That's when I screw up

That evening Dani sits alone in the dark at her kitchen table.

The radio is playing an old Neil Young song while she stares at her mobile.

Tidwell hasn't called her since he left the hospital.
This is unusual behavior for him. He usually calls at any time to tell her the most insignificant things, like he did that Sunday morning, when he called her to say he had discovered his neighbor owned a car just like hers and that from then on he'd think about her any time he seen it; or like that afternoon, when he'd phoned her to ask if it was too early to buy her a big present; he had just seen a dress that had the right color/shape/length and he definitely wanted to see her in it; or that evening, when he'd told her she had to turn on the TV because they were airing the new season of "Cops".
Or like the other night, when he called to whisper in her ear that he was missing her naked body under him like crazy.

Damn! She thinks, and speed-dials Tidwell's phone number. She isn't going to let him get off scot-free though: he'll pay for having made her miss him.

The telephone rings several times before he gets it.

"Tidwell."

He doesn't sound happy, but she hears music in the background, and some voices. Cheerful feminine voices, to be more precise. She hangs up.

No one calls her back.

xxx xxx xxx

The next morning is her first day at work without Crews.

Driving to the crime scene Dani finds herself staring at the empty passenger's seat.

She has called Charlie an hour before, but his phone was turned off. So she phoned the hospital and they told her that Charlie had had a good night, that the wound had stopped bleeding and that his hematologic levels were slowly getting back to normality.

Oh god, right now she'd want to be in that hospital, forcing Crews to mutter his Zen quotes, just to see he's really healing well. It's a physical need: she has to go to see him as soon as possible otherwise she's going to go crazy.
She loves her work, but it's really merciless sometimes: you cannot take a break when a murder's victim is waiting for you somewhere.
She knows her mind would be at Crews' all day long though.

Dani would have never thought she'd miss him that much.

xxx xxx xxx

Behind the yellow tape there is Captain Tidwell in person collecting the victim's personal belongings. Right now he's searching a brown wallet and giving orders high and low, organizing the crime scene.

Dani stops dead in her track and looks at him.
His hair is less greasy this morning, just the way she likes it, and even if she's mad at him, she can't help but be fascinated by the way in which he performs his role as Captain right now.
She knows she's intrigued by men who show a dominant temper because they're the most exciting to control. In these moments, she remembers what seduced her at first.

But he hasn't called her back last evening, and he's going to pay for that.

Finally Tidwell spots her, and his expression changes a bit, but he recovers himself almost immediately, or maybe she just imagined it in the first place.

"We're going to inform his roommates-" Tidwell starts to say, giving a nod to the body "-they live near here-" he gestures toward the car she's only just left "-you drive."

Saying that, he steps around her. His arm brushes her arms, and a whiff of his cologne sends her vivid mental pictures of their first night together.
Myrrh. In her mind this scent will be bound to that night forever.

"Uh, and today I'm your partner." Tidwell adds casually before entering the passenger's door.

Dani sees two officers exchange an amused look.

She walks to them. "Something funny in this crime scene?" her hands goes at her hips as she balances her weight on her right foot.

"No Ma'am" answers the younger.

"So you two are laughing because…"

The blond one comes forward, looks Dani up and down and then settles the eyes on her face "…because." He grins.

The woman holds his gaze for a while then with a cheeky smile turns on her heel and leaves.

The younger officer simulates a couple of coughs but she hears clearly him exclaim sarcastically "Yeah, today…" in between them.

She tightens her lips and keeps on walking. He's going to pay even for that.

xxx xxx xxx

"How's Crews this morning?" is the first thing Tidwell asks her when she enters the car.

She wasn't expecting a question like that.

"Who told you I have called the hospital?" temporizes Dani studying him.

"I just imagined it" a forced smile appears on his face.

She looks at the road and starts the engine. "He's getting better."

He nods slowly.

"Give him my best wishes when you go to the hospital later."
Tidwell is still staring at her as Dani turns to look him in the eyes. She opens her mouth but 'who told you I'm going to go to hospital later?' is a stupid question to ask: he's a detective, he detects. Plus he seemingly knows her well.

So she gapes and turns her face to the road, both to hide her uneasiness and to drop the argument.

Dani collects her thoughts. "You didn't give me the time to look at the body, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. I did it on purpose. Turn there."

"How can I question the victim's roommates if I haven't seen anything?"

"You don't have to. And we're not going to question them. Not today, at least. But, most of all, I don't want you to talk in that house."

"What?" she turns her head so fast that her neck starts to ache almost immediately.

"What?" asks Tidwell back quietly, and then "Stop here."

He exits the car and closes the door while she's still gaping.
Tidwell bends down to see her through the open window "Aren't you coming?"

She frowns. "No. I'm not."

He grabs the frame of the window with both hands, stares at her and adds "Oh yes. You are."

Dani raises one eyebrow in disbelief.

"I'm your commanding officer; you'll do what I say."

The order gives a shiver down her spine and a jolt in her belly. Both in a bad and in a good way. Damn! She is mad at him for so many reasons right now, she shouldn't think about how much she like him being dominant at work.

Dani exits the car, still weighing his words.

When she reaches Tidwell, he bends down and whispers in her ear: "Look hard at the roommates while I talk to them and then tell me what you've seen".

Leaving her with a questioning look in her eyes, he stands up and walks to the house.

That cologne. That damned cologne.
Dani fights back the mental picture of herself riding him on his bed and of him coming inside her, holding her tightly, making her inhale his scent.

xxx xxx xxx

Tidwell rings the doorbell while Dani looks furtively at him, and she can swear he was doing just the same because his eyes makes a sudden move shifting from her face to the door.

He's strange today. This thought pops up suddenly in her mind. She hasn't noticed that before.

"Yes?" asks the red-haired young woman who opens the door.
Her smile fades as soon as she spots the guns and the badges on the strangers' belts.

xxx xxx xxx

Dani stands up in front of the window of the living-room. This is the best position to watch someone while remaining unseen; the annoying reaction to looking at the direct light behind you prevents anybody from watching you back.

Tidwell is two steps ahead of her, his hands on his hips, weight balanced on the right foot. In front of them, sitting on an old brown coach, there is Paula, who opened the door, and Darren, a big blond guy who is resting his hand on the redheaded woman's shoulders.

Paula hasn't stopped crying since Tidwell told her about Doug's death.
Dani notices that there is nothing Darren can do to console her though, and she thinks to know why: at the moment Paula doesn't want someone who console her; she only wants to be left alone with her pain.

The things Tidwell tells them are few, detailed and…strange. Is the first time she actually sees him doing that kind of job.
She can't help but think about what Crews would have done in his shoes.

Of course, she thinks smiling, he'd have behaved in a strange way too.

xxx xxx xxx

Entering the car Tidwell looks straightly at her.

"So" he starts "tell me what you've seen."

Dani looks at him like he's mad.
She's still angry with him for the previous night, for the comment they gained from the two agents on the crime scene and even for him wearing that cologne.
She rolls her eyes: "A woman and a man who were told their roommate won't ever come back." Is her sharp reply.
Oh yeah, she has 'almost' forgotten to add to the list the fact she was angry because Tidwell has prevented her from doing her work as well.

"Okay." Smiles Tidwell sarcastically "Now Detective pretend to be here with your superior officer and tell me what you've seen" he tilts his head to one side, looking at her.

Even if Dani is not sure she actually likes his methods, she puts her head on the headrest and looks in front of her. A yellow butterfly is flying above the windshield and its hypnotizing dance help the woman in focusing her thoughts.

"That woman. Paula." She pauses "She definitely loves the victim. From what I saw I can tell Doug is…was…her boyfriend and she isn't going to get over his murder soon. I don't think she's good for the killing."

She turns her head and looks at him. "Close?"

"Go on" Tidwell exhorts.

Her eyes go back to the butterfly.

"I can't place Darren." She gestures slowly in the air with her right hand, palm turned up "He's more concerned for Paula than for Doug. Maybe he's new; maybe he hasn't known Doug for a long time. And Paula seems not to care about his presence-" Dani half-closes her eyes and raises her index finger "-or better; she counts on him being exactly where he is, near her with a hand on her shoulder."

Dani turns again on the seat, raising an eyebrow.

"And how do you judge this behavior?" asks Tidwell patiently, tilting his head.

She thinks for a little while.
"Paula is lucky to have someone like him in her life in a moment like this. Someone who's with her even if she doesn't either know she needs him. I hope she's aware of that." Dani tilts her head "She shouldn't take him for granted." A shade passes through her eyes as she adds "Or maybe he's the murderer and that's why he's so calm."

Dani notices that Tidwell was smiling during the first half of her sentence and that was nodding hearing the second half.

The Captain looks hard at her.
"Paula and Doug were co-workers. Doug is a professional bodybuilder, she's her personal trainer. She trains him for ten hours-a-day. They meet in the morning, they work out, they ate and then work out some more again. Six days per week, ten months a year. Not to mention they travel the world together when he attends some contests." He raises an eyebrow and before Dani could say anything he adds "Darren, on the contrary, is Paula's boyfriend and Doug's roommate since they were eighteen."

She frowns.

"Yeah-" nods Tidwell making a grimace "-who could have ever guessed that…"

"So-" she blinks, an unsure tone in her voice "-do you think the things I said can actually help us?"

His eyes capture hers and stay there for a while.
"Maybe."

Dani isn't totally sure he's talking about the murder.

Not shifting his glance Tidwell starts getting near her face slowly. He stops a few inches before her lips. It's up to her now, like always. He never took what he longed for without her permission.

She looks at his parted lips and then turns her face away from his.

"You didn't call me back yesterday."

Tidwell closes his eyes, rests his back on the seat and sighs.

"I know."

xxx xxx xxx

Dani was walking, or even better running, to the hospital, later that afternoon.
She has lost time by taking a silent ride bringing Tidwell back to the station, but most of all she stayed an hour in a fruit and vegetable market trying to buy a present for Crews.
And she thinks she found something he's really going to like.
Fruit, of course, but like he has never seen in his life: the sapodilla, a large bulbous berry, 4-8 cm in diameter, very much resembling a smooth-skinned potato. Inside, its flesh ranges from a pale yellow to an earthy brown color with a grainy texture akin to that of a well-ripened pear. She knows Charlie has an obsession with pears.
The greengrocer has assured her that its flavor is exceptionally sweet and very tasty. He said it has been compared to cotton candy or caramel.
Plus, the sapodilla tree has even a story. Charlie is not going to recognize her: she's bringing him a fruit with a story: totally a non-Reese-like thing.
And, she has bought two fruits, guessing that Crews would have liked to share them with her.

She can't wait to see his eyes while looking at the sapodillas and hearing the story of its tree, so she almost runs down the corridor between the elevator and his room.

Opening the door Dani wonders if she is still at the greengrocer's.

A large amount of fruit is covering every inch of Charlie's room: oranges, bananas, strawberries, mangoes, papayas and others she can't name. All put in sumptuous and colored baskets.
She looks at her small pale green plastic bag.
I'm an idiot: everyone knows he likes fruit, she thinks, and hides it behind a curious basket that's in a precarious equilibrium on a chair near the door.

Charlie isn't alone. There are at least four people around him.

Bobby is patting his former partner's arm in a greeting gesture, and the Officer's look meets Dani's when he stands up and walks to the door.

"Detective Reese, you're here finally" he apostrophized her "the visiting hour is almost ended"

Was that a reproach?

"I had to work-" she hurls back, and I had to deal with Tidwell's strange behavior and I wanted to surprise Charlie with something special, "-I couldn't come before" is her sharp answer.

He leaves, muttering something that sounds much like 'He's your partner, work could have waited', while she approaches Charlie's bed giving a surprised look towards the three girl around him.

"Hi Reese!" Charlie greets her cheerfully

Thanks God, he's really getting better.

"Detective Reese, we meet again" smiles a blond and beautiful girl sit near Charlie's right side.

Dani doesn't know her name or the names of the two other girls near her, but she does know them. They're the three 'badge bunnies' she questioned once for the murder of that elementary teacher.

She gives a questioning look at Charlie.

He smiles "Oh yeah, you don't know their names…these are Marie-" the blond one smiles at her too "-Kristie-" the black one cheers her with an hand "-and she's Cathy".

"Cathy." Dani repeats, looking hard at her.

"I'm Bobby's sister" the girl adds with a cheeky smile.

"I know." And I know you kissed Charlie once.

Dani is marking out the territory with her glance.

"So, Reese-" says Charlie trying to change the awkward topic "-haven't you bought me anything? I think I saw a bag in your hands" his childish smile brings Dani back from her thoughts.

"Crews…" she awkwardly starts to clear herself.

Her answer and the amused look Charlie gives her make the three girls laugh.

"I like making fun of her-" he explains to his public "-because she's very funny when she's uncomfortable".

Dani rolls her eyes but smiles secretly inside her. Definitely Charlie is recovering his health. Just give me some Zen and I'm going to sleep well this night.

"I've got to go now. " says Marie out of the blue.

"Oh yes-" Kristie adds with a knowing smile "-Kevin is waiting for you-"

"-and you don't want to make a Police Captain wait for too long" Cathy ends the sentence, smiling too.

Marie bends down and kisses Charlie on his cheek. "I think tomorrow I'll be able to tell you if your boss is a good cop or a bad cop" she whispers before standing up and leaving.

Charlie freezes.

The girl storms off the room and the other two starts chatting again, but Dani isn't here anymore.

For her the time has suddenly stopped after she heard Tidwell's name, her man's name, coming out of Kristie's lips.

TBC

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Once again I have to thanks Cigarettes and Moonlight very much for her great and fast work as betareader, she's precious. And I love her natural comments: they make me think this story doesn't completely suck.

And I want to give you a little sneak peak:
Coming soon: Ch3 "The Buddha Said 'Each Mistake Is A Rebirth'" (Charlie POV): Charlie goes home from hospital but, who's gonna to take care of him?