Hia to all readers, I just wanted to start putting my notes at the top.. lol, I am really enjoying writing this story and I hope you are enjoying reading it... if you are let me know please, and if there are any suggestions to make it better let me know thanks.

Enjoy!

Chapter 4

I’m addicted to this case.

The two following days passed in a dull flash of drab. Just the usual “wanna be burglar” trashing a store or the random stupid drunkard wreaking havoc on the innocent. This day, however, had freshness about it; the sun was just skimming horizon, casting long, dazzling beams across the snowy landscape. The morning resonated with the sound of early commuters, which echoed crisply in the still air, bouncing off the newly formed icicles formed from the frost of the night before. Glorious rays shone through the large office window ricocheting off the metallic plate, which bore the name “Fitz A. Hinds.”

Fitz reclined in his chair, lapping his feet on the desk. Oblivious of all the beauty surrounding him, he read the scribbled words on the piece of paper once again.What are they trying to say in this dumb note! What is came razz and who the hell is enyipede. He had been trying his best to decipher this note ever since Kristina had given him a copy a few days earlier, however, all his efforts were to no avail. Frustrated he, lowered his feet, flattened the note onto the desk, and spun around a few times.

‘I thought you would have out grown such behaviour by now,’ Toni crossed the room and placed her mocha latte on the table, ‘How old are you, forty?’ she taunted taking pleasure in his glower.

‘Do I look like forty to you?’ Fitz sat up right and all but yelled.

‘Relax, Grandpa, have a sip of your Earl Grey.’ Toni jeered. She noticed the paper on the table, ‘What is that you got there?’

He took a mouth full of tea and swallowed, ‘Ummmm… runaway note….’ He handed it to her, ‘It seems like the person was trying to tell us something but I can figure out what.’

She studied the note for a while, ‘Well the spelling is definitely intentional,’ she glanced at Fitz,’ it reminds me of a case I worked on once where the victim wrote an encrypted letter and left it out to be found.’

‘Hmm… so how did you decode it?’ He stared at her enthralled.

‘Well, it took a while but we…

Sergeant Stevens barged into the room, cutting their conversation short, ‘Good morning Fitz,’ he turned spitting a curt, ‘Toni.’

Ever heard about knocking?

‘Good morning Sir.’

‘Good morning,’ Toni turned to Fitz, ‘I’ll be going.’ She quickly exited the room, Fitz eying her curiously as she left.

‘So Fitz, how have things been.’

Boring as usual. Why are you suddenly concerned?

‘The usual Sir.’ He guarded his expression, maybe a bit too much. There was something about this man that simply disgusted him, though he could put his finger on it at that moment.

Sensing his tension, “Sarge” tried to lighten the atmosphere, ‘Come on Fitz, you don’t have to call me “Sir” my name is Jack,’ he snorted, ‘“Sir” is reserved for young up starts like that chick that just left!’

That was it! That proud air. That was the very root of Fitz’s hatred for this man. He found pleasure in belittling others because he thought he was better than them. Fitz tried his best to control his desire to coldclock this man.

Yea, Jack suits you well, you Jacka…

‘What’s on your mind, Fitz?’ Jack asked, his guffaw dying, ‘You seem so tense.’

I’m just not good with animals.

‘Nothing really,’ he shifted the papers on his desk, ‘did you need something, Sir?’

If not kindly leave.

Jack paused, ‘I heard you were asking about revisiting cold cases again.’

Frank Jones, you cheese covered cow!

‘That is true,’ he controlled his voice, still seething at Jones.

‘You know my view on this,’ he stood posing like he had the rapt attention of an audience, ‘even though I can’t stop you from doing your job, assigned or not, I’d warn you,’ he cast a condescending glance in Fitz’s direction, ‘if your duties are neglected, there will be repercussions that are beyond my control.’

So you just came here to try and scare me, you pompous excuse of a man.

‘Thank you for your concern,’ Fitz couldn’t have been more caustic, ‘but I’ve never neglected my duties, Sir.’ He glared directly into Jack’s eyes, communicating more malice than words could express.

‘Just remember you are being watched,’ Jack more or less whimpered. After catching a glimpse of the evil that lay deep in Fitz’s eyes he had lost his nerve and longed to make a head long dash for the door, however, after considering the commotion this would cause he hastily scuttled out of the room instead.

The nerve of that guy. Coming here to pretty much threaten me! Young upstarts my rear end! Toni is a competent, respectable woman! How dare you call her “chick?” How dare you!?

So much for freshness, as usual, work had staled the day. The streets were no longer still and pristine but filled with hungry workers, bustling for food like foraging ants. It is amazing what hunger could reduce a person to. Fitz had transfigured to a ravenous wolf, he stalked several cafes searching for fresh prey, Earl Grey. However, his hunt had been fruitless, he hunkered down on a park bench pinning away when his cell rang. He scanned the display, pressed “answer call” and grunted a hello.

‘Are you ok, Dolly?’ Kristina sounded concerned.

‘None of these damn cafes have Earl Grey.’ He whined.

‘You’re kidding me,’ she breathed relieved, ‘you and that nasty tea again? I thought you stopped using that.’

Nasty? Stopped using? Are you mad? You just don’t understand, do you?

Kristin really didn’t understand, Fitz wasn’t just a fan of this tea, he was a devout addict, he would down a cup of Earl Grey at any opportunity. Without his beloved tea he was no use to anyone, or anything.

‘Dolly! Are you ignoring me again?’ she shrieked.

He winched, moving the phone from his ear for a moment ‘What, Kristina?’ he groaned fighting the urge to scream at her. He loved her to death but sometimes she was just annoying.

‘Sorry,’ she apologized genuinely, knowing how demanding she could be, ‘I just wanted to remind you of our meeting tomorrow.’

‘I didn’t forget,’ he huffed, feeling guilty about his tone soon after.

‘Okay,’ she hesitated, ‘well I hope you feel better soon, I could pass by tonight if you want,’ she was trying to make amends.

‘That would be nice,’ he agreed, though he didn’t feel like having company, this was his “lil sis” and he couldn’t deal with disappointing her.

‘Okay see you later then.’

‘Bye.’

Before he could stow his phone, it rang again.

‘What?’ he half groaned, half yelled into the receiver.

‘What is your problem?’ a highly agitated voice retorted, ‘Who do you think you are talking to?’

He sighed heavily, engulfed in guilt and embarrassment.

‘Sorry Toni, I had no right to answer like that, what’s up?’

‘Where are you?’ she was still upset.

‘In the park.’

‘Doing what, walking yourself on a leash again?’ she asked sardonically.

‘I’m really sorry about that Toni,’ he actually really was, this he found strange, he usually didn’t care what people thought of him, but for some strange reason this time he did.

‘Forgive me, I’m suffering from Earl Grey withdrawal,’ he groaned.

The soft cackle on the other line lightened the load of his guilt, he continued, seizing the light-hearted moment, ‘So, what were you calling about?’

‘Well I just noticed that you left right after talking to that imp of a man,’ she spat the words with disgust.

‘Wow,’ he was a bit taken aback by the enmity that rang in her voice, ‘I thought I had problems with him.’

‘We have a bad history,’ she paused, ‘I just wanted to make sure you weren’t in any trouble.’

How sweet.

‘History?’

‘Don’t ask,’ she pleaded, ‘you going to be there long?’

‘Where?’

‘In the park…’ she spoke like he was a slow child.

‘Oh… yea I guess.’

‘Okay, I’m coming over; the people in this office irk me, to say the least.’

‘Alright,’ Fitz chuckled.

A woman after my own heart.

A few minutes elapsed, and Fitz tried his best to clear his head without the aid of Earl Grey. He just happened to glance up in time to see Toni’s sleek Mercedes park a distance away. He watched as Toni stepped out of her car, and reached back in the door. She pulled out a gorgeous leather trench coat and quickly robed herself. Mesmerized by the beauty of the article of clothing, he failed to notice what she held in her hands as she approached him.

‘Nice trench,’ he complimented when she was in hear shot.

‘Thanks,’ she shoved a cup to his face, ‘I can’t believe you have made me a drug pusher.’

The aroma rising from the cup swirled in his nostrils triggering a sudden feeling of ecstasy.

‘Earl Grey?’ his eyes darted up at her, wide as a child’s in a candy coated toyshop, ‘You have no idea how thankful I am.’

He gingerly took the cup and caressed it gently enjoying the warmth of the surface then slowly raised it to his lips, taking a slow long sip and closing his eyes to savour the moment. With a heavy sigh, he lowered the cup and opened his eyes, which were met by Toni’s disgusted stare.

‘You two need a room?’ her eyebrow arched, sipping her mocha latte she mumbled, ‘you really are an addict.’

‘That is putting it mildly,’ he confessed, taking another passionate sip.

‘You look like you are making out with that cup!’

He spluttered, choking on a laugh. ‘Sorry,’ he chuckled, though, usually he’d just tell the person to deal with it.

‘When was the last time you heard from Seth?’ Toni turned her gaze from the disgusting P.D.L between Fitz and his Earl Grey.

‘I actually don’t know,’ he had managed to separate his lips from his cup for a second, ‘I think I’ll give him a call tonight.’

That night Fitz was reclining on his sofa watching, ‘Larry King Live’, when he heard the familiar rev of Kristina’s car engine in his driveway. He crossed the room and opened the door propping himself up in its frame, Mocha at his side. She had been lying on his lap and wasn’t too pleased about having been awakened so rudely. Kristina was a sight, she hopped out of her car and scurried up the front steps in a mad dash to escape the stinging, cold breeze.

‘You forgot you coat again, didn’t you?’ Fitz interrogated like a father.

‘I was in a hurry,’ she flashed an “I’m grown you know” scowl at him, ‘at least I’m not acting crabby cause I don’t have it.’

She was referring to Fitz moody ways earlier that day.

‘Sorry,’ he smiled knowingly.

‘Don’t smile at me,’ she ranted in mock anger, she shoved a bag in his stomach, knocking the wind from in him, ‘and those are for you.’

He coughed a thank you and peered into the bag, sure enough it was a large stash of Earl Grey.

‘So how was your day?’ He was still grinning.

‘Okay, I guess,’ she plopped herself on a chair, much to Mocha’s delight, ‘I spent almost the whole day doing paper work,’ she sighed stroking her muzzle.

Kristina was one for action, paper work was her mortal enemy. She wanted to be on the scene, in the middle of the confusion, to engage in foot pursuits and sting operations and hunt the bad guys with brute force. Fitz, on the other hand, gloried the days she was stuck in an office, away from all dangers. The thought of anything happening to her made him sick to the stomach. She was tough though, he and Ronnie had made sure of that, and that was his only solace.

‘Yea some days are like that.’

‘There was one interesting part though.’ She stalled as if gathering her thoughts.

‘What was that?’

‘We are investigating a robber who is pretty proud of his crimes,’ she stifled a laugh that tried to well up as Fitz arched his brows, he reminded her of a blood hound, ‘he keeps calling 911 and boasting about what he stole, little does he know we know exactly where he is now.’

‘Tracked the call?’

‘No, he would always hang up before we could track it properly.’

Fitz furrowed his brows watching Kristina intently waiting for an explanation. She lived for moments like this and smiled tauntingly waiting for him to grow impatient, it didn’t take long.

‘Well?...’ he drawled exasperated.

‘It is this new program we recently got in the forensics department, an audio improver or something like that,’ she babbled with excitement, ‘it picks up the smallest sounds on the cassette and makes them audible. It even picked up sounds we didn’t hear on the raw version.’

Fitz looked impressed and she cherished that fact.

‘So, after the audio was enhanced we were able to analyze the background noises and now we have a sure location for him, we believe it is his after-crime hideout.’

‘Impressive,’ he smiled, genuinely awestruck.

Kristina’s face grew mischievous, ‘We are setting up a sting operation,’ as his smile faded, she glimpsed the split second of fear in his eyes and eagerly sat beside him, snuggling to his chest in attempt to comfort him. ‘Come on Dolly,’ she cooed mockingly, ‘I’m not going to get hurt, police will be there,’ glancing up at him with sly sparkling eyes.

He remained silent for a while and then glanced at his watch.

‘It’s getting late,’ he stood handing her one of his coats, ‘I don’t want you on the road in the dead of night.’

This was his typical way of dealing with things, evasion.

Kristina stood and obediently robed herself with his over sized coat, the rigidity of his expression and sternness in his tone had left no room for protest.

‘I’ll call when I get home.’

‘I’ll be listening for you.’

‘Love you,’ she hugged him.

‘Love you too,’ he returned her embrace, inhaling the fragrance of her hair.

‘And I love you too,’ she baby talked ruffling Mocha’s ears.

Fitz walked her out to her car, ignoring her protests and warnings about him catching pneumonia. He watched as her car pulled off and disappeared into the night, then turned and made his way back to the house.

Shoot I was to call Seth…

His locked the door and set the security alarm.

Guess I’ll call him after I hear Krissy’s in safely.

He stretched his full length in his bed, and stared at the ceiling re-evaluating his day. After a few minutes he sat up and flipped open his laptop.

Journal entry 766

Today Jack slithered into my office fangs bared attempting to poison my efforts to crack The Old Case again. Well if that old dog thinks his threats will deter me, he is sadly mistaken, though I really want to know what is with him and Toni. Speaking of her, that girl is like a long lost sister… though she isn’t as hyperactive as Krissy. She saved my hide today, I’m sure I would have died without that Earl Grey.

As for the case… it is kind of at a standstill …again… but I aint giving up.

The phone rang just as he finished his journal entry.

‘You have impeccable timing.’

‘Really?’ this was a far cry from what Fitz had said about a week ago when he was taking her out, after all she was over an hour late then.

‘Well I’m home now so you try and get some shut eye, remember we have the meeting tomorrow.’

‘Yea, you never gave me a time you know.’

‘Oh, I didn’t?’ she sounded sleepy, ‘around ten o’ clock.’

‘Okay, I’ll meet you at the café at 9:30 then.’

‘Ok, see you then,’ she answered with a yawn, ‘night.’

‘Night sis.’

He ended the call and searched for “Seth” in his contacts, punched the send button and waited for an answer.

‘Hello?’ Seth answered a bit to alert, probably running on six cups of coffee as he usually did.

‘Hi there Seth, this is Fitz.’

‘Hi Fitz haven’t heard you in a really long time you need help with something?’ he rattled off without taking a breath.

‘Yes actually,’ Fitz purposely dragged out his words, amused at the speedy responses they received no matter how slow they were, ‘do you happen to know what an audio improver is?’

He laughed hastily, ‘you mean an audio enhancer and yes I know what it is how could I not I have had such software on my computer for some time now,’ he finally took a breath, a quick one though, ‘why do you want a copy of the programme? I could get it for you if you want.’

‘That wouldn’t be necessary I just want you to check something for me…’ he said his eyes gleaming in deep thought.

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