Can't Wait

Confusion

TRIGGER WARNING: MENTION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

Ms Wharbetter and Officer Johann came back into the room where Jack was sitting. Ms Wharbetter took the paper that he offered her, it was complete with times on. She looked it over and showed Officer Johann who nodded. "Okay, let's go rejoin Doctor Alexander in the meeting room." She said, turning on her heel and leading the way down the corridor.

Adam looked up and watched Jack intently as they all went back into the meeting room. He stood up and put the kettle on, thinking it must be a serious case and he would likely get a debrief over a coffee once the officers had left.

The officers walked back into the room and Nikki looked up at Jack, who followed in after but didn't make eye contact. He sat down at the end of the table nearest the door and waited for the officers to speak.

Ms Wharbetter started speaking first, "Okay. Clearly there are some crossed wires here, some confusion that we need to address. Firstly, Nikki, when you said that Mr Garcia called you yesterday, you meant only that. Not that you spoke with him. Officer Johann has checked your phone and it's clear that all his calls to you were left unanswered yesterday. There appear to be 8 in total, the latest at around 9pm, yes?" She looked at Officer Johann who nodded.

Nikki looked at Jack who looked up to meet her gaze. He looked sheepish and he twisted his mouth in an apologetic small smile.

"Secondly," Ms Wharbetter continued, "we've gone through your messages, Nikki, and can see that Mr Garcia had reached out earlier on the Saturday, and your response was consistent with what you advised us you'd said to Mr Garcia when he had come to your residence later that day. We are not in the business of ruining relationships unnecessarily." She looked at Jack, "We were here to try and establish a timeline of events. Both of your statements align with each other and means we can trace the events of Saturday afternoon and evening a little more accurately. We must all remember that there is a victim here, and our priority is getting justice for them. Thank you for your time."

Both officers stood up to leave. "You may not hear from us again, but should we need to reach out again we know where to find you. We are in a bit of an unfortunate bind with this case, in that if Mr Garcia is guilty, he has diplomatic immunity. So we are limited to what investigations we can do, although the US may waive it, it is unlikely. He's provided DNA though so we suspect he must have either a confidence in his innocence, or in his immunity. Here are our details should you need to discuss anything with us in the meantime." She passed the cards to Nikki.

"Thank you." Nikki muttered and gave a half smile to them both and shook their hands in turn. "Who is doing the forensics in the case?"

"The Treehill laboratory. They're running through the samples as we speak, we expect DNA back this afternoon or tomorrow morning. Obviously we couldn't use The Lyell..." Ms Wharbetter explained.

"Of course. I understand, I was just wondering. They're a good lab, hopefully they help with getting a resolution." Nikki said flatly.

"Thank you" said Jack, standing up, "I'll show you out. This way." He led the officers out towards reception.

Nikki slumped back in her chair and chewed on the end of her thumb. She watched as Jack walked back down the corridor towards her, and into the meeting room, closing the door behind him.

"Nikki, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have acted like that.." he started.

"Again!" Nikki interrupted as Jack fell silent. "Again, you jump to conclusions before I have even had a chance to elaborate or explain!" She hissed at him.

"I know, I'm sorry!" Jack said loudly, frustrated with himself. He took a deep breath and sat down, exhaling slowly. "Listen, I really am sorry Nikki. It just.. it sounded like you'd been talking with him, after what happened."

"That's just it, nothing happened on the Saturday! Nothing happened on the Sunday! He called me, I didn't answer! God forbid the police weren't here to tell you that! Would you have believed me if they weren't?" She challenged back at him, frowning.

"Of course I would! I just would have thought you'd mention it, that's all. Why didn't you?" He asked.

"To what end? He called me, I didn't answer. What is there to say? I don't want to rake up the worst bit of the weekend and restart an argument that we had already dealt with. I assumed he was ringing to try to get back together again..." Nikki's voice trailed off.

"Now you think he might have been calling about this? The rape?" Jack mused.

"The alleged rape." Nikki corrected.

"You're joking? You're defending him? You think this woman is lying? Jesus Nikki, with all your experience, I'm shocked!" Jack exclaimed.

"Don't look at me like that and don't put words in my mouth. All I'm saying Jack, is that they've only just started their investigation. The Treehill lab haven't even run DNA yet, we don't know the circumstances of the case at all. He's even given them his DNA when he didn't have to. I've known Matt for a long time, I'm finding it hard to believe he could rape someone..." Nikki clutched her mouth and held back tears. Could he really have done something like this? She wondered to herself. He was a controlling type of character, but he had never shown any signs of this type of thing.

"Nikki, come on! No one ever thinks it's someone they know! This is why so many women don't come forward, the disbelief is palpable from the start!" Jack stood up and began to pace.

"Don't start with me, Jack. I know the statistics around rape cases. I've dealt with enough of them! All I'm saying is we need to leave it to the evidence of the case. I only know him, and all I'm saying is I'm finding it hard to process." Nikki ran her hands through her hair.

"Because you still have feelings for him?" Jack asked, worried.

Nikki shot him a dirty look, but before she could respond Adam opened the door to the meeting room with his elbow, holding two cups of coffee for them both.

"Hi folks! Hope you had a good weekend! I assume we have a case? Seemed all very serious before!" He smiled at them, but his face dropped as he saw the expressions on their faces. Nikki had a deep scowl on her face, and Jack had his fists by his side and was clenching his jaw. "What have a I missed?" He looked from one to the other.

"Listen mate, Nikki and I need to talk. Could you give us five minutes please?" Jack asked.

"Err, sure. I'll set these down for you here." Adam placed the cups on the table and walked out the room.

Jack clicked the door shut once he had gone. "Nikki?" He asked.

"What? What do you want me to say that I've not already said? I don't have feelings for Matt. Not any more. But that doesn't mean he has changed overnight, quite literally. I'm not jumping to conclusions and you shouldn't either. Let the police do what they need to do, and let us move on." Nikki got up and grabbed one of the cups of coffee. She closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. She knew she needed to calm down and try to approach this conversation rationally.

Jack picked up the other coffee and took a small sip. "Nikki. I'll do my best to trust the evidence. But please, can you keep me updated on what happens, if you find anything out. And please tell me if Matt reaches out again. I don't want to hear anything, from anyone, but you. Okay?" Jack looked into her eyes, pleading.

"Deal. Just stop being an arse will you?" Nikki smirked and took a sip of coffee.

Jack rolled his eyes and thought about how he could break the tension. "So, we've talked about the worst bit of the weekend. What was your favourite bit?" He grinned, his eyes sparkling with humour.

Nikki rolled her eyes and considered her answer, deciding to wind him up, "The take-away was really nice..." she huffed and walked past him, opened the door and left Jack stood in the meeting room smiling to himself. Also a little relieved that this latest storm seemed to have passed.