Spectacle of Death
Chapter 11

by Scarlet Eve


Monday

6:00 pm

With winter in the rearview mirror, the time that the sun set was getting later and later. Heero, Duo, and Wufei couldn't stake out the circus until the sun had set, so all he had to do was wait.

And Heero was finding every minute that passed to be extremely difficult.

He'd wanted to make sure he was sharp for the evening, so instead of whiskey, he'd been downing coffee, black and bitter. He'd chain smoked about seven cigarettes in a short amount of time, just wanting to be moving around, doing something.

The cigarettes only helped to quell the shakes a little. He mildly acknowledged that he might have a problem.

Lost in thought, the sound of his phone ringing scared him, enough to flinch and drop his cigarette on the floor. He stubbed it out with his foot and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Heero, it's Relena."

"Relena."

"Are you sure about this stake out?" she asked. She had contacted him earlier in the day, and he'd told her about their plan.

"It's the only way to find out if those two are up to something," Heero said.

"What if something happens?"

"I have police training," Heero said. "Wufei grew up learning and practicing martial arts. We'll be fine."

"I hope so. What are you expecting to find?"

"Hopefully the siblings will leave the circus grounds and we can follow them, to see if they're going after other targets as well, or just us," Heero explained. He heard Relena sigh on the other side of the line. "I promise everything will be alright."

"If you're sure. Will you call me after it's over?"

"I don't have a number to call you at," Heero said. Relena let out a nervous giggle.

"Of course. Here." She rattled off the number. "That's to my rooms at the estate. Call me as soon as you get home."

"I will," Heero said. They said good bye, and Heero hung up the phone. He stared down at the phone number he now held between his fingers, and wondered what it all meant.


8:45 pm

Wufei parked his car about a mile from the circus grounds, hiding it among some bushes and trees. All three dressed in black, they climbed from the car and quietly closed the doors. For once, Duo wasn't chattering on and on, and Heero assumed he must be feeling nervous. That was about the only time Duo managed to close his mouth for longer than a few minutes.

In the darkness, the three made their way towards the circus grounds. It had been a decent night, so the parking lot nearby was full of cars, though it appeared that the attendees were heading home. A stream of adults and children were leaving the circus grounds, heading for the parked cars or walking towards the sidewalk that would lead them closer to the main roads. Lights still burned all around the parameter of the circus, lighting up the area, almost as bright as daytime.

Heero led Duo and Wufei around the parameter, avoiding the lights. It took longer than expected, as they had to dodge and avoid people. Surely someone would blow their cover if they noticed a couple of men in black creeping around a circus.

Crouched on the ground beside a tent, Heero watched as Duo lifted up the canvas and peek his head underneath. "Hey, this one is empty," he whispered, and disappeared. Heero and Wufei shrugged and followed him inside the tent.

It seemed like it was only meant for storage. There were wooden crates stacked up inside, and the floor was muddy, covered in hay. Heero rose and stretched his legs, then ran his hands along the canvas, looking for the flap in the tent. He found it, and pushed it open, just enough for him to peer out.

A few men were walking along the alleys of tents, encouraging people to come back the following day. Parents pulled on the hands of their children, guiding them away from the sideshows and other attractions. A nearby food stand was closing up, the air still lingering with the smell of sugared almonds. Heero pulled back inside the tent.

"We should try and make it to the big top. That's probably where we'll find them," he said.

Heero peered back through the tent flap and looked around. The coast was clear. He motioned with one hand for Duo and Wufei to follow, and he slipped through the flap. Silently, they made their way along the alley, staying inside the shadows cast by tents. They crept like this for several minutes, until they finally spotted the big top. A few performers were still milling around outside the tent, some still in their costumes. Heero saw the ringmaster talking with some older man, looking over a ledger.

Heero was about to give the order to move when he saw the siblings emerge from another tent. They were dressed in regular clothes, though in the light, Heero could see that Catherine's exposed skin still shone with glitter. The ringmaster hailed them, and they crossed the grass towards him.

"There they are," Heero breathed. "Let's get closer, in case they move again."

Wufei led the way around the backside of the tent they were hiding beside, and emerged in shadow near the big top. The ringmaster was still talking to Catherine and Trowa.

"Hey, look," Duo whispered, pointing behind them.

A dark colored car was rolling across the grass, its headlights off. The three men backed up further into the shadows. Trowa and Catherine looked away from the ringmaster towards the car, then shared an expression.

"Please, excuse us a moment. I believe one of our fans has returned for an autograph," Catherine said to the ringmaster in a falsely cheerful voice, who nodded and moved away to speak to another group of performers.

As Trowa and Catherine approached the car, the back door opened and a woman stepped out. In the little light shining from the circus grounds, Heero could just make out her facial features.

He felt Duo and Wufei tense as they too recognized her.

Lady Aria-Une Dioli.

Trowa and Catherine gave her a short bow, and she began to speak quickly in low whispers. Heero wished he was closer, so he could hear what she was saying.

"Look at the woman," Wufei whispered. Heero glanced at Catherine, who was twirling a small dagger around her fingers. Relena's recount of her attackers rang through Heero's mind.

I tried to run for it, then something went flying past me. Thank God it only caught the sleeve of my coat.

"It has to be them," Heero growled. Now that he knew Catherine and Trowa were behind the attacks, Heero just needed to know why the wife of the Dioli family's don was sneaking around with them in the middle of the night.

"We should leave," Heero said, looking back at them. "We can't hear what they're saying, and we won't be able to follow Une once she drives away."

"We could follow the siblings," Wufei protested, clearly itching for some action. Heero shook his head.

"We have an upper hand here. We need to go back to Treize again and talk to him," Heero said. Wufei and Duo conceded, and as silently as possible, they slipped away from the circus and back to Wufei's waiting car.


It was quite late when Heero arrived home, and he was aching for a drink. Inside his liquor cabinet, he found a bottle of whiskey with just enough for a shot. He grabbed it, unscrewed the cap and sucked it down. For a moment, he stared at the phone, wondering if he should try calling Relena. It was late, but she didn't seem to care if he called her in the middle of the night. It actually seemed like she had insisted on it when he spoke to her earlier.

Heero pulled her phone number from his pocket and picked up the phone. He dialed her number and waited while the line buzzed on the other end.

"Heero!?" Relena asked immediately after picking up the phone.

"You're still awake?" he asked.

"Oh, there was no way I was going to be able to sleep," she said. "I was too worried. So what happened?"

"I think we found a major lead," Heero said, seating himself in his favorite chair. "You'll never guess who we saw talking to the suspicious circus siblings."

"If it was my brother, I'll kill-"

"It wasn't him," Heero interrupted. "It was Treize's wife."

"Une?" Relena asked, her voice cracking in a strange mixture of laughter and horror. "What would she have to do with a couple of circus performers?"

"I don't know. We couldn't hear what she was saying to them. But while she was talking, Catherine was playing with a dagger, and I have a suspicion that she was the one who threw a knife at you."

"Hmm…." Relena mumbled darkly. "I'll confront Treize tomorrow morning, and then I'll head to your office and we can talk about this."

"I probably won't make it to the office tomorrow," Heero said, the ache behind his eyes getting worse. The little shot of whiskey wasn't doing much for him. "Swing by the apartment, if you can."

"Alright," Relena said. "Get some sleep."

"You too."

Heero hung up the phone and sighed. Lifting his hands in front of him, he watched them shake and twitch. There wasn't even a point to leaving the apartment - no stores were open this late, and there were no bars within a short walk. He didn't think he could make it that far anyway. Instead, Heero pushed himself up off the chair and collapsed in his bed, not even bothering to undress.


-SE