I do not own the characters.
"Bro, you passed out? What kind of doctor are you?" Rex teased.
"Rex, I am a research scientist and inventor. I am not a surgeon." Caesar said loftily.
"Good thing too." Rex snickered.
Caesar made a face at him.
"What did you find out?" Beverly asked gently.
Caesar looked startled. He had forgotten she was there. Then he blushed hoping Beverly wasn't paying too much attention to the conversation.
"Well the doctor says that the cause of death was cerebral contusion and intracranial hemorrhage." Caesar said.
"What's that in English?" Circe asked.
"Someone bashed her brains in." Beverly supplied.
"Ewww." Rex made a face.
"More than bash, something like an arrow pierced her head." Caesar shuddered remembering the autopsy.
"Double ewww." Rex looked a little green.
"Arrow? Or a horn like on a bull?" Circe asked getting excited.
"You know, that's what I was thinking. But Chiquito said they didn't do anything to her." Beverly said.
"You believed him?" Rex scoffed.
"Well, a little... he seemed to be telling the truth." Beverly said uncertainly.
"Maybe Durango caught her and finished her off without telling Chiquito." Circe suggested.
"Maybe but something isn't adding up." Beverly closed her eyes.
"I don't know; it seems pretty obvious that Durango and Chiquito are involved in Señora Martinez's murder to me." Rex said.
"What about Sebastian this morning?" Beverly asked.
"What about him?" Rex asked.
"They don't have to be related. Maybe Gnomo was the one who greased the platform or pushed Sebastian in." Circe replied understanding Beverly's question.
"No," Beverly insisted, "I don't think that it was him. I think somehow the two are related I just can't see the connection... yet."
"Beverly, perhaps you're not looking at this rationally. Gnomo might not be as benevolent as you believe." Caesar interrupted.
Beverly looked at Caesar in disbelief. "He's not involved in the murder. He led me to the body. It's like he's trusting me to solve this."
"That's only because you saw him first. It has nothing to do with you personally." Caesar said losing patience.
"Well, I think it does and if it was because I saw him first then fate wants me to solve this." Beverly snapped.
Beverly and Caesar glared at each other. Caesar started having an uneasy feeling in his chest. He didn't like fighting with her. Why did she have to be so stubborn... like her sister?
Beverly was also feeling strange. Was this their first real fight? Why would it matter? They weren't together. What does it matter if they disagreed?
"Well, if you're not helping then stay out of the way." She growled and walked off.
"Wow, bro. That's twice in a row you made her mad." Rex observed.
Caesar shot Rex an impatient look before walking off as well.
Circe sighed. "I guess it's just you and me."
Rex perked up, "Yeah, what do you have in mind?"
"Down boy. I meant it's up to us to look for more clues."
"Or we could check out the empanada place." Rex's stomach growled.
Circe laughed. "Ok Rex, I guess we can spare a few hours."
"Sweet." Rex said as he formed his rex ride.
Circe grabbed a helmet and got on behind him. They took off for the cafe.
0o0
Beverly sat on the edge of the fence looking at but not really seeing the cattle in the pen. Maybe Caesar was right. Maybe she was taking this too personally. She did have a tendency to take on causes. But on the other hand she felt bad for Gnomo… an outcast because of the way he looked. She knew what it felt like to be different. It seemed like he was reaching out to her. She couldn't say no to that. With that last thought she jumped off the fence and walked out toward Gnomo's cave.
Caesar walked around the lab. Being around scientific instruments always calmed him down. He didn't know why it mattered to him what Beverly did. She was a big girl. She could do whatever she wanted. But he didn't want to see her get hurt. He paused. Where did that thought come from? Did he care about her? Then in what way did he care about her? As a friend? Or more? He passed a hand over his face nervously. He was not comfortable confronting these feelings. He was more comfortable being able to make objective observations and conclusions. This was beyond the realm of his experience or expertise. If he was stumped on a scientific conundrum he would ask for a second opinion from someone who was an expert in the field like Holiday, Rylander, or Meechum. But who did he know who would know about this kind of thing? He could only think of one person and he was not looking forward to talking to him about it.
0o0
Rex and Circe sat at an outside table. They sipped their drink and enjoyed the sleepy pace of the town.
"You're right Rex. These are delicious." Circe smiled at him over her cup.
Rex's grin grew. "I know my food." He put his cup down and grew serious. "I was hoping for more bonding time with Caesar. I guess I can't ever have an uneventful trip."
Circe felt guilty. It was really Beverly's and her fault that they were still involved. They could have just let Ricardo take care of this.
"Hey, Rex, if you want us to stop meddling…" Circe began.
"No, no. It's not that. I want to know what happen as much as you. After all the body was buried on my property." Rex assured her. "I just wish Caesar would take an interest in you know family…"
Circe nodded. She wished she had a family. For a while she thought she had found it with the Pack but she soon came to realize that a healthy family should not be using you as a means to an end. When she joined Rex's old gang in Hong Kong she started to understand what a real family was like. But that ended fairly quickly thanks to Black Knight. Then when she joined Rex at Providence she had a taste of what she missed. Dr. Holiday was so… maternal. Six was the stern father-figure. Beverly was starting to be like a sister to her. Caesar was the strange but harmless uncle. Bobo was the brother that no one talked about and only acknowledged during the holidays. White Knight was the cranky grandfather. Yeah, the whole family was there.
"Rex!" An angry voice interrupted her thoughts. Startled she looked up to see an angry Durango walking up to the table. Durango barely glanced at her. Circe hoped Durango did not get a good look at her from before.
Rex looked nonchalantly at Durango, "Can I help you?"
"I know you had something to do with Chiquito being so distraught!" Durango shouted.
"You need to take better care of your brother." Rex said calmly.
"Don't tell me what to do!" Durango raged.
"I didn't do anything to your brother." Rex said truthfully since it was Circe and Beverly doing the interrogation. "Did he say it was me?"
"He wouldn't tell me anything. I saw two people fleeing from the house and Chiquito in the house." Durango snorted.
"Well, then it was the two people." Rex said reasonably.
Durango flipped over the table. Circe shot up and got into a defensive stance. Rex looked at the former EVO with a bored look. "You done?" He asked.
Durango grabbed Rex's jacket and lifted him out of the seat. Circe gasped. She didn't understand why Rex wasn't doing anything. She got ready to jump on Durango to get him to let go of Rex.
Rex still with a serene look on his face looked behind Durango, "Buenos tardes, good afternoon, Detective Ricardo."
"Buenos tardes. Durango is there any reason you are threatening this child?" Ricardo asked sternly.
Durango dropped Rex and with a scowl on his face turned to face the detective. "He threatened my brother."
"Really, did Chiquito tell you this?" Ricardo arched an eyebrow.
"Well, no… but it must have been him!" Durango sputtered.
"Well, I heard you say two people, so unless Rex has learned to duplicate himself you need to find another to accuse."
"He could have had an accomplice!" Durango was grasping at straws.
"Unless you have undeniable proof, I can not allow you to go around threatening other people." Ricardo said firmly.
Durango shot an angry look at Rex before muttering, "This isn't over, boy." Then he stalked off.
"So, I can take it we found something interesting?" Ricardo asked when Durango was well out of earshot.
"Maybe." Rex hedged.
Ricardo sighed. "I have time, might as well tell me." He picked up the table and pulled up another chair.
0o0
Beverly walked through the ravine on her way towards the cave. She wasn't sure what she was expecting. She knew that detective Ricardo had someone stationed at the cave in case Gnomo showed up. Would that person let her in to look through the cave. She wanted to see if any of those paintings were salvageable.
As Beverly walked toward the cave she felt something was off. First off she didn't see anyone standing guard. When she got closer she realized that the area toward the cave's opening showed signs of disturbance. The rock was moved out of the way. The dirt around the area was no longer smooth. Beverly called out, "Hello? Anyone there?"
When no one answered she gingerly stepped toward the cave's opening. On the edge of the mouth lay a flashlight. She picked it up and noticed the glass had shattered. She flipped the on switch. To her surprise it turned on. She aimed the light into the dark cave and gasped. On the floor was a crumpled body of a man. Beverly jumped down and touched the man. It wasn't anyone she recognized. The man emitted a groan. Beverly was relieved that he was alive. Beverly examined him quickly. All she could see was that there was a knot on the back of his head. Her first thought was that Gnomo had knocked him out but quickly dismissed that idea. Gnomo was too short to reach the man's head. Judging by the angle of the knot the man was ambushed by someone who was about the same height.
Beverly got up and climbed through the opening. She realized there must have been a fight. She noticed for the first time tracks in the dirt. She began following it. As she walked further and further away from the cave it occurred to her that perhaps it is not the best idea to be alone doing this. Before she could figure out whether she should go back for help she came to the end of the tracks… literally. She peered over a deep gorge. It was so deep that the sunlight couldn't reach the depths. Beverly peered down trying to see if she could make out anything when she she caught a faint whiff of something in the air. Then she felt a push from behind. Beverly screamed as she plunged down the cliff.
