In the morning, Gabriel makes breakfast while Elle putters around the house. She floats from room to room; newspaper in one hand, coffee in the other. She's restless and eager for her outing with Gabriel. She kept him up half the night with questions he didn't seem to mind answering. She wonders if she's prepared for this. Is it really as effortless as Gabriel makes it look? He's so graceful and strong; he could make anything look easy. Elle contemplates backing out, but knows she'd lose her Gabriel if that happened. Probably her life as well, but that seems less important.
"I made waffles," Gabriel calls across the condo. He stacks them high on plates while Elle shuffles her way into the kitchen. He tells her how he hates the smell of that God-awful flavored coffee she drinks, kisses her anyway.
When Elle hands him the paper, he puts his glasses on. She watches his eyes skim the article about the baseball player found dead outside the stadium until he gets to the good part. He reads it aloud to her, like a kid's story. Once the article is finished, Elle clips it out of the paper and adheres it to the refrigerator with a neon pink flower magnet.
"So tonight," Elle begins. "I want to make it special, you know?"
"It will be." He promises.
She wants to ask him how his first kill went when the buzzer over the intercom rings. It's way too early for company, this better be good. Elle shuffles barefoot across the floor and presses the 'Talk' button. "Who is it?" She sing-songs.
"Is this Elle Bishop?" A nervous voice asks.
"Maybe..." Elle teases. "Who's asking?"
"It's me, Elle." The voice responds. "It's Peter."
Elle looks from the intercom, then to Gabriel across the way in the kitchen. He only shrugs and pours himself a glass of juice. "What do you want, Peter? I'm in the middle of something."
"Can I come up and talk to you?" Peter asks. He adds "Please." as an afterthought.
"I don't feel like you should be up here, Peter." Elle says into the intercom. "If you have something to say to me, say it from the entrance."
"It wasn't me. The murders, I mean." Peter's frustrated voice crackles over the intercom. "I came by to try and clear the air, but also to warn you. I talked to Bennet. He said he was worried about you. He said you met someone pretending to be a cop at Killermann's?"
Elle looks from the intercom to Gabriel, who only waggles his eyebrows comically at her. She manages not to laugh at him, tries to come up with a bullshit excuse to make Peter go away instead. "Oh that. Yeah, well I was really confused at the time and all. I was somehow under the impression that one of the people in my guitar class was a cop."
"Wasn't Gabriel, was it?" Peter asks like he doesn't already know the answer.
"Gabriel?" Elle says. She doesn't expect her voice to hitch the way it does. Be less obvious, she chides herself. "Don't be silly, of course not. He's too-" She pauses to admire Gabriel. He's the perfect picture of domesticality with a coffee cup in his hands and those nerdy glasses on his face while he reads the paper. He winks at Elle when he feels her eyes on him. "He's too shy to really be a cop, I thought." Gabriel's amused snort doesn't go unnoticed.
"I'd really prefer to not do this over the intercom, Elle." Peter suggests after heaving a sigh.
"Sorry, Peter," Elle apologizes as Gabriel puts the paper down and heads into the bedroom, motioning for Elle to invite Peter in. "If... if you give me a few minutes, I can get dressed. But you need to be quick."
"I can wait." Peter insists.
Elle steps away from the intercom and heads into the bedroom after Gabriel. She watches him get dressed quickly. He pulls a pistol from his jacket. Elle doesn't ask where it came from. "What do we do?" She asks.
Gabriel shakes his head, pushes his glasses up on his nose. "I didn't exactly plan for this." He tucks the pistol into the back of his pants, hiding it under his shirt. "We may need to get out of here. Start getting dressed."
She does as she's told. Doesn't put too much effort into her appearance. She slides on some jeans and a sweater since it's been getting colder out. "Shoes?" She asks.
"Something you can run in." Gabriel suggests.
Elle pouts. She's always been a jeans and heels kinda girl, but she supposes they're not really the ideal footwear for outrunning nosey people. She has an idea when she finishes tying her trainers. "Should I kill Peter?" Her problems might not all disappear, but she never was very good at setting long-term goals. "He'd definitely leave us alone."
Gabriel thinks on it for a second. He tries to figure out a way for it to work. Elle's about to abandon her idea when Gabriel speaks again. "You said you had experience firing guns?"
"Well, not to brag, but I spent a few afternoons at the firing range." Elle explains. "Daddy never wanted to take me, of course... but I can hit a target."
"If things get difficult between you and Peter, come back in here. I'll wait until you think it's time." He brushes her bangs away from her face and gives her a serious look. "Don't do this unless you're sure."
She doesn't think she could live any other way but with Gabriel. She hates to think someone would dare to take him from her. If Peter tries anything, Elle thinks, she'll make him regret it. "I'm sure." Elle confirms. "More than sure."
Gabriel kisses her forehead. "I want to be there. I want to watch you do it." His big hands grip her shoulders so tightly; Elle thinks they'll leave bruises.
Elle makes a noise somewhere between a delighted sigh and a pained whimper before Gabriel lets her go. "I'll come get you before I do anything." She promises. "I'll make you so proud." She gives him a light kiss before heading back out to the living room to buzz Peter up to the apartment. "Okay Peter, I'm decent." She says flirtily. She hits the 'Door' button and waits by the door.
Peter arrives at her door sooner than anticipated. When he knocks, Elle doesn't bother checking the peephole. When she opens the door, she's shocked to find Peter there with Detective Bennet; trench coat-ed, expression sour.
"If I knew I was having this much company, I'd have baked something." Elle lies, gesturing for the two men to enter. "What can I do for you boys?"
Bennet doesn't answer, simply looks around the apartment. Takes notices in the fact that there's food for two on the table. Peter seems almost apologetic at his ambush. "Have you been seeing anyone lately, Elle?"
Elle arches an eyebrow at Peter. What a weird question to open with. "Um, not that it's any of your business, but yes."
"Care to tell us his name?" Peter prods. It's a good thing he took up nursing instead of criminal justice.
Elle ignores him. "Detective, can I help you find anything? You seem like you're looking for something."
Bennet stops surveying the condo and gives Elle a dark look. "Where were you last night?" He pulls the article from the refrigerator and reads a few lines before he realizes what it's about.
Elle shrugs. "I was here, watching bad movies and drinking wine by myself. Such is the life of a lonely single girl." She eyes Peter, who looks increasingly uncomfortable.
Bennet looks at Peter, who moves toward the front door. He pulls a folder out of his coat's inside pocket. When he opens it, Elle sees large black and white photos of herself with the baseball player. She never thought to look for cameras last night. Shit. Bennet looks from the damning photos back to Elle. "Are you sure you were here?"
"Positive." Elle says, her voice thick. She tries to ignore the hammering of her heart as Bennet shows her more photos. Photos of Gabriel bludgeoning the athlete to death while she stands by and watches, then leaves with him in her father's car.
"She looks an awful lot like you." Bennet says, pointing to Elle in the photo. "And this car looks just like the one your father drove." He holds the picture in front of her face. "And he looks very similar to our friend Gabriel Gray."
Gray? Elle mentally tries the surname on. Elle Gray. Sounds too much like Earl Gray tea. Maybe she'd hyphenate her last name. Bishop-Gray sounds awkward on the tongue and looks too much like a law firm when pictured. She'll definitely keep her last name, she decides.
"Got nothing to say, Elle?" Bennet asks.
Elle shakes her head. "So what do you want? You wanna haul me in for questioning? Take me to jail? What?"
"I want to bargain with you." Bennet says. "If you can hand me Gray, I'll forget all about these photographs." He tosses the folder to the floor and all the pictures spill out. "I've been chasing him for years and this is the closest I've gotten. I can't afford to let him slip away. If you help me, then what happened at the ballpark never happened."
"And I'll vouch for you." Peter promises like he's the fucking authority on good and evil.
Elle hesitates for a moment. Life could go back to normal. She'd be bored, alone, and pining for affection. No one to pay any attention to her. Daddy gone. Gabriel in jail. She thinks about that puppy she wanted to get when she first got home. Maybe it wouldn't all be bad.
"I just need to use the bathroom." Elle says, heading for the bedroom. "Then we can go."
"We'll wait." Bennet says, taking a seat on the couch.
Peter's eyes follow Elle to her bedroom until she closes the door.
Elle shuts the door to the bedroom and finds Gabriel pacing in the master bathroom. "What do I do!?" She whispers, frantic. "They won't leave without me, but I have a really bad feeling I shouldn't trust them. I think they wanna take me away."
Gabriel's hands instantly grab her around her wrists. "You go nowhere without my say so. Especially not with them."
Elle pouts. "I don't want to go with them. They think I'm going to sell you out."
"So they want me, huh?" Gabriel says. He looks like he has an idea. "Let's give them what they want."
"Why can't we just leave?" Elle asks. She pauses, then lowly adds: "Or just kill them."
He smiles what Elle thinks of as his Big Bad Wolf smile. She can't help but smile, too. "We'll get out of here..." Gabriel promises. "But I need you to trust me."
Elle throws her arms around his neck and presses as much of her body as she can against his. She loves how bad he makes her. "Of course I trust you, Daddy." She wraps a leg around him and grinds hard against his thigh.
Gabriel responds by kissing her roughly, then turns her around so her back is facing him... "I need you to get in front of me." Elle does as she's told. "Now put your hands behind your back, so it looks like I've got you tied up." She folds her hands behind her back, looks over her shoulder at him. "Good girl."
She beams at his praise. New Daddy is so much nicer than mean Old Daddy. "This is really exciting!"
"Let's go." Gabriel pulls Elle against him, grabs the letter opener from her desk, and pushes her out the door.
Elle can't suppress a shiver "Ooh, are you hard?"
Gabriel pretends to ignore her comment, though he can't deny the truth. "Act scared for me, okay?" He puts the letter opened to her throat.
Elle begins to whimper and sob. She even manages to get some fake tears flowing. "Oh God, I can't believe this..."
"Nobody fucking move!" Gabriel shouts as she shoves Elle out of the bedroom, using her like a shield.
Elle cries convincing tears as she begs Bennet "Don't shoot, you might hit me!"
The detective hesitates long enough for Elle to reach back for the gun tucked into the back of Gabriel's pants.
"Don't do anything stupid, Elle." Gabriel warns her. "I swear I'll fucking kill you." He presses the letter opener closer to her throat.
Bennet uses the moment to retrain his gun at Gabriel's head. Elle manages to pull the gun out and shoot Bennet first, getting him twice in the stomach. When the detective hits the floor, Gabriel runs over to him, crouching to collect his gun.
"That's a pretty painful way to die, detective." Gabriel gloats. He picks Bennet's gun up and switches the safety off.
Peter stands frozen in shock. "Elle!? What are you doing?"
"Stopping you." She aims her gun on Peter "You almost ruined everything."
"You look good with that gun, baby girl," Gabriel praises. When Bennet gasps on the floor, he kicks him hard in the stomach.
Elle bites her bottom lip and grins. "I know, Daddy..."
"Jesus, you're crazy... both of you." Peter decides.
Elle shoots at Peter, but misses. "Shut up!"
Peter shakes his head. "Don't you get it, Elle? He'll kill you, too. He's killed a lot of girls that look a lot like you. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Same age range..."
"No he won't." Elle denies. "He killed everyone else to get me. I'm special."
Bennet, apparently still alive, intervenes. "He said my Claire was, too. And he killed her just like he did all the others."
Elle looks at Gabriel. "You never said anything about any Claire." She spits the dead girl's name out like poison.
"He's lying to turn you against me." Gabriel tries to convince her. He kicks Bennet again for good measure. "It's the oldest trick he knows."
"I've told you about Claire before, Elle." Bennet continues, breathless. "The same day you probably found out about the real Gabriel. The one that killed your father."
Elle's getting angry. She hates to think Gabriel had anyone before her. Loved anyone before her. "Is this true? Am I some kind of runner-up?"
"What? No, of course not." Gabriel stalls. "I even killed her to take something of hers."
Elle grits her teeth. "What did you take?" She pulls hammer back on the gun. "And it better not be what I think it is."
Gabriel only kicks Bennet a third time. The detective coughs up some blood on his shoes.
"You hairy fuck..." She aims gun at Gabriel. "You told me you killed a lot of people to get to me! You killed my Daddy because you wanted me! Am I some fucking zombie replacement?"
"How could you even think that way?" Gabriel asks, genuinely hurt. "I watched you for so long. I waited so patiently. I may have killed girls that looked like you…" He shrugs at this. "But it was you the whole time that I wanted. That's why I killed them."
Elle narrows her angry blue eyes. "I'm having a really hard time believing you right now. I hope to God for your sake that you have some fucking proof." She keeps her gun trained on Gabriel.
Gabriel holds the hand with the gun in it up and reaches behind to get something out of his back pocket. He pulls out a newspaper clipping yellowed with age. He tosses it across the floor to Elle. When Elle bends down to pick it up, Peter starts to yell, but she stands back up and gives him a 'You're Next' look that shuts him up rather effectively.
"This is probably four years old." Elle says after looking at the photo. She's just turned sixteen and she's in the expensive dress Daddy bought her for her debutante ball. She's the picture of young, spoiled, and rich. And Gabriel's wanted her since then.
"Four years and eight months." Gabriel corrects her. "But who's counting?"
Elle wants to cry, to profess her undying love and devotion, to get the fuck out of this house and out of this life and run far away with Gabriel. But first, she needs to take care of something.
"Peter."
Peter looks like a cornered animal. He tries to back himself up closer to the door, but it's impossible. There's nowhere to go. He looks from Elle, to Bennet's bloodied form on the floor, then back to Elle.
Elle waves him away with the gun in her hand. "Get out of here."
"What!" Gabriel asks.
"Elle, I-" Peter begins, but he's cut off by Elle.
"Before I change my fucking mind, get out of here."
Peter wastes no time. His sweaty hand turns the doorknob once, but slips. He can feel both of the killers' eyes on him as he tries the door, successfully, a second time. He doesn't bother to close it on his way out.
"Are you stupid?" Gabriel asks.
Elle turns around and crosses the room to stand beside him, looming over Bennet. "Not at all." She looks down at Bennet. "Now then, where were we?"
"Peter is going to tell everyone what we just did up here!" Gabriel is almost shouting. "The cops will be here any minute."
"We'll be gone before they get here." Elle says, checks Bennet to see if he's breathing. He is. "Let's take care of this and go." She puts the gun to the detective's head and fires.
Gabriel helps her stand all the way up and grabs the Cadillac's keys from the key ring by the door. On the way to the car, he can't help but ask why she let Peter go.
Elle grins as she slides into the car. "Someone's gotta tell people what we did. Bearing witness and all that."
"But you didn't take anything from Bennet." Gabriel says, starting the car. Elle may have started out on the wrong foot, but he wasn't about to sully his own collection. She can take full credit for that one.
"I took enough." She says. She scoots across the seat and lays her head on his shoulder. "He was trying to take you. He doesn't get to do that." She kisses his cheek sweetly and adds: "No one does."
He's pacified by this, content even. "So what do we do now?"
Elle looks out the window, watching the buildings shrink as they get further away from the city. She thinks of her dead mother, reunited with her dead father. Thinks of what Peter's doing right now, who he'll tell first about the ordeal in her condo. She's not worried about her money or her family's business. Not worried about anything. She's gotten her way.
"Anything we want." She answers.
"Any destinations in mind?"
Elle doesn't even need to ponder that one. "Hawaii is always nice, don't you think?"