"L?" Misora asked in surprise as she answered her cell phone. Sure, she'd spoken to L many times before; but it was a shock to see that he was the one calling her for once.
"I have urgent news" the detective spoke evenly and with measured tone, as if he was putting forth an effort to be level about the situation.
It made Misora gulp nervously, "Yes?" she asked.
"Robin Steele has just been confirmed as kidnapped-"
"Kidnapped? But I only saw her a few days ago, she was called away on a case" Misora floundered, hastily sitting in a large armchair with the weight of the news. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? I could have done something"
"you couldn't." L assured bluntly, as if he didn't have time to comfort her; unlike their previous conversation only a few minutes ago. "R is an unpredictable person at times, when her therapist reported her missed appointment, I assumed it had nothing to do with the case. The police recovered Backyard's missing arm in the bathtub of a hotel where we believe B was living for the time being. There was weapons and restraints there as well. We also found R's blood in the same room and in other areas of the hotel. It seems she put up a fight"
Misora's jaw dropped. Robin had indeed struck her as an odd, somewhat creepy person; but not one that deserved to die. Especially at the hands of a brutal serial killer. "How much blood? Are there any leads to her whereabouts?" she asked quickly.
"Not yet enough to be fatal. She may not be dead yet" L said, "I've called to tell you in order to make sure you catch B alive. If he's killed, R could die as well. Their's a 70% chance he's hidden her somewhere to bleed out" he explained.
She nodded, and then flushed when she realized L couldn't see her. "Yes, I will do my best…" she trailed off, brows furrowing as she realized it was strange for L to refer to the woman with a simple letter. Letter? L, B… L admitted he knows this B; and now he's calling her R… "L, do you… know Robin?" Misora spoke up out of curiosity.
The synthetic voice hesitated an unnaturally long time before answering, "Yes"
He wasn't hesitant at all to tell me he knew B, but when it comes to Robin… why? Misora wondered briefly before her thoughts were forced to a halt as L started speaking again.
"I personally do not mind telling you," he began, as if reading her very thoughts, "but I fear it isn't my place to do so. R might want to keep her secrets, so that is as far as I will discuss the matter. However, please keep it under as much discretion as you will about B" L said.
Misora nodded to no one again, "Y-yes, of course"
"Well, I will let you get back to work" L stated, and then the line went dead.
It was some time later that Misora's thoughts would lead her to a conclusion, but when they did, she jumped out of her chair with a shrieking realization. She barely remembered to grab her handcuffs and gun before racing from the room, but was thankful she did when she finally encountered the locked condo 404. The front door didn't kick down easily, so she was reduced to shooting the lock off before bursting inside.
The condo had three bedrooms, it was uncertain which room Ryuzaki was in, but Misora's mind was momentarily off the man as she nearly ran smack into an open bathroom door.
Robin…! Misora's thoughts shot out quickly as she hurried into the small tiled bathroom, L was wrong; B didn't hide Robin, he'd used her as a distraction! There was a large pool of blood on the floor, as well as smears and splashes in various places in the otherwise pristine white bathroom. Her heart nearly stopped beating when Misora spotted the bathtub; filled to the brim with bloody water, a head with red-stained blonde hair bobbing inside.
She knew now that Ryuzaki-that B-had planned it like this, because if anyone was quick enough to stop him, they would go for Robin first. Because she was innocent, she was a civilian; and she wasn't a murderer. As much as Misora wanted to catch B alive, it was no longer crucial now that she'd found Robin. The other woman's survival was more important than B's, at least to Misora.
Misora leapt toward the tub, harshly bashing her knees against the tiled floor in her haste, but she ignored the shock of the pain it created and plunged her hands into the tainted water instead. Her hands fumbled through the water in panic, but finally found the soft skin of a face.
"Robin!" Misora shrieked in hope as she lifted the woman from the water, but the blonde's face was still and silent. Misora yanked her body from the water, placing her on the floor as carefully as she could without sacrificing valuable time.
She immediately administered her trained CPR, performing the action for what felt like decades until a sudden shocked gasping rang out in the room; mingling with a sigh of relief from the FBI agent. Misora gently rolled Robin over so she wouldn't choke as she sputtered, coughing out water as well as swallowed blood.
Misora finally had the chance to take in the state of the other woman; Robin was covered with watery blood which largely made it impossible to tell where her injuries were, and the only clearly evident abuse was her split and torn lip. It was during her appraisal that Misora noticed with a blush that Robin was entirely nude, so she averted her eyes from the woman as she spoke, "Can you breathe? Do you need an ambulance?" Misora questioned, managing to retrieve a large towel from the bathroom's cabinets.
Robin felt as if she was dragged back from a long sleep, fatigue clinging to her very bones. It was difficult to recall what was going on, but at the sight of Misora's face the memories came flooding back to her. "You came, thank god. You found me" Robin croaked out, her lungs burning as she shivered on the floor under the fluffy towel.
Misora gently grabbed her face, forcing Robin to look at her. "Are you hurt?" she asked, announcing every syllable as clearly as possible as Robin's eyes drooped with murky exhaustion from her blood and oxygen loss.
"But it doesn't hurt so much anymore" Robin answered, half-lucid in her haze.
Misora frowned, battling with herself to decide if that was a yes or no; wondering if Robin wanted to 'keep her secrets' out of a hospital. She fingered her phone, but had no time to flip it open when she heard a noise behind her and turned. It was the woman she'd nearly run into on her way to 404.
"Is she alright?" the woman asked.
"FBI" Misora answered, not stopping to reconsider that she was on suspension and should not be referring to herself as such, "call the police, the fire department, and an ambulance" she ordered, and the woman slunk away without surprise.
Misora briefly wondered if the strange woman's nonchalance meant she was one of the agents L had sent to help her guard the condo, but pushed the thought away and rushed to the only room with a thumb turn lock. She wasted no time in trying to kick down the door, but shot off the lock instead; gasping as the door opened upon an inferno. There was no way B could have survived that.
In order to protect the rest of the condo from the flames, Misora shut the door as the sound of sirens approached.
B's won, hasn't he? She questioned in her thoughts as she sank to the floor in a weary heap.
Short chapter, I know, but the next chapter is the last one- Luv, Cart