Number Is Up
Charlie stared at sandwich on his plate and picked it up. They had all decided to stay at the station until the auction closed to make sure they won the bid. Dani was just staring at the computer screen, refreshing the browser every few minutes to update the latest bid. Dave and Rhonda had taken over desks nearby and were watching from those computers.
"Hey Reese," Charlie called. Dani jumped a little but lookd over at her partner.
"Hmm?" she replied.
"You should get something to eat. We can hold down the fort," he told her.
"No…I'm fine," she answered. Without a word Charlie pushed the other half of his sandwich across the desk to her. She rollled her eyes but picked it up and took a bite. Dani set the food down and hit the refresh button on the brwoser for the millionth time that hour and checked the bid. She was still the highest.
"How much longer?" Rhonda asked. Dani checked her watch.
"This closes at five pm so we have a while," Dani answered.
"Do you mind if we catch a couple hours of sleep?" Dave asked. Dani nodded and the two sex crimes detectives headed off in the direction of the crib. Dani and Charlie were now the only two in the squad room.
"You don't look so good," Charlie said after a few minutes had gone by.
"I told you I'm fine," Dani grumbled, taking another bite of sandwich.
"Covering up your feelings won't make them go away," Charlie replied.
"I don't need any Zen right now, Charlie," she snapped. She let out a breath and pulle dher hair down.
"I just…hate sex crimes and kid related crimes. It's why I didn't go into that division," she muttered. Charlie opened his mouth to retort but closed it when he saw she wasn't done talking.
"I know…I didn't exactly have the greatest start on the force but…I knew I couldn't handle the pedophiles," she continued. Charlie nodded, letting her vent.
"It's easier to deal with them when they are dead," Charlie offered.
"Yeah…and I mean who would want to have to deal with these pervs? I'll take your run of the mill serial killer any day," Dani sighed.
They fell silent for a while, except for the occasional click of the mouse. Before they knew it, midnight had come and gone and so had three in the morning. Dani's head rested on her arms when Dave and Rhonda walked back out. Dave bent downa nd shook Dani lighly on the shoulder. She sat bolt upright and looked around.
"What?" she asked.
"You two should catch some sleep. We'll take over," he said. Dani was about to protest when Charlie grabbed her by the elbow and steered her away from her desk. Dave took her place and refreshed the screen.
"If it make syou feel any better, we've still got the highest bid," he called as the other two detectives disappeared from view.
In the crib, Cani collapsed onto a bed and fell asleep. Charlie sat on the next bed, just watching her. He'd never seen her dedcitate this much energy and emtion to a case. He knew he should sleep for a while too but all he could think about was his own situation. He knew it was selfish of him to be thinking about his own problems when a six-year-old's life was at stake. With a nod he decided he would broach the subject with Reese once this case was over.
Both Dani and Charlie awoke to sounds of people talking out in the ahllway. They sat up and looked around. The sun was shining through the windows and it was at least partialy through the sky. It had to be at least late morning. Dani rushed down the stairs to find Dave and Rhonda talking with a couple of the agents on the case.
"What's the status?" she asked.
"We had to up the bid by twenty dollars around eight this morning," Dave answerd.
"But no one has bid higher than us since then," he added. Dani caught sight of the clock on her desk; 11:42. They had roughly five hours left on the auction.
"We're going to get this kid back," Rhonda said. She actually looked sympathetic to Dani.
"I know," she mumbled and headed for the kitchen area to grab some coffee. Charlie appeared and grabbed his jacket.
"Where are you going?" one of the agents asked.
"I have to stop at home," he answered and walked out. He arrvied at the house some fifteen minutes later. He entered through the front door to find Ted sitting in a chair reading the paper.
"Where've you been?" his friend asked.
"At the station. We're buying a six-year-old boy," Charlie answered. Ted immmediatelly put the paper down.
"Ok…say that again," Ted prompted.
"We're trying to buy a six-year-old boy. From a pedophile so we can catch him," Charlie explained.
"Oh…for a minute I thought you'd gone crazy," Ted muttered.
"Constance called last night," Ted called as Charlie headed upstairs to change clothes. On his way to his closet he dialed her number.
"Connie," he said as he tried to balance the phone between his ear and shoulder.
"You didn't pick up last night. I was getting worried," she said.
"I'm fine. Just working a case," Charlie answered.
"Charlie…I told you to let someone else handle this," she said.
"No…this is a different case. Little boy was kidnapped," Charlie replied.
"Why are you working a kidnapping?" Connie pressed.
"We were called the scene of a dead guy. Turns out he tried to buy the little boy from the pedophile that kidnapped him," Charlie said and headed back downstairs and out to his car.
"Well…good luck. And I'm serious, Charlie. You need to let someone else handle your case," she said before they hung up.
The remainder of the early afternoon was tense in the squad room. Dani checked the page twice as frequently and she hdn't touched her lunch. Her eyes were focused completely on the clock on her computer screen. She waited with baited breath until it hit 5:00. She refreshed the page one last time to see a message waiting for her from BenD. She clicked it and scanned the contents. He gave her a place to meet and a time. She checked her watch and her heart skipped a beat. It was going to be cutting it short. Silently she thanked God that they had the Feds with them for this.
"We've got an hour to get ready to meet this guy," she announced.