Chapter Forty

"You may want to increase your efforts into catching this particular person," Rosalie said, pouring each detective a glass of scotch. The offering of liquor wasn't customary when dealing with the cops, but it was after-hours.

Rosalie handed Aisha and Leah their drinks before pouring her own. Blood, of course. "Sancho Alvarez is tied to other unsolved Chicagoland murders, including a very interesting murder-suicide that your organization had to over to the feds."

The detectives took a sip and shared a surprised glance before Leah asked what both women were thinking, "The Denali murders?"

It had been quite a while since those murders were discussed. And now as she thought about it, the double homicide had to be the second-least gruesome out of the bunch (the first being Demetri's so-called suicide). Sad, considering that it involved baby Vasili.

"Unlike the Olympic, the Volturi does not like to personally get their hands dirty," Rosalie took a long sip of her lifeline before sitting behind her glass desk. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. "Why do that when you have men-for-hire on your payroll?"

Aisha set her drink on the end of the table. "Are the Cullens and the Denalis aware of the Velasquez's… involvement in this mess?"

Rosalie rose both eyes and cleared her throat. This must have been a touchy subject, but eventually, she made a comment, "Carlisle, despite all of his faults, was a practical man. He knew he was just business until the very end."

Ah yes, Carlisle. Perhaps his death was the least gruesome, Leah wondered. After, all he had technically died whilst in medically-induced a coma. Officially he had succumbed to his injuries inflicted during the ambush at Mike's. Unofficially, Esme, tired of all the bullshit, had pulled the plug.

Leah hated to admit it, but she knew how it felt to have the burning desire to silence a husband. Though, she could never imagine actually doing the deed; even while Sam was in a coma—She took a sip of the drink she had no intention of consuming and shook the thought of her head. She had moved on, truly believed so. Sam was Emily's problem now and for, at least, the next eighteen years.

"Even if it involved his mistress?" she asked Rosalie. The relationship between Carlisle and Jessica wasn't well-documented despite all of the rumors, but Leah could assure that Carlisle, at least, cared about the young woman. Enough.

"Everyone in this business knows that it's never personal for the hitmen. They just do what they're told and get paid for it." Rosalie shrugged. "It would've been stupid to pitch a fit over Alvarez. The people everyone needs to be mad is the Volturi."

"How did you know about the Denalis?" Aisha asked.

Rosalie gave the detective her patented smirk. "Because I'm very good at my job, Detective. You should thank me for that, by the way. Usually, I'd charge for such a service, but I suppose I can hand out some pro-bono work every now and then."

"How is business, by the way?" Leah asked.

"We live in a very litigious society full of people willing to dish out money for a little private investigation." Rosalie snorted. "If it's not one thing, it's another."

"Do you know anything about Enzo Pasquarelli?" Aisha asked.

"You're talking about that kid that Napolitano's hired as a security guard? I may have seen him a couple of times… Oh, he's under your custody. I don't want to be a Debbie-downer, but he's going to give you a hard time. The Volturi did everything for him and his family. They're reasons why the Pasquarelli's were allowed into country… Lord knows with their history, they should've have been…"

"What do you mean?" Leah asked. She hadn't remembered reading anything about the parents in Enzo's file except that they used to run a little restaurant in Lincoln Square.

"The parents were involved in some communist drama back in the day," Rosalie explained with a dismissive, and then, "May I ask why he was arrested?"

"He punched my partner in the face," Leah explained.

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "The real reason."

Leah hid a small smile behind her glasses; after all of these years, still nothing could escape Rosalie. She placed the glass down and crossed her legs. "Is he their muscle?" she asked.

"He has the built for it, and as I said, the Volturi did everything for him," Rosalie said. The answer wasn't straightforward, but it was good enough. "Who's his counsel?"

Aisha crossed her arms and frowned. "They didn't give him one."

Which, in Leah's opinion, was really annoying. If the Volturi had provided Enzo an attorney, then Jenks could've used that against the defense. There had to be a reason why the Volturi was bailing out a young human guard so many times. A little "quid pro quo", but instead, Enzo was being represented by Jackson. A public defender.

"Ah." Rosalie ingested some more blood and smacked her lips. "Smart."

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" Jenks remarked the following morning, stopping in his tracks to breathe in the August air. He wore a small smile as he approached the detectives standing outside the Cook County Courthouse. He tossed his briefcase onto the stone bench and sat down with a bottle of water. "I wouldn't really know… I had to spend most of my morning dealing with a grand jury."

Leah glanced at the staircase leading to the court entrance. There were people around but no reporters; it wasn't a high-profile hearing. "One of ours?" she asked.

Jenks shook his head. "Contrary to popular belief, I do occasionally dabble with normal cases." He opened his water and gulped about half of it. "Sorry, dehydrated from engaging in a verbal battle of an infuriating defense attorney for an hour straight—This Enzo is a real pain in my ass, by the way."

"Compared to the others?" Jacob shoved his hands into his pockets. "Now, I don't believe that."

"The others, though infuriating, I get. I'm used to their shenanigans and seemingly never-ending streams of income that pays for their lawyers' retainer fees, but this guy? I'm genuinely looking forward to seeing him roam in general pop and get knocked down a peg."

The detectives shared a glance. So, Enzo must have been really bad to irritate the prosecutor in such a manner.

"What's the problem?" Leah asked.

Jenks took another one gulped and frowned. "He won't talk. And we've tried various avenues, including getting his parents involved, but nothing seems to work. The feds are making him our issue because he's not really a priority, and usually, I wouldn't care…" He trailed off and shrugged. "But this is a step closer to finding out what happened in the Green Lawn Murders, so…"

"I've heard the Volturi did everything for the family," Leah said, recalling the conversation with Rosalie a couple of nights before. "Explains his loyalty."

Jenks rolled his eyes.

"So, no deal?" Jacob asked.

Jenks shook his head. "He wants to plead 'not guilty', so no, there's no deal on the menu today. That bastard wants to take his case to trial."

The detectives shared an alarmed look before Jacob cursed, "Shit."

"Now, believe or not, it's not the end of the word," the prosecutor insisted. "We're charging him for the stalking of the widow of a murder victim. All of which, for all intensive's purposes, are human. Plus, Jackson completely understands the importance of not mentioning the supernatural, so that's one last thing we have to worry about."

"Small victories," Leah mumbled.

Jenks nodded. "It's better than nothing."

"What's the maximum sentence?" Jacob asked.

"Two to five… if we're lucky."

Leah placed her hands on her hips. "Even with his little assault on Jacob?"

Jenks' wave was dismissive. "Yeah, I'm not going to even bother. I can already hear entrapment defense." He shook his head. "Not worth it. No offense, Black."

Jacob cursed again.

"Two to five isn't much," Leah stated the obvious. "Especially if early-release is involved, which, given the light sentence, pretty much is."

"I'm aware of that," Jenks grumbled. "It's definitely not enough to scare the young man into cooperating, hence why I wanted to see you two." He finished his water. "Is there anything else I can throw at him? Like for instance, an example of intimidation, assault? Does Maria know about him and is willing to talk about her experience?"

"All we have is a vague comment made during a taped conversation we may not be able to use in court," Leah admitted. "So, no."

Jenks nodded, not surprised by the bad news. "I'd work on that if I were you," he advised. "They're trying to keep her quiet for a good reason, which means she knows something. Perhaps the identity of one of the killers, not named Sancho Alvarez. That man may be a vampire, but I'm pretty sure he didn't kill all eight people execution-style at the same time… Curious that she's still alive."

"I don't think you-know-who wants all of that attention," Leah said. "Killing her would definitely attract attention."

Jenks snorted. "I'm pretty sure their discretion went up in flames with the ditch murders."

That was fair.

"They didn't do the deed," Jacob reminded the lawyer.

Jenks rose from the bench. "They ordered it, so under the law, they're just as responsible," he said, straightening his suit jacket. "I need to inject the fear of God into that asshole. I'd like some more ammo."

"Fear of God." Leah snapped her fingers. "Got it."

"Oh, and another thing that I should've told you earlier, the pain in the ass is out on bail. It was posted this morning. All five thousand dollars' worth of it."

Jacob ran a hand down his face. "Are you kidding me?"

The news was disappointing, but Leah was not surprised. Neither was Jenks, who only shrugged and said, "Unfortunately, stalking is not considered a violent felony. The judge doesn't believe he had a legitimate reason to revoke bail."

"Was there at least a TRO granted?" Leah asked. "It'd be nice if Maria had some sort of protection."

"I'm disappointed that you had to ask that," Jenks said, shaking his head. "Of course, there's a temporary restraining order. I'm stuck in a bind, but I'm not incompetent…" He sighed. "Unfortunately, it does look like witness protection is off the table."

Leah wasn't surprised. "We've already reached our limit?"

Jenks nodded. "If only the public knew how many people we've put under protection from this one investigation, alone," he said. "And with the feds no longer interested in her case, there's not much we can do… Well, that's not true, but that should be our last resort, yes?"

The detectives got the prosecutor's point and nodded.

"When's the next court date?" Jacob asked.

"Next month."

Jacob threw his up hands.

Once again, Leah was not surprised.

Jenks snorted. "You do understand that we're operating within the third-largest city in the United States, right?" He gathered his briefcase. "You have to bear with us. We're a bit busy…" He sighed. "Keep me posted on the widow."

"Enzo Pasquerelli's case is not the strongest," Leah announced to Martinez and Embry later that day. It wasn't something she liked to admit; in her mind, that meant that they weren't doing their job. Perhaps it wasn't a fair assessment, but it was still frustrated as hell. "The only actual evidence we have is from a possible-escort-turned-source, and because Sullivan is Sullivan, she's not exactly deemed as reliable."

"He didn't accept the plea?" Embry asked.

Leah shook her head. "He wants to take his case to trial, which is his right, of course… but taking a plea would've made our lives earlier."

"What's the probable sentence?" Martinez asked.

"Two to five," Jacob said. He crossed his arms. "That's the sentence for stalking."

"That assault-on-a-cop ruse didn't work?" Embry asked.

"Jenks says it's not worth pursuing," Jacob said, rolling his eyes. "Something about an entrapment defense?"

"Is there any way we can get Maria to pick Enzo out of a lineup?" Martinez asked. "She doesn't have to encounter him face-to-face. He won't even see her."

Leah sighed. "She won't talk to us."

"How did she know it was him?" Embry asked. "How did your source know it was Enzo stalking Maria and not some other guy? Someone must've told her, right? Or she could've seen—"

"You know if all else fails, there's such a thing as CCTV," Paul interjected, standing behind Jacob as he alternated between taking a bite of his donut and drinking his Red Bull (it was one of these days). Lately, he developed a habit of jumping into conversations at the right time. "Maria lives in a decent building in a decent neighborhood, so chances are, there's a camera at the corner."

Jacob looked up at Paul and grinned. "See, that's why you're a captain."

"And you're not," Paul teased, earning a laugh from everyone (including Jacob, though reluctantly). "Okay, enough with the jokes." His voice turned serious. "There can't be any fun and games around here, especially with Maria's maybe-stalker on the loose… an actual conviction on our books would be nice."

"You got it, Boss," Embry said with a salute.

"How about a stake-out as well?" Leah suggested. "Enzo's out on bail, but that doesn't necessarily mean his employer wants him to shirk on his duties. Let's see if hanging around Maria's?"

"Do that," Paul said. He shoved the rest of the donut into his mouth and after a loud gulp, he added, "But let's see if there's a pattern. I'm not having you guys stake out there all day and night. Narrow the time frame… and during this stakeout, if you happen to positively ID the guy, arrest him."

Martinez lifted an eyebrow. "For?"

"Violating a restraining order."

"I'm not going to lie… I'm stunned that you're here."

Leah greeted Bella as she adjusted the straps of her black cocktail dress. A part of her had been apprehensive about the dress code (she didn't want to stand out by being overdressed—it had happened in the past), but it seemed that she had gotten this one right.

"Extremely stunned," Bella added with a laugh. She turned to pick up two glasses of champagne from a waitress standing by and handed one to her friend. "Like I'm confused."

"I told you I'd make an appearance, didn't I?" Leah asked as she slowed Bella to pull her into a hug. Contrary to what Sue Clearwater (and various members of the pack who, unfortunately, thanks to Jacob's big mouth, knew of her plans), Leah wasn't here to find another husband. Not really. She was primarily here to support Bella whose cousin, an aspiring matchmaker, had arranged the downtown event.

"Yeah, you did," Bella said, still chuckling as she took a step back. "I'm just pleasantly surprised."

Leah playfully rolled her eyes. Bella was right to think so; Singles' Mixers weren't generally Leah's thing. The thought of talking to prospective dates all night long would generally induce a headache. But this was a nice idea; hopefully, the conversations tonight would occupy her mind and her a damn break. "Keep talking, Doctor. I have no qualms about leaving."

"No can do, Detective. You're stuck here for the next couple of hours. This ends at 10:00 pm."

"On a work night?" Leah cringed her nose and gave her friend an exaggerated disappointed look. "Sarah needs to do better."

"Oh, don't be so hard on her. She's only twenty-five which means she's a baby." Bella scanned the hotel ballroom where the event was being hosted. People were still pouring in. "A lot of people showed up, there's some diversity; the gender-ratio is pretty even, so that has to mean something."

"And easy on the eyes," Leah added with a smirk.

Bella matched the other's woman's smirk. "Which is always a plus."

Leah looked down at the drink in her hand and quickly drained it. She slightly frowned at the empty glass upon the realization that it was just champagne. There were no WB, and therefore, it was basically a flavored carbonated drink. Without any kick.

After dropping off the flute on a waiter's tray, Leah took a look at her friend and tilted her head. Bella was suddenly sweating bullets, which usually wasn't like the woman who tended to go along with the flow for better or worse). She placed a hand on her friend's shoulder and asked, "You alright?"

Bella turned around and let out a short, but nervous chuckle. "Of course," she insisted with a wave, convincing no one. "It's been a while," she then admitted. "As you know, I don't have the best luck when it comes to this."

Leah scoffed. "Look who you're talking to."

"At least you were married for several years," Bella pointed out. "Sure, it could've ended better, but you know how to make relationships last."

Leah didn't have anything good to say to that. It was true; Bella didn't have the best track record, but she was pretty sure no one in this place did. That was why there at a singles event. She gave her a friend a smile and a squeeze on the shoulder. "Bella, you're going to be fine."

Bella nodded. "Yeah, I know… It's just that the last guy that showed some interest ended up being involved in an investigation from Hell." She stopped when she caught sight of Leah's bewildered expression. "I didn't tell you the story?"

Leah narrowed her eyes. "No, you did not," she said, and then her eyes widened it finally occurred to her just who Bella was talking about. If Leah still had her drink, she would've spat all of it out, attracted unwanted attention be damned. "No." She put up a hand before Bella could respond. "When did this happen?"

Bella quickly obtained another glass of champagne and took a long sip. "Second time he tried to bribe me into forging documents," she explained. "Now, of course, shot him down. A part of me didn't want to, honestly, because he's hot… not going to lie, but then rationality won in the end—I may attract danger, but I'm not suicidal."

Leah shook her head; of course, that would happen to Bella. She knew exactly when this happened. Last year, when the investigation was young and seemingly quick to close. Edward Masen (also known as Edward Cullen) had visited the medical examiner a couple of times regarding Jessica Stanley's autopsy… simpler times.

"I wouldn't say messing around with him would be suicidal; your life would just become more interesting."

Bella snorted. "As if I need that." She took another sip. "At least, he got the point and didn't start harassing me like some other fools. I'd give him that… I have to remind myself that he's a bad guy, and is currently in prison."

Leah opened her mouth, but then quickly closed it as her and everyone's attention was directed at the raised stage in the front of the ballroom, where Sarah stood with a few others. They introduced themselves, welcomed everyone, and in a very dramatic fashion that could be considered cheesy, they had a ribbon-cutting to signify the start of the event—Leah guessed that meant it was showtime.

"Let's rock this," she told Bella in a voice that neither woman expected. Those words were supposed to come from the coroner. "No one leaves without a number."

Bella grinned and finished her second glass of champagne. "Let's do this," she declared. "Someone has to be into someone who dissects the dead for a living, right?"

Leah chuckled. "There's someone for everyone… I can't believe he hit on you."

"Still on that?" Bella let out a short laugh as she moved her hand in a flippant wave. "Believe it or not, I've dealt with more disturbing experiences."

"No, I believe it."

"How do we get to Maria without causing a scene?" Leah asked the following morning, stifling a yawn as she dropped her bag into her chair. She took a long sip of her much-needed, hot coffee before greeting a few coworkers that were passing by… She might have arrived to work a little late, but in her defense, Bella's cousin's event did not end at 10:00 pm, rather 11:00 pm. It was fine, though; she had a good time.

Jacob leaned back in his chair and looked up at his partner. "No, 'Good Morning, Jacob. How was spending all night dealing with your sister and her ill-advised plan to move her gallery in the middle of the damn night'?" He shook his head, feigning disappointment. "I'm questioning our friendship."

"I already know how your night went," Leah said, peering over at the files in front of Jacob. All about Jackie Chan—Oh right, they were to meet up with him tomorrow morning. Shit. She looked up and smiled. "Good morning, Jacob."

Jacob matched her smile. "Good morning, Leah." He sat up in his seat. "How was Bella's cousin's match-making event that I cannot believe you actually attended?"

Leah sat down behind her desk and picked up a couple of mail she had completed disregarded yesterday. Nothing important, thank goodness. "It wasn't that bad," she said, still surprised that she didn't hate last night. "Got a few numbers, and our favorite coroner didn't end up going home with a serial killer, so I guess I can the night a success."

Jacob chuckled. "Yeah, that lady sure specializing in attracting the crazies,"

Leah smirked. "You used to be crazy?"

Jacob snorted. "Oh, go to Hell."

Leah responded with a wink.

Jacob shook his head with fondness and then switched up his tune to something more serious. "We force her hand."

Leah lifted an eyebrow as she tended to her coffee. "Force her hand?"

Jacob nodded. "Maria seems to view Collin a positive light. Like he's some avenger." He crinkled his nose at the thought. "I wonder how she would feel if she finds out that her hero knew that Ricky and the others were gonna get whacked in that warehouse?" He shrugged. "I can't imagine she'll be too thrilled… Hey, may even feel like she's next."

"She will be if they found out she's talking to us."

"What's the incentive of keeping her alive, really? The Volturi knows she knows too much. The Fangs know she knows too much… why not get rid of the problem?"

"Think, Clearwater. Potential witnesses have been killed off before."

Leah's eyes slightly widened. "Are you suggesting that she may have some involvement in this mess?"

Jacob shrugged. "I'm saying. I find it pretty interesting that she's still alive after everything." He shrugged again. "I dunno. Maybe it's the cynic in me."

Or maybe he was onto something.

Embry stopped by Leah's desk minutes before she planned to leave said-desk and meet Aisha and Bella outside for lunch. He leaned against the detective desk, tossing a flash drive from one hand to the other. "So."

Leah looked up from her copy of Jackie Chan's file and lifted an eyebrow. Embry looked like his devious self, which meant he was either involved in a prank or had a bombshell to drop (there was seldom any in between). "So?"

"So…" Embry trailed off as he glanced in both directions. "Ever heard of 'OnlyFans'?

Leah almost spat out her coffee. "Really?" She checked around her surroundings before thanking every deity under the sun that was no one was paying attention. She carried on in a harsh whisper. "I already know enough about you guys' sex lives. I've seen you in the buff God knows how many times which is really weird because you're like a goddamn brother to me. I don't need to know what you jerk off to."

Rolling his eyes, Embry grabbed a chair. "First of all, likewise, and I don't need Jacob to rip off my head, so let's not go there." He held up the flash drive. "This is strictly about work," he promised.

Leah studied the younger cop through narrowed eyes and then relaxed them. The man did seem serious. She gestured Embry to continued, but only after adding that, "It better be," she warned. "If I catch an Internal-Affairs case because of you, I'm not going to be happy."

Embry let out a nervous chuckle before injecting the device into Leah's computer. "Just watch." He opened the video application and sat down next to Leah. "It's gonna blow your mind."

For a second, Leah thought the younger cop was just pulling her tail (he had a tendency to do that, both figuratively and literally), but she entertained him. It was OnlyFans video alright, and Leah was about to speak her mind until she froze. She recognized the woman in the video.

And the man.

She slowly faced Embry, eyes wide and jaw slacked.

Embry smirked. "Now, Detective, who does that look like?"

"Well, this is a shocking turn of events. Even for us," Jacob remarked once the video came to a close. His sentiment was shared by everyone in this room, including Paul who looked completely beside himself—not that anyone could blame him. It wasn't every day that someone stumbled upon a video featuring Maria and Sancho Alvarez, engaging in sexual activity.

"Social media is truly the devil," Aisha said.

Leah nodded as she downed a bag of pretzels. Thanks to Embry and his discovery, her lunch with Aisha and Bella had been postponed until tomorrow. Speaking of her supposed-lunch mate, Aisha was sitting across the conference room table, not knowing if she should cringe or laugh at the insanity that this investigation—both would be appropriate.

"What this really is," Martinez said. "Is some crazy Jerry Springer shit." He turned to Embry who was sitting behind him with a shit-eating grin. "How did you find this again?" he asked. "You know what? I don't wanna know."

Embry gave a nonchalant shrug. "I may know some hardcore computer nerds. Funny enough, their agency is investigating the same case." He blinked when everyone gave him an odd look. "What? I have friends in high places, too. You all said to get some stuff on Maria, so I got some stuff."

"I did not think it would be this..." Aisha muttered, earning a nod from everyone.

Paul dropped his head and shook his head. The usually boisterous man seemed to have been rendered speechless. Which was understandable. After staring at the black computer screen as if it could give him the answer the most burning question, he asked Embry, "Is this the only video?"

"With them two, yes," Embry said. "With her, no. She has an account with a sizeable following, but not enough to win a Twitter trend."

"So, she's a cam girl," Paul concluded.

"As of a couple of years ago, yeah." Embry pulled out a piece of paper and held it up. It was a print out of Maria's public social media page. "But it looks like she stopped sometime earlier this year. As you can see in this post…" He placed the page on the table. "She talked about taking a break to work on relationships that matter."

"Like her marriage," Leah suggested.

Jacob turned to the captain. "I know Maria wants to be mum about this case and may have a stalker on the loose, but I think we need to bring her in."

"And force her hand," Leah added, drawing from Jacob's earlier words. This would be a good way to make Maria cooperate, and boy did she have some explaining to do.

Paul ran a hand down his face. "So, are you all telling me, seriously telling me, that Maria, Ricky's widow who's been getting stalked by one of the Volturi's henchman for the past several weeks, was having an affair with the man who orchestrated the execution of her husband and seven others? Are you telling me that she's sleeping with Sancho Alvarez, the man we've been trying to hunt down for like the past month?"

Everyone else exchanged looks when Embry replied, "Yeah, pretty much."

"Well, we can't confidently say an affair," Leah pointed out. "That implies multiple instances which we don't exactly have proof of that. But she is in some… entanglement with the man. We know that much… which means, she should know his whereabouts. Maybe?"

Paul rose from his seat. "Get her in here."

"She doesn't want to talk to us," Jacob reminded the captain. "Which she does have the right to."

"Arrest her, then," Paul decided. "Under suspicion that she's involved in a conspiracy to kill her husband." He shot Embry a warning look. "Call, tell me you legally obtained that video."

Embry nodded. "Yeah, my contacts got it via subpoena," he said. "I'm seventy-five-percent sure the evidence won't get thrown out."

Which given the Voldemort Unit's track record, was a pretty good percentage. The judge, Sullivan, could be a pain in the ass sometimes; he was nowhere near the level of Sorio, but he way too rigid and unwilling to take risks to handle these cases.

"Good—Clearwater and St. Pierre, I want her in this station today."

Author's Note: Thank you very much for reading and the support! After much deliberation, I've decided that this story will end in a few chapters. Updates may be a little on the erratic side, but I more or less have an ending, so there's going to be an ending (thank goodness).

Finally, as always, please stay safe!