Author's Note: There's a hint in this chapter about who the mysterious girl is from the dreams. R&R!!!
Goren's phone, which was nestled amongst the dirty dishes and trash that had accumulated on the coffee table throughout the past 3 days, began to ring. The ring spliced through the silent, warm, thick air.
Bobby rolled over and opened his eyes reluctantly to the sight of the gloomy apartment. The dawn poured through the cracks in the make shift blinds that were drawn over his apartment's windows. Ever since he had learned that someone had been watching him, he had covered all of his windows with extra sheets, including the window above his kitchen sink. The apartment now had a dreary feel that was chopped into segments by the light that snaked across the floor.
An infomercial selling vacuums was on TV now. Two bubbly women bounced up and down, praising how well the vacuum picked dirt up from the deepest levels of any type of carpet.
Bobby yawned. He was sprawled out on the couch, one arm leaning against the back of the sofa, another falling over the edge, both legs going over the armrest. This was definitely another time that he regretted buying the love seat.
Goren extended his arm to the coffee table and began groping the table top for the ringing phone. He finally found it after sticking his hand in the melted ice of the his whiskey from last night.
"Uh..Hello?" He said, his voice raspy from sleep. He wiped his other hand on his boxers to dry it.
"Goren, get in now." Ross's voice thundered through the ear piece. Before Bobby could answer him, the Captain had hung up.
Bobby slowly stood and looked around him at the messy apartment. Clothes were strewn everywhere, dishes sat unwashed in the sink, his trash can was overflowing. The sight of his surroundings made him feel helpless, like he was completely lost now. Was it because Alex was gone? Was it because of this Sunflower Killer case? Had he slipped back into the trenches of depression? All of these questions flowed throughout his head as he made his way to the shower.
"Explain to me why your fingerprints were on the sunflower from the crime scene, detective." Ross threw the manila folder containing the fingerprint analysis on his desk. Goren had come into his office a mere 5 seconds before the captain began badgering him with questions.
"Um...I don't know..." Goren's brow was furrowed. He had taken his usual spot in the chair furthest from the desk. He hadn't touched the sunflower, even while at the crime scene. How did his finger prints end up on the flower?
"You better find out soon, Goren, or else you're going to have a lot of Hell coming your way..." Ross put his hands on the back of his plush rolling chair. The bags under his eyes had grown since yesterday, a sign of another sleepless night.
"Hang on, Captain..." Bobby stood, his eyes wandering around him. He stalked out of the office and over to his desk. He pulled open the second draw of his desk. It wasn't there. He had put the sunflower, the one that had been sent to him, in his desk. The note he kept in his portfolio.
Goren looked around the squad room. People were rushing about. It had to be one of them. No one would have access to his desk.
"Detective? Am I missing something?" Ross had followed him to the desk. Bobby turned to meet the Captain's questioning gaze.
"There was...uh...someone sent me a sunflower, with...this....note." Bobby took the portfolio from under his arm and opened it. He plucked the small piece of paper from it and held it out for Ross to take. "It was on my desk a few days ago. I put it in my second drawer," Bobby gesticulated to the open drawer. "But now its gone. You can talk to Logan. He was there..." Goren brought his hand up to his forehead and attempted to rub the tension from it. His heart was beating wildly.
Ross examined the three words scrawled across the paper. He looked up at Bobby, who was now scratching the back of his neck and staring at each passerby suspiciously.
"Detective, I want to find out if there are any other fingerprints on this besides yours, mine, and Logan's." He handed the note back to Goren then turned to walk away. About 3 steps into his exit, he turned back to Bobby. "If you see Logan, let him now I want to talk to him." Ross turned and walked back to his office.
Bobby eyed the Captain as he closed the office door, sat in his chair, picked up the phone and dialed a number. The Captain talked on the phone briefly, hung up, then made eye contact with Goren, who was still watching him.
Bobby turned and plopped down in his chair. Who would be doing this? Was this person after him for some reason? He had pissed off a lot of people through out his career, so something like this would be possible. However, if the person who committed these murders and who was calling him was someone he had put away they would want to be known. They would want him to know that they were seeking vengeance. From what he could tell, this person was not someone he had arrested, but somebody new, somebody that was proving themselves for some reason.
Bobby found himself seated at his favorite Italian restaurant Ciao. He was seated at a table with a single candle flickering in the middle. His surroundings were darkened, the moving shapes around him barely visible.
"Hello, Mr. Goren," Claire smiled as she approached his table. He always requested to be seated in her section. "I'm glad to see you for the 3rd week. I'm starting to think you've come just to see me." She had deep dimples in her cheeks, giving her an innocent, cute appearance.
"Perhaps," Goren smiled at her from his seat. She was tall and voluptuous, a perfect specimen of the female gender. Her hair was pulled up in a french twist with loose strands falling down the back of her neck.
A blush danced across her candle-lit face. "Well, Mr. Goren, I have to remind you that I have a boyfriend." She put her hand on the back of the chair across from him and leaned on it. Despite the loose black long sleeve button-up shirt and dress pants he could see her irresistible curves.
"He's a lucky man." Goren found himself unable to smile. He came to this restaurant numerous times a week to see Claire and to purge all of his inner tension by way of this meaningless talk. When he left the care of Claire, he felt like a real man and somehow like he was important to someone, that someone actually liked him.
"Would you like the usual? Water with the veal parmesan?" She leaned down a little bit to look straight into his eyes. Her blue eyes reminded him of those of someone he knew along time ago. Maybe it was those eyes that drew him to her.
"Yes, please." Bobby handed her the unopened menu that had been placed in front of him.
"I'll be right out with your water." She took it then sashayed past him. He resisted turning around and watching her leave.
He waited for her to return with his water and breadsticks. She always brought him extra plus a small container of marinara sauce. The veal wasn't amazing here, but he enjoyed the company. Sometimes he would come late so that he could talk with Claire even longer. A couple of times, after the lights went up, she would even sit across from him. During these few visits, they would talk shyly about this and that, mostly about their jobs. He knew that this relationship would never extend past these restaurant walls, but he saw her as much as he could to keep himself going.
Once she was gone, which was inevitable, he didn't know how he would get the needed female interaction. He wasn't getting any from Eames (she had never been too affectionate towards him) and he certainly didn't have a girlfriend. He wished he did though, and dreaded Claire's boyfriend and the 20 year age difference between them.
