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“Anyone seen Rush?” The officer working the front desk called from the other side of the room.
Will Jeffries glanced at him long enough to shake his head. “No, sorry.”
One of the patrol officers who had been up talking to Nick Vera about a case was on his way out; he stopped beside the other officer. “She's probably downstairs snuggled up with the cold ones,” the officer hadn’t even tried to keep his voice down so Will felt quite justified in looking up again and narrowing his eyes.
The patrol officer didn't notice and continued. "Shame really, she's a looker. But imagine comin' in second to a skeleton. I bet she sleeps with those cold case files."
Will stood up and walked over. At over six-foot and sturdily built, his presence was soon noticed, and the patrol officer took a step back. Always amused Will how most people quietened down when they saw his full height and build.
“Can I help you, officer?” He asked.
“Just, give Rush this, will ya?” The front desk staff handed Will the file, quickly covering for the patrol officer. They both scurried off before Will could say anything else.
Will glanced at the file; it was for their current case. He thought about just putting it on Lilly’s desk but decided that, after that encounter he could do with a walk. He made his way to the elevator and pressed the button for the cold case floor. As he went down, he flicked through the file. It was the autopsy report. Or as much of one as they had expected they might get out of a fifty-year-old case. Not much left to examine, really. Lotta folks would say all of this was about forty-nine years too late.
Lilly Rush was not most people.
The officer had been right — although that didn’t excuse the way he had said it, or the fact he was an ass — and Will found Lilly sat on the floor of the cold case room, surrounded by files and reading one of them intently. Will hadn't seen her for a good hour so figured she must have got caught up most of that time in reading down here.
“You’re gonna give yourself backache,” Will commented, “either that or piles.” He held out the file to Lilly, who took it.
“Thanks.” She stretched a little, and from her wince Will was even more sure she had been there the best part of an hour.
"Not much in the autopsy," Will said.
“So far I'm finding there's a whole load of paperwork that doesn't say all that much," Lilly said, gesturing to the files around her. "Pages and pages but not much worth reading."
Will hesitated and then carefully lowered himself to sit beside Lilly.
“Both of us gonna be sitting outside the physiotherapists then?” Lilly asked.
“Figured you could do with the company,” Will said. He pointed at the smallest pile of documents first. “Hand me those, I'll be a second pair of eyes. Besides, you’ve solved older ones with less.”
“I know." Lilly leant her head against her head. “Sometimes wonder if I just got lucky on those ones.”
“Well you got more damn luck than anyone I ever met if that’s the case,” Will said with a snort. “You gonna tell me why you're hiding down here, anyway, when you got a perfectly decent desk you could be reviewing all of this at?"
"It's quiet down here," Lilly said, letting her head fall back against the stacks she was sat again. "I figure you've heard the nicknames, the things people say, right?” Rush almost sounded nonchalant about it but Will knew her too well to be fooled by that.
“Sure," Will said. He wasn't about to lie to Lilly and pretend her hadn't, he had too much respect for her for that. “People talk. Don't make them right. A lot of people talk garbage most the day. This is no different."
“Maybe this time they’re right?” Lilly asked. "About me being too invested in the cold cases, especially."
“Maybe you need some distance sometimes. Hell, we all do some days but you more than most. That don’t mean that there’s anything wrong with you. Just means you care,” Will said. “Sometimes you’re the only one left who does care for these cases so I get it. I get why you’re down here on this cold-ass floor with skeletons for company. But even if that part is true, doesn't justify the other rubbish they say."
Lilly was quiet for a good half a minute before speaking again. “Will?”
“Yeah?”
“You really okay if we stay down here a bit longer? Then we can take the files back upstairs, sit on an actual chair for a bit.” Rush finally looked at him again and Jeffries saw — really saw — how tired she was. The assholes upstairs who flung out those flippant comments and sexist judgments didn't see this part. Even if they did, they probably wouldn't care. This job took it's toll on all of them.
“Sure, we’ll sit for a bit longer,” Will said, leaning his head against the drawers behind them.