"I asked him to come to the house," Derek told her starting towards the
door. "Let me know if you two need help."
NM:
"I'll call if we need help." Julia assured him before he left, then looked
around the room and spotted Rachel's hair brush and a basket of hair pieces
and rubberbands.
Alex came back just then, having seen Derek go down the stairs, and then
re-entered Rachel's room "I got some hand and bath towels."
Julia nodded and they went about cleaning Rachel as best they could, trying
not to stir the woman from her sleep.
Thankfully she barely did little more than mumble and turn over when they
were done.
Alex had opted to brush Rachel's hair and put it in a loose ponytail while
Julia used the time to look around the room, ending at the window.
"Has Nick talked to you yet?" Alex asked, stroking the brush through
Rachel's hair.
Julia looked back from peering closly at the window, answering distractedly
"Not really, but him being who he is it's not surprising.
She looked at Alex and winked "I wouldn't worry about it. Men will be men."
Alex chuckled at that and nodded "True."
Julia looked at the lock on the window and flicked it. It was loose, with
the window pane just behind it unsealed.
She opened the window and started to study each angle.
"You aren't still thinking I'm upset are you?" she asked a moment later,
glancing back before going back to inspecting the area.
"No," Alex answered, finishing with Rachel and laying her down gently "but I
don't want Nick thinking it and I don't think he'll ask you about it."
"It'll work out." Julia assured her, even as she say on the window sill and
saw the trellace nearby.
It would have been the perfect way for someone to come in....
Alex came and stuck her head out the window "Be careful."
Julia had a good grip with her legs and left hand as she reached toward the
trellace "I will."
Alex put her weight against Julia's legs to give her some support.
"I'll be honest though," Julia said, damn glad it hadn't worked out that way
but wanting to distract Alex from worrying over Nick's possible reaction to
things "I thought you secretly had a thing for Derek."
Alex made a small almost chuckle sound in her throat and shook her head
"That's something that would have never happened."
Julia looked at her, eyebrow raised in mild surprise.
"Not that he's not a good catch, don't get me wrong." Alex explained while
Julia went back to whatever it was she was doing "But he wasn't ready for
one. Or rather he might have been ready for one, but not with anyone he
came across."
Julia gave her a curious look, not really understanding but concentrated
more on the item she had seen stuck in the vines than what was being said.
"Well," Alex tried to explain "It was as if he were waiting for someone...
or had someone in the back of his mind when he dated... He ended up
concentrating more on his work than relationships I guess. it's hard to
explain."
That did get her attention but she kept it to herself. She scooted a litte
more to the left to reach further to the side.
"Hey," Nick called up from the ground outside, scowling at his discovery and
calling up to her "There's prints out here.. fresh, I'd place them in the
last 8 to 10 hours."
Julia looked at Alex and then at Rachel, asking quietly "Did you or Nick
leave her at any time last night?"
Alex nodded and answered "We went downstairs to eat dinner. Twenty minutes
tops."
Julia turned back to look at Nick, calling down and asking "Can you take an
impression?"
Nick nodded and headed toward the car, the equipment in his trunk.
Julia had just reached the item she had been reaching for and inspected it.
Black Nylon and by the stictching it was either a leg or sleeve cuff..
"Did you find anything else?" she called back down to Nick when he came back
and started to take the impression inside the bushes.
"Broken limbs here but nothing anywhere else around the house."
Julia frowned thoughtfully and looked at Alex "Derek's going to want to see
what Nick turned up."
Alex nodded and left the room to go tell Derek about Nick taking an
impression outside, in case he wanted to go study it himself "Wait until I
get back before climbing out there."
Julia raised an eyebrow but Alex was already gone.
_________________________________________________________
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