All This Time (Lie To Me)

Game Plan

She watched him carefully as he tried not to groan every time he moved. Yet it was hard from him to stay still and not almost tip over. When she couldn't take it any longer, she disappeared around the corner and came back with a bottle of water in hand. A look of pure exhaustion disappeared as quickly as it had come as he downed the pill, then shakily capped the lid back on.

Handing her the bottle back, he stifled another groan as he laid his head back on the couch; closing his eyes, she took that as a sign to leave the room. "Aren't we going to talk?" He muttered tiredly.

She spun slightly on her heels as she turned back around. "We shouldn't talk here."

He glanced up at her, blinking the tiredness away. "You think if we talk here, Torres and Loker are going to find out what's happening."

"Just because we haven't told them, doesn't mean they're not already digging for information." Her hand hovered lightly over the door handle.

"Where are we going?"

Perking up at the at the use of "we", she stepped forward. "I left Alec in my office. I'm going to finish up and then I'm taking you home." She left no room for argument as his eyes fluttered closed again. When she walked out into the hall, Ria Torres was leaning against the wall.

"Having a secret meeting in there?" Torres inquired suspiciously, folding her arms across her chest. Gillian gave her the best follow me look and they walked together down the hall.

"I need you to check up on a case for me."

"You mean Alec, who is still waiting in your office?" They rounded the corner. "What exactly did he want?"

Gillian gave a subtle nod, but didn't elaborate much. "His wife and son disappeared last Friday. I want you and Loker to look into any disturbances-both in their home life and work and let me know what you find."

"Sure, I'll get right on that." Ria muttered as Gillian walked off towards her office without a second glance. "One of these days I'm going to figure out why I'm still doing this." She said more to herself as she watched Gillian disappear around the corner before heading off to the lab.

As she entered her office, Alec turned around to face her. She shot him an apologetic glance as she motioned for him to sit. "I would have thought Lightman would have stormed in here by now. He never did like me."

"Cal is working in his office." She exhaled deeply, as if she were reconsidering telling him the next part. "And the night you went to meet you sponsor, he followed you and thought you were cheating on me."

"With my sponsor? So that's what did me in." He offered a sad smile. "I'm not sure what would have hurt you more-if I had cheated or the fact that I was addicted to drugs." It was clear by the look on her face that either would have hurt. "The fact is, I ruined our marriage. Now I have a second chance with Marleyn and our son, and I can't lose them like I lost you."

"I'm having Ria look into it." Standing up. She rounded the desk and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen. "In the meantime, I need you to write down anyone that you or your wife knew, that you might have had a falling out with, or someone that held a grudge."

"Unfortunately I know a lot of people who hold grudges." Taking the pen and paper, it was several minutes before he handed her back the paper with several names scribbled down. "That's everyone I can think of right now. I wish I could think of more, but I'm hoping that someone on this list will give us something we need to find my wife and son."

"I'll see what I can find out." She offered softly as her brow furrowed with concern.

As he stood, he picked up the framed picture of Sophie. His fingers touched the glass as he reminisced on their past. "She should have been yours."

Gillian swallowed hard and corrected him. "She should have been ours."

"No. Then she would have been caught in the middle of our divorce." He spoke absently as he put the frame back the way it had been facing on her desk. "She would have to go back and forth from your house to mine. You know that's no way for a child to live." Instead of continuing on, he looked at his watch and stood. "I should get going. I'm supposed to meet a friend for an early dinner. I would cancel, but this friend is also taking over my caseload so I can take some time off."

"If we find anything, I'll let you know." An unspoken appreciation was felt as they walked down to the end of the hall; on that final note, they said their silent goodbyes and he went on his way. As she watched him disappear she took a few minutes to gather her thoughts before heading back into her office. A few minutes later, she came back out with her phone, computer, and a few other things she would need at home-or more specifically what she would need at Cal's home.

"I take it you didn't talk with dad?" Emily mentioned as Gillian entered the break room. She stood and stuffed a few items back into her bag, while eying everything she was carrying. "And you're taking us home, since dad is probably in no condition to drive."

Gillian nodded as they began making their way back towards Cal's office. "We'll pick Sophie up on the way."

"Oh, I called the bookstore to let them know Dad wouldn't be coming to sign books. I might have taken his phone on my way out of his office to get the number."

"I'm sure he'll understand." Gillian touched her shoulder lightly and kept walking down the hall; keeping an eye out for anyone who might overhear them. "Now we need to figure out a way to get your father out of the building."

"What we need is a game plan." Emily chimed in. Reaching the office, her mouth slacked slightly at the sight down the hall. Gillian followed her line of sight and down the hall. They had both noticed him in the distance, walking slowly and painfully. Maybe not to the eye, but only to those who knew what was going on.

"You headed to the book signing?" Ria inquired, suddenly appeared beside them.

"Actually, Dad isn't feeling well."

"Lightman not feeling well?" Ria inquired, almost scoffing at the thought of her boss being under the weather. "Never thought I would see the day." She muttered the last part more to herself.

"I'm going to take them home." Gillian directed towards Ria. "Depending on what happens, I probably won't be in until tomorrow, so I'll need you and Eli to make sure that you lock up when you leave tonight."

"Uh yeah...sure. Is Lightman on something?"

"Do you need something Torres?" Cal drawled out as they approached him.

"Actually, I do."

"We don't have all day. Spit it out."

"Okay." She turned to the face Gillian. "Loker and I can't find anything that stands out, except for when we were looking through her phone records. I counted at least fifteen incoming calls to her phone from one number."

"Did you find out who the number was registered to?" Gillian inquired, slightly distracted as she watched Cal look more and more drained of color. Emily managed to get him to start walking towards the front doors.

"Yeah. The phone number is registered to a guy named Peter Dennings. Loker is looking into it, but so far we've got nothing else on him."

"Let me know when you do?" Gillian asked quickly with a hesitant gaze towards the doors of the building. With a sigh, Ria nodded and watched them leave.