When Frank got back and saw the breakroom empty he wasn't surprised but instantly followed that with a little crankiness for realizing he was disappointed when he had no business feeling that way. As he walked to his desk his scowl cleared a path. Seeing this Calleigh thought something had gone wrong with the subpoena but stopped when she saw Frank spot his jacket. He picked it up to put it on then, still scowling reached into the inner pocket. He pulled out a piece of paper and a package of what looked like candy. Something on the paper – presumably a note – brought a smile to his face and his entire mood seemed to change.
Calleigh tried to keep a smile off of her own face at her suspicions and then headed towards her quarry. "Frank? How'd it go at the courthouse? Did we get the subpoena or not?"
"Already passed it to Horatio."
"Fantastic. Now to get it and take the look off Junior's smug face."
"Uh oh. Did Pretty Boy hit a nerve?" he asked referring to a person of interest in the case she was on.
Calleigh rolled her eyes. "Not exactly. He just thought he'd be able to use his father's friends to road block the investigation. What about the case Ryan was called into?"
"Waiting on DNA but it looks pretty cut-and-dry. Daughter comes home early and finds boyfriend in bed with mom. Daughter runs to daddy who comes unglued and calls the lawyers. Lawyers serve mom with papers that she'll be losing alimony and they'll be suing for full custody of daughter. Boyfriend gets served with restraining order at the same time. Boyfriend's parents get in on the act and have a restraining order against cougar-Mom. Mom and daughter's now former boyfriend get into a huge fight. Mom stabs boyfriend with broken wine bottle and tries to fix one of the sloppiest frame jobs, trying to throw suspicion on 'disloyal' daughter or 'violent' ex-husband. The end."
Calleigh rolls her eyes and making reference to an old soap opera mutters, "As the Stomach Turns."
"Yeah. Anyway, I'm heading out. You have my number."
"Got any plans?"
"Sleep," was all Frank would admit to but Calleigh suspected he might wind up dreaming of other things.
# # # # # # # # # #
Frank was in danger of grinding the enamel off of his teeth. He'd meant to go straight home. And he'd driven right passed all three exits that would have taken him that direction before he admitted he wanted to make sure that Vee got to her apartment safely. It was stupid. Ryan would have taken care of it. Hell's bells, Ryan probably wouldn't even want him near his baby cousin. What the hell was he thinking? Then to make it worse he'd seen Ryan's car and tried to drive off only for the girl to practically run in front of his car to stop him. What the hell was he thinking? What the hell was SHE thinking to do something so crazy!
"I oughta turn you over my knee. Are you trying to wind up pot hole filler?!"
For the first time he glimpsed a little of the old Vee that had taken up hiding rather than risk getting hurt. Stomping over to him she growled, "Are you following Ryan? Is that it? Do you people think that somehow I am … I don't know … corrupting him or something?! 'Cause let me tell you …"
"You need to borrow some feathers?" Frank asked, impressed despite himself to find himself practically nose to nose with a woman that wasn't afraid to take him on.
"Don't you dare turn into some smooth-talking Texas cowboy." Frank blinked and took a step back. "Now you listen here Buster. Just because I like you does not mean that I am going to be used to hurt Ryan. Got it?!"
Frank just looked at her as horror slowly dawned in Vee's eyes and then her face as she realized what she'd said and who she'd said it to. She clapped a hand to her mouth, started backing up, and would have fallen if Frank hadn't come out of his shock to stop her from going down.
"Looks like I get to make a habit of this," he told her softly.
"Looks like you want to wind up with back problems," she mumbled in return before stepping back out of his arms and looking everywhere else but at him.
"Ryan isn't in trouble and I'm not looking to get him … or myself … in trouble. I just wanted to make sure you got back to your place. Ryan was pretty toasted from what I hear."
Trying desperately not to think of the fool she had just made of herself Vee grasped the straw he was holding out. "Yeah, he was. It didn't take much for me to convince him to crash here rather than drive to his place. About what I just said …"
Frank surprised them both by interrupting her and saying, "I like you too. I don't think we know each other well enough to do anything about it. But getting to know each other could be worth pursuing even if nothing ever comes of it. Any woman that likes fishing and football as much as Ryan claims you do has to be worth knowing."
"Favorite team?" Vee asked, intrigued.
"Long Horns."
"Yes!" she shouted before cringing. "Uh … I mean … that's … that's really good … great I mean." Then Vee sighed. "I give up. As you can see my brain has more than a few open splices right now so … so maybe when you get to know me you … you won't …"
"Stop worrying at it. It'll happen or it won't … but neither one of us needs a headache so … we go slow. I got kids to … aw hell … I'm too damn old to be thinking what I'm thinking."
"No you're not," she told him quietly. "I'm … I'm really done with people that haven't grown up yet. I … I … I need to be around people that understand that life isn't one freaking long party and that real life … really real life … isn't some tv show that you win by knocking off the competition and backstabbing your team members to be the last one standing."
Quietly Frank said, "And then there's Ryan. That complicates the hell out of it."
"Maybe. Maybe not. There's not a lot of people that Ryan would let me drive off with. Before he texted me last night I thought there would have only been one … our cousin Tony … so that must mean that he trusts you. I guess there may be others but you're the first … and only … non-family type person. That counts with him … and with me."
Frank understood she was paying him a compliment of good size. They were standing there wondering what to say next when a door opened and they both heard, "Frank? You seen … there you are."
They both turned and Frank said, "Damn Wolfe, you look about like I feel."
"Okay," Vee said. "I've about had it with the he-man stuff. Both of you inside. I'm cooking you something to eat."
Frank got a smart ass look on his face and asked Ryan, "She cook?"
Ryan's stomach growled and he said, "Like a goddess." Turning to his cousin he got a pathetic look and begged, "An omelet with all the trimmings? And homemade biscuits?"
"Are there any other kind?" she asked as she started towing Frank to her front door.
"Homemade huh."
"Yeah. They might not be like your momma makes 'em but I've gotten no complaints."