A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! It makes writing this really fun and that people are enjoying it! To the several anons and non anons, Yes there will be eventual Rizzles. And to the Resident Evil Fans, there will be Alice/Claire. Don't worry. You'll see how Claire comes along eventually, probably around chapter eight or so. And 'The Rose', you are silly. Hehe. Anyway, enjoy this next chapter, and let me know what you think! (Also, you RE game fans will probably enjoy this too!)
Chapter Four: Personal Business
"Welcome to the Division One Café, what can I do for you, Detective?" Angela smiled as the BPD's newest detective came down to the cafe, bright and early. Alice glance up, her hair in shorter curls than usual, the dirty blonde looking darker than usual.
"Uh, eggs and bacon, if you've got it. Scrambled, white toast, no butter. And a large coffee, please." Alice began digging out her small black leather wallet from her trousers' pocket, tossing out a ten dollar bill over the counter as Angela wrote down her order.
"For here or to go?"
"Here's fine." Alice briefly flashed a smile before walking down away from the till to find a table. It wasn't hard, considering it wasn't busy, and most people got their coffees and left. She got her coffee cup, and went over to the machine, gently depressing the button down, the dark liquid filling the cup to a quarter from the rim down. She added just a teaspoon of sugar before heading to her table, twirling the stir stick in the hot coffee before drinking it. Another ten minutes went by, and Angela brought out the plate with Detective Abernathy's breakfast on it.
"Thank-you, uh, Angela." She smiled, seeing the older woman's nametag clearly.
"Not a problem. If you ever need anything, being in the same unit as my daughter, just let me know."
"Again, uh, thanks for the offer." Alice began eating away, nibbling on toast between bites of eggs, saving the bacon for last. Angela glanced around, glad Mr. Stanley was not yet in. The other customers had gone off, leaving them and a few others in the café, the room fairly quiet and enjoyable.
"Seriously, just say it," She put her hand over Alice's right forearm, beneath the baby blue shirt she was wearing with her grey trousers. "And I can do it. So, I have to ask, how are you and Jane getting along?"
"Um," Alice swallowed. "Could be better. She seems to have a stubborn streak like myself. Firm, authoritative, and charismatic all make for good homicide detectives, in my books anyway. "
"Well, I know my Jane can be hard to get along with sometimes, but once you get to know her, she's a good person."
"I- can imagine." Alice went back to eating away at her breakfast, swallowing it back with a large swig of her coffee, not caring that it was still too hot really for consumption. She was well used to it.
"So, where did you work before here?"
"Detroit. Before that, Raccoon City, Michigan working in the security field." Alice shrugged slightly. "Wanted something more in life, became a cop then a detective." She said, almost distantly, finishing off her bacon and eggs. Angela's brows knitted together slightly, noting the woman's change in demeanour. "Got divorced in the meantime." Alice threw in, glancing down at that damned tan line on her left hand.
"Oh! Well, I'm divorced too, you know. Hasn't been all that long ago actually. Nearly a year."
"I've been divorced uh… ten years now or so. Lost track." Alice replied, meeting Angela's olive coloured eyes.
"You're a lot younger than me, but if you ever wanna talk, you know where to find me." She smiled before taking away the detective's plate. "Gotta go before Mr. Stanley gets mad at me again."
"Yeah, see you around."
Alice walked into the office of the precinct from the café, and smiled a little at Frost who returned it. "So, two executives from the same medical company wind up dead after injecting themselves with some kind of super drug, and then their bodies are found in two bodies of water, not too far away from each other. There's got to be another person involved."
"Been reading a few articles about Tricell in the papers. They get a lot of hate for what they do, testing on animals and what not."
"I thought that was illegal in most places."
"Not for them apparently."
"Hrm. I have a feeling this was more than just some animal rights protestor. By the looks of things," Alice glanced to his screen. "They're the 'make love, not war' type you'd see in the 60's. Not violent."
"The only other thing I can think of is the other pharmaceutical companies . Out for a rivalry perhaps?" Alice suggested. Frost rubbed his goatee.
"Or a deal gone wrong."
"Has Officer Rizzoli gotten back to us yet with the footage?"
"He's getting there I think. Let me call him." Frost wheeled back in his chair, and dug out his cell phone before ringing the younger Rizzoli.
"Whatcha got for us, Frankie?" Frost asked, glancing to Alice as he set the phone on speaker phone.
"So far, our two vics walked into the big board meeting, went up to their hotel rooms afterwards, and that's it so far."
"That's it?" Alice replied in disbelief. "Come on, there's gotta be something."
"Let me get there. Check the monitors." Alice turned to glance up at the screen. "I'll feed it to you guys now. " On the monitors, a black and white security camera feed came up of the hotel lobby. Frankie continued on. "There's Excella and Ricardo leaving."
"They seem to be a little drunk or something."
"Could be. Then they keep goin' upstairs through the first elevator, followed by this guy." Frankie controlled the zoom in onto a light haired man, wearing sunglasses and a suit.
"That's the guy from the tabloid!" Alice pointed out. "Bodyguard?"
"No, don't think so." Frost replied, pulling up the same tabloid on the other monitor to do a side by side comparison. "That's the same guy."
"Think you could run him through facial recognition?" Alice asked, and Frost nodded in response, typing away a few keys through the data base. The tabloid and the footage were focused in on the man's face. A name finally rose out of the database. Alice stood up, squinting at the screen a little. "Albert Wesker… Head of the Umbrella Corporation. Another medical company."
"That's not all." Frankie's voice cut in as he fast forwarded and changed cameras to the ones in the upstairs hall way. "Lookie here." Alice and Frost looked on the screen yet again to see Albert Wesker striding to room 1304, suitcase on wheels in tow, knocking before Excella opened it, not before embracing the man with a deeply heated kiss.
"So they were lovers."
"From two different companies."
"Guess they had more than one deal going on then." She smirked a little as Frost chuckled. Frankie laughed a bit too.
"He then leaves with the suitcase about four hours later at around ten p.m. Makes his way to the lobby, and then leaves in black Dodge SRT from the parking lot. Plate number HDFU 598 and it's not a Boston plate either."
"Well that makes sense." Frost pointed out. "This Umbrella Corporation's got North American headquarters in the state of Michigan. In a city called…"
"Raccoon," Alice stated bluntly. "Used to live there twelve years ago." Frost glanced up at his new comrade.
"Oh yeah?" He inquired further.
"Used to work security for Umbrella actually. Just a temporary job, put at the bottom. I was basically the equivalent of a mall cop for the Corporation's headquarters, a skyscraper in the middle of the city." Alice informed them, noticing Jane had finally returned from the morgue.
"Maura found out the other part of the mystery drug. Methamphetamines." She informed them, turning to look at the screen. "Who's the guy?"
"Albert Wesker; CEO and Chairman of the Umbrella Corporation; a rival pharmaceutical company to Tricell. And Excella Gionne's lover." Frost replied. "So, Abernathy, you said you worked for the company. Know any dirt?"
"Besides the fact that most of the people who work there are assholes? None. I literally worked the downstairs floor, checking people for guns and weapons. Mall cop in a skyscraper."
"Why'd you quit?"
"Long story short, my married life went to shit, got a divorce, and wanted not a better paying job but rather something that was actually meaningful. Became a cop in Detroit, promoted to Detective after a few years."
"That's all fine and dandy," Jane replied, "But we need to bring this guy in."
"Good luck with that. Man's never around."
"I thought you said you worked security, not his personal organiser."
"I manned the doors. Logged who came in, who went out. Chairman Wesker was always out, only checking in now and again. Our best bet is to find out if he's still in Boston."
"If he killed and dumped Excella and Ricardo, what makes you think that he'll still be in town?"
"Because of the meetings between the country's biggest medical companies is still going on. It's a three day conference held at the Ritz. You would've noticed that, had you read the sign outside the boardrooms of the hotel." Alice snapped back, standing in front of Jane. "And now that word probably has gotten out about the CEO and her top executive found dead, that might just be ending shortly."
Heading back to the Ritz, sirens blaring, Jane, Frost, and Alice, joined by Frankie and another officer's cruiser pulled up outside, heading in to the hotel yet again. The same young man Ryan was working the front desk.
"Detectives, can I help you?"
"We need in to the pharmaceutical companies' convention in the boardrooms."
"They're almost finished."
"Right." Alice turned away, and Jane took the lead, storming in. "Frost, Frankie, go to the other board room. Abernathy, you're with me." Alice nodded, opening the oak doors to the first board room while the men went to Board Room B instead. She glanced around the numerous people involved, sitting at the big meeting tables, and enjoying a dinner buffet. Jane went around to the right, Alice to the left, and the women began hunting down the blonde man. Alice slid along the walls between the people, sliding her lithe body through people. She cast a glance to Jane, motioning to the far north side where the man was standing, two finely dressed women wearing sparkling gowns were talking with him. Jane headed forward, and soon the pair met up by the front of the board room. People cast glances their direction, gossiping about the sudden intrusion.
"Albert Wesker?"
"Yes? Do you mind? I'm a little busy right now." He replied, voice full of arrogance.
"Yeah," Jane replied, flashing him her badge. "Boston Homicide. Detective Rizzoli, this is Detective Abernathy. We need to have a talk back at the station." Wesker's brows furrowed beneath the rims of his dark sunglasses. He eyed the two female detectives standing before him.
"Can't it wait? I'm afraid you've come at a bad time."
"Oh really? Then why did we see you leaving Excella Gionne's hotel room at ten p.m. the other night? The same night she wound up dead and floating in the Charles River? Care to explain that?" Alice stated. The two females beside him slowly slinked away as a crowd began to gather around, watching intently.
"Don't make this any more difficult, Mr. Wesker." Jane replied, hands on her hips.
"Fine." He scowled, and then began walking out with the two detectives, glaring to his right at Alice. He swore he knew her from somewhere.
"So, this guy's the Chairman of the company you used to work for." Jane sipped her coffee as she waited outside of the interrogation room the man was sitting in. "You sure you're okay to handle this?"
"I'm telling you, Rizzoli, it's fine. I was low-level security. He probably doesn't even recognise me from the employee files. I can handle this. I've handled worse."
"Whatever you say. I'll be out here watching." Jane replied, leaning back against the wall.
"You won't be standing here long." Alice replied before going in, closing the door behind her. One of the policemen stood in the corner, watching on curiously in case anything happened. She didn't bother to sit down, noting Wesker hadn't drank from the Styrofoam cup on the table. She paced a little as she began to talk.
"So, what were you doing Tuesday night at ten? Oh that's right. Visiting your girlfriend the night before she was found overdosed on some kind of drug and tossed away in the river." Alice began, her tone sharp, tongue witty. She was going to go all out, bad cop style, just like at home in Detroit. Alice said she didn't deal with bullshit; this was how she handled said bullshit.
"She wasn't my girlfriend." Wesker growled in response, his glasses still covering his eyes. "Merely an associate that had discussed trading plans and partnerships between our companies."
"Oh really?" Alice replied, slapping down screenshots of the moment on camera where they kissed. "Explain that."
"Listen, Detective, I'm giving you seven minutes. Seven minutes is all I can spare to play your game, Abernathy." Alice arched a brow, leaning down on the table to be face to face with the head of the Umbrella Corporation.
"Well, let's put this to the test then. Give me an alibi. Where did you head after you left Excella?"
"I went out to my car with my belongings, which were fresh clothes and toiletries. You can check my bag in my car. It's still there. I then went to the club downtown where my associate, Dr. Samuel Isaacs was supposed to meet me. He was not there, nor did he show up, and so as you'll see on the later footage, I returned to the Ritz at half past one in the morning." Wesker explained before smugly smirking. "Anything else, Detective? Trying to pin more on me?"
"What about Ricardo Irving?" Alice asked. "Did he know of you and Excella? Perhaps he was jealous, so you injected him with the drugs they had made at Tricell, over dosing him so you'd kill him, and send him off?"
"I had no interest in Irving. He was simply Excella's co-worker. If she fucked him, I wouldn't be surprised. The shenanigans that woman got up to bemused me. Like I said, Sam Isaacs never met up with me, nor have I heard from him since."
"You seem oh so willing to have us off your back, and on to him. Why's that?"
"Because, I'm telling the truth." Wesker replied, glancing over his glasses at the blonde for a closer look. "You can call the club's owner at The Sleaze; he'll tell you and the security tapes will tell you that I was there. Dr. Isaacs was not. Never trusted that man in the first place."
"Uhuh. You don't seem distraught at all about losing Excella."
"Like I said, we were just partners, nothing more." Alice got back to pacing again, then leaned in close, seeing his light coloured eyes through his sunglasses.
"Really? Well, why don't you give us your DNA, and we'll prove that it wasn't you?"
"You seem rather hell bent on trying to arrest me, Alice Parks." Alice's eyes widened slightly.
"What did you call me?" She viciously hissed, moving back slightly.
"Oh trust me, I know every last person who ever worked for me. Including your husband." Alice remained still, jaw setting in a firm line.
"We're divorced. That happened ten years ago." She growled back. "What does he do? A janitor to clean up your garbage? Huh?"
"Actually, he's an executive. You could've had it all, Alice. The man makes two hundred thousand a year working for me." Wesker began smirking once more. "But now you're here, working as a detective. Do you miss Matthew? Hmm?" Alice took in a deep breath, clenching both her fists; blue eyes alight with ignited anger.
"My best friend? Yeah. I miss him. The fact that he was working to bring you down and suddenly wound up dead after he was about to send his evidence to the press is quite suspicious really. I'm on to you Wesker. You can keep lawyering up, scamming people, but one of these days…"
"Are you going to wait until it's too late for Isobella? Hmm?" Alice nostrils flared out of anger, and she grabbed the man by the shoulders, standing him up.
"What do you know?" She yelled, and by this time, both the officer, and Jane had stormed in, pulling her back.
"Enough!" Jane's raspy voice lowered an octave as she yelled, and tugged the shorter woman off of Wesker who simply stood back, his arrogant smirk never leaving his face.
"Always the same, Alice. Always the same. No wonder Spence was attracted to you. So full of fire, easy to anger… a man like him needs a woman like you."
"I dare you to say one more thing, you sick sonuva-"
"Come on! Enough!" Jane pulled Alice back and out of the interrogation room, giving a nod to the officer to let Albert Wesker go, the Chairman never once letting his smirk go.
"All right, I'm not one to ask personal questions, but what the hell was that about? I thought you said he didn't know you! And who the hell is Isobella?"Jane demanded, sitting Alice down in the next interrogation room. Alice closed her eyes, shaking her head before standing up again.
"You don't know me well enough to be able to ask me that. I'm letting it go. The tapes will tell us everything." Alice said as she headed for the door, not once looking Jane in the eyes. "Check records for Dr. Samuel Isaacs and if his alibi checks out. He sounds suspicious for not showing up, even if Wesker's story is a load of horse shit."
"Alice, wait."
"That's Detective Abernathy to you, Detective Rizzoli."
"We began looking at this Dr. Isaacs that the Chairman had talked about. Turns out, he was at the hotel at the same time Wesker was. In fact, he went to Excella and Ricardo's rooms as well. Look here." Frost pointed out to Jane as she sat down at her desk. The footage before them clearly showed a man in his late forties leaving with both Excella and Ricardo, leading them down the hall, one on each arm.
"Clearly, they're drugged on whatever substance was in the hotel room."
"And he's leading them like lambs to slaughter," Frost replied. "Probably died in the back of his car."
"That on camera too?"
"Yep. Land Rover. Plate I4C VI0."
"Let's go get him."
