Chapter 6: Let's Review

The station was eerily quiet, and Shawn hated it. He couldn't recall one time he was ever at the station this early. Sure his apartment had never been broken into before now, but nonetheless, he usually arrived at the station no earlier than noon when everyone else had already started their shifts. Currently it was only a little past six o'clock in the morning and after the events that unfolded hours prior, Shawn was dead tired. He put his hand over his mouth and did his best to cover a yawn. He knew his attempt to hide his yawn had failed when he caught Lassiter yawn slightly. Shawn took that as an invitation to visit, and he beelined to Lassiter's desk with two cups of coffee in his hands.

"You look like you could use a pick me up," Shawn smiled as he stuck his hand out, offering the detective the warm cup of coffee.

Lassiter looked up when Shawn approached and did his best not to lick his lips. Coffee sounded like the answer to all his problems and he gratefully reached up and took the cup from Shawn's hand. He mumbled a small, "Thanks," before he carefully took a small sip.

Shawn looked turned to look behind him as he grabbed an empty chair and pulled it up next to where Lassiter was sitting. "So anything new? You look like you're hard at work," Shawn pointed out as he too carefully took a sip of his coffee.

Lassiter glanced down to his desk and back up to Shawn. "Well, I was trying to do something before you interrupted." He leaned forward just slightly and lowered his voice to a level only Shawn could hear within the station. "I'm trying to figure out how to break it to O'Hara that you, in fact, do not have a new girlfriend."

Shawn felt his cheeks go red at the statement and he tried to hide behind his coffee cup. "Yeah, about that," he began explaining. "Gus may have mentioned I was dating someone and she was within earshot. It was all her though. She assumed I had a girlfriend. I didn't say anything."

Lassiter chuckled and leaned back into his chair, getting more comfortable. Two police officers just walked down the stairs towards the evidence locker, leaving Shawn and Lassiter alone in the bullpen. " She brought it up when we left the laundromat yesterday," he informed Shawn as he sat his coffee down on his desk to cool. "Now I have to figure out how and when to tell her."

Shawn couldn't help but yawn again and stretch his arms out. The coffee he grabbed wasn't kicking in yet and he could feel himself starting to drift off. "You do that, Lassie," he mumbled as he propped his legs up on the edge of Lassiter's desk and leaned his head against the back of his chair. He slid his eyes shut and figured he could get a little more sleep in before more people started showing up.

Shawn scrunched his eyes at the loud chatter he was now aware of, and attempted to roll over. He quickly realized this was a bad idea when instead of moving over slightly in bed, he ended up on the floor. He groaned in pain as he opened his eyes and pushed himself into a sitting position on the tile floor.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Lassiter called out sarcastically to him when he finally woke up. "Now that you're up, maybe we can get back to work."

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Shawn mumbled in reply as he pushed himself off the floor, back into the chair he fell out of.

Lassiter handed Shawn a case file when he finally situated himself, and flipped his own file open. "Alright, let's go over everything we know so far," Lassiter addressed to the group that consisted of himself, Shawn, Juliet, and Gus. "We know the Cinco Reyes are creating and administering an experimental drug to the public."

"Nathaniel Parker, a 19 year old student at Santa Barbara City College, was found dead in his dorm after taking the drug," Juliet chimed in without looking for the details in the case file.

Shawn nodded his head in remembering the crime scene. It was a very unfortunate death. Nathan was a good student. He had A's in all of his classes, and he had never gotten in trouble ever before. Him being such a good kid was the first tip of the the department that there was more to this case than a college student overdosing. Shawn was brought out of his thoughts and back to the conversation by the mention of his apartment. He sat up straighter in his chair and cleared his throat. "Yeah, this morning an unknown assailant broke into my apartment after destroying my bike," he recalled the events.

Lassiter glanced back down to the case file and sighed. "Back off. That was the message left behind by the intruder," he informed the rest of the group, although they were all well aware of what the message said. "This leads us to believe that there's someone on the inside," he admitted to agreeing with Shawn's theory.

"Just think about it. The second we show up to a lab, the Cinco Reyes is gone. Without someone tipping them off, how would they know?" Shawn questioned the group as he explained his thoughts. "As much as I hate to say it, but I'm getting serious vibes that it's someone on the inside."

Juliet nodded her head and looked down in thought. "That makes sense. Now we just have to figure out who," she muttered to herself.

"It's probably someone who has nothing to lose. Single, most likely, and keeps to himself most of the time," Shawn theorized to the group as he thought through the members of the SPBD. "They have to be listed on this case, but that doesn't narrow it down any since half of the department is on the case."

Lassiter rubbed his temples in frustration. "Spencer, are you sure you weren't able to see anymore of the intruder? Or can you sense anything?" Lassiter asked, still disbelieving on his psychic abilities.

Shawn stared down to the floor as he replayed last night in his mind. He was walking down the hallway with his phone clutched tightly to his ear, watching where he stepped carefully. Slowly he peeked his head around the corner and managed to watch the intruder pull the door shut on his way out. Shawn squinted eyes to concentrate harder as he slowed the images in his head down and replayed them again. When his gaze turned the corner he focused on the door shutting. At a closer glance he noticed the suspect had a rubber band around his wrist. He sighed in disappointment when he looked back up to the group, who were all staring at him with what looked like concern in their eyes. "The only thing I can recall is a rubber band around the guy's wrist. And can you all stop staring? It's freaking me out," he informed them.

"A rubber band? Great lead, Spencer. That's sure to help," Lassiter sarcastically grumbled as he looked down to the casefile per Shawn's request.

"Well I'm sorry I was trying to listen to instructions and not get killed," Shawn lowered his voice as he argued.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shawn could see that Juliet was very confused by his last statement. "Following instructions? Did the intruder say something to you?" She seemed shocked that he would keep valuable information from them.

Shawn shook his head as Lassiter rolled his eyes. "No," he said simply before elaborating. "I called Lassie when it first happened," at another look of confusion from Juliet, he explained further. "I have his number memorized for prank calls, so it was the quickest option," he lied. "But anyway, once I told him what was happening, he told me to stay back. So I did."

The group grew silent after the small argument between Shawn and Lassiter. The silence only lasted a few minutes before a grumbling sound brought them back to reality.

"Sorry, I haven't eaten anything all day," Shawn apologised for the interrupting sound. "Why don't we all take a well deserved lunch break?"

Lassiter shot Shawn a glare. He knew what he was up to. As much as he was against the idea of telling Juliet about their relationship, it would add more time when he didn't have to be a dick to Shawn. "I'm in," he said as tapped his desk and stood up from his chair, while he reached for his suit jacket.

Juliet turned to Gus as she was getting her things together. "I could go for some food right now. What about you, Gus?"

He simply nodded his head in his agreement and addressed the rest of the group. "Sounds like a plan."

Shawn mentally patted himself on the back for his job well done. Not only did he score free food, but he also found time to force Lassiter into telling Juliet about them. "Gus, buddy, if you don't mind, I think I'm gonna ride with Lassie. I have some things to talk about," he explained himself vaguely. "Why don't you take Juliet?" He suggested when she gave him a weird look. She quickly accepted the offer, and whatever she was thinking about Shawn going with Lassiter flew right out of her mind. She happily followed Gus out of the station, with the other two not far behind.

Shawn jumped into the passenger seat of Lassiter's car, and rested his leg on the dashboard to mess with the detective. "Foot down," was all Lassiter said when he plopped himself down into the driver's seat and turned on the engine. He pulled the car onto the main road in the direction of the restaurant and Shawn watched as a police cruiser pulled out into the same direction as them. He figured it was just a cop doing his daily drive around town, and he focused his attention back to where they were headed.

"You're really going to make me tell her aren't you?" Lassiter muttered without taking his eyes off the road.

"Well, of course," he trailed off as he continued to watch the police cruiser catch up to them. Something inside of him was telling him that this was not your usual cruiser. "Uh, Lassie? I think we're being followed."

Lassiter raised an eyebrow before he looked into the rearview mirror. He scoffed when he turned his attention back to the road. "We're heading into town, Shawn. Of course it's going to look like the police is following us."

He shook his head and raised his hand to his temple. "I'm telling you, Lassie. Something isn't right with that car," he urged as the car got into the lane next to them and sped up. He watched in slow motion as the car suddenly jerked to the right, bumping the side of their car. Before he knew it Lassiter had tried to swerve away from any further collisions. Unfortunately for the pair, they came to a crashing halt at the base of a telephone pole.

Shawn ignored the pain in his body as he slowly opened his eyes to assess the situation. Carefully he turned his head to the left to see what condition Lassiter was in. What he wasn't expecting to see was someone opening the car door and attempting to pull him out of the vehicle. Fear and worry ran through his mind at the sight of Lassiter's lifeless form being lifted out and away. In a panic Shawn reached his hand down to unlatch the seat belt that was currently holding him back to the seat with no room to maneuver himself. His heart began to race faster than it already was when the seat belt wouldn't give way. Shawn was stuck to the seat, with Lassiter slowly getting further away, and there was nothing he could do about it.

He continued to pull on the seat belt in hopes of it pulling loose, but nothing was working. He let his body fall limp as it was starting to ache with every movement. Slowly he let his eyes drift shut, hoping to alleviate the pressure in his head. The last thing Shawn saw before he gave into his body's pleas of unconsciousness was the damaged police cruiser drive off, with Lassiter presumably inside.