Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own any part of Days of our Lives, but all Memphis characters are mine.
Please read and review. Reviews are like good chocolate, always savored.
Slow Southern Style – Chapter 3
There had been a string of killings of young performers in Memphis, and the clubs had gotten together and had approached the police asking for their assistance. They had asked the police if they could send someone in undercover who fit the profile of the previous victims.
The youngest detective at Memphis PD had been asked if he would do this, and he had agreed to go undercover. He had said sure but that someone would have to teach him how to dance, because if he was doing it, he wasn't going to embarrass himself or the department.
They had started the undercover assignment over a month ago, and that was after the young detective had trained with the club's dancers for two solid weeks, for eight hours a day every day until he could move like he was a real dancer.
They told him that he already had the moves, they just had to refine them and teach him to dance for an audience. The clubs' dancers were happy to help train the detective because they were hoping that he could catch the person who had been killing their friends.
If he could find the killer, that then they would be safe, and not have to worry about being attacked themselves, plus he was so sweet and treated them so well, they loved the fact that he didn't loo down on them for what they did for a living.
He still kept an eye on his other cases but remotely from his apartment. They had decided that he wasn't going to take the chance of going to the station, just in case the suspect had someone watching him, they didn't want him to catch on, so he was working on his cases from home while linked into the police's computer system.
They wanted to get the killer's attention, so he was advertised as the hot new young star of the club. So far, no one but the police and the clubs themselves had connected the killings of the young dancers, so it made it easier for them to send their detective undercover on the case.
The clubs knew that if this information got out, that their dancers were being targeted by a serial killer, that it could ruin them and their reputations. The club had agreed that while the detective wouldn't be paid for his performances, that he could keep all the tips that had been given to him while he was dancing.
This had been agreed to by the mayor, DA and police commissioner, because they knew they were lucky that he had been so agreeable to taking this assignment, because they knew that they could not have forced him to work as a dancer. If they had tried this, then he could just go somewhere else to work. After all, thanks to his program and device, he could work anywhere.
They also knew that as the other detectives had put it, if he had to shake it for only god knew how long, that he deserved something for having had to do it, that going undercover as a dancer/stripper was not in their job description and that he would have to actually perform several routines a night.
One of the other detectives went through all the tip sheets each night, and they made sure that there was never a tip accepted from the suspect, any tips he made were put in a separate account so that they could be used as proof that he had been at the club.
This was done in case his defence attorney tried to say that he wasn't there, along with the video tapes from the security cameras at the club where he can be identified quite clearly, including the one in the detective's dressing room which caught the attack on tape.
Once they had the suspect's credit card number from Black Velvet, they were able to track his card to each of the clubs where the other murdered dancers had worked before they were killed. They have been able to build an airtight case against their suspect.
However, they wanted to catch him in the act, so their detective Adam and the other dancers created his alter ego, and sexy Xander was born and became the star of the show at Black Velvet, and sure enough the killer went after him, because they knew if he was shown attacking him on tape, how could the suspect say that it wasn't him.
They knew that after several refusals that he would go after their detective because each time he was refused, he got even more frustrated that he wasn't able to convince the hot young dancer to give him a private show.
They were sure that he would try to attack him soon, and they were ready, each night different detectives from their squad were in whatever area that their detective was performing in that night as backup if he needed it, they were always audience members who could be on hand quickly if needed, and Adam made sure to incorporate his fellow detectives into his act, instead of using actual customers.
He said that he found it less awkward that way, and they had even used some of his former academy classmates, as the undercover had been ongoing for over a month, and they didn't want the suspect to become suspicious if certain people were there multiple nights.
Their hunch was correct, and tonight was the night that they were finally able to arrest their suspect, and put an end to the rash of killings, and make the performers at the different clubs feel safe again, and know that no more of their friends would be lost to this madman.
Back in the mixed show area, everyone but the two people who had taken part in that night's show, were in shock. The very sexy dancer they just saw perform an amazing routine is actually a detective with the Memphis PD.
He was not a professional dancer as had been advertised, there was even a biography on the club's website telling about his dance experience, and they are shocked because he was so good, that they had believed him to be a real dancer.
They wonder was he a trained dancer before he became a police officer, he must have trained to be able to do what he had been doing for the past month, and they really can't believe it, he was so good when he was dancing, that everyone who had seen him dance had all thought that he really was a performer.
Then to find out that he isn't, that he is a detective, they are just staring at him in disbelief. Sami, Lucas and the rest of the group from Salem look on in shock as the person who they had come to meet, when they see he is not a dancer/stripper like they thought.
That he is a Memphis PD detective who was working undercover to catch a rapist or killer because they could see that he had been attacked by the suspect and had been injured, but he had still been able to capture him and take him down, that he was only doing this act as part of his police job. They are sure now that this man can't be Will, because their Will had never shown any interest in being a police officer, did he?
It can't be Will, he looked right at them and never even reacted, not even a flinch when he saw all of them together. Will isn't that good an actor, he would have shown some sign of recognition to at least one of them, especially seeing Sonny and Paul together at the same table.
They see the man who was made a part of the performance that night hand the young detective a set of handcuffs, obviously he is an officer as well, and the young detective slap them on the wrists of the suspect that he had just tackled to the floor.
The female officer makes a call, and within a couple of minutes, two more plainclothes officers come into the room, ready to take the suspect down to the station to be processed, but first they read him his rights, and verify that he understands those rights as they were read to him, and they then take him away.
The two officers who were already there, they start trying to check on the young detective, and are heard saying that he needs to get that stab wound checked out. He tells them that it is just a flesh wound, and he will get it checked out by their ME, and he can stitch it for him.
However, the female detective insists that he needs to go to the hospital to have it stitched and have blood drawn, just to make sure that there was nothing on the knife that the suspect used on him. He tries to argue, but his team override his objections.
He finally agrees to go, but first he apologizes to the audience for the fright they must have been given during the takedown of the alleged killer. He goes on to say to the audience that they hope that the surprise was not too much for anyone, and if it was, he wants to apologize.
He says to them, "By the way, you were a great audience for what turned out to be my farewell and final performance here at Black Velvet. I have to get back to my regular job, I have to say that it was a fantastic way to stay in shape though, so I will have to keep in practice."
The audience cries out their disappointment at this news. They have loved all his performances, and they don't want them to end any time soon. He tells them that for the next police fundraiser that he will try to talk his bosses and see if he can get them to agree to letting him dance.
He tells them that if he can get this approved, that if he does this and will dance for them again, they will all have to come to the fundraiser and bring their chequebooks. They all say yes, that they will, and he tells them that they will have make big donations to the charities that Memphis PD support because as they know, they are all such worthy causes.
Just then as the young detective is getting ready to go to the backstage area to finish getting dressed this time without any interruptions this time, or any attempts on his life, and he can go back to the station when one of his partners speaks up.
He says Fordie, get hopping, we need to get back to the squad room so that we can get the paperwork started, and we all know just how much you love the paperwork at the end of another successful takedown.
Sami hears the name of the young detective and she leaves her table and walks towards him before anyone can stop her. Lucas runs after her when he's not fast enough to stop her from getting up from the table.
He hears her ask the detective if he is Adam Oxford, the liaison detective for the Memphis PD. He says yes, and he asks her why she wants to know. Sami then tells him that her group is in Memphis and that they are supposed to meet with him the next day.
She tells him that they are looking for the department's help in finding her missing son, or someone who is an exact double for her son. He is very sympathetic to her, and so are his partners and fellow detectives.
Sami says to him that the only thing though is that they were looking for the police's help in assisting them in tracking down the star performer of the Black Velvet club, and they look at her like she is insane since they know that Adam Oxford was acting as the star performer for the last while.
They then figure she must be asking about a former dancer at the club. He asks her which of the previous club star performers she is looking for, that they will be glad to try and help her find her son, even though they don't think that the club had hired any underage dancers in the past couple of years, if ever, they were careful in making sure all the dancers were legal age.
They ask how old her missing son is, and ask her if he is still a teenager. She says no, that her son is almost twenty-five years old, and they just stare at her, and Detective Oxford tells her that she doesn't look old enough to have a son that age. She thanks him for the compliment and smiles sadly.
She tells them that she was a young teen mother when her son was born, that she was only fifteen when she had him. They are shocked, but not surprised, because there are a lot of teen mothers out there but at least she was able to keep and raise her baby.
She then tells them that they were trying to track down the performer that had been advertised for the club just recently. They tell her that the performer that she was trying to find was only a character for the undercover assignment that she and everyone else just saw end, when they had arrested the suspect in their case just a little while ago.
She tells them that she and her son's father as well as some other family members are trying to find the young man who was featured in the article in the Memphis Sentinel article that was just published recently advertising the club and their new star.
She explains to them that they had to meet the young man who was pictured in the advertisement for the club because he is a dead-ringer for her son, she pulls out her phone and shows them a picture of her and Will together, and they can see why the family wanted to meet their undercover detective.
Sami then tells them that to understand why they needed to meet him, they need to understand the story of her son, Will Horton and how he died, and what had been discovered in the last few days, and how it has rocked their world.
They ask her what she is talking about, because they were told that they were going to be meeting with a family regarding a missing person, and she tells them that due to what they found out the past few days, they believe that it might be possible that Will is missing, and not dead as they believed.
They look at her in pity, they are thinking that the stress of losing her son and dealing with the aftermath of his being murdered and grieving his death, that she has suffered a breakdown, and they want to help her but not feed into her delusional fantasy.
Even knowing that they may know important information on her son and their detective, but they need to investigate before they say anything, and they want proof that there could be a connection, so they are prepared to hear what she has to say, and see if it matches up with what they already know.
She explains that just over two years ago, her son was supposedly murdered by a serial killer in his home town of Salem, Illinois. However, a couple of days ago, his killer had escaped from the psychiatric facility where he was being held.
She adds quite sarcastically that he seems to do this whenever he wants, that's it not the first time he did it, and instead of taking off so that he wouldn't be captured, he instead had crashed a social event, and had told everyone there that Will was still alive.
Of course, they couldn't believe him, but he insisted that he knew Will wasn't really dead because he had seen his picture in the advertisement for Black Velvet, and he saw Will's picture with a star around his head on the sign outside the club.
They didn't believe him, but he showed them the article and they saw the picture for themselves, and it threw them for a loop of seeing Will's face string at them from the photo, they knew that Will was dead because she and his father had seen him in the morgue, and she had kissed his forehead, and he was cold and lifeless on the morgue table.
She admits that she attacked the man who taken her son away from her and tried to strangle him just like what he had done to Will, and that she had to be dragged off him. Apparently, she had scared the killer, and he had said that she was being mean and rude, according to him.
He kept insisting that Will was alive because of the article. However, considering some of the other things that had happened in Salem in the past, their family decided that they couldn't rule out the possibility without proofing to themselves once and for all that Will was gone, so they had his grave exhumed, and they were going to test the DNA of his remains.
They were doing this to just prove to themselves that he really was gone but they got a real shock when the casket was opened, because there was no body in it, and it looked like there may have never been a body in it, because there were weights simulating the weight of a slim adult male body.
After they discovered this, they then found out the paperwork from the ME's office was incomplete, and that the ME who had retired shortly after Will had passed was dead, and his family who were his staff in the office were missing.
She tells them that all the records and backups for the funeral home were missing or destroyed, and that the office manager for the funeral home was also dead, that he had left the funeral home later that same year, and he and his whole family had been killed in a home invasion just last year. She says that there is no way to prove that Will is gone, all the normal ways to prove it have been closed to them.
That they don't believe that it is possible that Detective Oxford is Will, but they need to know for sure, would he agree to a DNA test so that they would know that it is just a coincidence that he looks so much like their late son? She knows that it is an imposition but for the sake of Will's whole family, could he please do this for them?
They had decided to come to Memphis just to ask this stranger would he be willing to give them a sample of his DNA so that they could have proof that he wasn't Will, and that Will was gone, but god yes, they would love to have their son back, it would make all their dreams come true, especially for his little girl.
Will is dead though, and through a cruel set of circumstances, they don't even have his body anymore. They just need to know that he is gone and that it was only a lookalike in the picture, just to give themselves closure.
Detective Oxford and his fellow detectives look at Lucas, and say is this for real, is everything your wife has said true, did all of this really happen to your son? Lucas say yes, well, we aren't married anymore but we have just found out today that our son's body is missing, and it has sent us into a tailspin. We need answers not only for us, but for his brother and sisters, and his precious little girl.
First, we had to deal with that maniac coming back and telling us that our son was still alive, then to find out that there is someone who could be our son's identical twin alive and well in Memphis, and then after all that to discover that no one knows where Will's body is or how we can find it, so we can place him in his proper grave?
This day has been insane, and to be honest, I almost can't believe it myself, and I just lived through it. My son was probably the best friend I ever had, he was such a good kid, and I miss him every day, and the day we buried him, I buried part of my heart with him, and now it turns out that we don't know where he is anymore.
I really don't know how to deal with that idea? At least before, we could go to the cemetery and speak to his grave, and get some comfort that way, and now we have even lost that bit of feeling like we could have some contact with him when the pain got too bad.
That hurts like hell, to know that we don't even have that connection anymore. What do we tell Ari when she is older, and she wants to know where her daddy is buried, and we have to tell her that we don't know for sure?
The three detectives tell Lucas and Sami they need a moment to speak alone, and they walk away from them. They can see that Detective Oxford has a troubled look on his face, and the other detectives start talking to him with strange looks on their own faces as well. Sami and Lucas wonder what they are talking about that is making them look like that.
The detectives seem to finally come to a consensus, and they walk back to where Sami and Lucas are waiting. They tell them that they will meet their group tomorrow at 2 pm at the detective's squad room at the station on Plinking Street.
They explain that they need to get back to the station because they need to get the paperwork completed for their arrest tonight, that they want to be able to get the suspect processed as soon as possible, and then they can schedule the trial.
Sami doesn't want to wait, but Lucas agrees for all of them, and says that they will see them the next day at 2 pm. The officers leave the club as soon as they can, so Sami and Lucas go back to the others, and tell them of the plan to meet at the station the next afternoon.
Lucas tells them there was a strange moment when they were talking to the detectives, and that when Sami mentioned that their son died two years ago and the circumstances of how he died, that the three detectives got a little weird with them.
Sami calls Hope and Rafe to see if they can get any information on Adam Oxford for them before their meeting tomorrow. They say they will find out whatever they can, and pass it on to them, but they ask why they want information on the liaison officer who is going to be helping them find the performer they are looking for.
Sami then shocks them when she tells them that the liaison officer was the guy pictured in the ad, because he was the performer they were going to try and track down, and the one who was Will's lookalike. and they are shocked, and ask her why the detective had been shown on the club website, was he moonlighting outside the job.
Sami says no, that he was just pretending to be a dancer, and so that they had met the performer right away on the first night there at the club, and that they saw him in action, in both parts of his job. She tells them that he had been undercover on assignment.
He had finished that current assignment that night when they captured their suspect in the act after he went after the star performer after he had danced earlier. They were apparently trying to catch someone who was attacking performers in Memphis, and that he had been the bait for the suspect.
They said before this happened however, they had seen him dance, and that the club is a high-end strip club, and that she had just seen a man who looked just like her son, doing a very sexy dance routine and that was not what she had ever expected to see.
They all agree that Detective Oxford does have an uncanny resemblance to Will, but he had spoken to Sami and Lucas for an extended period, and there was not even one moment where he seemed to recognize them or anyone in their group.
They decide after this that they might as well go back to the hotel for the night because there is nothing else that they can do at the moment. When they get tot the hotel, they split up and John and Marlena go to their room, while the other six all have their own rooms.
Due to the fact that it would not be comfortable and because of the circumstances, Sonny and Paul are definitely not sharing a room. Since they had called things off that afternoon, it wouldn't feel right, and if Will heard that they had shared a room, he would not believe that Sonny truly wanted him back.
The fact is that truthfully nor do they want to stay in the same room now, they are truly and permanently parted, and they both know that they will never be together romantically ever again. However, if they did share a room, it would be hard to convince people that they don't still want to be together.
Especially the others in Salem who supported them being together since Paul had first come to town, and who don't want Sonny with Will, including Victor. They had never wanted him with Will, and will not be happy when he reconciles with Will, or at least he hopes that it will happen.
Can you imagine the idea, of the two father or mothers sharing a room, yeah, not happening, Lucas and Justin would not be able to share a room, and neither would Sami and Adrienne, talk about an awkward and uncomfortable situation, no thanks!
They all spend a restless night, just tossing and turning, and getting very little sleep, waiting for the next day when they can see the young detective again. Early the next morning, they are in the hotel's dining room eating breakfast when Rafe call Sami back with the information that she had asked him for the night before. Sami puts him on speaker so that they can all hear what he has found out.