Shawn walked wearily into the Psych office, a Red Bull in one hand, a container of pineapple chunks in the other. He sat down with a whoosh of air, setting the container of deliciousness on his desk.
Gus looked up and watched as his buddy took a long drink from the blue and silver can. He shook his head.
“Still no sleep?” he asked.
Shawn swallowed and shook his head, “Not a wink, Buddy. I just laid in bed all night, my mind racing.”
“Did you try what I told you to do?” Gus asked with that “Motherly” tone in his voice.
“Yes, “Mom”, I did. Nothing. You’re relaxation method just kept me awake while I counted my heartbeat,” Shawn spat.
“I should probably get to work. I have to finish up my route since I couldn’t yesterday,” Gus stated, referring to the case they’d wrapped up yesterday.
“Yeah, sorry. I get crazy when I don’t sleep,” Shawn said, taking another drink.
“You know those can raise your heart rate, right?” Gus mentioned, pointing toward the can.
The look on Shawn’s face made Gus move out the door with a quiet “See you later” and left the faux psychic to his thoughts.
Shawn watched as the Blueberry drove off, then opened his container. Despite his weariness, he smiled, knowing Juliet had packed these especially for him before she left for the station that morning.
The phone rang as he shoved a piece into his mouth. Sighing, he picked it up with sticky fingers and pushed talk.
“Mmph?” he tried to say, his mouth full of juicy goodness.
“Mr. Spencer?” Chief Vick asked curiously.
“Mmph. Mmm mm,” Shawn said.
Shawn chewed and tried to swallow, which sent juice down the wrong pipe, forcing him to cough and spit out half of the chewed fruit. Most of it landed on the receiver.
“Shawn? Are you all right?” he heard Juliet’s voice. She must’ve been on the other line.
“Y..yeah, Jules. *Cough cough* I’m *cough* fine. What’s up? *cough cough*”
“Mr. Spencer, we have another case. A young girl has been kidnapped. We need you to come down to the station and see what you can pick up from the parents,” Chief Vick said.
Shawn nodded, his weariness diminishing for just a moment, “On my way, Chief.”
He hung up the phone and stood up, stretching as he did. Walking into the kitchen, Shawn turned on the faucet and splashed water onto his face to try and wake himself up.
The last time he’d been up this long was when his father had gotten shot. He remembered that he was most definitely out of it after not sleeping for so long. He’d barely gotten a wink at the hospital, and once he set his mind to taking Carp down, sleep was the furthest thing from his mind.
Now, it was the only thing he wanted to do. Jules didn’t even know he hadn’t slept. She would be sound asleep in bed and he’d be staring at the ceiling or out the window at the stars, not daring to move and wake her up. When her alarm would go off, he’d pretend he was asleep until she left the bedroom for the bathroom.
Sighing, he walked out to his Norton, shaking his head at what his father would say if he knew his son was driving the “death machine” when he had insomnia.
He tugged on his helmet, jumped on his bike and headed toward the SBPD with crazy thoughts racing through his mind.
At the station, he took a few deep breaths before entering. Taking a quick glance in the glass of the door, Shawn saw that he didn’t look *that* tired. Maybe he could get away with it.
He froze halfway in. ‘Then again, Jules will know. She didn’t see my face this morning in the light,’ he thought.
Putting on his best happy face, Shawn walked in and spotted Jules, the Chief and Lassie standing near the Head Detective’s desk with looks of concern on their various features.
In his hands, Lassiter held the case file. Shawn took a glance, ‘seeing’ anything he could use. Gleaming a few things, he cleared his throat (the pineapple juice was still tickling deep down) and walked up to the trio.
“Good morning Chief! Hey, Lassie!” he said in his best cheery voice. Lassiter glared at him.
“What’s so good about it?” he asked. Shawn could see circles under Lassie’s eyes. He hadn’t slept, either.
Shawn raised his hand to his head, “I’m sensing you haven’t slept, Lassie-opolis.”
Lassiter nodded but said nothing more. Shawn took this into consideration for later and turned to the Chief.
“A nine year old girl with long, brown hair and a scar over her right cheek, right, Chief?” Shawn said.
Karen looked shocked, knowing she hadn’t said a thing about the appearance of the kidnapped girl. She nodded slowly, “Yes, that’s right Mr. Spencer. She was taken from the local mall while her parents were shopping for Christmas presents. At least that’s their story. I wanted you to see if you could get any feelings from them. Something seems a bit off about the couple.”
Shawn saluted, which made Lassie scoff, “On it, Chief! Jules, a word?”
He and Juliet walked down around the corner. He stopped when he was sure they were out of earshot.
“You amaze me sometimes, you know that? I was just about to have you come with me,” Jules said.
“Sorry, I could see it in your eyes,” Shawn apologized.
“Are you all right? You look a little tired,” she asked.
“Fine, Sweetheart. Let’s just go see this couple. If the Chief thinks something’s off, then I’ll find out what it is,” Shawn said, walking toward the holding cells. Juliet stopped him.
“Shawn,” she said, turning him around to face her, “I think we need to talk. After this case, I want you and I to figure out why you haven’t slept in four days.”
“Five days. The first night you were on that stakeout until four in the morning,” Shawn added.
Juliet gave him a heartening look and shook her head, “Just get in there, Shawn.”
Shawn blinked, “All right. Let’s find this little girl,” he said as he walked into the room.