Thanks for reading, I'd love to hear your thoughts :)
/
Sara
"How long are we going to leave him in there?"
I was leaning heavily against the wall in the small area attached to the interrogation room, gazing through the glass with narrowed eyes at James O'Riley.
He was a strikingly handsome man- tall and robust with a neatly trimmed beard and eyes the deepest shade of cobalt. Thick, dark hair was tied into a neat bun at the back of his head, a few intricate tattoos covering olive skinned arms. He was dressed simply but well, the Rolex on his thick wrist gleaming beneath florescent lights each time he raised it to check the time, his patience waning.
It had been forty-five minutes. Sofia had disappeared for most of it, returning silently with the same unimpressed expression that she had left with, brows furrowed, two cups of coffee in her pale hands.
She passed one to me, leaning back against the wall with a silent shrug, raising the cup to her lips. It had taken her the better part of the morning to track him down and I could tell that she was in no mood for the nonsense that was likely about to ensue.
"I just spoke to Grissom- the oil on the victims shoulder isn't enough to get a warrant for his truck or garage. We're going to have to hope that he offers it up willingly"
I took a long sip of coffee, eyes narrowing even further in annoyance. The likelihood of that was slim to none.
She inhaled lightly, the way she does right before saying something delicate
"Let me talk to him for a few minutes before you join us"
I glanced over at her in question. Between the two of us, I was definitely more tactful. If something were to send him out the door before we were finished asking questions, it would without a doubt be her smooth but brazen form of interrogation that always seemed to take people by surprise.
That being said, I would hardly call myself a tactical person. The effectiveness of our team dynamic was clearly debatable.
"You're glaring daggers at him and we don't even know if he's our guy yet. Just let me ease into this"
In response to my silence she turned towards me, tilting her head to rest softly against the beige wall. I traced my eyes over her features- the wave of blonde hair that fell loosely over strong shoulders, the smile playing on her lips, her soft cheeks. I shifted my gaze forward, pursing my lips into a smile despite my irritation. Her beauty was like the edge of a sharp knife and she knew it- I could see it in her glacial eyes.
"Fine, but try not to scare him off before I get in there"
She chuckled, eyes remaining on me for a moment before pushing off the wall towards the door.
The tension between us was palpable and unclear. I could tell she was enjoying this- keeping us balanced precariously on the brink of something that, should we tumble over the edge of, I knew would be intense; keeping me guessing. It was confusing and frustrating and entirely arousing.
I wandered slowly up to the window, resting my coffee on the ledge beneath it as she took a seat across from O'Riley. I promised Brass that if any suspects in this investigation so much as looked at her the wrong way, I would intervene. He knew just as well as I did that serial killers rarely strayed from their general MO, but that seemed to do little to ease his mind. Sofia was one of the few soft spots he had- a fact that had been made abundantly clear over the past few months.
"You work with cars, Mr. O'Riley?" she asked, fingertips strumming lightly against the Styrofoam cup in front of her
He nodded, folding calloused hands together on the table
"I'm a mechanic"
"So you must be exposed to motor oil, day to day"
I shook my head softly as she took a sip of coffee, maintaining eye contact. Right to the point- so much for easing into this.
"Yeah, the younger guys at the shop do most of the oil changes, but I still do a few here and there" he answered, voice gruff
"What about your truck, when is the last time you changed the oil?"
He held her gaze for a few long moments, probably trying to figure out where she was going with this.
"A few days ago, it was long overdue"
Of course. I felt the grip on my cup tighten absently- I don't know why I ever assumed that people would make things easy for us.
"We found traces of motor oil on the latest victims shoulder" she elaborated, immediately eliciting a deep tenor laugh from O'Riley
"That's what you dragged me down here for? Anyone who owns a vehicle, or has been near a vehicle could be exposed to motor oil"
"The oil had a low viscosity, which I'm sure you know is used in much colder climates than Nevada. You recently moved from Breckenridge, right James?"
He leaned forward in what felt like a threatening manner, lowering his voice but his tone remaining eerily calm
"My niece is dead, and you ask me to come down here so that you can indirectly accuse me of murdering her and a bunch of other girls, with no evidence to support this besides a smudge of motor oil?"
Sofia remained unfazed, raising a perfectly shaped eyebrow slightly. This was going about as well as I expected. I figured it was as good a time as any to join them.
I smiled stiffly as I entered the room, walking over to sit down next to the blonde.
"Sir, my name is Sara Sidle, I'm with the crime lab. We spoke briefly a couple months ago. We are not accusing you of anything here, just simply trying to figure out who did this, and right now that means ruling you out as a suspect"
"And how do you plan on doing that exactly?"
"Well, if you would be helpful if you let us test your garage for any traces of oil, to run against the sample we have"
His blue eyed gaze was heavy- unnervingly so. The contrast of his calm words and violent eyes was eliciting an uneasy feeling beneath my skin. I refused to be the one to look away first, and he eventually sat back in defeat with a shake of his head
"I'm sorry, but you are wasting your time here. My family is grieving Emma's death, the last thing I need is the lot of you tearing through my home. You're just going to have to believe me when I say that I had nothing to do with this"
"If you don't give us the go ahead, we'll get a court order" Sofia spoke impatiently, jaw flexing in irritation.
"So get one"
He held her gaze for an unsettling amount of time, the blonde staring back with a cold intensity that rivaled his own. Eventually he pushed away from the metal table, slowly standing up.
"I wish I could be of more help. Good luck with all of this"
We watched him stalk out of the room, door drifting quietly shut behind him. I felt Sofia glance over at me, leaning back in her chair tiredly
"That was a long shot anyway"
I furrowed my brow, staring heavily at the door.
"He's got psychopath written all over him"
"He's unnerving, I'll give you that. But you need to find something else to tie him to this before we can go any further" she told me gently, standing up and grabbing her coffee, shifting her weight to one hip as she looked down at me. I leaned back, tilting my head to meet her eyes.
"Maybe we can convince the brother to let us look around his garage. I know he already denied us, but if he thought it could eliminate his brother as a suspect…"
She slid her free hand down to my shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"I'm going to let you hash that out with Catherine, let me know if you need me to drag in any more strange men"
I smiled, my eyes wandering over her form as her hips swayed out of the room.
/
"No"
I narrowed my eyes, dropping down into the chair across from Catherine heavily
"This is the best lead we've had so far and I'm not ready to just give up on it Catherine. James was staying at Sam's place for weeks before he moved, there's a chance that he left behind traces of oil from his truck"
She leaned back, popping her last grape into her mouth, dropping the empty stems onto the plate in front of her with a sigh- clearly annoyed that I was interrupting the last peaceful moments of her lunch break.
"The brother said no, Sara. He's not going to just change his mind because you ask nicely- or in your case, aggressively. Besides, he knows what we're looking for, I'm sure he would have cleaned up anything incriminating by now"
I crossed my arms over my chest, frowning deeply.
"That's why we have to move fast. If nothing else it will give us a chance to look around, see if we can find anything else to link him to this"
"No Sara. I'm serious- the guy just lost his daughter, give him some space" she breathed, running a hand through her red locks tiredly
"All we need right now is a complaint of harassment to really boost the reputation of this lab" she added sarcastically.
"Since when do you care about the reputation of the lab? You're starting to sound like Ecklie" I shot, azure eyes sending me a warning look.
I sighed, leaning forward
"Catherine, who knows when we're going to get another lead…"
"Sara, I said no, just let it go" she interrupted, eyes widening briefly in annoyance as she stood, grabbing her plate off the table and heading towards the sink.
/
It was Greg's soft, pleading eyes that had me wandering into the crowded pub a few blocks away from the lab, unzipping my leather jacket slightly and running a hand through messy hair in a half-hearted attempt at appearing presentable.
Most of the night shift crew had managed to slip away early, thanks to Grissom and an unusually quiet few nights that left little work to be done. Even for Catherine and I there was little we could do to further our investigation at this point. I had fully intended to remain hidden away in the depths of the lab, further exhausting any evidence we did have, but Greg had found me and all but dragged me away. I had bought myself another hour of concentration with the promise that I would wander over for a drink later. So here I was, scanning the room, spotting Gregs waving hand at a corner table in the back of the bar.
"I was wondering if you were actually going to show" he spoke through a wide smile as I slid into the seat next to him, his thin arm snaking around my shoulder. It felt like an eternity since I had spent any time at all with them. As charming as navigating the complexities of Catherine's moods and riding the waves of confusing sexual tension that had taken over my workplace environment was, I missed the simplicity of working with the guys.
Nick shot me a smile, raising a hand to catch the attention of the waitress who was making her way through the crowded room
"First round is on me"
"That's very generous of you Nick" I said with a smirk as he glanced over at Warrick, patting his shoulder heavily
"Thank my friend Warrick here, he just keeps throwing money at me"
Warrick shook his head with a chuckle, raising a beer to his lips
"You just wait, next week drinks will be on me"
"I'm going to hold you to that" Nick laughed, averting his focus onto the approaching dark haired waitress with a charming smile.
I ordered a beer, noticing for the first time the half empty cocktail glass to the left of Warrick, my smile faltering slightly. There had been an unfamiliar air of ease between Catherine and I over the past couple months. I had found myself genuinely enjoying her company, my heavily guarded walls slipping down just slightly- enough for her to begin seeping slowly in. But in keeping with our trends, an argument had caused the heavy tension to return all at once between us. It felt more personal nowadays, these disagreements.
Warrick nudged me lightly, a coy smile playing at his lips
"Will Sofia be joining us tonight?" he asked quietly. I frowned, taking a sip beer with a single shake of my head- as much in response to his question as in warning to keep quiet about it.
"God I hope so" Greg cut in, leaning forward on his elbow with a grin
"I think I might finally be getting somewhere with her- we discussed music for like twenty minutes yesterday, she's got good taste. And she's been laughing at all of my jokes. Do you guys think I should just ask her out?"
Warrick caught my amused gaze and I couldn't hold back a quiet laugh, reaching out to smooth down Gregs messy hair affectionately. Sofia would eat him alive. Luckily an attractive new face in the lab was all it would take to lead him off of this heavily treaded path straight to disappointment.
"I think maybe you should keep playing the long game there buddy" Warrick advised with a chuckle, taking a swig of his beer.
A flash of red appeared behind Nick and I glanced up to meet Catherine's gaze as she slid into the vacant seat quietly. She looked slightly taken aback by my presence but recovered smoothly enough, offering me a hint of a smile. She looked incredible as always, lips painted a violent shade of red.
I raised the bottle to my lips, pouring the amber liquid down my throat, averting my focus away- anywhere else.
We spent a couple of hours catching up. Nick told us all about his newest conquest- a flight attendant from Georgia that sounded as though she was dripping with southern charm. Greg recounted his recent trip out East to visit his sweet, overbearing parents before switching to enthusiastically discussing a podcast he was listening to about the mob days of Vegas with Catherine.
It felt simple and comfortable, two words that couldn't be used to describe much in my life these days. I was quietly grateful that I had allowed them to drag me away from the migraine inducing florescent lights and heavy folders full of disturbing pictures and complex charts telling me nothing besides how little we were actually working with.
It was sometime after my fourth beer that I slipped outside for a cigarette, the cool November air a welcome relief against my overheated skin. I was trying not to let the stress of work seep any further in, but despite my best efforts all I could focus on was the image of James O'Rileys angry, dominating stare and the sound of Catherine's dismissive words. I lit a cigarette, taking a long drag as I leaned back against the side of the stucco building, looking up at the barely visible stars.
"I'm not sure I'd call that 'fresh air'" Catherine's husky voice met my ears. I blew out a deep breath of smoke, eyes remaining on the light-polluted sky
"You here to lecture me?"
I heard her sigh, coming to stand closer, heels clicking against the pavement
"No" she answered simply, crossing her arms over her chest
I could feel the weight of her gaze on me, and after a few long moments gave up resisting the urge to glance over at her. A navy jacket was pulled loosely around her slight frame, red hair falling in waves around her shoulders. Her bright eyes were highlighted with dark lashes, a slight blush coloring her pale cheeks, from the alcohol or the cold I wasn't sure.
A flash of amusement across her features told me I was staring and I felt a warm rush creep into my cheeks, averting my gaze to the ground as I brought the cigarette back up to my lips.
Despite the absolute exasperation that she elicited in me most days, there was no denying that she was beautiful.
"I really don't want to fight with you" she spoke heavily, voice laced with both annoyance and exhaustion.
"Then stop fighting me" I shot back, aware that I was being petty but too buzzed or too jaded to care.
"Look, I want to catch this guy just as much as you do, but we have to do it right. If you go talk to Sam O'Riley, chances are he will slam the door in your face and file a complaint, which means Ecklie breathing down our necks for the rest of this investigation. Is that what you want?"
I dropped the remainder of my smoke to the ground, turning to face her. Her eyes traveled over my form slowly, heavy gaze slightly unfocused. They traced over my shoulders, up along the curve of my neck, across my tired features, eventually meeting my eyes once again- a little softer this time.
"I don't want to see any more girls die because we didn't do everything we could to catch this guy"
She nodded softly, biting down on her lower lip as she stepped closer. Her hand slid up to gently grasp my upper arm, fingertips lightly trailing over the cold leather beneath them. My chest tightened, her bright eyes blinking up at me from beneath her red fringe.
"Me too Sara. I am with you, if O'Riley did this, we will nail him"
It took me a few moments to shake myself out of the daze that she had effortlessly put me in, giving her a small nod of understanding. She slid her hand down my arm gently to give my hand a soft squeeze, the smell of jasmine, sandalwood and hints of gin momentarily overwhelming my senses
"I'll see you tomorrow" she said, breaking away from my gaze after a few moments with a soft smile. She hesitantly let go of my hand, stepping away from me before turning back in the direction of the bar.
"Goodnight" I called after her, my brain on a few second delay.
What was that?
Her way of getting whatever she wanted, of course. Like flexing a muscle. I sighed, grabbing for my pack of cigarettes. I'm not sure when she realized that those tactics would work on me. More importantly, I'm not sure when those tactics had begun working on me. Was there anyone that couldn't be swayed into submission by her soft touch and blue-eyed gaze? I felt a wave of annoyance, the familiar deep seeded exhaustion settling in like a heavy fog.
Flicking my smoke with my thumb I glanced over my surroundings, eyes passing over a young couple pressed intimately together further down the wall; a group of men engaged in a deep conversation, smoking near the dumpster. It was closer to the door of the bar that I caught sight of a familiar figure leaning against the wall in much the same fashion as me, a cigarette resting loosely in hand. He turned his head, long hair falling down his back, cobalt eyes locking heavily with mine.
I felt my breath hitch, my heart rate speed up, suddenly feeling naked without my gun despite being surrounded by people. I watched him flick his cigarette into the ally casually, turning to saunter slowly in my direction.
Fuck.