Author's Note: This is a fairly short chapter, usually I try my hardest to do six or more pages per chapter this one barely made 4... kind of struggling to get this story rolling to where I want it. Anyway, this one has some humor and lighthearted flirting despite the horrible events going on. Figured I better pack that on while I can cause this is going to get intense. I have future chapter already set, just trying to fill in a few chapters to set them up.
Shoutouts: Jeremy Shane- Thanks for taking the time to review, here's more for you. Hope you like it.
brankel1- Glad you liked the flirting, this chapter has one of my favorite moments... toward the end. :D hope you guys like it as much as I did. Hope you like this chapter too, even though it's short.
chaos2007- Thanks for adding this story to your favs. Hope you keep enjoying this story as it progesses.
Chapter 5
"Any luck?" Jason asked as he, Tom, and Kat regrouped at his truck.
"No one that I talked to noticed anything out of the ordinary." Tom shook his head.
"I have one lead, but it will probably end up at a dead end." Kat shrugged.
"Well do share." Jason said.
"I talked with the woman in the dark blue house over there, she saw a dark car park across from her house at three am the morning that Tabatha was found."
"What color was the car?" Jason asked.
"She wasn't sure." Kat shook her head. "It was dark, she was leaning more toward dark blue, but in the night it could have been dark green or even just black. And no, she didn't see a plate number or anything like that."
"It could even have been someone staying at one of her neighbors houses." Tom shook his head again.
"That's why I said it's probably a dead end." Kat nodded. "Come on, it's nearly one and I promised my team lunch. We'll hit the college campus after we eat."
"You make a habit of feeding them?" Jason asked.
"Not usually, but I'm making them stay in the office so the least I could do is bring them food." Kat replied.
"What should we bring back?"
"I was thinking subs." Kat grinned. "And this time I will be paying."
"Just so you know, Tom can eat three foot longs by himself." Jason chuckled.
"Hey! You can eat just as much!" Tom argued.
"Dell can put away that much too." Kat laughed. "That's why I don't usually treat my team to meals. Between the three guys I feel like I'm feeding an army."
"Makes you love them all the more." Tom laughed. "Come on, I'm starving."
"You sure you want to pay for lunch, it's going to be even more expensive than breakfast." Jason raised an eyebrow.
"I'm sure, but just to make sure you don't…" Kat grinned as she held up his wallet in her hand.
"How did you get that?" Jason said as reached into his back pocket to confirm that it was his wallet.
"I'm sneaky like that. You never noticed me take it." Kat grinned as she slid his wallet into her back pocket. "When you wear loose fitting jeans, it's easy to slip a wallet out of the pocket because it's not touching you. Hence why I wear form fitted jeans. You learn things like that when you live in New York."
"Oh I thought it was because you look so good in them." Jason grinned.
"That too." Kat laughed. "If you don't want to wear tight pants, put your wallet in your front pocket. It's a lot harder to sneak it out of there."
"Thanks for the lesson. Can I have my wallet back?"
"Once I have paid for lunch." Kat grinned as she went to the passenger side. Tom was already sitting in the back seat.
Jason gave a heavy sigh before climbing into the driver's seat. "You know, I should bring you in on theft." Jason teased.
"Try it, I'll charge you for the same thing, since you took my wallet this morning."
"Oh get a room you two!" Tom cut in from the backseat. "Seriously!"
Kat and Jason exchanged a look before Jason started the truck. Next time, Tom stays at the station. But Kat is the one that told him to tag along… what if she really does like him? Oh, don't go there Jase! Kat's flirting with you not Tom… But what she said this morning… Wait! I work with me every day!... Oh, she's good. Jason looked at Kat out of the corner of his eyes as he drove down the street. She was playing with her phone, pretending to not notice him watching her. Does she really like me? Could Tommy really be right?
"Jase, if you don't pay attention to the road I swear I really will shoot you and I won't nurse you back to health."
"You're mean." Jason laughed as he focused again on the road.
"You know it." She grinned broadly.
"I really think you two need a room." Tom mumbled. Kat shot him a glare over her shoulder. "Or you could just go home with me." He grinned at her. Kat rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to her phone.
"In your dreams Tom. Kat isn't one of your 'flavor of the month' type of girls." Jason said without looking back at Tom.
"You know I'm sitting right here, Jase." Kat raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know what type of girl I am?"
"I know you Kat." Jason replied matter-of-factly.
"You knew the Kat from ten years ago." Kat shook her head. "People change after that long Jase. What if I am a 'flavor of the month' type now?"
"Are you?" Jason raised a dark eyebrow as he glanced at her.
"For me to know." Kat replied and again turned her attention back to her phone.
"What are you doing?" Jason asked.
"I'm playing a game. Dell uploaded solitaire to my phone for me."
"That's an awesome phone, what else does it do?" Tom leaned forward over the seat.
"Just about anything." Kat replied. "Dell can program it to do just about anything that I need or want it to do."
"Must be nice to have a genius on your team." Tom laughed. "We should find ourselves a tech specialist Jase."
"No, that's okay. You'd ask him or her to hack into all the female officer's accounts so that you knew who was talking about how great you are in the sack."
"Or I could forge those kinds of emails between them all, get them talking for real." Tom grinned.
"That's why we don't have one." Jason nodded. Kat lightly laughed as she continued her game. Jason pulled up in front of a local deli and parked. "Want us to wait or go in with you?"
"Just wait. I'll be right back. I hope that cold cut is fine with you guys."
"Anything edible sounds good to me." Tom laughed.
"Whatever you want to get Kat." Jason nodded. Kat smiled before climbing out of the truck and going inside.
"When are you going to screw her?" Tom asked suddenly causing Jason to suck in a sharp breath.
"It's not like that Tom." Jason shook his head.
"Isn't it? You can hardly keep your eyes off her, and you're flirting with her non-stop."
"I don't want to just… She's… It's not like that." Jason sputtered.
"Seriously, just screw her and you'll both be happy."
"Kat doesn't want me to just screw her." Jason argued.
"Jason, if there's one thing I know, it's how to read a woman. Kat is into you, like really into you. She's waiting for you to make a move."
"Tom, I don't want just sex from Kat." Jason shook his head yet again. "She deserves more than that from any man."
"Oh, you got it bad." Tom gave a low whistle.
"Got what?"
"How long have you liked this girl?"
"Kat is hardly a 'girl'." Jason replied with a roll of his eyes.
"Seriously Jason, how long have you liked her?"
"Does it matter?"
"Jase." Tom groaned.
"A long time." Jason replied quietly after a few moments. His eyes scanned through the deli windows and quickly spotted Kat standing at the counter. "I've had a crush on her since I met her in high school."
"So why didn't you ask her out then? You realize that you could have been happily married to her and have a dozen kids by now?"
"She was with my best friend, Tom. I couldn't intrude on that relationship."
"So she and Tommy were dating when that picture was taken huh?" Tom silently nodded to himself. "I wondered about that."
"Kat and Tommy were engaged at one time." Jason added with a sigh. "Kat had been so wrapped up in Tommy since I met her, there had never been a chance for me and her."
"But she didn't marry Tommy and it's years later. You might have a chance now. Obviously you're crush didn't go away after all this time."
"Just drop it Tom. Kat deserves more than what I can give her now. She deserves a man who can give her everything…"
"You can give her everything Jase." Tom shook his head again.
"No, I can't." Jason argued. "I can't leave here, I have Lilly, and I could never ask Kat to give up her job for me. She loves it too much and worked hard to hold her position. There is no chance for us."
Tom spotted Kat headed towards the door and leaned back into his seat. "All I'm going to say is that you will never what you could have with her until you ask. Maybe she's looking for an excuse to leave her job… How do you know what she's thinking?"
"I'll try to remember that." Jason rolled his eyes as Kat opened the door to the passenger side.
"I sure hope that fifteen foot long subs are enough to feed you hungry boys." Kat laughed as she handed Jason the overstuffed bag of food. "If you're still hungry later, too bad."
"Good to know you care." Jason laughed. "Can I have my wallet back now?"
"Maybe later, I just buckled my seat belt and it's in my back pocket." Kat grinned.
"Women." Jason playfully rolled his eyes. "You seem to think that you can take my wallet be in control of all my money. Why don't we just stop at the mall and you can go on a shopping spree."
Kat made a small 'o' shape with her mouth and batted her eyes at Jason. "I could always use some new clothes or a new necklace."
"You make more than I do Kat, shouldn't you be buying me new clothes?" Jason laughed. Kat stared at him in mock horror.
"You're suggesting that we be an 'unconventional' couple?" Kat laughed. "You stay home and cook and clean and I'll bring home the bacon?" Jason was caught off guard momentarily before giving Kat a slight a smirk.
"I can play the good little househusband." He laughed.
"Promise to wear only an apron and you've got yourself a deal." Kat replied quickly. Tom, in the back seat, sputtered as his eyes grew wide. Jason stared at Kat slack jawed. "What?"
"Did you just insinuate what I think you just did?" Jason gaped.
"That if you play the househusband than I want you to wear only an apron." Kat repeated in her most serious and calm voice as if it were no big deal.
"You want to see me naked?"
"No, I want to see you in only an apron." Kat corrected. "Preferably one that tied around the waist only, show off your gorgeous chest." Tom continued to stare between the two with wide eyes.
"I... Um... " Jason stammered, unsure of what to say. That's the second time she's referenced my body today.
"Does that not sound like a good deal, Tom?" Kat turned around and looked him. "I make the money, he wears the apron."
"I... Yeah it does!" Tom gave her one of his sultry smiles. "In fact, if Jase doesn't take you up on that deal, I'd gladly wear an apron just for you. Even one with lacy white frills."
"Hmm, tempting Tom, but I don't share my things easily and you've got too many girlfriends to fight with." Kat grinned.
"Thought you had 'nearly perfect' aim." Jason cut in with a smirk. "You could just take out all his other girlfriends."
"Eh, too much paperwork to explain the body count." Kat shook her head.
"Oh come on, I'm so worth a few hours of paperwork." Tom argued playfully.
"In your case it's more like a couple months of paperwork. ." Kat retorted. "Sorry, Tom, nobody is worth that much work."
"Damn." Tom sighed. "You better take her up on that offer Jase."
Jason glanced over at Kat and offered her a smile. "Nah, I like my job, so househusband isn't for me. Plus I don't like aprons. Think of something better and I'll rethink your proposition." Kat gave a small shrug before taking out her phone and resuming her solitaire game.
"Idiot." Tom mumbled. Jason started up the truck, pretending he didn't hear Tom, although he fully agreed with him at that moment.
I am an idiot. Jason told himself as he took another glance at Katherine. Big stupid idiot.