A/N- I am extremely proud of myself for updating so soon lol! Thank you so much for the reviews, I love reading them and they are the best encouragement to write faster! I hope you like this chapter and do let me know what you think!
This story was nominated for best action/adventure fic in the Klaroline awards on tumblr, and if you want to vote for it you find the link for the blog on my profile.
Chapter 7
The sunlight streamed in through the window, the frilly white shades swaying in the light summer breeze. The table by the window was a mess; an almost empty whiskey bottle, a tub of ice-cream, sheets after sheets of papers, documents and a gun lying by the edge.
"This is useless!" Klaus said through clenched teeth, pushing the file away from him and banging his forehead onto the table.
Caroline sighed, placing her elbow on the table and propping the side of her face onto her palm, she studied the exhausted man. A day after she tracked him down he came to her day care centre, standing outside awkwardly waiting for all the children to leave, he came forward and told her that her 'findings' had some merit, that she wasn't crazy and delusional. She could have kissed him at that moment; she thought he would throw the file into the first dumpster he saw, and yet he was in her place, telling her that he would look in to it, but not to get her hopes high.
'She's probably dead' had been his cruel, cold words. But she only smiled and teared up, thanking him profusely. Someone was ready to help her, that's all she wanted; she just wanted to know she had done everything she could. The police's priority was finding the killer, not his victims.
She needed someone to look for her sister, and not the man who had taken her.
And now two weeks since that day, her 'relationship' with Klaus had changed drastically. The first few days, he questioned her about her sister, then on the things she had found out. Slowly, and especially in this past week, he became just as obsessed with this case as she was. He spent half the day with her; going over the files – hers and the official police file, searching her sister's dorm room from top to bottom, talking to all her friends, re-tracing every step she took before she went missing.
The rest of his day he spent at the office, only he knew how less he concentrated on his actual work. His mind was always on this case, always on Caroline. In two short weeks, the girl had managed to enchant him, and he had no clue how why or when, but all he knew was that there was something about her that could make him do just about anything for her.
"What is useless?" she asked, eyeing him warmly, something that always made him uncomfortable. No one ever looked at him like that. Gulping and avoiding her gaze he poured the last remaining drops of whiskey into his glass.
"This" Klaus said, shaking the file in his hand and giving it a sour look "We've been reading this for hours and it's of no use."
"Ok" Caroline said straightening up and pulling her chair closer to him, the control freak in her slowly peeping out "Let's just go over the facts we have, one more time, maybe something new will pop out"
He observed her for a few seconds, fixing his narrowed, skeptical eyes on her "You've watched too many crime shows"
She giggled, and he couldn't remember a time when the sound of a giggle didn't annoy him "I hardly watch any if you must know. Seriously though, can we just give this a shot?" she added seriously and he grumbled and wrinkled his nose but ultimately nodded "Ok, so almost all the girls thought that they were being followed just days before they were kidnapped. I spoke to their parents, brothers etc and they all said the girls had this feeling like they were being followed."
"Does this really have to mean anything, I mean this is New York" Klaus butted in.
"True" Caroline agreed, pointing her pencil at him and searching through the file ahead of her "But this can't be a coincidence. All the girls within a few days of thinking they were being stalked, when asked about it totally dismissed it; said that they were mistaken and that it was just a misunderstanding"
"Andrea Colton's brother said that when he asked her 3 days after she told him she was worried, she suddenly started blushing and dismissed it. Saying that she just misunderstood and it wasn't something to be worried about. That can't be a coincidence" Caroline concluded, mirroring Klaus and reclining back in her chair.
He chewed on the back of the pen, lost in thought before springing up and resting his elbows onto the table "Even Rebekah told you the same thing"
Caroline gulped unceremoniously as a wave of emotions flitted across her face "Yeah. She told me she thought she was being followed, and when I asked her about it two days later; she laughed. And not her this-movie-is-so-funny laugh; but her awkward, blushing giggly laugh. She said it was no big deal and there was nothing to worry about. I asked her if she was followed and she just told me to not worry and slammed the phone"
"But she didn't answer?" Klaus asked "She didn't say yes or no to that question?"
"No..." Caroline replied unsurely "She didn't answer that specifically, why?"
"Some people have an aversion to lying. But when they don't want to tell the truth, they simply don't tell anything to begin with. Avoid the topic, avoid the question – avoid the need to lie. Was Rebekah like that?"
"Yes" she said confidently "Rebekah hated lying or being lied to. This is how he chooses doesn't he?" she added, her voice smaller and more emotional "This is how he picks his victims"
Klaus nodded, still in thought as he looked sadly at the now empty liquor bottle "He follows them, for days. Then he gets to know them. And doesn't just get to know them, he charms them. Charms them enough to make them forget that just days ago he was their stalker" he added enthusiastically, frowning as he mumbled something under his breath, something that sounded a lot like 'stupid teens'
"He can't be old then" Caroline commented, crossing her hands over her chest as Klaus raised a brow in confusion "These are teenagers, they don't like 30 year old men –"
"Unless they're loaded..."
"Nonetheless" she continued despite his added commentary "My sister would certainly not be charmed by some rich old dude, so this guy has to be young, attractive and charming"
"Well then it should be easy to find a young, charismatic kid in New York" Klaus said sarcastically "I think I'll go speak to the parents and relatives of the girls once, see if I can find out more about this stalker guy"
"I already spoke to them all" Caroline rebutted confused.
"Yes and I'm sure Criminal Minds really sharpened your interrogative skills, but let me give it a shot" Klaus piped up mischievously, making her roll her eyes "See if I can find something your lack of police training might have missed"
"Knock yourself out" she scowled, throwing the pencil at him when he had the audacity to chuckle proudly. She had long since stopped being offended by jibes like this from Klaus; it was all just a part of his wonderful, sunny personality.
He smiled cheekily and tapped his fingers on the table, watching Caroline as she dug into the depleting reserves of the ice-cream tub. She was truly beautiful, a different kind of beautiful; her blond wavy hair, her azure blue eyes, high cheekbones and furry little nose – in her own way she was one of most beautiful women he had ever seen. And from the downright casual clothes, lack of make-up and sleep look she sported these days, he didn't even want to think how appealing she would be when she took any effort into it. He had been with dozens of women in his time, but he had never really looked at them, not like he seemed to look at Caroline; rendering each of her features to memory and most of all, he looked at her as a woman, not an object to eventually take to his bed.
Something, that was very very new to Klaus. Along with being absolutely terrifying.
She peeked at him from under her lashes, her brow furrowing when she noticed the way he looking at her. Such a genuine smile did not suit Klaus's face; it made him look – less scary.
"What?" she demanded, flicking her unruly hair over her shoulder.
"Nothing" he spluttered, slightly embarrassed and turned to look out the window.
Shaking her head, she placed a hand on his and remembering how long he had been working, said "You must be hungry, let me make you something to eat"
He turned to look at her, his slight moment of embarrassment gone as he snorted "I've been eating out of cardboard boxes for years, this is nice." She laughed at this and he couldn't help but join her, or add "I could get used to this"
Her smile grew infinitely larger, stretching her facial muscles as a slight pink hue rose in her cheeks. He gulped as he realized what he had said, inertly slapping himself for blurting things like that. She squeezed his hand as she got to make something for him, and his base instincts to push everyone away kicked in.
He yanked his hand out from under hers and stood up in a flash "Let it be. I should go into the office"
"Oh" Caroline said meekly, looking from her hand to his stone cold face "Ok"
Nodding curtly and pushing away the guilt that reared at seeing her reaction he made his way to the door, when she called out to him again.
"Do you want me to come with you when you question the families?" she asked sweetly, the same infuriating warm smile on her face.
"No" he replied crudely, his voice coming out a lot more harsher than he intended "I work better alone"
He avoided her for three whole days after that. Attempting and catastrophically failing to put her out of his mind, it was like she had been welded into his head, a constant in his thoughts. But the one thing he could do was drown in his work; which he did, working 18 hours a day and immensely pleasing his captain. He still continued looking into Rebekah's case and emailed and texted Caroline whatever he found, but never made any actual contact. She called him several times, he just ignored it.
But his misguided bliss only lasted a while, on the third day of him ignoring her it came back to him.
He had one foot out of the elevator when a clearly irate Dexter all but rammed into him.
Standing all too close for either's comfort Dexter announced "You girlfriend is in my..."
"She's not my girlfriend..." Klaus interrupted, conveniently ignoring how his mind jumped straight to Caroline.
"Caroline" Dexter decidedly spoke over him "Is in my lab, waiting for you. I don't like people in my lab" he added through clenched teeth, like his secret room of severed body parts had been found.
"Ugh..." Klaus lamented, thinking of any way to avoid seeing her, but Dexter left him no choice.
"I told her to wait in your office, but she refused to step foot in it. I don't like people in my lab. Get her out"
"Jesus Dex" Klaus rolled his eyes and walked towards his lab. Tentatively, he opened the door and swung it open, to see Caroline sitting on Dexter's stool swirling in it like he always did.
She looked different, a lot different than he had gotten used to seeing her the past two weeks. Now she looked like she had when he had first met her; sad and desperate. She grabbed the table to stop her from spinning and got off the stool when he leaned against the door frame.
Swallowing a lump in his throat he began "Caroline..."
"You left this at my place" she cut him across, her voice hard and strained "Your jacket and some file. I read the file, some Ukrainian drug racket thing, thought it might be important" she extended a paper bag towards him.
Blinking furiously he took the bag from her, still trying to process that he had left such a sensitive file at her house, and that she actually read it. Looking down at the bag, which he realized was too heavy to just hold his jacket and a file he managed to frame a sentence "Thank you and I just spoke to the families and..."
"I'm sure you'll email me" she looked up at him from under her lashes, fixing him with an unwavering gaze.
"You're here I might as well just tell you" he argued, moving to the side as she tried to leave.
"No" she whirled around, her hair flying wildly and the word coming out more in a scream. Composing herself she flattened the front of her blouse "No, thank you. Just email me, like you did everything else. I just came to give you that, it looked important and you aren't answering my calls"
"Look Caroline I'm sorry" Klaus said using the best apologetic tone he could muster "I was really backed up in work"
"Sure" Her hands tightened around her torso as she visibly worked to control her tears.
"Why don't I take you for coffee and I can..."
"No" she repeated fiercely, her eyes hard and glassy "You made things very clear, and I'm not stupid. I was mad, because you were a jerk. But you know what I don't have any right to be mad at you. We're not friends, this is just some sort of cop pro-bono or something – charity case is what this is. So I'm just going to leave. I'll be waiting for your email."
And with that she turned on her heel and strutted away leaving him feeling like...
"The scum of the earth"
Klaus turned around to see Dexter standing by the other entrance of his lab, seemingly in a better mood since his lab was stranger free.
"What?" Klaus asked confused, he seemed to be that very often these days.
"What you feel like right now, right?" He pointed out, stepping into his lab "Women have a way of doing that, I have no idea how. Rita does it too, pretends like she's isn't hurt at all but still makes me feel like..."
"Scum of the earth" Klaus provided and nodded his head, sighing and resting against the table. When did his life get so complicated? "I have no idea what just happened"
"She just guilt tripped you" Dexter educated him, stuffing his hands in his pockets and leaning back against the door "She just guilt tripped you into becoming her bitch again"
"Excuse me!" Klaus exclaimed coming to his feet, his jaw clenching in anger.
"That's how Deb phrases it!" Dexter digressed, raising his hands in surrender "But it is true" When Klaus gave him a skeptical look he added "So you aren't going to go after her and grovel?"
Huffing slightly and straightening his jacket Klaus murmured "I didn't say that but I don't grovel" Walking out the door he stopped and turned when Dexter's characteristic laugh hit his ears "I'm still no one's bitch" he pointed out finitely and left.
Katherine sat in the conference room, tapping her manicured fingernails on the wooden top, her face clearly representing the way the wheels turned in her head. She had spent the past hour going through the various interview recordings ahead of her; her, Elijah and Bonnie had spent the better part of the day reaching out and questioning anyone who could know anything about Caroline – her employers at the day care centre, her friends even to Rebekah's friends.
Their finding being nothing less than useless was an understatement. She sunk her head into her hands as the interviews swarmed her head.
...I just want to ask you some basic questions, that's all...
...You are-were Rebekah's roommate right?
...Your twins go to Caroline's daycare Mrs. Roberts?
...Caroline used to visit Bekah a lot, we'd see her all the time...
... What was Caroline like?
...She's just a great girl, I mean...
...We were friends since we were 10 years old, she was more like a sister than a friend...
...She loved the kids. She was so good with them...
...And not just because it was her job. But she loved them, she would take care of them, she would teach them things, if they did anything wrong she would explain it to them...
...She was such a lively person, it was like she was always on an adrenaline rush...
...Hot!... she's hot – I mean different kind of hot and – hey! Where are you going? I was getting...
...She was this big ball of sunshine...
...Rebekah invited some of us to Caroline's 25th birthday party! It was so awesome...
...My kids loved her, she managed to get through to them like no one else could...
...And she's always been like this?
...But then...
...Rebekah was kidnapped, and everything went to hell...
...Caroline was never the same again, she was always sad and depressed...
...She lost that light she had...
...I tried so hard, I've known her since I was 11 but, I couldn't get through to her...
...She was still good with the kids of course, but she didn't enjoy it, she was lifeless and empty...
...She hardly talked to anyone...
...There was this guy, her boyfriend I think...
...He seemed to get through to her, at least a little bit...
...He was weird though, we tried to talk to him when they came to pick up stuff from Bekah's dorm but he just growled at us...
...He seemed to help her, somehow...
...You remember I told you that she'd lost her light?...
...Yes
...When he was around her she seemed to get some of that light back, she seemed happy...
...as happy as she could be...
...Anything unusual with her in the past 3 months?
... We hardly spoke...
... she never returned my calls...
...She retracted from us all. The only person who knows anything about Caroline after Rebekah's kidnapping is that boyfriend...
... he was her only life after that...
Katherine groaned in frustration and rested her forehead on the table, wondering how long before Elijah and Bonnie understood that the boyfriend was in fact their hot headed colleague. She didn't know how long she could keep Klaus's secret a secret.
The click of the door pulled her out of her thoughts. Looking up, she saw Elijah walk in and sit down on the opposite end of the table.
"Any luck?" he asked, pointing at the recordings.
She shook her head and stifled a yawn, glancing at the clock. It had been 8 hours, 4 left – but she was not going to Klaus for help, no she was not.
"We need this boyfriend" Elijah pressed, stamping his fist on the table "I was so sure it was Moriarty, without him I don't know how we're going to get anywhere Katherine"
Dismissing his comment and thankful that somehow none of the people knew Klaus's name, Katherine stood up and grabbed her bag "I'm going to that bar and check things out"
"I'll come with you" Elijah offered.
"No" Katherine said hastily, having no interest in dragging Elijah into the mess Klaus had made "I'll go alone"
"Tell me again why I have to be here?" Dexter grumbled as he followed Klaus further into the cemetery, looking at the back of Klaus's head as he strode ahead purposefully.
"Because..." Klaus mused absently, more concentrated on looking at the graves "I need a wingman"
"I've seen enough TV to know that partner in crime is not part of a wingman's job description"
"We're different kind of men Dex, so we need different kind of wingmen" Klaus explained, flashing him his cocky dimpled smirk and moving ahead.
Rolling his eyes Dexter pointed out "And why do we need shovels?"
"Because if he did dig up a grave, he's not going to leave it open. So we have to dig it open again"
"Why are we going to-... Klaus" Dexter changed path halfway through, making Klaus stop in his tracks. He never used that name, ever – he always called him Nik.
"What?" Klaus asked wearily, moving his flashlight around to see if anyone else was there.
"This is it" Dexter said, pounding his foot on a grave "This is the one he dug up"
Klaus moved ahead and examined the grave Dexter was staring at "It's fresh". Dexter nodded, pointing at the fresh grass on it, much fresher than the one's around it. It had been recently filled "But maybe this person was just..."
"Unmarked grave; 1950 – 1982" Dexter read, directing his flashlight onto the stone marker "It can't be this fresh if the person was buried in 1982"
"Then this could be it" Klaus concurred, embedding the shovel into the ground and rolling up his sleeves.
"What are we even going to find in here?" Dexter asked, wiping his brow and placing his hands on his hips as he watched Klaus ram the shovel into the dirt again and throw it out. They were almost halfway through, a big pile of dirt on the side of the grave as they dug through.
"I don't know" Klaus huffed, straightening his back and panting heavily "Maybe he scraped himself somewhere, some hair or piece of cloth; something anything"
"Even if we do find it Nik, it won't be admissible"
"I don't want it to admissible" Klaus yelled, throwing his shovel down and turning on Dexter "I'm not planning on taking this guy to court, I want to find him, save Caroline and then kill him"
Ignoring the last statement, Dexter reached for the water bottle in his bag; careful to keep his face away from Klaus he said "You know Rebekah is dead right?"
Klaus didn't say a word, shifting on his feet and looking down at the ground. A muscle twitched in his jaw as he grunted.
"It's been too long Nik" the fact that Dexter was using his best soft, comforting voice was quite alarming "I hate to agree with Fell, but she's right; he has killed her, we just haven't found the body"
Klaus's hands fisted by his side, the anguish clear on his face, even in the dim light of the moon "But Caroline is alive"
"Yes" Dexter agreed, nodding his head, he had to agree with that – Caroline would most certainly still be alive. Sighing and clapping Klaus on the back both bent down to pick up their shovels.
Klaus didn't notice the way Dexter stiffened halfway through; his body bent in an awkward shape as he looked on at something in the darkness, his hand outstretched towards the shovel but frozen in place. His eyes stuck on one thing in the distance – the silhouette of a man walking in this direction, towards them.
"Nik" Dexter whispered, turning off the flashlight and crouching low in the hole.
"What?" Klaus whispered back, recognizing the urgency in Dexter's voice and body language.
"Someone's here" he replied, tilting his head in the direction of the man.
Klaus placed his hand on the flashlight, hoping to shield the light and peeked up. It was faint but visible, a man walked in this direction.
"It can't be the security guard" Klaus observed "He's coming from the wrong direction" Who else could it be?
Who would visit the cemetery so late in the night?
Klaus reached into his back pocket, looking for his badge in case he could intimidate the intruder with it, while Dexter kept his eyes on the man.
Suddenly, the man stopped; fixed on his feet, even in the darkness his shock was seen in his body language, he had seen them, or heard them. Crouched low in the half hole they had dug up, Klaus and Dexter watched the man's suspicious behavior.
"Get a look at his face" Klaus ordered, pulling out his gun as Dexter placed a hand next to the stone marker and directed his flashlight in the direction of the man. The light landed on the object he held in his hands, which he instantly dropped and took off running in the opposite direction.
"What the hell" Klaus commented, lowering his gun and watching as the man ran away.
"Nik" Dexter whispered, his voice low and fearful as he placed a hand on Klaus's arm. This bought Klaus's complete attention on him; he knew the man hated the mere concept of physical contact – which meant something was terribly wrong.
"What?"
"Nik..." Dexter repeated, his eyes flitting between the shriveled petals under his fingers to the object abandoned by the man, illuminated by his flashlight.
"It's him"
"W-What?" Klaus asked baffled, not understanding the other man's sudden fascination with dried flowers.
Dexter turned to him then, his eyes wide and burning like never before "It's him Klaus, it's him"
They were both out of the hole in a second, running as fast as their numb legs could carry them, Klaus's gun at the ready and Dexter holding the shovel by his side. The man's shadow was the only thing visible now, having disappeared somewhere in the darkness. Stone markers passed him by in a blur as he ran hastily and Dexter only a feet behind him. This was his chance, if this was the man – he could find Caroline. She could be with him within hours, safe and secure in his arms.
All he had to do was catch him.
One turn and the elusive man disappeared into the night, no sign of him anywhere.
By the time they reached the spot where he had been standing, a bouquet of flowers lying abandoned on the grass the only proof of his presence, he was long gone. He was lost somewhere in the woods behind the cemetery and they had no chance of finding him.
"Fuck fuck..." Klaus spit venomously, thumping his fists on his thighs and bending over in an attempt to catch his breath. His chest hurt; from running like the wind, but more so from the stolen image in his head. An image which could have become a beautiful reality. He was so close, so close. He could see the small, tired smile on her face when he found her, but with the man that image was gone. The reality was gone.
The hope was gone.
"Fuck!" he repeated aggravated, holding his knees and breathing out roughly "He's gone"
"Nik wait..." Dexter huffed, resting his hand on a gravestone and breathing just as erratically as Klaus.
"I AM NEVER GOING TO FIND HER" Klaus bellowed into the night, kicking into the thin air, the dust rising around his half-shaking body as a result. His hands balled up into fists by his chest and he closed his eyes in despair, in a silent prayer.
"Look at these flowers" Dexter said, standing up straight and walking closer to him.
"I don't give a fuck about some flowers!"
"Nik, calm down..."
"Don't tell me to fuc-"
"Calm the fuck down" Dexter yelled back, walking into the incensed man's face, raising his voice three levels higher than Klaus's "You bought me here to help you so you're going to shut up and listen to me" he added authoritatively.
Satisfied by Klaus's lack of further yelling, Dexter continued "Look at the flowers; lilies. Same like the one withered by the grave. They look like they were put there a week back"
"So?" Klaus challenged taking a step away.
"So... so?" Dexter pressed agitated by the sudden onset of dumbness in his friend "What kind of a serial killer visits the grave he robbed and put flowers there? And from the looks of it he does it every week. And why that grave? Why that coffin? There are 100 others here, why that one?"
"Because... because" Klaus mumbled, his eyes narrowing as the wheels in his head turned in the right direction.
"Because he knows the person. Knew the person" Dexter provided "Whoever was buried there was someone to our killer, and if he find out who was buried there..."
"We can find him" Klaus supplied, exhaling loudly and wobbling on his aching feet he let out a dark laugh. Was this ever going to end?
"And if we find him then we can find..." Dexter added forebodingly.
Caroline.
"Have you ever seen this woman around here?"
The shady bartender looked up from wiping a beer glass with a dirty rag, his brow quirking at the sight of Katherine he let out a small, almost unnoticeable snort. Almost.
"No" he replied, taking a quick peek at Caroline photo on the bar.
"Look" Katherine said categorically, placing her hands on her hips so he could see her badge and gun holstered to her belt "I know she was here, more than once, so unless you want me to take you down to the police station; you'll take another look, and tell me what she did here. Who she spoke to?"
Eyeing her angrily, the bartender halted his 'cleaning' activities and focused on the picture. Frowning slightly, he bent his head down as if to get a better look.
"So she come here right?" Katherine prodded.
"Yeah... sort of" he replied, a baffled look gracing his face.
"What do you mean sort of?"
"Well I mean..." he hesitated "I remember that face, she came here every day for two weeks. But this is different" he added tapping the photo.
"What do you mean different?" Katherine jibed angrily "Was it her or not?'
"Oh yeah it was her" he said confidently "But she wasn't a blonde"
"What?"
"It was the same girl. But she was a brunette"
In case you don't know what to say to that confusing chapter just follow me lead –
Dear Tanya,
How dare you end every chapter with weird facts of Caroline 's hair?
How dare you make Klaus all angsty and sad?
How dare you give such less flashbacks?
Just how dare you?
insert name here
