Chapter 5
Barry yawned, eyes bleary as they refocused on the images playing out across Caitlin's laptop screen. Blindly, he reaches for his coffee mug, grimacing when he realizes the coffee's gone cold.
He'd been steadily making his way through Caitlin's digital archive for the past two days, trying to feel like he was actually making progress on unraveling the new lead, despite the fact that he was currently working out of his own bedroom. As it was, he was swamped at the precinct, the CSI department understaffed, a backlog of tests required for other cases needing his immediate attention. After being sent home several times for staying too late, by both the janitorial staff and the graveyard shift officers, Barry had taken to just bringing his work home with him.
It kept him busy, made him forget how terribly lonely the loft felt most of the time. Kept him from thinking too carefully about how every sound seemed amplified, every footstep echoing. The clutter, at least, made it seem like someone actually lived here.
He'd already been through the phone records, having found nothing out of the ordinary beyond a few private calls every month or so. Those, he thought, might have corresponded to the times she'd met up with the mystery guy Amy had mentioned at the cafe but as Barry had nothing to corroborate that theory with, he let it be.
Slowly, he clicks through the last of the pictures in the file, the dates telling him they'd been taken or at least uploaded to her computer in the weeks prior to her disappearance.
They weren't particularly relevant, wide shots taken at a scenic park, pictures of a colorful window display, a selfie by a churro cart. He pauses suddenly, squinting at the screen, interest piqued by one particular image.
The angle is… wrong. The focus isn't even on Caitlin, blurry and out-of-center but clearly giving the camera a bright smile, her eyes creasing at the corners in a way that already feels familiar to Barry. He zooms into the picture's background, a cold chill traveling up his spine as he realizes there's someone standing just beyond the treeline behind Caitlin, the figure shadowed enough that Barry can't make out their face but the angle leaving no doubt in his mind that they were watching Caitlin.
Feeling horribly awake all of sudden, Barry backtracks to the very first images, the wide shots. He scans them, taking note of the children playing in the background, the ducks that take flight from the lake, the man sitting on the bench reading. He skims through the others, taking note how many of them have strange angles and peculiar central points. His stomach turns as he realizes the common factor between them all.
Caitlin knew she was being followed. She had filed these photos away purposefully and even more, she'd known exactly who was following her, had sought them out to do her own watching from a distance. Because in almost every photo, whether peripherally or front and center, there was always the same man.
The same man who'd accompanied Caitlin to Kava Cafe so often, Barry bets.
Out of curiosity, he glances at the file name, the one under which all these photos were stored.
The name 'Hunter' stares back.
In a city of approximately 14 million people, there were 22,659 men named Hunter and that was accounting for both first names and last names. The number grew to 26,273 when middle names were factored in and reduced to about 12,545 in total when you factored in all the physical features Barry had to work off of, courtesy of Amy the barista.
Once Barry had conceded to himself that he couldn't get the pictures clear enough to run facial recognition, he'd sent the photos off to a friend in the department he knew could help.
In the meantime, he'd taken to poking around more seriously on Caitlin's computer. If she'd had that file as proof, documentation that someone had been following her, then Barry knew it was very likely that this laptop could also contain details about the serum she'd been working on. Barry had the inkling suspicion that all of these things were connected; the serum, her mysterious off-the-books research, her stalker, the cafe.
Trouble was, Barry had no idea under what name the file could possibly be, if it even existed. And Caitlin had far too many files on her computer. Not that he was going to begrudge her for that; at this point, she'd done more than her fair share in ensuring this case moved forward. Barry wouldn't have gotten this far without her help, he fully believed that.
He'd gone to see Cisco yesterday, to see if he could identify the man from the photos. Cisco couldn't place the guy, said he'd never seen him in his life. There was a look in Cisco's eyes though, as he stared at the photos, as if wishing that he could burn a hole into the man's head if he only stared hard enough.
Barry could understand the sentiment. He doesn't know what he would do if he ever came face to face with the man that killed his mother, the man that tore his family apart, who was probably still out there somewhere while his dad sat in a prison cell.
For a moment, he feels that familiar anger rise to the surface, a dark bitter emotion that floods his mouth and makes him want to punch something. Almost involuntary, his hands curl into fists, teeth gritted as the memories come to him again.
His mother bleeding out on the living room floor, gasping for air…
He's startled by the sound of his phone ringing, loud and shrill from the direction of his bedroom. Standing quickly, he scrambles for his phone, hoping it was about Caitlin's photos.
He tries not to feel too disappointed when he realizes it's Iris.
"Hello?"
"Barry, where are you? I thought we were meeting up at Jitters. I've been sitting here for like 15 minutes, waiting for you."
Barry winces, glancing at the clock on his nightstand, the late afternoon sun slanting across the room and bathing it in gold. He is so late.
"I'm already on my way there. There's just uh…" he casts about for an excuse, turning in place, trying to locate clean clothes in the mess that is his bedroom. "Foot traffic. You know how it is."
Iris hums, unconvinced.
"I'm going to order for you," she tells him and before he can even reply, she's hung up. Which okay, he sort of deserved that.
He finishes dressing, stuffing his wallet, phone and keys into his pockets. Back in the living room, he stares at the laptop screen for a minute, sending a quiet apology to Caitlin wherever she was. He should be working on her case. With a sigh, he shuts it and leaves.
It takes him approximately 15 minutes to get to Jitters and when he arrives, Iris does not look pleased. She did look comfortable though, sitting back in one of Jitters' leather ottomans, blue sundress bright against her skin, her hair swept up into a ponytail.
"On your way, huh?" she quotes, brows raised incredulously.
Barry shrugs, giving her a sheepish grin.
He grabs at his coffee, smiling when he realizes she's gotten him his favorite.
"You owe me for that, you know. It was your turn to buy coffee," Iris reminds him.
"Yeah yeah," Barry waves her off. He's about to ask her what's new, when his back pocket begins to ring. Fishing his phone out, he turns away from her and takes the call. It's the guy from the photography unit, the one he sent Caitlin's photos over to.
He listens carefully as the guy explains that he was able to sharpen up the pictures, that he ran the man's face through facial recognition software and came up with one Hunter Zolomon. He'd sent all the preliminary info on the guy to Barry's work email.
Barry thanks him profusely, offering to buy him a round the next time the department hosts a night out, mouth quirking when he hears a hearty laugh in response and a promise to hold him to that.
When he turns back, Iris is watching him curiously, big brown eyes soft with unknown emotion.
"Was that for Caitlin's case?" she asks quietly. Barry nods, grinning.
"Finally got a lead?"
"Even better. I've got a suspect."
Iris' eyebrows shoot up in surprise. She lets out a short breathy laugh, hands coming up to cover her mouth. "Barry, that's amazing! Her case has been cold for over three years."
Barry swallows, smile dimming as his eyes flicker down to the surface of the table between them. "Yeah, it has."
"Hey, no."
Iris reaches over suddenly and flicks him, right between the eyes. "You did good. Stop trying to carry the weight of the whole world on your shoulders."
"Ow. Was that necessary?!"
"Yes," Iris replies smugly. Barry huffs, indignant as he wraps his fingers around the warm ceramic mug. "Bar, look at me."
When he glances up, there's something like pride in her expression. It's not alone there though, there's something that on any other person Barry would interpret as pity but he knows better.
"Your dad would be really proud of you," she says finally, voice soft and full of emotion.
Barry's throat locks up, the realization settling heavily in the pit of his stomach that with this suspect, he'd now gotten further than he ever had with his dad's case. His mind cycles through a dozen emotions, each briefer and more impactful than the one before.
They sit in silence for a few minutes, listening to the idle chatter of Jitters' patrons, Iris picking apart a bagel, Barry lost in thought.
"You're probably dying to work on your new lead so..." Iris finally says, mouth wry. "Go, I won't keep you."
Barry's already halfway out of his seat when she stops him, motioning he sit back down. "Before you go though, promise me you'll join us tomorrow night to celebrate."
Barry pauses, curiosity piqued. He stares at Iris, who stares back, a patient smile on her lips. Rolling his eyes, he breaks the impasse.
"I'll bite. What are we celebrating?"
Iris beams and with a flourish, presents her hand, where an engagement ring rests on her ring finger.
Barry stands so abruptly, he bangs his knee against the table. "You're getting married?!"
Iris grins, laughing when Barry speeds around to the other side of the table to wrap her in a warm hug.
"Congrats! Oh my god. When did you guys decide? Am I the first to know? Does this mean I'm going to be best man?"
It's not a sure thing but Barry is almost certainly vibrating, excitement coursing through his veins.
"Barry, please, you're gonna ruin my hair," Iris laughs, shoving him gently away from her. "We've talked about it and you know, Eddie and I have been together for 3 years now. We've been living together for almost half of that and it just feels like the right time to take that next step. He's getting a promotion soon and I'm hoping to launch the Central City Citizen, we thought why not add another new beginning to the list?"
"Wow," Barry breathes, leaning back against the table. Marriage seemed like such a foreign concept to him, he hadn't been in a relationship since Patty and him broke up before she left to finish her studies at Midway City University. That was, what, over a year ago?
If he really thought about it, she was probably the only serious relationship he'd ever had, his time with Linda over before it had even really began.
"Wait, does Joe know?"
"Yes. Eddie insisted on asking him for my hand in marriage, I swear he's so old-fashioned," Iris comments with a shake of her head, clearly amused. Barry marvels at the blatant affection in her tone, on her face, and part of him wonders if he'll ever find that.
"I'm really happy for you, Iris. Eddie is a lucky man."
"Thanks, Bar…" she pauses, hesitating and then as if having read his mind, continues, "I hope one day you'll find someone who makes you just as happy."
Barry's reply is soft in tone, a quiet murmur, a secret wish.
"I hope so too."
Amy purses her lips, twirling a strand of her hair between her fingers. She's dyed the tips blue.
"I can't say for certain but it definitely does look like the same bloke," she mutters, glancing between Barry and the photo Barry's placed before her on the table.
Hunter Zolomon had what most people would call a chiseled visage. With a strong jawline, a straight nose and piercing light eyes, Barry could see why women would find him attractive. Barry, though, only felt utter contempt for the man. Even if it turned out that Hunter wasn't personally involved in Caitlin's disappearance, that he was just a random stalker, which didn't seem to be a very likely scenario, Barry still found his actions odious and inexcusable.
From his record though, he seemed a model citizen, his record squeaky clean, not even a parking ticket to his name. Perhaps too clean. There was one part of his record that had been sealed, on account of Hunter having been a minor at the time. As Barry was still working off circumstantial speculation, he didn't have enough probable cause to take to a judge to get the records unsealed.
It didn't matter though, he had more than enough to work off of right now.
Amy clears her throat, ducking into Barry's field of vision. He turns his attention to her.
"This is probably right awful timing but I was wondering if maybe you'd like to get a drink sometime, yeah?"
As she spoke, she twirled her hair nervously, eyes on the table. Peeking at Barry's dumbfounded expression from under her lashes, she hurries on, rambling.
"You're probably too busy and have a girlfriend proper but I thought I'd ask anyways, yeah, just on the off-chance that wasn't the case."
Barry feels his cheeks flush, hand automatically coming up to scratch awkwardly at the back of his head. She was hitting on him, asking him out. It's flattering really and there's an instinctive urge to say yes rising up within him because it really has been too long and Amy is cute but with a glance at Caitlin's file before him, he tamps down on the urge, instead clearing his throat and preparing himself to let Amy down gently.
She sees the answer only too plainly on his face, already nodding and waving off his reply with murmured reassurances.
"I'm sorry but this case, it- it needs all my attention, I'm so close to finding her. I can't…" Barry trails off, heart aching as he finishes the thought in his head. I can't let Caitlin down.
"Don't worry about it. It was inappropriate anyways," Amy shrugs, shoulders hunching in on herself. Barry feels a brief twinge of guilt but he reminds himself that he has a very valid reason for turning her down. Besides, he didn't really know anything about her. Chances were things wouldn't last anyways.
"Thank you again for all your help," Barry says, standing after a few seconds of awkward silence have passed. "You really made a difference in the case."
Amy smiles a lopsided ghost of a smile, fingers coming up to tuck her hair behind her ears. "Hope you find her."
With quick hands, Barry gathers up his papers, Hunter's smug face staring up at him from atop the stack.
I'm coming for you.
Captain Singh stared at Barry over the top of the file.
"You've done good, Allen. I may just have to put you on cases more often," he joked drily, the corners of his mouth quirking upwards.
"Cause that's a great idea," Joe muttered sarcastically under his breath, low enough that Singh couldn't hear but Barry and Eddie both could. Barry glanced at him, feeling slightly indignant.
"What was that, Joe?"
"Nothing, Captain."
Captain Singh hummed unconvincingly, glancing between them. Clearing his throat, he closed the file and set it atop the others on his desk. Barry's hands twitched, the urge to pull the file back towards him so great.
"I'll pass this along and keep you updated on the major stuff," Singh continued, folding his hands underneath his chin, brown eyes steady on Barry.
"You're taking me off the case?" Barry asks, fighting hard to keep his voice even and tempered. His body tenses, like a coil ready to spring, as Singh sighs and stands.
"Allen, I know everything that goes on in this precinct. You think I wouldn't notice one of my best CSI falling behind in their lab work despite working late everyday?" Singh shakes his head, turning his back to them as he looks out the window. Folding his hands behind his back, he continues.
"I thought something like this might happen. From the moment you said you knew that girl, I thought better of it."
"Then why assign me in the first place?" Barry asks, tone oozing bitterness.
"Barry…" Joe warns.
"I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt, hoped you wouldn't attached. Plus, I like you, Allen. I wouldn't have hired if I didn't."
Barry doesn't quite know how to respond to that at first but after a moment of deliberation, he realizes it isn't important. He needs Singh to let him finish this case, to see this through.
"Captain Singh, please. Once this case is closed, I'll take a break, a leave of absence, anything. But please, let me see this case through," Barry pleads, voice threatening to break but holding steady.
Singh turns halfway, eyes meeting Barry's. There's a recognition there, an understanding, of why Barry has to do this, why he feels so strongly about this case. But there's hesitation there too, reminding him, warning him of why they aren't supposed to work conflict of interest cases.
Barry reminds him of something else, something he'd told Singh long ago, the very thing that had convinced Singh to hire him over more qualified candidates.
"I once told you that it wasn't about going after the criminals for me, it was about helping the victims. Give me the chance to do that, to help Caitlin," Barry pauses and then with unshakeable resolution, finishes, "Even if I never get to do it again."
Singh must understand what Barry is saying, what he's proposing because his eyes widen slightly as he glances at the file.
"This means that much to you?" he asks, as if he already knows the answer.
"It does," Barry replies.
Singh nods, processing. From the corner of Barry's eye, he can see Eddie and Joe exchanging glances.
"I want you to report to me at the end of each day and you already know, Allen, not even a toe out of line."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, Captain," Barry stands, relief coursing through his body when Singh hands him the file with a pointed look.
They file out of the office silently. The minute they're out of earshot, the barrage of questions begins.
"Care to tell me what that whole thing was about?" Joe asks.
"Barry, are you sure that was the best thing to do?" Eddie questions, brows furrowed.
"If this is what it takes to see this case close, yes," Barry replies, answering Eddie's question first. Brown eyes bore into blue ones.
"Barry, what…" Joe trails off, a question in his eyes.
"He basically told Singh if he didn't get to see this case through, he was liable to quit," Eddie interjects, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared at Barry, perplexed.
Barry meets Joe's gaze and he knows that Joe wants to argue, can see the argument already play out before him. Hell, if he was in Joe's place, he would argue too because he knows what it looks like from the outside. That he's being impulsive and irrational, that he's emotionally compromised. Perhaps all of that is true, perhaps none of it is.
But there was just something about this case, about Caitlin that drew him in.
"You know that handing the case over to someone else is just gonna set us back. We don't have time for that, Caitlin doesn't have that kind of time," Barry explains.
"If this is my last case with CCPD, so be it but I'm going to find her."
After a minute of close scrutiny, Joe sighs.
"What's the plan then?"
Barry grimaces. "I think it's time we pay a visit to Hunter Zolomon."
NOTE: For those of you who guessed Hunter, DING DING DING! You were correct.
Barry's willing to put it all on the line to help Caitlin, even if that means quitting CCPD. Sound familiar? And hurray for Westhawne wedding!
This chapter was really just setting everything up for what's to come. Tune in next time for a climatic sixth chapter ;)