The voice of death echoed throughout the Candy Store; it stopped her heart.
She didn't need to look to know the face—whether by the arrogant sound of his words or from the smile she felt radiating from his prissy lips, Billie knew her second greatest enemy was now involved. She had imagined he'd show up—sooner or later—he always did. He was like a shark drawn to blood; he was Hill. And, unfortunately, unlike Ted, he actually went out of his way to make her miserable.
It was almost as if that was his soul purpose in life.
Maybe it was; she didn't know or care. All she was sure of was that they had been fortunate enough to have slipped his noose in the past… She hoped that luck would remain—at least until Ted was out of the picture.
Still, it figured he would rear his ugly head now, when all of this was so close to being over. For the first time in almost two weeks, she had actually slept easy knowing Ted and Stacey were probably off to Mexico. The last thing she needed was Hill snooping around—retracing her every step, analyzing everything.
"I had hoped you'd be as happy to see me as I you—" The grin continued to light up his face, "As usual, I'm not disappointed."
She tried avoiding eye contact at all costs; she hoped that he'd go away if she ignored him long enough. She kept her head low and focused on her work, then looked towards her computer screen—but Hill knew the game she was playing, and he just stood smiling.
He knew that Billie Chambers had really screwed up this time—no amount of lame excuses, phony alibis, or smart-ass, cheap-shot comebacks could save her now. It would be even easier to get her with her boys gone—no backup, no defenses, just her.
Her willpower quickly faded; she hated that he was being so silent. What was he thinking? He was evidently in a very good mood, which only meant he had something on her; but how much? He had to know about Stacey, but she had a good feeling he didn't know much beyond that—not about Ted, or Robbie, or how any of them fit in together. Maybe if she played stupid long enough he'd go off and plot her demise elsewhere.
He'd be a lot easier to handle if he was elsewhere.
"What do you want, Hill?" She finally glared up at him.
"Oh, so many things" The words spilled freely from his fading smile, and for a moment he became lost in thoughts. "But right now, all I care for is seeing the look on your face when Parish and the rest of the board gets here."
Death's grin returned.
"That's right, Lieutenant." He laughed, "The rest of the board—surely a woman of your supreme intelligence realizes you can't pull a stunt like this and get away with it? Oh, no, no, no! There are a lot of questions that need answering."
"What are you talking about? What questions?" She pried; the fear in her eyes was honest enough. She truly was afraid of him, what he knew, and how he'd use it, but she had only two options. She could play all rough and tough and hang herself in front of whatever board was heading her way, or she could show him her weakness. The more vulnerable she was, the more he would taunt her. If he would harass her, she might at least be able to figure out what exactly they knew—the more she knew of what he knew, the better she'd be able to explain herself without letting lose any new information.
He was just that predictable.
"Well," He shook his head happily, "let's start with, say, 'Why was Robert Felch arrested for crimes forensics proves he didn't commit?' Then slowly move our way up to 'Why you have yet to return Stacey Jayden to her prison cell'—better yet—'Why did you remove the felon in the first place?"
"First of all, get your facts straight." Her jaw nearly dropped in hearing his allegations, "We never arrested Felch; he up and confessed. And second, Stacey Jayden has nothing to do with—"
"Ah!" He snapped; his eyes widened with amusement. "The slip of a guilty conscience?"
Before Billie could even recognize the trap she had fallen into, Hill was looking her straight in the eyes waiting for her reaction—just waiting to see her realize it was already too late.
"See, I never said there was any sort of connection between the two, but with your reply and the given fact you are, again, looking away from me, I'm starting to suspect I correctly assumed you are up to something—unlawful? Another of your underhanded plots to take down crime lords backfired?"
He had her exactly where he wanted her.
"I have to tell you, I'm shocked." He lied, "Fortunately, I'm feeling generous today. So, either you can look me straight in the face and tell me I'm mistaken, or you can fess up, and maybe I'll back off and let you sort things out. What do you say, Billie?"
>>>>
Knowing that his day could not possibly get any worse, Van sighed and closed his cell phone.
He had called his partner about twenty-three times now; there was nothing else he could do except call Billie and tell her the bad news.
For some reason, though, dialing her number seemed easier than ever; he didn't even cringe when it started to ring. There was no way she could pin it on him—he wasn't to blame for screwing up. He had done everything as planned: he met with Reilly and offered him the cash—it was Deaq who failed to uphold his part of the plot.
Good-old, reliable Deaq. He didn't show. And, to top it off, Reilly turned down the offer. So, what exactly did that leave him to do? He could not have threatened the man without "the cop" nearby—without Deaq there to "save him", Reilly would have gone to the authorities, and he would have been arrested for real.
That hadn't been the plan, so he had been forced to bite his lip and walk away.
"This better be an emergency." Billie snapped; the anger in her voice humbled him. Ratting out his partner now would surely cost him his life—but how else could he tell her? He wasn't speaking to usual, cold-self Billie—usual cold-self Billie would have snapped after learning the case had been compromised; the Billie he was talking to now was highly agitated attack-Billie.
For one reason or another, she was in a rotten mood, and he knew better than to get on her bad side when she was in a rotten mood.
"Well, define emergency" He joked, hoping to lighten her up just enough to let her know the case may have gone a little sideways; his humor didn't help.
"If it wasn't life or death before—" her voice lowered as she turned away from her meeting, "it is now."
"Okay then," He couldn't help but laugh. Someway, somehow, nothing he ever did was good enough for her—here he was doing everything right, and he still managed to get crap for it. He just didn't care anymore. "—Since you're in such a lovely mood already, Deaq blew the case."
"He what!" She yelled; she sighed, and her voice went soft once more, "Let me talk to him!"
"If he was here, do you really think I'd be the one calling you?" He couldn't help but smile; he had her there. Still, he had a feeling something was wrong; he would have asked, but he knew she'd just hang up. So he sighed and explained,"He didn't show, and I can't get a hold of him."
"Well keep trying, and when you do find him I want the two of you back here with another plan!"
Please consider this "Part 1" of chapter 10--it was crazy of me to try and fit all of this in one post, so I have to break it into two--sorry guys--I'll have to explain the Deaq thing in the next chapter. But I do apologize for this taking so long and I promise to try and get the rest of 10 up before the weekend :)