Finding Kate

Chapter Fifteen: Body Count

Skin against skin blood and bone
You're all by yourself but you're not alone
You wanted in now you're here
Driven by hate consumed by fear

Let the bodies hit the floor
Let the bodies hit the floor

Drowning Pool – Bodies

The two of us were sitting in the break room, at the table across from each other. Tim's spoon was clenched tightly in his hand as he jabbed at the yogurt pot furiously. His gaze never broke from mine. My hands were wrapped around my coffee cup, the heat soothing against the cold look in his eyes.

"You can't tell me what to do Kate." Tim snapped, his dark eyebrows furrowing in anger.

"Then you should stop being so god damned selfish." I snapped.

Tim narrowed his eyes, the yogurt pot crunched under the clenching of his fist.

"Go take the PCR DNA test now." I demanded.

"No, it's a waste of time and money. They can give out false results..." I cut him off.

"Which is why Alexx is going to do it. You're supposed to do it under a doctor's supervision. She is a doctor." I stated.

Tim fell silent, his attention wavering to scooping out the final dregs of his organic vanilla yogurt.

"You're scared." I pointed out.

Tim snorted.

"You're scared that it's going to say yes because you have no idea what the hell you're going to do." I continued.

"Fuck you Kate. Go to hell with your know it all attitude and all your fucking pushing."

Tim was on his feet and slamming the door to the break room shut behind him. The glass panel in the door shook as I stared after him and sighed, before turning my attention to the rumpled yogurt pot unfurling in the centre of the table and the bent metal spoon.

Maybe I had pushed him a little too far. Tim didn't react well to fear and me pressing all of his buttons at once, well, that was bound to end badly.

The fact was I was pissed at him and angrier than I'd ever been at him. Horatio had had the PCR DNA test for over a week now and Tim had still failed to take it. Horatio had said let him do it in his own time, it took a lot of emotional preparation to work up the nerve to find out something so life altering, but his procrastination was driving me insane.

The sooner we knew the results the sooner we could find a way to deal with it. Only Tim apparently didn't see it that way. He saw it as the sooner he knew the sooner his life was over and he couldn't hide the fact he'd been checking out real estate in Nevada. Despite what he said if the results came back positive he was going to leave. I knew the signs, I'd done it myself and I also knew that I couldn't face that possibility.

I was rapping my fingertips on the circumference of the mug trying to work out the next step when the call out came through.

"We have a 39, escape in progress. Suspects are A&D, requesting back up!"

I was on my feet in an instant; my cell phone was already ringing. I answered it listening to Dispatch's directions before returning to the locker room to grab my gun.

A prison escape in progress.

My day had just got a whole lot worse.

The cell was a regular six by six, maximum security cell, stainless steel bars were part of a sliding door mechanism. Three concrete walls with no window, three bunks that barely fit into the confined space, along with a porcelain toilet.