XXXVI) The Instigators

Washington DC

They were sitting in crowded food court at a mall. Killing time. Because their latest client suddenly called to say he was running late.

Jack Rader made an airborne stab at her plate with his fork. "That's a lot of sugar in one serving."

Gillian mimicked his gesture with her fork. "That's a lot of sodium and MSG in yours. And beef." She smiled. "We hope."

Jack Rader choked a little. "You enjoy that waffle, Foster. With your strawberries and whipped cream."

Gillian hoisted the little cup it came with and poured it over her dessert. "Don't forget the chocolate sauce."

Rader shuddered.

"You know you want some," she told him, cutting off a generous piece with her fork. "I can tell."

"Thought we weren't supposed to read other?"

Gillian smiled. "That only applies to me and Lightman. Besides, we can read other. We just don't always probe the things we see."

She noticed that Jack Rader ate the same way he did everything. Quickly and full of energy and purpose. As if it might be his last meal for a few days. It reminded her of Cal. The two men were more alike than either one would ever admit. Two brilliant, dominant, alpha males working together in a company that probably only had room for one. It was likely why she spent most of her time working with Rader lately. While Cal did his best to keep her and Noelle apart.

Rader finished his meal much sooner than she did.

Gillian pointed to her plate. "Go ahead...help yourself."

Rader reached over without hesitation and helped himself to a big chunk of her waffle.

"Few months ago there was a big article in the Post about the Lightman Group," he pointed out, mouth full. "Bet that gave you a lot of new business."

"It did."

Rader reached over for a second bite. "Was a glowing piece on the company and Lightman's science. How he took it from the halls of academia and made it functional and commercially viable."

"It was a nice article for us," she agreed. "Free publicity."

"For Lightman," he corrected her. "The article didn't even mention your name. Truth be told, I was surprised to find out he had a partner when he asked me to join the Group."

"What exactly are you getting at?" Gillian asked him.

"Just saying, if you were my partner, I'd make sure the world knew it."

"How would you know what Cal said in that interview? Or how much was cut from that article by the time it was published?"

"So you're saying he did mention you but it was cut?"

Gillian didn't say anything. She had no idea what exactly Cal said in that interview. She hadn't even been in town that afternoon. She'd read it a week later and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't bothered by the fact that her name wasn't mentioned. Or by the fact that Cal didn't really understand why she'd been hurt in the first place.

Even so, she didn't like that she was letting Jack Rader use it to get under her skin.

He smirked. "You have no idea what he said. Or what got cut."

Gillian leaned in towards him. "Can I give you a word of advice, Rader?"

"Course," he replied with an earnestness that took her by surprise. "I respect your opinion."

"Stop pushing so hard and don't always wear your ambition on your sleeve. You've been with us, what a few weeks? Already I feel like you're aiming for a corporate takeover."

Rader laughed. "Almost two months. Time flies when you're having fun, Gillian."

"I'm serious," she chided him. Part of her liked his transparency and his eagerness. It was a stark contrast to Noelle Nehru.

"Why would I lie about my ambitions?" he told her, reaching over for the last of her dessert. "What would be the point when both of you could see right through it anyway?"

Gillian frowned. He had a point there.

"I want to be where Lightman is," he admitted. "He's doing what I've wanted to do for years. I want my name on the door, Gillian. I'm not gonna lie. I'll work hard for it. I'll put in the time and the effort and I'm ready to do whatever it takes to make this company grow and succeed way beyond its expectations. But at but at the end of the day I want something for it in return. I'm not content to play second fiddle for the rest of my career. I want equal billing."

"Is that what you think I'm doing, playing second fiddle to Cal Lightman?"

For the first time since she'd met him she saw Jack Rader hesitate, before he slowly nodded.

"I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, if you're happy at it. But yeah, I think that's what you're doing. I also think as long as you stay with Lightman that's what you'll always be doing."

There was no maliciousness in the way he said it. He was making a simple observation and sharing it with her.

Still, it made her cheeks burn even though she wasn't convinced it was the truth. Gillian knew that she was letting her emotions play right into his hands.

"Take Noelle for instance," he pointed out. "You don't like her. But Lightman doesn't care and he should care if you're his partner."

"I know you can see a lot of things, Jack," she told him. "But sometimes there's more than what you see on the surface."

"And sometimes you're so close to a person, that you're blind to the things that a casual observer can see with ease."

Gillian fought back the many emotions that toyed with her now. Tried to remind herself that Rader saying it didn't make it true. "Don't you think you should spend a few months with us before you plan on putting your name on the door?"

"I know I have to pay my dues, Gillian." He said as frankly as he checked the time on his Rolex watch. It was just one more thing he shared with Cal. An affinity for expensive Swiss timepieces. "I know it'll be a couple of years before I can even think to approach Lightman about it. But I'm not ashamed to let you know my plans before then. Or to tell you that if Lightman won't give me what I need that I'll use what I've learned to break off on my own. I figure by then the Group will probably need a little competition." He flashed her a grin. "Maybe I'll even take you with me."

She had to laud his audacity, even if it left her speechless. "I don't even know what to say to that."

"Yes?"

"No."

Rader laughed. "I have lots of time to make you change your mind."

If you and Lightman don't kill each other first. "We should get going," she told him, clearing her tray from the table as she got up, noticing that Rader was going to leave his there, until he caught her disapproving look and picked it up too.

"Rader-Foster Group. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"Foster & Associates sounds much better to me." Gillian replied, shaking her head in amusement.

Lightman Group, Washington DC

It was getting colder now as Fall was nearing the end and rolling into winter. It was nothing compared to the damp chill of northern England, but for DC it was well into the time of year when you saw more coats and scarves than dresses and skirts with bare legs.

Noelle Nehru was the exception to that rule. Cal Lightman saw her standing outside on one of their terraces, wearing short sleeves and a very short skirt. By contrast he had on a suit jacket and Foster had already turned the heat on in her office.

It still boggled his mind sometimes that they were in an office now that had not one, but multiple outside terraces. Multiple offices. Rooms. Labs. Multiple everything. And it was all his. Theirs.

Cal walked out to see his prodigy just as she lit up a cigarette. He'd spent two hours with her, trying to teach her to understand micro-expressions from a more scientific and a less instinctual angle. Even tried to teach her some facial coding.

After two hours she looked like she was ready to crawl out of her skin. Either that or fall asleep and she'd begged him for a quick break. Brilliant as she was by nature, his prodigy wasn't the easiest person to teach. Cal was impressed that she managed even the two hours today and knew that if it was any other teacher but him she'd have done something to get out of it.

"Aren't you freezing?" he asked her.

"Nah..." Noelle smiled at him. Her expression relaxed now that she was away from the stifling atmosphere of his office and his textbooks. "I lived in Alaska for a while when I was a kid. This is what we'd call t-shirt weather."

She offered him a cigarette.

"I don't smoke."

"But you want one."

He'd quit a long time ago. But Noelle was right. He did. It was unnerving sometimes. How much she could see with one look at his face.

He took a cigarette from her and let her light it for him.

"I shouldn't..." he admitted as he took in a slow, long drag.

Noelle smiled. "Even you only live once, Dr. Lightman. Do the things you want to do."

Cal didn't say anything, staring into the lights of the city. It was the first time he'd come out here at night and it suddenly struck him how beautiful it was.

"I'm not a good girl, like Gillian," Noelle whispered, exhaling a white cloud of smoke into the crisp evening air. "I won't judge you."

"I quit when Emily was born," he told her, pretending that he hadn't picked up on her blatant flirting. Or the stab she took at Foster. Because most of time he felt a twinge of guilt for the way she made him feel. Noelle Nehru was a gorgeous woman who kept saying all the things he wanted to hear.

Part of him wanted to give in to the urges he felt whenever he was around her.

Why the hell not? She's legal. I'm single. And she's the one coming on to me every chance she gets.

Except I'm also her boss.

He'd gone more than five years without sleeping with anyone at the Lightman Group. It was almost a rule at this point. Much like the agreement he had with Foster, not to probe, pester and poke her nose into her business, unless she wanted him.

This is another line I probably shouldn't cross.

"Didn't want to smell like stale cigarettes when I gave my daughter a kiss," he explained, unable to resist a glance at her long, perfect legs.

"You're a good father."

Cal ignored the compliment. "I want you to spend some time with Foster tomorrow. Do some voice stress analysis with her. It'll hone your skills."

"Okay..." she agreed, turning away from him to face the skyline. But not before he caught the faintest downturn at the corner of her lips. Disgust. It bothered him a little, the extent of her dislike for his partner.

"Look, just because you're a natural doesn't mean you've got nothing to learn. In fact you've got more to learn."

"Voice-stress analysis, really?" she questioned.

"That and everything else," he answered. "You're uneducated, Noelle."

He saw how much that stung her. Cal put out his cigarette, half finished. "It's not an insult, luv. It's a fact. It's bloody fabulous that you can do all this without having had to spend a decade learning it, but I need more than lie detectors around here. I need people who can work a case and put together a report. People who can understand and interpret the science behind what they're seeing."

"What am I supposed to do? Go out and get a college degree?"

"No," he scoffed. "Just learn what we're trying to teach you."

"Right..." Noelle inhaled deeply and stared out into the night sky, too petulant to risk a look in his direction.

"Cal..."

He heard Foster's voice from inside the building.

"Foster?"

"Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Lightman spotted Rader in the hallway too now. They must have just gotten back from security firm that hired them last week for some applicant screening.

"Yeah, sure."

Gillian tilted her head just a little, directing him away from Rader, letting him know she wanted to talk to him alone.

Rader was about to follow them, until Cal gave him a look that said "piss off."

Cal smiled to himself as he walked ahead of his partner.

Sometimes their skills really did make communication a simple thing.

Jack Rader stepped out into the open-air terrace next to Noelle.

She turned to him, leaning against the guard rail, folding her arms even as she held on to her cigarette, giving him a smug look. "You hate that, don't you? That you don't belong to their exclusive little inner circle. That they go off on their own and have these little closed door discussions."

Rader smirked. Noelle was such a glaring example of Cal Lightman's lack of good judgment. He wondered on what planet she'd ever be considered an asset to any company. Skills or no skills. Noelle Nehru was a tightly-wound coil of trouble that was destined to explode at the wrong moment.

Rader would happily bet money on her not lasting more than another month or so. If that.

"You hate that you can't get into Lightman's pants."

Noelle made a face. "You're so rude. You hide it underneath your shiny watch and your expensive suit, but Lightman's a class act next to you."

Rader yawned. Now she was just boring him. He dreaded the day that Lightman would make him work a case with her. Afraid that might take more restraint than he was capable of.

Noelle smiled. "Besides, you're wrong. Lightman wants me bad. It's just a matter of time. Kind of hard to believe that someone who can read faces like you can't see that."

Rader raised his brows. "Guess that would explain why he hired you."

Noelle took one last drag of her cigarette before she tossed it off the terrace. "What's your excuse then? Saint Foster felt sorry for you?"

Rader smiled. God, she was a handful. "Maybe they just needed someone who can read and write?"

Noelle glared at him.

Hurt. Anger.

Ah, touched a nerve. That burns you. Knowing you don't have much of an education and that everyone else around here knows it. The lone drop-out in a sea of academics.

Noelle turned on her stiletto heels and gave him the finger as she swivelled past him and made her way back inside.

"Jerk."

"You reek," Gillian told him after he put an arm over her shoulders. She made a face as she slipped out of his hold. "Since when do you smoke?"

"Since when do you nag?"

Foster narrowed her eyes. "According to you, all the time."

Cal noticed that she was nervous as hell, fidgeting with the zipper on her purse like a teenager out on her very first date. "What's going on, luv?" he asked her afer they entered his office and he closed the door behind them.

"I got a call half an hour ago..."

Gillian Foster wasn't always the easiest person to read but this time her emotions were written all over her face for the whole world to see. Fear. Anxiety. Excitement.

"Keisha's water broke. She's in labour."

"I see..." Cal's lips widened into a smile. "That's great. I mean, she's what a few days early? You were expecting this call any day now."

"I know..." Foster bit her lip and started pacing in tiny circles in his office.

"So what the hell are you still doing here?" Cal looked at her not understanding. "Why aren't you at the hospital?"

"This...case with the security firm. I don't want to leave you and Rader hanging. I was planning on being here at least another week."

"Screw it. Rader will jump at the chance to do it on his own," Cal told her. "He'll walk around like a peacock fanning his feathers as soon as I give him the news."

"I suppose. He would, wouldn't he?"

Cal grabbed her shoulders and forced her to stop moving. Forced her to look at him. "Christ, Gill, what's going on? This isn't about some minor case...are you having second thoughts about this?"

"No," she shook her head vehemently. "No...of course not."

"Then why are you here pacing around in my office, instead of at the hospital to welcome your daughter into the world?"

She avoided his gaze and stared into the wall behind him. "I'm scared, Cal."

"Scared of what?" he asked her, gently this time.

Her blue eyes finally met his and he noticed they were fighting back tears. "Everything."

"You're worried about the birth?"

She nodded. "That too. She's had a rough pregnancy...with the drug use and the withdrawals. And I'm scared of...what the effect of it all will be."

There was something else too, Cal could see it.

"And?" he prodded.

Foster exhaled. "I'm scared Keisha will change her mind."

"Can she?" Cal asked. "I thought everything was final, that she'd signed all the papers."

"Legally she has until sixty days after the baby's born to change her mind. But statistics say most birth mothers that do change their mind, they do it right after the birth. After they see the child for the first time..."

Cal scrunched his lips. He didn't even want to consider the possibility of that happening. Not after he'd seen her go through two failed adoptions already. Didn't want to think about the monumental unfairness of a world that was full of unwanted and neglected children, while his best friend kept getting denied the chance to give some lucky kid the kind of love and nurturing that others would kill for.

"Don't think about that," he told her. He probably should've mustered something more encouraging. Told her that it was all going to work out. That the chances of Keisha changing her mind were slim. But what the hell did he know? What if they weren't slim? Did most birth mothers change their mind at the last minute?

Cal wasn't American enough for that kind of syrupy pep talk.

Instead, he put his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. Felt some of the tension leave her body as she embraced him and buried her face in his shoulder.

"You're gonna be fine," he told her when she was finally ready to let go. That much was true. One thing he was certain about was her strength, and her resilience, no matter what would happen at that hospital in the next few hours.

He put his arms around her shoulders and nudged her out of his office. "Let me drive you to the hospital." She was a nervous wreck. Getting behind the wheel right now was a lousy idea.

"It's okay...I don't want to leave my car here."

"We'll take your car and I'll take a cab back."

"You don't have to do that."

"I know," he held out his hand. "Want to. Keys?"

"Cal, really..."

"Need your car keys, luv."

Gillian eyes met his again. She aimed for annoyed but it didn't last for longer than an instant. Gratitude was what he saw instead.

"Thanks."

"It's not everyday the Lightman Group gets a new family member, Foster," he told her with a grin once he held her car keys in his hands and they stepped into the elevator that would take them to the underground parking. "This is exactly the kind of occasion that calls for a chauffeur."