The team continue the homicide investigation, but Paige and Walter have their minds on other things.
(Thank you, again, to everyone who is reading this story. Your kind reviews make my day. I hope you enjoy this chapter.)
CHAPTER 6.
"Brandon? Seriously? Do I look like a Brandon?" Toby sneered at his fake I.D. in disgust.
"What's wrong with Brandon, Doc?" asked Cabe. "Got you past the security desk, didn't it?"
"What was my beautiful wife thinking?" Toby continued to moan as they walked along the long, white corridor. "Homeland Agent Doctor Brandon West. Was that really the first name that leapt into her head?"
"My foot'll be leaping into your ass if you don't shut up," replied Cabe. "C'mon, let's get you a look at this dead guy and get outta here. These places give me the creeps."
Toby nodded. "This is the room," he said and he opened the door. "According to the guy on the front desk we're looking for number twenty seven."
"He was pretty quick to give up the info we needed," noted Cabe.
"I had him eating out of my hand," agreed Toby with a grin. "Five more minutes and I'd have had all his online passwords, his social security number and his favourite sexual position."
Cabe screwed up his nose in disgust. "You always have to make it weird," he said. Then he became more sombre. "This looks like the one," he said, pointing at the label just above one of the handles that lined the walls of the sterile room. He slowly opened the long metal drawer to reveal a body covered in a white sheet.
Toby grabbed a pair of examination gloves from a box on the side as Cabe pulled back the sheet to reveal the stony grey remains of the man they'd met at the beach only two days ago.
"Definitely no bullet wound," confirmed Toby. "In fact..." he trailed off and carefully moved the man's head to one side. "There's your cause of death," he said pointing to the deep red lines across his throat. "Significant tissue damage, evidence of excessive pressure on the pharynx and larynx. This guy was strangled."
Cabe swallowed hard and peered at the body. "Kinda hard to miss," he noted. "Are you there, Sly?"
"I'm actually going to take out my comm now 'coz I have a bad feeling Toby's going to start talking about... bodily fluids," came Sylvester's reply.
"Some of my best anecdotes are about bodily fluids!" objected Toby and Cabe rolled his eyes.
Toby continued his examination, giving Cabe a running commentary on his findings as he worked and being careful not to disturb any evidence. Cabe turned away after a few minutes and Toby glanced up at him. "Almost done," he said. "You OK?"
"Sure," replied Cabe. "Not the first dead body I've seen," he noted.
"Makes y'think though, right?" continued Toby. "About your own life, where it's headed, what you want to do with the rest of your time on this planet, that kinda thing."
Cabe looked over his shoulder at the younger man and frowned. "I'll tell you what I don't wanna do," he said. "That's have a deep 'n' meaningful with you while you're scraping dirt from under the fingernails of a dead guy."
Toby shrugged as he put the evidence he had collected into a specimen container. "Maybe later then?" he offered.
"Did Allie put you up to this?" asked Cabe, folding his arms across his chest and turning away again.
"Up to what?" asked Toby innocently as he continued to work.
"I dunno, Doc," replied Cabe. "I've just had the feeling lately that Allie's... well… she's acting like she wants to tell me something. I guess I'm just..." he trailed off and sighed.
"You're scared she's going to leave you for a guy with less miles on the clock," Toby finished.
Cabe spun round again and glared at him. "I hate it when you're right," he snapped.
"Relax," Toby urged. "As much as it churns my stomach, she's actually still as crazy about you as ever. Some women just have a thing for much, much older guys."
"Shut it," growled Cabe.
"Why don't you ask her if there's anything she wants to talk to you about?" suggested Toby.
Cabe shook his head. "Walt may have gotten good at this communication thing with Paige, but I'm too stuck in my ways to start asking my girl that kind of question. She'll wonder what the heck's got into me."
"Or she'll appreciate that you've gone out of your comfort zone to see if she's OK."
"Hmmm, I'll think about it. Are you done yet?"
"Almost. I just want to take a couple photos and then I'll go talk to our friend at the front desk again, see if we can't figure out who might have sent that encrypted email."
"Sly, you back with us, pal?" asked Cabe, pressing a finger to his ear.
"Only if Toby promises not to say anything that might make me puke," replied Sylvester over the comm.
"You really know how to take the fun out of my day," protested Toby.
"I think it's over," confirmed Cabe. "So, did you get anything new from that email you intercepted?"
"Only that it was sent from a generic account," replied Sylvester. "No way of knowing from this end who sent it. Toby'll have to go and... y'know... Toby them to find out who's covering up evidence and why."
"On it," replied Toby.
"The Doc and I are gonna go make a nuisance of ourselves," agreed Cabe.
"Mess with a few heads," added Toby. "Listen out for names, Sly. Run background checks as we're talking, I'll take any intel you can give me."
Cabe nodded. "Someone here must know what the hell's going on."
XxXxXxXxX
"Why are we doing this again?" Patty stood with one hand on her hip. She was holding a jar of sand in the other hand and she squinted in the sunlight as the waves gently lapped over her toes.
"Not entirely sure," responded Ralph, waving a small fishing net in the air. "The text I got from Walter just said 'Victim was environmental campaigner. Please go to beach and collect samples. Please and thank you.' That's all."
"Two pleases and a thank you," noted Patty with a smile. "Still can't get over Walter being so nice to everyone all the time."
"He's not going to risk pissing anyone off ever again after what happened last year," grinned Ralph. "At least, not anyone in the team," he added. Walter still had a habit of upsetting the occasional waitress, client, or bank teller every now and again, but as that didn't seem to bother his mother as much as it used to, Ralph figured it was OK.
"So what do you think about moving in with Walter?" asked Patty as she filled another jar with seawater.
Ralph's face lit up with joy as he answered. "It's the best thing ever," he said. "We'll finally be a proper family. Not that every family has to have a mom and a dad, of course, but Walter's practically been my dad for, like, four or five years now so it seems dumb that he lives at the garage and we still live at our place."
"Didn't you want to go with them this afternoon?" Patty queried. "Check out these places yourself?"
"As long as we're together and there's room to set up my telescope, I don't mind where we live," replied Ralph.
"And room for a bed," added Patty. "Jeez, you geniuses really need to get your priorities sorted."
Ralph laughed. "Let's head over to those rocks and collect some seaweed," he suggested. "Walter wasn't specific about exactly what he wanted samples of so we'll take back as much as we can."
"This is exciting," grinned Patty.
"Seaweed?"
"No, playing detective," explained Patty as she followed Ralph across the beach. "Finding clues, gathering evidence, interrogating suspects. I wish I could've gone with Toby and Cabe to the morgue."
Ralph spun on his heels and stared at her. "You wanted to go to the morgue?" He queried.
"Sure," replied Patty with a grin. "I mean, I know it's kinda gross, being full of dead bodies and all, but autopsy reports are fascinating."
Ralph was a little taken aback. "You... you wanna see an autopsy?"
"No!" exclaimed Patty. "But I love reading the reports. They state the facts without any hint of bias at all. Takes a lot of skill to write objectively, but still get your point across. That's why I'm majoring in journalism, with a minor in psychology. The best journalists understand people, it's not all about being the first to break a big story."
"I can't believe you're leaving for college soon," he said. His childhood crush on Patty may have faded, but he still had a lot of feelings for her and he was really going to miss her.
"I'll only be gone for a few months of the year," replied Patty. "And I've already lined up a three month work placement at the LA Times for my second year so you won't be getting rid of me that easily. Now come on, let's get this seaweed and maybe we can pick up some milkshakes on the way home."
xXxXxXxXxXx
"Got it! Daniel Sametti, ex-military medic, give me a second and I'll… oh." Sylvester's face fell into a frown as he frantically tapped the keys on his keyboard. "Keep him talking, Toby, there's something odd about this guy's record… no, wait, I can't get past the security… it's maximum level… we're going to need Walter on this."
"Get outta there, Doc," said Happy, with one finger on her comm. "If this is our guy he might get suspicious."
Sylvester was still desperately trying to hack into the military records of the man Toby had been talking to at the morgue when he heard a voice and looked up to see Kimberley, the young lifeguard, walk into the garage.
"I've been trying to call you," said Happy, getting to her feet to greet their visitor.
"I know," replied Kimberley, a little taken aback by Happy's direct manner. "I'm sorry, I switched off my cell. I didn't really want to talk to anyone today, but then I saw the missed calls and I thought you might have some news, so I stopped by."
"No news, I'm afraid," replied Sylvester apologetically. "We were just wondering if you could think of any of your co-workers who might have a reason to… y'know… hurt Charlie. Anyone with a grudge, maybe?"
"You think it was one of us?" exclaimed Kimberly. Her bottom lip began to tremble. "No, no, it couldn't be!"
Sylvester leapt up from his seat and hurried towards her. "Please… please don't be upset," he urged. "We can talk about this another time. Come and sit down. Can I get you anything? I find chamomile tea very calming."
"Thank you, I'd like that," smiled Kimberley as Sylvester walked her over to the couch. "I don't feel very calm at all right now. I've spent all morning just walking around, I figured it might clear my head, but I just keep thinking about Charlie and…"
"Grief can be overwhelming sometimes," said Sylvester, tenderly. "I promise you, it does get easier."
"Sounds like you're speaking from experience," noted Kimberley.
"My wife passed three years ago," Sylvester explained. He paused as memories of Megan flooded his thoughts. It had taken a long time for him to be able to talk about her so openly, but he felt more comfortable with it now than he ever had before. It had been a struggle with his eidetic memory, but he had had learnt how to push the sad times to the back of his mind and remember all the good times they'd shared.
"Your wife? Oh, I'm so sorry," Kimberley responded, her eyes filled with sadness. "Listen to me, going on about Charlie. He was just someone I worked with. You lost your wife."
Sylvester patted her arm in a soothing gesture. "You knew him a long time, you cared about him," he said. "You miss him. Your loss is different, but just as raw. No need to apologise."
Kimberley smiled. "You're very kind," she said and Sylvester blushed a little.
"I'll… I'll just go make that tea," he said and he rushed off towards the kitchen.
Happy couldn't help but notice Kimberley watching him go and she smiled to herself as she recognised the look on her face, remembering how she used to watch Toby in exactly the same way when she first began to realise that she had feelings for him.
"I'm sorry I missed your calls," said Kimberley, snapping Happy out of her thoughts.
"Oh, no problem," Happy answered her with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Turns out catching a killer ain't as easy as it looks on TV."
Kimberley laughed lightly, but her smile soon faded. "I don't think Charlie had any enemies," she said. "Unless you count Captain Sanders, but he's everyone's enemy."
"Sanders?" repeated Happy, narrowing her eyes as she tried to recall the personnel files she'd been reading that morning. "He's new, right?"
Kimberley nodded. "Transferred to us about five months ago," she explained. "I don't know what we did to deserve him? He thinks he's running a prison, not a lifeguard station. I guess that's one of the reasons Charlie decided to work less shifts these past few months. They really didn't get along… but Sanders is just an asshole, not a murderer."
"Murderers are usually assholes," Happy pointed out.
Just then Sylvester returned with a steaming mug of tea for Kimberley. "Here," he said as he handed it to her.
"You're so nice… I mean, you people are all so nice," she smiled as she took the tea from him. "I really appreciate everything you're doing."
"I can see that," replied Happy, knowingly.
Toby's voice came over the comm. "Ooh, I think you're onto something there, Sugarplum."
Happy sniggered, but Sylvester looked bemused.
"We're on our way back now," came Cabe's voice. "The Doc wants to run tests on these samples."
"I don't want to know!" exclaimed Sylvester and clamped his hands to the side of his head, momentarily forgetting that, as the comm was in his ear, it wouldn't make any difference.
Kimberley looked uncomfortably from Sylvester to Happy. "Know what?" she asked. "Did I say something wrong?"
"Oh, I wasn't talking to you," Sylvester tried to explain. "I was talking to…" he trailed off and pointed to his ear.
"You were talking to the side of your head?" queried Kimberley.
Happy giggled. If Sylvester wasn't careful Kimberley's feelings towards him were going to change pretty quickly, she realised.
"No, no, no," replied Sylvester, shaking his head rapidly. "I was talking to my friend. He's in my ear. That is, um, I can hear him talking in my ear, obviously he's not actually in there." He sighed, realising he was getting flustered. "Look," he said and he removed the tiny comm unit from his ear and held it out in his palm.
"Oh, I see," she said, giggling.
Sylvester laughed too and for a brief moment they held each other's gaze before he looked away.
Just then Paige and Walter arrived back at the garage. They entered in silence and Happy and Sylvester exchanged a worried glance.
"How did it go?" asked Happy.
"Fine," replied Walter, bluntly, but it was obvious to everyone that things had not gone well.
"Paige? You OK?" Sylvester spoke nervously.
"Huh?" Paige looked up at him. "Oh, yes, I'm fine," she responded.
Sylvester let out a slow breath. Paige and Walter rarely fought these days, but when they did it put the whole team on edge. "Kimberley's here," he said, desperately trying to deflect from whatever had happened. "And… and I need your help, Walter, with getting into some military files. I've emailed you the details."
"Now that's something I can do," snapped Walter and he glared at Paige as he marched across the garage to his desk.
Paige deliberately ignored him and walked over to Kimberley. "Hi," she said. "How are you holding up?"
"OK, I guess," replied the younger woman. "Sylvester made me this tea," she added, holding up her mug.
"Sly's a very caring man," replied Paige. "Always considering others' feelings. I wish all guys were like that."
Kimberley nodded awkwardly. She'd picked up the tension in the room and she suddenly had the urge to leave. "So, I guess I should…. um… I should go now," she said and she put the mug down on the table before standing up. "Thank you for the tea," she added and she flashed Sylvester a smile before racing out of the garage.
"OK, so which one of you is gonna spill?" demanded Happy when the door had closed behind her.
"I'll leave that to the genius," retorted Paige.
"C'mon, you guys," said Sylvester. "I'm feeling really, really uncomfortable right now, so I'm just going to walk away and leave you to fix whatever this is." He hurried away as fast as he could.
Walter stopped working at his computer and frowned at Paige. "There's nothing to fix," he snapped.
Paige frowned. "You didn't have one nice thing to say about any of the places we viewed," she grumbled.
"I didn't like any of them," replied Walter, flatly.
Now it was Happy's turn to walk away. "If you think I'm playing referee then you're wrong," she said. "Cabe and Toby are on their way back and we have a homicide to solve. So you have ten minutes to figure this out."
Walter stood up from his desk and walked back to join Paige on the couch. He sat beside her and pulled her hand into his. She tried to resist, but realised that his touch was calming and instead of pushing him away she moved closer. "I don't want to fight with you, Paige," he said, all the irritation in his voice gone now.
"I don't want to fight either," Paige replied. "But if we can't agree on where we want to live…" she trailed off for a moment, taking a deep breath to steady her thoughts. "I guess we should sit down and create that spreadsheet after all. I'm sorry I wasn't more enthusiastic about it when you mentioned it earlier."
"And I'm sorry I wasn't more enthusiastic about that godawful place with the tiny bathroom," he said.
Paige laughed. "The bathroom was kinda small," she agreed. "We'll find somewhere," she added with a smile. "I guess I was just hoping we'd find a place today. I don't want to wait any longer than I have to before we can be together."
Walter nodded and smiled. "I am impatient too," he agreed and then, he leaned in and kissed her. Paige gasped as his lips brushed hers, but she put up no resistance and the kiss deepened. For a moment they were lost in each other. "Shall we go upstairs," he whispered.
"We can't," she breathed, running her fingers through his hair. "Sly and Happy… and the others are coming back…"
Walter sighed and pressed his forehead against hers. "Then later," he said, realising reluctantly that she was right. "I love you."
"I love you too, Walter. So much," she replied. "And I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."
To be continued…