Finding Kate

Chapter Twenty Eight: Creeping Up On You

If I had to live without you
Nobody could
I need to be around you
Watching you

No one else can love you like I do
Feel it when I'm creepin' up on you

Darren Hayes – Creeping Up On You

The night stars were twinkling through the curtains as they bellowed in the breeze. He soft whisper of the wind crept across Tim's skin as his fingers brushed the dark curls of his son's hair.

My son.

The words didn't seem alien anymore, they felt right and real. On the opposite side of Daniel Kate murmured something incoherent in her sleep and urned on her side so she was facing him, her arm tucked under the pillow as she spooned Daniel's back. The gesture was comforting an protective, and it wasn't until now he realized how much Kate cared for his son. He knew it went beyond an obligation.

The house creaked around them, Tim strained his ears listening for a noise, a sound that seemed out of place, but nothing did. He knew he was paranoid. On his bad days he jumped at shadows and read the faces of every single person on the street trying to figure out what they were up to, if they could be part of some plan Jessica had created in a bid to snatch their son.

Their son...

The one he hadn't known about until six months ago, when Hurricane Anthony had hit and his world had been turned upside down. Kate had stood by him, she'd taken the blows as he had, she'd complied the research and resources for their custody battle with Jessica.

He'd been a wreck on the day. Suffering from nerves, sickness had clawed at his stomach and he'd broken out in a cold sweat as Kate had taken his shaking hands in her own and told him to trust her.

That hadn't eased the blind fear that assaulted his senses but had helped control it more. Kate's alternatives were better than the scenarios he'd weighed in his head. Horatio had been there when the verdict was read out, Tim couldn't have thanked the other ma more for sharing the sheer moment of elation with them when they discovered that they had gotten custody of Daniel. He had taken the two of hem out for dinner and left a bottle of pre-paid champagne for the to celebrate after excusing himself.

Then the phone calls had started. Jessica wanting to talk to Daniel. After the first phone call Daniel had become hysterical with anxiety and it had taken them almost half a hour to calm him down to discover what the problem was. Jessica had promised she'd get Daniel back and then the two of them would disappear so that Tim and that fake-mom-bitch (her nickname for Kate.) would never find them.

Tim had freaked. He didn't handle threats well, and was already running through his emergency plan by the time Kate had stepped in to calm him down. Jessica wasn't going to take Daniel simple as that, because Kate had already thought ahead to this situation and prepared them.

The school was already on high alert, Daniel was only to leave with one of the several approved people on their list. Although the two of them had managed to manipulate their shifts so Kate was dropping Daniel off and Tim was picking him up. He would be in Autumn's care when Tim returned to work to finish off his shift and then they'd take him home. That was their routine.

There wasn't a chance in hell Jessica could do a snatch and grab, yet he was still paranoid, he was still watchful. Kate admitted openly while they were at the movies that she was the same.

They were both watchful in crowded places, and he knew that everyone else associated with Daniel had became like that too. Tim wondered if that would ever end, whether he'd be watching out for Jessica Daniel's whole life. He knew what drove Jessica but he didn't pretend to understand it. She was selfish, using Daniel as her own emotional stability, he doubted rehab had fixed her.

He remembered back in his own wild days, she'd been undoubtedly high the majority of the time. He was sure she'd hustled a lot of guys out f a lot of money back then, but he was not one of them.

As he looked down at his son he became glad he hadn't given her the money for an abortion, real or not because something precious had come out of their one night and Tim Speedle was damn well determined to keep it safe.

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The sun was shining down on Kate as she took each step up to the doors of the Crime Lab confidently. Her chocolate colored hair was loose and carefree as she smiled, clutching a file to her chest. She was dressed in the waist high black pencil skirt and a crisp white shirt that hugged her curvaceous frame.

God he remembered what she looked like under those clothes and it made him hard again just thinking about the curve of her breasts and the feel of her smooth flat stomach as his hand had crept towards her panties. It had been such a long time since then and every night he lay in bed and used his own hand imagining it was hers.

The restraining order had screwed him over big time. He could no longer come and go as he pleased, their little occurrences couldn't happen now and that annoyed him. He knew he'd been pushy but he was so god damn desperate for her to make up her mind and chose him. She strung him along constantly. She knew he was watching, he was always watching.

It was part of the game, he understood. This was all foreplay, and eventually it would lead up to the big night and then he'd be more satisfied than he'd ever be.

"Soon." he muttered watching as Speedle and his brat greeted her.

It made him sick to see the other man touching his Kate. It took all of his self control not to get out of the car and pound on Speedle until his head cracked open on the concrete steps below them.

He consoled himself, knowing that Kate and him would be together again very soon. It was as if fate had planned it and if not...

A wicked smile crept over his face as his thumb rubbed across the rim of the metal handcuffs he held in his hand.

He was going to make sure he had at least one delicious evening with her.