Chapter 4

Bright sunlight pounded me awake. So did a loud knock. I groaned and lifted my aching head up to look around. This first thing I saw was Jessica, passed out on the floor beside me. Her mouth was open slightly, a trail of drool rolling down her chin. I laughed. It hurt. I stopped laughing. Slowly, I sat up, only to put my head between my knees so the effects of my hangover could subside. The loud knock came again. I growled.

Slowly, I got to my knees and then to my feet. Shakily, I took the few steps toward my apartment door. The knock sounded again.

“I'm coming!” I whispered hoarsely. My mouth felt dry and tasted worse. When I finally reached the door, I felt nauseous, and I wasn't looking forward to a visitor. I grasped the knob and pulled the door open, whimpering as the sunlight hit my eyes. A tall figure stood in my doorway. A concerned face looked down at me.

“Katie? Katelyn, are you okay?” Ryan. I groaned.

“No.” I made to turn around, but stumbled. Ryan reached over and grabbed my elbow, steadying me. I looked at him.

“Thanks.”

Ryan nodded. I stumbled back into the kitchen, where Jessica was just getting up off of the floor. She groaned.

“What the hell?”

Ryan followed me through the kitchen, trying his best to hold back laughs. Jessica looked up at him and squinted.

“Oh, hi Ryan.” She half-whispered, pulling on a strained smile. Ryan returned it and offered her his hand, pulling her off the ground. I rolled my eyes. It hurt. Everything hurt. I walked to my kitchen cupboard and grabbed a container of Tylenol. I looked at it.

“If I tried to take all of these, would you stop me?” I contemplated. Ryan's smiled grew.

“Of course, love.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, feeling like a child. “Don't call me love. I'm not your love.”

“Alright.” He chuckled. I popped two of the Tylenol into my mouth and handed another two to Jessica, who had finally propped herself against the counter. She took them gladly. I dropped my forehead to the counter, the cool marble soothing my head.

“I'm never drinking with you again.” I moaned. Jessica snorted, and followed with an 'ow'.

“Deal.”

I felt Ryan walk up behind me. He placed his hand on my back, and I could feel the heat rolling off of his skin. I whimpered.

“Are you sure you wanna come in to work today?” I heard him ask.

“No. But I have to, so.”

Ryan chuckled again. I flapped a hand back to swat him. I missed, and sighed.

“What time is it?” Jessica asked. I glanced at the clock.

“8:30. I need to have a shower. I'm going to be late. Go home, Jess.”

She groaned. “No. I'm staying home from work and I'm staying here.”

“Whatever.” I said. I gestured to my living room, “I know that it looks like a hurricane took a s**t in there, but you're just going to have to deal and wait for me.” I said to Ryan. He nodded.

“Alright. But be quick. We need to be at the lab soon, talk to Will.”

I nodded, then stopped, “You called Will?”

“Yeah.” He said, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Ryan never called Will, “So we can ask him if we've got a serial.”

“Oh.” I said. I stood there for another minute or so before I headed to my bedroom to grab a towel and my bag of toiletries.

I stripped, turned on the shower, and jumped in. The hot water felt amazing against my throbbing head, and I stood there for a bit before grabbing my shampoo. I quickly washed my hair and body, rinsed, and stepped out of the shower, wrapping my favourite bath towel around.

As I stood staring into the mirror, brushing my hair furiously, my mind wandered off. I really was very worried about this killer. It sounded childish, I guess. I dealt with death and killers all day. What was another one against all I'd seen? There was something different about the Hadley case and the Nichlson case. Something very eerie. Was it the way the murders had been committed?

Hell, I didn't even know. I set down my brush and sighed. I ran through a list in my head. Teeth, check. Hair, check. Makeup, moisturizer, check. Contacts. Not check.

I groaned and flopped my head into my hands. I needed my contacts. Which I did not have. Because they were in the living room. With Ryan. And all I was wearing was a towel.

I suddenly felt the need to bash my head off the wall.

Sighing, I wrapped my towel tightly around my body and pushed the door open. I padded into the living room and stopped. Ryan looked up from a book that had been laying on the coffee table.

“Can you get my contacts?” I asked. He wasn't paying attention. He certainly wasn't looking at my face. I sighed.

“Ryan Matthew Carr, can you please take your hand and grab the white, plastic container that is sitting on the end table beside you?”

He looked back up at me. “You know my middle name?”

“Yes. Give me my contacts.”

Ryan smiled and grabbed them from the table, throwing them at me. It landed a foot short of me. I glared.

“Nice.”

Pulling the towel tight against my chest, I bent down and grabbed the container. I heard Ryan chuckle. I glared.

“Care to pass me that book, too?” I asked sweetly. Ryan passed it to me.

I turned and headed back into the bathroom, but not before throwing the book back over my shoulder with a fair amount of force. The 'ow!' I heard as I closed the bathroom door made my morning.

I walked out of the bathroom a full ten minutes later, dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans and red tank top. I saw Ryan look me up and down from the corner of my eye as I ushered him from my living room and out the door.

I followed Ryan from my apartment to the parking garage, my headache slowly fading. I checked my watch. 9:03. Late. Lovely.

Ryan led me to a black Toyota Sequoia parked beside my Accord.

“Nice car,” I mused, “Standard issue FBI?”

I heard him chuckle beside me. “Yeah, obviously.”

I slipped in the passenger seat. We drove in silence, him listening to the radio, me staring out the windshield. The landscape of downtown Oshawa reminded me mildly of my hometown, Montreal. Ryan's hometown as well. We were both Quebecois.

I missed home. I missed my mom and dad, and my sister Emily. I hadn't seen any of them since moving to Oshawa to work for the Geffersonian. It was a tough price to pay, but I loved my job, and my family understood that. Ryan looked over at me.

“What are you thinking about?” He asked quietly. I looked over at him. He was getting on my nerves, but he looked so genuinely interested. I sighed.

“Home,” I said solemnly, “I miss my family.”

Ryan smiled a small smile. “Visit them then.”

I shook my head. “I can't. I solve murders for a reason. I can't just go on vacation while other people's family members go forgotten.”

Ryan took a hand from the steering wheel and placed it on my forearm. I made no move to stop him.

“Look, Katelyn. I miss my family too, but I want you to know that although you can't be with your mom or your dad or your sister, you have friends here that love you.”

No matter how annoyed I'd been at Ryan Carr that morning, my heart melted. I gave him a small smile.

“Thanks Ryan.”

We pulled into the parking lot of the Geffersonian not even ten minutes later. Ryan and I both stepped out of the Sequoia and headed into the air conditioned building.

“When are we meeting with Will?” I asked. Ryan checked his watch.

“In about five minutes,” He stated. I nodded.

“I'll meet you there, I need to go to my office.” Ryan nodded.

“Kay.”

I speed-walked down the hall to my office. Randi was waiting outside.

“You're late.” She scolded.

“So?”

“And you came in with Ryan.” She put imaginary puzzle pieces together in her head.

“And your point is?” I asked, not really understanding what she was getting at.

“You slept with Ryan last night!” She said, eyes widening. My jaw dropped.

“Excuse me?” I asked, shocked.

“You did! You did, you did, you did!” She said loudly.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You were late, you came in with him, you were all smiley, and you look like you've been up all night.” She exclaimed. I shook my head.

“I did not sleep with Ryan.” I was shocked. I would never sleep with Ryan, no matter how good he looked.

“Okay then.” Scepticism. I shook my head.

“Move, I need to get my laptop.” I pushed past her into my office and grabbed my laptop, followed by the Hadley and Nichlson case files. I pushed past Randi again, locking my office on the way out. I started down the hall leading to Will's office. Randi called out behind me.

“Tell Ryan congrats on scoring!”

I flipped her the bird.

When I pulled open the door to Will's office, I could tell something was wrong. Ryan was bent over, elbows resting on knees, eyes closed. Will looked excited. Fidgety.

“What's up?” I asked quietly. They both looked up at me.

“Tacolini's not your killer.” Will said quickly. My brow knitted together.

“How do you know?”

Ryan looked up at me. There was something in his eyes I couldn't quite place.

“He's dead.”