CHAPTER 2.
"If this is just because Fraser won't let you have a midnight snack, I'm gonna kick you in the head!"
Ray Kowalski staggered towards the front door of the Consulate in the dark with Diefenbaker running ahead. Being undercover as Ray Vecchio was his life now and he couldn't imagine going back to his old life any time soon, but the wolf was something Lieutenant Welsh had forgotten to mention when he'd talked him into taking the job. Fraser seemed to think he could communicate with the animal – maybe he could, Fraser could do a lot of weird and wonderful things – but to Ray, all those barks and yaps were just regular animal noises.
"I still don't know how you got into my apartment at two in the morning," continued Ray. "I don't think I want to know, but this had better be important."
Ray was trying to stay calm. As soon as he'd felt Dief's wet nose nudging him awake he'd known something must be very wrong. He'd tried calling Fraser at the Consulate, but he figured there was a problem with the line because he was getting a busy tone the whole time. So he'd jumped in the car and raced through the neon lit streets of Chicago to check on his buddy.
Ray knocked on the heavy wooden door. "Fraser!" he called out, but there was no reply.
Ray wasn't going to wait any longer. Something was badly wrong, he just knew it. He got out his credit card, slipped it into the tiny gap between the door and the doorframe and clicked the lock open.
Thank god Fraser didn't fix that yet.
Ray drew his gun and followed Dief into the building. He almost tripped over the phone from the front desk which had been pulled out of the wall. The door to the other room was wide open and Ray immediately saw Fraser lying on his back on the floor with a large, angry bruise on his temple. There was blood everywhere .
Ray's heart lurched into his mouth. "Fraser!" he said urgently. He quickly checked around the room, but there was no one else there. He re-holstered his gun and crouched beside the still form of his best friend.
Ray checked for a pulse.
Please don't be dead.
Ray's touch was enough to rouse the hypersensitive Mountie. "Ray?" he croaked.
"Just stay still, buddy," urged Ray.
"How did you know?" asked a confused Fraser.
"Dief came to find me," explained Ray. "You're bleeding from somewhere. Who did this to you?"
"It's not my blood," replied Fraser, easing himself to a sitting position. "It's hers. She was here, Ray. Victoria."
Ray couldn't believe it. Fraser had told him all about Victoria Metcalf. He'd never seen his buddy as distressed as he had been that night as they'd sat around a campfire together and Fraser had tried to explain everything. If Ray was honest, a lot of it hadn't made much sense to him, but he knew that this evil woman had changed Fraser. She'd stolen part of who Benton Fraser was and he would never be able to get that back.
"Are you sure it was her?" asked Ray. Stupid question, Kowalski. He could have kicked himself in the head.
"Yes, Ray," replied Fraser, flatly.
Fraser tried to stand, but his legs buckled underneath him and Ray had to grab him by the arms. "Woah there, buddy," said Ray and he led him to the sofa to sit down. Ray picked up the crumpled blanket and wrapped it around Fraser's shoulders. He looked into his eyes; his pupils were enlarged. That's not good. "You look all weird," he announced.
"Her fingers," replied Fraser, wishing the room would stop spinning. "I put them…in my mouth."
"OK," replied Ray nervously. He didn't want to know the details.
"Poison," continued Fraser. "It was on her fingers."
How could I fall for that? How could I let her do this to me?
Fraser looked around the room and suddenly a sense of dread washed over him. "Where's Dief?" he said urgently.
"He was here a minute ago," replied Ray, puzzled.
"He's gone after her!" exclaimed Fraser, trying to get to his feet. "We have to stop him, Ray. She'll kill him."
Ray was startled by the urgency in his voice and he tried to steady his friend, but Fraser didn't have enough strength anyway and he collapsed back onto the sofa. "Take it easy," said Ray.
At that moment Diefenbaker came running back into the room, panting for breath. He crossed straight to a relieved Fraser and nuzzled into him.
"It's alright," said Fraser, ruffling his furry ears. "She's long gone by now. You shouldn't have done that, it's not safe." He turned to Ray. "He said there's no trail. She's covered her tracks."
Ray nodded. "OK, so what do we do now?" he asked.
Fraser swallowed hard. "Please get me a pencil and paper," he said.
Ray screwed up his face in puzzlement, but followed his buddy's request anyway, running out the front desk to find a pad and a pencil.
"Thank you kindly, Ray," said Fraser. He closed his eyes for a second, before opening them again and starting to sketch.
Ray was always amazed by Fraser's ability to sketch at lightning speed. The details he was able to recall were always perfect and his skill had proved invaluable on more than one case. Ray couldn't quite work out what he was drawing this time, though.
Eventually, Fraser finished and studied the results, scrutinising the page from all angles. Then his shoulders slumped and he hung his head.
"What's up?" asked Ray.
"I should have seen it," replied Fraser, his voice cracking with emotion. He spun the page around to show Ray.
Ray recoiled slightly as he realised Fraser had drawn some very graphic depictions of a wound. They wouldn't look out of place in one of those creepy horror comics that some of the kids loved these days, he thought.
"Victoria arrived here this evening bleeding heavily from an abdominal wound," Fraser explained. "This wound." He threw the pad onto the floor in disgust. "She came here begging for my help, Ray, but look at the angle of entry and…" he realised that Ray had no idea what he was talking about. "I thought someone had stabbed her, but…but it was self-inflicted."
"Jeez," said Ray. "She stabbed herself?"
"She took a huge risk," continued Fraser with a heavy sigh. "If I hadn't been here she would most likely have bled to death."
"Then she knew you were here," Ray pointed out. "She could have been watching you for days."
Fraser hung his head as the realisation hit home. Of course, Ray was right. The pieces were starting to fit together now.
Ray put a supportive hand his shoulder. "You OK?" he asked.
Fraser shrugged. He didn't feel OK, he felt like his heart had been chewed up and spat out. "Thank you for coming, Ray," he said.
"I guess the furball deserves a donut," replied Ray.
Fraser smiled and ruffled Dief's ears again.
"Why did she do it?" asked Ray.
"I don't know yet," replied Fraser. "But she must have had a good reason. She had a plan, but I can't make sense of it yet."
"You've taken nasty blow to the head there, buddy," Ray said. "I should get you to the hospital. When the concussion clears you'll figure it all out, I'm sure."
"I'm fine, Ray," replied Fraser. "I just need to rest for a while."
xXxXx
As dawn broke Ray was thankful that the Ice Queen favoured such strong coffee. Three cups of the stuff he'd found in the kitchen had kept him awake. He turned his gun over and over in his hand. It had been there the whole time; Ray wasn't taking any chances.
Fraser's eyes opened and he groaned.
"How are you feeling?" asked Ray.
How am I feeling? "Oh, you mean physically," replied Fraser. "A little achy, that's all."
"I called the Duck Boys," said Ray. "Dewey was pissed, but he can wait a couple more hours until McAlister and Johnson get there."
"What did you tell him?" asked Fraser.
"Nothing," replied Ray. "Don't worry."
"Thank you," said Fraser with half a smile.
Fraser got himself cleaned up and dressed. "We should be out on the streets asking questions, Ray," he said. "Someone must have seen her, someone must know something."
Ray wasn't sure his buddy was up to it, but they needed to do something if they had any hope of finding Victoria.
They walked the streets all day, stopping only briefly for Ray to force Fraser to eat and drink. He was worried that, in the space of just a few hours, this situation had started to consume Fraser from the inside.
I'm not gonna let that bitch get away with doing this to him. Not again. I've got his back this time.
As darkness started to fall, Fraser could fight the exhaustion no longer and he collapsed onto a bench. "We're not going to find her, are we," he said with a heavy sigh.
"Don't give up just yet," encouraged Ray.
"We should get back to the Consulate," replied Fraser. He couldn't think what else to do.
What am I missing?
Ray couldn't think of a better plan at that moment so they started walking back.
Fraser could barely put one foot in front of the other. He was physically and emotionally drained. "It doesn't make any sense, Ray," he said.
"OK, let's go over it again," replied Ray. "She turns up here in Chicago, a city where she's got an outstanding arrest warrant for murder and stabs herself. She comes to you, knowing you'll help her, but then she drugs you, beats you around the head and runs off. You're right, buddy. It doesn't make any sense."
The Consulate was in darkness when they got back. Inspector Thatcher and Constable Turnbull were both in Ottowa for five days. Victoria must have been fully aware of that, of course, Fraser realised.
"Can I get you anything?" Ray asked. "D'you want tea? Something to eat?"
"There's more to it, Ray," said Fraser, suddenly. "There are things I haven't told you about what happened."
"You don't have to tell me," replied Ray. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hear any more anyway. It scared him to think that Fraser could have been so weak and vulnerable.
"I do," said Fraser and he took a deep breath. "She has a hold over me, Ray. I can't explain it. I lose myself when I'm with her. I lose all sense of who I am." His voice hitched.
"You don't have to do this now," said Ray. He didn't want to see Fraser break down again. "Sometimes it's good to let it out," he continued. He knew that only too well himself. "But not yet, OK? Give yourself some more time."
Fraser didn't need more time, though. "While she was here last night, she…she kissed me," he explained. He paused for breath before continuing. Just talking about it was exhausting. "She tried to seduce me," he finally managed to say. "We almost made love. I wanted to, Ray, I wanted to so badly, but...we didn't. Then she begged me to leave town with her."
Ray tried to take it all in. This is what Victoria had done before, wasn't it? She'd used sex to manipulate him and then when she had his trust she'd done everything in her power to hurt him. Why had Fraser fallen for the same trick again? What did this woman have over him?
"You didn't go with her before, why did she think you would this time?" asked Ray.
"I didn't, that's true," admitted Fraser, "but only because Ray shot me."
"No," Ray shook his head firmly. "Hey, you told me all this, remember. You thought you wanted to go with her, but your head was screwed. You weren't gonna get on a train with her, you were gonna bring her in."
Fraser shrugged. Was that really what he was going to do?
Maybe…I can't remember now.
Just then there was a knock at the door.
"Stay there, Fraser," Ray instructed. "I'll get it."
With his gun in his hand, Ray cautiously opened the door. A young woman was standing on the doorstep. She had bleached blonde hair and seemed underdressed for the chill of a spring evening in the city. "Who are you?" snapped Ray. "Canada's closed."
"I was told I could find the Mountie here," replied the woman.
"Who told you?" asked Ray suspiciously.
"A friend," answered the woman. "She asked me to give him this letter."
"Who's your friend? What does she look like?" Ray quizzed her.
"She's not really a friend, I barely know her," the woman explained. "She's been renting a bedsit in my building. Er, she has dark curly hair and…"
Fraser quickly joined his friend at the door. "Come in," he said, interrupting her.
Ray scowled. This could be a trap, he thought.
The young woman looked nervously around as she stepped inside. She thrust the letter into Fraser's hand. Fraser tore open the envelope and started to read.
"What's your name?" Ray asked the woman.
"Kelly," she replied, nervously. "Can I go now?"
"No. In here," Ray snapped and he manhandled her into the other room and pushed her onto the sofa.
He turned back just in time to see Fraser slump to his knees.
"What does it say?" Ray asked, gently.
"She's sorry," whispered Fraser.
"And you believe her?" asked Ray.
"She came back to do it all again, Ray, but she couldn't go through with it this time," Fraser explained. He handed his friend the letter.
Ray wasn't sure if he wanted to read it and he hesitated after the first line.
Fraser got to his feet and went to talk to Kelly while Ray read the letter. The writing was scruffy and Ray had trouble deciphering a few of the words. It had obviously been written in a hurry and, if Ray had learnt anything about analysing handwriting over the years, Victoria had been in a distressed and emotional state when she'd written it. Ray's nostrils flared with anger as he read down the page. She was one sick woman, he realised and if he hadn't already known what she'd done to Fraser he might have started to feel sorry for her.
She'd had enough of life on the run, but she knew she could never go back to prison and so she'd planned to end her own life, but not before she'd finished the job she'd started three years ago. She wanted to bring Fraser down with her, to destroy him for good this time. Her plan had been to seduce Fraser, have one final night of wild passion and then kill herself, leaving enough evidence behind to frame Fraser for her rape and murder. At the last minute, though, she'd realised she couldn't go through with her plan. So instead she'd used the drug she'd planned to use on herself - to dull the pain of bleeding to death - on Fraser and then she'd just walked away.
Ray felt a wave of nausea rise up and he forced it down. He had to stay strong for Fraser. So this was the woman Fraser loved, was it? Wow, Victoria Metcalf was seriously disturbed. Was all of this really caused by Fraser turning her in to the cops all those years ago? He knew that's what Fraser thought. Fraser had always blamed himself for the whole mess and the guilt he'd carried with him for so long was why he couldn't get her out of his head.
Ray glanced towards the other room. He could see Fraser interrogating Kelly, writing down as many details as he could as the young woman spoke. Ray sighed. He would be perfectly happy to let Victoria kill herself - as far as he was concerned it was just one less execution for the State to pay for - but Fraser wasn't going to see it like that. He wasn't going to let her go that easily, he was going to be more determined than ever now to find her.
"Fraser," said Ray, tucking the letter into the back pocket of his jeans.
"She only left a few hours ago, Ray," said Fraser, urgently. "We need to get an APB out on her. Let's get all major routes covered and the ports and airports too. You and I can head up the search teams. I know her, I know the kinds of places she might go to if she decides to stay in Chicago."
"Fraser, let her go," said Ray.
"Oh yes, of course," replied Fraser. "My apologies, Kelly, you've been most helpful. Thank you kindly." He leapt up and showed the young woman to the door.
"I didn't mean her, Fraser," said Ray when Kelly had left.
Fraser nodded slowly. "I know," he said, quietly.
"I'll call it in," said Ray, "but then you and me are gonna get a pizza and watch a game and forget all about Victoria Metcalf."
"But, Ray," protested Fraser. "You read the letter, she's desperate. I can't allow her to take her own life."
"D'you really believe that's what she's gonna do? Seems to me like she's pretty good at deceiving you, Fraser. Don't you think maybe she just wrote that letter to make you feel guilty again?" Ray was trying to keep the anger out of his voice, but he couldn't fool Fraser.
"You don't know her, Ray," pleaded Fraser. "She's not…well, she is…but, I think I can help her."
"You think you can help everyone," Ray pointed out.
For once Fraser didn't have an answer. He turned away from Ray, determined to keep his composure, but he couldn't stop the tears from falling.
"Hey, buddy," said Ray gently and he slung his arm around the Mountie's shoulders. "You tried to help her before and look what she did to you? Some people just don't wanna be helped."
"I don't want her to end her own life, Ray," sobbed Fraser.
"Even if that's what she wants?" offered Ray.
Fraser shrugged.
Ray couldn't think of anything else to say to comfort his friend. He didn't believe for a minute that they were going to find the body of Victoria Metcalf any time soon. People like that don't quit that easily, he thought. I bet a whole team of psychiatrists couldn't figure out what goes on in her mind.
"Maybe she'll come back?" Fraser pondered, hopefully.
"Yeah, maybe," nodded Ray. Like a bad penny… "But right now she's gone, OK, and you gotta get her outta your head."
Fraser sighed. If only it was that easy... "I'll try, Ray," he said. "I'll try."
THE END