AUTHORS: Salustra and Malea

E-MAILS: Salustra: goddess_salustra@juno.com ; Malea: justmalea@tmail.com

TITLE: As Flame to Smoke, 1/7

RATING: FRAO, Adults only,

PAIRING: Liam/William eventually, none this chapter

SUMMARY: In Answer for Ghostsforge's challenge #13 for Forging_Ghost- While investigating a series of brutal murders, Vice Detective Liam meets, and becomes infatuated with a prostitute called Spike...

Distribution: Various lists, Wierd Romance Yahoo Group- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WierdRomance ;

My livejournal - http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=salustra ; and the website Weird Romances- http://www.salustra.vague-disclaimer.org . Anyplace else is fine, just let us know where it's going.

SPOILERS: None. Completely human AU.

WARNINGS: description of tortured dead body.

DISCLAIMER: We adore playing with the pretties, but we're just having fun. No money made, don't sue us!

FEEDBACK: Yes please.

Length: 5,188 Words.

Link to worksafe manip by Salustra-

http://weblogimages.com/static/clP476413sF4.jpg

"One sin, I know, another doth provoke.

Murder's as near to lust as flame to smoke."

-William Shakespeare, Pericles

Lindsey comes into the break room. "Come on, Liam. Captain says we have another slice'n'dice male hooker. Seems our psycho struck again."

Liam looks up from his bitter coffee. "No shit?" he asks as he shakes his head. "Let's go then," he says as he stands up, dumping his coffee in the trash.

Lindsey pulls on his coat. "Yeah. Damn, this guy's making us look bad. Even the media is taking notice now. You kill enough hookers, it starts not to matter that they're just hookers."

Liam cocks his eyebrow at him. "Lindsey, watch your mouth. They're still people," he says, punching Lindsey's shoulder lightly.

Lindsey rubs his shoulder. "Ow. What's up with you?"

Liam rolls his eyes. "You're a pussy," he says. "I dunno, I guess I just feel bad for the guys, ya know? Some psychopath is wiping them out just because of how they look and shit, ya know?"

"Yeah, all right. But if they weren't selling their asses on the street he wouldn't be able to get them alone like he does. Anyhow, come on, Captain'll have our asses if we don't beat the press there."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Liam says. "No shit, I wish there was some way to keep the damn media out of it."

"Buncha vultures." Lindsey grins at him. "Maybe it'll be that Darla again. She's sweet on you. How many times has she featured you on camera?"

Liam blushes slightly. "Yeah, well, um," he clears his throat. "I'm sure it's just coincidence," he says, not believing it himself.

"Yeah, right. She wants her some, I'm thinking," Lindsey drawls, his Texan accent showing through. They reach the unmarked car and climb in.

"Lindsey," Liam growls softly. "You know I don't go for that shit. I like to keep my sexcapades and work separate."

"Uh huh. All I'm saying is, if she were panting over me, *I'd* hit that."

"You'd hit anything with a pulse," Liam teases.

Lindsey snorts. "I have a couple of standards. Though I have to admit, Lilah was definitely a mistake. That chick's a ball-buster."

Liam actually squirms at the thought of Lilah. "You're a brave man. I've seen some evil stuff, but that woman scares me," he says with a laugh.

Lindsey laughs as well. "Yeah, well, I wasn't exactly thinking with my brain at the time." They pull up in front of a seedy motel. "Here's the place." They can see marked cars, lights flashing, and crime scene tape being strung.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you were thinking with your brain, we just both know where it resides," Liam teases. "Let's go see if it's the same M.O."

Lindsey nods and gets out of the car. The two of them flash their badges and get let inside the scene. There's one uniformed officer and a little slip of a girl from CSI there. Fred isn't sporting her usual trademark smile. "Hey Liam, hey Lindsey. It's bad. Worse than the last one."

Liam frowns slightly as he sees Fred. "You okay?" he asks, touching her arm softly.

She sighs. "This is one really sick monster, Liam. He skinned this one almost completely before he finally killed him. You know how long that would take? How much pain..." her voice trails off.

"Holy shit," Liam says softly. It's probably not appropriate for work, but he just feels the need to hug this girl tightly. He wraps his arms around her slender body and squeezes her for a moment. "We'll get him, I promise," he says, looking down at her with a confidence that he doesn't quite feel.

Fred smiles up at him. "Thanks, Liam. I needed that. Anyhow, you can go look at the scene. I've already taken photos and swabs and samples and stuff."

Liam smiles at her and nods. "You do your part, I promise you we'll do ours. The unsub is as good as caught. Take care of yourself, okay?"

"I will." She leans down to pick up her case and heads outside the room. The smell of blood is thick and almost sickly-sweet in the air. Lindsey looks over at Liam. "So shall we go see?"

Liam nods. "Let's," he says, clasping Lindsey's shoulder. "Holy mother of god," he swears as he sees the scene. "He's escalating."

Lindsey nods, looking at the scene. It's like the others, the ritual posing of the body tied to the bed. Lindsey walks around it. "He took a couple of days to do this one. See the dried blood there? Like layers. That takes some real control."

Liam walks over to the other side of the bed, looking under it. "Yeah, the mattress is practically soaked through. This is fucked," he says. "He would have had to have given the vic blood or resuscitate him or something, there's no way a human could live through this."

"Something like that. Damn. We've gotta get ahead of this fucker."

"No shit, is there any ID at all for this guy?" Liam asks, looking around the room for some clothes. He finds a pair of shiny pants, digging through the pockets. He finds some money and a small bag of marijuana. "Nothing. Dammit. We've gotta make an ID on this guy, I'm betting they work the same strip."

"Could be." Lindsey sighs. "Maybe we should go talk to the desk clerk, see if there's any security video or anything."

Liam shakes his head. "Good plan. I don't see what else we can do here anyway," he says, motioning for the coroner to come in. "Take him in," he says. "Come on, Linds, let's go see if they've got anything that could actually help."

"Yeah." Lindsey walks out with him. "What kinda crazy do you have to be to *do* something like that?"

Liam looks over at him, "I honestly don't even want to know. I can't even imagine THINKING of something like this, much less actually doing it," he says as they walk to the motel office. There is a very bored-looking woman behind the desk, smacking her gum and reading a magazine.

Liam walks up to the desk. "Excuse me, miss, is there any type of surveillance here?" he asks, flashing his badge to her.

She looks up. "Yeah. I'm guessing you want the tape?"

Liam nods. "All of them from the past week. I don't suppose you saw anything suspicious, did you?"

She shrugs. "Same hookers checking in and out, mostly."

"You remember the guy we found? He have a name or anything?"

She shakes her head. "We don't keep a register. This place is cash only. And I don't know their names."

"I figured, it was worth a try though. I don't suppose you know where they work?" Liam asks, figuring the answer is no, but anything would help.

"Mostly around here, I figure. Anyhow, I'll get you those tapes." She sighs and pushes up from her chair. Her voice never altered the whole time from the bored, dead sounding near monotone, and her expression never changed. She heads off for the backroom and comes back with a handful of tapes. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Liam says, taking the tapes from her. He nods to Lindsey and they walk out. "Wow, she was a little ray of sunshine, wasn't she?"

Lindsey shakes his head. "Typical for around here. Doesn't see anything she doesn't have to, doesn't get involved. I don't know how people even live like this. More I see in Vice, the less faith I have in humanity."

"No shit," Liam says, climbing into the car. "Wanna take these back to the precinct and get a head start on them?"

"Yeah. Might as well know the vic so we can get started canvassing."

"The fun begins. Hopefully we'll at least be able to see something on these. Maybe the owner has two brain cells and doesn't use the tapes over and over. I'm not really holding my breath though."

"Fleabag place like this? I'm betting they use the same ones till they fall apart."

Liam chuckles. "I'm sure you're right. Well, here's hoping. And if not, maybe Andrew can pull something off of them."

Lindsey laughs. "Oh, Andrew. Poor Liam, I'll be there to protect you from him."

Liam laughs, "I appreciate that, partner."

They get back to the station house, and Lindsey pops in a tape. The image is grainy, nearly unwatchable. "Great. Down to the lab then."

Liam looks at Lindsey in mock fear. "Hold me?" he says with a laugh.

Lindsey laughs and shakes his head. "Poor Andrew. Boy has it bad for you. Good thing you're not gay, you'd probably break him."

Liam coughs slightly. "Yeah, good thing. What, do the women talk about my cock?" he asks lewdly, hoping to cover up his slight embarrassment.

Lindsey grins. "I've seen you in the shower, big guy."

Liam laughs. "So I guess my gun isn't the only piece you've been checking out," he teases.

"Hey! Back off there." Lindsey gives him a mock glare. "Not my fault you could put an eye out with that thing."

Liam laughs louder. "Yeah, well, some of us are just gifted. Come on, let's go see what the boy can do with the tapes."

A little while later they're down in the lab. Andrew looks up as they walk in. "Oh, hey, Officer O'Donnell," he practically purrs. "What can I do for you?"

Liam steps forward and hands Andrew the tapes. "We've got some tapes here that could use your special touch," he says, laying it on thick.

"Oh." Andrew sighs with a smile. "Well of course, anything for you, Officer O'Donnell. Anything in particular you're looking for?"

"We've got another vic, same unsub, we think. We could really use some help with an ID on the fucker. Think you can work some magic? These are in pretty bad shape."

"I'll do my best. Another blonde with blue eyes, like before?" Andrew asks with a little shudder.

Liam looks over at Lindsey. "Blue eyes, don't really know about the hair. Same body type though."

Lindsey sighs. "There were some blonde hairs on the bed, so I'm thinking yeah."

Andrew shivers. "Creeps me out. But I'll get to work on them right away."

Liam touches Andrew's shoulder gently. "You're gonna be all right. I mean, unless you're selling your body after work," he teases.

Andrew looks up at Liam, trying not to moan at the casual contact. "Not me. It's not like I'd get anything for it anyway. But thanks."

"Oh come on, Andy, you're a nice enough lookin' guy," Liam says. "Um, anyway, can you let us know if you find anything? We'd like to keep it just between the three of us, don't want anyone else boning in on our case."

"Sure, no problem, Officer O'Donnell. I'll page you as soon as I have something."

"Thanks Andy. And you've worked here long enough, you can call me Liam," he says, winking slightly at Andrew. He knows he's laying it on pretty thick, but he doesn't see anything wrong with using his natural assets.

"Thank you...Liam." Andrew blushes a bit and puts the tape into one of his machines.

Lindsey waits till they're out of the room before busting into laughter. "Jeez, Liam, you've got the poor boy on a leash."

Liam chuckles, "Well, at least I know where he's at if he's on my leash," he teases. "You liked that little display, did you?"

"Yeah, well, it never hurts to have the lab geeks sweet on you, they prioritize your cases."

"Hell yeah. Too bad more of them don't have more interest in us, huh? We're just too pretty for our own good," Liam teases.

"Speak for yourself, big guy. That Eve in DNA just loooooves me."

"Ohh, now THAT'S a sweet piece of ass. Although Fred in CSI, damn. I wouldn't mind breaking her in two."

"No shit. She's dating Wesley though, scuttlebutt has it. What she sees in that skinny Englishman I don't know."

"Wesley?! I pegged him for gay," Liam says with a shrug. His gaydar is usually pretty good but maybe he missed the mark on that one. "I guess he's just English," he says with a grin and a shrug.

"Thin line between English and gay. He might play for both teams, who knows? Anyhow...we'd better go see the Captain and report in."

"Enough gossip for one day, huh Linds?" Liam teases. "Yeah, he'll get is Under-Roos in a bunch if we don't."

Lindsey laughs as the two of them head towards the captain's office. "Speaking of a thin line between English and gay..."

Liam laughs loudly and claps Lindsey's back. "You're trouble."

"Always," Lindsey says with a grin.

They step into the Captain's office. The distinguished older gentleman looks up with a sigh. "O'Donnell, MacDonald...what's the status on the latest incident?"

"Captain Giles. It seems the unsub is escalating. The M.O. is the same, but he's getting more patient, more brutal. The vic was fucking skinned alive, Sir."

"Dear lord," Captain Giles swears softly. "We have to find him, gentleman, or the damned FBI will come in and take this case away from us."

"Yes Sir. We've got Andrew on the tapes; we're hoping to find something from them. We'll find this bastard," Liam says confidently.

"I certainly hope so. I expect you two to hit the streets and talk to your sources, talk to any other prostitutes who fit the victim profile."

"Yes Sir, we're narrowing down the area that the victims seem to be coming from, we'll make sure to hit those areas first."

"Very well then. If we have one more I'm putting the entire department on it."

"Hopefully we won't, Cap. We're going to do our damnedest to make sure we don't."

"I believe you. Now go get about it."

Liam jumps a bit at Giles' tone. "Yes Sir. Let's go," he says to Lindsey as he walks out of the Captain's office.

Lindsey scrambles to catch up. "Captain sounded pissed."

"No shit, I think this case is getting under his skin."

"Well I know the Captain hates the FBI. They took away that serial killer case three years ago and made a hash out of it."

"Ohhh yeah. That was so fucked. You and I could have had that fucker behind bars way sooner."

"Anyway...should we go hit the streets?"

"Sounds like a plan, Andrew will page us," Liam says with a nod. "Start near the newest scene?"

"May as well. We can split up, cover more ground. I'll take Crawford, you can take Ennis."

"You sure you're not just trying to pick up a little business?" Liam teases, knowing damn well it's not true.

"Yeah, right. That's me, Lindsey MacDonald, butt pirate."

"Oh my fucking god, I never thought I'd hear the words butt pirate come from your mouth!" Liam says with a laugh.

Lindsey grins. "Couldn't resist."

Liam climbs into the car. "Drive, butt pirate," he chuckles.

Lindsey drives down towards the motel. He pulls up on Ennis Street, near where the working boys are walking the streets, and stops. A pretty dark-haired boy comes up. "Hey, hey, you handsome men looking for a date?"

"I prefer blondes," Liam deadpans.

The boy shrugs. "Can't blame a boy for trying. There's a bleach job down the block."

"Thanks," Liam says and then looks over at Lindsey. "Well, that was easier than I expected. I guess we look like the type," he says with a chuckle. "Be careful, meet you back here in what, an hour?"

"Yeah, an hour should be good."

Liam nods and climbs out of the car. "See you then," he says, walking down the street in the direction the dark-haired boy pointed.

Ahead on the street, Liam spots an almost platinum head of hair. He can soon see the man it's attached to. He looks young, blue-eyed; with cheekbones that could cut glass. He's wearing painted-on black leather pants and a see-through blue mesh top. He prowls the block with feline grace, looking over the passing men. An older gentleman walks up and the blonde starts talking to him. A negotiation, obviously, his head tilted and an inviting hand cupping his hip.

Liam walks a little closer, stopping about a hundred feet away. He can hear their low voices, but can't quite make out what they're saying. He watches the negotiation for a while then walks up to them. The older man looks over nervously, but the blonde looks directly at Liam with a cocky smile. "Can I help you, luv?" he asks in a thick lower-class English accent.

Liam cocks his eyebrow at the blonde, looking at the older man. "Get out of here," he says to the man.

"But I've got business with the gentleman," the blonde says.

Liam raises both of his eyebrows and pulls his badge out. "I'm sure he can come back another time," he says firmly.

The older man scurries off and the blonde crosses his arms. "Vice copper, eh? Gonna haul my arse in or are you just looking for a freebie?"

"Neither, actually. I need to ask you some questions."

"Questions? Fine, you can buy me some bloody coffee. I stand around here with a copper, it's bad for business."

"Fine," Liam says, "Got a place in mind?"

"Diner on the corner there." The blonde moves off towards it, brushing against Liam and not looking back as he walks.

Liam can't help but shiver as the prostitute brushes against him. He's quite attractive and moves like water. "What's your name, anyway?" he asks, catching up and walking beside the blonde.

"Spike. Haven't seen you around here before, copper. Not your usual beat?"

"Nope. My partner and I are investigating multiple homicides in this area of other male prostitutes," Liam says, laying it out there.

Spike stops and turns around to look at Liam. There's something in his eyes for a moment, a bit of vulnerability, then it's gone again. "So why pick me out to talk to?"

Liam takes a slow breath, catching the almost innocent look. "Honestly? Because you match the description of the other vics."

"Lovely." Spike almost growls as he turns and walks into the diner, sliding into a booth.

Liam sighs and follows Spike, sitting across from him. "Yeah, it's pretty fucked. I don't suppose you've heard anything or had anyone approach you that didn't seem quite right?" he asks.

"All the time, pet. This area is for rough trade. Men coming here, they're looking for a little more than a blowjob or a quick fuck. It pays better, though, if you can take it."

Liam swallows hard as Spike's voice almost seems to caress him. "Rough trade, huh? I didn't realize there was, you know, a section for it," he admits. "I guess that's why this area has been targeted." He raises his hand and calls a tired looking waitress over. "You want something to eat?" he asks Spike.

Spike raises an eyebrow at that. "If you're paying? Sure. Bring me a burger, luv, rare, and some coffee. Lots of cream."

Liam nods. "I'll have the same, but well done for me, a big basket of fries too," he says. He has no idea why he just decided to buy this 'Spike' dinner, he tells himself the poor boy just looks hungry.

The waitress moves off and Spike takes out a pack of cigarettes, tapping one out and flipping open a lighter. He takes a long drag off it. "Yeah, there's a section. This street, and Crawford, and a few others around. Almost anything you want, for a price." Spike licks his lips. "Leather and bondage freaks, mostly."

"Hence the leather and mesh," Liam observes. He takes the opportunity to look at Spike, noticing the almost child like quality in his eyes. "How old are you?"

"Old enough." Spike says almost defensively.

Liam holds up his hands, palms to Spike. "Hey, I wasn't trying to bust your balls, you just look, well, innocent," he says with a shrug. "I guess that's just part of the package, right?" he says with a smirk, trying to play tough.

Spike's expression turns seductive again. "You want to see my package?"

Liam blushes slightly. "That's not what I meant."

"I notice you didn't answer the question." Spike leans forward, resting a hand on Liam's knee.

Liam trembles slightly. "Thank you, but no," he says softly. He suddenly feels like the temperature just rose about fifteen degrees.

"Mmm. Awright then." Spike licks his lips. "Maybe another time. So you got any other questions for me?" The waitress comes over and sets down the plates with a clatter and the cups of coffee.

Liam jumps as the plates are set down in front of them. "Thank you," he says to the waitress, thankful for the interruption.

"No problem, handsome." The waitress smiles at him and moves off.

"You must get that a lot, eh, officer...?" Spike asks.

Liam blushes. "Not really," he says honestly. "I bet you do, though." He blushes deeper, realizing what he's just implied.

"I usually get pretty, sometimes beautiful." Spike says with a wicked grin. "Handsome is for big butch types like you."

Liam picks up his coffee and takes a big gulp, coughing loudly as the liquid burns his mouth. "B-butch?" he squeaks between coughs.

"Yes. You think I can't smell it from here, officer?" Spike drapes himself on the seat.

Liam takes a big drink of water, rubbing his tongue on the top of his mouth. "Smell what?" he asks casually.

"Closet case. Or pretty close to it."

Liam shrugs. "Can't be closeted if you don't deny it when someone asks. I'm bi," he says with a shrug. Why the hell is he telling Spike this? "What about you?"

"Strictly do boys. Well, I take it back, I'll fuck girls for money."

"Don't really care for it though, I assume?"

"No." Spike looks Liam over. "You sure you don't want to see my package?"

Liam licks his lips. "Sorry, I'll buy you dinner but I won't give you business," he says with a shrug. The truth is, he'd really like to get Spike in bed, but not that way.

"Shame." Spike bites into the burger with an orgasmic groan.

Liam whimpers slightly as he hears Spike, "Damn, you really like your meat, don't you?"

"You have no idea." Spike replies with a leer.

Liam blinks and adjusts himself under the table before starting to eat. "I'm starting to get an idea," he says with a chuckle.

Spike grins and chuckles in return. He keeps eating the burger. "So how many others have there been?"

Liam takes a few fries and shoves them into his mouth. "So far there have been three others. Hopefully three all together."

Spike shudders a bit. "Three dead whores not enough to make it on the news, eh?"

Liam shakes his head. "We've been keeping a really tight lid on it, we don't want the unsub to get the attention from it. These are obviously targeted crimes. Only blonde-haired, blue-eyed, slender build, male prostitutes. Very specific."

"I see why you came up to talk to me then. Anything I should be looking out for?"

Liam lets out a little sigh of relief. At least Spike is taking it seriously. "We're still building a profile. But what I can tell you is that the unsub is likely a white male, between 25 and 40, most likely willing to pay anything just to get you to the place he has planned."

"Sounds like about a third of my tricks."

Liam cocks his eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. Usually closet cases who are too tight-arsed to go to the leather bars. The rest are older men, like the one you ran off."

"Damn, I thought my job was dangerous. I don't suppose I could talk you into taking some time off, could I?"

"Not unless you're going to pay my bills as well," Spike chuckles.

"Just a few days, Spike. I'm not going to arrest you or anything like that, but this is a serious matter."

Spike sighs. "First of the month is coming up, gotta pay rent. I'll avoid the young ones, best I can do."

Liam nods. "All right, I guess that's the best I can ask. You don't owe me anything."

"You have any other questions...you can always come back." Spike's eyes glitter a bit. "Or even if you don't have any questions."

Liam chuckles and shakes his head. "I have a feeling you don't have much of a problem paying your bills," he says, finishing off his burger.

Spike drains the last of his coffee. "Not usually, no." Spike slides up out of the seat and brushes Liam's shoulder with his hand on the way out.

Liam pulls out a couple of twenties and throws them on the table, following Spike out. "I'm heading back that way anyway, do you mind if I walk with you?"

"Suit yourself." Spike turns to grin at Liam. "Just can't let me out of your sight, eh?"

"What's your real name?" Liam asks with a smile.

"Ah, we'd have to be *much* better friends for me to tell you that."

"Well, you can't blame me for asking," Liam says. He pulls one of his cards out and hands it to Spike. "In case you see anything suspicious."

Spike takes the card, brushing fingers and then tucks away the card into his pants pocket. "I'll call."

Liam looks into Spike's blue eyes. "Sounds like a plan," he says softly.

Spike takes a breath. "Damn, copper, I'd probably do you for free, you talk like that to me a little more."

"I'll keep that in mind," Liam says with a little purr, grinning as he realizes he's having an effect on the blonde.

Spike chuckles and walks back down the street. Prowling, obviously back on duty, drawing stares from the passersby.

Liam shakes his head and chuckles, heading back to the corner where he's supposed to meet Lindsey.

Lindsey pulls up a few minutes later. "You have any luck?"

Liam slides into the car and shrugs. "Well, I found one guy that completely fits the type, I warned him, but he said he didn't really know much. How about you?"

"A couple of thin blondes, but not blue-eyed. I pumped them for info anyway, but apparently the unsub's profile fits a pretty common type of john around here."

Liam nods in agreement. "That's what mine said. Said it's a 'rough trade' area."

"Yeah. Mine gave me some pretty unsavory details. These guys let themselves get tied up and beaten for money. Easy to see why the unsub would come here."

Liam makes a yucky face, acting like that's the first he's heard about it. "Mine didn't go into details, but yeah, definitely seems like they're easy targets."

Lindsey shakes his head. "Wanna get something to eat before we go check in with your boyfriend?"

"My boy-who?" Liam squeaks. "Oh! You mean Andrew. Um, no, actually, I just ate. It was the only way I could get mine to talk," he says with a shrug. It's not a total lie.

Lindsey chuckles. "Well lemme just stop at In and Out burger on the way back, we can go through the drive-through."

"In and Out huh? Maybe you talked to the guys a little too long," Liam teases.

"Yeah, well I got to two, you spent the whole hour talking to *one*, and you knew where to find him."

Liam laughs. "Well, you always were an over achiever."

Lindsey grins and pulls away from the curb. A short time later, they're back at headquarters and headed down to the lab. Liam walks in, handing Andrew a chocolate shake. "Got anything for us?" he asks with a grin.

Andrew looks up. "Oh, Liam," he says, trying to sound casual. "Shake for me?" He takes a sip. "Yeah. I found four blondes checking in and out in the past week. I did blow ups and stills of all of them. I don't have any of the men they're with, none of them come inside the office." Andrew hands over the pictures; one of them is Spike.

"Just for you, you're my favorite techie," Liam says with a smile. He takes the pictures, flipping through them. Two of them are the first two victims. He holds up the third and shows it to Lindsey, "I'm willing to bet this is our latest vic," he says. He holds up the fourth picture, "This is the guy I talked to tonight."

"Well that doesn't look good for him then. We should go show the photos around, see if anyone knows them."

"No shit. Andrew, you're the best," Liam says. "Back to the streets, then? And here I was hoping to actually get sleep tonight."

"Back to the streets. And I was hoping to get laid."

"Well, if you're willing to change your persuasion, I'm sure you could arrange that," Liam teases.

"Not *that* hard up."

Liam laughs and cuffs Lindsey on the shoulder. "Just a suggestion," he teases. "Thanks again, Andy. I don't suppose there's anything else you can pull off those tapes is there? Or is it all of the office?"

"All of the office, apparently they didn't have cameras up anywhere else."

"Figures, probably why the unsub chose it. Thanks a lot for your help," Liam says, holding up the photos. "See you later."

"Anytime, Liam," Andrew says with a smile.

"Enjoy the shake, try to avoid brain-freeze," Liam teases, walking out of the lab.

Lindsey follows along. "You're a big tease, you know that, Liam?"

"Hey, I'm not the one dragging Eve along."

"Yeah, but I'd actually *sleep* with her."

Liam laughs. "Too bad she'll never sleep with the likes of you!"

"Hey!" Lindsey says, offended.

Captain Giles suddenly steps into their path. "Do you think you two juveniles could stop bragging about sexual conquests and work on the case?"

"Captain," Liam says, his eyes wide. "We are working on the case, Sir," he says, showing Giles the pictures.

"I see Andrew is being his usual efficient self. Are you headed back out to canvass with these?"

"Yes Sir," Liam says. "I talked to this one earlier, we should be able to find him. Hopefully he's not the next target."

"Well what are you waiting for?" The Captain barks.

Liam takes the pictures back and salutes. "Nothing Sir!" he says a little too loudly. He grabs Lindsey's arm and drags him down the hallway.

Lindsey rushed out with Liam. "Damn, Captain's got a bug up his ass over this one."

"No shit, he's the one that stopped us!" Liam says, getting back into the car. "Let's go find Spike."

"Spike?"

"Yeah, that's this one's name," Liam says, holding up the picture. "He's the one I talked to."

"Made quite an impression, huh?"

Liam shrugs. "He seems, I don't know, too nice to be a prostitute. I'm just worried about the case, like you said earlier, the last thing we need is the fucking FBI breathing down our necks."

"Well back to Ennis, then."