Picture Perfect

Chapter 30

    It was almost seven in the evening and I was still at my desk. I had been looking through every bit of information we had on the four family murders since I left Chyler's office over two hours ago. I was looking for anything that could provide even the smallest clue, I needed a break in this case. I knew there had to be something I had missed and it was pissing me off.
    "Hey partner, what the hell are you still doing here?" Hayley said surprising me as she plopped down in her chair, I hadn't heard anyone come in.
    "Shit, you scared me." I said then smiled at her. "But since you asked, I'm in search of a needle in a haystack. Wanna help?" I finished, holding a couple case files up.
    "The haystack is way too fucking big hey?" Hayley replied with a smirk of her own.
    I sighed and replied, "Unfortunately."
    "Well I've got a stellar idea partner, way better than working. Let's go down to the bar down the street from your house, get pizza, some beer and see what we come up with."
    "Come up with?" I questioned.
    "You know, find this needle in the haystack you're looking for." Hayley replied as if it were obvious.
    "I thought your stellar idea was better than work." I replied with a laugh.
    Hayley opened her mouth to say something but paused a few seconds then finally replied, "Okay you got me there. But I think working over pizza and beer is way better than being stuck in here. You in?"
    "Sounds like a good plan actually, I'm in. Mind if I call Kayla? I figure it couldn't hurt to pick her brain about this too."
    "Works for me. After the day I had, I just want the beer." Hayley replied with a tired smile.

    When we arrived at Happy Tap Kayla was already sitting at a table in the corner of the bar.
    "Hey ladies, I already ordered food." Kayla greeted us.
    "Should I order another pitcher?" Hayley offered. There were three full pint glasses on the table and a quarter full pitcher.
    Kayla shook her head and said, "It should be here shortly." She smiled, held up her glass to us then downed nearly half in one swig.
    "You read our minds from across town sis." I said with a smile as I sat down.
    "Well if your day was anything like mine we'll need a couple more pitchers before everything is said and done." Kayla replied glumly.
    "That good, hey?" Hayley asked before downing almost half of her glass in one gulp, just like Kayla. I could tell already we were in for a long drunken night.
    "Well for starters I've got twin boys with the flu at home." Kayla started.
    "Great now Bash will probably be sick. And we all know who he wants at his side when he's sick."
    "Mommy of course. Don't we all want a beautiful woman to take care of us when we're sick?" Hayley joked.
    "Oh shut it you." I replied with a playful glare.
    "Yeah, good luck with that Ash." Kayla said then quickly changed topic. "So anyways, then there were two gang shoot outs last night which turned into fourteen extra autopsies toady on top of six we already had scheduled for today." She finished with an exhausted sigh.
"I'm surprised you managed to get our of the office, sis." I replied.
"Well me and the rest of the day staff can only do so much. I had to call in some help for the overnight shift." Kayla informed us.
"Ouch," Hayley quickly replied. "And I thought spending at least two hours at each house from our family murders with Mr. FBI was bad."
"That just sounds boring. Did anything new come from it?" Kayla asked.
Hayley shook her head then replied, "Won't know until he formulates his profile which I can probably already guess."
No one spoke for a few moments. Kayla and I both looked at Hayley figuring she was going to continue. When it seemed she wasn't Kayla broke the silence, "Well what's your guess Detective smarty pants."
Hayley put her beer down and replied, "Isn't it obvious? White male, late twenties to early thirties. He's strong but not intimidating, probably looks like someone you could trust. Probably has a decent knowledge of forensics since the scenes are so clean. I'm sure he has family issues in his past, maybe a foster kid." She finished with a shrug then gulped down the rest of her beer.
I decided to chime in, "I gotta agree that's the picture I've formed in my head too. Unfortunately that describes a lot of guys in just the city of Milwaukee, not to mention the suburbs. How the hell do we narrow down which one is our psycho?"
"Did our lovely ADA have any enlightening thoughts on the matter?" Hayley asked with a semi teasing tone.
"The ADA?" Kayla butted in before I could speak. "What does she have to do with anything?"
Hayley chimed in before I could get a word in. "Your sister spent most of the day stuck with Chyler Dutton. I'm guessing that's why she didn't chime in on the bad day griping you and I did. Being locked away in an office with a beautiful woman sounds like a wonderful way to spend a day." Hayley finished with a goofy grin.
I must have blushed slightly cause Kayla quickly jumped in, "You like her don't you sis?"
"Why would you say that?" I snapped back. "Besides I just met the woman today. A few hours is not enough time to formulate an opinion about someone."
Kayla laughed and replied, "I say that because I know you better than you know yourself sis. And I am a firm believer in the idea that first impressions tell you a lot about someone, so a few hours is more than enough time to form opinions and feelings about a person."
I sighed and rolled my eyes. I knew there was no way to avoid this topic so I replied, "Well for your information I like her as a co-worker, nothing more."
"Sure, sure." Hayley replied. "Is she gay?"
"Yeah but that has nothing to do with the fact that I respect her as a colleague." I replied defensively.
Kayla smiled, "Sure, you keep telling yourself that sis."
"So then can I ask her out partner?" Hayley asked with a sly smile.
"No!" Kayla and I answered immediately in unison.
"Wow!" Was all Hayley could manage to say.
Kayla explained first, "Hayley there is no reason to make the situation complicated. We all have to work with this woman."
"Why would I make it complicated?" Hayley questioned defensively.
    I tried not to laugh as I replied, "Hayley, hun we've talked about you sleeping with women we work with. Remember, no one night stands with women you see on a daily basis."
    "Hey, I said ask her out!" Hayley said, again defensively.
    "We all know how your dates end sweetie. And don't even try to deny it." Kayla said with a knowing look towards Hayley.
    "She could be into it, you never know." Hayley replied with a shrug. When she saw the skeptical looks on both Kayla and my face she added, "But okay, because I love you Ash, I'll wait til after we catch this son of a bitch."
    "Gee, how thoughtful." I replied with a laugh then added, "Maybe wait til after he's convicted. Just to be sure."
    Just then the waitress walked up. "Cheese bread and large supreme pizza?"
    Kayla answered, "That's us."
The waitress put the food down and grabbed the empty pitcher, "Here you are and I'll be right back with another pitcher."
"Thanks Jessie." I said as she walked away.
"How do you know her?" Hayley asked.
"She's Jagger's mom." I answered then quickly added, "She's marred to a man."
We all laughed then dug into the food.

Chyler had barely opened the door when she heard her nephew Jordan yelling, "Mommy, aunty Chy's home!"
"Hey sis, how was your day?" Cassidy asked as she walked into the kitchen.
"It was alright, how was yours?" Chyler asked. She knew full well Cassidy was digging for information from her meeting with Ashlee since Cameron couldn't hide anything from his girlfriend but Chyler wasn't going to give up anything that easily.
Cassidy glared slightly then said, "How was your meeting about the family killer case?"
"Informative," Chyler replied with a shrug as she opened the fridge. "What's for dinner?"
"Really?" Cassidy replied obviously annoyed. "You're not gonna tell me anything?"
"Well legally I can't, especially with you being a member of the press and all." Chyler replied trying not to laugh.
Cassidy rolled her eyes then said, "I'm your sister for god sakes."
"Not legally, yet." Chyler said turning to face Cassidy, showing her a big goofy grin.
Cassidy couldn't help but laugh then replied, "Only because your brother doesn't know what's good for him."
"True, I suppose." Chyler replied laughing.
"Mommy, when are we gonna eat dinner?" Jordan whined suddenly from the doorway.
"Soon honey, go bug your father for a while." Cassidy replied to her son who smiled and ran off. "Girl, let's make these boys some dinner before they get as grouchy as me."
"Why are you grouchy Cassidy?" Chyler asked though she was dreading the answer.
Cassidy sighed, "Well between my boss giving me shit assignments and you withholding valuable info, why wouldn't I be grouchy?"
Chyler decided this was the perfect opening for her question, "So why didn't you tell me you were questioned by the cops about these cases? And why did I not know you found the Olsen family?"
Cassidy sighed again then replied calmly, "Cameron told me not to talk about it, especially with you. Something about ethics since you're an ADA now and all."
"Ahh." Chyler replied with a nod. "I was just surprised when Ashlee mentioned it."
Cassidy smiled and asked, "So what did you think of detectives Morris and Williams?"
"Hayley seemed interesting but I didn't interact with her too much."
"Why not?" Cassidy inquired.
"She had something else to take care of. Ashlee and I went over everything in my office." Chyler stated, being careful to not give Cassidy any details.
    "Really?" Cassidy replied raising her eyebrows.
    "What?" Chyler asked quickly.
    "Oh nothing." Cassidy replied with a goofy grin. "So what did you think of Ashlee?"
    Chyler thought for a moment before responding. "She seems extremely intelligent and driven. I got the impression she's not happy about my involvement so early on in this case but she was very helpful."
    Cassidy smiled then said, "She's very attractive too, hey?"
    "That she is." Chyler said automatically then quickly continued, "But um that's beside the point. She seems very good at her job."
    Cassidy laughed, "Nice attempt at a cover."
    Chyler knew her cheeks were turning red so she looked away from Cassidy.
    "You like her don't you?" Cassidy asked. "And don't you try and lie to me Chyler Dutton because you suck at lying."
    "I just met her today Cassidy." Chyler said trying to blow off the idea.
    "So?" She replied now glaring at Chyler in an amused way.
    Chyler took a deep breath then admitted, "Okay, maybe I do like her but she's a colleague so this won't go any further."
    Cassidy smirked and replied, "We'll see about that chica."