Hey guys, here is the penultimate chapter to this fic.

Enjoy

Chapter Ten: A Faint Memory

11:00 – 0:00

I glance down at my phone, seeing that it's now eleven and so time to go take Warren up on his challenge.

Better update Kate and Frank first.

"Max, I just need to make a call, then we'll go," she nods and leans against the wall as I dial the familiar number. I tap my foot lightly as it rings and soon hear Kate's cheery tone, "Red Crown, Kate speaking."

"I hope Frank is paying you extra for working the graveyard shift."

"It's not like I can go home when you still need me to look things up," she points out.

"Oh, worried huh?"

This elicits a soft laugh from Kate, "Maybe. So, have you found any clues yet?"

"I'm getting there slowly," the disconnected network of clues materializes in my mind, still containing a worrying amount of gaps, "Things just seem to keep getting more complicated."

"You're just one big puzzle after another, but I guess that's what makes you so charming," Kate comments in an amused tone.

"The ladies always love some mystery," I smirk before crossing my eyes and sticking my tongue out at Max. She shakes her head and returns my dorky face.

I can imagine Kate rolling her eyes good-naturedly at me now, "Well, you are mystery central. I suppose it must be hard having everyone after you, huh?"

"You bet," I cheekily add before getting back on track, "Anyway, is Frank in?"

"He sure is," I hear shuffling as the phone is passed over.

"Price," he greets me with his usual level of affection… literally nothing.

Since Frank used to be a detective too, he is the perfect person to ask to dig up information, "I need you to run a name, Gallery May in Santa Monica. The more information you can dig up on it the better, especially any major people associated with it."

"A strange request," he mutters, "Then again you always did go after weird cases."

Frank knows me better than anyone, "It's an important piece of the puzzles I've got going. I met a girl here called Max. She's wearing the same bracelet Rachel used to have. So…"

I don't need to say anything else, "I'll let you know when I find something."

"Thanks, Frank."

He simply grunts in acknowledgement before hanging up. A few seconds later I hear a door creak closed down the end of the hallway on the left hand side. Max and I look at each other, confirming the need for further investigation. We stride down the corridor to the end past the door leading to the back stairs and stop in front of the Utility Closet. I push on the door and we step inside.

"I'll check the right hand side of the room and you check the left, ok?" I suggest to Max, who flashes me an agreeable smile before heading on over to the left. I start from the back, checking the shelves fixed to the wall which hold various cleaning products. Max and I slowly make our way towards the door, not finding anything of note. Just when I am about to give up, something piques my interest. There is something scrunched up in the trash can tucked away in the nearest right hand corner. Letting curiosity get the better of me, I crouch down and take it out. There are two things that catch my attention, a cassette and an envelope addressed to Victoria from someone named Grace as she explained, who most likely was Melissa's mother after hearing from Kevin that Victoria knew his wife.

Ah-ha, this must be Victoria's mystery package. Who even uses cassettes anymore? Only retro nerds… maybe Warren can give me a hand with that.

I turn to Max, waving the cassette front of her face so she can see, "I think we need to pay Warren a visit, don't you?"she carefully takes the cassette from me, giving it a once over with faint curiosity, before nodding. My lip quirks up into a smile as I gently ruffle her hair, "Why don't you hold onto it for now? It fits your whole hipster vibe after all," I point down to the small bag hanging down at her side, "and you have a place to put it too. Can I trust you with that?" Max nods eagerly as she stashes the tape in her bag for safe keeping.

Figuring that Warren would probably still be working at the bar, we make our way downstairs. The bar is completely empty by the time we reach it, apart from Warren stood behind the counter cleaning the top with a cloth. On hearing the door creak open, he looked up from his work with a wide toothy grin, "Chloe Price! When she's not solving crimes, she's charming the ladies! Are you ready to face my fury?"

A slight smirk tugged at my lips on Warren's obvious excitement, especially knowing that I will totally thrash him, no doubt about that, "Almost, but I need your help first. Do you have a cassette player?"

Warren jabs his thumb at himself with a smug grin, "You came to the right guy. I have one in my room," his expression becomes thoughtful then as he strokes at his chin, "It sure is in demand tonight."

This knowledge piques my interest, "What do you mean?"

He leans his elbows on the bar counter before replying, "David asked if he could use it earlier. Anyway, I have to stay here and hold the fort, so feel free to go use it."

David huh? Wonder what he was listening to…

"Thanks," I say as Max and I turn towards the door to leave.

"Oh, by the way," he calls from behind, causing us to halt in our tracks as he adds as an afterthought, "The rewind and fast forward buttons are busted. So, if you don't want it to chew your tape up, don't use them."

I shake my head with a small smile, "Do you own anything that isn't broken?"

He regards me with a skeptical look, "Like you can really talk. Catch you guys later."

Max offers him a shy wave as we leave the bar and head off to Warren's room, out of the restaurant hallway into the central one, turning left until we hit the bottom of the stairs, then going through the door to the left just at the bottom of the stairwell into the L-shaped hallway leading to Warren's room, which is at the end on the left. I push on the handle, finding the door unlocked and we enter inside. The room is still as messy as the first time, maybe even more so. Warren's cassette player is sat on the small wooden bedside table. Once located, Max heads on over and starts fiddling around with it, taking the cassette out of her bag and inserting the tape into the player on the A-side, hitting the start.

When some jazzy music starts playing, Max glances back over her shoulder at me with a confused look. I shrug in response, feeling just as surprised by the music as Max. There is still the B-side to check, which could hold some very interesting secrets. Maybe the A-side is a means to trick whoever got the tape into thinking that it's a regular cassette. Just before Max has the chance to stop the music and take the tape out, I grab onto her wrist gently and pull her back. She is understandably startled by the sudden action, offering up a questioning look.

It's kind of cute when she's confused, her eyes filling with uncertainty and that little wrinkle forming on her brow. I begin to clarify for her, "While Jazz really isn't my thing, I want to see that boney white ass of yours dancing."

Max's blue eyes widen a fraction, her eyebrows raising slightly in response. She seems to be considering it, her face cycling through various emotions before settling on an agreeable one. I take this as a good sign and release her wrist, beginning to move my hips and arm wildly off beat, which seems to amuse her greatly. After a moment of hesitation, she begins awkwardly moving her arms.

"That's the spirit Max. Rawk out girl!" I shout out as I stride over to her, taking hold of her hands and moving her arms around with mine. Max's smile widens as I do that, her eyes sparkling with delight at the distraction. After a few moments, the tape comes to an end and our dancing slowly dwindles down to a stop, both of us lightly panting from the sudden exertion, "Damn, have to say I'm impressed, Max. You sure have some moves," I lightly tease, which earns me a light punch on the arm and a look of mock disapproval from Max, but also a dorky grin.

Once we've caught our breath, I give Max's hands a light squeeze before making my way over to the cassette player, flip it over to the B-side and shove it in the player, pressing the start button. The first thing I notice is the background static, closely followed by broken and hushed whispers.

"…at you're asking is… ossible! …an't work any faster than I… eady am. Ok, just… me a moment… no need for that… do it… give her back… promise..."

Give her back, huh? I wonder what that's all about.

At that point, I hear the door creak behind me and turn around to see Warren enter the room. After playing the message back for him so he's all caught up and removing the cassette from the player, he gets a very puzzled expression on his face, "Well, that sounds highly suspicious."

I run my fingers through my hair tiredly as my mind races from the weird tape, "You're telling me…"

Warren tilts his head to the side slightly as he looks at the tape, turning it over in his hands, "It kind of sounds like someone bugged the room, especially given the static and muffled voices."

A light smirk tugs at the corner of my mouth on his deduction, "Maybe you aren't as stupid as you look."

"Th…" he pauses, realizing the backhanded compliment, and frowns, "Hey!"

I hold my hands up and chuckle, "I'm kidding."

"You'd better be," he pouts over-exaggeratedly before returning serious and handing the tape back over to Max, "Where'd you get this thing anyway?"

"Trash can in the Utility Closet," I explain to him.

He exhales deeply, scratching at his head, "There is some strange stuff going on around here."

"I have a feeling it's only going to get stranger," I mention, wondering just how crazy things will get before the night is over, "There was also an envelope addressed to Victoria in there too. My guess is that the cassette was in the envelope to begin with. Someone stole it from her."

"Why would she have something like this?" Warren asks curiously, more of a rhetorical question than a direct one.

I shrug, that being one of the many questions I want an answer to as well, "Only one way to find out…" after bidding Warren goodbye for now, Max and I exit the room hand in hand before making our way back down the corridor to the stairwell.

I gently swing our hands as we walk down the hallway, "Shit's getting pretty crazy, huh?" Max looks up at me with a troubled and lost expression, "I guess it must be tough for you right now. Don't worry, we'll work it all out," my reassurances seem to help perk her up a bit, still there is a slight glint of doubt in her eyes as we approach Victoria's room, the one directly opposite mine.

I take a deep breath, readying myself for the inevitable barrage of snide remarks from Victoria, before knocking confidently on the door. Victoria takes her sweet time coming over to open up and when she does, she greets us with a condescending sneer, "What do you want?"

I reach into my pocket and take out the folded up envelope so she can see, "I found your envelope."

"Hand it over then," Victoria holds out her hand expectantly. When I don't give it to her straight away, she sighs in exasperation and snatches at it.

I instinctively move it out of her way, dangling it just out of her reach, "Ah, ah, not so fast."

She scowls at me, her brow twitching in irritation, "What is it now?"

"I want to ask you a couple of questions first," I clarify, expecting some resistance to the proposed interrogation.

"I don't have to answer anything," Victoria immediately snapped, crossing her arms and turning her nose up at my request.

I shrug casually, tucking the envelope back in my pocket and taking hold of Max's hand again, "Well, you obviously don't want your envelope back then."

Just as I am about to turn away, I hear a quiet, "Damn you, Price," before feeling a hand on my wrist and I am yanked unceremoniously into the room along with Max, the door slamming behind us. I barely have time to get re-oriented again before Victoria barks, "You have five minutes, so talk."

Not wanting to waste any more time than necessary, I get straight to the point by announcing, "I listened to the tape."

Victoria's eyes widen on hearing this, "You…" her words were cut off, giving way to silence.

After a few moments, I prompt her to continue, "Why do you have something like that?"

Victoria's jaw tightens a fraction as she answers, "Grace sent it to me as you already know. She… asked me to bring it here."

"Who's Grace?"

It looks as if she might shut me off, but surprisingly she just gets this really tired and defeated look on her face, "She's… my half-sister. Not that it matters to you."

Well, this is a weird development. If this Grace and Melissa's mother are the same person, then…

Feeling as if I am so close to finding out the answer I press on, "Why'd she ask you to bring it here?"

"Hell if I know," she hisses defensively.

Obviously having worn out this line of questioning for now I swiftly move onto the next, "What was the plan after you took it here."

Victoria lets out a long sigh before responding, "She told me to wait for her to contact me. If I hadn't heard from her by October, I was supposed to bring the tape here. I don't know why though."

I decide to confide my suspicion to her, it might also help her remember something, "You know, that tape is probably some kind of insurance, to blackmail someone. That's why she wanted you to bring the it here," Max nods in agreement, trying to add weight to my suggestion. She heard the shady recording too, so it's good to know that we're on the same wavelength.

Does this tape have something to do with the money Grace managed to gather together to pay off Kevin's court judgement? Or is it something else?

"I don't know," Victoria admits reluctantly, "All Grace told me was that I had to bring the tape to this dump if I hadn't heard from her. I'm supposed to give it to a certain man."

"A man. Well, that narrows it down," I mutter under my breath, trying not to sound too disappointed by the lack of detail.

Victoria narrows her eyes at me, "Enough with the snide remarks. I was told to give it to 'the man who painted the angel'. I thought I might understand when I got here, but I still have no clue."

"When did you last see Grace? Where is she now?" I ask, trying to speed this process up to get to the truth.

"I don't know, okay!" Victoria snarled protectively, "I told you a thousand times already! I'm the one SEARCHING for her! I HAVE to find her," on hearing herself shout the anger slowly fades as she bites her lip and sighs deeply, "Sorry, I just… want to see her."

I wave away her apology, "Don't mention it," I decide to bite the bullet and make the connection between Grace as Victoria's half-sister and Melissa's mother to see how Victoria would react. Maybe she knows already, "So, is that why you were boozing it up with Kevin earlier? To find out what happened to Grace?"

Victoria appeared to be taken aback by this statement, "What?"

I guess she doesn't know about Kevin then. It has to be the same Grace though, there are too many coincidences otherwise. If this place has taught me anything, it's that coincidences are rare.

I exchange a quick glance with Max, who offers up a reassuring smile that encourages me to continue, "Kevin has a wife named Grace who's went missing after he was sued for malpractice. She bailed him out, but wouldn't tell him where she got the money from and they fought over it. Soon after, she disappeared. I have a sneaking suspicion she's the same as the Grace you're talking about."

It is then that Victoria's eyes widen in realization, "So, that little girl…"

"…is her daughter, yep. Got it in one," I confirm.

"Now I understand why she had that doll with her," Victoria mumbles more to herself than Max and me.

I recall the doll Melissa had me fix earlier, "The doll Melissa has, you recognize it?"

"Yes."

I nod thoughtfully, "That makes sense, Grace made it after all."

"I… didn't know that," Victoria quietly mumbles, "It explains why it looks so much like our dolls, the ones we had as kids. She was always such a sentimental sap. As I've already said, Grace is my half-sister. She's four years old than me."

I sense the truth approaching rapidly now… finally.

Her face falls slightly at this thought and she finally cracks, "Our mother had a fling with some business man on one of her trips and fell pregnant with me. When her husband's family found out they cut all ties, leaving Grace, myself and our mother to fend for ourselves. They were very powerful in the art dealing world and we were left with nothing. It was… hard. We had to keep on the move to actually survive. We stayed like this for a while… before our mother died in a plane crash. I was nine years old at the time."

I vaguely remember seeing something about that at the time on the news, I probably wouldn't have been much older than Victoria was at the time it happened.

"Grace and I got separated to hide the fact that we were related to the Chase family," she pressed on after composing herself, "I eventually got adopted, but I ran away aged fifteen and spent five years barely scraping by. When I was twenty, I found work at some run-down diner in Santa Monica and Grace suddenly came back into my life. She didn't recognize me at first, five years changes you," her tone becomes wistful as she continues, "She'd made something of her life, while I was still playing catch up. She was working as a curator at a place called Gallery May and was engaged to a doctor, who I assume must be Kevin now," I nod in confirmation before she sighs, "We promised to meet up later… but I ran away yet again."

I glance over to Max to see her listening attentively to Victoria's story, all her attention focused on the task at hand. Victoria takes a moment to gather her thoughts then speaks up again, "I decided to follow up on my dream to become an actress, jumping from city to city and taking any role that came my way. Time passed me by until a couple of months ago when Grace tracked me down. I had just been featured in some small time magazine photo shoot. She traced me through the agency and she was no longer the same hopeful girl I saw in Santa Monica," her brow furrows as she recalls her sister's state, "She looked so haggard and sad. She broke down and told me she needed money… but I couldn't help her. She needed so much, more than I had ever even seen in my life. She sobbed, apologized for asking the impossible. She told me that seeing me again gave her the courage to do what must be done… and that's the last time I ever saw her."

That must have been just after Kevin was sued when she was looking for the cash to pay for the charges.

Her voice wavers, "And I still don't know who I'm supposed to give that damn tape to. I just… want to see her again."

You and so many others…

"Join the club. Well, you're in luck. I'm going to find this guy," I confidently declare, having a feeling that finding this guy will uncover a lot of the mysteries tied to Hotel Dusk.

"How?" she doesn't appear to be asking out of disbelief, more like hope.

"We know he's here in the hotel according to Grace anyway. That's already a good start. I'm pretty good at uncovering mysteries. Grace can't be too far away," I assert, trying to instill some hopefulness in Victoria. Everyone in this dump always looks so miserable, as if they've just given up.

"Ms. Price…"

Before she can say anything else I press on, "Then maybe I can start seeing some smiles around this place. Everyone's so damn sad that it's making me feel weird."

I turn to leave, but notice that Max isn't following straight away. She takes a tentative step towards Victoria and, after a moment's hesitation, she slowly wraps her arms around her. I have to admit, I am extremely shocked by this, not more than Victoria herself however, who doesn't really know what to do in this situation. After a few seconds, her shoulders slump and she mirrors the motion, closing her eyes and gripping onto Max tightly. It's such a weird scene to witness, the most unlikely I could think of, but Max seems to have this way of making people calm and open from what I'd seen so far. After a few seconds, Max gently disengages and flashes Victoria a warm smile before following me out of the room.

So, Grace is Victoria's older half-sister, as well as being Melissa's mom, and she knew a man who paints angels. Hotel Dusk and the Angel Painting have to be connected. Maybe I can figure it out… And maybe that'll tell me why Rachel came here.

"Just when I think things can't get any more complicated…" I sigh deeply, rubbing at my temples before turning back to Max, "Anyway, we have our pride to uphold now. Let's go grab Warren so we can beat his ass down in this bowling thing."

Max beams at me as we head on over to the bar to get Warren. He greets us when we reach the counter and mentions that he just has to go to his room to get the pins and balls. We go to the hallway outside Warren's room and wait for him to get set up. Once finished, he turns to us with a gleeful grin, "Ready to get your ass kicked?"

"I was about to ask you the same question," I smirk smugly.

Warren takes the first shot, hitting over six pins and then a further three on the second, "Not bad, Warren. But you'll have to do better than that."

"I have a feeling you're all talk, Officer Price," he taunts playfully as he repositions the pins and hands me the ball. I get into position and line up my shot, throwing it down the hallway with a well-practiced throw. The ball rolls across the floor, allowing my smirk to widen as I hit a strike.

I look over to Warren, who seems annoyed at my success, "Don't feel too bad, Warren. I'm sure you'll get better with practice."

He grumbles under his breath as he sets the pins back up, "Just you wait."

I hand the ball over to Max, who smiles appreciatively at me, before getting herself ready. She pulls her arm back ready to make the shot. She obviously didn't have a tight enough grip on the ball as it flies out of her hand behind her and hits into a small wooden table, knocking over the pot containing a small plant placed on it. She winces as the pot smashes to the floor.

The three of us just look at one another for a few seconds before Warren rubs his face with his hand, "Oh man… that was David's favorite plant…" he sighs deeply.

I notice something unexpected on the floor, a small rusted key. I crouch down and pick it up, giving it a once over, "Huh… interesting," Max and Warren come closer to see what I'm looking at, both of them curious about the discovery, "Looks like David is hiding something."

Just then, we hear the door to the hallway open and I thrust the key into my pocket to hide it. Warren gives me a sheepish look as Joyce walks round the corner. She takes a moment to correctly assess the situation, then places a hand on her hip, "Warren Graham, how many times have I told you to not practice that damn bowling in the hotel."

He rubs the back of his neck, "Sorry, Joyce. I just wanted to have a little fun."

"Your fun always ends up in destruction," Joyce shakes her head, "Go grab a brush and clean this mess up."

"Yes ma'am," Warren mumbles as he drags his feet across the floor. Max tugs at his sleeve, offering up an apologetic look, "Don't worry, Max. It's cool. I've broken a lot of things before now because of it," he continues on out of the hallway.

Joyce gives Max a mildly accusatory look, "From the guilt all over your face, I can assume it was you who dealt the final blow to this poor plant," she nods remorsefully, ducking her head and hiding behind me a bit, "We can just repot it and David won't even notice," Max sighs in relief on hearing this.

While Joyce is here, there is one thing I want to ask her. I use this opportunity to do so, "Oh yeah, are there any angel paintings in this hotel?" if anyone would know apart from David, someone I am not willing to ask just in case it upsets him for some reason, it'd be Joyce.

Joyce thinks over my question for a moment before shaking her head, "Nope, only apple paintings. Unless…" her brow furrows in thought.

"Yes?" I prompt, feeling a rush of anticipation as I wait on her.

"There is another room in the lobby," she divulges hesitantly.

"Oh?" I vaguely recall another door in the lobby area, but hadn't paid it much mind.

Joyce nods, her voice going quiet, "Yes. I haven't been in it for a long time, in fact David closed it off. I assumed it was for repairs or something, but it's been like that for almost a year now. He's told us that we can't go in there."

"Hmm… maybe we should go investigate," I suggest thoughtfully. With the way this day has been going, I wouldn't be surprised to find the angel painting hanging on the wall in that room to be honest.

Joyce ponders over this before nodding, "Ok, I'll go grab the key and meet you in there in about ten minutes. Make sure you aren't seen. David would have a fit if he saw you hanging around there."

"Ok," I agree as Joyce heads on out of the hallway. While we're waiting around, I take the chance to give Frank and Kate a quick update, as well as checking up on whether Frank has managed to uncover anything yet.

"Red Crown, Kate speaking."

"Guess who?" I ask with a lop-sided smile.

A small sigh filters through from the other line, "Chloe, that wasn't funny the first time so drop it."

I can't help but throw in a mock salute even though Kate can't see me do it, it amuses Max though at least, "Yes ma'am. What are you still doing there?"

"I was worried about you," Kate states with ease.

"Aw, ain't that sweet," I lightly tease, grateful to know that she cares.

"Yeah, yeah, tease me why don't you?" Kate chuckles lightly, "You're timing is impeccable as always. Frank wants to have a chat with you."

"Price," Frank greets gruffly.

"Any luck on Gallery May?" I ask, diving straight into this.

Frank takes a deep breath before launching into his findings, "Ryan Caulfield is the owner of Gallery May. He's supposedly really good at finding undiscovered works by famous painters. Made a good living out of it too. About a year ago, he slowly began to withdraw from the public side of the art scene. Gallery's still running, but no-one has seen him much in that time. Wanna know the really interesting thing?"

I can tell Frank is enjoying toying with me a little, "Frank, stop being such a tease and tell me already."

After a few moments of silence, he finally puts me out of my misery, "He has a daughter. A year younger than you actually. No prizes for guessing her name."

My eyes widen slightly as I slowly look over at Max, who tilts her head to the side in confusion at my sudden shock. Now it makes sense why Max could remember the gallery… her father owned it. I finally manage to compose myself enough to speak, "Did you manage to find out what she looked like?"

"There was a picture from over a year ago of Ryan and his family after he found an apparently famous painting, Angel Opening a Door," I recognize the name from Jefferson, the same painting Rachel took from Warren's friend, "His daughter's around 5'5, mid-length brown hair, pale freckled skin, blue eyes and thin, at least at the time of the picture."

The description almost matches Max perfectly, "Thanks Frank. I'll speak to you later," he provides his usual grunt as a goodbye before hanging up.

I give Max a long hard stare, hoping that the name of her father will help jog her memory, "Max… do you remember someone named Ryan, Ryan Caulfield?" a flicker of recognition enters Max's blue eyes and she nods uncertainly, "He's your dad, right?" Max furrows her brow, thinking hard over the name. She remains like this for a moment, racking her brain to make the connection, "You really can't remember much of anything, huh?"

Max shakes her head despondently, with the most heart-breaking expression. Memories make up such a fundamental part of our beings, experiences guiding our personalities and behaviors. That's why the thought of losing them is so scary.

I wrap my arms around her, placing a kiss to her forehead as I feel her hug me back, "Don't worry. I swear we will find out what happened to you, no matter how long it takes," we break apart and I reach out my hand to her, "Time to go to the room, you ready?"

Max nods and grips onto my hand tight. After flashing her a reassuring smile, we head towards the door leading out into the lobby, checking that the coast is clear as Joyce recommended before heading on out, and approach the mystery door on the back wall of the lobby. I try the door, which gives when I push on the handle, and we pile in before David notices.

Joyce is already there, sitting on the dusty couch pushed up against the left wall. When she notices us, she stands up and smiles, "Fancy seeing you two here."

I take a step forward, but am pulled back lightly. I glance back over my shoulder to see Max stood stock still, her face drained of any remaining color and her hands shake in mine. I look over to Joyce, who looks as worried as I feel, before tentatively calling out to her, "Max…"

The next moment is a slow motion blur for me. Max's blue eyes become unfocused, her grip on my hand loosens and her entire body begins to wobble and sway. Without further warning, she collapses to the floor with a soft thud right before my eyes.

All shall be revealed in the final chapter next time. Have an awesome day guys and see you for the conclusion.