p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"Chapter 17/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"Connors and Reid sat in a comfortable silence now, as she watched the clouds below roll by. After a long moment looking out the window she opened up her tablet to review the case. She reads through the case again, not quite knowing what to do with herself. Her eyes glance up at him for just a moment. He was silently reading through a book. She knew the title was German, but no more than that. She smiled a tiny smile as a hair fell into his face and he pushed it back behind his ear. She went back to her tablet./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"His eyes blankly glanced over the words of the book. He had already finished it but had nothing else to do until they landed. He glanced up at Connors. She was wearing a crisp white button up and a blue blazer. He thought back to the outfit he had first met her in yesterday morning. Her sloppy hair and too big T-shirt with specks of paint had made him smile. She looked brighter. Happier. Now she looked so professional and serious. Cold even. He frowned and looked back down at his book./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"30 minutes later turbulence shook the plane. Spencer was jolted awake from a light doze. He let out a small groan at the disturbance. Connors looked up at him with concern. She paused for a moment before speaking. "Are you alright?" "Hmm?" Spencer grumbled, rubbing his eyes. "It's just, you always seem so tired." Reid's forehead crinkled at her comment. "To be fair I woke up in a bathtub this morning." She gave a soft smile. "That is true. But yesterday you seemed tired too. And you look like you haven't had a good nights sleep in a while." Spencer looked at her for a moment, calculating his response. I just, Ive been having trouble sleeping lately." "Was it a rough case?" She asked, a twinge of nervousness in her voice. "He squeezes his eyes shut tight for a moment and sighed. "Yeah, it was." "Oh." She murmured, not knowing what to say. "Can I ask what happened?" His eyes met hers and she knew then that the answer was no. His gaze softened and instead he said "how long have you been painting?" She quirked her eyebrow at this. "Paint? I don't have an artistic bone in my body." She let out a small laugh. Her laugh reminded him of jingle bells./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""What makes you think I'm a painter?" He avoided her gaze. "Yesterday morning you were waiting a t shirt with paint on it." She glanced down as if she was still wearing it. "Oh right, that was my brothers shirt. He used to paint houses." "What does he do now?" She looked down and bit her lip. Reid regretted asking. He knew he had just hit a sore spot. "Sorry, you don't have to-" she shook her head. "No it's alright." She said, a sigh in her voice. "Micky was paralyzed after jumping out of a second story window. Our house caught fire one night and he was trapped."/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""Oh, I'm really sorry. I'm glad he got out though." She let out a half laugh and shook her head. "Yeah, atleast there's that." She straightened herself. "It was a long time ago. Now he stays at home. And watches after his daughter. "You have a niece?" Connors face lit up. "Oh yes! She just turned 6 last month! She's an absolutely wonderful kid. She's so smart. She's reading at a fifth grade level already!" Spencer glanced to the side and gave a small laugh, thinking about his own reading level when he was six as Connors pulled out her phone to show him pictures/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"Connors and Reid sat in a comfortable silence now, as she watched the clouds below roll by. After a long moment looking out the window she opened up her tablet to review the case. She reads through the case again, not quite knowing what to do with herself. Her eyes glance up at him for just a moment. He was silently reading through a book. She knew the title was German, but no more than that. She smiled a tiny smile as a hair fell into his face and he pushed it back behind his ear. She went back to her tablet./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"His eyes blankly glanced over the words of the book. He had already finished it but had nothing else to do until they landed. He glanced up at Connors. She was wearing a crisp white button up and a blue blazer. He thought back to the outfit he had first met her in yesterday morning. Her sloppy hair and too big T-shirt with specks of paint had made him smile. She looked brighter. Happier. Now she looked so professional and serious. Cold even. He frowned and looked back down at his book./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"30 minutes later turbulence shook the plane. Spencer was jolted awake from a light doze. He let out a small groan at the disturbance. Connors looked up at him with concern. She paused for a moment before speaking. "Are you alright?" "Hmm?" Spencer grumbled, rubbing his eyes. "It's just, you always seem so tired." Reid's forehead crinkled at her comment. "To be fair I woke up in a bathtub this morning." She gave a soft smile. "That is true. But yesterday you seemed tired too. And you look like you haven't had a good nights sleep in a while." Spencer looked at her for a moment, calculating his response. I just, Ive been having trouble sleeping lately." "Was it a rough case?" She asked, a twinge of nervousness in her voice. "He squeezes his eyes shut tight for a moment and sighed. "Yeah, it was." "Oh." She murmured, not knowing what to say. "Can I ask what happened?" His eyes met hers and she knew then that the answer was no. His gaze softened and instead he said "how long have you been painting?" She quirked her eyebrow at this. "Paint? I don't have an artistic bone in my body." She let out a small laugh. Her laugh reminded him of jingle bells./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""What makes you think I'm a painter?" He avoided her gaze. "Yesterday morning you were waiting a t shirt with paint on it." She glanced down as if she was still wearing it. "Oh right, that was my brothers shirt. He used to paint houses." "What does he do now?" She looked down and bit her lip. Reid regretted asking. He knew he had just hit a sore spot. "Sorry, you don't have to-" she shook her head. "No it's alright." She said, a sigh in her voice. "Micky was paralyzed after jumping out of a second story window. Our house caught fire one night and he was trapped."/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""Oh, I'm really sorry. I'm glad he got out though." She let out a half laugh and shook her head. "Yeah, atleast there's that." She straightened herself. "It was a long time ago. Now he stays at home. And watches after his daughter. "You have a niece?" Connors face lit up. "Oh yes! She just turned 6 last month! She's an absolutely wonderful kid. She's so smart. She's reading at a fifth grade level already!" Spencer glanced to the side and gave a small laugh, thinking about his own reading level when he was six as Connors pulled out her phone to show him pictures/span/p
