This is my update for the month and I hope you all enjoy it! I'm also going to point out that my chapters have been getting shorter and I'm sorry about that. I'll try and boost them up :)
I'm covering my ears like a kid
When your words mean nothing, I go la la la
I'm turning up the volume when you speak
'Cause if my heart can't stop it,
I find a way to block it, I go
La la, la la la la la na na na na na
If our love is running out of time
I won't count the hours, rather be a coward
When our worlds collide
I'm gonna drown you out before I lose my mind
-"La La La" by Naughty Boy Feat. Sam Smith
Santa Barbara: 2019
Shawn slammed the door shut and Henry winced at the loud bang. Zuri came running into the room and up the stairs without a pause. Henry and Maddie turned in their seats to watch Shawn storm into the room and kick his foot against the wall.
"Shawn!" Henry yelled.
"Shut up!" Shawn yelled back slamming his foot into the wall once more.
"Goose…" Maddie said slowly not wanting to aggravate him, "What happened?"
"Gus happened!" Shawn shouted looking at his parents. His hands went up into his hair and pulled slightly.
"Shawn, calm down." Henry placed the newspaper he'd been reading onto the table and rising up slowly before holding out a hand towards Shawn.
"I'm not some frightened puppy." Shawn slapped Henry's hand away.
"No but you've got a little girl up there who is probably scared to death!" Henry hissed pointing at the stairs. Shawn followed his finger and a look of guilt crossed his face. Just the thought of scaring Zuri calmed him down. "I know." Shawn sat dejectedly down onto the couch.
"She deserves a father way better than me." Shawn buried his face in his hands. Maddie stood up quietly sensing this was a father-son talk. She left the room soundlessly and headed upstairs.
Henry sighed, he really didn't want to have this conversation, "Shawn you're a good father-,"
"No I'm not." Shawn cut him off, "I'm terrible. I'm raising this amazing little girl by myself and I'm screwing her up dad." Shawn looked up.
"That wasn't your fault Shawn. You didn't really have a choice. It was raise her by yourself or skip out. You made the right decision." Henry sat down next to him.
"You should have seen him dad, Gus… he was all grown up. Married with a steady job. He was so professional." Shawn shook his head with a small smile.
"You may not have a wife but you have a daughter. And you have a job you… tolerate." Shawn laughed. They sat quietly for a few minutes as Shawn let all the events from the past few days travel through his mind. First he has an encounter with Vick, then Lassiter and Juliet, to make it a perfect set he ran into Gus. All with Zuri nearby.
"Juliet wants to meet Zuri." Shawn broke the silence.
"That's up to you kid." They locked eyes and Shawn nodded. The thumping of feet coming down the stairs caused them both to stand up. Maddie was standing at the bottom of the staircase with a hand wrapped around Zuri's.
"I'm sorry baby." Shawn started moving towards her slowly, "I got mad. But I'm not mad anymore." Zuri looked up at him but said nothing. "Do you forgive me?" he bent down on his knees and opened his arms.
"'Course daddy." Zuri leaned forward and Shawn caught her with a hug. He buried his head into her neck and hugged her tighter. "I love you." He whispered.
"I love you too daddy." Zuri moved her head and kissed his cheek. Shawn smiled and pulled away from her. A ringing went off in the next room and Maddie disappeared to answer it. "Can we watch a movie?"
"Sure Zoo, what do you want to watch?" Henry asked.
"Hmm…" Zuri paused as she thought, "Princesses?"
"Barbie it is." Shawn took her head and walked over towards the TV. Zuri sat down onto the couch as Shawn popped a DVD into the player.
"Shawn? It's for you." Maddie handed Shawn the phone.
"Hello?" He pressed play and stood back as the movie began.
"Shawn, I've got some news!" Juliet's voice left him immobilized for a few seconds before he moved into the kitchen.
"What is it?" He sat down into one of the chairs.
"Well it's not necessarily good news but news, hold on let me get something." Shawn heard as the phone was put onto an object. He could hear voices on the other end and the thumps of things being moved around. "Sorry, had to find the file."
"No problem." Shawn leaned into the chair and stretched his legs out.
"Alright. I did some investigating on Marshall Turner. Good news is that he was a friend of Carter's dad which gives us a lead, bad news is he's dead. Died in a car crash years ago." Shawn blinked a few times and let his brain process the information he'd just been given.
"Car crash? You're sure?" Shawn asked.
"That's what the report said." Juliet answered.
"Was there anything else? I mean was he intoxicated or with anyone?"
"Umm…" Juliet paused flipping through the file, "That page is missing."
"Missing?" Shawn sat up straight.
"Yeah it's gone. We usually have a page that includes all that. This is the original file; no one has access to this except anyone who works for the department." He heard Juliet sigh.
"So someone is trying to cover it up." Shawn said.
"Looks like it. I need to run this by Carlton. I'll call you later." Juliet hung up without waiting for an answer from him. Shawn put the phone down and scratched his chin.
Marshall Turner was the friend of Carters dad. His file had been tampered with by someone who worked for the SBPD. Turner had died in a car crash just as the recent victims. "They have to be connected, why else would someone rip out that page?" Shawn whispered grabbing a pen from the other side of the table and writing everything on a napkin.
"Dad!" Shawn called. Henry appeared in seconds and looked at his son. "Read this napkin." Shawn handed it over. Henry sat down into a chair and read the napkin silently. After a few minutes Henry frowned and put the napkin down.
"That's too coincidental." He shook his head.
"That's what I was thinking too. Juliet is talking to Lassiter about it." Shawn looked around the kitchen.
"He probably had the same drugs in his systems as the others- Karen told me- if so that means he was killed by the same person who killed the teenagers." Henry looked back down at the napkin.
"Turner sold alcohol to teenagers. They could have been partners. Turner laces the booze with drugs supplied by the other guy and gives it to the targets. Maybe he screwed up and had to be silenced." Shawn thought.
"You're forgetting one thing kid. Turner died over five years ago. The killings are recent, why silence him then?" Henry pointed out.
"I don't know… Maybe…" Shawn trailed off not having an answer. They sat quietly as they both got lost in thought. Everything seemed to fit perfectly except for the last piece- time. Time was not on their side as the rate of deaths rose and the only real suspect having died years before. Nothing but everything fit. Shawn let out a sigh. This is one of the reasons why he had stopped working with the police. The long puzzles with answers leading to nowhere. It was maddening.
"What now?" Henry spoke looking over at Shawn.
"I wait for Juliet to call. Depending on what Lassiter says, we'll go from there." Shawn told him.
Henry nodded and stood up, "Go spend time with your kid." Shawn joined Henry as he walked into the living room. Shawn sat next to Zuri who scooted onto his lap. Henry wrapped an arm around Maddie and watched the TV screen.
"I wish I could dace like that." Zuri pointed at the twelve dancing girls on the screen.
"Maybe when we get back home I'll look into dance lessons for you." Shawn smiled at her.
"Really?!" Shawn chuckled and kissed the back of her head.
"Anything for you baby." Zuri rested her head on his chest and continued to watch the movie. Shawn closed his eyes and blocked out the movie to make room for his thoughts. A cop was involved in the murder of children. First they had to find out who it was and they had to make sure the press didn't get a hold of this information. It would be hell on earth if they did. Shawn's thoughts were interrupted as a loud knock on the door caused everyone to look towards it. Maddie rose and moved to the door.
"Is Shawn here?" He recognized it as Juliet's voice. He slid Zuri off his lap and stood up as Maddie opened the door to let her in.
"What are you doing here?" Shawn asked.
"This is something I couldn't explain to you over the phone, I have to show it to you." She held up a disc.
"Is that a movie?" Zuri questioned from the couch.
"Nothing you'd be interested in, follow me." Shawn led Juliet up into his bedroom and shut the door behind them. He took the disc from her and turned on his computer. Once it was booted up he loaded the disc in. The SBPD file room showed up on screen. At first nothing happened. Just people coming into the room to grab a file and nothing else. "What am I looking for?" Shawn took the laptop from the desk and sat down next to Juliet on the edge of the bed.
"Here," She took the computer from him and fast-forwarded it to the part she wanted, "There." She pointed to a figure on the screen. He squinted his eyes and watched carefully. The person was of average height and was wearing a policeman's uniform with a black cap covering his head. The person walked to a box and opened it. They took out a file and checked it to make sure it was the correct one. They ripped out a piece of paper and returned the file into the box and the box to its place. The figure walked out of the room while never showing their face to the camera.
"It's not a girl, no outline of breasts." Shawn backed up to the beginning of the scene and watched it again. Juliet nodded in agreement, "Based off the uniform they're low-level. Probably a traffic cop." Juliet added.
"Damn." Shawn scratched the back of his neck, "What did Lassiter say?"
Juliet sighed, "He's just as lost as we are. He said to keep it quiet. No one is allowed to watch this besides him; you and I. Don't want to spook whoever this is."
"Smart," Shawn closed the laptop and placed it back onto the desk. "What do we do now?" He turned to look at her. Juliet shook her head and fingered the necklace around her neck. Her hair was long and resting on her back. Shawn could smell plums and assumed it was whatever perfume she was wearing.
"That's a pretty necklace." He took it from her hands and looked at the little golden symbol. "Ankh. The key of life." He lowered it gently onto her clavicle.
"Ewan got it for me when he was on one of his missions in Egypt." Juliet explained. Shawn continued to stare at the mark.
"You're speaking to him again?"
"Mostly." Juliet shrugged.
Santa Barbara: 2010
"Why would he do that?" Juliet asked from the closet she was in. Shawn shrugged and looked around Juliet's bedroom. It was his first time into her bedroom after years of playful hinting. Shawn knew he was only here because she needed advice on an outfit for the date she had planned tonight. "I mean he just left." Juliet walked into the room with a robe wrapped around her and held up two dresses. One was a sky blue with a low-cut neck line and draped to mid-thigh. The other was lavender with the same cuts except longer. Shawn swallowed roughly. Truth be told he could see her looking amazing in either dress.
"Shawn?" Juliet nudged his leg when he didn't answer, "Pick one."
"Uh… I don't know Jules. Try the lavender one." She handed him the blue one and returned into her closet shutting the door behind her. He heard as the robe fell to the ground.
"I know it was either leave or get arrested but him leaving looked bad on me. People thought I let him go." She picked up the conversation easily.
"Maybe that's why he left. He let you arrest him so you wouldn't seem weak but left to show he could escape?" Shawn said.
"He wasn't even on the list." Juliet grumbled.
"I don't know Jules." Shawn tucked his left leg under his right and waited for her to reappear. He began to play with a loose thread on the white comforter of her bed. The door opened and Juliet stepped out.
"What do you think?" She asked twirling for him.
"It looks… good." He mumbled trying to hide the fact that his mouth had gone dry.
Juliet nodded and looked at him slowly, "How's Abigail?"
"Oh. She's fine I think. She left for Africa a few days ago." Shawn told her.
"Oh." Juliet fingered with the hem of her dress, "What does that mean for your relationship?"
Shawn sighed, "I have no idea." He replied honestly. "We didn't officially breakup but we're not exactly together. You know?" Juliet nodded and sat down onto the bed next to him.
"If you think she's the one, I say wait for her Shawn. If not… move on." She said.
"That's just it… I don't know." Shawn took a deep breath.
"You don't know a lot of things today." Juliet whispered looking away from him.
"I do know one thing,"
"What's that?" she looked back at him.
"You look beautiful in that dress. You'll stun every guy who sees you tonight." Juliet chuckled and nudged him playfully.
"Don't look too much Spencer, this isn't for you." Shawn tilted his head back and let out a long laugh.
"If it was you wouldn't be wearing a dress- or anything for that matter." Juliet rolled her eyes and smacked him, "Hey!" he rubbed his arm where she'd hit him. "That hurt." He flashed his puppy dog eyes.
"I need to toughen you up." She pinched his leg.
"I'm a delicate flower Jules." Shawn said smugly.
"Delicate in the head maybe," She tapped the side of his head, "Now get out of here, I have to shower." She pushed him until he rose from the bed.
"Bye Jules, have fun tonight.
"Thanks, bye Shawn."
Santa Barbara: 2019
Juliet watched as Shawn continued to stare at her necklace. She wasn't uncomfortable under his staring but surprised. Shawn finally looked away and stared out the window. "Shawn?" His head turned to look at her and was shocked about how close she was to him.
"What are you doing?" he gulped. Juliet didn't answer but instead kissed him. Shawn closed his eyes as he felt her lips move on his. After he'd gotten over the shock he leaned into the kiss. Her arms wrapped around his neck and Shawn put a hand on her hip. Shawn opened his mouth to let her tongue inside. Her tongue stroked his and Shawn deepened the kiss as he leaned into her body.
"Daddy what are you doing?" Juliet jumped off the bed and they both looked towards the door. Zuri was standing there with a hand on the doorknob and an arm clutching a doll. They were both out of breath and had no answer to appease the little girl.
"Go back downstairs." Shawn told her.
"Why were you kissing?" Zuri asked stepping into the room. Her gaze left Shawn and landed on Juliet.
"I have to go." Juliet grabbed her purse which had fallen onto the ground.
"Wait…" Shawn stood up trying to stop her.
"I'll see you later Shawn." She left and went quickly down the stairs. Shawn heard as the door slammed shut.
"Daddy?" Zuri looked back at Shawn.
"I don't know." Shawn shook his head and sat back onto the bed with his head buried in his hands.
Yes, I had Juliet kiss Shawn. I couldn't resist, what do you all think about that? ^-^
Happy early thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all are safe and have a wonderful holiday.
