“When was the last time you
slept properly?”
She gave a shrug while eating a
mouthful of egg. Matt sent her a look and she swallowed, frowning herself. The
bags under her eyes were a bit more prominent than they were last week, hair
slightly curled due to it being in a bun for many, uninterrupted hours.
“I don’t know. I slept around…”
she struggled to remember, “two AM last night, I think. Woke up around seven.
So I got five hours of sleep. Had to look through pictures and wonder what the
fuck the connection among the three are, irritates me a lot to find none. Skype
with Touta and Peters last night wasn’t productive, too. Touta’s managing other
cases and Peters was just tired. Don’t blame him at all,” she replied.
“You really should try to rest
more,” Matt tried. “This always happens. You get a case, investigate, and then
you leave your health to the dogs. I get it,” he added upon seeing her open her
mouth to protest, “It’s your work. Your driving force. I’ve got my own. But you
have to take it easy every once in a while.”
“I can’t afford to make
mistakes.”
“I know you can’t.” he watched
as she ate. “And that you shouldn’t.”
“After the Winchester case…I don’t
want any more wrongs.”
“But that was two years ago–”
“I could have screwed it up.
The poor boy wouldn’t have been brought to justice.” She let out a long breath,
“Sometimes I wonder if I even solved it or if it was pure luck.”
“Babe…”
“I’m done.” She finished the
rest of her juice, her plate cleared, “I’ll wash. You…you have to get to work
soon.” Not listening to his complaints, she swept the kitchenware into her
hands and walked to the sink, setting them down and starting to wash. Matt
merely sat there, drinking from his mug of tea.
A remained quiet as she
scrubbed the forks and spoons, washing them twice just to make sure. A million
thoughts raced through her mind, memories of the Winchester trip and the past
cases she was assigned to. Bloody fucking
luck it is. Pete can bust drug cartels and Touta survived the goddamn Kira
case. So much for the Wammy alumna.
She didn’t realize it, but he
was making his way to her, gently setting his mug down on the counter and
wrapping his arms around her waist after. She merely stayed quiet as he rested
his head on her shoulder, planting a soft kiss on her shoulder.
“Tell me about the case. I
might have a few ideas.”
She hesitated.
“I mean…if it’s okay, that is.
I understand. Some others have to be kept confidential–”
“They died because of heart
attacks.”
He blinked.
“Heart attacks?”
“Yeah…we brought up the idea of
another Kira,” his grip on her tightened slightly, “But Peters dismissed the
idea. It’s not possible.”
“Of course it’s not.” He said
this with an unusual sharpness in his tone, “He wouldn’t do once a week
killings. He’d use other ways to kill people aside from heart attacks if he
wanted to remain under the radar for the meantime. And it’s not just that. L
would have contacted all of you if he felt the possibility of another Kira
running free.”
When she said nothing, he went
on.
“Darling…this is just my own
personal opinion. Don’t take it against me. But if the occasion comes that
you’re truly in danger – Kira or not – I’d rather you stop working for the moment.
For your own safety.”
At that, she turned off the
faucet and faced him, Matt loosening his grip and meeting her eyes.
“I can’t stop working.”
“I know that. But I don’t want
you getting hurt.”
“I won’t get hurt – I’ve got my
gun.”
A said this in an attempt to
make him smile.
It didn’t work.
“I swore that I wouldn’t
forgive myself if you ever got hurt.”
He said this with such raw
emotion in his voice, gruff and low in an attempt to convince her a final time.
She exhaled slowly, trying to clear her mind. Matt waited for an answer.
“Please don’t.”
When she turned back to the
sink to start washing again, she changed the subject.
“We’re stuck. We don’t know
what to do with the information, as we basically have no leads. Nothing. Two of
them died in the streets and the other in front of the goddamn casino, so it’s
going to be hard finding the people who called the ambulance, stumbled upon
them, all of that.”
Matt thought for a moment.
“Have you considered CCTV cameras?”
“I doubt there would be any in
the street.”
“Try for the casino. They ‘re
littered on the inside, and it can’t hurt to assume that the outside has a
couple as well.” She had set the first plate into the rack and Matt went on.
“Usually, they’re secured near the entrance so that the people in charge can
keep track on who goes inside and out.”
“Do all casinos have it?”
“I assume that it does.”
“Then that’s where I’ll go once
I head for work.” She was washing the second one when he kissed her cheek
gently, once more wrapping an arm around her waist. “Matt…”
“Please rest.”
He asked this quietly, in a
soft tone that made her slightly guilty for her more-than-crabby mood that
morning.
“As much as I want to, you know
that I really, really can’t.”
“Not even a short nap?”
She shot a glance at the clock,
seeing that she had a full two hours before she could go.
“I might wake up late.”
“I’ll wake you up.”
“After four hours, yes.” The
Englishman chuckled at this.
“Give me that plate and I
promise that I’ll wake you up in time.” She glanced down at the plate in her
hands and sighed, sending him a look of her own before passing it to him and
proceeding to wash her own hands.
“You really make it hard for me
to concentrate, love.”
“What can I say?” he stole a
kiss when she turned to face him, “I’m a natural charmer, baby. Remember the
night we saw each other after almost ten years?”
“Hell.” She gave him a frown,
“Don’t remind me. I can still remember how I shot the wall when I realized what
you did.”
“I’m sorry that I had to do
that,” he laughed, taking her place in front of the sink, “Rest assured that
you’re the only one I used it on.”
“So I’m your only unsuspecting
victim.”
“Mhm. If you’d like to think of
it that way, then yes.” He looked at her, “Now go rest up. I’ll wake you up in
an hour so you can bathe and dress. Alright?”
“I can’t say no to you.” She
kissed his cheek. “Thank you, love.”
No comments:
Post a Comment