Precious Things by SLynn
Spoilers: Up to 'Nesting Dolls'
Rating: R for violence and disturbing content.
Disclaimer: Not mine – well, some are mine, just not the ones you recognize.
Chapter 13: Silence
It was the noise that woke him.
She was crying and struggling and asleep beside him.
Coming out of his own stupor he turned to her, tried to comfort her. Tried to wake her, but it wasn't easy.
He rubbed her arms. He pulled her closer to him. Whispered soft words in her ear.
Finally after one last groan she opened her eyes.
For a moment she didn't seem to know what was happening. He doubted if she remembered the nightmare at all. There were traces of it still lingering in her eyes, tears still unshed that were making them brighter then usual, but they didn't last long.
"Am I late?" Amy asked, her voice as confused as her eyes.
She didn't wait for Nick to answer her, just moved out of his arms and stood up moving away from the bed. She moved quickly about the room without direction. Amy seemed to suddenly decide she was cold, pulling out one of his sweatshirts from a drawer and putting it on.
"Amy," Nick said sitting up.
She came over to the bed but didn't sit down.
"Your mother called," she said as she started to pace again.
Nick was beginning to think she wasn't really awake. Sometimes with Amy it was hard to tell. She sometimes rambled incoherently in the mornings especially when she hadn't gotten enough rest.
"Come here please," he implored her.
Amy finally sat and seemed more alert. Nick wasted no time in taking up her hands in his.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked once she'd stopped fidgeting.
"No," she answered shaking her head, "I don't really remember much. Just that, I think it's because I spent so much time processing that sheet."
Nick nodded knowing what she meant. The sheet the body they'd found buried in last night.
"I was in it," she said quietly.
Nick pulled her to him once more and she leaned her head against his shoulder.
"It's over," he assured her again and again.
He felt Amy nod slightly against him before she leaned back to look him in the eye. Smiling, a few tears slipped down her cheeks. Nick smiled back at her catching the errant tears with his thumb.
"I'm going to take a shower," Amy said once more sounding normal as she moved away from him.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again.
Amy stopped and smiled at him with a nod of her head before continuing on towards the bathroom.
Nick checked the clock. It was barely noon and he had no idea when she'd actually gotten home. Knowing neither of them would be getting any more sleep today, he climbed out of bed.
He heard the shower start as he made the bed.
He wished there was something more he could do.
Sara was happy to see upon coming home that Greg was actually asleep. She found him snoring softly laid out in bed still dressed but otherwise looking perfectly content. Not wanting to wake him, she changed quickly and went back into the living room.
No sooner then she got there then the doorbell rang.
Getting to it quickly so that it wouldn't wake Greg, Sara rushed to the door and opened it without looking. She didn't really have too, only one person they knew came over this early.
"Hi Betty."
"Good morning Sara," she replied with her usual chirp, "I haven't seen you in days."
"Well," Sara said with a forced smile, making sure to completely block the door, "we've been busy."
"I can imagine," Betty returned with a sympathetic nod, "Jaime told me that Greg and his friend Nick were at her school looking into that poor girl Cynthia Haas' death. Such a shame. She and Jaime were in girl scouts together but that was ages ago. They haven't been close in years but I know my little girl is taking it hard."
"Yeah well…"
"And then last night on the news, I saw them both. That's why I stopped by. I taped it if you want a copy…"
"…oh no thank you…"
"…said they found two more bodies. How horrible. I hope we don't have some lunatic like Ted Bundy running loose around here."
Betty paused for Sara now, waiting for her to confirm her worst suspicions. While Sara's attitude towards Betty and her entire family had cooled dramatically she wasn't taking the bait. Sara had learned to accept Betty for who she was but still wasn't willing to supply the local neighborhood with all the goriest details of the latest Las Vegas crimes.
"I don't think you have to worry about that," was as much as Sara was willing to say.
Betty nodded and smiled appreciatively.
"So where is Greg?" she asked peering over Sara's shoulder.
Sara smiled. Greg was Betty's favorite and it wasn't hard to figure out why. Greg always stopped and talked to her when he saw her, even if he'd had a lousy day. Greg was always willing to help her carry in groceries or take out the trash because Howard had a bad back and was virtually bedridden. And because yes, Greg flirted.
Sara had come to accept that about him. Greg flirted with Betty the same way he flirted with virtually every other woman he'd run across. It was innocent enough, sometimes she wondered if he did it subconsciously because he truly seemed unaware of it. It was part of his personality. Like some compulsion he had and couldn't stop.
Of course that theory didn't completely hold up since Greg went out of his way to avoid the two college girls who rent the house three doors down. He barely makes eye contact with either of them despite their very obvious attempts to do the same. It got to the point where Sara had to in no uncertain terms tell them to back off. Her warning made a bit more impact then she'd first imagined it would. Since then neither of them have so much looked his way and practically run inside when they see her. That probably had something to do with her carrying her gun with her when she'd issued that warning, but Sara couldn't be entirely certain.
"He's sleeping," Sara answered still blocking the way.
"Oh," Betty smiled, "is he feeling alright?"
"Just tired. He's been working a lot."
"I was getting worried. I saw him come home the other morning earlier then normal with some woman. It was very, very early and I hoped he wasn't sick."
"That was Amy," Sara said still forcing a smile, "You remember her right? She's been over. You've met. She works with Greg and me."
Sara tried to jog Betty's memory but for some reason she just couldn't recall Amy. They'd introduced her eight times at least. She'd seen her at the house, but whenever she saw Amy alone with Greg she made a point of telling Sara about it.
"Oh that's right," Betty said after a minute. "I was just surprised it wasn't you."
Sara said nothing to that. She was fast approaching her 'Betty quota' for the day. It was as if Betty wanted Sara to be jealous of Amy, but Sara couldn't do it. She knew better then Betty did that Amy was just Greg's friend. And try as she had at first to convince Betty that Amy was Nick's girlfriend, for some reason Betty just didn't believe it.
"Well," Betty said after a sigh, "I'd better go. Need to get the kids off to school."
"Okay then," Sara said with a wave as she started to shut the door.
"Tell Greg I said hello."
"I will."
"And if you change your mind about that tape…"
"Goodbye Betty," Sara cut her off, shutting the door and locking it.
Sara let out a sigh and went to the bookcase picking up the book Amy had leant her three weeks ago but that she hadn't had time for until now. The book looked promising and had been recommended to Amy by Nick's sister.
Settling on to the couch Sara felt herself relax. Sleeping wasn't an issue for her today since she had the night off. It was rare she had a moment of quiet like this and she planned on enjoying it.
What felt like minutes later Sara was lifting her head off the couch having fallen asleep. She could hear Greg in the kitchen humming so he must be cooking. He hummed when he cooked, something she found so completely Greg like she had no way to describe or explain it. Sara thought it might have something to do with his irrational fear of silence but never actually asked him why he did it.
"What time is it?" she asked, her voice still scratchy.
The humming abruptly stopped.
"It's almost one," he answered. "I'm making lunch, do you want something?"
Sara rolled over on the couch so she could look up at him.
"Grilled cheese," he provided to the question she hadn't yet asked.
Sara smiled at him.
"You're the only adult I know who still eats grilled cheese."
"It keeps me young," Greg returned with a smile of his own. "Do you want one?"
"Sure," Sara said getting off the couch to return her book to the shelf. At this rate she'd never get it read.
Making her way into the kitchen she yawned before wrapping her arms around Greg's waist from behind.
"When did you get up?" Sara asked resting her head against him.
"About an hour ago," he answered.
"Any dreams?" she asked before kissing his neck and moving away.
She'd wanted to ask about nightmares but wasn't sure if she should just yet.
Greg turned and looked at her briefly and it was really all the answer she needed. They'd woken him again it was obvious.
Sara got a few plates as Greg shut off the stove. Sitting down at the table they were quiet for the first few bites.
"Do you want to talk about them?" she asked finally.
For a second he didn't say anything. Just took another gulp of milk and wiped his mouth before looking back at her.
"They weren't bad today," he finally said, "not like they have been. I think I was too tired to remember most of it."
Sara stared at him as he went back to eating. Acting like this was a conversation they had daily. Greg must have noticed because he put his sandwich back down.
"They aren't all the same," he supplied. Sara would never ask exactly what he had nightmares about but it didn't stop her from wanting to know. Greg just figured it was time to let it out; after all they couldn't get worse. "They change a lot. A lot of times in the middle of it the places or the people change. I guess that's good because at least then I know I'm dreaming."
Sara nodded and Greg let out a sigh before he continued.
"Lately they've been about that night with Ortega. Sometimes it plays out just like it happened and other times it doesn't."
Greg wasn't going to get any more detailed. He didn't want too. Didn't want to tell her that sometimes it was him that pulled the trigger and shot Nick in his dreams or that sometimes it wasn't Nick that got shot but her. Or that sometimes Sara fired the gun. It was all very twisted and made no sense to him awake or sleeping.
"Is that what you were dreaming about the other day?"
Greg shook his head.
"When it isn't about that night it's about Dr. Fenton."
Again he wasn't sure he could elaborate but Sara seemed to understand and didn't press.
"You know," he said, his voice sounding a bit uneven to his own ears, "I know he's dead. I know he isn't doing this but I can't get the similarities out of my head."
"Maybe that's where we should start."
Greg didn't know what she meant, told her so with his eyes.
"The cases are similar but not identical. If it was really a copycat they'd match exactly or at least be a lot closer then they are. Those girls would have been killed at their homes and they would have been more randomly selected."
"So what? Are you saying someone is just mimicking the Fenton case to cover their own tracks?"
"Maybe."
"But what about the underwear?" Greg asked, "The rest of that they could have read in the newspaper, but that wasn't ever released."
Sara rubbed her eyes, he was right about that. That information had never been released through public affairs or through any police report. Had never been in print as far as anyone knew but somehow they did. Somehow whoever was doing this knew that fact and was exploiting it.
But why were the doing it wrong?
Dr. Fenton hadn't taken the underwear the victim had and he hadn't used new pairs to put in their mouths.
So whoever the source was had been vague. Vague enough that the copycat had to guess, to fill in the details for themselves.
And that's when it hit her.
"Come on," she said standing and taking both their plates with her to the sink. "We've got to get dressed and get to the lab."
"What?" Greg asked confused at her sudden burst of activity.
"We'll need to call Archie too."
Greg followed her down the hall towards their room.
"Are you going to at least tell me what this is about?"
"When we get there."
"Sara?"
Sitting down to put on her shoes and seeing that he wasn't going to budge until she told him Sara sighed. She wasn't sure how he was going to take this but he'd find out eventually if she was right.
"We were only thinking about the information that was officially released," she began. "Newspapers, television, press conferences."
"And?" he asked now, leaning into the doorframe with his arms crossed.
"We forgot about the information that might not have been legally obtained."
Greg continued to stare at her for a minute, arms still crossed, and then it hit him too.
"My computer," he said softly.
Sara nodded and smiled back at him sadly.
Greg nodded now too. His computer had been stolen from their house several months back and all of his files had been uploaded to some website on the internet. They'd since been removed but the damage had already been done. Greg hadn't been very detailed in his documents, mostly he'd written things down as a way to vent, but there had been enough. Certainly enough for someone to copycat Dr. Fenton's crimes.
"We need to see if Archie can figure out who downloaded them," Sara said standing again. "See if we can trace it back to an IP in the area. Maybe narrow the search."
Greg started moving again now, getting clothes out so that he too would be ready to go. Sara wanted to say something more to him but didn't know what.
His complete silence was unnerving.
