Cold Cases, Chapter 5
Ryan walked into the break room that morning intending to eat his usual morning muffin, drink his coffee, and finish some paperwork from the last case in peace and quiet.
He carefully poured himself a cup of coffee, not even noticing Emily sleeping on the couch, and settled in, sinking deeply into his work within a few minutes.
Ryan was biting into his muffin when he heard a moan. Startled, the muffin fell from his hand as he jumped to his feet, his eyes sweeping the room.
He relaxed when he saw Emily and smiled at her. She turned over and stared at him blearily.
"What are you looking at?" She asked, her voice slightly raspy.
He grinned and poured her some coffee. "You just scared me, is all."
"What time is it?" She asked as she carefully sat up and accepted the coffee.
"Mmmm…about 9:00."
"PM?"
Ryan gave her a confused look. "No, AM."
"What?" She yelled, jumping to her feet.
Ryan looked at her. "What's wrong?"
"I was here overnight! I probably look a mess, too!"
Ryan shrugged. "It's not that bad."
Emily put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows.
"All right," Ryan admitted. "Your hair is sticking every which way, and your makeup is a little…" He ended with gestures to hopefully emphasize his point.
His miming was interrupted by Emily as she smacked him over the head and stormed out the door.
Ryan shrugged. "I was just being honest!" He yelled after her. With a shake of his head he returned to his paperwork, a small smiled now gracing his features.
Emily rushed to the locker room, praying no one would notice her in her current crisis.
She threw open her locker and grabbed a spare set of jeans and a MDPD t-shirt she kept in there, just for occasions like this, as well as some soap and shampoo so she could take a shower.
She smiled. It never hurt to be prepared.
She showered and changed, throwing her damp hair into a messy bun. She did her makeup carefully and walked out.
She knew she didn't look exactly work worthy. The jeans were very casual and the MDPD t-shirt was a little too big for her, but she was grateful to have some clean clothes.
She pulled on her tennis shoes and walked out, ready to go to the layout room and finish up her work.
She spent the next hour in the layout room, gathering papers, checking computers and putting away evidence from the old cases.
She kept the foreign DNA evidence, as well as the picture of 'Michael' and the journals out.
She gave the evidence boxes back to Valera walked out into the hall, looking for Horatio.
He was at the end of the hall, talking to a young woman. She was pretty, with long brown hair and bright blue eyes.
"Horatio?" She called quietly.
She caught his attention. He looked up and nodded to her.
"I'll be with you in a moment."
She watched him put his arm around the girl's shoulders and steer her to the elevators, still speaking quietly. He looked worried, she looked upset, and Emily could tell something was wrong.
He turned back to her and walked over, the smile back on his face, although she could detect the worry in his eyes.
"What is it?" He asked.
Emily handed him the picture. "You said you wanted to be kept informed? That's our latest suspect. He was a Marriage Counselor for all four of these couples, and is mentioned in their journals. I found his picture on an old memory card of Mrs. Mendell's. There are no records of him ever being brought in for questioning."
Horatio frowned. "I wonder who investigated this one?"
Emily shook her head. "No idea, but they were certainly doing a half-assed job of things."
"Language, Em," Horatio chided, though the twinkle in his eye told Emily he agreed.
Emily grinned. "I'm going to check the local churches, see what I can pull up on their counselors. He didn't match anyone in our database."
Horatio nodded. "You're doing well with this one Emily. Keep me posted."