The Lady in Blue Ch. 09

I stared at her, aghast. "You could fall!"

"I could get run over by a cab, too. Hang on to me, Lisa. Let's get inside and into Calvin's office." Hawk stuck her hand out and I took it with some trepidation. "Hold on tight." Hawk swung out and suddenly I was pulled against the metal rail and it dug into my hips.

I grabbed on with both hands, one grasping Hawk's and the other holding her jacket. Her weight was heavy but not beyond my capacity. "Hurry up."

Hawk reached out and pushed up on the window next to the fire escape and it slid open. "Bingo! I'm going to grab it and when I tell you to, I want you to let go," she said with some strain. Hawk grabbed the window sill. "Let go."

When I released her hand, she pulled herself into the window and with a wriggle of her hips, she slid inside with a thud. The window closed and I heaved a huge sigh of relief.

A few minutes later, the window next to me opened and Hawk stuck her head out, grinning. "Didn't have to break anything! No sign of a guard up here. He must be in the lobby downstairs. Sloppy bastard. I bet Murphy picked him personally for this assignment."

I awkwardly slid through the window with her help. Then I closed it behind me. "What is it with you and Murphy? You and he really seem to have some major issues. Who pissed in whose Wheaties?"

Hawk paused at the closed door, with her hand on the knob. A slight frown crossed her brow. "What is it with you anyways? All this "how does that make you feel", touchy-feely stuff? Was your minor in psych? I thought all you prosecutors were more hard boiled than that."

I raised my hands defensively. "I had some therapy for a few years. I found it helps me to actually ask about things I want to know, and sometimes it helps the other person to talk about stuff, too. I know, it's personal, and if you don't want to talk about it, tell me to mind my own business. I've seen you let your hair down when we talk, though. I think it's helped you to open up."

Hawk scratched her ear and slowly nodded. "I've thought about things that either needed to be thought about or that I've never considered before. Does that make you my therapist or my confessor?"

"Nope," I said smiling, "it makes me your friend. Come on, let's get in there and get done before Murphy comes around to catch us." I led the way out of the room and to Calvin's office. The door was closed and the doorway was criss-crossed with crime scene tape. With a deep breath, I opened the door and slid under the tape. "I'm surprised they didn't lock it."

I looked around while Hawk slid in behind me and flipped on the light. Then she closed the door and started looking the room over without touching anything. She was very interested in the area behind the door.

"That fucker was right back here. I wish I had been a little more on the ball and we'd have this all done. I'm sorry, Lisa."

"It's not over yet, Hawk. We'll catch him. I'll look through his files and you do the cop thing," I said, opening the file cabinets.

The cases were all at least passingly familiar to me, since we talked about the ones we didn't work on together. We didn't have a lot of time so I pulled each one out of his closed case files that was serious enough, in my mind, to warrant payback. I also took all his open case files. A quick trip to the copy room and the machine was zipping out copies.

Hawk was on her hands and knees looking under the desk when I came back in. She looked back at me and then resumed her search. "There is a lot of crap under here. You should speak to the custodial staff. They've been shirking."

"I'm sure I don't want to know what's under my desk," I said back. "What do you hope to find under there?"

"Damned if I know. When I see it, I'll know what it is, though. Like... What have we here?"

I watched her ass as she was wriggling back out. Then I rolled my eyes at myself. Just what a man would do. God.

Hawk sat on the floor holding a small key ring with two keys on it and a paper tag on a string. "A clue, Watson. Park it."

Sitting next to her, I examined it. "Do you think the killer dropped it here? Should you be touching it? You know, since there might be prints or DNA on it?"

"I think I know whose DNA is on it. Calvin's," she said with a grim smile. "It was on a small hook and hanging out of sight." The tag said 'Daedalus backup files'. It was dated last month and had the initials S. W. P. "The handwriting is the same as that in his case files. This was written by Calvin. The question is, what is this case?"

The name baffled me. We didn't have odd names for the cases. They were usually the State of Texas verses someone. "I have no idea. I'd certainly remember a name like that. Let me look in the files."

We climbed up and started looking through files. Nothing. There wasn't a folder with that name in this cabinet.

"Let's look in the computer system and see what pops up," I said at last, giving up the manual search.

"The access will be logged, won't it?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yes, but we all have a file of everyone's passwords in case of emergency. Not very secure, huh? I'll wake up my computer and access it under my account and they still can't be sure who did it, if they even ask later."

"God love the cock-eyed bureaucracy. They'll never know who did what. I like it."

We trooped to the copy room first. The copies were done and I put all the files back together. Fifteen minutes had the copies in a big binder and the original files back where they came from. When I closed the door to Calvin's office, it felt like I was closing a door on his life and my eyes misted.

Hawk put her arm around my shoulders. "We both seem to be weepy recently. I know you miss him but it'll get easier."

I sagged against her and just let her strength flow into me. "I'm glad we both seem to be strong when the other is feeling down. What would we do if we both got all weepy at the same time?"

"It's what friends are for, or so Ted tells me," she admitted. "I'm not so familiar with it since I haven't really had many friends. I can be a little - abrasive."

I laughed, cheered up already. "Abrasive? You? Are we talking about the same woman? We're just going through changes in our life, stress. I have Calvin's death, Ted and exhibitionism to shake up my world. You have an asshole boss and, well, I guess you could call it a sexual identity crisis."

Hawk shook her head. "You might say that. I'm a lesbian and you have me kissing guys and wondering if I'm for real or just a player. I still don't know what I want. No, that's not true. I know what I want. I'm just uncomfortable with how much more acceptable the price of doing business is getting."

I unlocked my office and sat down at my messy desk, bringing the computer to life and starting to search. "I saw you touch him after you kissed. Frankly, I never thought you'd kiss him. That surprised the hell out of me. Then groping him? You really are considering it, aren't you?"

She sighed and nodded. "I'm getting more comfortable with the idea than I like. Part of me is more curious than I would have ever believed, Doctor Freud. Do you want to hear about what I think about my mother?" Hawk asked.

"Nope. You need to have some secrets." The screen came up with the query box and I typed in the name. Nothing for that name in the system.

My cell phone rang. "Davis."

"Lisa? This is Sue. Ted's cutting himself loose and he refuses to go home with me. He's insisting you come and pick him up. The hard-headed idiot said to tell you that he won't lie down while you girls do all the work."

I smiled. That was Ted. "We'll come and get him. Look for us in an hour or so. I'll call before we get there." We said our goodbyes and disconnected. "Hawk, we have to pick up Ted. He won't go home with Sue."

Hawk shook her head. "You two can be stubborn. I'm surprised you can agree who wears the pants."

I grinned toothily. "He does. Men need zippers. It makes them feel empowered."

I locked the computer, pocketed my keys, and we closed the office behind us. We exited back down the fire escape. I was very happy to be back in the car and driving.

Hawk looked through the copies as we drove. "The information we are looking for may not be in these files. It may be in Calvin's head or house. We'll have to search it."

"I suppose we will have to start digging into his life. God, I never would have dreamed we were going that way," I said softly.

"Here's another thing you may not have thought of," she said. "We know that whoever it is, they are not shy about attacking you, even in a public place. We need to all disappear from our usual haunts for a while. Leave the bad guys wondering where we will turn up next."

"What do you have in mind?" I asked. The sky was getting dark so I switched on the lights as we were going back through Houston. Damn, it seems like I had been back and forth a lot over the last few days.

"A no-name motel: get a double, and we check Ted and you in as Mister and Missus Smith. You don't mind shacking up for a few days with Ted, do you, Lisa?"

I laughed. "No, not at all. It actually sounds like a good idea. The question is, do you?"

"Two beds makes it all safe, girl." Hawk smiled back at me.

The remainder of the drive to the hospital was without incident. I called Sue when we were about ten minutes away and she gave us directions to the place, including the entrance closest to them. We pulled into the drop off and I went in, leaving Hawk to watch the car.

Sue and Ted were inside, Ted in a wheelchair and Sue sitting beside him. He had a small bandage on the side of his head. I knelt beside the chair.

"Hey, Hero. I was going to come down to visit you, and here you are busting out. You're not mad that I went to start clearing this up without you, are you?" I swallowed a little.

Ted smiled and shook his head. "No. I'm happy you're looking into it. I could have walked out. I don't have a concussion. All I have are a few stitches. The doctor even said we can..." He looked over at Sue and blushed as she shook her head.

"Then let's get you out to the car and get moving. Hawk has a plan." I stood up and hugged Sue. "I'm so glad he's okay. We're going to duck out of sight for a while. We'll have our cell phones. We don't want to put you in any more danger."

She looked back at me, wide-eyed. "Why can't the police help us? Protective custody or something."

"Manpower," I said. "That, and I'm starting to be worried about - other aspects of the case. It'll be best for you and Stan if we don't keep you in the target zone. Go home, and I'll call you when we're set up. I'll make sure he rests and takes his medications. Any complaints about that, Ted?"

"No way. Sounds like heaven, if you're there."

Sue handed me his medicine and we pushed Ted outside. Hawk smiled as she held the back door open. "Your chariot awaits, stud." Ted didn't look weak as we got him in the back. Sue hugged Hawk and we drove out of the parking lot after watching Sue get into her car and leave.

"What place do you have in mind," I asked as I drove.

"There's this little place I know in south Houston. We can take stock there. Get some take-out and start talking over the case files and what moves we need to make next," Hawk said as she turned in her seat.

"Ted, you mind if I ask you some personal questions? About Lisa and - relationships." Hawk sounded like a cop but not as pushy.

"If I give the wrong answers, do you have to cuff me?" He grinned at her.

"No, Doofus. I just want to know."

"Ask away," he said.

I could tell she was forming the question and wanted it just right. Interesting. As a lawyer, I knew all about asking the questions the right way. That was almost as important as asking the right question.

"In the store, why did you - you know - help Lisa's exhibitionism? Don't get me wrong, I think it was standup of you, but I've been wondering what the driver was."

Ted's eyebrows rose. "Well, I was thinking about the last time we were there. How she enjoyed it and that Alice didn't seem mind. Lisa trusts you and I figured you wouldn't get upset with her. I know I was taking a chance but I thought it would be something Lisa would like. It had been a long time since I've even had a relationship and I'venever done anything like that. I guess I wanted to see if I could experience the thrill with her that way, too. I have to admit I did enjoy doing it in front of someone."

He sighed. "I guess I can't really explain what I was thinking when I decided to do it. Her pleasure and safety was top in my mind. If I really thought she didn't want to, I would have stopped." He looked at me and I watched him in the mirror. "Lisa, you did enjoy it, didn't you?"

"Yes, Ted." I reassured him, "I enjoyed it. I wanted it, even though I never knew that I did before this week. You did the right thing."

Ted sighed in relief. "Thank God. I don't want to screw this up."

"Ted, we're going to have to have a long talk," Hawk said. "You jumped on me to save me back at the vineyard and while that irks me a little, since that's my job, that's a huge thing to do and I appreciate it. Just don't do it again and let me do my job. I - I've never been good at relationships with men. I tend to not trust them, and then I get all abrasive with them, but I've started finding myself trusting you more than I have trusted any man in a long time, and I need to be up front with you. I can't keep hiding this."

Hawk looked over at me and then back at Ted. "There's no easy way to say this." She took a deep breath. "Ted, I like Lisa. I like her a lot. I made a pass at her." She tensed up.

Ted smiled. "I could tell that you were attracted to her. You even mentioned it to me in the kitchen. So, what did she say?"

Hawk sagged a little at his mild reaction, and I blinked in surprise. They had been talking about me?

"We talked," Hawk said. "Lisa said that she had been thinking about me, too, but that she was your woman. That she wouldn't screw around on you."

Ted nodded but said nothing.

"We talked about it," Hawk continued. "I'm still not ready to commit one way or the other but I want you to know - to tell me yes or no to something. Lisa said if I talked to you, asked to join you both, that she would be willing to have sex with me if you did, too." Hawk was speaking faster as she went on it and I could tell she was really nervous.

"I don't know what I want to do, even after kissing you. I just need you to know I will abide by whatever y'all decide," Hawk said, "and if you say no, I'll drop it." Hawk sighed and was watching Ted to see how he reacted, with the expression of a woman that thinks she just took a real chance.

Ted looked at me in the mirror and scratched his chin. "I have to admit, I've been thinking a little about you and Lisa after we talked."

"Ted," I said. "I don't want you to think I'm unhappy with you. I'm very happy. I guess I'm just curious. If you say no, I won't be upset. I'd like us to agree on anything like this in our relationship. I won't do anything outside our relationship. It has to be both of us or neither of us. Okay?"

He leaned forward and kissed the back of my head. "No worries. I agree with you, Lisa. If either of us doesn't feel comfortable with something, we don't do it. Together or not at all. Hawk, I appreciate your honesty and trust."

The drive was quiet as both Ted and Hawk seemed to be thinking. I asked Hawk for directions. She had me leave the freeway and start making all kinds of turns while she watched out the rear window.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Looking for tails. We're clean. Go this way."

Hawk took us down some more side streets and then into a motor court. She ran into the office and came back out with a key.

"Last room left," Hawk said with a shrug. "I have a gay friend that works here and he said there is a damn golf tourney in town. The Valareo Texas Open. It was supposed to be in San Antonio but they had a huge fire there last month so it was moved here, to the same place they play the Shell Open. Who would have thought this many people would come to see men in ugly clothes whack balls with sticks? Room 237, in the back."

I drove back and parked. We went inside. The room was clean enough, not even really worn. The one thing that was unexpected was that it only had one king sized bed and a couch.

"There was no choice. I'll sleep on the couch," Hawk said.

Ted protested but she waved him off. "You have a banged up head and a girlfriend. One couch, one person. Don't worry about it. Let's settle in and order some pizza."

Hawk dialed while I sat on the couch and held Ted. "You're not mad, are you? Really?"

Ted kissed me. "No, sweetheart. I'm not mad."

Hawk asked what we wanted on the pizza and it was soon ordered. We took turns showering, or at least we let Hawk shower first. When we came out of the shower, she was sitting there with the pizza on the table with some two liter bottles of soda.

Ted asked us about the day's events while we ate. He looked at the keys and we talked about some of the cases. A relaxed rhythm was developing among the three of us. Hawk was joking with Ted and me.

When the last of the pizza was gone, Ted leaned back and looked at Hawk. "I've been thinking about what you said, Hawk."

She froze and then took a drink of her soda, her cop face sliding into place. "And?"

"If you feel comfortable having sex with me and Lisa, I will say yes. I really appreciate you both taking my feelings into account. It means a lot to me. You think about what you want and let us know. Whatever you decide is fine. And, Hawk, I want you to know that you are a hottie. Does that make it easier or harder?" he asked with a grin.

She smiled wryly. "Puh-leeze. Well, I guess it's in my court. I'll let you both know what I decide. Let me sleep on it."

I stood up and stretched. "Good idea. It's been a long, scary day and I think Ted should hit the sack. Us, too."

Hawk pursed her lips and nodded. "I think you're right. Let's crash."

Hawk stripped down to a tee shirt and panties. "It's not like you haven't seen me naked." I shrugged and joined her in a tee and panties. Ted stripped to his tee and underwear.

Over the next half hour, we settled into the bed. Ted whispered in my ear, "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I feel up to getting frisky."

I kissed him. "That's okay, I understand. If you wake up tonight and feel like it, you can surprise me while I'm asleep. After this morning, I think that would be fair."

He laughed and we snuggled down to sleep.

Sometime in the night, I woke up with the sensation of someone sliding into bed behind me, on the side away from Ted, nearest the bathroom. The room was totally dark but I knew it was Hawk.

"The couch is crunching my back. There is enough room for all of us. Do you mind?"

"No," I whispered. "I don't mind at all. Goodnight." I felt her body snuggle in behind me and had to quiet the flutter in my stomach. Sleep took a little longer to come but I finally slipped back into slumber.

I did wake up briefly as I felt Ted slip out of bed and heard the door to the bathroom close. I saw the dim glow of light as I heard him making a midnight run. I thought about how crowded the bed was. Hawk wasn't making me uncomfortable but they had both been hurt. Good sleep was important for them to recover.

With a sigh, I grabbed Ted's pillow and moved to the lumpy couch. Hawk was right. It was not as comfortable as the bed but I could take it. I tossed Hawk's pillow back onto Ted's side of the bed and laid down. I breathed in his scent, sighing happily. Sleep took me before he could come back from the bathroom.