Chapter Twenty
II
Life was seduction, ever enticing humans into just another day, just another morning. Just another moment of breathing, feeling, being. Life for life's sake.
Life. Warrick had never realised the prospect of losing it would have been such a strange, haunting thought. After all, he worked a profession that wasn't exactly safe, and he'd certainly seen people around him be in danger. He'd had a gun pulled on him. And yet, yet... He hadn't always had time to think before and now there seemed almost too much time.
Perhaps that was why Catherine was racing ahead, insisting they head off to the lab and back to work. No time to think, losing yourself in work so that the thoughts went away and became haunts of nightmares instead.
"I thought we were ordered to take a few days off," he said, watching her drive, shades shielding her eyes from the onslaught of summer sun.
"We can take time off after we catch this guy," she said dismissively.
"You, me and Lindsey on a beach somewhere?"
"I didn't know you liked the beach."
"I don't," he replied. "I like watching you in a swimsuit."
The smile softened her face and he felt glad to be there to see it, to be alive, to have awoken with Catherine's bare back against his chest and sheets tangled away from him. Life's seduction and her demanding touch.
The smile was fading as she pulled into the lab car park, where work, death and traces of justice waited. He couldn't help but wonder slightly how this new dynamic between them would play out at work. She was still his boss here, on these grounds, for all they might be equals outside and he could kiss the taste of summer on her lips.
He slammed the door as he exited the car, trying to summon a Grissom-esque detachment. Just another day at work. It didn't matter that his life had been in danger, that Catherine's had. That could matter after work, slight emotions on a roller coaster ride.
'I'm not much of a Grissom,' he thought and grimaced.
"You okay?" she asked softly, giving him a glance.
"Yeah," he lied and judging by her look, she knew it to be so. But she didn't say anything, merely gave his arm a light squeeze. She knew him, but she didn't need words to remind him of that. He could feel it in every look.
"I'll go have a chat with Ecklie," she said as they headed inside, grimace slightly with disdain.
"I'll find Nick, hear how the search for John Keyes is going."
She nodded and they parted in the hallway. Some of the lab techs gave him a wave as he walked through, letting him know they were glad he was okay. He found it strangely touching. Sometimes, the lab felt like a family house with a lot of mad cousins running about. Perhaps a father, too, and at least one brother.
Of all places he would not have expected Nick to be, Grissom's office was topping the list, just barely beating out Mars. But nevertheless, there Nick was, shifting through papers on the desk and looking almost at home.
"Does Grissom know you're doing this and do you have a life insurance?" Warrick asked casually, leaning against the door frame.
"It's the funny guy who's supposed to be off," Nick countered, standing up. "Should have known you couldn't stay away. For your information, I called Grissom, he vaguely remembered the Keyes family. There was a suspicious death in their family some years back, but no one was charged. The case file hasn't got much, but Griss said he'd kept his notes and they should be here somewhere."
"What are you looking for exactly?"
"Background. You know as well as I do that signature killers don't pop up overnight."
"They evolve," Warrick agreed, remembering past cases. Millander. Syd Goggle. Grissom had been with them then, and the thought felt like a loss. Grissom should be here now. Once, Grissom had told Warrick that when he left, there would be no cake in the break room, he'd just be gone, like the ghost he believed himself to be.
A delusion. Ghosts did not touch people as Grissom had, even through his guarded shell. And Warrick would miss him. They would all miss him, perhaps Sara most of all.
'We never do fall for the uncomplicated ones,' Warrick thought dryly. But then, perhaps that was the whole point.
"Yeah. Catherine know you're not taking your ordered rest?" Nick asked, something not quite natural to his tone.
"Catherine's here too. She's with Ecklie."
Nick gave him a look, looking a bit resigned, if not surprised. "You came with Catherine?"
"What of it?"
"You been staying with her?"
"Yeah, just in case the guy tries again."
"And that's the only reason?"
"If you have something to say, Nick, just say it," Warrick snapped, unable to keep his tone even any longer.
"Fine. Office romances are a bad idea. You know that. And Catherine..."
Warrick bit back an angry reply, instead giving Nick a hard glare that didn't seem to face him much.
"She's our supervisor, man," Nick went on. "What if you two don't work out? What if you do? What are you gonna do if it becomes serious?"
"You haven't exactly had a stellar track record yourself!" Warrick shot back, feeling anger rise to push back the echo of Nick's word in his mind. They sounded all too much like some of his own that he tried to silence.
Nick clenched his jaw for a moment, clearly remembering Kristy Hopkins as Warrick was, then he relaxed. "Yeah, I don't. That's why I'm looking out for you."
Warrick closed his eyes, calming his blood. It wasn't Nick's fault. It was probably his own, for allowing himself to even notice how sunlight looked on Catherine's skin. Maybe it was partly Catherine's for not playing Grissom to his Sara and actually being within his reach. Maybe it was just life's fault for throwing two people together and giving both an attraction for the other.
"Sometimes you can't help but living and she's life," he said simply.
Nick looked thoughtful for a moment, then shook his head. "Dude, you sound like a Hallmark card."
And at that moment, Warrick felt most of the tension drain away and he knew, whatever else might happen, his friendship with Nick would remain.
"You don't have much room for the soul of a poet in there, do you Nick?"
"No," Nick said firmly and they shared a slight smile. "Look Warrick, I'm not okay with this, but ..."
He spread his arms in a slightly dejected gesture, but it was without condemning flair. Nick didn't condemn and sometimes, just sometimes, Warrick envied him. Brightness and care was hard to hold onto in this place, but Nick had.
"I know," he said, feeling the unspoken.
Nick nodded slowly. "Yeah. Let's see if we can find anything in this paper pile Grissom passes off as a desk."
They worked in silence for a moment, shifting through the various stacks while trying not to make too much of a mess. Not wise to piss off a man who was on Latin name basis with creepy crawlies.
"Right, here we go - Johanna Keyes, ruled suicide by the Sheriff, despite some suspicions of foul play. Grissom consulted on it. Wow, old case. Grissom never forgets or throws anything away, does he?"
"You never know when new evidence might come in," Warrick replied, reading over Nick's shoulder. "Two sons, John and Alan. Have we looked into this other son at all?"
"No."
"He could have access to his brother's properties."
"Yeah, I think they jointly owned that ranch. It's worth a look," Nick agreed, looking thoughtful. "John Keyes could just be on holiday with a mistress and hiding from the wife. Coincidences can happen."
"But never trust them, as Grissom would say. How did Grissom seem, by the way?"
Nick shrugged. "Grissom."
Warrick gave a small snort. Really, Nick was right. Sometimes Grissom was just Grissom and there was no other word to describe it short of inventing some. It did remind him he should give Grissom a call. There were days he missed very much working with the guy, even for all the bugs. Grissom had given him a second change, a chance still not repaid.
"Ever miss the old shift?" Nick asked, but there was a slight test in his question, judging by the tone.
"Oh yeah," Warrick said without hesitating. Whatever the test, it seemed to be passed, for Nick smiled and gave his shoulder a light squeeze.
"Hey guys," a familiar voice called from behind, and Warrick turned around smiling, but the smile faded as he saw Catherine in the doorway, looking torn between anger and distress.
"He's killed again, hasn't he?" he asked quietly, feeling death loom over her like a shadow.
"Looks like it. Brass just called. Jocelyn Creer, found dead in her home by her sister. M.O. is the same." Catherine sounded tired and she met his gaze with shadows in her eyes.
'That might have been you,' Warrick thought and it was fire and ice in his blood. No. It would never be her, never be any of them. Not while he could fight against it. Not while killers could be caught. Not while life went on, the wind a caress promising another day behind the horizon.
"Let's go do our job," Nick said quietly and they all walked out, Catherine's hand brushing against Warrick's for a silent, enduring moment.
'Life's seduction in a touch,' he thought distantly and went out to fight death, killers and history repeating.
