Every Second Counts

I slowly opened my eyes, squinting, as I tried to figure out where exactly I was. As soon as I felt arms wrapped around my waist, I remembered falling asleep at Kris’s place the previous night. He must have carried me back to his bedroom because I was currently lying in his bed, and I knew I had fallen asleep out on his couch.

I turned over in Kris’s arms to see him looking down at me, and I smiled at him. “How long have you been awake?” I asked him as I put my head on his bare chest, the cold metal from his necklace rubbing against my cheek.

“Just a few minutes,” he replied. “I was going to wake you up in about ten minutes,” he told me. “I thought I’d let you sleep in a few more minutes.” I moved my arm to look at the watch on my wrist to see that I had about an hour and fifteen minutes before I had to be at work. “So, my mom’s getting into town tonight,” Kris said offhandedly, and I moved my head off of his chest to look up at him.

“Oh,” I said, not really knowing what else to say.

“Mara, I know you and her didn’t exactly get off on the right foot,” Kris began.

“Didn’t exactly get off on the right foot?” I questioned. “That’s the understatement of the year! Kris, she thinks I’m a whore who’s not good enough for you.”

“I’m not asking you to be best friends with her. But, can you at least make it to one dinner while she’s here? She’s only going to be here until Sunday. Please?” he begged, and we both knew I wasn’t going to be able to say no to him.

I returned my head to its previous position on his chest. “Do you promise not to leave me, no matter how much your mom hates me or whatever she says about me?” I asked him. For the first time in our relationship, I actually felt insecure, and I really was worried that he was going to leave me.

“Mara,” Kris began, and I knew he wanted me to look up at him, but I kept my head on his chest. “Mara, I love you, and nothing’s going to change that. I promise you that I’m not going to leave you,” he assured me, and I kissed his chest.

“I love you, too,” I told him. “But, now I’ve got to go to work,” I said, slowly rolling away from him and out of bed. “But, I’ll try to get off of work in time to go to dinner with you and your mom tonight,” I told him. “I’ll call you if I’m going to be late or if I’m not going to be able to make it or something,” I told him, grabbing one of his sweatshirts from his closet and throwing it over my head.

“Sounds good,” he told me, climbing out of bed himself. “Be careful,” he said, giving me a kiss before I opened the door to his apartment.

“I will,” I smiled at him. “See you tonight.”

***

“So, dinner with the mother again?” Reed asked me with a smirk as he, Fiona, and I sat in the crime lab. I had about an hour before I was supposed to get out of here and go have dinner with Kris and his mom, and I was overly nervous about it. “Let me give you some advice,” he said, and I took my eyes away from the microscope to look over at him. “Don’t answer the door wearing one of his shirts.”

“Fuck you, Reed,” I said, throwing a pen at him.

“Leave her alone,” Fiona defended me. “Mar, I’m sure she’s going to fall in love with you this time. Besides, how can she not when her son’s so much in love with you?”

“Thanks, Fi,” I told her, going back to the microscope. I looked at the evidence but continued talking about tonight. “You know, I don’t know why I’m getting so worked up about this anyways. Kris loves me, I love him. What else is there?”

“That’s exactly how you should think about it!” Fiona exclaimed as Davis came rushing into the lab. “Davis, what’s going on?” she asked, knowing that whatever it was was not going to be good news.

“We just got a call,” Davis began.

“Okay, and?” I asked, looking up from the microscope to see Davis staring at me. “Davis, what’s going on?” I questioned.

“I just got off the phone with Montenegro,” he said, and I immediately stood up, ready to go with him to finally catch Montenegro. We hadn’t so much as had a tiny lead on his whereabouts, and now we had gotten a call from him. “He wants to meet with you, Mara.”

“Okay,” I nodded my head. “Where?”

“Mara, you’re not going,” Davis stated, and I stared at him wide-eyed.

“What do you mean I’m not going?” I questioned loudly. “This is the guy that tried to kill me. And, this could be the way that we actually catch the bastard. And, you’re telling me I’m not going?” I said, getting louder and louder with each word.

“That’s just it, Mara. He tried to kill you. I’m not going to let that happen again,” Davis said.

“Okay, so send backup with me,” I said, walking towards the door. “You can’t just expect me to sit this one out.”

“That’s exactly what I expect you to do,” Davis said.

“This is ridiculous!” I cried.

“Mara, you are staying here. Reed and Fiona are going with me to the warehouse.”

“That’s not fair!” I interjected, sounding like a little kid, not that I cared at the moment. I was furious that Davis wasn’t letting me go, especially when Montenegro had specifically asked for me to go. I wouldn’t love anything as much as being the one to catch him and bring him in.

“I don’t care,” Davis said, and I knew it was pointless to argue with him. He was still the boss, and I had to do as I was told. If he ordered me to stay in the crime lab, I had to stay in the crime lab. “Logan and Parker will be here in an hour, and then you can go home. Mara, I do not want to see you anywhere near that warehouse, and if I do, I won’t hesitate to suspend you,” he threatened, and I crossed my arms over my chest, frustrated at the moment. “Reed, Fi, come on,” Davis said, and I watched the three of them leave.

***

I walked into Kris’s apartment, still angry that Davis wouldn’t let me go to that warehouse. When Parker and Logan arrived at the crime lab, they had already been filled in about everything, and they tried to explain to me once again why I couldn’t go, not that I paid too much attention to them.

I had tried to be stubborn about it, refusing to leave the crime lab until David, Reed, and Fiona came back with Montenegro in hand, so that I knew he would be locked up for good. But, after waiting on them for nearly two hours, Parker had reminded me that if I didn’t leave right now I was going to miss my dinner with Kris, and I had reluctantly left.

I knew that Kris would know something was wrong the moment I walked in the door, and I wasn’t wrong. “What happened?” he asked me as I looked around the room, wondering where his mother was. “My mom’s on her way,” he answered my unasked question. “She’ll be here in about ten minutes, but until then, tell me what’s going on,” he said, guiding me towards the couch where we both sat down.

I took a deep breath before launching into my story. By the time I had reached the end of the story, I was breathing heavily, as I hadn’t taken a breath the entire time. I looked over to see Kris staring at me wide-eyed. “And, you’re mad right now?” he questioned.

“Of course I’m mad!” I exclaimed. “I should be there right now. I should be the one catching Montenegro. I should have been able to go!”

“Why?” Kris asked. “So you could get killed? Mara, I’m on Davis’s side right now. He’s looking out for you. For all we know, you could have gone there, and this guy could have set a trap or something to get you killed.”

I looked at him incredulously. “It’s not like I would have gone there alone. I would have had backup. And, I would have caught him.”

“I’m still glad that Davis told you no,” he said.

“Kris, you don’t like me going to crime scenes. Of course you wouldn’t want me to go after the guy that tried to kill me!” I exclaimed.

“Mara, I love you and I don’t want to see anything happen to you. And, if you think that’s stupid or you don’t like it, then okay. But, that’s not going to change. I’m always going to worry about you,” he said, and I knew he was trying to end this mini-argument we were having.

“I know,” I sighed. “And, I love you, too,” I added as we heard a knock at the door. I instantly felt my heartbeat pick up as I knew it was Kris’s mom. He went and opened the door, and she immediately engulfed him in a hug. I stood awkwardly off to the side, waiting on them to finish.

“Mara,” his mother said, acknowledging me.

“Hi,” I smiled at her. Kris noticed the tension between us, and he quickly ushered us to the table where dinner was waiting.

Over the next hour, the three of us made conversation, and I slowly became more comfortable with his mom. We weren’t going to be best friends any time soon, but I felt that she was getting to know the real me instead of thinking I was some kind of whore or something.

My cell phone started ringing, and I quickly excused myself when I saw it was Logan calling me. “Mara McNamara,” I answered, and what I heard on the other line couldn’t have shocked me more. I could faintly hear Kris calling my name in the background, asking me if I was okay, and I felt my knees give out from under me. Luckily, Kris was behind me and caught me as he slowly guided me to the couch.

“Mara,” he kept repeating my name as I said goodbye to Logan and slowly lowered the phone from my ear, continuing to stare out into space. “Mara, what’s wrong? What happened?” Kris asked.

I slowly looked up at him. “Reed…Fiona…warehouse…bomb…my fault…” I sputtered out incoherent words, not being able to form a full sentence.

“What?” Kris asked, not being able to put the words together. I repeated the words again, still in shock from what Logan had told me. “Mara, focus,” he said, putting his hands on either side of my face and turning it so I was looking directly at him. “Talk to me. What happened?”

My breathing became shallow, but I was able to finally form a full sentence. “A bomb went off in the warehouse where Reed, Fi, and Davis went while they were inside. No one knows if any of them are alright,” I finally explained, collapsing into Kris’s arms, unable to hold myself up any longer.