Chapter 15:
Her eyes opened slowly and she pulled the blanket tighter, suddenly feeling cold. She sighed softly and closed her eyes again when she heard someone moving around her apartment. Her eyes popped open, her heartbeat accelerating immediately. She calmed down when she realized she wasn't in her apartment and slowly remembered where she was and what happened. She closed her eyes quickly when she heard him approaching her. He hesitated and then moved away from the sofa, she heard him moving around in the kitchen.
Megan breathed a sigh of relief, not ready yet to face him, too afraid of catching regret in his eyes. What happened between them surprised her with its intensity. No fooling around, no games, no rational thought, fast and furious with no boundaries. Not very experienced in the field she had to try hard to remember if she ever felt anything like that before. The immediate answer was that she never did. He was passionate and generous, consuming her with fire from the first second he laid his hand on her exposed skin. She tried to hold on to reality but he wouldn't allow it, don't think, feel, at some point she had no choice but to hold on tight as he pulled them both to oblivion.
He sat down beside her, his hand moving to caress her hair. He knew she was awake, catching the change in her breathing. He chose to ignore it for a few moments as his fingers caressed slowly, the silky strands sending waves of pleasure all over his body. It amazed him that after everything they shared in the last couple of hours he still craved for more, with the taste comes the appetite, he thought, chuckling quietly. His hand wandered under the soft blanket, encountering hot skin. He caressed her stomach softly, noticing the way her muscles contracted under his touch. She held her breathe when his hand moved lower and lower before stopping.
She exhaled softly.
He leaned closer, his tongue grazing her ear lobe; he was surprised when she remained still and continued his assault for a few more seconds before whispering. "I know you're awake."
She smiled before opening her eyes. His face was inches from hers and he smiled softly, his hand moving to caress her face. He kissed her slowly, a complete contrast to his earlier kisses and she responded eagerly, her hands tangling in his brown hair. She broke the kiss and stared at him for a moment. "Hey."
He grinned. "Hey, yourself, breakfast is ready if you want some."
"You made breakfast?" She asked and he shrugged his shoulders.
"I did ask you to come over for breakfast." He reminded her. "I meant what I said. Now, come on, you can wear my sweatshirt if you want." He gave her the shirt and she pulled it over her head under his approving gaze.
"Stop it." She murmured, suddenly embarrassed. He chuckled but gave her some space, moving towards the kitchen.
Breakfast was delicious and she regarded him with surprise. "You weren't joking." She said, eyeing the last pancake.
He raised his hands in the air and shook his head. "That's about the only thing I can make…oh and pasta, I can make pasta."
She laughed. "There is nothing to know, you boil it in water."
He made a face at her. "You have to make a good sauce. I memorized the Hudson recipe by heart although there is a secret ingredient that he wouldn't share no matter the bribes I offer him."
"The Hudson recipe?"
"Yeah…I make the pasta, he makes the sauce. It's a male bonding ceremony." He chuckled, slicing the last pancake in half and handing her one of the halves. She laughed, pouring herself some juice. They leaped into a comfortable silence as they cleared the dishes and Bobby was just about to speak when his cell phone ringed. He groaned inwardly and answered.
"Manning."
"Bobby, it's Jack. Did I wake you?"
"Nope, I was busy." He smiled when she rolled her eyes at him. "What's up?"
"The assistant director wants an update at noon, I thought we should meet before and see if anything new came up during the night."
Bobby looked at his watch, it was almost ten o'clock. "Yeah, I'll try to get there by eleven."
"Bobby, we need to talk before the meeting."
Bobby tensed, his eyes rising to meet the eyes of the woman in front of him. "What about, mate?"
Jack hesitated before speaking. "I think you know."
"Yeah, Jack, I know. I'll see you soon."
Bobby closed the phone and frowned for a moment. Megan cleared her throat. "Are you alright?"
He plastered a smile on his face. "Duty calls." He shrugged his shoulders. "Got to take a shower and get going." He left the remaining dishes in the sink and then left the kitchen. "Hang on a second, okay?" He disappeared in his room.
She walked over to the living room, looking for her clothes. She had her pants on and was buttoning her shirt when he walked towards her, holding a towel in his hands. "What are you doing?"
She stared at him, confusion in her eyes. "You said you need to get a shower and get going. I can take a bus home or a cab."
He shook his head slowly. "No, I said: got to take a shower. There was no subject to that sentence and I meant that we were going to take a shower and get going." He was unbuttoning her shirt as he spoke and she gaped at him before laughing softly.
"I thought you were in a hurry." She hesitated, feeling torn between the embarrassment she felt and the desire to stay with him just a little bit longer.
"I am." He nodded his head and kissed her softly, stirring them towards the bathroom. "I can do fast."
She arched an eyebrow at him. "I'm sure you can."
"Sheila, you're hurting my ego…" He nibbled her neck, slowly removing her bra and moving lower to her pants.
She moaned. "Bobby, if your ego gets any bigger there won't be any room for the rest of us…"
He laughed, kissing her passionately under the hot water. They stood under the hot spray of water, caressing slowly. She moved to kiss his throat and he threw his head backwards allowing her better access. "You know that you won't save any water or time like that, right?"
His wicked grin was his answer, right before he claimed her lips again.
Bobby's wide grin was contagious as he walked into the conference room and Jack held back a snort as his friend sat beside him, whistling a Christmas song. Jack pursed his lips and Bobby raised his eyebrows. "I know what you're going to tell me."
Jack leaned back in his chair. The conference room was quiet and dimly lit; Jack felt that it fitted the conversation they were going to have. "Do you?" He asked. He didn't really want to have this conversation but despite the fact that Bobby was his best friend he was still the team leader. Sometimes he hated his title. "If you tell me, you're not losing your head then this conversation is over."
Bobby nodded his head, biting his lower lip. "What about you mate? Aren't you losing your head a little?"
Jack stiffened in his seat and regarded his friend carefully. One of Bobby's known traits was that he was loyal to a fault but now, there was a strange look in his eyes, a challenge of some kind. He narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean by that, Bobby?"
Bobby tilted his head to the right. "I'm only saying that I'm not alone in the boat, Jack. You and Sue were obvious for a long time and it's even more obvious now that things have…changed."
Jack swallowed. "You're right. It's not my business to ask you a question like that."
Bobby shook his head. "It is your business, Sparky. I'm not losing my head. I admit that she is more than a case file but I'm keeping my head clear. If or when I won't be able to do my job, I'll let you know."
"Crash, you are aware of the fact that SOG followed her around since yesterday and they saw you together."
"And they called my illustrious team leader." Bobby said in a perfect impression of Myles. "We talked about it and its okay, subject's closed."
Jack nodded his head in agreement he opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. "Bobby…I…"
Bobby waved his hand in the air. "Don't worry, mate. Your secret is safe with me. Just be careful and if I hear that you messed things up with the Sheila…" Bobby shook his head, a threatening look in his eyes.
Jack laughed. "The only way I'm going to hurt Sue is by scaring her off for moving too fast." He said quietly.
Bobby raised his eyebrows. "Define fast?" He asked. Jack smiled innocently. "What? You got a ring already?"
The knocking on the door disturbed their conversation and Bobby glared at it. The team walked inside. Myles and Tara looked excited and the two friends shared a look at the way Myles was guiding Tara inside the room, his hand on the small of her back. Lucy seemed to notice as well and seemed torn between being happy or worried for Tara. Sue seemed oblivious and Bobby had to muffle his laugh when Jack and Sue seemed to lock eyes together and wouldn't see anyone else in the room. He coughed softly and Jack tore his eyes from Sue and glared at him. "What?"
"The meeting, mate." He reminded him. "You need to see the assistant director in twenty minutes."
"Okay, people, what do have so far?" He asked.
Myles and Tara shared a look and Myles motioned her to speak. "Well, our searches are finally complete. We scanned violent events from the last five years. We have information from local newspapers, police files and some old trials." She handed Jack a stack of papers. "All the pictures we could get and all the news reports that was printed."
Jack stared at them with surprise. "That's hundreds of cases." He said.
"Yes, we know." Myles said darkly. "We narrowed some of them. For example, we removed cases that were minor, such as…" He shrugged his shoulders. "a complaint about a patient pushing a paramedic or things similar."
"I believe our best shot is to let Megan and James to look at them." D said, eyeing the stack of papers with disgust.
"I checked something else." Sue said quietly. "While Myles and Tara checked for violent actions, Lucy and I searched medical files on the paramedics in the area. We were trying to see if there is a connection between a violent action and one of them being hurt so badly that he needed hospitalization."
"We found several matches." Lucy said. "And we compared them to the data Myles and Tara got." She hesitated and turned to Sue.
Sue pursed her lips and glanced at Bobby and then Jack before continuing. "We found several matches." She repeated. "One of the interesting cases happened five years ago. On December 26th 2000, both James Meyer and Megan Paul needed medical attention after someone attacked them. The newspaper report is very vague, so are the hospital documents."
Bobby leaned backwards in his chair, fury clouding his eyes. He shared a look with Jack and found the same anger and disbelief in his friend's eyes. He clenched his hands into fists. "We asked them if they recalled an incident and they said they didn't." He said, his jaw clenching.
"Maybe, there is a logical reason behind it." Tara said softly, her eyebrows rising in surprise at his reaction.
"I'll go and talk with Megan." Bobby announced, getting up from his seat.
Jack shook his head. "No. Sue and I will talk to Megan." He looked at Sue and she nodded her head. "Bobby, take Myles with you and talk to James. Tara and Lucy, see if you can find some more information on that…incident…" Tara and Lucy nodded their heads and Jack turned to Dimitrius. "D, is there any way we could postpone the meeting with the assistant director?"
Dimitrius nodded his head. "This is the best lead we have on this case. I'll brief him alone, you go ahead."