Triptocaine Blues
By Phantaz-Magoria

Chapter 9

* * *

Jayden walked into the precinct, his steps deliberate and his expression grim. Anyone looking could see he had a chip on his shoulder a mile wide. He didn't stop until he reached Blake's desk, glaring down at him with all the disdain he could muster. He spoke in cold clipped tones. "I want to speak to Mars."

Blake looked up from his typing and smiled as he stood. "Well, well, well! The prodigal agent returns! Where the hell have you been, Norman? You missed all the excitement!"

Jayden crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I've been having my own bit of excitement, thanks."

"What? No congratulations?"

"For what?"

Blake smirked as if it should have been obvious. "I caught the Origami Killer! And I did it without your fancy FBI degree."

Jayden shook his head. "So, you still think Ethan Mars is the Origami Killer? Has he given a confession?"

"Not yet, but it's a done deal. Case closed."

"That remains to be seen. Have you charged him with anything yet?"

"What? And give that asshole a chance to lawyer up before we have our case together? Of course not!" Blake seemed affronted by the idea.

Jayden rolled his eyes. "Where is he? I want to talk to him."

"The interrogation room. But you're not going to have much luck."

Jayden ignored Blake and strode quickly down the hallway to the room. He opened the door and stopped short. Ethan was laying unconscious on the floor with his arm lifted at an awkward angle attached to the table with handcuffs. A uniformed officer stood watch and Jayden turned on him. "What the HELL is going on here?"

"I'm keeping an eye on the suspect while Lieutenant Blake is out."

"He's unconscious for fuck's sake!"

"I'm just following orders, sir."

Jayden threw up his hands, angrier than he could remember being in a long time, and stormed out of the room. Blake was leaning against his desk, waiting for Jayden to come back. Jayden closed the distance between them quickly with his long strides, barely containing the fury he felt for the older man.

"Blake, you unbalanced piece of shit, what the hell have you done to him?!"

"Got a problem, Norman?" Blake took a step forward, invading Jayden's space.

"Mars is not the Origami Killer! You're beating a confession out of the wrong man!"

"Why won't you accept the facts, Jayden? He has no alibi for ANY of the murders. His wife thinks he did it. Hell, even his own shrink thinks he did it!"

"Any confession you get out of him is WORTHLESS! They might not teach you this in meter maid school, Blake, but if you beat the shit out of somebody long enough, they'll confess to Kennedy's assassination if you ask them to. Even if he was the killer, which he's not, the jury would take one look at your so called evidence given under duress and threat of torture and laugh your case out of court. Did you even advise him of his right to have an attorney present? You didn't did you?"

"Scum like that HAVE no rights! He sacrificed his rights when he killed that first little boy! Or have you forgotten about the eight families that creep has destroyed? So what if he gets a few little bruises? He killed those kids!"

"What the fuck happened to 'innocent until fucking proven guilty', Blake? Ever read the Constitution or did you drop out school before they got to that part?"

Blake grabbed Jayden by the shirt. "Listen to me, you little shit—"

"What's going on here?"

Jayden pulled his gaze away from Blake to see Captain Perry coming out of his office.

About time the fucking ponce pulls his head out of his ass and takes an interest in things.

He jerked himself out of Blake's grip. "Your detective has just finished assaulting a suspect in police custody. I suggest you get him under control before—"

"Before what, Agent Jayden? In my experience, Lieutenant Blake's methods have worked very well and gotten results. That is, after all, what we want here, isn't it? Results?"

Jayden balked.

I can't believe what I'm hearing.

"At the expense of justice? Of truth? What the hell kind of dog and pony show are you running here, Captain?"

"I don't much appreciate your tone, Agent Jayden."

"Captain Perry, may I remind you that you were the one who requested federal assistance in this case? Your hostile attitude and the insubordination and ineptitude of your subordinates are greatly hindering this investigation."

"Well, I'm sorry you see things that way. Perhaps it's fortunate for all involved that we no longer need your services, Agent Jayden."

Jayden took a step forward, tilting his head sideways as if he hadn't heard correctly. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Didn't Lieutenant Blake inform you? We caught the Origami Killer. The case is closed and you're free to go."

"This is horse shit! Mars is not the goddamned killer! This is fucking surreal!"

"This case has been hard on you, Jayden. Perhaps you should take some time off?"

This is straight out of the Twilight Zone!

"I have proof! Mars isn't the killer."

Blake growled, "He's a lying sack of shit, Captain!"

Perry held up a hand to calm Blake.

"What sort of proof?"

"If you gentlemen will follow me to the briefing room?"

Jayden didn't wait to see if they were following him. His hands were shaking he was so angry. He pulled ARI out of his pocket and placed it on top of the overhead projector, then hooked it up like he had during his initial briefing on the Origami Killer.

Hell, was it only three days ago?

Perry and Blake were in the room watching him and he couldn't get his hands to stop shaking.

Dammit! Stop trembling! You had plenty of drugs last night and you don't need them yet so stop fucking shaking, already! Just because some asshole pisses you off, you can't lose your cool. Get yourself under control, for fuck's sake.

He turned ARI on and watched the interface flicker to life on the projection screen. His fingers twitched in an urgent desire to just pick up the glasses and do things the easy way. It would have been faster to find the video he was looking for if he had slipped them on for a moment or two… but he couldn't help being a little fearful of the consequences of even those few seconds. He wanted to give himself a little bit of time to recover before he delved back into ARI again.

He used a hand held remote to scroll through the file menus.

It's so slow doing things this way… Slow, but safer. Just for now. Everything in moderation. Besides, I'll need to use ARI to find Shaun once I have all the puzzle pieces I need. If I use it now for something simple, I might not be able to later.

Finally he found the file he was looking for. ARI had been in record mode when the killer had nearly eviscerated him in Paco Mendes' office. He highlighted the video and pressed play.

"Gentlemen, THIS is the Origami Killer. As you can see, he is taller than me, six foot five, maybe six foot six. Close to three hundred pounds I'd imagine. Air samples taken after…"

Jayden couldn't help but wince as he saw how close that katana had come to dismembering him completely. He'd been lucky to get away with just the one stab wound. And there it was, preserved on screen.

Sir Norman gets run through by the Black Knight. What a charming bed time story. Jayden flexed his arm uncomfortably. That actually looks a lot more painful then it felt at the time… Thank goodness for sharp swords, I guess.

" Air samples taken after the killer fled the scene are a positive match to the orchid pollen in the air at the scene where Jeremy Bowles' body was found." He cleared his throat, uncomfortable with the looks that Perry and Blake were giving him. "As you can see, this recording took place at twenty three hundred last night. At that time, Ethan Mars was already in your custody."

Blake wasn't too impressed. "Fled the scene? You mean you let another suspect get away, Norman?"

"As I recall, of the three suspects we've chased on foot, I'm the only one who's managed to catch one. Remember Korda? Oh, that's right. You were busy drinking coffee at the time, remember? And I'll have to apologize for not apprehending the killer last night. Being impaled makes things like that kinda difficult."

"This is such bullshit! That film was obviously manufactured!"

Jayden flexed his fist, aggravated beyond belief. "You think it's fake? I've got the stitches to prove it wasn't, but if you want me to strip for you, Carter, you're gonna have to buy me dinner first."

Blake's face was a storm cloud of anger. "Why would I buy dinner for a twenty dollar whore, Norman?"

"Tell me something, Carter, did your father stop at just beating the shit out of you every night or did he fuck you up the ass when your mom was too drunk to give a flying—"

"FUCKING ASSHOLE!"

Jayden dodged out of the way as Blake lunged for him. He came at Jayden like an enraged bull, throwing desks and chairs out his way. Jayden had to move quickly to stay out of his path and he was so stiff and sore already that it was a near thing. Blake came very close to grabbing him by the neck and snapping it like a twig, but Jayden somehow managed to avoid his grasp.

Perry's voice barely broke above the noise of clattering chairs. "BLAKE! Get a hold of yourself!"

Perry's got some guts. He's practically taking his life in his hands standing in Blake's way like that.

Blake stopped at Perry's instance, but he certainly didn't look pleased about it. His face was almost the same shade of purple as his shirt. Jayden stood up from behind the desk he had last used for cover and straightened his neat black suit coat.

Perry was speaking quietly to Blake, trying to calm him. He turned back to Jayden. "Well, Jayden? How do we know that you didn't stage that video?"

Oh, for fuck's sake…

"You don't. But I guess when the Killer takes another victim and the entire press corps is looking at you to explain why you ignored key evidence and persecuted an innocent man while the real killer was out stalking another child, well… that'll be your problem, then, won't it?"

That struck a chord with Perry. He readjusted his tie, obviously uncomfortable with the notion.

Blake actually sounded hurt, "You're not listening to this, Captain!"

"Quiet, Blake. I need to think."

Blake threw up his hands and stalked back and forth, a caged tiger waiting to kill. His eyes were filled with murderous intent as he glared at Jayden.

Just do it, Blake. Go for that gun, watch me grab mine first.

"Okay, Norman." He grinned. Jayden suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Blake lifted his hands in defeat. "You got me. You've got proof. Well, that's just fine. Here's what I think of your FUCKING proof!" Before Jayden had a chance to react, Blake had lifted a chair and slammed it down on ARI with all his strength and shattered the glasses and the projector beneath them with the force of the impact.

The color drained from Jayden's face and he looked at the shattered pieces of plastic and circuitry with shocked horror.

That didn't just happen… that couldn't have just happened!

He felt himself sink to his knees, arms wrapping around his midsection as if he'd just been kicked in the gut. He was cold and shaking and he couldn't seem to catch his breath. He didn't know whether to cry or scream. The horrible dread of knowing that something had gone terribly wrong and he couldn't fix it… there was NOTHING he could do to fix it… had settled like ice in his stomach. He couldn't stop himself. He was in a daze as he crawled forward and carefully picked up the broken pieces of black plastic.

All my files, all my evidence… Any HOPE of finding Shaun Mars…

Jayden wanted to be sick. His voice was shaking quietly, "You fucking dickhead."

Blake laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry, Norman. Did I break your glasses?"

Rage boiled up inside Jayden, filling him with a violent urge to rend and tear and destroy and he rose from the floor and lunged. "Fucking BASTARD!" His fist connected solidly with Blake's face even as something hard impacted with his already bruised stomach. The pain was there, but he ignored it. What was a few more aches and pains to the fury that drove him now?

Blind rage had Jayden attacking Blake with reckless abandon and Blake was fighting back, giving as good as he got. Soon, they were both on the floor, punching and kicking and rolling under the desks, heedless of the ones that fell on top of them. It wasn't until strong hands grabbed Jayden and hauled him upwards that the red mist began to clear from his vision.

Two uniformed cops were holding Blake back and Jayden couldn't begin to guess how many held him. It had to have been more than three.

The fucking bastard's LAUGHING at me!

He jerked against the men that held him, dragging them a few feet forward before they stopped him.

Blake laughed again. His face was bleeding in more than a few spots and Jayden had broken his nose, but he was grinning like a mad man. "I'm sorry I broke your toy, Norman!" He smiled as he wiped blood from his lip. He straightened and the men holding him let him go when he didn't seem in immediate danger of flying back into battle.

The hands that held Jayden were still as tight as vices.

They have to let go sometime and the moment they do...

Jayden had to consciously loosen his jaw, he'd had it clamped down so tight. His words dripped venom and hate for the man in front of him. "Denying a man his civil rights, obstruction of justice, destruction of physical evidence and destruction of government property. How about conspiracy to aid and abet? I think I could get that to stick."

"Fuck you, Norman! How about assaulting a police officer?"

"You think assaulting a federal agent isn't just as impressive?"

"That was self defense, fuck weed!"

Perry's voice was loud in Jayden's ringing ears. He'd forgotten the man was even in the room. "Boys! Calm yourselves the fuck down or I'm letting you BOTH spend the night in lock up!"

Better listen to what he says. Shaun isn't going to stand a chance if I get myself thrown in jail right next to his dad. But without ARI, what the hell can I do for him, now? Oh, fuck…

His pulse was still pounding against his temples, but he tried to calm himself, or at the least to pull his composure together enough that he seemed calm. His hands were shaking and now that the rage was leaving him, he felt cold all over. The headache made him feel nauseous. Or was that sick feeling caused by the sudden loss of the only thing that could have saved Shaun Mars?

Fuck, fuck, fuck… Triple bloody fucking shit, fuck!

Jayden closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and let it out, standing up straight. The men let him go. He ran his hands through his hair, taking his time to compose himself. He took another deep breath. Counted to ten. Let it out.

There's one last card I can play. It probably won't work, but I've gotta try. Please, God, let this work or that poor kid is dead.

His voice sounded deceptively calm, even to his own ears. "I'm taking Ethan Mars with me."

Blake started forward, but Perry stopped him. He looked at Jayden. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Agent Jayden."

"I'm afraid you can't stop me, Captain Perry. I'm putting Mars into protective custody under the Witness Protection Program. He's coming with me, sir." Jayden pulled a piece of paper out of the inside pocket of his jacket and handed it to Perry. "This is a signed order from a federal judge authorizing me to take custody of Ethan Mars."

Blake was furious. "Captain, are you seriously going to let this piece of dog shit walk out of here with our suspect?"

Perry gave Blake a look to silence him, then returned his disappointed glare to Jayden. "I'll be speaking to your superiors about this, Jayden. When I requested the FBI's assistance, I was told that there wouldn't be any jurisdiction stand offs, that you would be willing to work under my authority. This is a clear breach of that agreement."

"Things change, sir. If you have a problem with my methodology or the way I choose to run this investigation in light of new developments, then here's a number for you." Jayden held out a business card. "Ask for Supervisory Special Agent Dillon Savich. I'm sure you two will have a lovely chat about my career. Now, if you'll excuse me?"

Jayden turned and left the room, edging through the crowd of officers that had gathered at the door to watch the fireworks.

Just play it cool, Norman, you got this. They're all too dumbfounded to react, just get out of here before they snap out of it.

He walked quickly down the hallway and pushed open the door to the interrogation room. He pointed at the officer standing in the corner, exerting his authority with the simple gesture. "Un-cuff him."

"But, sir, Lieutenant Blake—"

"NOW, Officer!"

The officer hurried to obey. Jayden crouched next to Ethan. He was blinking slowly, just waking up it seemed.

Good timing. At least ONE thing's going right.

"Ethan, my name is Norman, I'm taking you out of here, okay? Can you stand?"

Ethan looked at him, scared and confused. He nodded slowly, apparently not sure if he'd heard right. Jayden helped him to his feet and half-supported, half-pulled him out the door. Ethan tried to freeze when he saw the cops looking at them, but Jayden pushed him forward, whispering barely audible instructions, "Don't stop, don't make eye contact, don't say a word, and for fuck's sake don't slow down."

Jayden hurried him past Perry, who still looked upset but for the most part ineffectual, and Blake, who still looked like he was going to show up on Jayden's doorstep with an axe and a Jack Nicholson grin one dark and stormy night in the very near future.

He stopped at the custodian counter. He kept his words short and his eyes hard, silently demanding to be obeyed. "Ethan Mars' personal effects, please."

The custodian behind the counter looked at Captain Perry for some sort of signal.

Don't look at him. Look at me. Do as I say. That's a girl.

She swallowed and pulled a bin and a ledger out from under the counter. It held a cell phone, car keys, wallet, and piece of paper folded up like a rat. "Sign here, please, sir."

Ethan stuffed the items into his coat pockets and signed the receipt.

So far, so good.

Jayden grabbed Ethan's elbow and pulled him along. It seemed to take them ages to get to the door of the garage and Jayden resisted the urge to breathe a sigh of relief as it closed behind him.

Not letting up on the pace, he ushered Ethan all the way to his replacement rental car. Ethan was still in a daze, still trying to pull his seat belt on when Jayden had the car in gear and exiting the garage as fast as propriety would allow.

It wasn't until they were on the highway heading somewhere, ANYWHERE, with no flashing lights in the rear view mirror that Jayden felt himself begin to relax.

He hadn't realized how silent the car was until he looked over to see Ethan watching him with a peculiar sort of intensity. Jayden cleared his throat, letting out an embarrassed laugh. "Well, that was something, wasn't it?"

Ethan was silent.

"You probably don't remember me. We met a few days ago. My name's Norman Jayden. I'm an FBI profiler."

Ethan turned away, more interested in the rain trailing down the window than in conversation it seemed.

Jayden tried again. "The police think you kidnapped your son. You want to talk to me about it?"

Still nothing aside from the rhythmic squelching of the windshield wipers. Jayden sighed and took the next exit off the highway. He found a parking lot to pull into and stopped the car. Silence filled the confined space when he cut of the engine, silence punctured only by the rain drops tap, tap, tapping on the roof. If he had to sit here in silence any longer, he would start thinking about ARI and he just couldn't bear to do that right now. It was bad enough that he was beginning to hurt all over and especially in his shoulder. He wouldn't be surprised if he had ripped out the stitches that Madison had set last night. That was NOTHING compared to losing ARI...

Jayden shook his head in frustration. "Ethan, are you gonna talk to me anytime soon or are we just going to sit here for a while? I want to help you, I want to find Shaun just as much as you do, but I need you to start talking to me. The longer I sit here with you, the less of a chance we have of finding him."

"I'm sorry Agent Jayden…"

Well, what do you know? He speaks!

Ethan wouldn't meet his eyes as he talked. "I don't think you can help me. I appreciate what you did, but… But you shouldn't be here with me."

"Why not? Someplace else I should be?"

"I… I kidnapped my son."

Well, that's certainly not what I expected to hear. Now, is he talking literally or is he just blaming himself for not keeping a better eye on him?

Jayden examined Ethan Mars closely. His posture was wrong. Miserable and without hope… Defeated. Not the body language of a serial killer. Not any that he'd ever met anyhow. Chances were high that he was just blaming himself for allowing it to happen.

His word choice is a little at odds with his behavior. He didn't say, 'It's my fault.' He said, 'I did it.' Curious.

"If you kidnapped him, then you know where he is?"

"I don't… I don't remember."

"You don't remember. Okay. Let me get this straight. So, you THINK you kidnapped your son, but you don't remember where he is? Is that right?"

"I know it sounds crazy. I've been going over this and over this in my head. It's the only thing that fits. The police believe it. I have to believe it, too. I'm the Origami Killer."

Yeah, you may believe it, but I don't. I don't fucking believe any of this shit… Belief stopped a good thirty or forty minutes ago.

Jayden rubbed his eyes then pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel a migraine coming on. Or was it the same one from earlier? Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, he could feel the pain from his torn and bloody knuckles and he was almost willing to bet his face looked just as bad as Blake's had. He wanted to lay down in a dark room, wanted to give in to the sickness and the misery. He wanted to mourn for his lost reality and cry and scream and take drugs until he forgot how horribly he'd fucked this whole thing up. But he couldn't. Not yet.

"Do you know what an FBI profiler does, Ethan? We study serial killers. All day, every day, that's what we do. We study them to learn how they think, how they react, why they do what they do. I've been studying serial killers since I was ten years old. Most kids want to grow up and be fire fighters or astronauts or dinosaur hunters. I didn't. I wanted to catch the man who murdered my father. I've been doing this an awfully long time, Ethan. I have been studying serial killers all my life and I am telling you that I can almost guaran-damned-tee you that you aren't a killer."

"How do you know?" The question was a timid one, almost whistful, and Ethan's eyes never left the passenger side window.

"You want the short answer or the dissertation?" Ethan made no reply, so Jayden shrugged and continued. "There's a few things that we look for when we're looking at serial killers, what we call childhood markers. Fire starting is one, torturing small animals, bed wetting into the early teens, history of child abuse, broken home. Antisocial behavior. You don't have a history of any of these. Granted, these are just indicators and statistics, but sixty percent of the time, they work every time."

Ethan didn't seem to catch the joke. He was looking at Jayden, wanting answers. "What about people who don't start as killers? What about people who are perfectly normal all their lives and then suddenly… suddenly there's another person in their head controlling them?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… Slow down a second. You think you have multiple personalities?"

"I don't know."

Jayden took a breath. "Can you at least tell me why?"

"Why I have them…?"

"No. Why you THINK you have them."

Ethan turned to stare out the window again. "I… I have these black outs…"

"Black outs."

"Yes, black outs. And when I wake up, I'm in a completely different part of the city and I don't know what time it is… I had a black out the day that Shaun disappeared. I was standing by the carousel, watching him… And then when I woke up, I was standing in the middle of the street a mile or two away and it was dark outside. I don't know how I got there or what I was doing… But… but when I ran back to the park, Shaun was gone. I ran back home as fast as I could, but he wasn't there either. That's when I called the police."

"You lied in your statement. You told us that you didn't call the police right away because—"

"Yes! I know what I told the police! It's just… If I had told the truth… Shaun means everything to me. I have to find a way to save him, even if I was the one who put him in danger! If I had told the truth, I would have been locked up, don't you understand? If I told the police that I'm a schizophrenic lunatic who has these visions of dead bodies floating in water they would have locked me up and thrown away the key! Then what chance would I have had at finding Shaun?"

"Calm down, Ethan, it's alright. I'm not accusing you of anything."

Ethan shook his head. "I'll get help when this is over, I'll commit myself to any institution you'd like, but I have to find Shaun first!"

"You don't seem crazy enough to need institutionalizing. I could be wrong, but I don't think I am."

"Didn't you hear what I said? I kidnapped my own son!"

"You said you don't remember what happened between four and nine pm because you were in the middle of a black out." Jayden raised his eyebrows when Ethan began to interrupt. "What? Is that not an accurate statement? You don't remember what happened, that doesn't automatically make you guilty of eight counts of murder, Ethan."

"I had an origami figure in my hand. I don't even know how to make origami. Isn't that proof enough?"

Jayden crossed his arms on the steering wheel and rested his forehead against them. It was getting uncomfortably stuffy in the car and he was almost tempted to turn it on just to start the air conditioner.

Strange, since it's only about fifty degrees outside.

"Not to be playing devil's advocate, but you could have simply seen it and picked it up. Or you could have subconsciously made a connection between the victims of the Origami Killer and your own son who you lost two years ago and developed an obsessive compulsion that you consciously aren't aware of. The mind is a powerful, complicated system that doesn't follow rules and can't be predicted."

"Or maybe it's my other self leaving me a message."

"You still think you have another personality? Great. Okay. I'll tell you what I know about multiple personalities, Ethan. They're rare. Not just rare, but extremely rare. They are sensationalized in movies and crime fiction because it's an interesting psychological subject with lots of dramatic ramifications, but in real life, you just aren't going to see it too much. The clinical term is dissociative identity disorder. Usually… not all the time, but usually in cases of DID, the psyche fractures as a result of extremely traumatic circumstances in an effort to protect itself from further psychological damage. In essence, it's a defense mechanism. You'll usually see one dominant alternate taking over the role of protector, defending the weaker, more defenseless primary. Again, actual, bona-fide cases of DID are pretty damned uncommon."

"Uncommon, but not impossible... I think… You see, I think my other self is testing me, testing my love for Shaun. If I can prove to my other self that I really love him, then maybe I can get him back…"

"If… and that's a BIG if… you did have an alternate, why would they do that you? He or she would probably do whatever they could to see that you DIDN'T get hurt. Unless your other self is one hell of a whack job but that sort of thing usually has very, VERY strong ties to childhood trauma and typically doesn't present this late in life. So, unless you were sexually molested repeatedly and locked in closets for weeks at a time when you were five, or maybe even kidnapped and tortured a little bit… Look, I'm just saying that I have doubts, STRONG doubts about your theory. What you're probably experiencing is something more like a fugue state that's triggered by the killings you see on TV because it reminds you of the loss of your son, Jason, and your mind shuts down to prevent you from the trauma of reliving the incident, or maybe even to relieve the anxiety of losing your other son in a similar fashion. Not that it helped much in the latter case. I haven't talked to you long enough to form a concrete opinion, but if I had to hazard a guess, that's what I would say."

"So, what are you? Some sort of psychiatrist?"

"No. Not a psychiatrist. I am, however, a card carrying criminal psychologist."

"What's the difference?"

"Psychologists give you expensive advice. Psychiatrists give you expensive drugs." Ethan turned to stare out the window again. Jayden was about to give up on the jokes. Every single one of them had fallen flat so far. He cleared his throat. "I'm serious though, Ethan. You're not the killer."

"I wish I could be sure."

"These black outs of yours. They started happening after your son died, right? Two years ago?"

"That's right."

"You don't remember them happening ever before in your life? Not once?"

"No. Never."

"Well, then you're alright. Like I said." Ethan frowned, not quite following. "The first victim was killed three years ago. If you'd had black outs three years ago, I'd be worried. Besides, like I was telling Blake and company, the real killer tried to fillet me last night while you were locked up, so there you have it. Can't be in two places at once, therefore you are obviously not him, right?"

Ethan stared at the Jayden for a few moments before scoffing and shaking his head. "Madison was right about you." Jayden raised an eyebrow. "She said you liked to show off."

"I wouldn't call that showing off. It doesn't do you any good if I'm the only one who thinks you're innocent. You have to believe it, too."

"You couldn't have just said that you ran into the guy and he wasn't me?"

Jayden shrugged. "I could have, but I'm charging for this conversation and I wanted to give you your money's worth." Ethan smiled. He actually smiled. Jayden felt accomplished. He shifted a little in his seat and cleared his throat. "So, Madison talks about me?"

Ethan nodded. "She said she hated you."

"Oh." I guess that serves me right for asking. Jayden rubbed his eyes. I honestly don't know what sounds better right now… vodka, tripto, or some fucking coffee.

"But I think it was in a good way." Evidently, Ethan had seen Jayden's hang-dog expression.

Jayden gave him a quizzical look. "There's a good way to hate somebody?"

Ethan shrugged. "I guess so."

"Right…"

They were silent for some time, listening to the rainfall on the roof of the car. Ethan was the first to speak. "How are we going to find Shaun?"

Jayden glanced at him sideways. "I was hoping that you could tell me."

"I thought you said you knew who the killer was."

"No… No, I didn't say that. I said he tried to fillet me. With a katana. I never actually saw his face. Maybe I could have put something together, but everything I had that could have pointed me where to go… Fuck!" Jayden slammed his palms against the steering wheel. He flexed his jaw, trying not to grind his teeth. "I'm sorry, Ethan. Blake destroyed all of my evidence, all the data I had. I could have found him, but the goddamned son of a bitch... Fuck. This day has not been progressing the way that I had planned. I've got nothing."

Nothing except a killer headache and a one way ticket to a federal prison if we don't find Shaun in time.

Jayden groaned and banged his head against the steering wheel, frustration making his temples pound. "Come on, Ethan. Please tell me I didn't just flush my life down the drain to break you out of jail and you don't have any clue where to go." Ethan looked at him and Jayden rubbed the back of his neck and sat up straight, stretching the stiff muscles, hoping to ease the tension that was making his head hurt so bad. Ethan was still waiting for clarification. "Alright, I'll admit it. I lied to the police, too. I said I was taking you into the Witness Protection Program, but you sort of need a judge to authorize that kind of thing. "

"I don't understand. Wouldn't they have wanted to see paperwork? Like a court order or something? They just let me go?"

"I did give them some paperwork. I'm hoping by the time they figure out it's a forgery, we'll have found Shaun alive and safe and we can sweep this whole sordid nonsense under the rug."

"You broke the law?"

Jayden's temper flared. "Pot calling the kettle black, aren't we? Or was that whole 'evading arrest' just bad timing and a horrible misunderstanding?"

Ethan looked down at his hands where he had them clasped in his lap. "I'm just amazed that you would do that to help me."

Jayden felt like shit. "Look, it's not that big of a deal. So, yes, TECHNICALLY, I helped a fugitive to escape, but technically they didn't charge you with anything, either. If they had charged you, they would have been required to have an attorney for you. Hell, they were required to have an attorney for you anyway… There's just a lot of grey area that we're kind of swimming around in right now, but if it was black and white, then yeah, I did a very bad thing and could lose my job. Or go to prison. But that's not going to happen because we're going to get that murdering son of a bitch first." Jayden took a breath. "Madison said you had some origami figures that might help."

Ethan nodded. "I have one more trial to do. Then I'll know where Shaun is."

Jayden nodded. "Okay. At least that's something… Where to?"

He started the car and put it in gear, pulling out of the parking lot as Ethan unfolded the paper rat and read off the address.

* * *

TBC

A/N: I have a confession to make. My source material, ie PS3, is on the other side of the globe from me for the next month and a half so it's hard for me to go back to the game and make sure that I have everyone sounding right. And for the life of me, when I try to remember Ethan's voice, the only thing that comes to mind is "SHAAAAUUUN! SHAAAUUUUNNN!" So, if he's not spot on, now you know why. I know I've said this before, but the reviews you guys give me are so awesome, it keeps me writing and gives me something to look forward to. I appreciate every last one of you! =)