Love Me Dead
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE CHARACTERS. JUST BORROWING THEM FOR THE STORY.
Chapter 11: Love Lockdown
About Last Night… (Catherine)
Catherine couldn't help the glowing smile radiating off her face as she exited the elevator. That kiss was more than just a kiss; for the first time in a long while Catherine had finally felt like herself again, complete, as if her world started turning again after being stagnant for so long. "Catherine, there you are. I have looked everywhere for you." She stopped, her eyes closing, dreading the conversation she knew was coming.
"Gabe." Catherine turned, her face dialing back the blissful expression and exchanging it for something more subdued.
"What happened to you? Are you alright?" His brow knitted together, his eyes filled with concern and confusion.
"Oh," Catherine glanced down at the frayed edges of her dress, the gold flecks in the fabric blending with the ash and dirt from the tunnels. And then there was her bare feet, not an easy thing to explain.
"Uh, it's a long story. Vincent and I sort of got stuck in a situation but the good news is we found your gem." Catherine smiled, nervously smoothing out the skirt of her gown.
"How? What was Vincent even doing at the masquerade?"
"Well, I don't know all the details but the case lead him here."
"To you." His tone was flat, his face blank as he stared into her emerald eyes. Catherine took in those two words, knowing full well that Vincent came for the job but stayed for her. Something she thought was better kept to herself.
"Yes…no. I mean, it had something to do with the people he was undercover with. Vincent is off getting your gem now. Isn't that what you wanted?"
"What I want is for you to be honest with me. You've been acting different ever since he took on this job. I thought you were done with him. You said you were ready to move on." Gabe's words were pained, his anger and frustration with Catherine's indecision seeping through.
"I thought I was but,"
"Catherine, you can't be serious? You know what Vincent is, which is why you two ended things in the first place. And now you want to run back to him?"
"He's changed."
"He's a beast; nothing can change that."
"You don't really believe that." Both kept their eyes locked on one another, hers looking for an answer while he coldly stared unable to deny his true feelings any longer.
"Look it's been a long night and obviously you've been through an ordeal. I think it would be best for you to sleep on it and think it over. Here's the room key. Take it, get cleaned up and we'll talk tomorrow." He pulled the brass key from his pocket and held it in front of him. Catherine stared at it, letting out an exhausted sigh as she took it out of his hand. There was no need for her to think it over, but arguing with Gabe now seemed pointless. It had been a long night…
Catherine awoke to a loud thundering crash coming from down the hall. Her body lunged up, the jolt of adrenaline purging the slumber from her eyes. An aching dull pain gripped her chest as she stumbled off the couch toward the door, grabbing her coat on the way to cover the silk hotel pajamas she had on.
"Nothing to see here folks. Go on back to your rooms, we have the situation under control." A uniform cop held back the hotel guests who had gathered out in the hall. Catherine stood on her tip toes to see above them, her eyes catching a glimpse of a face she could not forget.
"Excuse me, pardon me." That pain in her chest increased ten-fold as she pushed her way through, ignoring the officer's warning.
"Miss, this is a crime scene. I can't let you through."
"My name is Catherine Chandler. My father is Police Commissioner Robert Reynolds, you know, the guy over there." The young rookie turned back, swallowing hard before facing her again. He didn't say anything more, just moved out of the way to let her pass. Catherine didn't waste any time with a thank you as she rushed down the hall.
The gentle purring heartbeat grew louder drowning out all the others around him. A sound he craved but the last one he wanted to hear right now. "What is going on?" Vincent's eyes closed as his jaw clenched, fear keeping him from turning to look at her. Commissioner Reynolds used his body as a block between the two, preventing his daughter from creating any more of a scene.
"Catherine, you shouldn't be here. Just go back to your room and let us deal with this." His voice was a harsh whisper urging his daughter to leave.
"Deal with what? Where are you taking him?" Catherine on the other hand, couldn't control the increasing volume of her voice, turning heads as she spoke. Robert darted his eyes around smiling anxiously as he lowered his head.
"Where he belongs, a cage." Shock, anger and pain colored her face as her eyes narrowed in on the man before her, unable to think of him as her father in the moment.
"You can't do this to him, he doesn't deserve this."
"Well, Tori didn't deserve what he did to her either."
"Tori?" Catherine craned her neck around him, catching a glimpse inside the hotel suite. A couple of uniforms stood around the bed where the lifeless body of the once vivacious redhead lay.
"This isn't right. Why would he hurt her?" The words came out slowly, the volume of her voice losing its elevated tone as her eyes stayed locked on Tori. They may have had their differences, but she never wanted it to come to this.
"Simple, really." Reynolds pulled a bundled up white handkerchief from his front coat pocket, peeling back the corners as it rested in his palm. The broken chain fastened to the emerald gem spilled out on either side of his hand. "We found this on him. Several people saw Ms. Windsor wearing it at the party along with witnessing the spat she had with Vincent about it earlier in the evening. I had commissioned extra officers to work this event and just happened to be here when hotel security had gotten the call about some disturbances in one of the suites. I'm sorry you had to find out this way." He reached out to comfort his daughter as she stood there in the hall, bordering on catatonic absorbing the last few minutes. Catherine only moved at the touch of his hand on her shoulder, jumping back not wanting anything from him especially this contrived concern for her well-being.
A clear pool glossed over her eyes, ignoring her father, instead choosing to look at the man she had vested her heart in. "Vincent?" He turned to her, sensing the slightest hint of doubt in her voice. Not that he could blame her; he too questioned what really happened, wondering if the blackouts he had experienced in the past had resurfaced. The cruel fist of fate delivering a crushing blow just as everything was coming back together. It took a moment but he met her eyes, those jade irises pleading for him to say something.
"Go, Catherine. I'll be fine." He lowered his head, tearing himself away from her saddening eyes. Her father gave the nod to the two officers escorting the suspect.
"Take him away fellas." He lowered his voice, directing his words to his daughter. "Catherine, I warned you that he was dangerous and what happened to Tori is proof. That could have been you. I've done my best to protect you from him," Catherine's face stopped him, exchanging a look filled with pain for one filled with ire.
"I don't need your protection, nor did I ever ask for it."
"That's the burden of a father. We protect our children no matter if they ask for it or not. Lord knows what Windsor's gonna do when he finds out." Reynolds shook his head as he followed the uniforms to the elevator. They disappeared around the corner as did the rest of the hotel guests, returning to their respective rooms to salvage what was left of their stay. Catherine, however, stood immovable in the middle of the hall, the shock taking over all of her senses. It took all of a minute for her to realize what she had done or better yet not done.
Her body carried itself back to her room, all of her responses automatic as she grabbed her purse and rushed back out the door to the stairwell exit. Catherine took the steps two at a time, careful as not to slip in the quilted slippers she was wearing. There was no time to think, no time to change, not that she had anything other than her tattered ball gown. Vincent could lose control and either expose himself, hurt someone or possibly both. She had to intervene, and most importantly he had to know that she knew he couldn't have done this.
It seemed as if nothing could stop this determined young woman; that was until she reached the bottom level. Her body pressed up against the exit door, ready to push it open, but paused at the sound of muffled cries coming from the electrical closet behind her. Torn was what she felt, but not helping whoever was in there was not an option. Catherine caught her breath and turned the knob, the door creaking slightly as she pushed it open. It was hard to determine who was more shocked, Catherine or the three tied and gagged on the ground.
"Heather, Tess, JT?" Had the world turned upside down? First, Vincent was arrested for murder and now this. It was too much of a coincidence for them not to be related. Catherine crouched down, untying each one by one as fast as she could. "What happened?" All three were huddled on the floor still in their evening wear from the night before.
JT pulled his gag down, "Oh you know, the usual." The two women on the floor next to him narrowed their eyes in his direction. He shrugged his shoulders, unsure of what he said to earn such a glare. Tess rubbed her sore and swollen wrists.
"I don't know what's going on. All I know is I was trying to find you, ran into Heather and somehow ended up in here. Not exactly the grand singing début I had envisioned." JT helped her up off the ground while Catherine tended to her little sister.
Heather brushed off her dress, "This all started last night…"
About Last Night… (JT, Heather, and Tess)
The masquerade was winding down, some of its attendees taking the party to more discreet locations in the hotel. JT remained at his post behind the bar wiping up the counter as he watched Tess talking to some guy in a Zorro mask.
"Could this night get any worse?" Heather tossed the empty tray to the side as she reached behind the counter, grabbing an open bottle of club soda and a napkin to clean the pâté de foie gras stain from her dress. Navigating a room full of dancing drunk aristocrats while wearing three-inch heels and carrying a tray full of canapés was far out of her realm of expertise.
"Did you say something?" JT spoke from the side of his mouth, his attention still glued to Tess as she playfully flirted with the masked avenger, laughing at his jokes and patting his chest. Heather followed his eyes across the room to where they stood.
"Seriously?" She wadded up the napkin in her hand, throwing it at the hopeless love-struck man.
"Hey!" JT flinched, bringing him back to reality and earning Heather a glare.
"Hey yourself. We're here on a mission, not to ogle your crush, which by the way will be nothing more than that if you don't man up and actually tell her how you feel." Heather was not one for being subtle or using much tact when it came to speaking her mind. JT opened his mouth to defend his actions, but stopped short knowing that she had a point.
"Yeah I know, but this is not much of a mission. I mean I haven't seen the Big Guy all night and to be honest I'm a tad worried."
"I caught a glimpse of him and my sister in the corner. Whatever they were talking about it looked pretty intense."
"So he and Catherine saw each other? Man, I miss everything being stuck behind this bar."
"Yeah. Then I saw him with that red-head I never really liked. They had a heated conversation too then he stormed out of the ballroom. The guy was boiling."
"Which…" JT was interrupted by some young Wall Street hotshot knocking into the bar before straightening up next to Heather.
"Hey sweetheart can I get another taste?" Mr. Hotshot reached an arm around the small of her back, letting it wander further down.
"Hands!" She jolted to the side distancing herself from the overzealous drunk.
JT slung the cloth over his shoulder, his stance becoming quite protective as he raised his voice, "Hey buddy, this ain't a petting zoo."
"We're just having fun." The man's crooked grin widened as he put up his hands, his inebriated mind thinking this was just a game. Heather turned to the creep, smiling as she grabbed his bow tie then dug her heel into his foot.
"If you don't want to be walking funny for a month, I suggest you put it away and scat." She pushed the guy back into another couple, sending him tumbling to the floor. Heather straightened out her dress as if it was nothing. "Booze; the stupidity equalizer." She muttered as she leaned on the counter. JT just stood there, watching in awe.
"Wow, little Chandler's grown up." A triumphant smile made its way on her face, as she pilfered a cocktail olive from the drink next to her.
"Could you do me a favor and tell my sister that." He couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle, knowing all too well that Cat still thought of her as a little girl. Pretty much everyone did, but it was nice to see that she indeed had matured and could hold her own.
"Sure, but first we have to find her and I bet dollars to donuts that wherever she is the Big Guy won't be too far behind. What do you say we ditch this charade?" Heather livened up, finishing off the half-full Martini glass on the counter.
"I thought you'd never ask. I mean we don't actually work here and what are they going to do, fire us?"
"Vincent could if he wanted."
"JT, you don't actually work for him."
"Ours is more of an unspoken partnership." Heather stared at him, shaking her head as she straightened up.
"Come on silent partner. Let's go find the 'will they won't they' couple."
JT and Heather headed across the ballroom toward the door where Vincent had last been seen. They almost made a clean exit, until they were spotted, stopped by a voice shouting from behind. "Heather! Hey Heather wait up." The two turned, watching a leggy brunette saunter up to them in her shimmering red silk gown. Their plastered on smiles quickly reverted to ones of relief when the realized it was just Tess.
"Oh, it's you." Heather breathed out, pressing a hand to her chest.
"Yes...are you alright? And what are you even doing here Heather? And who's your date?"
"Date?" JT and Heather said in unison, both nervously smiling and shaking their heads at the preposterousness of such an assumption. "No this is not a date. We are working here. JT is a bartender and being friends with Vincent knew I could use the extra cash so he got me a job as one of the cocktail waitresses." JT turned to Heather, stunned she could think of a lie so quickly and actually have it sound believable. All this sleuthing was either a natural fit for her or rubbing off too much on the innocent doe-eyed girl from Manhattan.
"Oh, well, I was sort of hoping you could help me. I was trying to find Cat. I saw her dart in the back to get her purse but then she disappeared. Do you two know where she ran off to?" They glanced at each other, unsure of what to tell Tess, but it seemed as if they wouldn't have a choice much longer. JT, seeing Bustamante and his crew nearing them, pulled the two girls under the stairs. "What are you doing?" Tess protested but was silenced by a shhh from both Heather and JT.
"Is everything ready?" Macro questioned the two men flanking either side of him as they headed toward the lobby entrance.
"Yeah. Solider boy doesn't suspect a thing. Amazing how all we had to do was help this Tony Barnes set up some nobody and he'd keep the police from messing with our affairs. Well worth it in my opinion." They all scoffed at Vincent's expense as they left the ballroom, satisfied that their jobs were done and could return to their own shady dealings.
"What does this mean?" Heather nudged JT, worry filling her chocolate-brown eyes.
"It means we have to warn the Big Guy before it's too late."
"Will someone please tell me what is going on?" For a moment the two had forgotten Tess was even there, so caught up in the revelation of the plan to set-up Vincent. They turned to her, again unsure of how much to say when a few faint clicks sounded behind them.
"Do you know what we hate more than no good lying Private eyes? Snitches..."
Heather quickly finished up the story of their adventurous night, "So the bald bearded creep and two of his friends escorted us out of the ballroom at gun point and into the stairwell. They would have finished us off, but didn't want to risk drawing attention to themselves so they opted for the bind and gag routine, leaving us in here. And that's the gist of it. But we gotta find the boss, I mean Vincent, Cat. Have you seen him?" The three of them looked at her, Catherine taking in everything Heather had just told her ready to tell them about her night but there was no time.
"Yes and it's already too late. I don't have time to explain, but Vincent's been arrested for murder and just left in handcuffs with my father. I have to go." She started for the door.
"Cat, wait! You can't go out like that." Tess pointed out her nightwear, definitely unsuitable for a morning stroll down to the precinct. "I have a change of clothes behind the stage. Go get dressed and we'll get a cab." Catherine nodded, a faint yet grateful smile meeting her face as she bolted out of the room.
"Murder? How are we going to get the Big Guy out of this one?" JT rubbed his chin, despair seeping into his tone. But as disheartening as this situation was, Heather just couldn't help herself.
"Does anyone else think something more happened last night between Vincent and Cat? I mean why was she wearing pajamas?" Two pairs of tired eyes turned to the petite young woman, incredulous expressions written on their faces. Without saying anything, JT and Tess left the room. "What? I know you two were thinking the same thing!"
The roads were covered in wet sheen, the rain relentlessly spilling from the ominous clouds overhead, darkening the city in its early hours. It was fitting, the sun refusing to come out on this day when all hope seemed lost.
The white-topped Plymouth coupe rolled on down the side streets of the city, avoiding any traffic to make back to the precinct as quickly and quietly as possible. Another police car was sent ahead, luring all the media away while Reynolds, Vincent and one uniform cop slipped out the back of the hotel. Robert knew exactly what Vincent was and couldn't risk the chance of exposure in front of all those cameras. So there they were, trapped within the wide-bodied vehicle, unaware of what lay in wait just around the corner.
"You know I've been looking forward to this moment for a long time." Vincent kept his face to the window watching the drops of rain streak down the glass. "I'm just glad it came before you could hurt my little girl any more than you already have."
"And you haven't?" His head turned meeting Reynolds' eyes reflecting in the rearview mirror. Both remained with their dagger-like stares, Robert knowing on some level Vincent was right.
"Everything I have done is for her. She may not see it right now, but one day she will."
"You've been absent most of her life, what makes you qualified to judge what is good for her? Not to mention the less than savory activities you've been involved in." The uniform cop glanced at them in the reflection, anxiously trying to decipher the side conversation going on between the two.
A nerve was struck, Robert adjusting his tie turned back in the passenger seat, a harsh whisper escaping his clenched teeth. "How's that wound healing, you know the one in your side?" The very mention of his scar raised the temperature of Vincent's blood, almost as if Reynolds was opening it all over again pouring salted words into his raw and exposed flesh. The anger wasn't built from anyone else's actions that night, but his own selfish view of justice. He tried not to react but the faint glow of his hazel irises couldn't be stopped. "Just remember that for all my faults, I'm still human, and she recognized that. Obviously she didn't see the same in y..."
High beams filled the cabin of the vehicle, a useless warning a millisecond before impact. Metal collided with metal, tiny fragments of glass flew through the air connecting with flesh. The car was built, durable, but the force of the crash sent it tumbling into an alley. The world turned upside down, all pictures a blurry haze. The sound of a car door being slammed shut echoed in the distance, followed by a pair of shoes tapping across the asphalt. Vincent glanced up to the front of the car, seeing both the officer and Reynolds unconscious and bloody but still alive. The last thing he saw was those black leather wingtips before his world once again fell dark.
The stale air and remnant fumes of formaldehyde filled Vincent's senses as he began to come to. The smell wasn't as pungent as it should have been but still an offensive odor. He blinked a couple of times, waiting for the images in front of him to focus. This was the second time in the last twenty-four hours he had blacked out which couldn't have been good for his health. Vincent slid his hands down his face, stopping at his neck feeling something hard wrapped around it. The rough rusted metal scratched against his palms.
"Finally, Sleeping Beauty is awake."
"Who's there?" Vincent stumbled off the cot, falling onto the dirty concrete floor. He pushed himself up with what strength he had, lifting his head to face his captor.
"In dark corners of this city I'm known as Tony Barnes, but I believe you call me Gabe."
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Again, I am sorry it took so long for another update and I'm afraid it might be a while before the next one, but this story will eventually get finished. I just have a lot going on right now in my life along with other writing projects I'm working on. Thank you for everyone who has stuck with this story and for your wonderful reviews!