For nearly an hour, Eric had sat in front of the computer, drumming his fingers on the desk as the screen before him scrambled through the print database. That morning, he and Calleigh had gone through their usual routine before leaving for work in separate cars. Except, after Calleigh had gone, Eric had stepped out of his car again, and in the light of morning, he'd surveyed the damage done to Calleigh's beautiful tulips.

If he looked past the flowers, nothing seemed out of place. The soil, the grass on the outside of the garden, the decorative rocks – all of them were where they belonged.

But as the sun continued to rise, Eric saw it. There, in the dirt. It was a small glimmer, and as Eric bent down to take a closer look, he grinned in triumph. Sticking out from beneath the topsoil was a single blade.

Carefully, Eric brushed the soil away, wishing the entire time that he had a pair of gloves on him. This was perfect; he and Calleigh had spent a large portion of the night wondering who might've done this, and now, Eric had found the smoking gun. It was a pair of scissors, obviously left behind by whoever had cut Calleigh's flowers.

"Who would be stupid enough to leave these behind?" Eric asked himself, chuckling softly.

It was the question he was currently trying to answer. As soon as he'd gotten some free time at work that morning, Eric had dusted the scissors for prints, and as luck would have it, he happened to find a nice juicy one. Painstakingly he'd lifted it and scanned it into the computer.

Now all he had to do was wait for AFIS to hit on a match.

He'd been watching the screen for so long that it almost lulled him into a state of half-sleep. It was some time later that he was jolted back from that state, and he looked expectantly at the screen, only to realize it was still searching. The sound that had surprised him had come from his belt, from the cell phone clipped there.

Still watching the computer as it scanned through numerous prints, Eric fumbled for his phone and lifted it quickly to his ear. He hoped this wasn't another call-out; all Eric wanted to do right now was find the bastard who had chopped up Calleigh's tulips.

They were just flowers, yes. But Eric had seen the look on Calleigh's face when her eyes had fallen upon the massacred remains of her beautiful garden. The sight had tugged at his heart so immensely, and he wanted nothing more than to make it all right again. And at the moment, making things right meant finding the vandal who'd done this.

Pushing his frustration from his voice with considerable effort, Eric answered the phone. "Delko."

"Long time no see, sweetie."

There was no mistaking the chill that moved through his veins at the sound of that voice. Eric would know that low, seductive tone anywhere. At least, at one time he'd found it seductive. Now, all that voice meant was trouble. "I thought I told you never to call me at work, Gloria," Eric all but growled, rising from the stool. He could never speak to her while sitting down; she always riled him up far too much.

Gloria snickered. "Oh, Eric baby," she cooed, clucking her tongue disapprovingly. "It's not like I called the lab. I called your cell phone." She paused, grinning. "And besides, you always loved when I used to call you in the middle of the day like this. Those were…quite the rendezvous."

Repressing a shudder, Eric closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. "Yes they were, Gloria. They were distracting, and frustrating, and you almost got me fired every time."

"I was trying to show you how well you had it made," Gloria smirked. "You would've never had to work again if you had stayed with me.

"I like my job," Eric replied, barely keeping his irritation in check.

"But why?" Gloria asked, twirling her hair around a finger as she spoke. "That job is so unpredictable."

"Maybe so, but at least my job isn't a psycho bitch."

Gloria only giggled. "Oh, Eric. I do love when you get angry. It's just such a turn-on. And it makes for some of the best lovemaking, don't you agree?" She knew she was pushing his buttons, but it would only be so long before he began to remember what they'd once had together. "You remember that night, not too long ago, right?"

Eric rolled his eyes, having had enough. "Gloria –"

"You were so angry about something at work; I don't remember what. I don't care what. But you came home, and it took a little bit of coercion to make you realize how badly you wanted me, but once you realized that…oh my God," she said, the memory exciting her just as much as she hoped it would Eric.

Swallowing forcefully, Eric forced his concentration to the computer screen as he tried to tune Gloria out. He did remember that particular night. He didn't want to, but he did. Knowing where this was going, he tried interrupting again. "Gloria –"

"You threw me up against the wall, growling as you ripped the clothes right off of my body. So sexy, that feral growl," Gloria continued with a quiet moan. "Mm, you felt so good, baby. Nobody has ever made me scream like I did that night. Don't you remember how you made me rake my nails down your back in sheer lust?"

You love Calleigh. It was the chant that his heart repeated over and over to Eric's inflating ego. Gloria had never been secretive about what he did to her, and no matter how many times he heard it, he couldn't help but react. But he loved Calleigh. Not Gloria. Never Gloria. "Gloria, you know that was years ago," he said. "I don't want anything to do with that part of my past." To anyone else, it might've sounded harsh. But this was Gloria. Harsh she knew not.

Gloria sighed extravagantly. "Why not, sweetie?" She paused for a beat, giving the impression that she was thinking, when in fact she knew the answer. "You're seeing someone, aren't you?" she accused, inflecting a tinge of hurt into her voice.

"I…no, I'm not," Eric lied, his only concern protecting Calleigh. He remembered all too well the nuisance that Gloria had been to all of his other past girlfriends. She had broken windows, stolen purses, among other things. Eric didn't want Calleigh caught up in that.

Calleigh could handle herself, Eric was sure. But because he loved her, he couldn't help wanting to protect her from this psycho. He cleared his throat, hoping his lie didn't shine through over the phone. "I'm not seeing anybody, Gloria."

"Oh, really?" Gloria laughed silently. This was working better than she'd thought. Obviously Eric didn't know that he and Barbie were being spied on at nearly all hours of the day, and Eric had no idea that she'd been the one to cut Calleigh's tulips. Either that, or Eric really was embarrassed at his relationship with the blonde. Either one would suit Gloria just fine. Vaguely she wondered if she'd found the scissors she'd planted before training her mind back once more to what was most important at the moment. "That's such a shame, baby," she added, clucking again. "But I guess you're saving it all for me, huh?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that's exactly it," Eric answered sarcastically, rolling his eyes again. He raked his free hand through his short hair, feeling so completely frustrated, annoyed….there were just too many words to describe how he felt right now.

Of course, Gloria chose to ignore the sarcasm. "I thought so," she cooed, her voice sickeningly saccharine. "This is your lucky week, then," she added.

Eric turned around, looking out into the lab. Staring at that computer screen while on the phone with Gloria just wasn't helping his mood. There was only one thing that could make him feel better, and it was standing outside the glass, talking to Frank just a few yards away. "Why is that?" he asked, his gaze softening more and more the longer he gazed at Calleigh.

Gloria gave a devilish giggle, and even through the phone it made the hair at the back of Eric's neck stand on end. "Because, baby," she cooed. "Thursday night, nine o'clock. My place; I know you still know where I live. I bet you drive by there all the time, just wishing you'd never let what we had slip away. Well, now's your chance, babe."

Eric gave an incredulous laugh. "Do you think I'm crazy or something?"

"Crazy over me," she asserted. "I mean, come on, Eric. You know we always had fun together. And don't you try to pretend that I didn't make you feel good…"

Eric ignored her; out in the hallway, Frank was walking away, and Calleigh had looked up, her beautiful green gaze locking with his. She flashed him that gorgeous smile of his, and Eric felt his heart flutter in his chest. There was no comparison: that was the woman he loved, not the crazy psycho on the phone with him.

But a sense of fear gripped him as Calleigh began walking toward his lab. He needed to get rid of Gloria, who was still rambling away, seemingly without a clue that Eric had been ignoring her.

"…and I still have those feathery handcuffs. There's no better sight than seeing you naked and cuffed to my bed, your eyes just begging me to grant you some kind of release."

"Look, Gloria," Eric interrupted angrily. "You and I – we were over a long time ago. There is never going to be anything else between us. We are over. How many ways do I have to spell that out to you?"

"Well then come to my place, like I told you to," she challenged. "Then you can show me how over we are. If we're really over, then what better way to show that than with one last night? You know, a bit of closure?"

Eric sighed. "It's never closure with you, Gloria. It's never one last anything. Besides, I have plans on Thursday night."

Gloria smirked. "You say that now, baby, but you'll cancel them. You can't stay away from me, you never could. You'll be here."

Eric cringed inwardly as Calleigh stepped into the lab, greeting him cheerfully. He held up a finger, signaling that he'd just be a minute more. "This conversation is over," he said quietly, watching as Calleigh's eyes gazed at him questioningly.

Not giving Gloria the chance to reply, Eric snapped his phone shut, a smile immediately touching his lips as he gave all of his attention to Calleigh. "Hey, beautiful," he greeted, adoring the soft blush that touched her cheeks at the endearment.

"Hey," Calleigh replied, tilting her head toward his phone. "Who was that?"

Eric shook his head dismissively. "Just a disgruntled district attorney," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. "They're pushy; you know that."

Calleigh gave a light chuckle. "Trust me, I do," she replied, her eyes sparkling. "So what're you up to?"

Eric opened his mouth to reply, but before he could speak, a distinct beep came from the computer, signaling that it had found a print. "Come here," he murmured, gently taking her hand and leading her to the computer. He lifted the photograph from the table, showing it to Calleigh. "I found these buried in the garden," he said.

"You actually found scissors there?" Calleigh asked disbelievingly. "Who would leave these behind?"

Eric clicked the mouse, bringing up a mugshot and the accompanying ten-card. "This guy, apparently," he replied, gesturing to the screen. "I found a print on the scissors, and AFIS says the print belongs to him."

Calleigh squinted, leaning closer to the screen. "Who in the world is that, and why would he cut my tulips?"

Eric couldn't help but feel somewhat relieved that Calleigh didn't recognize the man. "You don't know him?"

"I've never seen him before in my life," Calleigh replied, shaking her head.

"Then maybe this was just a random act of vandalism," Eric surmised. "His rap sheet lists a few incidents of vandalism, so maybe that's all it was. God, that makes me feel so much better," he added, chuckling in relief.

Calleigh glanced up at him. "What do you mean?"

Leaning forward, Eric placed a quick kiss to her forehead, ever mindful of their current location. "If this was just random vandalism, then that means somebody isn't targeting you specifically. You don't know how worried I was."

A slow smile traced its way across her lips, and Calleigh dropped her eyes, feeling her cheeks tint as well. "You're too sweet," she murmured.

Eric grinned. "You're sweeter," he replied, wishing they weren't at work right now so he could kiss her fully on the lips. With a smile, he took a quick look at his watch, realizing that he could fix that right now, quite easily. "You uh, wanna go get some lunch? It's been a while since we've had a quiet lunch, just you and me, you know?"

Calleigh nodded, a smile on her lips. "I'd like that. How 'bout I catch you out front in, say, ten minutes?"

"Sounds good," Eric replied, finding himself transfixed by the sparkle in Calleigh's eyes.

"Then it's a date!" With a quick look around, Calleigh gauged that the coast was clear before stepping up on her tiptoes and pressing a soft kiss to Eric's lips. "I'll see you outside," she said with a soft giggle, her hair flowing behind her as she made her way out of the lab.

A smile on his lips, Eric quickly cleared the computer screen. He removed his lab coat and his gloves, and just as he was about to step out of the lab, he felt a vibration at his hip. His phone.

This time, it was just a text message, but it was annoying all the same.

Thursday night. 9:00. You forget it…and I'll have to punish you, baby. But you'd like that too much, wouldn't you? XOXOXO.

Disgusted, Eric sent the message straight to the trash. He'd had enough of Gloria to last seven lifetimes. There was no way he was going over to her place Thursday night, nor any other night for that matter.

The only woman he wanted to spend not only his Thursday night with, but also every other night of the week with was currently waiting for him outside. And Eric didn't want to keep her waiting.