So, I still don't own PoI, although I sometimes wish I did. I figure I'll update with a couple more chapters after this for making you guys wait so dang long.

Thanks for putting up with me and my madness. All will be explained in the fifties chapters! Well, once I can get that far on my editing...

69: Annoyance

"So, Chessie," Carter smiled the next day, "Did you hear?"

"Hear what?" she asked as she set her phone down to have it record any and all audio in the room that Snow liked to hide out in.

"Your father was shot by that vigilante who's been giving me grief," she said, and Chessie's eyes widened. "Yeah, no joke. Get this: he shot to maim, not kill. Your old man tried to shoot an innocent woman, probably mistaking her for you. So far we've got her and your brothers as witnesses that it was self-defense."

"So… dad's getting charged with attempted murder? Or aggravated assault?" she asked, "Which would this go under? And, let's be honest, I hated the man anyways after all the sh-I, I mean, garbage he put me through."

"Yes, I managed to find that you were rescued by the man in the suit. Did you see his face?"

"No, but that's just it. I know it was him who rescued me and Marissa – my cousin through my dad's paternal half-brother – but I have no idea what the crap he looks like aside from the fact that he was wearing a suit. One minute I was getting beaten up by my brothers, the next he was carrying me into his SUV. The next thing I know, I'm dumped on a doctor's doorstep and he leaves me. Granted, it was a cruel method, but I think he's covering his tracks. Whoever this guy is, he doesn't want to hurt people I don't think, from what I've heard of you talking about his fighting style."

"Yeah," she said gravely, "But the thing is, he's a vigilante."

"What's a vigilante?" Chessie asked, honestly confused. "You forget I never even got to start high school before I was forced onto the run by my dad."

"A vigilante is like one of the old cowboys, or the Lone Ranger, who takes the law into their own hands with no thought for anything else. I think our Suit-wearing Vigilante knows something that we don't, but I just can't put my finger on it."

"Carter, I need to talk to the kid alone," Snow demanded, and Chessie looked at him as though she were sizing him up. "Now."

The Detective shot Chessie a sorrowful glance before leaving the room, and Chessie saw that the CIA agent shut and locked the door behind her.

"For a tough little brat, you've got no spine. So, you were rescued by a criminal. Did you know that?"

"No, sir," Chessie said honestly. "But I don't understand – he saved me, but why would a criminal save innocent people? I don't understand; what did he do that was wrong? How bad is it that the CIA has to step in? Surely this person can't be all bad. I mean, he's – at least I think it's a he – has been rescuing innocent people that he doesn't even know. And yes, I know that he or she rescued my cousin, Marissa Cato. She told me herself."

"Have a look at these photos," he offered, "Since you're job-shadowing Detective Carter, I see a reason to show you just what life as a Detective is like, and more importantly who she found and brought back from the dead."

"I don't understand," Chessie said looking at the photos, "These ones that would have gotten him a medal, they're all from a sniper's gunpoint. But these others, they're from close-range, point blank, and that's not a sniper's working style at all. How does he fit into the crime scenes? And some of these aren't even on American soil, how can they count?"

"His fingerprints were the only ones found," Snow said like it was obvious. "His usual methods or not, he is the one who killed these people."

"Were his car gages checked? What about the mileage? And were the bullets properly examined?"

"I examined them myself to ensure that nobody on our team that he rubbed up to could tamper with the evidence," he said coldly. "Not even our leader has seen them in person."

"Well, if I may, may I take a closer examination? Surely there's a way to verify, I mean, isn't that what Detectives do is look into as many cases as they can to solve it? If I find anything that doesn't fit, I'll know where to go, at least," she said matter-of-factly, but also pleading.

"Absolutely not!" Snow snapped. "You'll tamper with the evidence!"

"I will not! I'm an upholder of the law, and I don't care if that man saved my life or not, if he's a criminal, I'll help put him behind bars! I just want to make sure they have the right guy! For all we know, he could have been framed, right? I mean, isn't it possible that someone figured out his schedule and used it to their advantage? CIA agents make enemies that can do stuff like that, right?"

Snow was about to remark that if she tried again he'd shoot her, but his phone vibrated on the desk and he jerked it up and answered. Chessie eavesdropped on the conversation even though he didn't know that she could easily hear it.

"Mark, we want to take another look at that evidence. Where did you put it?"

"I'll send a Detective's Assistant, one who is job shadowing, to take care of things," he said calmly, even though Chessie could tell by the look on his face that he was getting extremely annoyed and aggravated about all of this, "She should be there in a few days."

"Send her tomorrow, I've got parents arguing that maybe we accused the wrong man. He was close to some of the victims, ones he wouldn't have willingly killed. Give the assistant a badge, a real Detective's badge and put her on the force for the case. I don't care what strings you pull, this kid has no connection to anything, so put her on the case."

"But-!"

"No buts, Mark! That's a direct order!" the other man snapped before the line went dead.

"Pack your bags and get ready to go to D.C., kid. It looks like my boss wants you on this case, after all, you brat. I'm warning you – try anything funny, tamper with any evidence, and I'll make sure you never see the light of day again."

"Is that a threat, Agent Snow?" Chessie said coolly, "Because two can play at that game. If I find that you tampered with evidence, I'll make sure that your boss, and everyone else on your team, knows what you've done, and they'll be witnessing what I found for themselves, just so they won't be able to deny what has happened to the evidence."

"Watch your back," Snow growled, "You wouldn't want to end up like your father and brothers."

"Touché," she said calmly before turning, grabbing her phone, and leaving.

She turned the audio recording off as she passed Detective Carter's desk with a sly grin just as Snow came fuming out of the office they'd been in looking like he'd wanted to destroy something. As soon as the two Detectives that Reese were using as spies heard what Chessie was to do, their eyes widened and Carter thrust her badge at her.

"Be careful," she said in passing, "The CIA is notorious for killing anyone they see as a threat. If you expose an agent, they'll go AWOL and probably try to kill you for it."

"I know, but this is something I have to do. You know why I'm doing this – I can't stand to see someone get pinned for a crime they didn't commit, and I know what it's like to be living in constant fear of death, which is another thing I can't stand watching. If he is the real killer, I'll hunt him down and kill him, but if not, I'll expose the real killer for who they are and clear the CIA agent's name. I guess he'd be ex-CIA now."

"Just watch out and keep a vest on, okay?" Carter asked, and Chessie smiled and nodded before hugging the detective. "Go get packed, you'll need to be on the alert."

"I know, I know," she said in slight annoyance. "I must leave this place before I, too, go mad."

Yes, more quotes. As I said before, I'll give extra special virtual rewards and even disclaimer notes in the beginnings if you can review or PM me to tell me what I quoted over the course of a chapter. And that doesn't just go for this chapter, it goes for all of them.

Anyhow, review to let me know what you guys think please!