jumping over a hurdle." He smiled and then tried to hide it, but it made him laugh. "See, you're not the only one who had difficulties."
"Okay, that does make me feel better. I'll go so you can get ready for bed." I nodded as he left.
As quickly as I could I pulled on the sweatpants Zach had given me and made a bed out of the blankets on the couch. I heard Zach walk into the living room as I was combing out my hair with my fingers.
"I was just coming in to say that if you need anything in the middle of the night you can come get me; you know where my room is, and if you need any water or food you can help yourself to anything. The TV remote is on the stand and it's pretty easy to use." He stuffed his hands into his pant pockets.
"Thanks," I said and walked over to him. "And thank you for everything that you did for me today. You didn't have to, but you did, so thank you."
"It was my pleasure." He looked like he wanted to kiss me by the way he looked at me, but he just rocked on the balls of his feet. "Goodnight, Cammie."
"Goodnight, Zach," I said as I leaned into him and kissed him on the cheek.
After Zach turned and walked away I made my way to the couch and climbed into the blankets. I reached over and switched off the light surrounding myself in darkness.
Author's Note: Well, Zach and Cammie finally kissed, which I'm pretty sure a lot of you were waiting for. I don't count Chapter Nine: Shooting at Close Range a kiss because their lips brushed, but there wasn't actual meet-age. Also there are only three more chapters until the end of this story, and I hope you liked it.
The town that was mentioned, Ariel, was inspired from the show "Firefly". Yes, that was my second reference to that show. For anyone who doesn't know that show it was a Sci-Fi space western show, which was sadly cancelled, and had the actor Nathan Fillion in it. He now plays Richard Castle on the murder mystery show "Castle" that I absolutely love.
Fun-fact about me: I love murder mysteries, any murder mystery show that comes on I'll watch even if I don't know the characters. Some of my favorite murder mystery shows are: Castle, Bones, Criminal Minds, and Forever.
Quote: "The simplest gesture of encouragement can make a world of a difference." – Unknown. "The most powerful words you can say to someone with an invisible illness is… I believe you." –Unknown.
-GymGirl904.
