Gabe sat in his car at the stop sign, his thoughts raging, racing around his brain. He could not believe that Catherine chose Vincent over him. After everything he had done to prove himself and after everything that Vincent had done. Even thinking that beasts name sounded like hissing. Gabe was sure that giving Catherine the ultimatum would work in his favor especially after all the ways he had discredited Vincent. He had even gone so far as to warn Vincent to stay away from Catherine. Vincent had remained calm and agreeable when Gabe told him to stay away but he couldn't help but sense that he was a hairs breath away from having his head ripped off. In the end it seemed like Vincent agreed and Gabe thought he was in the clear. Catherine would choose him. He was still in shock that she hadn't, she had said she was sorry that things didn't work out between them, that she really did care for him. Whatever. No matter how hard he fought for her, tried to protect her from Vincent none of it worked. He should have seen it, the way they looked at each other, it galled him to no end but what to do about it? He knew where he had to go, who he had to talk to. Gabe put the car back in gear and took off, his tires squealing, an indication just how irritated he really was.
Gabe drove out of the city, a little over an hour later he pulled up to the abandoned farm house that Catherine and he had gone to, where they had found her mother's grave. Gabe stopped the car and got out. He stood there staring at the house remembering when he was there with Catherine and how Vincent once again saved her. It wouldn't be so bad to remember all the times with Catherine if her memories weren't so shadowed with Vincent. Gritting his teeth he walked up to the door and knocked. It was bitterly cold out and he hoped the sole occupant wouldn't leave him standing out there cooling his heels. Finally Gabe heard someone on the other side of the door, he heard locks disengage and the door open. Gabe could barely see the figure just inside the doorway as he stood in the shadows but there was no mistaking the voice.
"Gabe, why are you here?"
"We have a problem. Can I come in? It's very cold out here"
With a sigh the man stood back and beckoned Gabe to enter. After closing the door, he told Gabe to hang his coat up and to find a seat in the living room. "I'll get coffee on" he said leaving Gabe standing in the hallway. Gabe gave a weary shake of his head as he hung up his coat. The house was warm and as he entered the living room he notice a blazing fire in the fireplace, there were two burgundy wing backed chairs on opposite sides of the fireplace with side tables. Gabe sat in one of the chairs, they were close enough to feel the warmth of the fireplace without feeling oppressive. Gabe let his head rest on the back of the chair while he waited for his host to arrive. Just being here had a calming effect on his torn emotions, Gabe knew that once his host knew of the events that transpired in the last 24 hours he would have a plan to eliminate Vincent once and for all. As Gabe thought of all the ways Vincent could be eliminated he allowed a smile to grace his face.
"That grin makes you look maniacal" the man said coming in to the living room. He was carrying a tray that had a coffee urn, pots of cream and sugar, two mugs and spoons, there was also a plate of cookies. Startled out of his reverie, Gabe opened his eyes and sat up.
"I must have dozed a bit and was kind of dreaming of ways to kill Vincent" he replied with a smirk.
"Really? You must share these thoughts. I haven't given up on having him eliminated just because I'm playing dead."
"Catherine is back with Vincent"
"I already know this Gabe. "
"What? How do you know? It only happened a few hours ago."
"Guess who she came to see just before my untimely demise."
"I know she came to see you, I had been following her but didn't know why. So, it looks likes like your fake death plan worked."
"Yes well, when Catherine came to the prison she had all the pictures and everything of my blackmailing Vincent. She basically told me she was going back to him and that there was nothing I could do about it. That was when I decided to go ahead with my plan to escape prison by faking my death. I can't get rid of Vincent if I'm locked up. It's amazing what and who money can buy. I had stashed a large sum with a lawyer friend of mine. He arranged everything. I just had to wait for Catherine to see me as dead. Once she signed all the papers, the coroner switched me with another John Doe to take my place. I disguised myself as a county worker and made my way to here, aside from my lawyer and the coroner, you are the only one who knows I am still alive. It was pretty seamless."
"You knew she was going back to him and you never thought to contact me?" Gabe's gestures showed Bob just how agitated and frustrated he was.
"She seemed pretty sure of what she was going to do, I really didn't see any point in telling you. So, do you have a plan on how to get rid to our problem?"
"Yes I do, I just have to make sure that Catherine doesn't find out. I need to protect her from Vincent before he really hurts her."
"I agree completely. So tell me what you have in mind."
The sun was barely rising in the East its soft glow of morning just tinging the horizon when Vincent woke up to a dream, at least that's what it felt like. He still couldn't believe last night happened but the evidence was still sleeping in his arms. Catherine shifted slightly as awareness woke her up, she smiled and turned over to see Vincent watching her.
"You're watching me sleep again"
"Yup" he said kissing her lips softly, Catherine sighed against his lips and snuggled in closer. "Catherine, we should talk"
"Nope, not right now" she whispered and kissed him with a bit more passion letting him know where her thoughts were going. Vincent's answering growl told her that any conversation would have to wait for a while.
A sudden knock at the door broke the spell as the two lovers broke their kiss and looked in the direction of the door both wondering who would disturb them so early.
Stunned Catherine stood staring at her apartment door, search warrant still in hand. She couldn't believe that the peace of the morning was just shattered by the officers from the 95th's arrival and the arrest of Vincent for the murder of Curt Windsor. This doesn't make sense, Catherine grabbed her coat, with nothing on her feet but slippers, she ran after the officers before they whisked Vincent away, she had to stop them.
After arguing with the detective in charge for what felt like hours but in reality was only a few minutes, she was still no closer to getting Vincent freed. How these charges came about or how they knew to find Vincent at her apartment was a mystery. They had initially thought to stay at the houseboat but ended up going to her place late last night when hunger drove them to search for food, the houseboat was a little scarce on sustenance and TV dinners was in no way appealing to either of them. Had it not been for that, they would have still been at the houseboat. Maybe the police had already checked the boathouse but still what made them so sure that they would find Vincent at her place? So many questions, so few answers.
Catherine quickly dress and called Tess as she ran out the door to her car.
"Hello?" A sleepy Tess answered
"Tess, meet me at the station, Vincent was just arrested. I need help."
"Vincent? What?" Tess exclaimed fully awake
"Yes, he was at my place when the 95th showed up with a warrant"
"He was at your place?" Tess repeated
"Yes, Vincent and I are back together. Tess pay attention, we have to get a hold of JT, we're going to need all the help we can get. I may have to contact Gabe for help too, he's going to love that." She said wryly.
"Catherine, back up. You are obviously in a panic are you sure you're okay to drive?"
"Yes, I'm already at my car meet me at the precinct as quickly as you can."
"Okay, look I'll let JT know so he can start things from his end."
"Okay, good." Catherine depressed the end button on her cell, unlocked her car and got in. Taking a deep breath to still the panic, she started the car and drove off.
Tess sat staring at the phone and looked over at JT
"You catch any of that?"
"Something happened to Vincent?"
"Yes, it sounds like he's been arrested." She said as she got out of bed, gathered her clothes together and headed for the bathroom.
"Vincent was arrested?" JT said pulling on his pants, grabbing his shirt he chased after Tess.
"Ya, apparently he was at Cat's place when the 95th came knocking and arrested him."
"He was at Cat's place?" JT said with a grin.
Tess laughed, "Stop, this isn't funny but I had the same reaction. Cat finally made her choice."
"Yes," JT said with a fist pump, "not that he was arrested, that's bad but that they are back together, sort of, cause right now they aren't cause he's arrested. There's just too much here that doesn't make sense. You don't think Gabe did this do you? You know that whole scorned lover, jealous thing?"
"No, no of course not. At least I don't think so. No, he wouldn't do that." Tess didn't sound convinced even to her own ears. "I have to go, Cat wants you to find out how they found out that Vincent killed Curt Windsor. I thought you had made sure there was no DNA evidence?"
"We took care of it, I went over his body with a fine tooth comb and there was no evidence left anywhere on his body."
"Well they found out something because apparently Vincent is being charged with his murder."
"How is that possible? No one outside our circle knew what happened to Windsor."
"I know and that's what worries me."
"Gabe?"
"I don't know JT. We're just going to have to investigate it." Tess kissed him and left to meet Catherine.
Tess arrived at the precinct in time to see Catherine toss her cell phone onto her desk and put a hand to her eyes as though in great pain.
"Hey, have you found anything out yet?" Tess enquired.
Catherine looked up at Tess, her eyes were rimmed red with barely contained tears, some of that from frustration.
"I cannot get a hold of Gabe, he's either ignoring me, has his phone off or he's just busy. I have left him three messages already to call me back. Nobody will tell me anything about what's going on. Did you get a hold of JT?"
"Um, ya of course. He's looking into things now. Who signed the warrant? It wasn't that judge that Vincent beasted out at is it?"
"No, this is someone else."
"Catherine!" Gabe's panicked voice startled Catherine and Tess as they both turned to see Gabe at a near run coming towards them. "I got your messages, are you okay? Did Vincent hurt you?"
Catherine gave Tess a look and Tess just rolled her eyes at her.
"No, Gabe. Vincent did not hurt me. He was arrested. The 95th came to my apartment this morning with a warrant and took him away. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"
"What? No of course not. He was at your place?"
Catherine just looked at him saying nothing.
"Right, of course. Well what did the warrant say?"
Catherine passed the warrant to Gabe for him to read.
"They are charging him with the murder of Curt Windsor." Gabe stated though it was unnecessary since Catherine already knew that much. "We should probably go somewhere else to go over this, somewhere where we don't have to worry about being over heard."
"We could go to JT's?" Catherine suggested.
"We could but all my law books are at my place I may need them if I have to build a case."
Catherine grabbed the warrant out of Gabe's hands. "What? To prosecute him? I asked you to help me get him out not put him there."
"Catherine, that's not what I meant. I'm not a defence lawyer although I could probably help find one but I need to figure out if they actually have anything to hold him on and for that you need a prosecutor's knowledge. Besides I'm not going to do anything to make you hate me."
"Fine, we'll meet at your place." She said crossing her arms in resignation.
"Okay, I will see you there in a while." With that Gabe turned and walked out of the precinct.
Catherine looked at Tess and sighed. "Wow, that wasn't awkward at all."
Tess just shook her head and laughed.
Once outside the precinct Gabe pulled his cell out of his pocket and quickly dialed, putting the phone to his ear.
"Hey, plans in motion. They picked him up this morning. Once he's been processed I need you to arrange his transfer. Once you get him out in the middle of nowhere I want you to arrange an ambush. I want you to kill him but be careful and be smart, this guy is over and beyond dangerous, he will rip your head off and I don't mean figuratively. Catherine will be coming to my place shortly, I need to make sure she doesn't suspect anything. I'll try to delay her long enough for you to get the job done, just make sure it's done quickly." Gabe disconnected the call and dialed again walking towards his car and disengaging the locks.
"Hey, first stage is done, second is in motion. Once Vincent is out of the way and Catherine comes back to me you will be able to retire someplace warm. I will keep Catherine safe so you won't have to worry about her anymore." Gabe said, getting into his car.
"I'm counting on that Gabe. A word of warning, if you fail it will be your funeral people will be attending." Bob disconnected the call and stood there musing. He wondered if Gabe really was good enough for his daughter and he was starting to suspect that he may need to be eliminated. Catherine should have a fresh start, be with someone who has no idea about beasts so that she could put all of this nonsense behind her.
Vincent remained calm and quiet throughout the whole booking process, he kept calm when they questioned him and kept his right to remain silent. The only evidence that all was not right with his world was the scowl across his brow. This entire ordeal was outrageous and Vincent kept wondering what evidence they had and how they came to know he would be at Catherine's that morning when he himself hadn't known he would be there. Vincent wasn't afraid of being around the criminal element but was a bit trepidatious. These guys can be unpredictable and Vincent couldn't afford to let the beast out even if it meant to protect himself. Knowing he couldn't afford to show even the tiniest hint of weakness, Vincent raised himself to his full 6'3" height, squaring his shoulders and placing the most fierce, confident look he could muster he entered into general population. Vincent let himself relax a bit when it appeared that no one was taking notice of him. He could weather this situation for a while but each day he remained incarcerated raised the chances of the beast making its presence known and that would put Vincent's life in jeopardy. At this moment Vincent was very glad he had gained control of that side of himself, at least for the most part. Vincent knew that Catherine would be doing everything that she could to free him, he would just have to remain patient and in control till then but he vowed that whoever set him up was going to pay and he suspected that he knew exactly who that was.
Gabe made sure everything looked just so for when Catherine showed up. He had law books out and open, writing pads and pencils and he even put coffee on, he was hoping their session would last long into the night or at least long enough for Vincent to be killed. A knock sounded and Gabe went and opened the door to find Catherine there dressed in uniform.
"Why are you dressed like that?"
"You're going to get me into the prison."
"I'm going to do what? Whatever for? Do you know how dangerous it is in there? That's the craziest thing I've ever heard. No, I'm not going to do it."
"Okay, fine I'll find another way in." Catherine turned and started walking down the hall.
"Catherine, wait. Fine. You seem determined to get in, I'll see what I can do." Gabe said his voice tinged with frustration.
Catherine turned back to Gabe's apartment and said as she walked through the doorway, "I knew you would see things my way."
Gabe pressed his lips together in frustration, this woman was going to be the death of him if she didn't get herself killed first.
"So, where do we start?" Catherine asked as she sat at the area that Gabe had set up with all his law books.
"Do you want a coffee before we start?" he asked.
"Oh, no thanks. I already had three cups before I got here, my nerves can't handle anymore."
"Of course." Gabe muttered to himself silently.
"Did you say something?" Catherine enquired.
"What? No, just let's get started then shall we."
Gabe sat down beside Catherine and started going over the warrant and the reasons they had for arresting Vincent.
"It does appear to be mostly circumstantial. The reasoning is that Vincent was in hiding for so long and only came out publically recently and was immediately seen all over the place with Tori and now both her and her father are dead. He's not being convicted of Tori's death since it was obviously done by someone else but they are reasoning that he got her father out of the way so that he could be with her. They actually think they were in on it together. It also appears that Vincent had inherited all the Windsor wealth, so this is what makes him the prime suspect. It really does look bad. It's all very suspicious even if it is circumstantial. With no real leads and no evidence they need someone to pin Windsor's death on, looks like Vincent is at the top of the list. You didn't know that Tori willed him all the Windsor wealth and assets did you?"
"No, I had no idea, not that it matters." Catherine said quietly, thinking. "So there isn't any actual evidence saying he did it though? That must mean something?"
"They can make it look like he killed Curt to get the money and other things, that Tori died they could even try to say he planned for that too. If the prosecution makes a good case he could technically be put away for life. "
Catherine gasped at Gabe's pronouncement. "For life? No. Gabe you have to get me in there. I will go in as a guard, I have to make sure he is okay and we have to figure out a way to get him out."
"Catherine, think about what you are doing. It is dangerous for a woman to go into a male prison, if Vincent beasts out to try and protect you it will mean his death."
Catherine glared at Gabe, "I don't need protection and Vincent knows that better than anyone. Besides there are other guards there as well so I won't actually be alone. Besides there are plenty of female guards in male prisons. So can the arguments and get me into that prison, now!"
Gabe shook his head, "Your wish is my command. Is there anything else you need?"
"Ya, an escape plan."
"This is going to take some time, might as well get comfortable while I make some calls. I still think we should try to refute the warrant first though rather than get both of you in trouble and on the run. We can go over the major points of the warrant and see if we can pick it apart enough that a defence lawyer would be able to go to trial for him. We might just be able to get all charges dropped since most of this is circumstantial. Not only that but we were all involved in Curt Windsor's death, if he goes down who's to say they won't start looking at you or JT maybe even myself. We were all there, we were all witnesses. Let's hope the prosecution doesn't try to force any of us to testify against him."
"They can't do that can they?"
"Well, you're not married to him so technically they can force you to testify. You will probably be considered a hostile witness but you will be under oath. You won't have much of a choice."
"I can plead the 5th."
"Ya, you could but all that really does is make Vincent look even guiltier and you as well. It's not a recommended tactic. Just relax for now, we will work on this together."
Catherine stared at Gabe, "I know I asked you to help but frankly I am surprised you are helping considering how things ended with us."
"Look, I was mad when you told me we were through. I love you and I didn't want to let you go but after cooling off and thinking about it, I had to admit that I knew all along that you didn't have the same feelings for me as I had for you and that you never really stopped loving Vincent. All the signs were there, I was the one who chose to ignore them. I still think he's dangerous and will probably end up hurting you but it's your choice. I just want to still be your friend in case you ever need me, like you do now." Gabe amazed even himself with the sincerity of his little speech, he knew he was a good liar but this was an academy performance if he did say so himself.
Catherine wasn't sure how to take this whole I'm okay with it all I just want to be your friend speech that Gabe just tossed in her lap. For some reason she wasn't entirely convinced but she did need his help and was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, for now. "Well, that's great then. Thank you, Gabe. So, maybe I will take that coffee and let's see what this warrant says and if we can get this whole thing cleared up before it ever goes to trial."
Gabe nodded and turned towards the kitchen to grab two cups of coffee. He silently congratulated himself on winning this small victory with Catherine. He would make sure to drag out this session for all it's worth making sure Catherine stayed away from the prison until he was sure Vincent had been dealt with.