Caleb Peterson

“Uh huh.”

Caleb typed for a minute, before looking over at her.  “Are you always this cheerful?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know.” It was all her fault so not great. “Uh. How are you?”

“Is there anything at all that I can do to help you?” He offered, looking at her. “I’m..okay, I guess.”

“You’re welcome,” Helena replied. “That was probably weird, sorry. I just deal with fingerprints all day at the office and knowing how to extract and view them is kind of second nature. I hope I didn’t freak you out or anything.”

“Not freaked out. Just wasn’t expecting anyone to hear me, let alone have such a..detailed explanation.” He chuckled. “So, you’re a cop?”

“And after you are done with that I think it’s time we work together.” Hope needed to be found. Which meant that Mark was willing to put aside his differences with Caleb. 

Caleb looked over at him. “Do you even have any idea where to start? If it was- -A, wouldn’t they have bragged about it already?”

She rolled her eyes. “You could sit outside.” She muttered, but she moved her bag and then lowered her gaze to her feet.

Caleb sat down in the chair. “Thank you.” He pulled his laptop out and started working, not saying much to her.

“I don’t even password protect my phone or anything.”

“And you live in this town? That’s brave.” He chuckled before his face fell. “How are you holding up?”

“I wouldn’t trust you either.” She joked.

“Rude, that is just rude.”

“Or maybe it just doesn’t like you.” Mark did his best to joke but with them it never came out that way. “Maybe try to wash your hands some more.” 

“I might start to believe that if it doesn’t start working.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “I guess I should.”

He glanced toward him and gave a sad smile, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s cool. I will get by. It’s just gonna take a lot of work.” He said in a gentle voice.

“Phones are so fuckin’ stupid.”

“What kind of phone do you have?”

“Technically the chicken makes your fingers greasy which messes with the sensor. It’s probably the problem you are having…Do you have another way to get into it?”

“I could use my passcode, but it isn’t registering my fingers when I try to type either.” Caleb chuckled, shrugging slightly. “The chicken was worth it.”

“We very often speak the same language.” He chuckled a bit and stepped toward the door, pulling it open. “Yes, I am terrified of relapsing. The urges don’t just go away…” 

Cam laughed a bit and nodded. “Yeah, that would make more sense. But in reality, don’t worry about it. Most iPhones are all the same. Except the missing button.” 

“Do you need help?” Victoria chuckled, titling her head to look at him.

Caleb looked up when he heard Victoria, smiling at her. “Well, I don’t need my phone when my distraction is around.”

“The grease from chicken actually effects the ridges of your fingertips,” Helena commented, having overheard the conversation. “You’re better off going to wash your hands completely to get rid of the excess oils to dry out the skin and define the ridges more.”

Caleb looked over, surprised that someone was answering him. “Oh, uh, well, thanks.”

Cam grinned and shook his head. “You can get an iPhone 8 and it is practically the exact same thing. Except it will update for a couple more years.’