Disclaimer: I do not own Psych or any of its characters.
AN: I'm back! I haven't written out the whole story yet, but I do have a good chunk of it done and wanted to share it with you all. I am going to put this as a response to the "He's Got a Temper..." challenge that I found on Psychfic, but I'm still not sure if I made Shawn angry enough. Either way, there were two responses to this challenge, by maniacgirl007 and WhiteKingdomAngel, who might have put those stories up on Fanfic, I'm not sure. If you haven't read those, you should...right after reading this chapter and leaving a review :)
Shawn ran his hand through his hair, beyond frustrated. He looked at the marker board, looked at the file, looked back at the marker board. Retired Officer Jon Higgs had been killed one week ago, and the killer hadn't been caught yet. Shawn hadn't caught the killer yet. His gaze snagged on his desk drawer-his locked desk drawer. Not even Gus knew what was in there.
Shawn sighed as he leaned back against the desk, looking at the board. It wasn't easy to try and solve a murder case when he kept getting threatening letters related to another case. He shook his head to clear it and returned to the Higgs case. He hadn't known the officer very well. He had joined the SBPD a few years before Henry had retired and had left the force himself a few years after Shawn had started consulting, but that didn't matter to Shawn. The man's death had hit the department hard. He knew Lassiter and Jules, heck, the whole department, had practically run themselves ragged searching for the killer.
Shawn tapped the marker against his mouth, cursing himself silently when his mind pulled him back to the drawer. Usually, threats didn't bother him. They were just empty words.
These were different.
Sue Melvins had come to Shawn a year ago. She needed help hiding herself and her two children from her abusive ex-husband, Christopher Drake. Shawn couldn't refuse. He'd caught Drake violating the restraining order Sue had filled, sending him straight to jail. He then pointed Sue in the direction of a small town in Montana he'd run into on his travels. The small community was perfect to help the family heal. Shawn had even called the Sheriff, with whom he had become a good friend, to ask him to look after the three.
The notes had started coming a few weeks ago, and Shawn hadn't taken them seriously. But the letters had started coming more frequently, had become more…specific. Shawn sent some of the notes to an independent lab to see if there were any prints or DNA that could be traced, since he was hesitant to take the notes to the SBPD until he knew something more. He was surprised when the lab discovered a few sets of prints.
He had been getting the notes ready to turn in to Lassiter-he'd even begun planning a vision-when Officer Higgs had been shot. Instead, Shawn ran the prints at the station quietly, even more hesitant to tell anyone about his troubles in light of the murder. Shawn's worries could wait. Officer Higgs' family and friends could not.
Shawn's first instinct was that the murder was related to one of Higgs' past cases, but so far he hadn't found anything.
"Shawn! I brought food!" Gus came into the office, dropping a bag on his desk and sitting in his chair. Shawn didn't turn.
"Shawn, you need to eat."
"I will, Buddy," Shawn replied absently.
"Shawn…"
Ooh, he was using his You-Better-Take-Me-Seriously Voice. Shawn looked over at Gus, a smile teasing the corners of his lips as he saw Gus waving his hands over the food, trying to get the smell to waft towards Shawn.
"Eat, and then get back to the case."
Shawn rolled his eyes before grabbing his food from Gus. He sat down, chewing slowly as he continued to look at the board. One of the pictures had a set of tire marks that came from a motorcycle. That could have related to one of Higgs' old cases, an armed robbery that he had responded to. The two robbers were the head of the Fuego Diablos, which had been a motorcycle gang. When one of the robbers, an Eric Roberts, pointed his gun at his partner, Higgs had had no choice. He'd shot the man.
Shawn hadn't looked into that angle yet, since the police had. Apparently, the gang had split up after one of their leaders had been killed and the other one jailed. Shawn's head tilted as he thought of something. He looked through his file, then moved to his computer. Gus noticed and moved to stand behind him.
"Shawn, why are you on MySpace?" Gus leaned over his shoulder and Shawn smirked up at him.
"I have a lead." He typed in a name, "Meet Dan Roberts, son of Eric Roberts who was the man killed during an armed robbery."
"Yeah, I remember you telling me about that case. But what are you looking for?"
"Proof," Shawn replied, clicking through the pictures. Dan's page didn't have the pictures he was hoping to find, but Shawn started clicking on Dan's friends and going through their photos. "Ah-hah!"
"Is that-?"
"That is Dan's motorcycle-which has the exact same tire tread that was found at the crime scene!" He paused for a moment. "Dude, I just solved a case using MySpace!"
Gus responded with his signature "Whaaat?"
Shawn pulled the papers from the printer and hopped up. "Come on! Let's go to the station!"
The SBPD needed this-Jules, Lassiter, and the chief really needed this. He was so relieved it was making him almost giddy. He bounded up the steps of the police department, a huge smile gracing his lips as he entered. His gaze fell on Jules, who had a stack of files in her hands and was running from one desk to the next. He winced inwardly when he saw the shadows under her eyes and the frown pulling at her mouth.
"Jules! I have fantastic news!"
She paused in her movements and looked at Shawn. "Shawn! Make it quick, okay? I've got to get these files handed out and go back to the scene."
She was a bit short with him, but Shawn could work with that.
"Sure thing." He couldn't wait to take this worry from her and was hoping to get her to laugh.
"First, did you notice the new café across the street? It literally specializes in pineapple smoothies."
"You've got that right," Gus said, Shawn's enthusiasm making him smile.
Juliet looked at Shawn like he had grown an extra head. "I can't believe you, Shawn." Her voice was low and deceptively calm. "An officer was killed, we're running around trying to find his murderer, and you come in here to tell me about pineapple smoothies?"
Shawn quickly realized he shouldn't have said something so flippant. "Jules, I-"
"No, Shawn. We're trying to work. Please leave, you'll just be getting in the way."
"Hold on, Jules!"
"Spencer, you heard O'Hara. Get out." Lassiter stood from his desk and crossed his arms.
Shawn noticed for the first time that the station was growing quieter by the second.
"Gentlemen? What's going on?"
"Spencer was just going to leave."
"No, I wasn't!" All traces of humor had fled Shawn's face, the relief he had been reveling in just a few minutes before long since faded.
The chief's eyes scanned the station before turning back to Shawn. "I'm sorry Mr. Spencer, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You are disrupting the investigation."
"You heard the chief," Lassiter grabbed Shawn's arm and attempted to pull Shawn away.
"No! Chief, you hired me for this investigation!"
Lassiter snorted, "You think we need your help on this case? We don't. You're just going to be an annoyance to everyone. Officer Higgs and his family deserve to have this case handled seriously, and you'll do nothing but make a farce of this investigation."
Shawn looked at the three of them, dumbfounded. He knew they had been under a lot of stress lately. He could understand if they said something in frustration that they didn't mean, but they were serious. He considered these three friends and it hurt much more than he cared to admit, that they thought he was useless.
He took a deep breath, willing to let the comments slide off his back, and once more tried to speak. "Look, Officer Higgs was one of us and deserves-"
"One of us?" Lassiter crossed his arms. "Yes, he was. But you're delusional if you think you can include yourself in that group. You're not one of us."
Shawn took a step back, stunned. The chief was already walking back to her office when he saw Juliet look between Shawn and Lassiter before turning her back on Shawn and taking a step away. Shawn felt another knife slide into his back.
This wasn't fair. Shawn had been doing everything he could to find this killer. How…how could they…?
Gus put a hand on his shoulder and he realized for the first time that he was clenching his hands so tightly that they hurt.
Shawn's gaze narrowed and he leaned towards Lassiter. "Tell me something, Detective," he spat out. "Have you figured out who the murderer is yet?"
"Shawn," Gus started, but Shawn interrupted him, "No, Gus. Let the Detective answer the question!" He wasn't yelling, but there was no mistaking the anger, frustration, and hurt that mixed in his voice.
Both Juliet and the chief spun back around, stunned to see Shawn's green eyes glittering with anger, fists clenched. Lassiter blinked, surprised at the intensity of Shawn's expression. Shawn saw Buzz take a step forward, concern etched across his face. Shawn put his hand up, warning Buzz to stop. He didn't need to get in the middle of this.
"Jealous much, Carlton? That you can't put two clues together and solve a case?"
Lassiter glared at Shawn and stepped closer, "Now you listen here, Spencer," he shot out, but Shawn matched him, glare for glare, step for step, and cut him off.
"No!" He yelled, "You listen!" His momentary outburst quieted as he continued, the station silent as they watched him struggle and fail to control his temper. "You went too far, Carlton. I've solved every case I've been given. And no, I don't have a badge, but I didn't think that mattered. We were colleagues. I was one of the few who believed you were innocent in the Drimmer fiasco!" He worked his jaw furiously, his eyes blazing.
His gaze turned to Juliet and he gave a smile that came nowhere close to reaching his eyes. "I was just trying to make you laugh, Juliet. Shame on me for trying to make you feel better. I don't know why I try anymore, actually. It's not like you care." He shook his head. "I really wish I could have finished my sentence earlier. You want the killer?" He asked, voice harsh as threw the file on the floor, "There you go. Oh, and Chief?" His hard gaze met her surprised one, "I see where I stand now. Don't bother calling me for anything else. This was my last case."
And with that, he turned around and left the building, Gus right beside him.
AN: I don't know. Was Shawn angry enough? Let me know what you thought of this chapter! I love reading your thoughts!