Chapter 30: New Job, New Partners, New Case
5 a.m. came early for Jade Monday morning after another difficult night of sleep - this time plagued by nightmares of Pan. She got and pulled on her running clothes and sneakers and went to the kitchen to start the coffee maker. She always started it before her run because then it was done by the time she got back. Grabbing her phone, earbuds and keys, she left her apartment. Once outside, she stretched out and then popped in the earbuds and turned on her running playlist and took off on her run. She ran 2.5 miles and then turned around and headed back. She was stretching out her sore muscles on the front steps of her building when Colin came out the door, dressed for a run.
"Why do I have the feeling you've already taken your run," he said, taking in her flushed face and slight shortness of breath.
"Umm because it's almost 6 and I told you I get up at 5 to run before work. I have to fill out paperwork this morning before our shift starts, so I gotta be there at 7. Starting tomorrow I probably won't get up till 6 or 7 to run since shift starts at 9. You can join me then," she said, her shortness of breath having nothing to do with her run but with how hot he looked in his running shorts.
"Deal. See you at the station then," he said as he finished stretching and then he took off on his run, before Jade could say anything more.
She chuckled and went inside and up the stairs to her apartment. After pouring her first cup of coffee, she walked into her bedroom to figure out what she was going to wear. Luckily she had found out from Colin that jeans were totally acceptable for detectives to wear, unless they had to go to court - then they had to wear a suit. She grabbed a pair of blue jeans and a green button down long-sleeve blouse out of her closet, along with a brown leather belt and brown leather low-heeled boots. She tossed the boots on the floor near her bed and grabbed undergarments and socks from her dresser. The socks joined the boots as she walked into the bathroom to shower off her run.
Once she was showered and dressed, she poured the rest of the coffee in the pot into a travel mug and grabbed her gun from her gun safe and holstered it on her hip. She picked up her favorite brown leather jacket, shoved her i.d., debit card, and cash into her coat pocket and slipped the coat on. A glance at the time on her phone told her she better get a move on or she'd be late for her first day. She picked up her coffee and keys and ran out the door, down the stairs, and outside to her car parked down the street. Thankfully the station was only a 10 minute ride away and she found a parking spot across the street, so she was still 5 minutes early.
She walked into the station to find Captain Michaels waiting for her at the front desk. He greeted her and introduced her to the desk sergeant and then led her down the hall to his office.
"Normally you would go through all this with Vivian in Human Resources but she broke her leg over the weekend and is in the hospital. Lucky for me, she had gotten everything ready for you before she left on Friday and emailed me very detailed instructions yesterday once she could form coherent sentences," Michaels told her.
"Oh that poor woman! How'd she break her leg?" Jade asked.
"She landed wrong when she was skydiving. She's a bit of an adrenaline-junkie when she's not at work," he told her, chuckling.
"Ah I see," she replied.
They had reached his office and went inside and sat down. He gave her a thick stack of papers that had colored arrow post-its throughout. He pulled his own thick stack in front of him to use as reference as they went through everything.
Two and half hours later, they finished up with him handing her her new badge and escorting her to get her picture taken for her police i.d. Once that was taken care of, he walked her out to the front desk again to track down her new partners.
"I'm putting you on with Weaver and Rogers. They're in the middle of a murder case that's a bit of a mystery," he explained. He looked in their office and not seeing them, turned and asked the desk sergeant, "Where are Weaver and Rogers?"
"Evidence Room, I believe, sir," the sergeant said.
The captain nodded and walked Jade to the evidence room. As they entered, Jade heard Rogers saying, "This is all my fault. If I hadn't rescued Eloise, Victoria Belfrey might still be alive."
Weaver said, "No, these events were set in motion by forces beyond your control. And that being said, I don't believe they're beyond repair."
"But how do we fix this?" Rogers asked.
Jade interrupted, "Wait a minute. Belfrey's dead? When did this happen?"
"Thursday night. You haven't seen the news?" Michaels asked her.
She shook her head no and said, "Been busy moving and unpacking and my cable isn't hooked up yet."
"Understandable. Anyway, I'm partnering Wilde up with you two on this and any other cases you have going," Michaels informed the two men.
Weaver nodded and Rogers tried to hide his smile behind his hand. Michaels left them three of them alone. Jade walked over to the table and stood across from Rogers.
Weaver gets back to business and says, "To answer your question, I think I may have a way. Have a look," He hands Rogers and Jade each a crime scene photo of a dead woman. "Lucy's doctor. She was found in the hospital the same night as Victoria. Medical examiner said death was due to natural causes."
"You think otherwise?" Rogers asked.
"Well, a lock of her hair was missing," Weaver said.
Rogers, looking at the ME's report, "Well, it says here she died at the same time as Victoria. If that's true, another cult member must be responsible."
"But the evil extends far beyond Eloise. And if we can find the source, might just take us right back to her," Weaver said.
"Ummm care to catch me up here? Who's Lucy? What's so special about the missing lock of hair? What cult? Who is Eloise and what does she have to do with this doctor and Belfrey?" Jade asks, confused.
Weaver looks at Rogers and says, "You catch her up. I'm going to go make a phone call. Meet you two at the car in 15 minutes." Weaver then leaves the evidence room.
Jade looks at Colin and smiles, "Coffee while you fill me in?"
He nods his agreement and leads her out of the room to the break room, filling her in on the case, well cases. They grab coffees to go and head outside to wait for Weaver, who they can see is still on the phone.
A few minutes later, Weaver joins them as they are finishing their coffees. They both toss their cups in the trash can and climb into Weaver's car - Rogers behind the wheel and Jade in the back seat. Weaver tells Rogers to drive to the bakery, as it was one of the last places other than the hospital that the doctor was seen.
They arrive at the bakery and get out of the car. The doorbell jingles as the three detectives enter. They see an older woman behind the counter working on a gingerbread house at a work table.
Rogers asks, "'Scuse me, ma'am. Are you, uh, Hilda, the proprietor of this bakery?"
"Mm-hmm. This is delicate work. I will be right with you," she says as she continues working on the gingerbread house.
Undeterred, Rogers says, "I'm Detective Rogers, this is Detective Weaver and Detective Wilde. We're investigating the murder of Dr. Andrea Sage. She purchased something here the morning of her death. Was wondering if you remember seeing her?"
Hilda scoffs and says, "I remember. But I didn't see her," turning around to reveal her blind eyes.
"I... I apologize. I didn't…" Rogers stammers.
"Dreadful what happened. Absolutely dreadful," Hilda says.
"Bit off-season for gingerbread, isn't it?" Weaver asks her.
"Never. It's my number-one seller. Of course Dr. Sage had her usual tea cake that morning. Wanted to let me know in person that my test results came back clean. She was a dear like that. I-I can't imagine anyone wanting to hurt her," Hilda replied.
"And yet someone did," Weaver remarks.
"Sorry, that's off limits," Hilda calls, sensing Rogers walking behind the counter to look around. "Health inspector would have my letter if anyone got into the sugar. I wish I could be of more help, but with my condition, you may have better luck talking to the butcher next door," she tells Weaver.
Weaver says, "Of course. Thanks for your help."
"Cookie for the road? They're fresh out of the oven," she says, handing over the tray of gingerbread men.
"Oh, no, thank you. Though, they look delicious. Have a good day," Rogers tells her.
The three detectives exit and walk away from the bakery.
Rogers asks, "Did you see that?"
Weaver nodded and said, "Oh, she may be blind, but I'm not. She's obviously hiding something. Whatever it is, we'll find it. You were quiet in there, Wilde. What did you observe?"
"I agree she is most definitely hiding something. What was that tattoo on her wrist? It's like nothing I've ever seen," Jade said.
"That is the symbol of the cult I was telling you about," Rogers told her.
"So the baker is a member then. Interesting," she commented.
"Past member or current member remains to be seen. But we're coming back later after closing to look around," Weaver informs them, as he gets into the car.
Rogers and Jade look at each other over the car roof and shrug, then they both get in. They head back to the station to drop off Rogers and Jade, so they can dig more into the doctor, the baker, and this cult. Weaver has some other things - what things he's not saying - to take care of. They agree to meet up an half hour after the bakery closes for the night.
Several hours later, Jade and Rogers meet Weaver in the alley behind the bakery. Weaver picks the lock on the backdoor of the bakery letting himself, Rogers, and Jade inside.
"Ugh, do you smell that?" asks Rogers, covering his mouth and nose.
"That's gas," says Weaver and turns off the gas burners of the oven.
All three are coughing when Jade finds the baker unconscious and handcuffed to the kitchen work table. She pulls out her phone and calls for an ambulance.
Weaver rushes over and checking for a pulse says, "She's still alive."
Rogers, looking around, says, "Well, there's nothing and no one here except baking equipment."
"A lock of her hair is missing," Weaver informs them.
"The cult," says Jade, as she hangs up with the ambulance dispatch.
"Whoever killed our doctor tried to kill our baker, too. And whatever they're up to, I suspect they're far from finished," Weaver says, getting up from his kneeling position next to the baker's body.
The ambulance arrived just then and the three cleared out to give the EMT's room to work. One of them asks if they have a key to the handcuffs. Jade uses her key to free the baker from the cuffs and then steps back outside.
Once the baker is loaded onto the ambulance, Weaver tells Jade to ride along and not to leave the victim alone. He and Rogers will begin processing the scene, while they wait for the forensics team, and pick her up later at the hospital. Jade climbs into the ambulance with a silent sigh to herself.
Two hours later, Rogers finds Jade sitting in a chair outside the baker's hospital room. She stands up when he reaches her and notices an uniformed officer is with him.
Gesturing to the officer with him, Rogers says, "For the baker's protection. Whoever tried to kill her didn't succeed and may try again."
"Of course. No Weaver?" she asks.
"No he went home. Told me to collect you and head home as well. We can't do anything else until forensics is done anyway," he tells her.
She nods wearily and moves out of the way so that the uniformed cop can take her place. Rogers gives the officer his instructions and then he and Jade leave.
Once in the parking lot, Jade remembers her car is still at the station and asks Colin to drop her there so she can get it.
He looks at her and the fact that she's barely keeping her eyes open, and says, "No you can get it in the morning. I'll drive you to work tomorrow. Besides it's not like you live out of the way anyway."
She nods her agreement as he opens the car door for her. She gets in and he shuts the door. Her eyes are closed with her head leaning against the door before he even gets in on the drivers side. Too many sleepless nights in a row have caught up with her.
Colin gets in and starts to ask her a question as he starts the car, but stops mid-word when he hears a soft snore coming from the passenger seat. He reaches over and brushes a lock of hair out of her face and then puts the car in gear and drives them back to their apartment building.
Jade startles awake when he stops the car in front of their building. "Damn I fell asleep," she says, somewhat embarrassed.
"Don't worry about it, love. You've had several long days in a row. Aren't you glad I told you to leave your car at the station? You would have fallen asleep driving," he said to her.
"Yes thank you," she said softly. She got out of the car then and so did he.
They walked up the stairs to the front door - well Jade tried but she was so tired, she tripped and would have fallen flat on her face if Colin hadn't caught her. He helped her up the rest of the stairs and into the building.
"Can you climb the rest of the way?" he asked her, concerned.
She shyly shook her head no. He told her to pull her keys out of her pocket. Once she had, he picked her up bridal style and carried her up the stairs and down the hall to her apartment, her head resting on his shoulder. She managed to unlock and open her door with him holding her. He set her down inside the door and she walked over to her console table and took off her jacket and kicked off her boots. She took her gun off and put it in the safe. She began walking to her bedroom, Colin close behind her in case she tripped again. She didn't trip, but she bumped into the molding around her bedroom door. She laughed and kept walking into her room.
She plugged her phone into the charger and walked into her bathroom unbuttoning her shirt as she went. She was so tired she didn't care about him seeing her scars as she took off her blouse. He looked at them and became very angry. If the person, and he used that term loosely, wasn't already dead, they would be when he found out who had hurt this beautiful woman so badly. He sat on the edge of her bed waiting to see if she needed any help or for her to come out - whichever came first.
Jade managed to undress and pull on her sleep shorts and tank top by herself and walked back into her bedroom. If she was shocked to see Colin still there, she didn't let on. She climbed into bed and set her alarm for 6 a.m. and laid down. Colin leaned over to kiss her good night and tuck her in.
He turned to leave when he hears her say softly, "Don't go. Please stay and just hold me."
He turns around and asks, "Are you sure?" She nods yes. He says, "I'll be right back then." He leaves her room and goes and makes sure the door is locked and turns off the lights.
He walks back into the bedroom and unholsters his gun and places it on her dresser, as he has no access to her safe. Then he takes off his boots, jeans, and button down shirt, leaving himself in his white tee shirt and a pair of black boxer briefs. Jade is watching through half-closed eyes and drinks in the sight of him. He walks to the other side of the bed and climbs under the covers. Jade rolls over and snuggles up to him, resting her head on his chest and falls fast asleep, content and safe in his arms for the first time in a very long time. Colin presses a kiss to the top of her head and tightens his hold on her and falls asleep as well, content to have her in his arms.