unsolved ≫ jake peralta

III. NO SLEEP TILL BROOKLYN

Blood soaked through the carpet, threatening to spill on the adjacent tile.

Small footsteps padded down the linoleum-covered hallway.

A gasp.

The sound of a bouquet of flowers hitting the floor.

A scream.

Ivy woke up the following morning in a similar state of terror to the previous one, though this time her backup pistol remained safely secured in her drawer.

She blindly grasped for her phone, squinting her eyes as she looked at the time on the bright screen.

Three-thirty.

She fell back into bed, her phone falling beside her. Six hours until her flight would leave. Three and a half hours until Agent Murray would arrive at her apartment, ready to take her to the airport.

Her bags were packed, a suitcase, a backpack, and her briefcase. Her cases were in the safe and capable hands of Agent da Silva.

She turned back over, wondering if returning to sleep was even feasible. Her alarm would go off in two and a half hours anyway. She sat up, turning on her bedside light. Trying to fall back asleep on such an important day was likely a worthwhile cause.

Ivy's therapist told her that she had an unhealthy relationship with sleep, in that she didn't get enough.

She got plenty.

Besides, sleep brought unprompted nightmares and memories of past horrors she was all too familiar with. Reality was far more governable.

Her therapist.

Ivy reached for her phone again, drafting an email for Dr. Taft. They met once a week, on Thursdays, after Ivy finished work. Seeing as Ivy was about to leave for New York, they would either have to change the format of their meetings or put Ivy's psychological treatment on hold. Ivy hoped for the former.

She told Dr. Taft of her temporary assignment in New York, and, if possible, how she wished to continue their sessions virtually. She hesitated, looking at the time before she hit send. She knew Dr. Taft would take note of that, and bring it up at their next session.

"Tell me, why are you sending emails at three thirty, Ivy?"

Ivy was now well awake, the blue light of her screen lulling her into a false sense of daytime. She got out of bed, stretching in front of her window, which revealed her dark, sleeping apartment complex, and strode to her closet. She reached for one of her pantsuits, hesitating on which one to choose. Some of the materials wrinkled easier than others, and since she was going to spend about an hour on a plane, and who knew how long stuck in New York traffic, she needed to choose wisely. The last thing she wanted to do was present herself to the detectives of New York's ninety-ninth precinct looking like she'd just rolled out of bed.

She decided on a navy blue set and a white button down. She headed for the shower, stalling a bit under the hot water, as she knew she had a lot of time to kill. After getting out, she covered her face in moisturizer, hoping the dark circles that lined her eyes from waking up so early would disappear before she got to New York.

After getting ready and eating breakfast, Ivy had only killed an hour. She wandered around her apartment, checking to make sure that everything she needed was packed. Of course, it was, because she didn't forget things. As she walked past her bookshelf, her eyes landed on the untouched pile of Owen's Detective Dragoneus series. She sighed, grabbed all six of them, and tucked them into her carry-on bag. They didn't take up much space, as they were graphic novels, and maybe it wouldn't hurt to see what her little brother was working on.