McCall's version (part 8)

Juliann (& everyone else) - Yes, I am out of school, but was out of town last week. Hopefully the next few sections will be posted a little more regularly. Enjoy!



“Do I like the pink stuff or the blue stuff?”

“Huh?” Her partner’s query drew her attention back to the grimy table they were
sitting at. Bewildered for a moment, she looked to see him holding a packet of pink
artificial sweetener between the thumb and finger of one hand and blue in the other.

“Which one do I like, McCall?” he demanded.

“The pink,” she replied and then questioned, “Don’t you know?”

He tore open the packet and dumped the contents into his iced tea. “I can never
remember,” he muttered.

“So what do you do when I’m not around to remind you?” she asked, very much
amused by this lack of self-knowledge.

“I use sugar.” With a smug grin he tasted the tea and determined that he did
indeed like the pink stuff.

“Is there anything else you’d like to know?”

“Yeah, do you want to just pick me up tomorrow morning? Be a lot easier than
meeting at the station first.”




She knocked perfunctorily, and then let herself in, just as he did when he picked
her up for work. Commenting on the windy conditions, she was startled to see a blonde
woman sharing a cozy breakfast with Hunter.

“Sergeant McCall, this is Terri Barnes,” Hunter introduced as he stood up to get
his jacket.

“Hi, nice to meet you. Look, I know I’m a little earlier and I can come back...”
Hunter cut her off before she could finish, insisting it was time for them to head to work
and practically rushing her out the door. But she didn’t miss the kiss he gave her as he
left, or the fact that she was wearing one of his shirts.



“So is it getting serious between you two?” McCall asked him several days later.

“Well, I do like her, a lot,” he emphasized, which was as close to a profession of
love as Hunter tended to get. “Perhaps it will work out this time.”

“Have fun,” she called after him as he left for his dinner date, pleased for once to
see her partner having other things on his mind besides work.



Hunter’s rapid departure from the murder scene alarmed McCall. She quickly
connected the dots and realized he was hunting for the man who he assumed was
Terri’s murderer. Her need to find him and let him know otherwise was urgent. Now
she only had to convince the captain of this.

“McCall, you know Hunter as well as I do,” Devane scolded. “He’s not the type to
go and blow somebody away, not even a guy like Wally Grimes.”

“In any other given situation I’d agree with you one hundred percent,” she
argued, “but Hunter wanted to marry this girl. If he thinks Grimes was the one who
pulled the trigger...” She couldn’t imagine Hunter’s state of mind after watching Terri
be shot to death right next to him. She had experienced first-hand the rare, but
profound, desire Hunter had for revenge.




The wind hadn’t relented since she had last been at his beach house. After
knocking for more than five minutes, then letting herself in and finding the back door
wide open, she followed the path she knew would lead to him and the beach. She
could spot his sorrow a fair distance away. He stood with his arms folded across his
chest, warding off the wind and any future calamities. He glanced at her as she
approached.

“I’m sorry about Terri.”

“I really miss her,” he admitted heavily. Then, ending his stare at the water, he
turned and walked down the beach. “I don’t know, maybe I miss what I thought we
could have had.” His words brought to mind a quote about the worst future being the
one that would never be. His slow pace allowed her to walk beside him, not rushing to
keep up with his normally long strides.

“You said something to me about owing me an apology,” he reminded her.

“Yeah, but it really doesn’t matter now.” Meaning that it wouldn’t lessen his pain
or make him feel any better.

“I think I know what you meant.” She didn’t doubt this, as it was uncanny how
often they were able to tell what the other was thinking. “You were almost right.” She
walked beside him up and down the beach for a while longer, almost able to feel the
grief radiating from him. When he finally stopped at his back porch, the sun started to
sink in the sky. He sank down on the steps, rested his arms on his knees, and gazed
blankly at the ocean waves.

“You want to get something to eat?” she offered too brightly, and then softened
her tone. “Is there anything you want me to do?” She had been where he was now,
trying to make sense out of the tremendous loss of a loved one. She also knew, as
much as she wanted to spare him the misery, that there was nothing she could do to
speed the process along.

“McCall, go home.”



She wasn’t surprised that he didn’t hear her approach. She hadn’t noticed as they
were walking the beach that the sky was definitely past dusk now. The winds had
subsided into only occasional gusts, but had also brought at least a ten degree drop in
temperature. She was glad she had thought to bring the blanket she noticed lying on
the couch in his house. She had wrapped it around her before returning to her friend.
As she slowly walked up behind him, he turned around only as she started to descend
the steps he was sitting motionless on.

When her feet touched the sand she turned to face him. Taking in his appearance
she realized he looked older than he had a few days ago, as if Terri’s death had taken
some of his own life along with her. She recognized the blank expression on his face, having seen
it too many times when she viewed herself in the mirror. She waited patiently for him
to say something.

“I thought you were going home.” It was simply a statement of fact, void of
surprise, confusion or any other emotion.

“I almost did,” she agreed, “and then I remembered something.” Pausing for
either a rebuttal or encouragement, she continued when he offered neither. “I
remembered all those nights I spent after Steve died, doing God knows what. Probably
staring at the TV,” she contemplated, “watching shows I don’t even remember now.”
Placing her hand over his clasped ones she continued. “I remembered how many times
I wished there was someone sitting right there next to me, just so I knew I wasn’t
alone.”

It was hard to tell in the dark, but she thought she saw a flicker of recognition in his
face, gone almost as soon as it arrived. Giving his hands a squeeze, she climbed the
steps so she could sit next to him. With the blanket draping off her arm she literally
took him under her wing, until he finally reached for a corner of the blanket and pulled
it around himself. Her gaze following his out to the ocean, she sat with him in silence,
her very presence saying all that needed to be said.