Without A Sound
Chapter 14
When Melissa dressed that morning for work, she took a little more extra care than usual to put herself together. She had spent the weekend with her family, and had not heard from Ryan Wolfe since their date Friday. That didn't bother her so much. It was their first date, and they were still getting to know each other. If the relationship kept going, however, she certainly hoped he'd put in an effort to stay in touch.
For that day, she wore a bright, summery, knee length skirt, matched perfectly with a yellow blouse. And remembering how Ryan had liked her hair down on their date, she left her hair down, pin straight. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror. Today, she didn't need to plaster a smile on her face. Today, she was the happiest woman in Miami, and nothing could change that.
'Nothing', however, did not include the first sight Melissa saw when she walked in the crime lab's doors. It seemed she had been wrong. Agent Stetler was waiting for her at the front desk, and he could ruin even the best days.
Melissa arrived at the front desk, where she received a small pile of messages that had been left for her. "Agent Stetler," she murmured as she signed in, not bothering to hide her annoyance. "And what do I owe the pleasure of your company today?" she asked, turning to look at him.
"Ms. Hawkins, good morning." It appeared Stetler was not about to be outdone in the pleasantries. "You look wonderful this morning."
Growing up learning to read lips had given Melissa the skill of reading people's expressions, and never forgetting a face. She read Stetler's expression as he stood before her. He was definitely not sincere in his compliments, but was trying to make it sound as if he was. He was still miffed about their last meeting; she could see the lingering resentment in his eyes. But there was a real reason he was here, she was sure of it. And that didn't include wooing her.
"Why, thank you," she grinned slyly. Melissa decided she would play along in this little game of his. "You look quite dashing yourself, too." She had to force out that lie. The suit he had chosen on this particular day was particularly horrid.
A flicker of a smile passed over his face. "On behalf of the bureau, I would like to congratulate you on your successful dismantlement of the bomb Wednesday afternoon." She couldn't tell if his tone was mocking or not. "It gives Miami Dade great confidence to know that a new recruit knows exactly what they're doing."
"Well, that's very sweet, but you see, that's the reason I was hired. Perhaps you should be congratulating Lt. Caine," she suggested. "After all, he was the one who hired me."
Anger flashed across his face at the mention of Horatio's name. "Yes, well, now we move on to a little more business. And I'm afraid it involves your dear boss."
Finally, Melissa thought. We're getting to the point here. "Ah, I knew this couldn't last." She waited for Stetler to drop his bomb.
He leaned in closer, as if he was about to tell her a secret. "The Internal Affairs Bureau has a lot of confidence in you, Ms. Hawkins. You are perhaps the only member of Lt. Caine's team who has not been discredited. We hope that you will see our side of things, and do the right thing."
She merely raised an eyebrow, genuinely interested now.
Stetler took in a breath. "What I'm offering you is an opportunity to soar higher than you can here." He pulled out one of his cards, and handed it to her.
She glanced down at it, barely reading what was printed there. Looking back up, she asked suspiciously, "And what must I pay in return?" At his hesitant expression she said, "Oh, surely you didn't think I would believe you'd do something so generous, for nothing in return?" She lowered her voice. "Nobody works that way anymore, Stetler. I'm sure you don't either."
His expression hardened. "I want information. Inside information on the workings at this lab. Any little discrepancy, and I want to know about it. You will be rewarded handsomely." He tapped the card still clutched in Melissa's hand. "All you have to do is get in touch with me."
She couldn't believe this. Melissa just couldn't believe what her eyes were telling her. She wanted to express her true opinion of what she thought of this, but after mulling it over in her head for a moment, she decided against it. She would decline his offer politely, with the little control she still had. Thank god he doesn't know about Ryan and me.
"Duly noted," she said evenly. "But I'm afraid I will have to pass up the offer to spy on my friends, Agent Stetler." The look on his face made up for the five long minutes of her life he'd just wasted. "I just don't think it would be very nice, don't you think?" He didn't answer her. With a nod of his head, he straightened his suit and turned to leave.
"Very well then, Ms. Hawkins. Have a good day." And he walked out.
Melissa did an about face, completely livid. "Good God!" she vented. A few people looked her way sympathetically. She realized she had said that too loud, but that the others had probably heard the whole conversation anyways.
She needed a coffee.
She stormed down the hallway, trying to keep her emotions in check. It wouldn't help her any if she lost control and broke something. Halfway down the hall to the break room, she ran into Eric, and her mood lifted considerably.
"Eric!" she nearly cried with relief.
"Melissa," he greeted, a huge grin on his face. But when he saw her dark expression, his face fell. "What is it? Is something wrong?" She told him about Stetler's proposition. He sighed. "I see. He was trying to get a new mole for the lab, to get a whole new load of dirt on us." He shook his head in disgust. "He was reeling you in. What a scumbag."
"Well, he realized soon enough that he'd caught a shark instead of a guppy," Melissa muttered. "I told him no way was I going to spy on my friends."
Eric smiled down at her. "Good for you. But you know, he can make a lot of trouble for you, now that you're not on his good side anymore."
She shrugged. "He's hated Horatio for years, yet somehow Horatio's still running this crime lab." She smiled. "I'll just warn some people, take a few pointers from Horatio on how to deal with the 'scumbag' as you so kindly called him, and I'll be fine. He doesn't scare me, not really."
Delko let out a loud laugh. "Sounds good. Now, you look like you need some coffee." And he steered her back down the hallway, starting up a conversation on her date Friday, trying to get the details.
Fifteen minutes later, when Melissa slipped into the ballistics lab, it was with great relief to see Calleigh bent over her worktable, fiddling with a gun. She looked up in surprise, but brightened considerably when she saw Melissa. "Hey, girl, what are you doing here?" she asked in surprise.
Melissa walked over to the table, observing what she was doing before she spoke back. "I needed to get away from Delko." She whipped her head around to look back out the door, presumably to look for his tall figure. "He's been pestering me about my date with Ryan, he's driving me crazy!" Calleigh let out a giggle. "Ryan says he's the one who's told the whole lab about us. Thank god Stetler doesn't know. Oh, and wait till you hear this…" and she proceeded to tell Calleigh about her encounter with the IAB agent.
When she finished, Calleigh's face was set in a tight line. "He just stoops lower and lower, doesn't he?"
Melissa shrugged her shoulders. "I refused to do it. I wouldn't spy on any of you guys, especially not Horatio. I mean, not only is he my boss but he helped me out before when-" She let out a gasp and dashed to stand behind Calleigh just as Eric Delko walked past, clearly looking for something he lost.
Calleigh couldn't contain her laughter. "Just how did you lose him?" she asked Melissa once she'd turned her attention back to Calleigh.
"I'll tell you some other time. But now I've got to get back to my lab."
"Sure you'll be safe there?" Calleigh joked.
Melissa grinned. "It's alright. Freddy will defend me." And with that, Melissa snuck out the door, the last wisp of her bright skirt the only trace that she'd been there but a moment before.