Snippet #1924540

Dashan sighed and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes to fight of the exhaustion that was winning over his body. Not only had he not slept long enough that night he had foregone sleep the past 2 days, only taking short naps between digging through files. Following Agent Kay around that afternoon had taken a lot of effort for him to be patient as he felt as though he had to slow down and explain everything twice. Their voices echoing around the room didn't help; he was used to, as a boy, falling asleep listening to his father conduct business in the next room. Something about English just made him...drowsy. His ears perked up when they talked about the senses. He had his suspicious about that too...yet his wife's death had been something different. His face went stoney when he remembered the scene, walking back into the room and seeing how she had been tortured and eventually staked through the heart. Of course she had come years before these murders, but Dashan knew deep in his gut that this was the same killer. Everything was just too similar for it to be someone new.

The lack of talking brought him back to attention and he saw Kennedy walk up and band over to write on a piece of paper. He stared at her, not really admiring her this time but trying to get his mind off of the image of his wife's body. "It's the name and number of the hotel we're staying at, and I also wrote down my cell phone number w/ the proper country code......I'd appreciate a call if something happens overnight." Jack nodded and folded the piece of paper in half before sticking his behind his ear. He was about to say something; he was tired of being the only one who believed his wife's murder was connected but the agent had turned and left before he could say anything. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his eyes. Perhaps telling her was not the best thing to do...especially not in the station.

The next few hours Dashan spent gathering together files and making copies for the rest of the team to go over in the morning. He had other cases to give to other detectives due to orders from the Chief. Boding wanted Dashan to be focused only on the serial killer and the FBI agents for now and for once Dashan was glad to be relieved of duties. The man wasn't too sure if he had the energy to take on more than that. Walking down the hall with folders in his hand, he spotted Meiling working alone in the labs. He knocked on the door frame and felt bad for making the shy girl jump. "Hey, Meiling. Stop being an overachiever and go home. Better yet, go out and meet somebody. This lab will consume you." The girl blushed and pushed back her bangs from her face, obviously tired. "Yes. I just wanted to have everything ready for you guys by tomorrow." Dashan shrugged and looked down at the folders in his hand. Yup, that's what he was doing as well. "Oh!" Meiling stood up and reached into the drawer of her desk, fetching a small jump drive and tossing it to Dashan. He caught the stick with one hand and smiled. "Oh wow, is this it?!" The girl nodded. "Yes. I managed to sneak it out of the file while everyone was running around distracted by the foreigners." Thank god for small miracles, Dashan thought while sliding the drive into his pocket. "The audio is still very messed up; when our technicians couldn't do much with it the Chief ordered them to stop." Dashan couldn't let this bit of information ruin his mood and he nodded. "I think I know of someone outside of the station that could help me clean it up. Thanks, Meiling...you're the best!" He gave her a wink before hurrying down the hall and quickly placing the files on the table. He needed to make a call but it would have to wait until he was out of the station; he never knew who could be listening.

"Jack, you son of a bitch! What corner of the world did you drop off this time?! It's been four months, man. Four months!!" Jack couldn't help but smile and shake his head at the voice on the other end of his phone. "Max, sorry. I've been busy. I got a favor to ask of you. Can we meet tonight?" Jack heard a faint thudding on the other end of the phone and had to strain to hear Max over the sound of people talking. "Can't man, I'm DJ'ing tonight. Unless you want to meet me at the club?" Jack reached into his pocket and fingered the drive, conflicted feelings making it hard to make up his mind. He had waited so long to get this but he was not in any shape to go into a club. "C'mon man, what will it be? I gotta go change the disks soon." Sighing, Jack shrugged and hailed a Taxi. "Which club?" He heard Max laugh triumphantly. "Atmosphere!"

It wasn't hard for Jack to get access into the club; his wife and him used to frequent Atmosphere quite often on their days off. It was a young place for a young crowd, a culture that he had left be hind the moment he came home to see his wife dead on the floor. Plus he was the semi-famous son of an extremely popular couple; the bouncer would be a fool to not let him in, even when he was looking a little rundown. Pushing through the crowds, he made his way to the DJ stage and saw Max wave him up. He was a little nervous to be in eyesight of the entire club but he had to get the drive to Max. The American had been his best friend in college, even following him to Hong Kong to be a DJ. Through Jack's connections Max had landed several good jobs and was now one of the top DJs in the city. "Hey!" Max yelled, setting his earphones down. "You have got to listen to this girl Adele! She's got the jazz feel to her you seem to like." Jack listened then shrugged with a confused look on his face. "If you say so. Kinda a little too danceish to be jazz." Max laughed and placed a hand on Jack's shoulder leading him to the middle of the stage. "You gotta listen to the non-remixes. Now, hold on a second. The song's winding down." Jack shifted uncomfortably when Max reached for the microphone as the song faded away.

"How we all doing tonight?!" Max shouted, causing the whole stage to vibrate from his voice echoing out of the nearby speakers. The crowed cheered back, raising their hands and drinks. Max laughed and nodded. "All right! Tonight is a night to celebrate, because our very own, Jack Dashan Scott is here in the houuuuuuse!" Jack stiffened his back as a spotlight swerved and shone on the stage. Son of a bitch. More cheers, louder this time, filled the place and it took all of his will to not walk off. "Max, stop." He hissed through gritted teeth. Max ignored him. "Now, we haven't seen my friend Jack here for a very very long time. He's in need of a little pick me up!" Jack took a step forward and glared. "Max, stop." Again Max ignored him. "Which young lady here will take him home tonight?" Jack reached forward in response to the cheers and yanked the microphone cord out of the box, giving Max a seething glare before throwing the cord down to the ground and walking off backstage. A short silence could be heard as the crowd mummered and Max fixed the mike. "Ooookay," Max started with a laugh. "Someone's just going to be hard to get tonight. Let's get this party back on track with some more Adele!"

Jack cursed to himself, making his way past all the equipment to use the back exit. He stopped, however, when he remembered that he had forgotten to give the disk to Max. Son of a bitch! He was about to just give up when he remembered Max's girlfriend, Lilly. Recalling her usual bar tending hub, he turned and started his way up to it. He smiled in relief when he saw her skating around, lifting her leg up once to show off her skate. He ignored the people at the bar, not wanting to make eye contact as he leaned over and shouted above the music. "I thought they would have taken your skates away years ago!" Lilly turned and saw Jack, letting out a squeal and sliding up to hug him. "Jack! I'm so glad to see you!" Jack smiled and blinked in shock. Her English was getting a lot better. "Hey," she backed away and faced him with a sad smile. "Whatever Max said, you know his heart was in the right place. You know Jess wouldn't want you to mope about like you have been doing." Her phrase 'mope around' must have come from something Max had said for her to know what it meant and his frowned, looking down at the ground while playing with his wedding ring on his right hand finger. Seeing his mood shift, Lilly let out a giggle and playfully punched his arm. "Lemme get you a drink! What will you be having?" Jack shrugged before seeing what Lilly had been making behind the counter. "Is that a Long Island Iced Tea?" He hadn't seen one of those since coming back from the states. Lilly giggled again. "Yep! Lemme make one for you, sweety!"