Brick By Brick (Sequel)

Taking a Chance

"I'll have a mocha with an extra shot of espresso."

"And a dark roast," Foster slid in front of me with credit card in hand.

"I can pay for my own coffee, thank you," I sassed, only slightly angered.

"Please, allow me."

"Men pay on a date, nothing else."

"Covering the expenses doesn't make it a date, it makes me a gentleman." He swiped his card and I was too focused on staring him down to stop him from doing so. "Besides, this is me recompensing you for the injuries and inconveniences that I caused you on my first day at the precinct, remember?"

"No one else is here. You don't have to talk like that to impress me."

"Like what?" he asked, either oblivious or very good at faking it.

"Nevermind," I huffed. "And as long as you're 'paying me back', you should get me a pastry, too," I smirked and sauntered to a table.

I pulled out my notepad and our current case files and laid them out on the small cafe table. Kate and Ryan sent us to analyze two potentially connected cases and revisit the crime scenes. Per Foster's insistent requests, we stopped at a coffee shop to create a game plan, and so he could "begin to repay me for his cantankerous actions" or something along those lines...

He walked over to the table with two cups of coffee and an apple pastry that he set in front of me. I chuckled lightly.

"What?"

"How did you know apple was my favorite?"

He shrugged. "You just don't strike me as a cherry."

I narrowed my eyes at him in question but decided to let it go.

"So, we have a new case to analyze?" he prompted as he sat.

"Two actually. A pair of homicides at two homes just a mile away from each other. Similar victimology, similar M.O." I pulled crime scene photos out of the case files and set them in front of him.

"What's different about the M.O.s?" he asked as he took a closer look at the pictures.

"Both victims suffered asphyxiation, but one was strangled with a bed sheet and another was suffocated, possibly with a pillow."

"Are we looking at a potential serial killer?"

"Not if we don't find a third body. So let's hope we don't."

"Our first step then would be...to examine the crime scenes."

"Correct. We gather evidence, find any possible witnesses, and collect all possible data on the crime. Once we've collected all of our evidence, we can go back to the precinct and move on from there." I took a sip of my coffee and skimmed one of the case files again as I continued. "The reason they put just you and me on these cases is because they are very low priority. If at any point they become high profile cases, then we take it directly to Detective Beckett."

"Is she your mother?"

"What?" I spat involuntarily at the surprise topic change and had to help my pastry back into my mouth.

"I may not be the 'best crime scene analyst on the force' but I'm quite observant. She does seem a bit young to be your mother, but she cares about you greatly."

"Yeah, she's amazing." I swallowed with a smile.

"Why, may I ask, are your surnames different?"

"Oh, um," I wasn't used to answering questions about my personal life. It felt awkward, but the answers came out of my mouth before I could stop them. "I was...uh...adopted. They wanted me to have dad's last name. Kate decided to keep her maiden name when she and dad got married. She knew I wanted to work with her at the precinct and Dad sometimes comes to visit as a consultant, so she thought it might get confusing with three Castles in one place."