AN: I want you guys to know that I really love you, because I never update this quickly... as you can see by how long it took me to start updating... And thanks for the reviews! I didn't expect any since this story was basically dead. Hope you enjoy!
If anyone has a chance to make it, they do Shawn grabbed Juliet's hand and nearly dragged her to their room.
"Shawn, wait," she told him as she stumbled over her heels, "Shawn, we're inside. We don't have to run. We're fine."
"Jules, please? Let's just get to our room," she saw the pained expression in his face. Once they reached their room, Shawn squeeze her hand and then let go to open the door, before he took it again and pulled her to safety inside.
If anyone has a chance to make it, they do.
Shutting the door behind her, he didn't let go of her hand. Instead, he pulled her into a big embrace. If anyone has a chance to make it, they do. The thought kept flashing through his mind. He couldn't begin to comprehend the meaning of it. He tried to shove the thought away. Resting his forehead on hers, he whispered, "Jules, are you ok?"
"Yeah, Shawn. I'm fine, but you don't look too well," she replied, as she gently rubbed his shoulder to comfort him.
"She's crazy. And she did it."
"Are you sure?"
"Here, lets sit down and I'll go over what I got."
"You divined something?"
"Yeah, that's why I was choking Jules, the spirits were suffocating me with information."
"Oh my God, that must be so frightening," she squeezed his upper arm to further comfort him, but as she noticed how close they really were, she backed off and went to sit on the bed.
"Shawn, what is this?" she asked referring to the piece of parchment on their bed.
"What's what?" looking down, he noticed it too and picked it up. Under it was a book that Juliet picked up.
"Shawn, it's Romeo and Juliet. How sweet. It must be from Dr. Merrygrove-"
If anyone has a chance to make it, they do
Looking at the note, his heart began beating faster.
Romeo and Juliet
Act V, scene III (lines 182-4)
"Jules turn to Act V, scene III, lines 182 through 184."
"Why? Is that what the note said?"
"Yeah."
"Aww, that is so sweet. It's probably where Romeo and Juliet confess their love-"
"Jules-"
"Ok," she defended while flipping to the page. When she read the passage she gasped and sat on the bed.
"Jules," Shawn sat down and put a comforting hand on her thigh, "Jules, what's wrong?"
If anyone has a chance to make it, they do
Juliet handed him the book and he read:
JULIET:
Yea, noise? Then I'll be brief. O happy dagger,
This is thy sheath. There rust and let me die.
(stabs herself with ROMEO's dagger and dies)
"Shawn, it is Merrygrove. And he is switching up this time. He's going to kill me and not the husband," she said in a high pitched nervous voice.
If anyone has a chance to make it, they do
"No Jules, it's not Merrygrove. You don't have to worry, okay?" he asked, dropping the book to the floor and pulling her in for another hug, he rubbed her back until her hitched breathing turned into a normal pace.
"How do you know it's not Merrygrove?" Juliet pulled back to talk to him. "Before, you said it was him. Did you hear him a minute ago? He knows his ex has been around, that's why he yelled at us. He's probably giving her the information. Shawn, they're probably working together."
"Jules, listen to me," he said taking her hand in his, "You don't have to worry. It's not Merrygrove. It's the wife, and she would never go after you, she's going to go after me."
"Oh no! This whole time I've been worried about myself and you're the one in danger!"
"Jules! Jules. Breathe."
If anyone has a chance to make it, they do. He rubbed circles around the back of her hand with his thumb, "Are you okay? It's not like you to lose your cool like this. You're one of the most composed people I know."
"I know. You're right. What's gotten into me?"
"It's okay," he pulled her in for a quick, reassuring hug, "Let's try to talk about this calmly."
"Okay."
He smiled, "Let's go over why it's not Merrygrove first."
"Okay."
"First off, that's not his handwriting."
Scrunching her eyebrows and nose, Juliet asked, "How do you know that?"
Failing at resisting the urge, Shawn touched her nose, causing her to scrunch it more and smile. He leaned in, ready to kiss her before he stopped himself and cleared his throat. If anyone has a chance to make it, they do. "I- uh, I- When I knocked the papers out of her hand, I read some of them. They were his reports on- on us. His handwriting doesn't match, plus, that's clearly girl's handwriting," he laughed, pointing to the looping letters.
"Right, but she could have written it, they could be partners."
"Which brings me to my next point. Merrygrove really wants our 'marriage' to succeed; he is completely sincere. Why would he want to destroy it after trying so hard to rebuild it?"
If anyone has a chance to make it, they do
"Shawn, his facial expressions and voice aren't enough to-"
"Jules, what about hard documentation? What about his personal notes? They're confidential, so he doesn't have to pretend there, and even if he was giving them to his ex, he wouldn't have to pretend for her."
If anyone has a chance to make it, they do
"Shawn, what are you saying?"
"Jules, he said-" If anyone has a chance to make it, they do, "Well, his notes said-" If anyone has a chance to make it, they do , "Well I guessed they referred to-" If anyone has a chance to make it, they do.
"Shawn?"
If anyone has a chance to make it, they do. If anyone has a chance to make it, they do.
"Shawn?"
"Jules," he took her hand and stared into the crystal blue oceans in front of him, "He basically said that we are," he took a deep breath, "Perfect for each other."
They both held their breath for what seemed like years, waiting for the other to speak, afraid of something that could ruin this twisted, fine line they were always walking on.
If anyone has a chance to make it, they do.
Taking a deep breath, Juliet cut the silence with a forced laugh, "Wow, we must be really good at acting our parts."
"Yeah," Shawn smiled, relieved that he didn't just push their relationship- friendship- whatever it was called- right off a cliff, "It also said something about if we discuss things we can dissolve all issues. So, he really does want to help."
"But he knows she's out there."
"Yeah, I don't know about that. I'll try to channel the spirits extra hard tomorrow in our counseling," he smirked.
Juliet let out a laugh, "So-"
"So-" Shawn repeated as his phone vibrated.
Juliet looked down and saw Abigail's name, "Sorry for looking. It's a habit."
"It's okay," Shawn picked the phone up, looked, and sat it back down.
"Aren't you going to answer it?"
"No. I'll call her back when we're done."
"Shawn, I think you should answer it."
"Um, okay," he gave her a questioning look as he answered the phone and went off to the balcony.
Juliet picked the book off of the floor, and reread it, looking for any clues and trying to grasp the meaning. Is it a threat? A warning? Not getting anywhere with it, she sat it on the nightstand. She glanced at the balcony where Shawn stood talking, sighed, and allowed herself to collapse on the bed. After a couple minutes she decided she should call Richard too.
"Hey"
"Hey, love. How are you?"
"Exhausted and a little overwhelmed I guess."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, it's just- this case is a little intense."
"It probably doesn't help that you have to babysit that Spencer kid."
"Oh, no. Shawn's been great. He's done the most work."
"I don't trust him."
"He's fine. We're good friends."
"That's hard for me to believe. Tell me about your day."
Just then, Shawn walked back in, and Juliet glanced up. Noticing that she was on the phone, he whispered, "Oh, sorry. I can go back outside."
Juliet replied, "No, Shawn. We have to get to work. It's fine," then to Richard, "Hey Richard, I have to go. We have to go over some things for our case."
"Alright. I love you."
Juliet hesitated with her answer, "I'll talk to you tomorrow," she hung up.
"Jules, you didn't have to do that. I don't mind waiting."
"It's okay. We have to work. He understands."
"I just don't want you to upset him."
"Shawn, it's fine," she insisted in a tone that made Shawn drop it.
"Alright then. Let's uh- let's talk about the evidence against Patricia Merrygrove and motive," he changed the subject.
"Okay. Well she's been snooping around here and told us she was collecting child support, which is a blatant lie since they don't have children."
"Okay. What else?"
"Well, she asked us who he was doing personal counseling with as if she knew he always does it with the winning couple, so in a round about way she was asking us who she-"
"Needed to kill," he finished for her. Then without thinking added, "That's my girl."
Juliet smiled before realizing what he said, then looked up at him with a confused stare.
"I-I mean, right on man!"
Despite the awkward moment, Juliet couldn't help but laughing.
"But Shawn, that's not enough to arrest her on."
"I know, but I have something else. She is a hardcore feminist. I believe she's always been, but since her divorce, she has hated all men and blames them for everything wrong in the world. That's probably why she always kills the husband."
"But what's her motive? And how does this passage from 'Romeo and Juliet' fit in? How did she even get the note in here in the two seconds we talked with Merrygrove? And then there's Merrygrove, he knows that his wife has been around. How does this all fit?"
"I don't know. I really don't, but listen. We have time to figure this out."
"But the longer it takes us, the bigger the chance that someone is going to get hurt."
"She's going to stick to her plan. She may be crazy, but she's not stupid. Changing up now could give her away and it just could get really sloppy. She knows that. You don't have to worry about anything but making sure we are the ones who win. Then she'll come after me and no innocent lives will be lost."
"Shawn, you're innocent too. Hell, you're a civilian."
"I'm being paid to do this. That makes me no longer a civilian."
"Shawn-"
"Listen, as long as we solve this before this session finishes I'll be okay anyway. She's not going to deviate from the other times."
"How sure are you?"
"Ninety-eight percent."
"Okay. I trust you," she sighed, squeezing his hand for emphasis, then picking up her phone she dialed Chief.
"What are you doing?"
"Calling Chief."
"Put it on speaker."
"Detective, do you have any leads?"
"No."
"No? Then why are you calling me this late at night?"
"No, sorry. I was talking to Shawn-"
"Just put it on speaker," Shawn took the phone from her.
"Shawn, give it back," she grabbed for it but he pulled it away.
"Detective," Chief called out.
Shawn pressed the speaker button and handed the phone back to Juliet.
"Sorry Chief. We really think that Patricia Merrygrove is our man- er-woman. Can you do some digging see if she's an activist, especially with feminism? Look into her background; see if she has a theatre or English background. Umm- look into the anger management. Why she was there, any treatment. Anything you can get."
"I'll have Lassiter look into it first thing tomorrow. Oh and Detectives?"
"Yeah?"
"Watch out for yourselves."
"Goodnight Chief."
…
As they were lying down to sleep, Juliet looked at Shawn with a worried expression.
"What's wrong?"
"Shawn, I'm scared."
"Jules, you have nothing to worry about. She's not after you."
"It's not me I'm worried about Shawn."
"I'll be fine."
"But Shawn, she's gotten in here once, she can get in again. How do we know she's not here listening to us now? What if she knows who we really are, and she attacks-"
"Jules, why are you so worried?" he began massaging her shoulders to calm her down.
"I guess, because it's so real. You know?" she asked, sighing a little as she felt her shoulder relax beneath his grip, "I mean any other case that doesn't get solved will wait and I can go home to bed and I'll be safe. Here, going to bed could be the most dangerous thing we do."
"Jules," he said, beginning to knead his fingers down her back. She arched her neck back in response, letting out another sigh, as he kissed the top of her head and reassured her, "Everything will be fine."
Jolting back to an alert state Juliet asked, "Are the spirits telling you this? They told you it was all going to be okay?"
"Jules, I can't predict the future. I've already told you that."
"Oh. Ok," Juliet slumped a little.
"We should go to bed," he rubbed her arm.
"Yeah."
…
"Shawn, I want to thank you for- comforting me last night," Juliet started as they waited for their meeting with Merrygrove, "I guess I've been feeling overwhelmed by not only this, but also the timing of it in my life. Not only because of how things with Richard were just getting started but also because of," she hesitated, "us-"
If anyone has a chance to make it, they do.
"Jules, there's no need to-"
"No, let me get this out. I know we said that we have a platonic relationship and I've been trying to keep it that way, but this whole undercover thing- well you know how I can get undercover."
"Psychotic," Shawn joked.
Juliet rolled her eyes and tried to hide the smirk on her face, "Too into character."
"Look, Jules, don't worry about it. We're almost done. We're going to wrap this up and things will go back, back to normal," Shawn looked down. If anyone has a chance to make it, they do. The truth was he didn't know if he wanted things to go back to normal, it was so easy with Jules. But Abby, Abby meant so much to him. Man this undercover shit is getting to me too. We really need to solve this as quickly as possible.
Dr. Merrygrove entered as Juliet squeezed Shawn's hand and said, "Thanks, Shawn."
"Look how well you two are doing. There has been an enormous improvement, and it has only been five days."
"Thanks," Shawn blushed.
Merrygrove reached into his filing cabinet for Shawn and Juliet's file. After a couple moments he started panicking, "Where are my files?"
He began looking elsewhere around the room, until he found them left in the scanner.
Shawn looked and Juliet and squeezed her hand to get her attention, "Jules look," but it was unnecessary because she was staring wide-eyed at the scanner.
Merrygrove was furious and looked at the couple and noticing their reaction, he accused them, "It's you two isn't it? You're her inside men."
"We- we don't know what you're talking about."
"Answer me this and I may not go to the cops. Are you two giving her information? Is that why you two have been sneaking out, to give her my files?"
"No, honestly. It's not us."
"God damn it! Whatever she told you to get your help, it's a lie. There's not going to be a good outcome. Don't you understand," Merrygrove asked desperately, "She's going to end up killing him."
"Look, we ran into her and she said she was there to pick up her child support. She told us to leave before we end up dead. That's all. I swear."
"We don't have children. God damn it! I knew it had to be her. I just didn't want to believe it. Oh God! Mr. and Mrs. Spencer, I'm really sorry. I'm ending this session early today."
"It's ok, we understand. Oh, and Dr. Merrygrove," Juliet asked.
"Yes?"
"Do you know who this belongs to," Juliet showed him the 'Romeo and Juliet' book.
"Where'd you get that?"
"It was left on our bed."
Merrygrove stared at the book, lost in his mind, "May I see that?"
"Sure," she handed him the book.
He flipped to the title page. "It's my ex wife's."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, yes. She always drew a rose intertwined with a snake on the title page, her signature so to speak. She took it from Macbeth, 'Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under 't.' She said that that is how the world works."
"She knows Shakespeare well?"
"I would hope so. Her B.A. is in English Literature with a specialization in Shakespeare."
"Can I see the book again, just for a second," Juliet asked.
"Sure."
Flipping to the passage that was given to them, Juliet asked, "Would you be able to explain what is going on here?"
After looking for a moment, with a puzzled expression, Merrygrove answered, "Yes. Juliet is killing herself because her Romeo is dead. She feels no reason to live without Romeo. She kills herself with his dagger, in a way it could be perceived as if Romeo killed her, indirectly of course."
"Thank you very much. Jules, honey, let's go. He has stuff to take care of."
"But wait, why do you ask," he called out, but they were already gone.
"Shawn, it's her. And Merrygrove isn't her partner, he is just as freaked out as we are."
"I know, and the passage, it makes sense now. Listen before I left, she warned me 'Go on. Run, Romeo. Just remember, Juliet dies because of you,' it's the same warning but in different words."
"I just don't understand how she-" but Juliet fell to silence before she could finish her thought.
Crudely carved into their door was:
Some shall be pardoned, and some punishèd.
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.
"Shawn," Juliet whispered as she grabbed his hand.
He squeezed hers in response, "Let's get inside and get chief on the phone."
….
"I don't know Chief. She has to have an inside man," Shawn sighed after filling in the Chief.
"Chief, it's her. We have evidence upon evidence."
"But no motive?"
"No, we have no motive."
"Could- could it be that simple?"
"Shawn," Juliet asked Shawn, who had his eyes squeezed shut and his finger to his head.
~~ "Good Samaritan my ass! You're a man. All you do is crush those around you to lift yourself up. You betray us, you-" "You don't even know me." "Yes I do. You're just like every Tom, Dick, and Harry. You're a man, they're all the same." "Ha! I'm not going to hurt anyone more than you will. I think the worst part is that poor girl can't even begin to believe me. She has so much faith in you. You are going to kill her once you're done using her-" "Go on. Run, Romeo. Just remember, Juliet dies because of you." Some shall be pardoned, and some punishèd.
"Men. They're always so demanding," Patricia laughed, "That's just how it starts, he'll betray you in the end. But go on and listen to him. Just remember dear, Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy."
"Shawn," Juliet asked more frantically.
Snapping out of it Shawn responded, "God, it seems too simple."
"What Shawn?"
"She was already a feminist, right?"
"Yes, Mr. Spencer, we have documentation of her being arrested and bailed when feminist marches got too violent."
"So add a messy divorce to that and passionate becomes crazy. Men were the root of every evil in her eyes. So if she kills the men, the women will be better off, because in the end it was Romeo who killed Juliet."
"Oh my God, she thinks she's helping me by killing you. That's disgusting. That's-"
"Crazy? Tell me about it. And what better way to do it than by taking her ex down 'at one fell swoop'?"
"Did you just quote Shakespeare?"
"I did," Shawn winked, "But think about it, she'd get revenge and take her husband down-"
"While ridding the world of evil."
"Mr. Spencer, do you know where she's at?"
"No, but I can almost guarantee that she'll be here tonight. Listen, there's a dance tonight, we can probably wrap this up nicely, show up with Lassie at about 10:15. We'll scope it out and tell you what to do."
AN: Voilà! Next chapter will be a bit emotional for our characters but some awesome shulesy moments will be coming shortly after. Review please!