The Chameleon

Chapter 24

Maddox took the cup of hot coffee from Megan and smiled. Taking a sip she tasted an explosion of flavor. It definitely beat the precinct's coffee. The clothes Allison grabbed fit a little loose, but they were better than the soaking wet ones. Allison was asking questions about the case and Megan occasionally chimed in. Maddox hadn't asked how Megan had managed to find out she worked for the NYPD, but she had a feeling Reaves was involved in it.

Maddox answered what little questions she could. It only reminded her of the fact they no longer had the case though. She took another sip of coffee and listened to Allison and Megan's conversation about the case. Reaves must've told them quite a lot cause they knew just about everything.

Reaves sat in his chair he seemed almost removed. His eyes occasionally roamed the room and would jump back and forth between Megan and Allison. Maddox hadn't said much after she changed. Neither had he. Allison and Megan seemed to be handling the conversing just fine.

A knock at the door made both Reaves and Maddox jump. Allison waved Reaves to sit and she got up to answer the door. Maddox sat quietly waiting to see who it was.

"Is this Nathan Reaves apartment?" Liam asked.

"Liam?" Maddox said looking around the couch.

"Detective? What are you doing here in Reaves apartment?" He asked pushing his way past Allison.

He came in and stood in the middle of the living room soaking wet.

"I think the more important thing is, why are you here?" She asked.

He turned to see Reaves and then he pulled out a file.

"Remember those white paint specks you found, well I ran 'em through the Mass spectrometer and then some. The paint was a specialty paint, an allergen free paint. It's only been used on schools and some other public buildings. So I looked into it and come to find out three buildings are being painted currently." Liam explained in his typical speed version.

"Which would explain why Charter has only been killing in the early morning. Most painters work nights because the businesses don't want them in the way." Reaves chimed in.

"Exactly, so I went ahead and got the phone numbers for all the businesses that are having the paint being used. And upon calling them I got the names of the painting companies they hired. There were only two companies, one of which was doing two of the buildings. And that's as far as I took it." Liam finished.

Maddox sighed as she remembered it wasn't there case anymore.

"Well, guess the FBI will take care of that." Reaves said. You could practically hear the disappointment in his voice.

Not that Maddox could say otherwise for herself. She hated being thrown off the case more than Reaves. It wasn't like the FBI was taking the case to solve it. Maddox looked at the file in Liam's hand and then she looked at Reaves. Both of them centered their eyes on the file, and then, without a word, both of them stood up and reached for the file.

"Reaves, I can't ask you to do this." Maddox said. "We're going up against someone who is not afraid to kill whoever gets in the way."

"Good thing your not asking. I'm as much involved in this as you are." Reaves argued.

Maddox looked at Allison and Megan and they both nodded at her. Reaves held out his hand and smirked.

"What do ya say? Partners?" He asked.

Maddox looked at the hand for a moment and then shook it. "Partners."

"So what about the FBI?" Liam asked.

Maddox looked at him and stopped shaking Reaves hand. Reaves looked at him too and then spoke.

"You totally ruined the moment, man." Reaves said.

Liam looked at them confused and then Maddox laughed. They walked to the door and Maddox grabbed her coat. It was still wet. Reaves handed her a coat out of his closet and she put it on.

"Is this your coat?" She asked noticing the size difference.

"From when I was like fifteen." He said defensively.

"And you still have it why?"

"I have dreams too." Reaves said patting his stomach.

Maddox held in the smirk and followed him out the door. As the door closed she heard Allison offer Liam some coffee.

They walked to the elevator and Maddox straightened the coat. It didn't fit too loose. It was actually surprisingly comfortable. It was a brown leather coat that went down to her knees. Reaves had on his nerdy suit coat and seemed rather happy with it.

As the doors opened, they headed for her car. The rain was still coming down pretty hard. Maddox unlocked her car and made the run for it. She got inside the car and slammed the door. Reaves got in on the passenger side and she started the car.

"What's the first company?" Maddox asked handing Reaves the file.

"Painter's elite. They've done the two buildings. There business hours are six A.M. to six P.M. Aren't they closed now?" Reaves replied.

"Yeah, but I have a badge and gun and would you argue?"

Reaves paused and then agreed. She pulled out of the parking lot and Reaves read her the address.