This is chapter 2 revised. Please let me know what you think. I have not forgotton Everyday Is A Winding Road and Chapter 4 should be up sometime tomorrow.

Fire Safety

Apartment of Darren O'Rourke

Detectives Goren and Eames walked through the door with Darren O'Rourke, he closed it behind them and walked in front of them, he seemed to be avoiding eye contact. "Mr O'Rourke, we were hoping that you still had the note that this man sent to you." Goren told him, as he swapped his portfolio from one arm to the other.

"You said it was signed so..." Eames explained, walking into the main area of the apartment, nearly tripping over some CD's on the floor. "Are you always this messy?" Her question seemed to be more sarcastic than being of curiousity, which seemed to throw him a little.

"No, I - uh..." O'Rourke rushed to pick the discs and cases up off the floor. "I've been a - little upset and I was - uh..."

"Tossing CD's?" Eames asked, as she looked at him with some humor. "Where is the note?" She looked around the room and realised that he probably didn't know, the entire apartment was a mess. In his rage he had broken lots of CD's and furniture among other things.

"There!" Goren pointed and walked over to the other side of the room where a white piece of paper was on the floor, screwed up into a ball, he used a pair on tongues to pick up the note so he didn't get his fingerprints on it. He passed it to Eames, who had pulled on a pair of gloves. She opened up the note and Goren leant in to her to read it with her. "Neat handwriting." he noted.

"It's signed by Chris Webber. Interesting, he signed his full name. I wonder if it's his real name." Eames commented and then turned to O'Rourke. "Was there an envelope?" She asked him, but he shook his head. "Did you see anyone drop this note off?" Goren was pulling on his own gloves whilst she spoke to O'Rourke.

"No, it was in my mail box when I came home from work. Why?"

"Someone must have hand delivered it." Goren stated quietly whilst taking the note off his partner who nodded in agreement and watched O'Rourke as he once again covered his face with his hands and looked about ready to collapse. Eames rolled her eyes at him and looked at her partner, who was intently staring at the note in his hands.

------------

Home of George Brooks

Father of Officer Clare Brooks

Detective Logan turned to looked at his partner, Detective Wheeler, and they both sighed. She tried to doorbell again for what felt like the hundreth time. Still not getting an answer, and both shivering from the cold, Logan shook his head to indicate that perhaps he wasn't in and they should both go, but as they both turned to leave the front door finally opened. "Hello?" an old man, who looked to be in his 50's with grey hair peaked around the door, he squinted at the light. "Are you cops?"

Wheeler held up her badge, "Yes, I'm Detective Wheeler, this is Detective Logan, we'd like to come in to talk to you about your daughter."

Brooks opened the door to allow them into his home and quickly closed it again. Logan nearly tripped over a walking stick by the door. "It's kind of dark in here, don't you think Mr Brooks?" Brooks just walked away from them and headed for the kitchen. The two of them looked at each other and followed him.

"We're very sorry for your loss." Wheeler said, appologetically.

"Are you cops investigating what happened to her?" He asked, and they nodded. "Good, because my girl didn't die in no damned accidental house fire. She was smart, not stupid!" His anger was evident as was his grief. He sat heavily on a kitchen stool and let a sharp, almost painful sigh.

"You raised her to have common sense." Wheeler stated in agreement. "That's why we're here, if there is anything you can tell us about her. Do you know if anyone was bothering her?"

Brooks shook his head, "I don't know anything, all I know is that she was one of the best cops in the city. She never let the bad guys get away."

"What about her mother?" Wheeler asked, "Would your daughter have spoken to her?" When Brooks didn't answer Wheeler looked at Logan, hoping he would get more out of him that she was. Logan sensed that they were hitting a sensitive spot so he pushed.

"Mr Brooks, is her mother here now?" Logan asked, "We'd like to talk to her."

"Her mother died when she was a child." Brooks said very matter-of-factly. "She died in a shooting in the city." He looked at Logan squarely. "Some criminal trying to get away from cops chasing him shot her just because she was in the way." Brooks let a tear slip and then brushed past the Detectives, walking upstairs and leaving them in his kitchen.

"I guess that's our cue to leave." Logan said, sarcastically, turning and heading for the front door, knowing full well his partner was behind him.

-----------

Home of Chris Webber

"Can I help you?" The middled-aged man with dark hair looked at the two Detectives in disgust, especially at Eames.

"You're name came up in an investigation." She told him, ignoring his hostility. "May we come in?" She held up her badge and so did Goren. He looked at them for a moment, eyeing them with suspicion and then stepped aside to let them in. They walked into the sitting area and turned back to him.

"Mr Webber, you have a very nice home." Goren stated. "It's very... uh..." he was searching for the word, he looked as his partner and then stepped to Webber, "Cosy." The room they were in was filled with creams, reds and lots of soft chairs and soft lights. Eames just raised her eyebrows and looked around the room for a moment before turning to Webber. She was unimpressed with the room, it wasn't her style at all so she didn't feel any need to comment on it the way her partner did.

"Mr Webber, did you know anyone by the name of Clare Brooks?" Eames asked, and Webber just eyed her again, with suspicion and dislike. Eames noticed and looked at her partner, who took a step closer to Webber to make him look at him instead. Goren noted the way that he hesitated, he could see that Webber was having to think about his answer.

"No, no I didn't." He finally replied, looking at Goren with dislike.

"Really?" Goren asked. "Then why would her boyfriend think that you did?"

"Well I don't know her boyfriend so I can't answer that." Webber replied, cold. "And I don't know her." he added, he became uncomfortable with Goren and took a step back.

"No, see, you do because you sent him a note saying that you had been intimate with her." Eames corrected him, which he didn't like. He took a step toward her and pointed his finger at her.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Webber raised his voice at her, for which she just stared at him in the face.

Goren held out his hand to stop him from going further, "Hey, there's no need for hostility Mr Webber, we're just asking some questions. This is a murder investigation and we're asking for your co-operation." Goren explained, trying to calm the man down.

Webber looked at him and then stood back. "Do - Do I need a lawyer here?" He asked, stil hostile, pointing to himself and then at the two Detectives.

"Not if you're innocent." Eames told him, he stared at her again and she fought off the urge to roll her eyes and handcuff him there and then.

"Leave." He told them with a cold hatred that neither had expected. Goren looked at Eames and she looked at Webber. Goren waited for Eames to be in front of him and then followed her out of the house.

"Well, he's not innocent." Eames said, sarcastically. She looked at her partner and then sat in the drivers seat.

"Maybe, maybe not. But he's definately hiding something." Goren spoke mostly for her benefit so that she knew what he was thinking. She turned the key in the ignition and gave him a small smile of amusement.

--------------

Captain Ross' Office

One Police Plaza

"So what do you think of this Chris Webber?" Ross asked, as the four Detectives stood in his office, each one looking at the other before allowing Eames to answer.

"Hostile. He thinks he needs a lawyer." She looked at her partner and then back at Ross. "He claims that he never sent a note and that he doesn't know Brooks." Ross then looked at Logan and Wheeler.

"But when we mentioned her name it had meaning to him. He recognised it for a small moment before he hid his expressions behind a - a mask." Goren explained to Ross and the other Detectives.

"What did you two get?" He asked them.

"Nothing. Her father was grieving too much, he barely spoke to us." Wheeler replied.

"We did find out why she became a cop." Logan commented. "But..." he held out his hands to say nothing.

"We need a search warrant." Goren said suddenly yet quietly, all four looked at him curiously. "The note said that Webber had proof that he had sex with Brooks, if he does have it it will be at his home." Goren looked at Ross who shook his head. "I got the impression he was hiding something."

"There's not enough evidence. Impressions of people are not evidence." Ross disagreed and put his glasses that he was holding on his desk.

"Webber hates women, is hostile towards them, he was hostile towards Eames." Goren looked at his partner, who looked at Logan and Wheeler and then shrugged. "He was angry that we had even suggested there was a note. If that's true then he would've been angry at Brooks. Maybe she confronted him about it, which could have led to the fire. We-We need to find out." Goren's hands seemed to be racing with the speed of his voice as he tried to reason his need for a search warrant. He looked at Ross with desperate eyes and Ross just nodded and the four Detectives walked out of the office.

------------

Home of Chris Webber

Cops were swarming around the building and inside the building. All four MCS Detectives are inside with Webber as he was watching them in pure disgust while they searched through his things. "How dare you people come in here!" He was almost shouting as Wheeler reaches for a box on a shelf. "Don't touch my things." He yells at her.

"Mr Webber, please." Goren steps to him and nods to Wheeler to continue with what she was doing. "You've read the search warrant, you know what we're here for." Goren felt that he should stand next to Webber, despite the fact that he was itching to join in executing the search warrant.

"I don't know her!" He shouts at him before turning away from him. Webber wanted desperately convince them of that small fact.

"What's in here?" They hear Eames ask, as she stood next a white door, pointing at it and looking at Webber. They look at the door, Logan walks over to it, tries to open it but can't because it's locked.

"Where's the key, Webber?" Logan asks, and Webber shakes his head but notices the way that Webber protected his jacket pocket so he grabbed his pocket and pulled a set of keys out of it.

"Hey! Now..." Goren tosses the keys to his partner and she tries the lock. "This is an invasion of privacy. My lawyer is going to here about this."

"Keep singing that, Mr Webber, it's music to our ears." Eames told him, as she managed to open the door. Webber pulled away from Goren and sat down, angrily. "Interesting." Inside the cupboard there was a glass box with a blue folder inside, being kept preserved, away from dust and any other elements in the air that could ruin the folder and it's contents. Eames pulled the box out of the cupbaord and Logan opened it with the other key and pulled the folder out.

"Please leave that alone, it's mine. It's private." Webber was pleading with them, he didn't want them to open his private property but Logan opened the book and stared at Webber.

"Is this real?" Logan asked, stunned for a moment. Webber didn't answer. Eames curled her nose up at what was inside the folder. Goren looked at them with curiosity, he was fascinated by their reactions. He'd never seen either one of them react like that, with such intense disgust at what they were looking.

"What have you got?" Wheeler asked, stepping away from the boxes she had been searching through.

"His stamp collection." Logan replied, with a hint of sarcasm telling them that what was inside the folder wasn't really stamps.

"And proof about Brooks." Eames added, taking the blue folder from Logan and going to the back page. "I'll bet she's in here too."

"What do you mean?" asked Wheeler, walking over to her wanting to know what could be possibly be in that book that could be proof.

"Well, come see for yourself." Eames told her, passing the folder to her. Wheeler cringed at the contents and passed it back to Eames, then the three walked over to Goren and Webber. "Have you always done this?" Webber looked at her with pure hate, disgust and he couldn't control his anger any more as he felt it rise within him and without warning he lashed out at her.

"Give it back!" He swung at Eames who ducked just as he made some contact with her face, but Webber didn't manage to actually injure her before Logan and Goren grabbed him by the arms.

"You're gonna regret that!" Logan grumbled, as they pushed him towards the wall, pulling out his handcuffs with his spare hand he passed one end to Goren. Wheeler went next to Eames to see if she had been hurt, when she discovered that she wasn't she turned to their partners as they forcefully held the man against the wall of his own home. Two uniformed officers came over towards them as soon as they had realised what had happened.

"You're under arrest for assaulting a police officer." Goren stated as they cuffed him and allowed the two officers to drag him away. They looked at Eames and Wheeler who just watched Webber being dragged out yelling at them about his folder. "He has a quick, fiery temper."

"You alright?" Logan asked Eames, who nodded to lessen his concern for her. Wheeler looked at the folder in Eames' hand.

"This is going to be interesting." She said with amusement, as an officer came over with a brown evidence bag and Eames slid the folder into it, and gave a small smile of agreement. Goren looked at the three of them with curiosity. He had not seen what was in the folder and he had decided there and then that he had to look. This folder could very well explain the intense nature of Chris Webber.

---------

Do you want to know what's inside the folder?

Thanks for reading, please review. It'll make me want to post the next chapter.