Chapter Three

On Monday afternoon, Ruanna ate lunch with her foster siblings Dexter and Debra at an outdoor restaurant close to the police station.

Upon smelling something delicious, Rue looked up to watch a man as he gutted a fish. She could feel her mouth water and her instincts rise within her.

"You can't bullshit me, Dex," Deb was saying. "Help me out. LaGuerta still has me interviewing the hookers."

"It's a waste of time," Rue saw out of the corner of her eye that Dexter looked to where she was watching. She looked to Dex and watched as his eyes move from the man to her. He then shifted his glance to Debra, "Deb, if he was interrupted… Think."

"The pieces," Rue nodded as she went back to eating her sandwich.

Deb's eyes widened, "Jesus Christ, you're both right. Because then how would he have time to wrap them all up?" She then rolled her eyes and spoke of LaGuerta, "She's dumber than the fucking boat people. Throw her a fucking raft."

Dex took a drink, "But now we have a fourth body, and the cuts were different and that's telling us a story. The ritual is changing. He's looking for some kind of inspiration and not finding it."

Deb leaned forward, "So he keeps doing it, until he gets it right."

Dex shrugged, "I could be wrong."

"I don't think so," Rue then frowned. "The bones won't be released to me until after lunch."

As she took a bite out of her sandwich, Deb gestured to it, "How the fuck can you eat that? The steak on your bread looks like its gonna start mooing."

She rolled her eyes at her foster sister, "Of course a joke I've never heard before."

"Your stomach must be made of steel," their foul-mouthed foster sister turned to Dexter, "So how the hell was your date with Rita last night?"

Dex took a bite out of his sandwich, "Great. You should try it sometime. You need a life."

"Well, find me a guy I can trust," she looked to the both of them. "I need a transfer to homicide, then we'll see about a life."

He smirked and took a drink, "It would certainly sound better for the kids to say, 'mommy's on homicide'."

Deb glared at him, "Don't make me hit you."

He smiled, "Come on. Then we could talk about more little Morgans, nephews and nieces."

Rue smirked, "What's wrong with that?"

"You both sound like mom," Deb frowned. "I just- tell me what you know about cell crystallization."

Rue's blue eyes narrowed in interest, "What do you mean?"

Their foster sister looked to her food, "I heard the coroner say it last night. He was talking about that dead headless chick."

Dex arched an eyebrow, "You got that look in your eye."

"I was there before the both of you, and I noticed this body looked different than the other ones. The pieces were cold. They were, like, meat-packing cold. Is that what cell crystallization means?" She looked from Dex to Rue, "Dex? Rue? What are you guys thinking?"

"Sorry," Dex's voice was lowered in thought. "That makes sense. Cold. It slows the flow of blood."

"Why the hell is that important?" Debra asked.

"It's just a feeling," he said as he ran his finger down the side of his glass of water.

"That's not good enough," she continued when neither of the foster siblings, said anything, lost in their thoughts. "Come on, I got to show LaGuerta and her boys. They're making fun of me. They're saying the only way I can close my case is on my back."

Upon hearing that comment, Rue mistakenly let out a growl, then coughed to cover it up. "… Sorry," the youngest Morgan then continued to think, How could he keep cold body parts?

Deb began begging, "I gotta get out of vice. Guys, please- you got to-"

"Refrigerated truck," Dexter and Ruanna spoke at the same time."

Deb was confused, "What the fuck are you both talking about?"

"A refrigerated truck," Dex repeated.

In her mind's eye she was on a previous hunting trip in the Rocky Mountains, as she chased after a massive elk and felt and tasted as her strong jaws tore into the large animal. She tasted the blood and flesh as her sharp eyes saw how the blood reacted to the cold and snow.

Her voice became low, "He wants the cold environment… to slow the flow of blood-"

She looked slowly over to see Dexter watching her, his voice equally low, "Clean and mobile so he can dump the garbage afterwards."

Deb sat up straight, "So, I'm looking for a refrigerated truck now?"

They both blinked and Dex watched her warily before turning to Deb, "Probably a stolen one."

"You think there are a lot of stolen trucks out there?" Rue smirked before taking a bite out of her sandwich.

Deb put her sunglasses on, "Are you nuts? In Miami?"

Dexter chuckled and glanced to Rue, but she continued eating, pretending not to notice him.

"Rue, you wanna ride with me back to the precinct?" He asked. "There's a briefing."

She looked up, startled by his offer, "I'll catch a ride with Deb."

Deb stood up, having finished her meal, "No, go on ahead baby Sis."

Rue looked to Dex, fighting back a sigh, "Then I suppose."

~DM/RM~

After they finished lunch they got into Dex's car. She felt her pulse beat faster and she shifted in the seat. It was close, the Full Moon. She could feel it as energy crackled around her.

After a few moments of driving, Dexter spoke up, "You wanna tell me what happened back there?"

Rue shrugged, "I'm fine."

"There's something about you I've never noticed before-"

She interrupted him, "I could say the same thing about you."

His eyes narrowed towards the road, "The way you talked-"

She fought back a growl as he challenged her, looking out her passenger side window. "I didn't act any different."

He pulled over and put a hand on her thigh, "I could hear the lust in your voice."

She looked to him and snapped, "And how would you know how I sound with lust?"

She felt his warm hand on her leg and felt something call to her. She blushed and shared an awkward glance, before looking ahead as he removed his hand from her person.

He still faced her, his tone was serious, "…Have you ever hurt… anyone?"

Rue looked to him, "No Dexter."

He glanced at her before continuing the drive to the police department, "Fine."