May 10, 2007
Lassie: I officially filed for divorce today. Just waiting on Victoria's signatures. I'm doing alright, it's been hard but I don't regret a thing. Can't wait for you to come home.
May 11, 2007
Shawn: I'm sorry you're going through this alone, Lassie. Wish I was there for you. How's physical therapy going?
May 15, 2007
Lassie: It's fine. I'll be back on duty in a few weeks. I have nothing to do when I'm not at work. O'Hara wanted me to tell you that she's working a case on American Duos. Said you'd find it interesting. She said you could reach out to her for more details.
May 20, 2007
Shawn: American Duos? Gus and I love that show. Totally wish I was there to help! I'll definitely reach out to her. How many times have you rewatched Cops while on leave? You on your second go around?
May 21, 2007
Lassie: I'm still on my first watch, thank you. I've been catching up on a lot of paperwork. O'Hara also visits me a few times a week. Bringing food and movies I should watch. How's the team?
May 22, 2007
Shawn: The boys are good. Still against me getting back together with you, but they'll get over it. We leave for a mission tomorrow, so I'll be out of touch for several weeks. You will likely be back at work by the time you hear from me again. I love you, Carly, I'll reach out as soon as I can.
June 15, 2007
Lassie: The divorce is final. I can't wait for you to come home. Stay safe, Shawn.
Shawn's leg bounced up and down as he rode in Cards' truck, on his way to the airport. Cards was kind enough to drive him since he left his motorcycle in Santa Barbara when they left a few months ago.
"What's got you so nervous?"
Shawn glanced over at Cards. "Just nervous to see Lassie, his divorce is finalized. Meaning we can officially start over…and I didn't tell him I was coming back today."
"Spence, the last time you didn't tell him you were coming back-."
"I know, but this time it's different. You said it yourself, I have nothing to worry about."
"You're right." They pulled into the airport and into the drop off lane. "Good luck, Spence, I hope everything works out."
"Thanks, Cards. Me too. I'll see you in two weeks." Shawn hopped out of the truck and grabbed his bag. He headed inside the airport.
Shawn got a ride with Gus from the airport. They stopped for dinner before Gus dropped him off at Lassie's home. Shawn took a deep breath before heading up the steps and knocking on Lassie's front door.
Lassie answered the door, gun behind his leg. He smiled when he saw Shawn.
"Hey, Lassie." Shawn smiled brightly.
Carlton let Shawn in and stowed his gun, before he pulled Shawn into a kiss. Shawn kissed him back immediately, having no more reservations since Lassie's officially divorced. The kisses deepened quickly, tongue was added and soon the two of them were headed towards the bedroom. Shirts were lost in the hallway and shoes kicked off just inside the bedroom. They fell onto the bed and Carlton trailed kisses down Shawn's jaw, to his neck and down to his chest.
Shawn knew this felt familiar and couldn't stop himself from glancing over at the dresser. He sighed in relief when he didn't see a wedding ring. He returned his focus to Lassie. He moaned when Lassie took one of his nipples into his mouth. He let himself lose himself in the bliss.
Shawn and Carlton laid in bed together, Shawn's head resting on Carlton's chest. Carlton rubbed Shawn's back and held him close.
"Where does this leave us, Shawn?"
"I'd like it to mean we're together again."
"I'd like that."
"But I think we should label it this time, so there's no misunderstandings…boyfriends?"
"Works for me." He kissed the top of Shawn's head. He was thrilled to be able to call Shawn his own again.
"But we have to be careful who we tell about us…if for some reason my superiors find out…"
"We'll be careful. Just like we've always been…I need to tell O'Hara. There can't be secrets between partners."
Shawn nodded, he completely understood. There were no secrets between him and his team either. "Definitely."
"I'm glad you're back."
"Me too, Lassie, me too."
The next morning, Carlton slipped out of bed, careful not to wake up Shawn. He quietly got dressed and headed off to work, grabbing breakfast at the coffee shop close to the department. In his early greetings to O'Hara, he made sure to mention that Spencer was back in town, knowing she'd let the Chief know. This way, if there were any cases, she could call on Shawn if she wanted.
Turned out that was going to be sooner rather than later. He and O'Hara were called into the Chief's office and given a quick run down on the upcoming case. They'd be working with a Federal Agent on a counterfeiting case, and the Chief wanted them to not be shown up on their own turf. She shot Carlton a look and told him that just because they were impressive, didn't mean they should fawn over them. Which Carlton took slight offense to, but knew he tended to lose his head around superior Agents. He merely thought they were super impressive, and he had always wanted to be one as a kid.
A few minutes after their briefing, a highly attractive man in a tailored black suit entered the office, and Carlton had to keep from staring, though O'Hara didn't seem to get that memo. Following the man was Gus and Shawn, who looked particularly ruffled, probably by the Agent. He and Shawn shared a small smile before they all got down to business.
"I'm Special Agent Lars Ewing with the FTD."
"Ooh, Federal Treasury Department." O'Hara interjected.
Agent Ewing looked over and smiled at O'Hara. "Very good…"
"Detective Juliet O'Hara." She held out her hand and they shook hands before Ewing turned to Carlton.
"Head Detective Carlton Lassiter." They shook hands as well and Carlton noticed the quick once over the Agent gave him, which surprised him. If he noticed, Shawn definitely did. He glanced over at Shawn and saw the irritation on his face.
"Thank you for coming, Special Agent Ewing."
Ewing nodded to Chief Vick.
"And these are our consultants Burton Guster and Sergeant Shawn Spencer, our resident psychic."
Carlton noticed Shawn was taken by surprise, hearing his full title. "Shawn will be just fine, Chief. No need for titles."
The Chief nodded.
They all noticed the shock on Ewing's face to hear that Shawn was a Sergeant. "What branch?"
"Army Special Forces." Shawn looked uncomfortable with the sudden attention, which was weird since he was always making himself the center of attention. But Carlton knew Shawn liked being the center of attention for his antics, not his achievements.
Ewing took that in before turning back to the Chief. "I'm here because we've been tracking an aggressive forger who's been counterfeiting large numbers of $100 bills and then laundering the money into small communities across the country. The last being a Home Depot right here in the heart of your little hamlet. Now, could you gentlemen please state your name once again? And please speak clearly." Ewing brought out a small device, turned it on and set it on the desk.
"Is that a recording device? Government issued?" Carlton was always intrigued by the gadgets that Federal Agents always seemed to have.
"Asking if that is a recording device is like asking if this," Ewing pulled out a pen from his inside pocket, "is a pen."
"Is it a pen?" O'Hara asked.
"That's classified." Carlton noticed Shawn roll his eyes. Ewing mouthed to him that it was indeed a pen. Carlton smiled.
"It's tiny. Probably can't hold much." Gus said.
"Oh, that's not a tape recorder. That is a high-tech microphone system attached to a Mildred."
"A Mildred? What's, what's a Mildred?" O'Hara asked.
"I believe it's an intelligence-gathering device. "Mildred" is probably an anagram. Military Intel Listening Device Recorder... something." Carlton was at a loss for what the D would stand for. Ewing seemed amused by his guessing.
"Mildred is not a device. She's my stenographer." Ewing motioned outside to where Mildred was sitting and typing their ever word.
"You have your own stenographer?"
"I am hyper-careful. Can't take any chances. Saved my behind more than once in making cases stick past deposition."
Carlton was impressed. "Brilliant. Chief?"
Chief Vick was not amused. "Not happening. Now what I need from all of you is your full cooperation in assisting Special Agent Ewing in any way he sees fit. Now, any questions?"
"I have a question for Special."
"Now, Sergeant, while I'm sure your credentials are impressive, I won't be needing your help. We already have our own psychic. She's just started in the department and she is already a superstar. Got us so close to the counterfeiter a month ago in Wilmette, Illinois. We must have missed him by only a few minutes."
In walked a beautiful young lady, and Shawn immediately was uncomfortable. Carlton knew it was because another psychic could cause major issues for Shawn, since he was a fraud. But Carlton knew psychics didn't exist, so this lady was likely a fraud as well. Hopefully she wouldn't cause too much trouble for Shawn.
"Sergeant Spencer, Lindsay Leikin." Shawn reluctantly shook the woman's hand. She gave Shawn a once over, and Carlton felt the same irritation Shawn must have felt earlier.
"You may have your own psychic, Special Agent Ewing, but we'd like to bring ours along too. Two psychics are better than one."
Ewing nodded, though he didn't look thrilled at the idea.
"Let's adjourn this meeting. I know Special Agent Ewing has prepared informational packets for all of you. We will meet at the Home Depot tomorrow."
"Let's say... 0700 hours."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Let me set up the conference room for you both." The Chief led the way out of her office, followed by Special Agent Ewing. Carlton and O'Hara headed towards their desks where their informational packets were already waiting. They both sat down and started reviewing the information.
A few minutes later, Shawn, Gus and Leiken left the Chief's office. Leiken headed for the conference room, while Shawn and Gus headed over to Carlton's desk. Carlton looked up at them and kept his voice low.
"Is she going to be a problem?"
Shawn shrugged. "She shouldn't be. I just have to figure out how she works and then everything should be fine. Don't worry, Lassie-frass, she can't be a better psychic than me." Shawn winked at his boyfriend.
"Right, just be careful Shawn. The Chief doesn't want them to show us up, so there's a lot of pressure riding on this case. She'll be expecting a lot from you."
"I can handle a little pressure."
Carlton smiled. "Oh, I know."
Shawn smiled back, while Gus made a disgusted noise and walked off to talk to O'Hara. "You did that just to get rid of Gus."
Carlton shrugged. "Maybe."
"I don't like them."
"Who? Leiken and Ewing?"
"Yeah. Leiken is a fraud and Ewing was totally checking you out."
"And Leiken was definitely checking you out."
"Jealous, Carly?"
"Only as jealous as you are."
"Okay, fair. He's just totally your type. You've always had a thing for Feds."
"But I also have a thing for the military type, don't forget that."
Shawn nodded. Carlton stood to go get some coffee and let his hand brush against Shawn's arm as he walked past. He physically felt Shawn relax under his brief touch. Good. He didn't need Shawn worrying when they had a case to solve.
When Carlton got home that night, Shawn had the informational packet spread out over the living room. He smiled; he loved seeing Shawn in his home when he got back from work. It was comforting.
Shawn looked over and smiled at Carlton. "Hey, Lassie. How was work?"
"It was fine, spent the day finishing up some paperwork and looking over the federal information packet. Find anything useful?"
"Not really. I'll have to get a read of the situation tomorrow. There's nothing in here about the "visions" Leiken had that led them to the counterfeiter. I'll have to see how she works."
Carlton nodded and sat down on the couch next to Shawn. Shawn leaned against Carlton and the taller man wrapped his arm around his boyfriend. "This'll definitely be an interesting case."
"Agreed."
As they were getting settled to watch some TV, and Shawn was telling Carlton about his latest purchase of an Easy Bake Oven, Carlton's phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket and sighed. He ignored the call.
"Who was it?"
"Ewing. This is the fourth time he's called me today."
Shawn did not look thrilled with that news.
"He keeps wanting to go over the case, and also seems to want to get to know me? He asks random personal questions."
"That guy is totally into you."
"Well if he is, its annoying. How he's not getting the hint that I'm not interested, I have no idea. I swear the guy tried to smell me earlier at the station."
"Maybe I need to make it clear you're not available." Shawn moved and straddled Carlton's lap.
"And how do you plan to do that?"
"Maybe I need to mark my territory." To make his point he leaned down and nipped at Carlton's neck.
Carlton smiled. "I think that might just be a decent idea." He pulled Shawn into a deep kiss.
Around 2am, Shawn was woken up by a phone ringing. He reached over to the bedside table, picked up the cell phone and answered it. "Spencer."
"Spencer? What are you doing answering Lassiter's phone-." Shawn recognized Ewing's voice and hung up. He set the phone back down and rolled over. He curled up in Carlton's waiting arms.
"Who was it?"
"Ewing, your phone must have ended up on my side last night. We'll deal with Ewing tomorrow."
Carlton was too tired to even worry what Ewing would do with the information that Shawn was at his place this late. He just drifted off back to sleep."
The next morning at 0700, they all met outside of the Home Depot. While the Chief was talking, Shawn overheard Ewing berating Leiken for not being on time to their meeting this morning. They headed inside and Ewing quickly started to chew out the guy at the counter. There was no way the guy would have been able to know the one-hundred-dollar bill was fake; Shawn had taken a look at it the night before and he barely noticed it was a forgery. The work was phenomenal. He got bored of watching the interaction, so he and Gus headed off to do something productive.
Shawn noticed the security cameras as soon as he entered the store and led Gus towards the camera room. On their way they ran into Henry, who claimed that Shawn owed him and was to come by to work on a project later today. Shawn brushed off the encounter and focused on the case at hand.
He and Gus entered the camera room.
"Hello, Garrison. We're working on the counterfeiting case. And we need to see all of yesterday's security footage."
"How do you know my name's Garrison?"
Shawn was caught off guard by the response. He mumbled to Gus. "You thought this was gonna be a problem?" He turned back to Garrison. "I'm sorry, man. I... I didn't mean to freak you out. My name is Shawn Spencer. I'm a psychic with the police department."
"There was already a psychic here last night. From Washington, no less. She looked at all the tapes and there was no positive ID. And she's good. She also knew my name was Garrison."
Shawn needed to see those tapes, to know what Leiken knew. "Uh, you mind if I take a peek anyway? I work a little differently than her. My process is a little more complex. I can sometimes pick up images that are underneath the... epidermal layer."
"Here it is. This is the tape of the counterfeiter that she looked at last night. You know, honestly, if that pretty lady psychic couldn't pick up anything, I can't imagine you're gonna have much luck."
Shawn looked at the video and noticed the guy avoided being seen by every camera. He wasn't able to see a single facial feature, though he could tell the guy didn't wear glasses. He noticed the key of the car the guy drove, a Nissan, but that wasn't much. "You know what, you're probably right. We gave it a shot. Thanks, Garrison."
They headed back to the others, finding that they were still interrogating the guy.
"Tall? Short? Age? Race?" Juliet asked.
Shawn noticed that Ewing now stood next to Carlton, not Juliet. Interesting.
"Do you mean to tell me that the only thing you can remember clearly is that he was a man?"
Shawn watched as Ewing leaned close to Carlton and breathed in his scent. Carlton didn't seem to notice but Shawn was not happy. He thought that after he'd answered the phone last night, that maybe the guy'd catch a hint. Apparently not.
"And technically, I can't even be sure of that, now, can I?"
Shawn decided to make his presence known. "Wait. I'm getting something. He... did not wear corrective lenses." He watched as Leiken rolled her eyes. Like she knew any more than he did.
"Actually, that is true."
The Chief was thrilled. "Okay, well, that's something to go on. Good work, Mr. Spencer."
"Great... and so we're looking for someone in Santa Barbara who does not wear glasses." Shawn looked at Lassie, surprised at his comment. He had a point, but it was all Shawn had for now.
Leiken decided to speak up. "He... He had a small scar...about three inches, on the jaw line. And... he wore a single stud diamond in his left ear."
"Yes. And yes. She's exactly right. I can see that clearly now."
How the hell could she possible know that…unless she'd seen the guy before. Because the footage didn't reveal any of that.
"That's why she's the best." Ewing smirked and led the way outside, brushing into Carly when he passed.
"…what the hell just happened?" Shawn turned to Gus who shrugged.
They followed everyone out of the Home Depot and Shawn made sure to catch up to Lassie at his car. He informed him about the counterfeiter's car before letting Lassie return to the station. He had to go deal with his dad.
They stopped for breakfast on the way to Shawn's dad, and Carlton called him as they were arriving at his dad's place. Apparently, the only Nissan worth noting in the parking lot didn't have any plates, so there was no lead there.
The two of them worked on the wet bar for about an hour, discussing the case a bit as they worked. As they were talking, they came up with a lead – the best car dealership that the guy could trade out his car for with cash without drawing attention to himself.
They headed out immediately. The wet bar could wait. As they were headed that way, Shawn noticed he had a missed call from Lassie. He must not have heard it while they were working. He listened to the voicemail and sighed. They were already going to be there.
They arrived at the car dealership to see a very arrogant Leiken in the display hall, waiting for them. "Look who finally figured it out. Little late."
In the office, the rest of the team and Ewing looked over and noticed them as well. The Chief did not look thrilled. She, Carlton, and Juliet walked over to catch them up on what had been going on.
"Apparently our guy came in here, bought a used Lamborghini for $47,000 in cash.
"Next day, he tries to return it. All sales are final, but the sales manager makes a concession, offering mere $26,000 in cash."
Oh this guy was smart. Shawn was impressed.
"He accepts it? What kind of idiot is this guy?" Gus asked.
"A genius idiot, according to the feds." The Chief said.
"You see, those familiar with this sort of thing know that it's the classic grift. Essentially, he traded 47 Gs of worthless paper for $26,000 in cold, hard cash." Lassie said.
"Any witnesses?" Gus asked.
Juliet was the one to answer. "No, but a Lamborghini was spotted outside of town in Goleta, but it was moving too fast to make an ID."
Goleta? He'd have to keep that in mind. Just then Ewing and Leiken walked back over and Shawn noticed Lassie checking out Ewing's suit. He couldn't wait for this guy to be gone.
"Hey, what color is that suit?"
"Black."
"Really? It seems blacker than black."
"It's Washington black." Ewing smirked, liking Carlton's interest. "Look, if anyone wants to join me, I'm going to be taking a look at some of the bills from the safe that didn't get deposited." Ewing brushed arms with Lassie and the two of them led the others back to the office.
Now Shawn had to get on Leiken's good side, or he'd always be behind on this case at this rate. He stopped Leiken from following.
"Look, Leikin, I think it's possible that we got off on the wrong foot." Their bickering in the office when they first met was definitely not a good start for them.
"Is that right?"
"Yeah, I mean, this is silly. We should join forces like Pitt and Jolie, you know? Work together, make it nice for everyone."
"I don't think you get it. I have nothing to gain here. If you haven't noticed, my job is safe. It's you I'm worried about, faker." Man this girl grated on his nerves.
"In that case, maybe we should-."
"I'm seeing somebody."
"Okay, well-."
"Serious? Yes."
"You didn't know I was gonna-."
"Yes, I did." She walked off into the office.
She was definitely not psychic if she really thought he was interested. He had his Lassie, he didn't need some fake psychic in his life.
He followed everyone into the office and tried to figure out what they were discussing. He shuffled his way into the room and behind everyone, trying to get a glance at the dollar bill.
"These are good. But they're not great. You see how on this bill, the edge of the nose on Ben Franklin's cloudy? Did you get that, Mildred?"
Shawn caught a glimpse of the dollar bill in Ewing's right hand and saw the 100 on the bill shifting colors in the light. He walked back over to Gus, who knew money way better than he did. "Hey, is there any reason a $100 bill would change colors?"
"Actually, yes. It's an effect caused by color-shifting ink. It's only present in $100 bills. The changing color is called color diffraction. And it's made possible when light reflects off of metallic flakes added to the ink."
Shawn glanced down again and quickly memorized the number on the dollar bill that changed colors. It was likely real. "Good work, Gus." He held out his fist to his best friend.
Gus tapped his fist. "Thank you."
After that everyone else filed out and headed back to the station. Shawn didn't get a chance to stop Lassie and tell him about the real dollar, so he decided to reveal it later in a vision. On their way back to the station, he and Gus stopped for a little snack so they entered the conference room and the meeting had already started.
"So we'll check the information that Ms. Leikin's gathered for us..."
"Sorry we're late guys, if Gus doesn't have his midafternoon snack he gets a little grumpy." The two of them sat down and quickly noticed the looks that were being thrown their way. They weren't welcome.
"Shawn. I think we're not welcomed here."
"Gus, don't be a paranoid schizophrenic. We're always welcome here."
"No, look."
Shawn took another look around, seeing what he already saw. Jules wouldn't look his way, Lassie's face showed he wasn't happy with the decision to block them out but had no say in the matter, and the Chief's face was blatantly saying they weren't welcome at all.
"Oh, my God. We're not welcome."
"It's nothing personal, Mr. Spencer. Special Agent Ewing just feels that Ms. Leiken has things covered on the psychic front. And I have to agree with him."
And there Leiken sat, completely proud of herself that he was being kicked out.
"Okay. Take a hint. Certainly don't need to be told twice."
"I think you were just told three times." Not helpful Gus.
"You know what, this is fine, because we had a good run. Thank you for the memories. Oh, just one more thing." Something he knew Leiken had missed. Maybe he could finally wipe that smug look off her face. "You might want to check the cash from the dealership, because it's not all counterfeit."
"That's ridiculous. If I had learned how to laugh as a child, I would right now. I looked at all those bills myself. Do you really want to go against the leading special agent in counterfeiting with 14 years of experience under his belt and say that those bills weren't fake?"
Well Ewing was sure full of himself. It almost reminded him of Lassie, but as a much more annoying version.
"Not all of them. Just one. And I believe the serial number was...ALD... 975... 7080... 7... 7!" Shawn then led the way out of the conference room. Ewing would check and follow them shortly.
"Where are we going? Shouldn't we have stayed until they checked the bills out?"
Shawn held up a hand. "Wait for it. Wait for it…"
"Spencer. Hold up." Lassie marched out of the conference room and over to them. He had a proud smile on his face briefly before he hid it.
"The bill checked out. It's real." Jules said.
Ewing walked right up to Shawn, furious for sure. "All right. Answer me this, Mr. Psychic. Why would a counterfeiter ever use real bills?"
Well that was obvious, wasn't it? "Because he had to. Man... I read your informational packet cover to cover." Several times. "Our guy spends six to eight days in every city... we're only on day four. Quite simply, he ran out of dough. He didn't know what kind of deal he'd be able to make on the car. Turns out, short one bill."
"Lucky for us." Gus added.
"So what's our next move?" The Chief asked.
"Well, I'll call Washington and begin..." Ewing was interrupted.
"I'm sorry, I was asking Mr. Spencer."
What a shock. "Oh... oh, you want to know what I think his next move is. Oh, Gus, look, she wants...Well, let's see here. He's gotta print more money. My guess is he, uh, set up shop here in town. So... we find his little nest, we find him."
For the rest of the day, Shawn followed a few leads he had, but came up with nothing. They hoped the cops would have more luck, but the few phone calls he'd had with Lassie proved otherwise. Lassie said he'd be working late, so Shawn decided to spend the evening with Gus in the Psych office.
"Well, buddy...I really hope you like this. It took me 19 hours to bake. Put it in last night before bed."
"It takes 19 hours to bake a pineapple upside-down cake?"
"It does when it's being heated by a 60-watt bulb." He set the cake down on a plate and handed it to Gus.
"It's not upside down, Shawn." They heard a knocking at the main door. "Who could that be at this hour?"
They waited and in walked Leiken, someone neither of them wanted to see.
"Are you gonna invite me in?"
"Eh..." Gus sat down at his desk.
"Uh... I guess." Shawn shrugged.
"So this is what a psychic detective office looks like. You know, I always imagined it-. Does something smell like pineapple?" She made a disgusted look and Shawn took offense. Pineapple was the best scent in the world.
"Pineapple upside-down cake. Would you like some? Wait. Before you answer that, are you a fan of delicious flavor?" Shawn and Gus smiled.
"All right, look. This isn't easy for me to say, but...I was wrong. You're better than I thought. Your discovery at the station today was a huge get. I think we should work together after all. The faster we find out where the counterfeiter's den is, the better. That is, if you guys are willing."
This was the perfect opportunity for Shawn to find out what Leiken knew. She seemed to know a lot for a fake psychic, making her extremely suspicious. Like she knew more than one should without having met the counterfeiter. Shawn definitely needed to find out what was up with her.
"I don't know. Depends. Don't you think, Gus?"
They ended up sitting in a circle to see what readings the two "psychics" could get.
Shawn decided to start with the basics. He put his fingers to his temples. "Wait. I'm definitely getting something. Oh, this is good. It's a... it's a...it's a transient location. Uh, where people can come and go anonymously, paying in cash. And... and it's remote, so they can print large sums of money on a noisy printer without being heard."
"Yes... yes, I'm getting that same thing."
Of course she was. "Yes?"
"And I see it."
"Yes?"
"It's by a body of water."
By a body of water? That was random. Why did she go with that? Shawn didn't have any reason to think that specific fact. Had she been wherever this was before? "Really? It's by a body of water? Leikin, that's amateur stuff. You know what, I might expect that from John Edwards. Definitely from Miss Cleo. But not from you. Leikin..."
"Wait. I'm also... I'm also getting something in French. A sign, maybe? Could it be a European hotel?"
Where was she getting her information? Psychics don't exist, she had to know more than she was letting on.
"Wait a minute. She may be on to something. I know this particular hotel. It's on my sales route. On a private beach-." Gus was interrupted.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa."
"What?"
"It's just... it's strange. I'm pretty familiar with your route, Gus. I don't recall any private beaches with hotels on them."
"What are you talking about, Shawn?"
It was fun messing with Gus. "Where was it you went last summer for the Pips autograph signing convention?"
"You met Gladys Knight?" Leiken was intrigued.
"No."
"Just the Pips."
"Actually, a Pip. The other two got stuck in traffic. Look, I don't want to talk about it. The point is, it's been under construction for months. Which would account for the noise. And it caters to Europeans. This could be the place."
"Sweet. We totally scored. But you couldn't have got that without my transient location thing, am I right?"
Leiken took a bit of the pineapple upside down cake and gagged. "I don't...I don't think that cake is cooked."
Shawn then called Lassie and Leiken called Ewing to let them know of the new location they should check out. They all met there within half an hour.
Carlton was fed up with Ewing by the end of the day. He was glad the man didn't mention Shawn answering his phone last night, but it seemed to have made the guy try harder. The agent was all up in his personal space throughout the day and always came to him to discuss the case, never to the Chief or O'Hara. Carlton tried to show he wasn't interested, but that seemed to just increase the agent's efforts.
By the time they got the call from Shawn that evening, Carlton was ready to strangle the guy.
They headed into the hotel as a group and walked up to the front desk. He and Ewing immediately started talking over one another.
"I'm sorry, who are you, and what do you want?" The hotel manager wasn't impressed.
"Special Agent Lars Ewing. Federal Treasury Department." Ewing flashed his badge.
Carlton also pulled out his SBPD badge. "Head Detective Carlton Lassiter, Santa Barbara Police Department."
"Presidential Recommendation for Distinguished Service."
Carlton almost mentioned his physical fitness award, but one glance at Ewing and his smirk and he knew this one up thing was just a game to him. He knew Shawn would claim its flirting, and Carlton wasn't interested in playing this guy's flirtatious game. He took a breath to calm himself and got down to business. "Look, we need to know who's paid with cash or travelers checks recently."
"It would probably be easier to ask who didn't."
"I'm sorry?"
"This is a hotel. We're a cash business. Lots of European travelers. With what foreign credit card companies charge these days, cash is king."
Shawn interjected. "The south tower, I see him. I see him in the south tower."
"How many rooms in the south tower?" Carlton asked.
"There are 170."
"All right, let's start banging on some doors and call for backup. If we tap every available source of manpower, we can have this thing done 18, 19 hours tops."
"I can alert Washington right now and have an 80-man SWAT team on a C-130 Hercules. They could be here in less than three hours."
Carlton couldn't even be irritated, knowing the help would be appreciated.
"Filthy sheets! I see dirty, filthy sheets." Shawn said.
Ah, so the guy likely refused room service. Carlton was impressed with his boyfriend's intelligence.
"Yes, and towels on the floor." Leiken added.
"And a mediocre, half-eaten turkey club sandwich. And he's refused maid service."
"Okay, what guest refused maid service?" Juliet asked.
"I might remind you we do cater to a very European crowd." The hotel manager said.
"He's isolated. He's in a less-desirable room that's not facing the ocean. Do you have any rooms that face the parking lot?"
"A few."
"He's in one of those." Shawn decided.
"Let's see. French woman. Another French party. Here... here's a single gentleman. Paid all in cash. Corner room facing the alley. And according to this, he's never take his "do not disturb" sign off his door."
Damn, his boyfriend was fantastic.
"Room number." Ewing demanded.
"Key." Carlton added.
Shawn and Gus followed the detectives, agents and Chief into the room, and started looking around once they cleared the room. While Ewing explained the uses of the washer and dryer for money making, Shawn noticed an empty bag of linen paper in the closet.
Shawn whispered to Gus. "Dude, there's linen fibers in that paper. What was he doing, amending the constitution?"
"You can't print money on regular paper, Shawn. That's government-issue."
"I'm getting a visual. He printed a batch of about 50,000, which will last him a while." Leiken said.
Ewing checked out the mostly empty back of paper on the printer. "Five bills a sheet, at least 80 sheets missing from this ream that sounds about right."
Nope, Shawn had seen another bag empty in the closet. That math was all wrong.
"Wait. No, I'm getting more. I'm getting a lot more. Like 500,000, which would last more than just a while. Maybe... maybe a whole lifetime."
"That's not possible."
"It is if you live in one of the Baltic states." Gus shot him a weird look but Shawn ignored it.
"I'm just not getting that feeling...at all. Anything over 50,000 is just getting blocked from my receptors. Not a chance."
Why was she so adamant about this? Something was off about that. "Receptors? Really?" Shawn let his hand "lead" him to the closet, and with a nod from Gus, he blindly grabbed the empty bag of paper and showed it to everyone.
Ewing stormed over and ripped the bag from his hand. Man, Ewing did not like him. "This would do it. This is a 500-sheet ream, and it's likely he used it all."
Carly leaned over and checked out a stamp on the desk. "Treasury seal?"
Ewing walked over and checked it out. "No. Passport seal."
Shit, this guy was on the run for sure. He also noticed the pure shock on Leiken's face, interesting. "Uh, this guy's officially on the lam. We don't catch him now, we can kiss him good-bye."
Carlton and Ewing quickly made some calls to notify the airports, railway stations and all interstate agencies. They then all headed out of the hotel room and headed out of the hotel. Shawn and Gus stayed behind, about to make their own plans, when Leiken approached them.
"Shawn, I don't do this much, but I just wanted to say thank you. I know we haven't nailed him yet, but you were right, we make a good team."
Shawn didn't agree. He didn't like working with her, and believed she was hiding something. But he needed to know what else she knew. She's known more than Shawn this whole time. "Yes, we do. And hopefully tomorrow we'll wrap this thing up. Have a good night." He shook her hand and she walked off. However, she believed he was interested in her, which was the perfect opportunity to go back to her hotel room and figure out what else she knew. Though Lassie probably wouldn't be thrilled with that. "Wait for it...Wait for it." Gus looked at him, confused.
Leiken turned around and walked back over to them. "Shawn, I was thinking maybe we could go somewhere now. Maybe continue working to see if we can't stumble upon some collective apparition."
"That's a fantastic idea. I love it. Where could we go at this hour that's still open? You know what, I think there's a Color Me Mine that stays open late."
"You don't quit with the jokes, do you?"
"I'm sorry, would you like me to stop?"
"Not yet. I kinda like it. But actually, I was thinking back to my hotel room?"
Shawn was surprised with how uncomfortable he was with the proposition. But he had to go through with it. He had a hunch about Leiken and he had to follow through. "You know, it's something we could try. I mean, it's not as much fun as making ashtrays with our names on them, but... Yeah. I'm a flexible guy, a sportsman."
"Good. All right, I'll head back to freshen up. What do you say we meet at 2200 hours?"
"Perfect. Oh, I'm so rude. Gus, buddy, would you like to join us?" Shawn shot Gus a look.
"Well, I actually have an early day tomorrow, so I'll pass." Gus seemed to misinterpret Shawn's look. Shawn had hoped he'd tag along, if only to make sure she didn't make a move on him.
"That sucks, so 2200 on the dot. I'll be there."
Leiken nodded and headed out of the hotel.
"Aren't you with Lassiter? What are you doing flirting with Leiken?"
Shawn sighed. "She knows more than she should. She was genuinely shocked that the guy was on the run, like she had an idea where he should be. Something is seriously up with her. I need to find out what that is. And I'm not flirting with her."
"You so are."
"Am not."
"Are too."
"Am not."
"Just be careful, Shawn. If she's really hiding something, she could be dangerous."
"Thanks, buddy, but we both know I can handle myself."
The two of them headed out to the Blueberry, and Gus drove Shawn to his motorcycle at Lassie's place. He got back to the house and with time to spare, he decided to give Lassie a call to update him on what was going on.
"Lassie!"
"Hey Shawn, got something new for us?"
"Not yet, but I'm headed to Leiken's hotel room in a bit and we're going to put our heads together and see what we can come up with."
"You're doing what?"
"I know, going to her hotel room isn't ideal, but she's into me, Lassie, and I'm hoping to get her to reveal what she knows. We both know psychics aren't real, so I need to know how she knows what she knows."
"…Okay. I guess that's not a terrible idea."
"Nothing is gonna happen, Lassie-frass. You've got nothing to worry about. I'll be home by midnight."
"Okay, Shawn, be careful."
"Always am, Carly…Love you."
Carlton's voice drops to a whisper. "I love you too, Shawn."
Shawn hangs up with a smile on his face.
"So, tell me, Shawn, how'd you get into psychic police work as an army Sergeant?"
Leiken and Shawn sat together on the small hotel loveseat in Leiken's room.
"I needed something to do on leave when I was visiting Gus here in Santa Barbara. Decided to use my gifts to help the police and have a little fun."
"It is fun, isn't it? Just make sure they appreciate you. After a while, the world tends to take people with our abilities for granted."
"That's awfully easy for you to say. I mean, you've already met your special someone…" He mentioned it, trying to get her to open up. As he spoke, she leaned closer. "You're serious with somebody, remember?"
"Actually, I...recently had a change of heart."
"Really?" Shawn leaned back a bit, away from Leiken. She moved closer.
"We have quite a connection. Can't you feel it?"
"I mean, sure-."
"It's like our minds are just fused together, you know? I feel like Holly Hunter in Broadcast News, you know, when she's inside William Hurt's head? Let's try it. I'm thinking of something."
Okay, Shawn can play along with this. "None... they don't bury the survivors."
"Yes, exactly."
"You have a favorite color, and I'm seeing... sea foam green."
"Actually, it's blue, but that is so near the green family." Leiken moved into Shawn's personal space.
"Pick a number between one and ten."
"Eight."
"Actually-." Leiken leaned in for a kiss and Shawn leaned back and jumped to his feet. "Leiken, I can't. I'm actually with someone."
Leiken got to her feet and invaded Shawn's space again. "Sure you are." She leaned in for another kiss.
Shawn stepped back once again. "I am. And I'm committed to them."
She searched his face, but didn't seem to read it right, or didn't want to. "Okay. Well, I'm going to take a shower." She slipped off her shirt and Shawn shifted away his gaze. "If you change your mind, you know where I'll be." She turned and headed for the bathroom, slipping off her bra on the way. She entered the bathroom and cracked the door behind her.
Shawn kept his gaze on the wall until she was out of view. As soon as she was gone, he quickly did a search of the room, looking for something, anything that would tell him what she knew. He found her bag but all it had was clothes. Nothing was in the closet, and all that was in the trash was a coffee receipt for Goleta Gulp. Why was she in Goleta? He finished searching the room and headed out, not wanting to be there when Leiken got out of the shower.
Shawn got home only minutes after Lassie, around midnight. They both got ready for bed in silence and then crawled into bed together. Shawn laid with his head on Carlton's chest.
"Find out anything from Leiken?"
"Not a thing. Find out anything else about the counterfeiter?"
"Not a thing."
After that the two of them drifted off to sleep.
Lassie's alarm went off at 6am sharp. The two of them woke up, took quick showers and got ready for the day. Shawn made coffee while Lassie made them both a quick breakfast. They headed for the police station at 6:45 but Lassie got a call and they quickly changed routes. They arrived at a crime scene where the victim was their counterfeiter. He even had the exact scar and ear piercing.
"How the hell did she do that?" Shawn mumbled to Lassie. "How did she know this guy?"
Lassie was at a complete loss as well. Just then Leiken entered the crime scene and kneeled by the dead body. She then placed her hands all over the body.
"Whoa... touchy!" Lassie dragged Leiken away from the body. "I don't know how you do it in Washington, but here, we don't disturb the body till forensics has a chance to come in, collect some evidence."
After that Shawn headed to the psych office, where he met Gus. He pulled out the clear board and together the two of them went over the case. Shawn just knew he was missing something.
He quickly wrote everything he knew on the board. Leiken knew about the scar and piercing meaning she'd seen him before. They almost caught the counterfeiter previously, so maybe she saw him then. They found proof that the counterfeiter was on the run, and Leiken was in shock, which meant she wasn't expecting that, but why would she be more surprised than everyone else? Then there was the coffee receipt. It could easily mean nothing, but it was dated for yesterday… when she was late for a meeting with Ewing! So what was she doing getting coffee all the way out in Goleta… He wrote it down and stared at the board, missing something.
Gus looked over all of Shawn's notes. "Wasn't the counterfeiter spotted in Goleta?"
And it all fell into place. She was meeting the counterfeiter! They were partners.
"Gus, you're a genius! We have to go." He pulled out his phone and called Lassie as they headed out to the Blueberry.
"Lassie, I've solved the case!"
"Shawn, there is no case, the counterfeiter is dead."
"No, that's just it, he had a partner! Where are you and the agents?"
"A partner, who-?"
"Lassie, where are you guys?"
"We're headed to the airport to see them off."
"Okay, we'll meet you there! Don't let them leave." Shawn hung up and gave Gus directions on where to go.
Shawn and Gus arrived just as Leiken was about to board the plane. They raced over to them. "Whoa, Leiken, Leiken, Leiken! Wait, wait, wait!"
Leiken stopped heading for the plane, looking irritated by Shawn's presence. Shawn assumed it was because he didn't take her up on her offer for that shower. "I just wanted to make sure I had an opportunity to congratulate you, you know, personally."
"Thank you. It's not necessary."
"No, no, no, it is necessary. You did it. You cracked it. I mean, you deserve all the credit...You're amazing. She's an amazing person."
Shawn noticed Lassie giving him a weird look, but he ignored it for now.
"Look, Shawn, don't feel too bad. There'll be other cases." Leiken headed for the plane again.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I know. But not for you." Leiken turned around, stopping once again. "You see...It all started when you identified the scar on the jaw line of our counterfeiter, along with his little diamond-stud earring. I mean, I couldn't even draw a hair color. So there's no way that you could do that unless..." Shawn paused for dramatic effect and winked at Lassie, who had to hide a small smirk. "Unless you'd already seen him before."
"This is ridiculous."
"Is it? I had a vision you were drinking coffee."
"Oh, congratulations."
"But not at the hotel. You were driving past one Starbucks, two Starbucks, 17 Starbucks, and ended up all the way in Goleta. On the very same day that Grabinski's Lamborghini was spotted just outside of town in...Anybody?" He pointed to the Ewing, he needed the man to follow along so he'd believe him. "Special?"
"Goleta." Ewing answered.
"That's right. Goleta. The two of you were partners and you were in touch the whole time. What's more, they were lovers in the night. I didn't think it was possible to fall in love with somebody in the span of five minutes. That's when you met him. You didn't miss him. She had him. She had your bad boy red-handed. Suddenly you were much more interested in combining forces and making a whole lot of money."
Shawn noticed Leiken pale as he slowly revealed everything. Perfect. "And it was going well. It was going very well... Until you blew it. You know which moment I'm talking about, right? The one in the hotel room. When you realized he had printed way more than the 50,000 that you'd planned. And the passport? So you called him that morning, you met him at the warehouse. It was you who struggled with him. And it was you who shot him dead. Only then, having your vision that miraculously led everyone here to the crime scene."
"Oh, come on. I mean, I've seen poor losers before, but this is just sad." Leiken tried to reason with everyone, but they were all intently listening to Shawn.
"Your DNA was all over him. But you covered your tracks by touching the body in front of everybody before forensics had a chance to come in and brush it. That only leaves one outstanding issue. Where's the rest of the money?" He thought about doing some weird antic about krav maga, but decided to keep it professional. He kicked Leiken's bag. "It's in the bag!"
Ewing walked over and checked the bag, revealing it was full of cash.
"Well, you were wrong about one thing, Shawn. I didn't try to sleep with you because you were my enemy. I did it because I really thought we had something."
"Okay. First of all, a little discretion would be nice. All right? I mean, these are… These are my co-workers. We didn't sleep together." He met Lassie's eyes. "Secondly, anything we had, you ruined. Because you betrayed your gift, Leikin. You give a bad name to psychics like me who pride themselves on the purity of that gift. There are so many people out there who already doubt what we do. Now you've given 'em all a reason to think that we're fakes. You sicken me...I'm sickened.
"Gun!" Lassie noticed Leiken's gun first and shouted the warning to Shawn. When Leiken tried to grab Shawn, he twisted her arm behind her and forced her to the ground before she could even try to take him hostage. Lassie was there in an instant, removing Leiken's gun from her hand. Then he handed Shawn his cuffs so that he could cuff her.
Shawn happily cuffed Leiken and then dragged her to his feet.
They quickly wrapped up everything at the airport before heading back to the police station, needing to process Leiken and everything before the fed left town. Shawn and Gus filled out some paperwork for the case before they were free to go. Shawn sent Gus out to the car before heading over to Lassie's desk.
Shawn lowered his voice when he reached Lassie's side. "You gonna be home for dinner?"
"Unlikely, I think I'm going to see if O'Hara wants to grab dinner, so I can tell her about us."
Shawn nodded. "Okay. Just make sure to be home for dessert." He winked at Lassie and brushed his hand briefly against the detective's arm before heading out of the station.
Juliet and Carlton ate dinner while discussing their past couple of cases. Juliet was curious why Carlton asked her to dinner, and she hoped he was finally going to confess about his relationship with Shawn. She had been patient and didn't confront him about it the past few months because she wanted him to trust her enough to tell her himself.
Their conversation died down as they finished discussing the case from today and they fell into comfortable silence. Juliet waited patiently for Carlton to bring up why he wanted to have dinner.
"Thanks for coming to dinner with me, O'Hara."
"Of course, Carlton."
"Now I had an ulterior motive for asking you to dinner."
"Oh really?" Juliet smiled, showing that she already knew that.
"Partners shouldn't keep anything from each other, and so I wanted to tell you… I've been seeing someone."
Juliet schooled her expression to hide that she already knew this. "Really?"
"Yeah, it's a recent development, but I think we're going to be together for the long haul. So I thought you should know about it."
Juliet nodded. "Do I know them?"
"You do actually…It's Shawn."
"Spencer?" Juliet tried to hide her smile as she was thrilled Carlton was finally sharing this with her. She didn't want Carlton to get the wrong idea about the smile.
"Yes, Spencer…Our history is complicated, but we recently got back together, and I thought you should know."
Juliet finally smiled. "Thank you for telling me, Carlton."
Carlton looked her over for a moment. "You don't seem surprised by this at all."
Juliet's smile turned sheepish. "I actually saw you and Shawn kissing in the hospital room."
"You've known for months and you didn't say anything."
"I wanted you to trust me enough to tell me. I didn't want to out you before you were ready."
Carlton gave a small smile. "I appreciate that O'Hara."
They sat in silence for another minute before Juliet couldn't hold back her questions anymore. "So how did you two meet?"
Carlton took a minute to respond and Juliet thought he was going to blow her off. "We actually met in a bar."
They two of them ordered coffee and talked for another hour.