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Chapter 2
Lily walked into her apartment and tossed her keys onto the kitchen countertop as the weighted door slammed shut behind her. She stepped into the kitchen and set the rest of her things down. Reaching for a drink from the fridge, she thought about her encounter in the police station.
Sean Renard. She hadn't seen him in years, bordering more on decades. He was a face she honestly never wanted to see again.
With a sigh, she reached into her back pocket and pulled out the real memory card for her camera. Her laptop was resting off to the side where she'd left it earlier in the day. Pulling it close, she snapped the card into the side and loaded the pictures.
As she scanned through them, she decided which would be good for her client to see. Some were more explanatory than others and those would be the focus of her 'presentation'. In two days her client would return from Washington and have plenty of evidence of her husband's infidelity when she did.
Being a private investigator was shotty work, honestly. She didn't like doing it half the time, but it was something she was good at. Her life gave her the needed skills to remain hidden in the shadows or disappear in the crowd and even with the false documents saying so, Lily never went to school.
The only reason she'd been caught this time was the husband had installed motion sensors since his wife's departure, something Lily hadn't been notified of beforehand. Other than that, she wouldn't have been found.
But, as she had the few times she'd been caught before, Lily feigned ignorance. It was easy for people to forgive someone when they apologized copiously for being an idiot. After she told the arresting officers she thought she was at a friend's house and was so incredibly sorry for trespassing, they weren't as suspicious or angry. The same could be said for the target. He just wanted her off his property, but didn't wish to blacken the record of a harmless young woman who accidently got the house numbers mixed up.
With one hand, Lily dragged the photos she'd give her client into a separate folder and with the other she took a drink of water. She was tired and had to take a shower. There was mud on her clothes from where she'd trudged through the damp grass to get onto the property and leaves in her hair too. It was irritating.
After ensuring she had the files she planned to hand over separated and set aside, Lily headed for her bathroom to take a shower.
~!~
When the day came to hand over the evidence she'd collected to her client, Lily met her at a café downtown. She sipped leisurely on her coffee without any true interest as her client clicked through the pictures Lily had taken growing angrier and angrier as she did. It was a common reaction to seeing your husband banging his secretary, but hardly a new concept and Lily wouldn't have been called if there weren't already suspicions.
"That son of a bitch." She hissed under her breath. "And with his secretary too…"
"Yes well," Lily mumbled primarily to herself. "That chip there is yours to have. I suggest you keep it handy."
"Oh I will." She said as she popped out the memory card and slid it into her purse. "Did you have trouble with the security system?"
"No," Lily replied. Her client had handed over the security codes in order for Lily to put in a few motion-sensing cameras and told her where the flood lights were outside. "I did, however, set off the sensors outside a few days ago. That was a new addition."
"Did he see you?" she asked with a mild wince.
"He had me arrested."
"Oh god. He didn't find out did he?"
She shook her head softly.
"I was nothing more than a lost tourist." Lily replied. "Now, the rest of my fee, if you would."
"Right."
The woman in her mid-forties reached into her purse and pulled out her checkbook. She began to scribble down the needed information before saying something that made Lily smile internally.
"And here's something extra for doing this so quickly." She said as she filled out the number.
With a smile and flick of the wrist, she pulled the check out of the booklet and handed it over. Lily cocked a brow at the amount written.
"This is two thousand dollars." She said with slight shock. "This is double what you owe me."
"Yeah well, that comes out of his checking account, so enjoy the bonus." She said cheerfully as she stood. "I'm going to go talk to a divorce lawyer."
Lily gave her farewell and slipped the check into her satchel alongside her equipment. She wanted to remain behind and finish her drink, but she didn't get the chance.
Without warning, people stormed the café. Legions of people swarmed the streets and began their psychotic rampage. They threw things through windows, tried to overturn vehicles and attacked patrons. It was like a riot without a reason. And their eyes… their eyes were horrifying, bloodshot and focus-less.
When one launched a fellow customer through the window just behind her, Lily knew she couldn't sit idly by.
~!~
The police swarmed the area, but a decent amount of the crazed people was still loose. Nick and Wu were in the second story of a building dealing with a pair that hadn't been subdued. Nick, staring out the window, noticed the woman who'd run off fighting with three policemen. He wanted to help, to take a shot from where he was, but he knew both were useless ideas.
He was given the chance to fight one of his own again when a man in a worker's uniform came out of hiding. Knocking him out as best he could, Nick quickly dragged him downstairs and into the back of his vehicle. He had to take the crazy person to the Spice Shop for help.
~!~
The station was flooded with witnesses and people who were either attacked or were family of those who did the attacking. Either way, they were understaffed for what was happening which meant civilians lined the halls and took up nearly every chair available. It was a staggering amount.
Renard sighed when he saw the amount of people waiting to speak with officers about what happened. Selfishly, he couldn't help but be glad that he didn't have to be in the office for long to deal with the noise and constant flux of distraught people.
He gathered his jacket and looped it over his arm. He had more important things to do, like meet his brother for lunch and pray Eric wasn't foolish enough to kill him in a hotel room. Though, if anyone could get away with it…
As he navigated his way through the overcrowded precinct and into the hall, Renard noticed something –or someone rather- he hadn't expected. Sitting on one of the benches between distraught visitors and looking as though it were any other day, was Lily. He hesitated. Part of him wanted to speak with her, but the majority of him was wise enough not to. Instead, he continued his stroll and soon caught her eye.
They stared at one another without blinking and without words. They were blank, emotionless, but volumes were said. He could see the unresolved anger in her eyes and knew at some point it should be addressed. He just didn't feel like it at the moment. Again, he had more important things to deal with.
Some time after he'd left and Lily was forced to remain, she spoke with one of the many doing the interviews and told them her side. Having been someone who openly got involved with the assailants, she had a bit more to explain.
She told them what happened, when they attacked, and what she did in response. She told them she always kept an asp on her and gladly used it against the ones who seemed unable to feel pain. After ten minutes, perhaps less, she was allowed to leave. She didn't want to be there much longer anyhow and the police had so many more to talk to. Lily gladly left before she could somehow be dragged into whatever was happening.
~!~
Lily was in the middle of making herself something to eat when there was a knock on her door. She cocked a suspicious brow. No one knew where she lived and the apartment wasn't rented in her name. Reaching for a butcher knife from her block, Lily approached the door just as a second knock sounded. Thankful for the peephole, she glanced through and saw little more than a badge being flashed. Her brows came together tightly and –reluctantly- she opened the door.
"You must be joking." She growled through her teeth. Lily opened the door a bit wider than the initial crack when she saw the badge belonged to the police Captain. "Should I bother asking how you found me?"
Renard did little more than raise a single brow. He stowed his badge.
"What do you want?" she asked, not bothering with a falsely kind tone.
He was about to speak when he noticed her firm grip on the hilt of a rather frightening looking butcher knife.
"You really think that's necessary?" he asked in his typical monotone voice.
"I haven't decided yet." She quipped. "Now answer my question."
"I just came to have a conversation." He glanced briefly to the knife again. "Civilly."
"I make no guarantees."
He met her stare again and noticed the ever present anger. He sighed internally, but did his best to keep any real emotion from his features.
"May I come in?" he finally asked. "I'd rather not discuss this in the hallway."
"Depends on what you wish to discuss."
"I know who's responsible for those people downtown."
"And?"
He bit the inside of his cheek. She didn't seem willing to abide by the civility he'd hoped, but he wasn't entirely surprised by her off-putting attitude either.
"Cracher-Mortel." He said reluctantly.
Lily sighed heavily. Her head dipped to the point she pressed her forehead to the side of her door. She didn't want to let him in, she really didn't, but it didn't look as though she had much choice.
"Come in." she said under her breath.
Lily stepped aside and opened the door the rest of the way. Renard stepped into her apartment, but kept his eye on the butcher knife. He didn't look away from the weapon until he'd made it safely out of her arm's reach.
When he entered the living room, he couldn't help but take in his surroundings. It was a nice place with nice furniture, but it was cold. There wasn't a hint of memorabilia telling a visitor anything about who lived there. There were no pictures, no trinkets, no anything. It was oddly stark despite being full of things.
The heavy door's thunk brought him back from his thoughts. He turned around and watched as Lily elected instead to return to her kitchen. He could see her clearly over the bar dividing the two rooms and watched her continue to stir the sauce she had simmering on the stove.
"You've five minutes to explain why a Cracher-Mortel is in Portland and why I should care." She told him without bothering to look up.
Renard hesitated to offer the information he knew would make her help. It was a dangerous thing, to reveal secrets, especially when the secrets weren't his to tell.
"The Cracher-Mortel is here for the Grimm." He said bluntly.
The stove was on the wall with the bar giving Lily the ability to look at Renard as easily as he could see her. When he spoke plainly of Nick, he noticed her shoulders tense and her eyes to lift. She stared at him with her two-toned orbs through her lashes.
"Repeat that for me."
"There's a Grimm in Portland." He said plainly. "And I believe the Cracher-Mortel was sent here… by my brother."
This time she lifted her head completely. He could see a storm brewing in her eyes, one of fear and intense anger.
"Eric."
Renard nodded.
"Why?"
"The family wants the Grimm on their side."
"They must be planning something big if they'd revert to that again."
"Yes well… there's something else." He said primarily under his breath. She simply waited. "Eric's here, in the city."
This time the anger vanished. Fear dominated her features and her already fair skin turned sickly pale. He expected the reaction, but it still didn't prepare him for seeing it.
"He's here." She repeated with a gasp. "One of the family members is here? I… I can't… he can't find me. Sean, they can't know I'm here."
His brows came together. The sullen woman he'd recently grown accustomed to seeing was suddenly transformed again into the frightened thirteen year old girl he'd first met all those years ago.
