"Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change." – Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
K POV
Today was going to be one of those days. Katniss sat on the highway in her black Jeep with the window cracked open. Another Monday morning stuck on I-5 in traffic.
The grey sky above threatened rain. Typical. Katniss shifted into second gear and then shifted right back down. She could hear Cinna's voice in her head now telling her to abandon boring Shoreline and move to Ballard. He had no idea what it felt like to wonder if there was enough money to eat. That was how she could tell him no without losing her temper.
Katniss had felt off all morning. Prim sent her a text at five thirty. What was her sister doing up that early anyway? She must have pulled an all-nighter. Katniss tried and failed to get another hour of sleep. She gave up after twenty minutes and got ready for work.
Because she had the extra time, Katniss made real oatmeal instead of instant. Mmm, it tasted so good. She was so caught up in the buttery goodness of her breakfast, she barely had time to shower and get dressed.
She blew her hair dry and braided it before twisting it into a bun. It listed to the left, but she did not have time to fix it.
What to wear? The boring black suit or the boring blue suit. Fall had begun, but she wanted it to be spring, so Katniss went for the light grey slacks and a white blouse. She pulled on her dark green cardigan, and stepped into a pair of kitten heeled Mary Janes. Katniss learned the hard way high heels were not for her, a fact that drove Cinna insane. She fed her Beta fish, a gift from Prim to prevent loneliness, and hurried to work.
To sit in traffic. That was how Katniss knew it was going to be one of those days. She changed lanes only making it up to third gear. Prim really worried about Katniss for no good reason. Shift up, shift down. Katniss was doing just fine by herself. Shift up, shift down. She had even made friends with the elderly couple that lived below her. Someone tried to cut Katniss off. Not today, loser. She blocked the car out. Her neighbors said she reminded them of their grandchildren. She did not need a fish for company.
Finally, her exit arrived, and she weaved further into downtown.
Katniss had been an Assistant District Attorney for King County in Seattle for two years now. She pulled her Jeep into the underground lot and road the elevator up to the suites that held the District Attorney's offices.
"Cutting it close, Counselor Everdeen," said Madge, rolling her chair back as Katniss hurried around the corner. Their desks were crammed in next to each other on the floor where the ADAs and legal aid worked. "That's not like you."
"My sister woke me up at an unholy hour," said Katniss dumping her things under the desk as she sat down. "And it messed up my entire routine." She still needed to read Prim's text message.
Katniss was about the check the text when she saw a familiar pair of black pumps coming her way. Katniss sat up straight in her chair.
"You wrapped up that domestic murder case quickly," said District Attorney Coin, the head prosecutor in Seattle. Katniss never liked to talk directly to the DA. Her steel grey hair always distracted Katniss. She could not figure out if it was a wig or real.
The case Coin referred to had become very messy very quickly. And it felt like it dragged on forever to Katniss. A neighbor called the police from a payphone saying he heard gunshots. They found two children and the babysitter riddled with bullets on the living room floor. Everyone thought the killer must have used an AK-47 to do the job the crime scene was so gory.
Katniss originally believed that they were victims of a robbery. Missing jewelry along with other expensive items pointed in that direction. The parents were devastated by the senseless murders. No one, especially their precious children and great babysitter, had to die over things that could be replaced. Those were some bleak days at work trying to console the family.
Katniss listened to the 911 call on tape. The neighbor sounded so familiar, but she could not place the voice. And the murder weapon was not an AK-47. It was a pistol. The killer had reloaded twice.
The detectives looked everywhere for clues that made sense. They said something about the crime came across staged. Katniss had to agree. The murders had happened at the perfect moment. A twenty minute block of time when all the neighbors were gone expect for one, who they could not locate, and the killer knew the combination to the safe in the master bedroom. The detectives knew for sure there was only one killer. How had that person known so much about the neighborhood and why this house? It could not be random.
One day, the detectives found out where the husband liked to get hammered every once in a while. The bartender remembered how the guy would not stop ranting one particular night. He had to call a cab for the husband.
It turned out that the husband talked about the desire to kill his children because he learned his wife had had an affair the first year of their marriage. He wanted to make her hurt like he did when he found out she cheated. The confession had really unnerved the bartender. The venom in the husband's voice while he spoke about his wife was scary.
Except the wife never cheated, Katniss later learned. She spent time with a man she knew from college. They would meet for lunch once a week, and her alleged lover was still living in the closet.
The case had torn Katniss apart. Why hadn't the husband confronted his wife? Why didn't he get a divorce if he didn't trust her? How could he kill innocent people that he knew and supposedly loved to prove a point? At the end of the day, the babysitter was nothing more than a necessary casualty in an effort to execute his form of justice. Sometimes this job really took a toll on Katniss.
Although she knew what had happened, Katniss still needed proof. And the sorry excuse for a human being had done a good job of cleaning up after himself. Katniss spent so many hours trying to nail him to the wall. She had not slept much after the case landed on her desk.
A different approach was needed. Katniss tried to think like him. A deranged murderer. He was a very meticulous man. When she had interviewed him at the home, the desk in his office was perfectly organized. Not a pen was out of place. Everything in his life had to be just so. She tracked down a storage locker in the name of one of his deceased children in Bellevue. Gotcha! Katniss remembered taking Gale with her to the storage facility. She always felt safe with him. He cut the lock and they found all the evidence they needed and more. Four months of hell were over.
The detectives on the case asked her how she figured it out. They were great, but like everyone else in the justice system, were overworked without enough resources. Katniss said the husband was the kind of guy who wouldn't want to leave a trail, but would want to keep the evidence like it was a trophy. That way he could always remember how he taught his wife a lesson.
Needless to say, Katniss gave the wife the phone number for a very good divorce attorney.
What was a wife to do in that situation? Her husband who seemed to love her was a fraud. He was a sociopath in disguise. Taking away their children was beyond the ultimate betrayal. There was no way the wife could possibly recover from that. Katniss was not having children. The world was too dangerous. Anything bad could happen to them; Katniss should know.
"We ran into a bit of luck," Katniss told DA Coin.
"I think it was more than that," said Coin giving Katniss a tight smile. The woman could not even smile normally. "You're showing real promise." She went back to her office and Katniss had to suppress the urge to grab at the woman's hair.
"Aren't we moving up the ladder?" joked Madge.
"Very funny," said Katniss sarcastically. She turned back to her desk, which was kind of a mess, and went to work. Today a case good old-fashioned fraud had to be tackled. It was a welcome one considering the rough time she had with the murdering husband.
Finally, the lunch hour meandered around, and Katniss picked up her bag.
"Going to see Gale?" asked Madge wiggling her brows suggestively.
"Yeah," said Katniss. "He wants me to meet him at the precinct before we go to lunch."
"You know he likes you, right?" said Madge. Here we go again. They always had this conversation.
"We are just friends," said Katniss. "We've been friends since high school. Sometimes, we go fishing together. Nothing more."
"Whatever you say," replied Madge not sounding convinced at all. "But guys that look like Gale don't have girls for friends."
Katniss said goodbye and left. Maybe Madge had a point. Gale was very good looking. Women perked up when he was around. Katniss had noticed that since high school. It was part of being around Gale. There were times when Katniss could tell Gale wanted something more with her though. She could see it for a split second in his eyes. But she did not want to cross that line, and he never pushed. So they remained friends. Katniss liked it that way. Being around Gale was so easy. He was comfortable. Steady. An important part of her life who was not going anywhere.
Katniss got inside of her Jeep and drove over to the precinct. Gale was not at his desk, so she sat down in his terribly uncomfortable chair, waiting for him to come back. Everyone knew her or knew of her. It was hard not to when she worked in the District Attorney's office.
Katniss was opening a game of FreeCell when she felt a pair of eyes on her. She looked around and found Special Agent Peeta Mellark looking her way while he sat at someone else's desk. Their gazes met for a second before her eyes skittered away.
Not him she thought desperately. It really was a horrible day. Katniss had meticulously avoided Peeta for almost two years. What was he doing here? He was a federal agent, not local law enforcement. Their building was in another part of town.
When Katniss first came to work as an Assistant District Attorney, she had no idea what she was getting in to. She might be a whiz at memorizing court cases and getting a conviction in mock trials, but she did not realize how treacherous the District Attorney's office would be. She was not ready for the overwhelming caseload. She did not expect how bad life would be at the bottom of the totem pole. ADAs were an ambitious bunch, and they would step on anyone who got in their way to the top.
After two months, Katniss wanted to quit and work for a private practice. She was guaranteed a large salary so she would never have to worry about taking care of Prim and her mother anymore. That was why she became a lawyer in the first place. She wanted the stability that money provided, and she was too squeamish to become a doctor.
Katniss was working on her second case. It was a murder. DA Coin did not believe in easing her new ADAs. A mobster was turning up a lot of dead bodies. He had just taken over the underworld of Seattle and was trying to send a message to everyone around. Katniss' case involved a former bookie for the previous boss.
Everywhere Katniss looked, nothing worked. All of the evidence gathered would not have a snowball's chance in hell of bringing about a conviction. Katniss knew the feds were building a case to take down the entire operation. She told Gale how she wanted to ask them for information.
"They won't help you," he had said with a hard look in his eyes. "All they care about is themselves. They look out for each other. And then they swoop in and take over our cases. It pisses me off."
Gale did tend to rant, but he was right. He only tolerated Finnick, who had just made it to Special Agent, because Katniss demanded it. All of the federal agents and U.S. District attorneys kept brushing Katniss off as she pressed for any scrap of information. Finnick said his hands were tied, meaning he could not help her with this one. She was not going to put his new job that he worked so hard for in jeopardy. Katniss used her last resort. She asked DA Coin to help. It turned out to be a complete waste of time. The DA said she could not give Katniss special treatment just because she was new. Katniss needed to navigate this one on her own.
Katniss had to get out of that office before she hurt her boss. She went to Mockingjay's thinking of how she failed in life, eating cheesy bread to cheer herself up. She could be a tax lawyer. It would be boring, but it was a steady paycheck. Or the dreaded corporate law. This was awful.
A file landed on her table.
Katniss looked up and saw Special Agent Peeta Mellark. Her eyes widened in surprise. She did not really know him although she had seen him around. She hardly paid him any attention, and she got the feeling that Gale did not like him at all. Peeta tended stick with the other federal agents when local and federal law enforcement had to team up.
"I thought you might need this," he said looking down at Katniss.
She just stared at him. Why was he here?
"I brought you the file on the new boss," said Peeta. It was as though he could read her mind. "There's some stuff about your bookie in there. It's all we have, but it should be enough to get a conviction."
Katniss finally found her tongue. "Why are you doing this?" It made no sense. How did he know about her case?
"You need it," said Peeta.
"Won't you get into trouble?"
He smiled. It was like the sun breaking through the clouds. Where had that thought come from? Focus Katniss.
"I've got that covered," said Peeta confidently.
This did not make any sense. He had no reason to help her. What did he think he would gain from giving her the key to closing this case? There were no free rides. Katniss had learned that lesson very well back in West Virginia.
"How did you find me?" she asked suspicious. It was not like anyone knew where she was really. Yeah, she came her a lot, but still.
Now he looked uncomfortable. "Someone at your office told me," he said looking out the window. "I mean, someone guessed you might be here. I've got to go." And he left. He did not wait for a thank you. He did not demand a favor or anything from her in return.
The next day, after Katniss finished building her case with the evidence Peeta had shared, she went to the Federal Bureau of Investigation building in Seattle. Katniss rode the elevator up to Peeta's floor. She even caught his eye, but then she veered off in a different direction. She ended up hiding in the bathroom for an hour. It was a rather pathetic thing for a grown woman to do.
When Katniss was sure Peeta was gone, she went outside to her Jeep. Well, she ran, but who was counting? A farewell to spring bloom was stuck on her windshield. Her father had taught her the names of some flowers when she was young. Katniss went out of her way to learn more names. She picked it up and sat on the passenger's seat. Katniss knew what she had to do now to survive as an ADA.
Katniss was going to start taking a more proactive part in her cases. If the feds did not want to help, she would be fine without them. She was going to start getting out of the office and looking everywhere for evidence. The detectives worked more than one case at a time, doing whatever the job asked of them. So could she. Katniss would not sit waiting for evidence to come to her. She would find it for herself.
After that, Katniss went out of her way not to see Peeta. She wanted to thank him for helping her, but there was never a good time for it. And she was afraid he would ask her to do something for him. Hopefully, he would forget they even spoke. Katniss just did not understand him. Why had he gone out on a limb for a stranger?
Katniss did not thank Peeta for the next five months. Winning the impossible case had gained her a lot of status in the DA's office. She was getting better cases and made second chair. Not bad for someone her age. She had reached a turning point. She knew she could survive in the justice system. She did not need to go to corporate law and sell her soul to rich people exploiting everyone else.
Peeta was the golden link in her chain of hope.
But something awful happened after those five months. Katniss had been working on a case to take down a drug ring. They had cops undercover trying to bring it down from the inside. Of course, the feds were involved, a fact that drove Gale nuts. Everything was going well until she received a note to go to DA Coin's office. She felt like she was being called to the principal's office.
"There's our best and brightest," said DA Coin. "Have a seat."
Katniss did as she was told. She waited for Coin to look up from some document she was reading.
"Alright," said Coin putting down the paper. "Give me an update on Gibb case."
That was the name of the brothers running the drug ring. Katniss had thought it was funny because the famous music group, the BGs, were the Brothers Gibb. Then she saw how they disposed of people they thought were traitors, and they were no longer humorous.
Katniss went through her progress. The police had done a good job of infiltrating the drug ring. They had three guys on the inside. They had collected solid evidence. But the prosecution needed to move before the undercover cops were discovered.
"I think we really have a good chance to take them out," said Katniss.
"About that," said Coin. "I've decided we aren't going to prosecute. From what I have seen, you don't have nearly enough evidence to take down a drug ring of that size."
Katniss was shocked and then she was angry. "I can make a case," said Katniss her temper rising. "We can't just throw it all away."
"Katniss," said Coin fixing cold grey eyes on her. "There is a reason why I am DA and you are not. I have to make the hard decisions. You don't."
Katniss could not believe her case had been killed by politics. But what could Coin gain by leaving this drug ring alone? It did not make sense.
She needed to get out of this room, but Katniss remembered her manners at the last second as she stood in the doorway. "Is there anything else we need to talk about?"
"Oh, yes," said Coin with that empty smile on her face. "Now that you've brought it up, I need you to go and tell the police you are not prosecuting. I think they should hear it in person, don't you?"
She was officially throwing Katniss under the bus. Every cop in the city was going to hate her thanks to Coin. It was so unfair. But what could Katniss do? She might not be at the bottom of the totem pole, but she would always be under Coin.
That was a long journey going to the police station. Katniss learned the names of the officers who were under cover. One of them was Peeta. Please not him she had thought. But he was apart of it. Katniss told the undercover cops and their superiors in a small office how she was not prosecuting the case. Everyone lost it. They yelled at her for not doing her job while they put their lives on the line. Katniss felt lower than dirt. The worst part was Peeta did not say anything. Eventually everyone stormed out expect for Peeta.
He gave her this look that just killed her. There was so much emotion in his eyes. She felt like he was trying to tell her something with that look. It had been too much. Katniss had run.
Gosh, that had been a terrible time. Once Gale learned what happened, he did not speak to her for three weeks. And he was supposed to be her best friend. Only her sister Primrose had tried to cheer her up, but it was no use. The police were openly hostile to her for months when she had to work with them on cases. The Special Agents were worse. But Katniss was not a quitter. She knew she could survive this jungle, and she made them respect her with results. Everyone came around and things settled down. Life at work was fine.
Except Peeta. That look haunted Katniss. And she had been running from him ever since.
Out of nowhere someone covered her eyes.
"Guess who?"
"Gale," said Katniss smiling coming out of her reverie. "Don't you thing we're a little too old to still be doing that?"
"Never Catnip," he said. It was kind of unnerving how Gale could sneak up on her. Katniss never heard him coming. But they have always been like this. She got used to it. "Ready for lunch?"
"Yes," said Katniss closing out the card game. They went to the usual place: Mockingjay's Bakery and Bistro. Everything there tasted heavenly. Katniss would eat every single delicacy if she had the time. Gale always teased her about eating her food so quickly.
"It's not going anywhere, Catnip," he would say, but she could not help herself.
They talked about work after they got their order. That was all they talked about these days. Katniss did not like how things were becoming impersonal between them.
"Are you seeing anyone?" asked Katniss after she finished her sandwich. She was working her way through an apple tart.
Gale looked up surprised. The fork paused halfway up to his mouth. It was actually pretty funny, but Katniss did not laugh.
"No one special," he said. Katniss knew Gale was far from celibate. He kept that part of his life separate from her, but she still knew what he was doing.
"Does that mean you're seeing several no ones?" asked Katniss.
He put the fork down. "I guess you could put it that way," said Gale. He looked in her eyes like he was searching for something. "Do you have any plans this weekend? I was going to catch a baseball game."
"Yeah," said Katniss smiling. "I mean I would love to come." That was better. This was the kind of thing she did with her best buddy. "We haven't done something like this in a long time."
"We haven't," said Gale starting to eat again. "Have I been neglecting you?"
"Of course not," said Katniss. "We just got caught up with other things."
"Let's not do it again," he said smiling. "You're too important to me for that."
A good response failed to come to Katniss. Luckily, Gale's phone rang. He answered it while Katniss wondered how deeply she should read into what he had just said. It sounded like he was confessing something he had kept close to his heart. And Katniss did not know what to do with it.
Gale hung up. "You know how you can tell if you're watching a good cop show?" he asked.
"How?" she asked.
"They show that we never get to finish a meal," said Gale. "I have to go. We caught a break on a case and, I need to visit a person of interest right now."
"That's why we come in separate cars," said Katniss. They hugged each other. Gale clung to her just a bit longer than usual. Then he was gone.
Katniss finished the rest of her apple tart, and went back to work. The fraud case was not exciting, but she was glad it did not involve any dead bodies. They smelled awful. Instead, Katniss spent the rest of the day poring over documents that had been sent over by the forensic accountant. This one was a dozy. Katniss felt like she needed an MBA to understand it. The couple was forging checks from information they stole from their neighbor's recycling bins. They also forged documents from law firms. Did people have no shame?
The girlfriend had taken it one step further and started sending false documents to their bank to stop their house from going into foreclosure. A phony law firm she had created later, and the proceedings stopped on their house. Then she started doing the same thing for other houses in their area. She rented them out to unsuspecting people who thought they were getting a good deal. She might have gotten away with it, but she always picked really nice houses. It became apparent to the other residents that someone was off.
They called the police who opened an investigation. The houses were indeed stolen. The girlfriend actually had the nerve to say she had no idea why she was being arrested.
"I'm leaving," said Madge.
"I still have a couple more hours of work," said Katniss sitting in a sea of papers. Madge frowned. "Katniss, we have litigators like me to do that stuff."
"He did a great job," said Katniss. "I'm just going over some things."
"You can't do it all," said Madge gently. "That's why we have detectives and litigators. There's a system for a reason."
"I know that," said Katniss. "I'm just an extra pair of eyes. I would hate it if one of my cases got thrown out in appellate court. So I double-check. I'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight," said Madge reluctantly as she left the office.
Katniss kept working until she realized it was after nine o'clock.
Crap. She was late. Katniss threw her casework into her briefcase and picked up her bag. She hurried to her Jeep and flew to the other side of town. Katniss literally ran into the bar after looking for a parking spot for ten minutes.
"If it isn't the intrepid lawyer," said Cinna. "Making the streets of Seattle safer one murder/pervert/ psycho at a time."
"You should have been a stand up comedian instead of a fashion designer," said Katniss leaning in for a hug. They had ordered her usual gin and tonic.
"I think you're right Katniss," said Portia smiling. Her and Portia had roomed together in college. Katniss had been worried about making friends after Gale went to the police academy. But her and Portia had become fast friends. They meet Cinna in their sophomore year and kept in touch.
"How are things at the shop?" asked Katniss. Cinna and Portia owned a boutique together. They were brilliant designers. Their work was classic without being tired. Edgy without being outrageous. Those two just understood how to make clothes look good on people.
"Great," said Cinna. "We have enough business to open another shop."
"It's a big step," said Portia. "We can't just jump in to opening another location." Katniss knew she was a little overwhelmed by their success. But Cinna would guide her through it. They balanced each other out. Nowadays, Katniss could not imagine one without the other.
"How are things at the office?" asked Cinna taking a sip of his vodka on the rocks.
"The same," said Katniss. "My boss talked to me again today. She said I was doing well."
"That's good," said Portia drinking her strawberry daiquiri. "Isn't it?"
"Yeah," said Katniss. "It is good. But there's something about her that is off. I don't know what it is, but I can't shake that feeling."
"It's the hair," said Cinna. "I saw it with my own eyes, and I think it's a wig. I mean, there's no way hair could naturally look like that."
"It's like she cut it with a slide ruler," said Katniss. Her friends laughed. They kept drinking, and talking. Katniss ordered another drink and Cinna ordered two. They kept it up until Portia wanted to do karaoke. Then they switched her to water.
"I'm going to a baseball game with Gale this weekend," said Katniss still nursing her second drink. "I think it's just what we need."
"I think he wants to go past third base with you," said Cinna slyly.
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" asked Katniss throwing up her hands in defeat. "He sees other women."
"But I don't think he gives them as much time as he gives you," said Portia. She was eyeing someone else's table that had a bright pink strawberry daiquiri with envy.
"What time is it?" asked Katniss.
"Almost midnight," said Cinna looking at his watch.
"Oh my gosh," said Katniss. "I have to go. I have work in the morning."
"So do we," said Cinna.
"I am not the owner at my job," said Katniss. "The government employs me, and I can't show up hung over."
"You say that every time we go out," said Portia pouting. She was definitely going to be hung over tomorrow. It was a good thing Cinna was driving.
"If you didn't live in boring Shoreline, you could stay longer," said Cinna in an annoying sing song voice.
Here we go again.
"I like my affordable apartment," said Katniss. "And Shoreline is a very nice place to live. You would know that if you came to visit more often."
"Of course it is," Portia rushed to say trying to keep the peace. "Same time next week?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," said Katniss, hugging her friends goodbye as she left the bar.
Katniss drove home and crawled into bed. She was not going to be able to concentrate on work tonight. But that was why she had worked so late in the first place. It was not such a bad day besides seeing Peeta. It turned out pretty good. Katniss feel into a deep sleep.
Bing. Bing. Bing.
The next morning Katniss felt like there were cotton balls in her mouth. Someone had sent her another text message. Could she put texts on vibrate only? She loved her phone, but she was still getting used to it. Katniss picked it up and looked at the screen. Another message from Prim. Oh, crap, she forgot to read the one from yesterday.
Katniss opened the message and felt the blood drain from her face. Prim had sent her a photo of a piece of paper that looked exactly like the letters the Hunger Killer sent his victims before he cut out their hearts.
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