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Chapter ten, ready to go. Huge thanks to the people who are still reading this, since I know that not tons of you were in the first place. XD My few reviewers? You are wonderful. And now on with the show. Get ready. ;)
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Fate had been kind this far, or if not fate, then good-old-fashioned luck. All the clues had more or less fallen in his lap… It all began to feel too easy, and he reminded himself to stay vigilant. The very moment he relaxed his guard, any failure to watch his back, would be the moment someone would aim for it. Basic training: there was no such thing as 'in the clear.'
-Richard Castle, 'Storm's Break'
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Once the bodies were stitched back up, her gloves had barely hit the disposal bin before her phone was in hand, thumbs rapidly texting like some dopey teenager at Bonnaroo.
Got the dirt, & ur gonna love this - pick me up when ur ready. -L
"I take it you've gotten all the…'on-hand experience' you need, Dr. Parish?"
She looked over to find the senior examiner smiling at her, almost as if he'd never bought the 'shadowing' story in the first place. For her own peace of mind, Lanie chose not to believe that one. Offered him a smile back, though. "For today, yeah, I think that's all I need. I've learned a lot." At least that much was true.
The doctor waved dismissively. "If that's the case, then you've made my day much more interesting. I've picked up a few things myself; for instance, never to block your lighting," he smirked.
What could she say? She was an assertive person. And proud of it, thank you. Her smile turned humble. "Thank you for allowing me to assist here, Dr. Taggart. It's been a real pleasure to meet you."
"Please." He held up a palm. "My friends call me Harry."
"Well." Pausing in the doorway, Lanie nodded at her colleague in respect. "Appreciate the help, Harry."
"The pleasure's all mine," he nodded back, and with a push of the bar, Lanie was beyond the double-doors, once again on the side of the living.
"Find what you were looking for?" she heard M.A. Hillman call as she passed his desk.
Lanie didn't turn around, just kept walking. But she did throw him a grin for his troubles over her shoulder. "I think I can say I did. Have a good one."
"Ah. Uh, you too."
He stammered something else, probably, but she didn't hear it. She was already outside the building again, stepping into the harsh, smoggy sunlight of the midday, tucking her medical I.D. back into her skirt pocket. From about a block down, she saw a familiar champagne Ford four-door pull onto the street, and in another few seconds, the car slid up to the curb.
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Call it lucky timing. He'd gotten her text at a stoplight, having just enough time to read it before the green said 'go' and he quickly switched the direction of his blinker. If that pissed off the person behind him in traffic…well, he really didn't care. He'd just gotten his first lead, and if Lanie's news was as good as she'd said, he'd love to be two-for-two.
"What'd you get?" was the first thing he said, soon as she slid into the passenger seat and shut the door.
Lanie must've been psyched about her find, because she didn't even give him a 'look' for greeting her with a question, or in English for that matter. He'd been half-expecting her to for a second there, but she launched right into it, her eyes locked on him and packed with subtext. "You will not believe this. Not only do the slugs pulled outta both victims look almost identical to the naked eye, but both sets of bullets were fired at an angle. The angle of the weapon affects the trajectory of the bullet when it enters a body."
"Yeah, I know that."
"So you know that there's almost a hundred-percent chance that those slugs? Were fired from the same weapon. Almost without a doubt, even though it's gonna take a while for the lab here to make sure the metals and calibers are an exact match," she grinned.
He did too, and started to ease the car away from the curb. "So the gun was cocked. On both," he summarized. And, much as he wished he could erase the image, he'd definitely seen Demarco hold a gun before…almost sideways. 'Too cool for school.' Sounded like a match to him.
"Sure was. I'm not too worried about the test results. Somethin' tells me they'll line up."
"You are a lifesaver, chica."
"Mm-hm, I try." Lanie settled victoriously into her seat a bit more, then turned her head toward him again, eyes ravenous for information. "Flatter me later - what about you? Where've you been all morning?"
"'Round half the borough. Ruled a couple people out, worked on the timeline."
"And?"
Lanie's impatience was not only cool of her - hey, she didn't have to be invested in this - but also kind of adorable. Not that, y'know, he'd say that or anything. Javier tried not to grin again, given that they were discussing serious business after all, but he couldn't help it. They were getting good at this whole 'rogue' thing, and he had a kicker stored up. He adjusted his grip on the wheel. "And, Demarco's alibi was that he was supposedly at a club the nights of both murders. Except for one thing: I ran into the owner of Demarco's little hotspot. He and his boys haven't hit the place in weeks."
"So he's caught in a lie," Lanie finished.
"Dead-to-rights."
"Now, call me new at this 'detective' thing, but does that mean we got 'im?"
God, if only. Be nice if it were that easy. "We're close," Javier allowed, turning the car left at a crosswalk. "All we've proven right now is that Juanté and Marisela were killed by the same person. And that Demarco wasn't where his boys are sayin' he was. What we gotta do now is find somethin' that'll put the two together. We need to prove that he was that person."
"So we're only halfway there."
"Yeah, well the good news is we got here in the first place."
"I s'pose that's true," she consented. All was quiet in the car for a few moments; Javier was vaguely aware of Lanie watching the buildings pass by the window, and he let his own thoughts roam. No, scratch that; he didn't let his thoughts roam at all. Roaming would have meant unlocking the box. Better to keep a tight leash on them; get things done. Thoughts could be dangerous when you turned the scope around.
Then she looked at him, bringing him back with a question. "Where are we goin'?"
He was all too glad to answer her. "I figure we've done all right; thought I'd make good on that line I fed Ma and take you out for lunch."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. We can plot out our next move while we eat."
"Ooh, Detective. You really know what to say to get a girl hot, don't ya?"
Whether he did or not, she sure knew what to say to make him laugh. "Just for that, you're payin'."
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As it turned out, proprietor Tomas Ruiz wouldn't take a dime of Lanie's money, not that Javier would have actually let her pay. Ruiz wouldn't accept Javier's, either: "No, no no. Call it a Hero's Welcome discount. Order, eat, and I don't want to see a penny from you, not a penny."
Javier appreciated the kindness. He just wished people would stop calling him that.
Lanie picked up on the vibe, toying with her straw wrapper on the tabletop. "Everyone around here really seems to love you."
That's because they don't know the truth. Not the whole story. Those were the thoughts he couldn't chance out loud. Instead, he cleared his throat. "Well, what can I say - carried a lotta groceries for some old ladies, kissed a couple babies, all that kinda stuff," he smirked.
"Uh-huh." She rolled her eyes, but he could tell it was her fondest kind. Probably the gorgeous smile on her face. "Have I said that this food was fantastic yet?"
A true fact - Lanie had ordered the Mediterranean chicken salad, Javier had ordered the pulled pork, and by the time they'd finished stealing off each other's plates, it was hard to tell who'd done the most damage. Tomas was good. "No, but I'll count that one. Glad you liked it."
"I do." Something about the change of tense caught Javier's attention. She directed her eyes onto his for that moment, a tiny smirk on her lips, and he knew she meant more than just the food.
Oh, yeah. They had definitely made some progress this morning.
He gave her a grin - was it just him, or did he do that more when she was around? - and stood up, sliding his chair back under the table. "C'mon." He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, unfolded it, and laid a five next to his water glass.
Lanie gave a look as she followed. "I thought he told you not to pay?"
"Didn't say anything about a tip. Loophole," Javier winked.
The M.E. just shook her head, and the two of them headed back toward the car. Even for a couple of born New Yorkers, it took a beat to adjust to the wallop of pollution and sunlight outside the café. His unmarked Crown Vic was parked around the corner, so they set off walking at an easy pace, close enough to each other that their elbows brushed every few steps. He made no effort to change that whatsoever.
"So," Lanie said once they were on the sidewalk. "Where are you on his financials?" For a second there, he had to fight the urge to look around and make sure their cover wasn't blown, but before he could be that obvious, Lanie added coolly, "Your dad's. Weren't you helpin' him with his shop?"
Javier glanced at her, and the message he caught on her face was pointed enough. Just as seamlessly as they were in step, he fell into the script. "Well, turns out he only thought going over his records would be the best way to do it. But it's lot of paperwork, and it'd take a lot of work to get to - "
"Ohhh, because it's in the attic."
Because it's confidential, he translated mentally. And I can't badge my way into it this time. "Exactly. And, it's all kind of moot now that he found, y'know, that other investor. Which is great, especially 'cause he wasn't sure he'd even have the time." Can't slow down. We don't have long to put this to bed before the window closes.
"Well, that's why he's got you."
He knew the code had changed. The 'he' meant to represtent his dad might as well have been the two victims. Not for the first time that day, Javier was reminded of the gravity of what he'd dragged them into. The consequences. He didn't pull himself out of it until her fingers brushed the side of his hand.
"Hey." She held on, and he closed his hand around hers. "He'll figure it out. And he's got help."
For as naturally as she'd said it, he didn't need to go looking for the subtext. It was obvious enough. Glancing at her with a soft smile that was usually hard to catch, he gave her hand a squeeze. "Yeah. I think he knows."
"Good." Subtly, she reciprocated, and then she took a deep breath; another quiet few moments with only the city noise around them. "Now what?"
Squinting in the daylight, Javier used his free hand to reach for his keys in his jacket pocket. "Well, now we - "
Bang. Bang. Bang bang.
Shots were fired from somewhere across the street. One smashed through the back window of his car, the others embedding into concrete and ripping into store awnings. He barely had time to register before his arm darted around Lanie's waist and he dove - "Get down!" - crouching low on the curb side of the car. One hand dug back for his gun, the other braced on the ground, and one glance at Lanie showed her eyes taking over her face.
"What in the hell - " Bang. Bang bang. Bang. She let out an involuntary shriek, looking pissed afterward that someone'd made her do it in the first place, and she grabbed Javier's wrist in a panic. "Don't go around the car."
"I have to."
"Javier Esposito, do not go around this car."
"I got this, I'll stay low - don't you move." He was already unlocking his gun and checking the cartrigde, the way he'd done all those other times when there wasn't time to waste. He felt his heart hammering in the back of his throat, but he was trained better than to let that get the better of him. Shock killed more than curiosity.
"Are you even positive they're shootin' at us?"
Bang. Bang. Another bullet took out Javier's second back window, and he shook the glass off.
"Oh, they're definitely shootin' at us."
He rolled out on his heel, popping out two shots at the source around the front of the car - Bang, bang - before another one shattered one of the headlights. He ducked behind cover, breathing hard, jaw set, trying to comb what he'd seen for a recognizable face. The shooters' blockade across the street was solid; he could tell the origin coordinate of the gunfire, but not who was doing the firing.
Lanie was taking her phone out. "I'm calling 911."
Instantly he grabbed her wrist, sterner than he'd ever been. "You do that, we're blown."
"Wh - "
Bang. Bang. Bang. Javier managed another three shots over the nose of the car, peeking out enough to aim with his arms laid flat on the hood, before sliding back to the concrete. "They'll run out of ammo. I can hold 'em off."
"And you consider this okay?"
He didn't answer, just popped out beyond the headlights to empty the rest of his cartridge. Bang. Bang. Bang bang bang bang. There was another in his pocket. Hitting his knees, sitting back on his heels, he reached for that with his gun hand and snapped off the rearview mirror with the other. He cut his hand in the process, but to hell with it; the car was already a junk heap. He laid the mirror on the ground and angled it so he could see across the street, a straight shot past the tire, then unloaded his Glock and reloaded it.
"Watch that," he instructed, bobbing his head at the mirror for emphasis, "Keep eyes on 'em."
Lanie's brain must've been grateful to have something to do besides paint worst-case scenarios; she started rattling off what she saw. "There's a loading truck, across the street…couple of guys getting on, three maybe, getting in the back…barely stopped, it's taking off, it's takin' off…"
He had the Glock ready just in time. Javier spun out from the Crown Vic and fired as many shots as he could at the truck's tires - bang, bang. Bang, bang bang, bang. But none of them hit, besides the two that embedded in the bumper. The truck squealed around the corner and out of sight, annihilating the speed limit, and it ended just as quick as it began.
Javier let out the lung's worth of air he didn't know he'd been holding, sliding to sit flat down against the front tire. He let his gun hand go limp, and wiped his forehead with the sleeve of that arm.
Lanie had a hand on her forehead, when he looked at her, and she looked back. It was actually a lot closer to gaping. "…Did you catch the plates?" she finally asked, with a ringing undertone of 'What else are we gonna have to live through?'
"…No," he panted, "No, I didn't get the plates. It didn't have plates."
"Oh, perfect. Does that sound good to you? 'Cause I like it."
"I get the point." I was afraid you were shot, wiseass, a'right? They'd have to kill me 'fore I'd let that happen. Getting his feet under him, Javier stood up, and he offered his hand down to Lanie. She grabbed on, and he pulled her up. She looked…shaken. "You okay?"
"Figure that one out…"
"Lanie."
"Yeah. I'm okay." Her eyes took him in. "You?"
Javier didn't answer. He looked around. Across the street; on the corner. Every few feet, there was another gawker, another passerby, another pedestrian. Some were just coming out of hiding. Some were talking so animatedly with each other you'd think the president had just walked by… Most of them were already back as they were, and he knew instinctively right at that moment that not one of them would be calling the cops either. It was the life down here. Hear no evil, see no evil.
Welcome home.
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Weren't expecting THAT, were ya? ;D Yep, now it's getting into some action. Is Lanie going to go along blindly with this much longer? Well, you know Lanie… ;) And what's Javier got to hide? Guess you'll just have to stay tuned to find out.
Yet again: anyone out there, at least 14 or older, interested in joining a Castle-based, written RP forum? It's fun, and it's free… The information's all in my profile, the paragraph in bold, so check it out.
There is of COURSE more of this epic saga on the way, so stay with me, all five or six of you! XD And there is nothing, literally almost nothing, that makes me smile more than a review. I love knowing your thoughts on each chapter, so please consider leaving one. Thanks dudes. ^^
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