WARNING: RATED M FOR MUCH LATER PARTS
Digging through the trash and untangling the wood: Part Three
"Love can save a thousand lives
joy in a world that sweetly cries
for every moment it has become
the cure will come,
thy will be done."
-The World is Darker, Never Ending White Lights (feat. Auf Der Maur)
"Sammie!" Adam called, hurrying out of the trace lab at the sight of his sister rushing past.
"Adam, I don't have time right now! I have to get to ballistics! Don has a suspect downstairs and I need to test fire ASAP!"
"Just a minute! I need just a minute s'il vous plait!" Adam chased after her.
Sam slowed down for him to catch up. "What is it? Walk with me, Adam."
"The Sarge wants to know why you haven't called him to go for lunch yet."
"Because I'm working and I'm very busy." Sam reasoned.
"I know that. And I've told him that and he's not listening."
"Adam, just tell him I will call when I'm not running around like a chicken with my head cut off!"
"I'd do that, but maybe you can tell him yourself seeing as he's here."
Sam skidded to a halt. "What?"
"He's here. In the break room! I tried telling him that I didn't know when you'd back 'cause you were out in the field and he said he's just wait and I told hi it could be a long wait and he said it didn't matter and..."
"Adam, calm. You're going to hyperventilate!"
"He's pissed."
She frowned. "How pissed is pissed?"
"Not as pissed as he is suspicious."
"Shit! I do not have time to be dealing with this right now!" Sam started walking once again. "If he finds you before me, you tell him that I'm swamped and I..."
"Samantha!" The Sarge bellowed as he stepped out of the break room at the end of the hall and spied her heading towards him.
"Fuck..." Sam mumbled under her breath and saw Adam go white out of the corner of her eye. "Dad, I don't have the time right now!"
"Me and you need to have a talk young lady!"
"I know. But I'm in the middle of a huge case and I need to get to ballistics!"
"I know you're with that boy!"
"Jesus Christ, dad! He's thirty years old! He's a man!"
"Thirty is a kid in my books!" the Sarge exclaimed, falling in step beside her.
"Dad!" Sam fought to remain calm. "I have no time to be arguing with you."
"Are you sleeping with him?"
"Oh my God!" Sam slapped a hand to her forehead. "Dad! Are you serious? Tell me you're not serious!"
"When are you off?" he asked.
"Whenever I'm finished." Sam replied.
"And when is that going to be?"
"A few more hours."
Sarge checked his watch. "I'll be back here at six and you better be ready to go. Me and you will have ourselves a nice father/daughter dinner."
"Lecture session, you mean." Sam huffed.
"Samantha Marie Ross!" the Sarge spoke sternly. "I am not fooling around here! Six o'clock. Be here. Right in this spot!"
"Fine." she conceded. "Good bye, dad. I need to get to work."
"Boy," Adam said as they watched the sarge stalk off down the hall. "that went over well."
Sam glared at him. "Shut up."
Flack sat across from Bradley Sullivan at the interrogation table. Sipping coffee with his feet up, getting amusement out of Bradley's constant fidgeting and profuse sweating. A second take out cup - this one tea- and a small plastic glass of water sat on the table, along with a stack of files.
"Feeling a little sick, are we Brad?" Flack asked.
"Just a little... I need something..."
"I know what you need. A fix. What is it? Coke? Meth? Crack?"
"I need my meds."
Flack laughed. "Meds. Classic. You don't even have a medical condition that requires meds. Only thing you're gettin' is that glass of water there. So drink up."
A knock came to the door and Flack got up to answer it.
"What's up?" he asked Sam, stepping out into the hall.
"The bullets from both girls were an identical match to bullets I test fired from the gun at the apartment. Adam also just confirmed that Bradley's DNA matches the semen in both our vics. And the fingerprints on the weapon are his as well!"
She couldn't contain her child like excitement. Her eyes sparkling, her nose crinkling as she smiled. Flack thought how young and innocent she seemed just then, and he was struck by an image of her as a young girl, with all that trust in her eyes and being put through such unbelievable torment. And he wanted to reach out and touch her face and apologize for all the horrible things she'd been put through and somehow managed to survive.
"I need to get a GSR test just to cover all the bases." she said, breaking him out of his daze.
"More the merrier." Flack said and held open the door for her. "Brad! I brought you a visitor!"
He looked over. "AHHH!! Fuck no!! Anybody but her!"
"I promise I won't let her hurt you." Flack said. "Do us a favor and hold out your hands."
"My hands?" Bradley looked a little worried.
"Just humor me." Flack said irritably. "Come on. Its ninety degrees in this room and hotter outside. Give us a break here."
He reluctantly held out his hands.
"You right handed or left handed?" Sam asked.
"And don't lie." Flack added.
"Right." the perp responded.
Sam ran the GSR test pad over the man's right hand and then sprayed a fine mist on it from a small spray bottle. The pad immediately turned purple.
"Just so you know," Flack said "that's bad."
"Why don't you start telling us what happened." Sam suggested, taking a seat beside Flack. "See, this little test proves that you fired a gun recently. You have gunshot residue on your hand. These tests here..." she opened one of the files. "tell us that you raped both Crystal Walters and Jessia Younge.Your DNA matches the semen found in both girls. And this one here," she held up piece of paper. "tells us that the bullets used to kill the girls came from your gun. Which was fired recently and had your finger prints all over it."
"You ask me," Flack sipped his coffee. "you're screwed."
"My girl was fucking around on me." Bradley said. "With another girl."
"Sounds like every guy's fantasy to me." Flack commented.
Sam booted him in the shin under the table.
He bit back a wince. "Which girl was which?" he asked.
"Jess was my girlfriend. She said her and Crystal were just friends. Dude, any time the woman says that, its the complete opposite."
"So what happened?" Flack asked. "You didn't want to share or what?"
"Went there to confront them. Guess what happened? She and Crystal let me join in. Rough shit. Three-way stuff."
"And that's a problem?" Flack asked.
Sam stomped on his foot.
"It is when after they tell you to fuck off! That they wanted nothing more to do with you! I just lost it! I'd brought my gun to scare Jess. Force her to leave with me."
"And?" Sam prodded.
"And what? I shot 'em and killed 'em."
"How'd Jessica get in the dumpster?" Flack asked.
"Threw her out the window. Like the trash she was. Went down afterwards and moved her around. So it would throw you guys off."
"We're not that stupid." Flack informed the perp.
"What's up with the eye lids?" Sam asked.
"Just thought it would be a cool little touch. Read about that Dobson guy in the papers. The one that died in police custody. Look up to the guy. Pay homage to him.'
Flack snapped. Jumped to his feet and slammed his hands down on the table top startling both the perp and Samantha who jumped nearly out of her seat. "Dobson was a sick, twisted pathetic piece of shit!" Flack roared. "You looked up to a guy that raped and murdered defenseless women? You thought it would be cool? You know what would be really cool?"
Flack leaned over the table, inches away from Bradley's face and lowered his voice..
"Watching you get put away for two life sentences and seeing some big ass inmate rip you a new ass hole! That would be cool! I'll have a officer come in and show you to your temporary lodging. We're done here." Flack quickly gathered up the files in trembling hands and left the room.
Sam hurried to catch up to him. "Don... what the hell was that?"
He couldn't tell her about Mac and Clay Dobson and the IAB mess. Because if he told about that, it would all lead back to Dean Truby and the stolen drugs from the raid and the Mac/log book issue. And Flack himself being a part of Truby's demise. He was worried that she would think less of him for helping nail another cop. And he couldn't bear the thought of that.
"Guys like that make me sick." Flack hissed.
"You totally lost it when he mentioned that Dobson character."
"Not right now, Sam. That's the last thinng I want to discuss right now."
"What was all that about him dying in police custody?" she pressed.
"Samantha..."
"What happened? You must know what happened."
"Samantha!" he snapped, wheeling around to face her. "I said..." he struggled to calm his voice down. "I said not right now. Okay? Later, when we're alone, I will tell you."
"I think me and you need to stay away from each other for a little bit." she suggested, backing away from him.
"What? No. That's not what we need. Let's go and get something to eat while Bradley gets established and both of us calm down. Its just all the adrenaline from the day. Makes me temperamental."
"I've got work to do." she insisted and attempted to walk away.
He caught her by the wrist.
She yanked her arm away and kept going.
"Samantha..." he called after her.
She just kept going.
Flack wanted to bang his head off a wall or put his fist through it.
"Trouble in paradise all ready, Flack?" Angell asked as she passed by.
"Do me a favour? Mind your own business." Flack snapped.
"Your grumpy. What happened? No sex in the squad today?"
"You know what? Fuck you, bitch. What I wouldn't give to have you be a man for five minutes so I could beat your ass. Stay outta my face, Angell."
"If I'd known you were into the bitchy, nymphomaniac, guns and ammo type..." Angell began.
"You still woulda been last on my list." Flack finished.
Not getting any where with questioning Flack about Clay Dobson, Samantha decided to take matters into her own hands. Curiosity had gotten the better of her, and when that happened, it was impossible for her to let something go.
She retreated to her desk at the back of the busy, noisy precinct, powered up the computer and quickly accessed the NYPD's previous solved cases file. Typed in Dobson's name and waited.
She cringed when she saw Angell coming towards her. Bit on her lip to keep herself from saying something incredibly nasty. She'd seen the other woman talking to Flack across the room, and had seen her flirtatious smiles and the way Flack had given her icy glares and snappy, mean responses in return. It made her feel somewhat vindicated for all the nasty shit that had been said as of that. But when she felt Angell stop directly behind her chair and peer curiously at her computer screen, Sam felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up and her blood start to boil.
Flack, across the room at his own desk, pretending to immerse himself in paper work, kept glancing over, anger in his eyes, as if expecting Angell to do or say something stupid that would warrant Sam knocking her out. And that he would pay to see.
"I can tell you everything you need to know about Clay Dobson." Angell said.
"I am so not in the mood today." Sam informed her.
"Guess its not as much sex as the rumors made it sound. Otherwise you two wouldn't be so bitchy today."
"Angell," Sam kept her tone even and her eyes on the screen in front of her. "next time you want to spread some stupid shit about me or Don, make sure it doesn't find its way back to me. Because you are one step away from slapping you so hard your grandchildren will be born dizzy."
Angell smirked. This pretty little CSI had balls. "What do you know so far about Dobson?" she asked, sliding into the chair alongside Sam's desk.
"I know he's a serial rapist and murderer that got his kicks cutting his vics' eyelids off so they had to watch him while they died. And that he died in police custody."
Sam's cell phone beeped. In coming text message. Sent from Flack's cell phone. She glanced over at his desk. He was pretending to be filling out paper work, but she could see his cell on top of his desk. She glanced at her phone.
DON'T TRUST A WORD SHE SAYS
"Mac threw him off a twenty storey building." Angell told her.
Sam slipped her phone into her desk. "What?" she asked.
"At least that's what it looked like. Last year, Dobson got out of jail and a new vic popped up with his signature." Angell explained. "Make a long story short, it was tracked back to Dobson, who had another vic in his possession he was in the midst of torturing, and Mac went after him. During an altercation, Mac tried to arrest Dobson, who resisted. Dobson fell off the roof."
Sam frowned. "Fell?"
"Mac says he jumped, but IAB turned it into this big thing, wanted to make it look like Dobson was thrown off 'cause he was wearing Mac's handcuffs and was pretty beat up."
"Okay... explain to me why someone like Dobson was out on the street."
"That's the good part." Angell enthused. "There was a massive fuck up with the arresting detective, Dean Truby."
"What kind of fuck up?"
"Truby was connected to the murder of some innocent kid that walked in on him getting ready to sell black cocaine."
"Hang on. Back up a second. Black cocaine?"
"He stole drugs from an NYPD raid that Flack was in charge of. People thought Flack was involved at first.'
"People?" Sam asked and sipped her tea. "Or just you?"
Angell ignored her.
"How Truby get caught?" Sam asked, mentally storing all of this information if she felt a need to have it verified.
"Well, a match came back on a nine millimeter bullet at the scene that matched a police issue Glock. But he finally got caught when Flack passed over his log book from the raid to Mac. Things got real bad around here for a while for Flack. Guys talking about him not having Truby's back. Calling him a rat for helping Mac out."
"Why?" Sam asked.
"Why what?"
"Come down on someone for that?"
"It's a code. Protect your fellow officers at all costs. Flack broke it. Wouldn't expect you to understand just being a CSI and all."
"Angell, I am just as cop as you are so don't go there. Are you telling me that if you knew someone killed someone or took drugs from your raid, you wouldn't say anything?"
"No."
Sam laughed. "Bullshit. When the job is your livelihood and there's a chance of you getting nailed for something you didn't do, protect yourself."
"Well I've never been put in that position. Maybe Flack should have kept a better eye on his guys so they couldn't steal something."
"And maybe you should keep your mouth shut on things you know nothing about. You weren't there. You don't know the circumstances."
Angell smirked. "That's sweet. Sticking up for your boyfriend. You're loyal. I'll give you that much."
Sam finished her tea and stood and tossed the empty cup in the nearby trash. "Thanks." she said, shutting down her computer and gathering up her things.
"Hope I didn't shatter your knight in shining armor vision of him."
"He's more like a knight in a bullet proof vest wielding a shot gun." Sam corrected. "And no. You didn't."
"He's not what you think, Samantha." Angell told her.
"None of us are." Sam replied and quickly left.
Bradley was processed and booked and assigned a public defender. The evidence had been catalogued and sent downstairs and would sit there until the trial started.
It was seven o'clock in the evening by the time Flack punched out. He headed upstairs to the lab. Tired, weary and sore.
"She's not here." Adam announced just as Flack stepped off the elevator and Adam was coming to grab it.
"What do you mean she's not here?" Flack asked, thinking, she must be more pissed at me than I thought.
"Left about an hour ago." Adam told him. "She didn't call you?"
Flack shook his head.
"She went out with The Sarge." Adam said, shrugging into a red, blue and white plaid shirt. "He came here and went all military on her earlier. Demanded she go out to dnner with him to talk. You can just imagine what that's about."
Flack just nodded.
"She honestly didn't call you?"
"Would I be here i she did?" Flack sighed. "Sorry, Adam. Didn't mean to snap at you. It's been a hell of a day."
Adam shrugged it off. "Hey, I can imagine dealing hands on with the perps can get to ya after awhile. Working with my sister is just like it. Amusing most times, but a pain in the ass the other times."
Flack grinned. "She say what time she'd be done getting the third degree?"
"With Sarge, she could still be there tomorrow."
"Thanks, Adam. You see her or talk to her, tell her I went home."
"You know." Adam walked alongside the taller man as he turned for the elevator. "I was going out with Danny and Hawkes and Speed. You wanna come with? Seeing as you and my sister are pretty serious, maybe me and you should get to know each other better. Sam and I, were really tight and I kinda like to keep an eye on her."
"I can understand that." Flack said.
"I know we're polar opposites, " Adam continued. "But now that we have something in common..."
Flack nodded. "Lead the way, Adam." he said.
Samantha and The Sarge were at a quiet, quaint Italian place three blocks from the lab. The kind of place with white linen tablecloths and a candle in the centrepiece and wait staff that wore crisp tuxedos. Completely unlike a place either of them would frequent.
Sarge watched his daughter closely over the rim of his water glass as she sipped at a glass of red wine and barely glanced at her food.
"Are you just going to stare at me all night?" Sam asked.
"You need to eat." he replied sternly. "You're gettin' way too skinny. Need some weight on your bones. You must be starving after the day you had."
Sam didn't even realize that she had hardly touched the expensive meal. She took a sip of wine and dug into a plate of shrimp fettuccine Alfredo.
"I want to know what's going on with you and this boy." The Sarge said.
"Dad, please do not call him that. He's a man. And he has a name. His name is Don. Not boy or kid or even detective. Not hey you. Don. So please.. he deserves some sort of respect."
The Sarge sipped his water. "So what is going on between you and this cop?"
Sam sighed exasperatedly."Dad..."
"Whatever his name is, what's going on between the two of you? I know you're with him. I saw the two of you leave together two days ago and arrive together last night."
"Oh wonderful." Sam grumbled. "Now you're stalking me."
"I'm keeping an eye on you in this big, bad city." he corrected her.
"Well I'm fine. I'm perfectly safe. Especially now that Zack is in jail."
"Why'd you lie to me? About going to a friend's house?"
"What did you want me to say, Dad? Hey, I've got a new boyfriend and I'm going to his place? Or did you want me to say, hey dad, I'm going to have sex with said boyfriend." she angrily speared a shrimp with her fork.
"So you are intimately involved with him."
"Yes. I am. I'm thirty years old and I'm having sex. Making love. Whatever you want to call it. And you know what? I love it. It's amazing. He's amazing. In every sense of the word."
"Happened a little quick don't you think?"
Sam jabbed furiously at her food. "It happened. Things just happened. God works in mysterious ways. I didn't come here expecting this. To fall in love with someone. I came here to get away. To heal. And something unexpected and wonderful happened. As soon as I met him, I knew there was something different. There's something different about him."
"In what way?" The Sarge asked.
"He's a great guy, Dad. He's funny and smart and makes me laugh even when I don't think I have anything to laugh about. He makes me feel like I'm the only thing that matters to him. When he looks at me... when he looks at me, I trust him. And I feel more for him than I've ever felt for anyone. You just see him as a cop. Lump him in the same category as Zack. He is nothing like Zack."
"He's still a cop." The Sarge pointed out.
"Not all cops are dirt bags, Dad. Don is an amazing cop but he's an even better human being. And he loves me."
"Is that what he told you?"
"He has. But I don't need him to tell me. I see it in his eyes. I feel it when he touches me.'
"Do you love him?"
"More than I ever thought I could love anyone." Sam declared. "And that's why I have to defend him. Because he's a great guy who treats me good and makes me feel special and safe and protected. And I think you really need to give him a chance. If you gave him a chance, you'd see. You'd really like him."
The Sarge snorted. "I liked Zack at first, too."
Sam slammed her cutlery down on her plate. "Don is nothing like Zack and don't ever put him and that sonofabitch in the same thought together!"
"Calm down, sweetie."
"I won't calm down! I'm not going to sit here and let you bad mouth him, Dad! Not after everything he's done for me. He was there for me when I needed someone."
"So you feel sleeping with him is a suitable form of repayment?"
Sam tossed her napkin down on her plate and jumped up. "I've had enough." she said.
The Sarge grabbed her wrist as she passed the table. "Sit down."
"You can't boss me anymore. I'm a big girl. I'm making a life for myself. And I want Don in that life. And I'm sorry if you can't accept that. I really am. But..."
She was interrupted by her cell ringing. She opened her purse and pulled it out. "I have to take this." she said.
"You're in the middle of dinner." The Sarge reminded her.
"The job never stops, Dad. I'll be back in a few minutes. And if you haven't changed your mind by then, I am walking out of here and who know where you and I stand."
"Samantha..."
" Just give him a chance. Please." she pleaded and headed off the answer her phone.
Flack stood outside of Sullivan's, cell phone pressed to his ear. The other guys were all ready inside, ordering drinks.
"You sound upset." he said when she answered.
"Just another wonderful father and daughter argument." she sighed.
"About?" As if he really needed to ask.
"I'll tell you later." she replied.
"Why didn't you call me and tell me you were leaving?" Flack asked. "I thought something was wrong."
"I'm fine." she assured him. "And we needed some time away from each other."
He sighed, not liking the sound of that. "Is this going to happen a lot?" he asked. "You deciding you need time apart?"
"No. But you were really stressed with this case and you were biting my head off and I was getting nasty back and that's not good for any relationship. I didn't want us saying things we couldn't take back."
"You're right." he agreed.
"Excuse me? Can you repeat that? I want you to say it louder. So I can store it away for prosperity."
He laughed. "Don't push it. Is everything okay? With us?"
"Is there a reason it shouldn't be?" she countered.
"I love you, you know." he told her.
"I know. And I love you, too."
"If you're back at the apartment before me, I'm just out with Danny, Speed, Hawkes and your brother. I shouldn't be too late."
"I hope not. All the adrenaline from today? I need a release."
He smirked. "I'll take care of that for you." he said.
She laughed. "I bet."
"Everything okay?" Danny asked as Flack joined them a table at the back of the crowded cop bar. The table top all ready crowded with pitchers of beer and glasses.
"Everything's fine." he replied as he sat down and poured himself a beer.
"Lovers quarrel?" Speed asked.
"Don't talk." Flack said. "I heard you had one of those today yourself."
"Well you heard wrong." Speed informed him.
"You and Devine weren't scraping it out earlier? About you not being able to deal with the fact she was married?"
"It's not because she was married." Speed corrected him. "It's because of who she was married to. You like the idea of your girl being with a Pelham Bay guy?'
"She was fifteen." Flack said. "A long time before I ever came into the picture. What she did back then is her business. Not mine. and when did you and Devine hook up anyway?"
"We did not hook up." Speed insisted. "We went for coffee."
"But you're interested." Flack said, sipping his beer.
"Who wouldn't be? Look at her."
"I don't blame you one bit." Adam said. "Carmen is smokin' hot."
They all stared at him.
"Well she is." he said. "And I'd think Sam is smokin' hot too if she wasn't my sister. Can't find your sister hot. That's just to weird. I mean, she is hot. But its kinda sick if..."
"Okay, Adam." Danny interrupted him. "We get it. And to add my two cents, I have a date tomorrow night."
"With my cousin?" Adam asked.
"If you say Monroe, I am jumping over this table and beating the shit out of you." Speed informed Danny.
"With Adam's cousin." Danny assured them all. "Linds and I are done."
"Since when?" Hawkes asked.
"Well I haven't exactly told her yet..."
"Fuck Messer." Flack said. "Grow some fucking balls all ready."
"That coming from a guy whose rich bitch ex all but carried his around in her Gucci purse? Fuck you, Flack. You just got yours back before Sam came along."
"Everybody must get balls!" Adam exclaimed.
"Never mind you and Kendall!" Danny told him.
"Kendall and I are over. Kaput."
"Since when?" Danny asked.
"Today. No biggie. It was all about sex anyway."
Flack nearly choked on his beer.
"Speaking of sex." Speed said to Flack. "Shouldn't you be off having sex right now in a squad car or an interrogation room or in one of the labs?"
"That's later." Flack told him.
"Dude!" Adam complained. "You are talking about my sister!"
"Can I help it if your sister is a nympho?"
"Enough!" Adam cried "Enough!"
"Guess you don't want to see the bite mark on his neck." Danny said.
"Or the scratches on his back." Speed added.
"What can I say?" asked Flack. "She is a vicious little thing.'
"Lucky bastard!" Danny said. "She's gonna cuff ya to the bed one day. Trust me!"
"She can go right ahead." Flack said.
"I am going to be sick." Adam declared.
Hawkes moved the pitcher away. "Just not in the beer." he said.
"Relax!" Speed told the lab tech. "He's not corrupting your sister."
"Much." Danny said.
They all laughed.
"You know, Flack," Hawkes said. "I was a little shocked that you weren't upset about me taking Samantha out next week."
"Excuse me?" the homicide detective asked.
"You know. Taking her out to the theatre and dinner."
"Come again?" Flack asked.
"You didn't know?" Hawkes asked.
"No wonder he didn't freak." Speed said, taking a swig of beer. "Shoulda known better, Hawkes. Its Flack."
"It's strictly as a friend." Hawkes assured Flack. "A night out doing things she likes. That she's interested in."
"Oh come on," Danny said. "Like you wouldn't try anything if you got the chance!"
"I would have if Flack and her hadn't have been together." Hawkes admitted.
"Come on." Danny said. "She's hot. I'd still try. It's only Flack."
"Well unlike you," Hawkes said. "I think another guy's woman is off limits. Flack, if you have a problem with it, I can cancel."
"What's the big issue?" Speed asked. "Let the girl have some fun."
"I kinda like the idea of me being the one she has fun with." Flack replied.
"I think she all ready gets enough of that fun." Speed said.
"I wasn't talking about that!"
"I can cancel." Hawkes offered.
"Don't be so goddamn jealous." Speed said. "You're possessive, Flack."
"That's rich coming from you! You're that way over a woman you're not even with! You and Devine can barely keep away from each other! What's the issue? Afraid to make a move. Here..." Flack pulled out his phone. "I'll even start things off for you."
"What the fuck are you doing?" Speed asked.
"Relax, Speedle. It'll be painless."
"Flack," Carmen's irritated voice. "This better be good. I was just getting ready to slip into a hot bath."
"Speed wants to know if he can slip into it with you."
"What?"
"You heard me." Flack said.
"Only if he agrees to scrub my back."
"It can be arranged."
Carmen snorted. "Goodbye, Flack."
"Wait! I'm serious!"
"So am I. Tell him to be here in half an hour with some wine and I'll consider it.'
"I can have him there in twenty." Flack vowed.
"I won't be all nice and clean in twenty."
"Who cares?" Flack asked. "You'll only be dirty again once he's finished with you."
"Flack..."
"See ya in twenty." he hung up. "Drink up, lover boy." he said to Speed. "Got a hot date in twenty."
The entire table roared with laughter.
"Remind me to kill you." Speed said.
Carmen stood at her doorway in a pink terry cloth bathrobe, glaring at the two men on her doorstep.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"You said have him here and he's here." Flack responded.
"I thought you guys were joking." she said.
"Bad mistake on your part." Flack said and shoved Speed through the open door. "Have fun! Don't forget safe sex!" he tossed Speed a condom from his wallet. Winked at the two of them and shut the door.
Speed rubbed at the back of his head uneasily. "Hey..." he said.
Carmen tightened her robe. "Hey."
"I'm sorry. I had no idea he was serious. Not that I didn't want to see you tonight. I did. Just you said you were coming home to relax so I decided to go out with the guys."
"You wanted to see me?" she asked, eyes brightening.
He nodded. "I like you, Carmen. A lot. And I'm not sure where this is going to lead but I'm sure, at this moment, of how I feel. And I feel there's something between us and if nearly dying back in Miami taught me anything, it was to seize the moment. And you and I? It's one I can pass up."
"I don't know how much of myself I can give you." she told him.
"Little bit at a time is fine with me." Speed told her with a smile.
She smiled as well, then moved closer to him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt and kissed him passionately. His arms went around her waist as he kissed her back. He was warm and his muscles were hard under her hands and against her body and his kiss was so good. She moaned into his mouth when his tongue hungrily found her's.
"The water is still hot." she said, when his lips found her neck and his hands wandered her body through her robe.
"Why don't we worry about that later." Speed said and untied her robe and peeled it off of her and let it drop the the floor. "Wow." he said, admiring her body, his hands sliding over her silky curves.
Carmen yanked his shirt over his head, took in his body as well. "Wow." she agreed. Her finer tips traced over the scar on his chest. She leaned into hiim and pressed her lips to it, kissing his collarbone and neck as she reached for his belt buckle.
"You don't believe in wastin' time, do you." Speed said.
"Seize the day, right? Well I'm seizing it." she slipped her hand down his pants, lightly squeezing his impressive erection.
"I think we should take this to the bedroom." Speed said in a hoarse voice.
"I think you're right." she agreed.
Flack was feeling a little tipsy from the full pitcher he'd polished off in twenty minutes at Sullivan's. When he let himself into the darkened apartment, the radio was on and the balcony door was partially opened. Sam's shoes by the front door and the spare keys on the counter.
She was outside on one of the patio chairs with a cooler, reading a book by candlelight.
"Hey." he greeted from the doorway.
She looked over and smiled. "Hey. I thought you'd be later."
"I just wanted to come home." he said and stepped out onto the balcony. He leaned down to kiss her. "I was hoping you'd be here. And here you are. What ya doing?"
"Just reading the new Dean Koontz Stella loaned me." she slipped a book mark into her spot and sat the book and the cooler on the ground. "I'm glad you're home early." she said.
"Yeah?" he moved the other chair next to her's and sat down, close enough so he could put his arm aruond her. "So am I."
She leaned her head against his shoulder and laid her hand on his stomach. "I want you to know that I know about Dean Truby." she said.
Flack cleared his throat and tensed a little. "Angell told you?"
"It doesn't matter."
"It does to me." he said. "I wanted to tell you when I was ready."
"Don, I want you to know that while I don't know every detail about what went down during that raid, I know that you'd never do anything like that. Be part of something like that. You respect the badge too much. And I want to tell you that I think you did the right thing. Because you never could have lived with yourself knowing what he did.'
Flack tightened his arm around her and kissed her head. "God I love you." he said.
"You were expecting a different reaction?"
"I was worried the reaction wouldn't be so pleasant." he admitted.
"We may not always agree on cases," she said. "but I'll always support you. I need you to know that. And that you can tell me things like this."
"Okay. So when were you going to tell me about you and Hawkes?"
"There is no me and Hawkes. He's just my friend and it's just dinner and a show."
"But you were going to tell me, right?"
"Of course I was. When it got closer to the time."
"I don't blame you for being interested in him. He's intelligent, cultured..."
"He is just my friend." she insisted. "And you reek of beer. How many did you have?"
"Just a pitcher."
"You're just a little drunk." she said, rubbing his stomach and standing up. "Come on, let's go to bed.
"I am not drunk. I am tipsy. There's a difference." he told her and stood up and swayed slightly.
"Mm-hm. What you need is to go to bed." she informed him.
He grabbed her by the hips and backed her up against the railing. "What I need is to be inside of you," he said. "Feel myself inside of you."
"Don... you're drunk."
"I am not drunk." he insisted and began kissing her neck. "I want you so bad. I need to fuck you so bad." he shoved his hand down the front of her pyjama pants. A finger finding her clit and rubbing it firmly. "You're all ready so fucking wet," he groaned into her neck after a few minutes of masturbating her. "You drive me crazy to think I do that to you."
"Don... seriously.. let's go inside and ..."she cried out when he roughly slipped two fingers inside of her.
"Right here, right now." he said and his other hand yanked her shirt over her head, trapping it behind her neck. He palmed her breasts, took one nipple into his mouth and sucked at it hard. Just like she liked it.
Her hands found his belt and undid it quickly, snapping open the button and pulling down the zipper. She yanked his pants and his boxers down, letting them fall to his ankles. He did the same with her pyjama bottoms.
"You are so beautiful." he said, kissing her eyes, her nose, then her lips. "I'm just glad you belong to me."
He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around him. Holding her ass, he thrust into her abruptly.
"Oh God..." she moaned, biting her lip to spare the neighbours the noise. "Don... oh God..."
"You feel so good." he said hoarsely, his eyes darkening as he drove into her. There was a darkness in him, a pain that only diminished when he was near her. "I need you, Samantha... so bad..."
Her heart clenched. "Don..."
As if sensing and understanding the emotional upheaval those words had caused, he picked up the pace of his thrust, concentrating on making her come. She cried out his name and clung to him as she orgasmed, tightening her inner muscles around him.
He came powerfully, saying her name, his cock buried deep inside of her. She watched his eyes all the while, seeing the depth of trust and love in them. She kissed him as he spasmed inside of her. Held his face in her hands and kissed his forehead, his eyes, his nose. Each cheek. His chin. His lips.
"I'll always need you, Samantha." he vowed, looking deep in her eyes. "Always."
Okay, I know I said Linds meets her Waterloo in this chap. I made a mistake. It's the next one. I promise.
Big thankies to all of you reading and reviewing! Keep it up! Please!!