Picture Perfect

Chapter 26

    I decided to take the stairs up to the DA's office on the fifth floor. Since I came back to the station I'd been worried about how Sebastian was doing, so I called home.
    "Hey Ash." Aaron greeted.
    "How are things going there?" I asked knowing Aaron could hear the concern in my voice.
    "It's been pretty quiet around here since the cops came through." Aaron said, I could hear the annoyance in his voice. "Obviously Bash loved that but honestly it pissed me off a bit."
    "I'm sorry Aaron, I should have told you everything but..."
    "Why didn't you Ash?" Aaron interrupted me. "Why wouldn't you tell me that you thought this psycho was watching us?"
    "I was afraid." I simply stated.
    "No shit, the idea scares the crap out of me too but I deserved to know."
    "You're right Aaron and I'm sorry. But my greater fear was the you would pick up and move back to your mom's house with Bash."
    Aaron didn't respond right away, I actually looked at my phone a couple times to make sure the call wasn't dropped.
    "I'm not going anywhere Ash. I would be stupid to leave."
    "I'm sure the judge wouldn't do anything to you for leaving." I replied, thinking his concern was going against the judges ruling.
    "Oh I don't care about what that judge said, that's not why it'd be stupid to leave, though you do have a valid point. My reasoning is I'd be stupid to leave because you can't protect us at my mom's house."
    "What?" His response threw me for a loop.
    "This psycho obviously knows you but if they've been watching us then they know Bash and I too. If we're on their list, which is a scary thought, I'd rather have Bash here where you can protect him. Plus I think it would drive you nuts if we weren't here. You need to concentrate on catching this guy, not worry about us living across town."
    I couldn't believe his response. Something had really changed in him, this was not like the Aaron that had taken me to court. I was speechless.
    "Ash? Are you still there?"
    "Yeah, sorry. I just, you just..." I really didn't know what to say.
    "It's okay Ash. You'll find this guy and I know you won't let anything happen to Bash. Now me on the other hand..." Aaron joked.
    I laughed slightly, "Thanks Aaron."
    "No problem, it's good to be on the same page you know?"
    "Agreed!"
    "So I've got someone here who is jumping up and down anxiously wanting to talk to you."
    "Okay." I said with a slight laugh and smirk. I was walking towards Chyler's office slowly because I was anxious to talk to Bash too.
    "Hi mommy!" Bash said excitedly.
    "How's it going sweetheart?" I asked, my smirk turning into a full out smile at the sound of my son's voice.
    "There were police officers here and they let me talk on their walk-in talkie and sit in the drivers seat of the cruiser." He rattled off excitedly. "I got to talk to somebody on the radio in the car too."
    "Wow, that's pretty cool buddy." I responded as I arrived at Chyler's door. Instead of knocking on the door I just leaned against the wall next to the door, I wanted to talk to Bash just a bit longer.
    "Is aunty Hayley with you mommy?"
    "Actually she had to take somebody from the FBI out to a couple of crime scenes and I'm at the station for a meeting with another colleague."
    "Cool! Can I meet the FBI person sometime?" He asked excitedly.
    "I'm sure that can be arranged." I answered as Chyler's door opened and she popped her head out.
    "I thought I..." Chyler started to say but I held up my finger to tell her to give me another minute.
    "So do you know who the bad guy is yet mommy?" Bash asked with a trace of sadness in his voice.
    "Not yet sweetheart but I'm working on it."
    "Okay mommy. Get back to work then and I'll see you when you get home maybe."
    "Will do." I said then heard the call end. "Bash?" I said then looked at my phone and laughed. "My six year old just told me to get back to work and hung up on me."
    "Isn't that usually something parents kinda say to their kids?" Chyler joked.
    "You'd think so but Bash is an unusual little boy." I responded with a laugh then continued, "Well I guess we better get started since I was told to and all."
    "Absolutely, come on in. I've got us set up over here." Chyler said pointing to a corner of her office with two comfy looking chairs and a coffee table with case files and a laptop on it. "I figured it's more comfortable over here as opposed to sitting at the desk."
    "Works for me." I said with a shrug. I had to keep reminding myself to focus on the cases, not on how attractive Chyler was.
    "Plus I seem to think better over here." Chyler continued as she sat down and pulled the laptop onto her lap. "I figured we can chat a bit then we can take a lunch break."
    "Okay." I replied as I pulled out my own laptop. "Have you read over the case files?"
    "I have," Chyler answered with a nod. "Not really the type of bed time reading I prefer, it's all a bit too disturbing."
    "Huh?" She threw my train of thought off by mentioning bed. I really could not figure out what was wrong with me. I had to work with attractive women all the time, honestly my partner was beautiful and I deal with her just fine everyday. Why was I having so many issues around this particular woman?
    "I was just saying these cases are disturbing. You may be used to seeing these kinds of things but I'm not." Chyler admitted.
    "Trust me, you never get used to stuff like this. I've just gotten good at focusing on the facts and not thinking about the gory details."
    Chyler smiled and my heart melted a bit. She had such a beautiful smile. "Well it's good to know there are feelings behind that tough exterior Detective."
    Was she flirting with me? I found it sad that I couldn't tell the difference between that and just friendly conversation. I didn't even know if she was queer or straight. But honestly that doesn't matter because we were working on these cases together. I needed to keep my mind on the cases, not on how cute Chyler looked sitting in the chair across from me with the her legs folded under her and the laptop on her lap.
    "Ashlee?" Chyler questioned bringing me back out of my internal dialogue.
    I shook my head, "I'm sorry. I guess I just have a lot on my mind."
    "I can only imagine." She responded sympathetically. "Is everything okay with your family? I've heard you were close with the last victims."
    "My son's dad, my sister and I all grew up with Steve. Then Shaun was my son's best friend. I'm not really sure how Bash is handling all of this, he just wants me to catch the bad guy?"
    "Bash?" Chyler questioned with an amused look on her face. "Interesting name."
    "Well Sebastian isn't the type of name with a lot of nickname options."
    "Valid. I like it." She replied with that smile on her face again. But after a moment her facial expression quickly changed. "This case makes me think of my brother and his family. Him and his girlfriend have a little four year old boy. It's scary that they fit this psychos type. I can't even imagine what must be going through your head given where my head has been since reading these files."
    "I'm just trying to get through the day hour by hour honestly. So did you have any questions about what you read?" I said trying to bring the conversation back to the task at hand instead of personal things. Hopefully keeping the conversation on the cases would keep my mind off Chyler and off the possible danger at home.
    "Well the facts seem pretty cut and dry ish. Four families killed with a combination of gun and knife. No forced entry and more annoyingly no trace of the sick fuck who did this." Chyler rattled off looking frustrated.
    "That the short of it." I said nodding my head.
    "Well how do you figure you're going to catch this guy before another family dies?"
    I replied with a shrug. "If we can understand the significance of the bits and pieces we do have then maybe we can figure him out."
    Chyler got up and walked towards the door, "Alright, let's have lunch then you can explain about your bits and pieces theory."