Chapter Four
"Flynn!"
Lieutenant Andy Flynn whips his head around to glare at his best friend.
"What?"
Provenza hurriedly walks up to his partner and whispers in a quiet tone.
"Stop making goo-goo eyes at the Captain and get your head in the game. Do you not see what is around you? The SDPD are gonna solve this case while you have your head up your ass!"
Flynn can see Provenza's vein throb in his forehead, and though he knows he should be concentrating on the case, all he can see is the woman he loves and that…Captain Mason, in her office, with the curtains drawn. He can't stop wondering what they are talking about. Is she flirting? Is he asking if he can sleep on her couch?
Shit, I'm gonna give myself a heart attack if I don't focus.
He wipes his hands across his face and turns to Lou.
"Yeah. Sorry partner. I don't know where my head was. Sorry."
Provenza pats his shoulder.
"It's okay Flynn. It's okay. Why don't you come over here? Get your mind off things and concentrate on this victim okay?"
Flynn shakes his head slowly.
"Yeah. Yeah okay. Sounds good."
….
Unbelievably, there isn't much talking going on in the Captain's office. Sharon and Mason are pouring over previous evidence, because Doctor Morales found discrepancies with their newest body. Sharon closes her eyes, remembering Morales strange looks at both of them.
"From what I've learned of the previous bodies, this new one is different, Captains."
Sharon came to stand next to Morales at the head of the victim.
"Strange how?"
"Well…first, she was sodomized. The other victims were raped, but none of them were sodomized. That is a pattern differential. Two, though the killing, mutilating, and sodomy are all recent…Captains, this girl has been repeatedly raped over a long period of time. You can tell by the abrasions in her pelvic region. She has some that are fresh, some that are healing, and some scarring that is completely healed. That means this girl wasn't taken a week ago like the others. This girl has been enduring this type of behavior for a very long time. That is another pattern differential. Three, see here? See the marks on her ankles and wrists. They aren't as prominent as the other girls. It's like she was only in chains for a day or two. This suggests that she was possibly free to walk around, while the other girls were chained the whole time. That is another pattern differential."
Sharon and Mason looked at each other. He walked closer to Morales.
"Doctor, in your opinion…why would a serial killer kidnap a girl, keep her lose for weeks while he raped her, then chain her, sodomize her, and kill her?"
Morales looked at the girl, patting her hair affectionately.
"Honest opinion? I would say she was the killer's favorite. He felt he could trust her. He was raping her at the same time she was free. She could move around and fight him, but she didn't. Maybe he had her locked in a room, or held down some other way, but I can't find any other marks that show restraint."
Mason whipped his head toward Sharon. Her eyes slowly rise to meet his.
"He felt he could trust her?" She asked him.
Mason slowly nods his head.
"Captain, if a serial killer doesn't chain up one of his victims because he can trust her, while he still does unspeakable things to her…"
Sharon swallows the bile that rises in her throat.
"He knew her."
Morales looks between the two.
"Knew her as in she was a neighbor or something?"
Mason shook his head.
"The sodomy was personal. He only did it at the end before he killed her. It was personal."
Sharon nods and looks toward Morales.
"It means, more than likely, they are related. They're family."
Morales closed his eyes. He held back tears as he rubbed her head.
"Sometimes, I really hate this job."
Morales walked away, leaving the two Captains staring at each other.
Sharon rubs her hand across her forehead. Her sigh is louder than she intends it to be. Mason smiles slightly and takes his glasses off.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
She looks up and giggles a little.
I'm fine. I just…I had absolutely no sleep. We closed a case late last night, and I didn't get to bed until midnight, and this call came in at 1 a.m. I wasn't even asleep yet. I'm just running on fumes right now."
"Well, it's 6 a.m. right now. What have you eaten since you got up?"
Sharon tilts her head at him, in a "what makes you think I've eaten anything" look.
"Ah. I can fix this. Give me a second."
Mason dips into his bag, coming up with celery and peanut butter, carrots, and cold pasta in separate plastic tins.
"You carry food in that bag?" She asks with a big smile on her face.
"Yep. I'm never without something. My doctor warned me last year that I needed to be eating more regularly, and coffee was not a food group. So I began carrying a little igloo. Keeps everything cold and it reminds me to eat."
"Mmm…what kind of pasta is this?" She asks as she taps the lid.
"The best pasta in the world. It's whole wheat tortellini with spinach and ricotta cheese. Made it myself. Has a little butter and parmesan cheese on it. Try some. It's amazing."
He hands her a fork and opens the plastic bin for her. Sharon takes a bite and has to cover her mouth to hide the groan. The last time she ate was 6 p.m. the previous day. She eyes the pasta, wondering how fast she could scarf it down. She is that hungry.
"You made this? From scratch?" She asks, bewildered.
"Women aren't the only chefs, you know. I like cooking. Calms me. Helps me to unwind at the end of the day. What do you do to unwind?"
"Drink a glass of wine." She replies.
Mason laughs loudly.
"Well, that works too I guess."
She smiles at him, suddenly becoming shy. A blush forms over her face. Her cheeks feel like they are on fire.
"Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Don't get shy and blush. It's too cute, and it makes me lose concentration."
He eyes her for a few seconds before he looks down at his notes again. She blushes even more before looking down at her notes.
"You're still doing it."
Sharon openly gawks at him.
"You're looking down. You can't even see my face."
His eyes lift to her.
"I always see your face. Even when I'm not looking directly at you, I see you."
She shudders. Those piercing blue eyes are dangerous. She wants nothing more than to lose herself in them.
A knock at her door breaks the haze her mind was swimming through.
"Yes? Come in." She leans back in her chair, her face becomes, once again, the Captain's face.
"Captains? We're ready for you. To start the meeting."
"Thank you, Amy. We will be right out."
Amy nods and closes the door.
"Right. We've got a case to solve. Okay, my team is up here and ready to go. They brought up all pertinent files. Looks like your team is ready to go too. Are you ready?" He asks.
Sharon stands up, whips her scarf off and lays it on her chair, and grabs her jacket. She makes her way to her door when Mason takes her jacket from her. He opens it toward her. She smiles, turns around, and puts her arms through her jacket. Once it is around her, Mason lifts her hair up above her collar. She fixes the collar with nervous fingers, and he puts her hair down. When Sharon's fingers find it hard to open her door, she turns abruptly toward Mason.
"Captain, I'm finding it hard to be around you without being nervous. I need to be on my game right now, as do you." She waves her hands frantically between them as she says, "So, this thing we have, whatever it is, we need to table it until this case is over. I can't focus on you and these girls at the same time."
Mason backs away slightly, his hands up in apology.
"I meant no disrespect, Captain. I promise, no flirting until the end of the case."
"Thank you. I, also promise."
"Thank you, Captain. That would help tremendously."
He opens the door and walks through it, but not before turning back to her and giving her a wink.
Sharon stomps her foot slightly, her hands balling into fists.
"Oh! That man! How dare he accuses me of-"
She stops mid-sentence, calming herself as she contemplates what she just said.
"Jesus, he's got me sounding like Brenda!"
She walks in a huff toward her team, her hips swaying more than usual. Captain Mason certainly woke up something inside her. Damn him.