Warrick rubbed the towel over her head, ignoring the complaining coming from her mouth. As promised, he had dealt with her hair.
"Why do you know how to do this?" She watched him suspiciously as he began to clean up all traces of what they had done.
"My Grams raised me. Her sister owned a beauty shop. I hung out there a lot. I was often the guinea pig, but I learned a bunch of stuff."
"You ever do this before?" Gemma examined the job in the mirror as she combed her hair out.
"Yeah, when my Grams was sick, she didn't want the ladies from church to see her looking like a mess. She conned me into doing some styling." He inflicted a tone that was mock gay. Gemma chuckled cautiously.
"How do you know how to pick the right shade?"
"I know what looks good on a woman." Warrick winked, turning on his playboy charm.
"What about Jessie" Gemma questioned. Warrick glanced over to the motel bed where Gils surprise lay sleeping. No one had warned him that Gemma had a three-year-old daughter. Not until Gemma came out of the bedroom with her 'stuff', with the small sleeping body draped over her shoulder. "Do we dye her hair too?"
"No. We'll tuck it up in a baseball cap." Warrick decided. "She's dark enough, and I'm light enough that we could pass as related. It can be believable that we created her together."
"What!" Gemma screeched, dropping the comb from her grasp as she spun around to stare at him.
Warrick calmly picked up the comb and set it on the dresser. "We're gonna play the happy family card." He explained. "We'll be...on a family vacation. You, me, and our little boy, Jesse. Kinda like a honeymoon."
"Boy? Honeymoon?" Gemma backed away from him, eyes wide with apprension. Out of arms reach, she stopped and studied him.
"Well, I ain't gonna pass for your brother or father. Can't be a business trip with a kid in tow. Now, come back over here so I can finish your hair."
Still suspicious, Gemma chose to ignore him. "Why are we at this motel? Don't you live in Vegas?"
"Not at the moment. I'm not Warrick Brown anymore. We're in disguise; we're on the run. Going back to my place my lead them closer to finding us."
"How? I don't understand this?"
"We're in the wind until Gris figures out how to keep you safe. We don't want them to connect you and me. If you go to my place, it would be connecting the two of us." Warrick picked up the comb and motioned her over. Reluctantly, she came back over to sit before him. He pulled out scissors and began to trim so stray twigs.
"How much is he paying you to do this?" Gemma demanded, angrily.
"Paying?" Warrick snorted. "He gave me five hundred bucks for spending but that won't last us the week."
"I've got my credit cards and Atm card. We should be set." Gemma announced.
"What?" Warrick stopped in mid-snip. "You can't use those! There goes another neon sign! This time it's an arrow three miles high!"
"So what are we going to do?"
"I've got some cash." Warrick shrugged, focusing on her hair again. Some cash was his savings. He'd stopped at the bank and emptied his safety deposit box. He knew that Gris would offer to make it up to him when the time came. "We'll be fine. Alright, go shower, get the hair off of ya."
"Yeah," Gemma nodded, getting up and heading towards the bathroom. Pausing at the door, she questioned nervously, "Can you watch Jess?"
"I think I can handle it." Warrick waved his hand at the sleeping child. The kid hadn't moved during the entire time that he'd known her. She'd been drug out of her bed, stuffed into a car seat, then drug back out of the car and dumped onto the bed. Warrick envied the ability. "She's fine."
When Gemma returned from her quick shower, she found Warrick calmly slicing her atm card with the scissors he'd used on her hair. A pile of credit card remains on the table below him.
"What are you doing!" She demanded, storming into the room.
"Preventing temptation." Warrick shrugged as the last piece fell to the table.
"But-"
"We gotta go. The farther we get the better we can hide." Warrick gathered the pieces, shoveling them into the bag he'd gathered all their trash in. "We need to get as far away from Grissom as we can."
"Why?" Gemma looked at him with her big eyes, looking very much like a little girl.
"These people know everything about you. They know your connection with Gris. It's only a matter of time before they come charging to Gris."
"Is he in danger?"
"I don't think so. Gris is a smart guy. Smartest man I know. He'll be fine. Besides, he all but lives at the CSI lab, it's swarming with cops.
Gemma was surprised when Warrick began to load their belongings into a little blue Toyota. "What happened to your car?" She frowned, thinking she definitely had felt safer in the big hulking SUV they had ridden in before.
"Traded it in." Warrick shrugged. "Can't have them tracking us down in my truck."
"How did-?"
"A friend of mine owns a car lot. He's stowing mine in the back warehouse." Warrick stuffed their belongings into the trunk. Gemma was momentarily impressed to see Jessica's car seat already installed into the backseat. She buckled her sleeping daughter into the seat and tucked her precious monkey into her arms before climbing into the front passenger seat.
She watched as Warrick climbed in behind the wheel and began to adjust the seat to fit his long frame. Gemma knew she was about 5'7" and the man towered over her. He finally got the seat to an acceptable position and started the car. That was when she allowed herself to ask, "Where are we going?"
"Hell if I know." Warrick smirked. "I've been in Vegas my whole life."
"You've never left?"
"Well, I've gone here and there... work related mostly." He explained as he backed out of the parking spot. "It's best that we don't have a plan anyway. Plans are too easy to figure out."
"So you plan on just...playing this by ear?"
"Pretty much." Warrick chanced a grin at the young woman beside him.
"Thank you...for doing all this." Gemma whispered. Warrick didn't answer. Gemma looked over at him as he frowned at the road ahead. It was obvious the way his brows crinkled, that he was thinking hard on what to do.
He'd decided to go southeast for the moment. No plan was formulated, he just drove. Gemma dozed beside him and the tot continued to sleep. He took advantage of the fact that she was asleep; glancing over at her several times without her taking offense. She looked better now that the obscene black hair was gone. He'd lightened it to a dark brown with reddish highlights. It looked more natural. He wondered what she looked like with her natural hair color. From the lightness of her brows, he assumed she was a blonde. Something about her nagged at him. She looked familiar, but he knew he'd never met her.
"Mommy?" A small sleepy voice called from the back seat. "I gotta go numba two!" Warrick immediately slowed the car in response. He moved the car into the slow lane, preparing to take the next exit. Gemma shifted, waking from either the voice of her child, or the sudden change in the car.
"Wh-?"
"The little one is awake. She's gotta use the restroom." Warrick explained softly. "There's an exit about a mile ahead."
"Oh, sorry."
"I could use some coffee anyway." Warrick took the off-ramp, looking for the busiest gas station. The busier, the better, less chances of someone getting a good look at them.
Gemma hurried off with her daughter as soon as the car stopped. Warrick filled the tank and went inside for coffee. He gathered some food items that he deemed as possibly entertaining to a three hear old. At last, he grabbed a coffee for Gemma and a handful of maps.
By the time Gemma and Jessica returned, he was sitting on the hood of the car, looking over his newly purchased map. His coffee was already finished. He looked up and offered the remaining cup to her.
"Mr. Brown, you look exhausted. Why don't you let me drive while you sleep?" Gemma studied him with concern. "I'm a very good driver."
"Let me just figure out where we are heading. I'm fine to drive." Warrick growled, shooting her with a dark frown. With a heavy, irritated sigh, Gemma put her daughter into the car seat. With a glare over her should at the man on the hood, she climbed in the drivers seat. She took a moment to adjust the seat to her smaller size before starting the car. Warrick glared at her through the windshield.
"Get in the car, Mr. Brown. You can read the map while I drive. After you see that I'm perfectly capable of driving, you can get some sleep." Gemma snapped, matching his angry look with a glare of her own. "Get your butt off the hood and into the car."
"Mom, Bad word!" Jessica piped up from the back seat as Warrick angrily slammed into the car. He slid the seat all the way back to accommodate his long legs. He glared at Gemma as she took the coffee from him with one hand and took a sip.
"Put your seatbelt on." She looked at him over the rim. "You are very cranky when you're sleepy." She smiled teasingly, but Warrick didn't soften. "Read your map, show me where we are going and then go to sleep."
"Bad word. Mommy, bad word." Jessica reminded her from the back seat.
"Yes baby. I'm sorry. You're right, I should have told him to get his bottom in the car. I apologize." Gemma locked gazes with her daughter in the rearview mirror, giving her a wink.
"'Kay." Jessica agreed as Gemma pulled out of the station. Warrick tried to read the map, but found his eye growing heavier. He decided to close them for just a moment.
When his eyes opened again, it was pitch dark outside. "Wh-What? What time is it?' He questioned, jerking to a sitting position.
"After eleven." Gemma answered from behind the wheel.
"Where?" Wiping his eyes, he looked around groggily. Jessica stared back at him from the backseat, yellow monkey in hand, thumb tucked into her mouth.
"Arizona."
"Arizona?" He repeated dumbly, frowning because his brain was still foggy with sleep.
"You went to sleep before you could tell me where we were heading, so I just drove. I didn't figure you'd want to head to California. Didn't seem right. So, we're in Arizona."
"Next rest area, I'll take over driving. We can find a motel for the night in a bit. The later we register, the fewer people see us." Warrick yawned and stretched. Mentally, he admitted that she had been right, he felt better after a nap.
At the rest area, Gemma climbed into the back seat with her daughter. Warrick watched he in the rearview mirror as he drove. She murmured into her daughter's ear until the little girl drifted back to sleep. Gemma curled around the car seat, trying to find a comfortable position in the crammed backseat. Warrick made a mental note to steal a pillow from the motel.
It wasn't long before Gemma followed her daughter into slumber. She looked so exhausted and uncomfortable, Warrick felt guilty for keeping them on the road. He'd pushed them, but he knew he'd done the best he could. Their best chance was to stay well ahead of the people after her.
The sudden ringing of his cell phone startled him. Yanking it out of his pocket he looked at the caller name. Nick. "Hey bro, what's up?"
"Warrick, man, where are you?" Nick twanged loudly in his ear. "I went by your place and you weren't home. What happened to you sleeping all day?"
"Sounds like I wouldn't be sleeping, due to you, if I had stayed home." Warrick chuckled, good-naturedly. "I couldn't sleep. You know, when you're just too tired to sleep? I decided to go out...on a weekend trip, with a couple of girls."
"A couple?" Nick gasped, ever amazed at Warrick's playboy capabilities.
"Yeah, as in...two." Warrick began to picture Nick's slack jawed expression.
"Are they babes?" Nick questioned. "And they're okay with sharing you?"
"Oh, yes! Definitely." Warrick grinned, thinking that Jessica was, in truth, a babe. "A blonde and a brunette. And there is more than enough of me to go around!"
"Geez, Rick! You are a dog!" Nick chuckled, slightly jealous. He wondered how the man managed to keep all the women he was with straight.
"Yeah and you wish you could be me. Look, I gotta get. Can't let my gals feel neglected."
"Okay," Nick agreed with reluctance. "Just be ready to give me details later."
"You bet. I always do!" Warrick promised. "See ya."
Warrick left the girls sleeping in the car, parking next to the office so he could keep an eye on them, while he went in to get a room. I small, twenty-something kid sat on the stool behind the desk. He had several college texts in front of him. Warrick stood for a moment, waiting for the punk to look up from the texts. Finally Warrick cleared his throat noisily. The kid jumped, looking wild eyed at him. His eyes grew even wider as he took in Warrick's size.
"What do you want?" The kid demanded. Warrick almost laughed, but was too tired to even try.
"I need a room." He said instead. "Two beds or a bed and a cot will do." Warrick stifled a yawn, mentally grimacing at the thought of sleeping on a cot.
The kid leaned over the counter, craning his neck to look into the car. "How many?"
"Three." Warrick glanced over his shoulder, making sure they were still tucked into the backseat. "My wife and kid are asleep in the car.
Clicking on the computer the kid looked up at Warrick. "I have two doubles. Is that okay?" Warrick openly yawned, wondering if the kid had even listened to the request. He was offering exactly what Warrick had asked for.
"Right now, I would accept a twin. I'm beat." Warrick made a show for rubbing his eyes, looking overly drowsy. "I'll give you an extra ten if you just give me a key and let me do the paperwork in the morning."
The kid looked interested, glancing over his shoulder as if checking to see if anyone was listening in.
"Sure." The clerk grinned." I'll give you room 419. It'll be $86.49, it'll have to be cash sir."
"$96.49." Warrick handed over a hundred. "Jake Johnson."
"See you in the morning Mr. Johnson. I'm off at nine, so before that, okay?" The kid handed over the key with a knowing smile.
"Sure." Warrick pocketed the key and headed back to the car. He knew he'd be long gone before then. He suspected the kid knew it too. Most likely, the hundred was going straight into the kid's pocket. It suited him fine. The kid wasn't going to be bragging that he had stiffed his boss, so this stay, they'd be invisible.
He was also happy to find that room 419 was on the backside of the complex. He parked right in front of the door, planned on moving the car after he got the females settled. He let them continue to sleep as he checked over the room and unloaded their bags from the trunk. Only then did he unlock the back doors and roused Gemma.
"Come on. There's a bed inside for you." He whispered as he pulled Jessica out of the car seat. The little girl snuggled up to him in her sleep, trustingly. Somehow, her small weight felt good in his arms and he held her for a moment longer than necessary before putting her on the bed farthest from the door. Gemma stumbled into the restroom before collapsing on the bed beside her daughter.
She eyed him, "You're sleeping in here? Can't you get a room of your own?"
"Look, you better get used to my face. Until this is over, you and I are joined at the hip. I'm too tired to put the moves on you. It's not like you're my type anyway. I like women with a little more curves." He made motions with his hands, clearly insulting her lack of endowment.
Gemma's cheeks flamed crimson. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air. With an angry grumble, she flopped to the opposite direction.
Warrick grinned, yawning as he checked out her backside. He hadn't bothered to tell her that he was more of a butt-man, and that he found what he saw exactly to his liking.Tiredly he went out to move the car. It wouldn't do to leave the car in front of their room. Checking over the car to make sure they had everything they needed should they have to abandon the car, he carried the car seat back to the room, unlocked the door with his key and let himself back in.
Gemma was either asleep, or feigning sleep due to his crude comment. He watched the two for a moment before he pulled the remaining bed up against the locked door and collapsed on it.