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Chapter 2 - Electric Bowgaloo
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"What do you want."
Her low voice was more of a statement than a question. The rain hadn't let up, and now heavy winds ravaged the town turning the downpour into hailing rain. It rattled the flimsy bus stop on the side of the road like cardboard, a pit stop for her to wait out the storm. That didn't look like an option anymore.
"I know what the situation is." her voice got harsher. "Yes. No, there's no mistaking it." Her eyes darted around pensively, trying to peer past the waterlogged glass, to no avail. She couldn't make out the woods across the street. To make it worse, the hail was beginning to hit harder and she could barely hear the voice on the line. Reception was also imperfect here.
"I understand. No, they haven't even found out it wasn't you yet. I'll be long gone by then. I have his I.D. card, we can scrub him from the record after the bodies are taken from the autopsy room. Understood."
She sighed and walked out from under the bus stop's sheltering aluminium roof. The rain matted her hair and made it look like an even blacker shade. At least she had the foresight to wear her a long-coat.
'No witnesses. Good.'
She carefully planned her route. She passed Kendo's Gun Shop and took a sharp right up the street, heading to a much more suburban part of town, and after a good ten minute walk, passed all the houses that looked the same and all the perfectly kept, crab-grass free lawns, which all looked the same, she was back at the crime scene. The house was still tapped down, evidence was still being collected.
She got her phone out again, this time a familiar drawl filled her ear.
"I'm here. Yes. In the basement. Got it."
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The rain battered the window. His eyes darted to the clock on his night stand; 4am, he couldn't sleep. Again. All the strange events of the day swirled around in his mind. The Captain, the body only being moved the next day, that investigator he swore he's never heard of or even seen working at the RPD before any of this started. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was an element of behind-closed-doors affairs as work here.
He remembered Wesker glancing at him strangely before shutting the door, the copy machine... Jill walking in.
Jill.
'Did she shoot you down...?'
Her voice echoed in his head. "No.. I never asked." he answered to no one. "..and I probably never will." He turned his head towards where his waste basket was.
Chris lay on his back in bed, his boxers thrown on the floor. It may have been stormy out, but it was still a blisteringly hot summer night. His blue eyes stared hypnotized at his spinning ceiling fan. He watched how the blades made a blue pattern as they spun. Blue. Like his S.T.A.R.S. badge, his office.. Jill's beret.. Jill's eyes..
He sighed. He was exhausted but he couldn't sleep. The rain outside sounded soothing, and the shadows it made on the glass reflected in the mirror on his dresser. Even after he had painted his room a darker color, that effort in helping his insomnia proved fruitless. Frost and Chicken Heart had noticed the bags under his eyes and he remembered going out to a bar with them, really just to appease them, ease their worries. Then they egged him on into finally asking out that woman in blue he always saw there. 'You've been harping on about her for ages now, just do it!' He forgot his umbrella there that night because of him.
"Dammit Frost..." he muttered. His thoughts trailed back to her, the woman in blue, and his hand started to trail down under the sheets. She looked so good the last time he saw her. She was soaking wet too, her shirt was tight. He loved her wet hair. He started breathing faster, his hand almost in sync with the rattle of his fan above him.
"Mmm.."
Frost was sick of hearing him harp on about her; he didn't know the half of it, how many nights he's spent, coming home pumped up and furiously m-
There was a sudden shrill ring in the room, his cellphone was on the floor in his coat. Chris groaned and lazily rolled over onto his stomach to reach it. He fumbled in the dark, grasped it and flipped it open without looking at the caller I.D.
"Redfield..." he said in a groggily, softly panting.
"Chris? ..sorry, did I interrupt something?"
Upon hearing that voice he sprung up in his bed. Thank god she couldn't see his flushed face.
"Oh n-no not at all Jill, I was just uh-"
He lost his balance in his embarrassment and crashed hard on the floor, right into his stair-master.
"Chris? You still there? What did you do to yourself now?" she asked teasingly.
He sat up getting his bearings. "Sorry, lost my balance. I couldn't sleep again, thought some exercise would tire me out enough." his voice was stable now, though he was nursing an half-way done boner in his left hand. He was completely out of it, still exhausted.
"Chris your insomnia is really starting to scare me."
"Don't worry, I'll take a day or two off when all this is settled. What did you need?"
"Oh! Right, Wesker wants to meet with us and Barry immediately. He's found something and apparently its too risky to talk about it on the phone."
His heart sank and that creepy feeling came back. "Oh?-Oh shit. Where are we meeting them? At the station?"
"Yeah. Can you give me a lift? My car's still in the shop." she sounded annoyed about that.
"Sure. Be there in fifteen."
'Why would I ever say no to seeing you..' he thought as he got up to find some clothes, the shadows in the window cast over his naked body. He passed himself in the mirror a few times; on the other hand, his late night routine did have some benefits. Maybe he would need them by the time this was done. That sinking feeling was getting worse.
Meanwhile, about 173 miles away from the groggy cop, thick, black smoke began bellowing out from the water treatment plant on the outskirts of town.
Down among its pipes, the furnace roared with renewed vigor, the coals freshly lit. A hunched figure acted as the stoker shoveling big heavy piles of the black rocks in. His feet scraped the floor as he walked. Upon hearing the approach of booming footsteps, the hunch leaned the shovel against the wall behind him and turned to face their source; a very tall man who had just walked in.
"Good. The fire looks hot enough now." His voice hinted a Slavic background, "Hurry up and bring the bodies. Quickly!"
"Relax." a monotone voice answered him.
Someone followed not to far behind him, feminine in frame, carrying one body bag over her shoulder while dragging another on a large meat hook behind her. "We have thirty minutes at least before.."
"Just throw them in." He cut her off, annoyed and very much done with her objections. The fire climbed, the flames almost reaced beyond the entrance, and she shut the thick iron door quickly behind them.
"You've been questioning my orders quite a lot recently. Normally I'd have someone like you 'replaced', but-"
"But then you'd miss my fashion sense." she quipped alluding to her preference of low-cut attire. A smirk crossed her lips. She felt an over-sized hand grasp her chin and pull her in. She looked up at him, his features quite alluring to her, clearly his previous quip a twisted, playful joke, "We can't.." she began, abruptly walking over to the furnace again, "..compromise our position. They don't suspect you yet, right?"
"No. Monitor is in the dark, but you know it'll only be a matter of time before they find out."
His voice echoed around them. The place was vacant besides them. She crossed her arms and couldn't help letting out a laugh.
"I know, but thankfully we still got some time. They'd never suspect one of you." she paused, discosiating, lost in thought, her eyes staring at the furnace door. "We won't be able to keep up soon. By then, even if they do find out about us, they'll have bigger fish to fry."
The smell was becoming a little much for the behemoth, he motioned for them to leave. She walked next to him, and the hunched stoker took its cue and simply leaped over some railing and was gone.
After a short walk, the nehemoth and his partner were outside again. The city skyline was lit up before them in the valley below. He stood just behind her, shielding her from the rain. "Keep following your orders for now, if anything happens, or they assign you to something odd, report to me. When you leave here tonight make sure to do an extra round, so they don't suspect anything." She glanced to a hidden camera on the building, looked at her watch and began a hasty tread back into town.
The giant did as she requested, until he saw his superior coming up the hill with his other bodyguard. He pulled his coat open for a moment to fish out an odd pair of goggles and put them on his head.
"There you are." A very thick Russian accent bellowed out. He rejoined them, just as his commanding officer pulled a phone out of his own coat.
"Sergei. What is it?" He stopped walking, his bodyguards following suit. "What kind of situation?"
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Chris pulled up to an apartment building at around 4:30am. He was early. At least that habit didn't suffer. He saw Jill in the door and waved at her to come, she ran to his car and got in quickly.
"Oh thank you." she said in a sigh of relief, leaning back into the cushy chair. His car always was really comfortable.
He nodded and stepped on the gas. They were quiet, both pretty tired. The sun was starting to come up, and thankfully, with it the clouds started to part, the rain slowly stopped as they drove on. He made a short pit stop to get them both a cup of Joe for the road. They got there a little late and rushed up the front stairs.
"So what's this all about?" He asked, taking a swig.
"Not sure, something Barry said to Wesker earlier. He needs to cross reference some information."
When they reached the second floor, the door to the s.t.a.r.s. room was already open. The captain was there and so was the Burton.
"There you are you two." The ever-familiar drawl snapped them awake a little more. His tone seemed a little worried. "Get in here and shut the door. Quickly."
Barry sat on his desk, Jill leaned against the wall while Chris took a seat.
"Barry, why don't you begin and get them on the same page."
Barry re-positioned himself to be facing the other two.
"Right, well. Remember on the night of the first murder? I was called in to help Myers. Since it was an isolated case at the time, only I was sent from our unit. But, uh.. well.."
Jill's brow furrowed a little taking this in. Wesker took over again briefly.
"Jill, you worked with her yesterday, correct?"
"Yes."
"What was her name on file?"
"Nikki. Nikki Myers. Why?"
Chris' heart almost stopped. "What..!?" Jill looked at him very puzzled. Chris looked at Barry. "But, you told me it was Rika Myers..?"
The three of them fell very silent all of a sudden when it hit them. Wesker went back to his desk and pulled something out from a drawer. He tossed it to Redfield, who caught it. He was holding a purple wig. His eyes shot to Barry, who looked defeated.
"We've been had. We found that near the crime scene. It was behind a bus stop bunker, stomped into the mud."
"So what? That do-"
"We found the same synthetic hairs at the house, in the living room." Wesker cut Chris off.
"Are you fucking kidding!?" Jill slammed her fist down, "How did this happen? Wasn't her name on file? Did you check it that night?"
"Yeah a'course I did Jill, but it said Rika that night I swear! I can't find that damn paper anymore though. I could've sworn I put it in my desk.."
"It's alright, Barry. I believe you, I saw it too. I was not aware of her name at the time either. I've been.. preoccupied, as the rest of you, with the case" Wesker sat back on his desk. "I've alerted Chief Irons. This does not leave this room, that means to Myers and to Frost and Vickers. We need their focus on the case." He finished. "Dismissed. Redfield, Valentine, take the day off, the both of you have been working harder on this case than the others and I need you in top shape. Barry, you're assigned to miss Myers for the next week, should anything new arise."
Nodding, they left. Barry bid them goodbye and was off quite abruptly. Probably his turn to drive the kids to school that morning. Jill found herself alone with Chris again. She tossed her empty cup in the trash. "Gimme a lift home?"
Chris chuckled, "No I'm just gonna leave you here."
He smiled at her laugh.
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There was a knock at the window. The hunched familiar was perched on the fire escape outside, leaning over some bags. A woman rushed to open it and daisy-chained the bags in, quickly storing the food away. Then, as quickly as he came, was gone, leaving the woman with getting settled into her new place. Her old DC shirt wet at the shoulders from her dripping hair. Obviously tired, she fumbled through her purse to find her wallet, and pulled out an I.D. card. She also pulled out an IBM laptop from under her bed, and a strange disc with MO written on its label.
She sat pensively in front of the little computer for a time, writing an odd code.
"See you on Friday!" Chris drove off.
Jill climbed the three stories up to her apartment because the elevator was still broken. That bloody landlord never did keep his word. 'He said it would be fixed by yesterday. Sigh.' She exited the stairwell into her hallway and finally walked up to her door. She was about to turn the key when the apartment door across from her flung open to a tall, lanky young woman with butt-length dark hair. Jill watched her for a moment; she grabbed a large box from a neat stacked pile next to her door in the hall and carried it inside. She seemed to struggle a bit with the weight. A new tenant was moving in, it seemed.
Jill quickly turned the key and threw her affairs carelessly inside her own apartment before heading back out into the hallway and over to the new girl's place, who had just walked back out to collect another, bigger and, probably, heavier box.
"Hi there! See you're moving in, need a hand?"
The lanky young woman smiled and nodded. "Oh, sure. Thanks.." her voice was low and a little scratchy, almost sickly. Jill helped her move the boxes into her apartment, noticing how fair her skin looked next to her hair.
"That's the last of them. Thank you uh.."
"Jill Valentine."
"Erica Chambers. It's a pleasure miss Valentine." she said in an almost flirtatious tone, shaking Jill's hand before turning to one of the boxes.
"You can call me Jill." She looked around while helping the new girl unpack. The apartment was nice, a little bigger than her own. More to clean, though. The walls were stark white. She still needed to paint, looked like.
"Wait, Valentine? Daughter of-"
"Dick Valentine, yeah. I work at the RPD, though."
"Oh, well shit. Talk about a career change!" she laughed a hoarse laugh. Erica was neatly stacking her folded clothes onto a large king sized bed tucked in the back of the largest room in her 3 1/2. A fondness for neatness was evident, probably a very organised person.
"Yeah. So, what brings you here to Raccoon?"
"Oh, just my work. I'm a um, what you might call a Pharmaceutical Consultant, and my post was changed to here."
"Let me guess, Umbrella?"
"Who doesn't work for Umbrella in Raccoon though?" She retorted sarcastically.
"ha, yeah I guess so."
The two shared a giggle together. Erica showed Jill around her place, a short tour. There was already furniture in her bedroom, but the other rooms were vacant, other than her kitchen, which was fully stocked. "Oh, you did the groceries before bringing the stuff up?"
Erica seemed taken off guard by the question, "Oh?-Oh! Right, yes, I filled that up! I forgot about that. Guess that shows how tired I am, I got here at around 4am."
"I know how that feels."
"Yeah?" With a slight cough, the lanky lady got up to put her clothes stack into an oak dresser. It was stained almost as black as the Batman pajama shirt she had on. A matching set, you might say. Jill had just then noticed the new girl was slightly shorter than her, though the over-stretched logo on her top showed she wasn't lacking in assets. When she moved the bottom of her shirt flowed like curtains, she was so thin.
"Yeah, I was called in really early this morning, that's what I was coming home from when I offered to help." She couldn't help it anymore and with her hand, covered the yawn which escaped.
"Well, I'm all moved in now, you should probably hit the sack." She dropped what she was doing and walked Jill to her door. "Hey, thanks for all the help. I owe you a coffee?"
"Sure" Jill answered, smiling. She entered her home and closed the door behind her, leaning against it. The second that door shut, the smile faded from her lips. Her whole facial expression dropped. What a long night, thank god the Captain knew some mercy.
Her own apt was a little smaller. The kitchen was in the back, kept mostly clean but right now, her sink was the proud home of the leaning tower of plates. Its denizens, the dirty cutlery, was enjoying a night out, scattered about the counter. An old jar of something had been left out as well, though the smell of it hadn't alerted Jill to her mistake yet.
She shambled groggily through her living room, minding the corner of the couch she usually stubbed her left big toe on. A copy of the Raccoon Times. "Strange Murders" was the front page story, one Jill had become very well acquainted with. They still hadn't heard anything back from the lab.
She threw off her top and pants and crawled into bed, warmth and comfort overtaking her under her thick blanket, her air conditioner turning on in the distance to combat the heat. She rolled over onto her side, and a glint caught her eye. It was tucked away in the corner, she almost couldn't see it hidden behind a lamp. The frame was in pieces and the glass, shattered. A picture of herself with a strapping young man lay beneath the debris, a little scratched up by the shards. She shifted her gaze away and rolled over onto her back, writing the pain in her chest off to indigestion or heart burn. Chris always did get her strong coffee.
"Chris..."
He always did look out for her. It was no secret to the rest of their co-workers that she was sweet on him, too. 'Maybe I should ask him out for coffee for a change..' she scoffed to herself. 'Like that new girl I...helped...'
An sudden thought occurred to her; Had she just unknowingly agreed to a date?
"Oh no.."
Jill rolled over and groaned into her pillow.
