Notes: Guess we're doing this

Chapter summary: Kommissar enters the story. Chloe likes to play with fire. Beca and her team is hit with a realisation.

CHAPTER 2: Realisations

"An FBI detective?! How could you be so reckless?" Chloe was on her way to her studio and she had Kommissar on speaker. It wasn't everyday that she got to talk to Kommissar when they weren't on a job.

"Okay who told you? How could Lily have possibly known that already?"

"Chloe this is serious."

"I know but in my defense, I only found out this morning. That's why I left as soon as I did."

"How could you not know who she was? Surely you had some sort of inkling or something."

Chloe thought back to that night. If she had any inclination that the girl she just met was an FBI detective, she wouldn't admit it to Kommissar. Maybe she did or maybe she just really didn't care.

"It doesn't matter okay. She doesn't know who I am. She has no clue. Not even a name."

"But she saw your face. Actually by the sounds of it, she saw more than just your face."

"She was shitfaced drunk, she won't remember anything."

"That's just great. You better be sure. What was her name?"

"Oh you don't know her name? Interesting. I thought you'd know everything Sar."

"I could if I wanted to. Why not just walk straight into their headquarters and give yourself up while you're at it? Are you forgetting the FBI's been on our tail?"

"When are they ever not? Look it's fine. We got our money, everyone's impressed, job well done to us. Now I don't want to see your face or talk to you for at least a month."

"You wish. You know when they get a whiff that it's you again and they will cause you left a fuckin' witness, they're going to be all over it again. You're lucky the clients don't mind it when you have the FBI's attention but I would definitely prefer that not to be the case."

"I'm not sure whether you're being sarcastic or you're complimenting me but I'll take it. I was thinking maybe we should start asking for more."

Kommissar knew Chloe was trying to change the subject and she wasn't sure whether she should give her more shit about last night. She sighed. "Let me take care of it. Now I know you usually like your breaks in between jobs but there's this client who's been making contact. I'll let you know what happens."

"Surely someone else can do it. I'm going to have to check my calendar. I have a couple of shoots I had to move around for the last job."

"I know. I know. I saw."

Chloe was nodding her head even though Kommissar couldn't see.

"So about this detective, are you sure you're in the clear?"

"Please. Do I even have to say it? They have nothing on us. You have absolutely nothing to worry about."

"Okay. I'm just looking out for you cause you're obviously not."

Chloe parked her car. "I know and I do appreciate it. Okay I'm here. Gotta go. Bye."

Beca woke up alone and naked and with a massive hangover. The ringing of her phone wasn't helping the pounding in her head and was making everything worse. She pulled the blanket over her head trying to block out the sound.

"Fuck me." She groaned as she wrapped the blanket around her body and started to look around. She was in her own bed in her room. At least there was that. She had to make the ringing stop so she forced her self to get up.

She found her phone on the floor along with her clothes but it stopped ringing. She was going to call Jessica back when she suddenly remembered the night before. Shots. So many shots that she shivered at the thought. Then she remembers red hair and blue eyes.

"You wanna get out of here?"

She tries to remember what happened when they left the bar. She can barely even remember the uber ride home. Everything was blurry. The next thing she remembers is she was pinned to her own bed. Unfortunately that was also the last.

"Fuck yes. Faster. Right there. Yes. Faster. Don't stop. Fuck I'm so close."

Beca gasped. That's all she had. Random and torturous glimpses from the night before that came and go as they pleased.

"You've got to be kidding me." She says looking up to the ceiling. "Shower. Yup, cold cold shower. That'll do it." She was getting turned on. She was sore and sensitive down there so she knew it wasn't a dream.

The cold shower helped with her hangover. Beca walked around her apartment hoping to find a note the redhead left for her or anything but there wasn't any. The only thing she saw was a glass half-empty on the counter. She wasn't even sure if it was hers and just placed it in the dishwasher. She didn't even get a name.

Beca started rubbing her eyes. "Way to go me."

Then she hears her phone started to ring again and she scrambles for it. Beca picked up at the first ring but didn't say anything.

"Mitchell you there?" Jessica said in a hurry.

"Yep. Everything okay?"

"I know it's your day off but we got the ballistics report and it's the same gun. This is our guy. There's also something else and I think you're going to want to come in today even just for a few hours. There's another witness."

Beca and her team have been on the hunt for this hit man who was known as the Reaper throughout the Bureau. She's been leading the investigation for the past year since the former lead investigator was promoted to Deputy Director.

The Reaper was unpredictable. His methods were inconsistent and he had reckless tendencies. He just didn't care and this wasn't the first time he's left a witness. He just came and went as he pleased just like a phantom, hence the name. It's almost like he didn't exist.

He was known to be the Reaper because of his methods. It was rather simple. He came in with just a suppressed glock-19 and always killed his victims with a shot to the head. Reckless but calculated at the same time. There was rarely any sign of a struggle. It was always almost clean. He's never left the weapon behind and reports say he always uses the exact same gun.

Eighteen victims, thirteen states and three witnesses in a span of two years with no real suspects and no consistent patterns. They had to make sure this wasn't a threat to national security, which was why they couldn't classify him as a serial killer yet. They had DNA sample that was no match in their database but they're not sure if it's the Reaper's. It makes Beca sick knowing that in order for them to catch this guy, he has to keep killing and all they can do is hope he makes a mistake.

Chloe is a full-time photographer. Being a photographer was in fact her dream job and she never thought she'd end up actually doing it. After everything fell apart with the original plan, other things just started falling into place. She had her own studio and was slowly making a name for herself in the industry.

"Now what?" She said to Lily on the phone. "What did I say about wanting to take a month off?"

"Give me one good reason why we shouldn't get rid of this witness? Boss says she'll go along with whatever you say."

"Cause we don't have to? It's a waste of time and energy? It's unnecessary?"

"Be serious about this. We received information that FBI have custody of this witness and that she has information the other witnesses don't have."

"Relax. You have nothing to worry about. It's only my face she saw. She didn't see anyone else."

"What do you mean she saw you?"

Chloe starts to laugh and Lily can only sigh and take a deep breath. She loves Chloe like a sister but she hates it when Chloe is like this.

"You guys are too easy."

"You know what. Fine. It's your call. But I'm serious. I'm asking you this one last time, do we get rid of this witness or not?"

Chloe didn't even think about it. "You guys really need a vacation or another job or I don't know. Something."

"You're impossible when you're like this you know. If word gets out you were sloppy enough to leave another witness then maybe no one will hire us to do anything anymore."

"Then great. It's not their problem, alright? The job was to get rid of that guy period. There were no specifics about witnesses and stuff, so that is my call and I say it's nothing to worry about."

"I fear you might end up dead or in prison for being too cocky."

"Lily, relax. Okay. Just breathe. Nothing will come out of this. Everything is under control."

"I trust you. But please stop pushing your luck. Mind you, I will be monitoring this investigation closely. If anything comes up, we will deal with it accordingly."

"Okay but quit worrying and take a day off. Have some fun." Chloe then hears the doorbells chime. "Now if you'll excuse me. I have a customer to attend to."

Chloe hangs up and turns around to see an older woman smiling at her expectantly. "Hi. How can I help you today?"

"Are you Ms. Beale, the photographer?"

"Yes that would be me."

"Were you away on holidays dear? I've been trying to get in touch with you."

"I just got back today actually. How can I help you?" Chloe asked again.

"You were highly recommended by my friend's niece. I'm not sure if you remember but it was the Long Beach wedding about three months ago now."

"No, I remember it. It was a lovely celebration."

"That's great you remember. I know this is really short notice but my daughter is getting married in about two weeks and their wedding photographer just quit. It's not cause they were terrible clients or something. It was just creative differences and it was amicable. Now the brides are fighting cause they lost their wedding photographer. But I told them not to worry cause I know someone. But that was a week ago now and things are a bit tense at the moment."

Chloe smiled and reached for her hand and gave it a light squeeze. "What's your name, Ma'am?"

"Beth. My name is Beth Smith."

"Beth. I'm Chloe, it's nice to meet you." Chloe grabbed her phone and pen. "How about we continue this over there? Please take a seat." Chloe led Beth to a corner table. "You want anything to drink? Water, tea, coffee?"

"Water's fine."

Chloe walked to the fridge to grab two bottles of water. "You want it cold or?"

"Cold please thank you."

Chloe set the bottles down and sat across from Beth. "Alright, so when and where is this wedding?"

"August 26th, that's a Saturday at 2pm. It's just a simple garden wedding at my in-law's estate. It about an hour and forty minute drive from the city."

Chloe just nods and takes note of it. Beth tries to take a peek. "Will you do it? Are you available?"

Chloe smiled at Beth. "Well even if I wasn't I'd work around my schedule just for you. I can't say no to you now, can I?"

Beth's whole face lights up. "Oh you're a gem. You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that."

"But the real question is do the brides even want me to be their photographer. What was your daughter's name?"

"Jessica. Jessica Smith."

"And the other bride's name is?"

"Ashley Jones." Beth was giddy Chloe was going to do it. "I can't believe you're actually doing it.

Chloe writes the names down in her notepad. "Now let's not get too ahead of ourselves. I think it's best if we set a meeting with Jessica and Ashley first then we can really start to make some progress."

"I think that's a great idea. I'll let them know right away."

"Here's my card. It has my number on there. Give me a call or send me a message when they want to meet. We can meet here or wherever is convenient for them anytime, anywhere is good with me."

Beca arrived at the headquarters an hour after Jessica called. "Sorry about that I tried to get here as soon as I can."

"Oh. Someone had a big night." Jessica teased Beca as soon as she sees her.

"Yes a big night I can barely remember and all that's left is a fuckin' hangover from hell. So this is our guy you said?"

"Exact same gun."

"Anything else? DNA? Fingerprints? CCTV footages?"

"We're still trying to get ahold of them footages. DNA and fingerprints were a logistical nightmare and is a bust."

"Still no match?" Beca referring to the unknown DNA they had.

"None."

"Okay and what about this witness?"

Jessica handed Beca a folder. "Emma Hicks. Ash is just with her now. She's the one who called 911 and according to the medics on the scene, she says she saw the killer, actually ran into him. We can start questioning her whenever you're ready."

"How is she?"

"Just like the others, no injuries just scared and confused."

Beca reads through the report but there wasn't much. She couldn't wait to talk to this witness. She didn't want to get her hopes up but she will not leave any stone unturned in this investigation.

"I'm good. Let's talk to Ms. Hicks."

They walked to the interview room where the witness was kept in. They did their usual introductions. Beca studied the witness and didn't see anything out of the ordinary in her demeanor or how she's dressed. She was shaken up as one would be when put face to face with a killer.

"How long have you worked for Mr. Willoughby?" Beca began the questioning. Jessica was the one taking down notes and would ask questions of her own from time to time.

Emma cleared her throat before answering. "About eight months. I'm a junior editor there."

"What were you doing in the office at that time? Do you usually work late nights?"

"Not always. I was working overtime on that particular night because I was behind with a couple of articles and deadlines were coming up."

"What about Mr. Willoughby? Does he always work late?"

"It was sporadic. Some days he'd leave early, some days he'd stay late. We could never tell."

"But on that day, do you know why he stayed back?"

"No I don't. I didn't work directly under Mr. Willoughby's supervision. I wouldn't be able to tell you his schedule for that day."

"Who else has access to the building?"

"That I know of, uhm, I don't know. I think all the regular employees do. I remember just getting keys and a key card to the building when I became a regular."

Beca nods and turns to Jessica.

"Do you recognise any of these people?" Jessica laid out several pictures in front of Emma.

Emma looked at the pictures and then looks back up to the detectives. "Isn't that his family?"

"Did you see any of them recently?"

"Not that I can remember. No."

At this point in the interview Emma hasn't said anything to set alarm bells ringing for Beca and Jessica.

"So walk us through what happened that night." Beca began again.

Emma shrugged. "I guess I'll start with the black out. The power went out at around 8pm and I remember cause I checked my phone as soon as it did. I thought about whether I should wait it out or just call it a day. I decided to wait and see if it was a short outage, but when half an hour passed I figured it was time to go home and I started to pack my things."

"That's when you saw the Reaper come in?"

"The Reaper?"

"Sorry. It's what the Bureau calls this guy. We have expert reports confirming that this is the same guy we've been investigating."

"So like a nickname?"

"Something like that. We've been on this guy's tail for a while now. He's very dangerous. But we can assure you, as long as you're under our protection, he won't be able to hurt you."

Emma shakes her head. "No I think you got it all wrong. I don't think this is your Reaper."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well unless your reaper is a woman which I'm assuming it's not cause you just referred to him as a man. Then this isn't your guy."

"Wait wait. A woman? What do you mean?"

"The person I ran into that night was a woman. She didn't even try so hard and just walked through the front door. She didn't sneak in. She literally walked right in like everyone else."

Beca and Jessica just looked at each other. This was the first time that there was any mention of the possibility that the Reaper was in fact a woman.

"Are you certain she's a woman?"

"Like I said I saw her and what made me sure was her voice. Ironically, your reaper, if she is or not, has the most angelic voice."

"Wait you talked to her?"

Emma shook her head. "She was singing." She said and shivered at the thought.

"How did you know she was the killer?"

Emma took a deep breath to try and compose her self. The hairs at the back of her neck stood up by the mere thought of it. "I didn't initially. I remember I first heard the door then singing then the footsteps. I opened my office door, which was the one closest to the entrance and there she was. I was obviously shocked but she just stopped singing and looked at me. She was holding a gun."

"What was it, do you know? Did you see?"

"The gun? It was small like a pistol with a long thingy uh silencer."

"Like this?" Beca put a picture of a suppressed glock-19.

"Yeah. It looked like that but I can't be too sure."

"What else? What else was she holding?"

"That's it. Just the gun on her right hand."

"What was she wearing?"

"She was wearing a black hoodie over her head. She was average built average height. Not that much taller than me. I'm not sure. She could've been any girl really but not anyone I knew."

"You saw her face?"

"Not clearly. She had something covering her face, like a scarf or something. To be honest I don't think she put in that much effort to hide who she was, just enough. I think she had blonde hair, I can't be sure and I couldn't make out the colour of her eyes in the dark."

"If you saw her again would you be able to recognise her?"

"I don't know. Maybe? Maybe not."

"So you heard her singing you take a look and she sees you then what? Did she threaten you?"

"Not at all. She stopped singing then she lifts her gun to her lips as if to shush me. Then I started to back up to my room and locked the door. It was quiet for a while. Then she keeps walking and went back to whatever it was she was singing."

"I don't mean this by anything at all. But if you're saying she looked average and she didn't threaten you at all, why were you so scared? What made you scared of her?"

"I can't explain it but it was the vibe I got from her. She gave me absolute full body chills. Like never before."

"But she didn't point the gun at you or anything what so ever? She didn't do anything to intimidate you?"

"No. But that's the thing. I just knew she wasn't there for me. I didn't know what she was there for, if she wanted to steal something, I didn't know. All I knew is she wasn't there for me and I understood so I stayed away. If I got in her way I just knew she wouldn't hesitate to kill me."

"What do you mean you understood when she didn't say anything to you? How do you know she wasn't there for you?" Jessica asked.

"I can't explain how I understood and I don't know cause if she was after me then I'd be dead by now, right?"

"You think she knew you'd be there?" Beca was asking the questions again.

"No. I don't know. She wasn't surprised when she saw me though. But it's almost like she didn't care if I was there or not. She was a girl on a mission. It was unreal to be honest."

"Then what?"

"Then nothing. I was curled up under my desk. I didn't hear anything else but her singing again until it faded out and I heard the door again."

"So you think she went out the same way she entered?"

"Yeah definitely. She didn't even bother to check on me. I was frozen for I don't know how long. I went out of my room. I was so scared that she'd still be out there waiting for me but there was no one. Then I saw Mr. Willougby dead in his office and that's when I called 911."

"Why didn't you call 911 right away? When she left you in the room?"

"I don't know. I was in shock. I just wanted to stay quiet. All I could think about was not getting in her way."

"What song was she singing? Do you remember? Can you sing it for us?"

"I don't know it." Emma gets uncomfortable. Just remembering the singing gives her chills.

"You don't know it as in you've never heard of it or you don't know it that you just can't remember?"

"I don't think I've heard it before."

"If ever you did hear it again, will you be able to remember?"

"Of course. It's stuck in my head."

"But you can't sing it for us?" Jessica suddenly asked.

"I said I don't know it but it is haunting me."

"Anything else you can remember? Anything you want to add?"

Emma gulped as she turned to Beca. She doesn't answer for a long time. "No. Nothing more. I'm sorry I can't be of anymore help."

Beca considers her answer as Jessica kept writing on her notebook.

"No no you were a lot of help. We'd like to put you under our protection."

"From what?"

"He saw your face. I mean. She did. She may come after you."

"You still think this is your reaper? Then why didn't she just kill me right there and then? I've heard I'm not the first witness. The others are still alive, right?"

"Yes. But none of them had any relevant information like you did."

"Like the simple fact that she's a woman? The way I see it detective and I'm not the expert here you are, but I think she knows that she's way ahead of you."

"We will have field agents guard you 24/7 and here is our card, you call us anytime if you remember anything else."

"We're alive because she doesn't really care about us. Because we're not her targets." Emma insisted she did not need protection.

"Was there anyone else with her?"

Emma paused. "I didn't see anyone else."

"Do you remember anything during the day that was out of the ordinary?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary that I can remember."

"Any break through stories you were going to publish?"

"None that I know of that's worth killing someone."

"I'd still want you to be placed under the protection program."

"I don't think I need it."

"You're an important part of this investigation now. You can identify the killer. I'm afraid you don't have a choice."

"I sometimes catch myself wishing she killed me that night. Instead I'm living a life in paranoia. I feel like I'm being watched all the time."

Jess and Beca exchanged looks. "You think someone's following you?"

Emma shuddered. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just being paranoid."

Chloe was setting up her equipment all morning. She had a photo shoot later in the afternoon but right now she was off to a meeting. She was once again on the phone with Lily. She's starting to feel like she's being babysat.

"I don't like this Chloe."

"I'm just going to take their photos. That's it."

"Why are you really doing this?" Lily has given up at this point.

"I couldn't say no to Beth."

"Who's Beth? Don't even start with me Chlo. I vote against it. We all vote against it. Please don't do it."

"That's funny I wasn't asking for your permission."

"You're playing with fire here."

"I'm just taking their pictures."

"You're smarter than this. Why are you ignoring all the risks?"

"Bye Lil."

Chloe hung up the phone and started her car. The more she was told no the more she wanted to do it. Everyone should know this by now. It wasn't always curiosity that killed the cat, she thought.

Half of the walls in Beca's office were filled with anything and everything about the Reaper. She stared at the photos on her wall, reports, cctv footage stills. After talking to the witness, it made her question a lot of things in their investigation.

"Come on Jess, think. What made us think she was a guy?" She asked Jessica, who was standing beside her facing the wall too.

"Honestly. I don't know. It just happened. Do you think it's a copycat?"

"No we haven't released to the press much information about this guy. I mean woman. Why would she reveal herself like that?"

"What if Emma's got it all wrong? Or what if they're a group?"

"No but the gun. What? They pass around the same gun for their kills?"

Jessica nods. There were a lot of things not adding up. "What do you think about this witness?"

"I believe her. I don't know why but I do. There's something about her. I feel like she knows more though. Did you notice? She's so scared yet she's trying to be tough."

"Yeah. That was obvious. Maybe that's how she's coping. So the reaper is a woman and we possibly have a singing psycho on the loose? What are we gonna say to the Deputy Director?"

"Leave Posen to me. I'll deal with it."

Jessica's phone started ringing and she looked at who was calling her. "Sorry it's my mom."

"Yeah no go take it."

Jessica answers the call. "Hey mom."

Beca just keeps staring at the pictures on her wall. She wants nothing more than to lock herself up in her office and review this case from scratch.

"Really? You did? And she said yes, right?" Jessica was talking to her mom.

She excused herself. "I'm so sorry Becs. I have to go. Wedding things."

"Go, it's okay. I'm not going to stay long. Did you need any help? I feel bad. I feel like as your maid of honour I should be doing more."

"You're doing so much already. I'll talk to you later?"

"Sure dude."

When Jessica left, Beca couldn't take her eyes away from her wall, pictures of the victims, evidence, reports and a blurry figure in a black hoodie carrying a gun.

"A woman all this time. Who are you?"