Happy New Years! (^^(v
I celebrated the beginning of the new year in Kyoto with my brother, who came to visited me for two weeks. We also spent the winter holidays traveling all over Japan. We were soooo tired and busy!
Enjoy the latest chapter and the cliché ending!
Catherine Chandler was having another boring day at work. Her partner was gone for most of the day, investigating some sort of crime as part of that new taskforce.
And, here she is!
Doing mundane desk work by editing and finishing up crime reports from other officers. She wasn't born for this kind of work! She wanted more; she wanted to be in the front of the action.
Before Vincent was kidnapped, the long-haired dark brunette officer was tackling the toughest and most brutal crimes in the New York City area. Most of the time, it was trying to escape from Muirfield agents who were trying to kill Vincent or anyone who knew about him. Sometimes, those involvements with the deadly agency came into the spotlight of many of her squad's investigations. She had to lie about her involvement as she didn't want to get into deep trouble with her ex-boss Joe Bishop. Also, she wanted to protect Vincent from her squad as they could arrest him or, even worst, kill him. It almost happened last winter when the New York Police Department went crazy, trying to find Vincent, her beast, in a huge manhunt. Thank God they escaped that mess with Vincent not behind bars or even dead!
However, she couldn't save him completely from the danger as she accidently let him slip from her fingers and get kidnapped by Muirfield agents.
"Goddamn, I am so weak", she scolded herself, "If I was able to tear through the net quicker or if I came to Vincent's rescue sooner, I might of been able to avoid him being kidnapped."
Even though she occasionally put scolded her on or try to re-strategized her failed plans from that night, she didn't lose hope in finding her beloved beast.
Cat sighed as she look at the clock, "It's already three o'clock. Tess has been gone most of the day. Where the hell is she?" She took a sip of the bitter instant coffee that was growing colder and colder in her coffee cup. It seemed that time was always on the opposite side of her favor. She sensed that there was too little of it as she couldn't get the most of every minute she spent searching for Vincent.
The middle-aged police officer started her quest the moment after she lost sight of Vincent. She remembered that night clearly like if it happened yesterday. Those emotions emerged once more. How lost and confused she felt as she watched the man she loved being whisked away in helicopter by supposedly Muirfield agents.
Staring out for what seems for a while into the jet-black cloak hanging up above her that was brimming with small clusters of stars, she gathered herself as she ponder on the next steps. "I have to save him. But how?" she mused as her eyes darted off in different directions to find a quick solution. She found it on the ground a feet away from her, "Maybe this will do."
Quick on her feet, she raced to find to something that could resuscitate Gabe Lowen from death. She ran blindly around the manor, trying to find that one thing that could save a life and rescue another. She finally found a defibrillator near the stairwell on the first floor. She ripped the box off the wall as she ran back to Gabe's still body. She hastily opened the box, powered up the machine, and placed the pads on the exact locations of his body that were instructed on the box. Once the machine signaled that it was charged and ready to be administered, she quickly pressed the button and let the machine do it's job. She kept quiet during the initial procedure and monitored the compact heart rate monitor that she attached on his right wrist. She was hoping that one bolt of electricity was enough since she didn't know if Gabe's fragile beast state could handle all the voltage.
"It didn't work," she hissed as the straight lines didn't move an inch up on the heart rate monitor, "I don't think the pads are working! What else is in this kit?" She searched one more, finding a pair of manual defibrillator paddles. "Why didn't I think of this first", she chided as she quickly unwinded the paddles and attached them to the machine. A brief period of time later, she pushed the paddles upon Gabe's bare breastplates when the machine beeped that it was alright to do so. "Come on, work. Damn it!" she yelled as she repeated the procedure over and over until she could get his heart to start working again.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The sudden beeps from the heart rate monitor broke through Cat's crazed delirium. "He is finally alive," Cat exhaled as she put the paddles down and gingerly turned off the machine.
Now she could use Gabe's beast insticts to find Vincent. Even though he was the villain of the story a couple hours ago, she could easily persuded him on their side; she just saved his life. Speaking of saving lives, she was no doctor and had to get a nearby hospital to seek further medical assistance. She got out her cellphone and started to dial 911 but stopped midway through.
Should I take him to J.T. instead or will be safe at general hospital?
Sure, J.T. was an expert in dealing with anything relating to "beasts" and could return Gabe to his former self. However, J.T. also hated Gabe and Joe for sicking the entire New York Police Department on him and Vincent. The ADA and the boss at Cat's work destroyed the lives of this two innocent people due to maniacal motives. But on the other hand, if she took him to the hospital, she could put Gabe in risk if they found out that he isn't quite human.
She decided at that moment that it was best to send him to a hospital where he could get the best care and out of J.T.'s warpath. She completed dialing the number and waiting for an operator to pick up...
Her mind floated to another person who knew a lot about this investigation; J.T.. He has changed over the course of the investigation. At the beginning, J.T. was always there, supporting Cat in any way possible. Need help looking at countless sullivance videos at every waking minute? J.T. was watching those videos. Need help to run a series of DNA samples from a crime scene that witnesses said they might of saw a beast-like creature? J.T. was scanning away. How about the times when Cat needed a shoulder to cry on or emotional support? Well, J.T. wasn't there for that, he was terrible at things like that. That's why she always ran to Tess whenever she needed someone to lean on.
But recently, J.T. has been drifiting away from her. Like he was leading on his own investigation or something big happened in life to stray from the action. J.T. would usually say he was either busy or wasn't available whenever Cat rang him up to ask for any assistance.
"Something has changed", Cat mulled over the idea of a changed J.T. while shuffling through random report papers on her desk, "But, I can't place a finger on it. Maybe it's something too personal that he is too shy to tell me. Typical J.T.!"
It wasn't only J.T. who had a changed personality. Even her best friend has become more and more secretive since the middle of the search. It seemed like Tess and J.T. have teamed up and formed their own investigation without tell her.
"How absurd!," the brunette mentally laughed, "Tess and J.T.? Together? It's like having both a cat and a dog in one room? It would be terrible combination!"
Cat mused about her changed friends a little bit, dazing off in her own world. She began to close her eyes to concentrate her thoughts a little more. While she continued to think, a slender figure stopped behind her and sternly scolded her, "Daydreaming on the job, Detective. Your former boss and the ADA didn't mention anything about this character trait in the district staff notes. Mind to tell me what you are daydreaming about and why are doing it at this ungodly hour?"
At the sound of the voice, Cat's eyes instantly popped open as she slowly turned her head towards the figure. "I'm sorry. This is unusual for me. You know, sometimes we have a rough night. I did last night. I had a TERRIBLE night sleeping last night," Cat tried to cover up the reason why she was mentally not there at the workforce. She smiled brightly in order to make the figure behind her believe every word, "Believe me, this is not my normal behavior. Again, I am sorry... Sorry, what is your name again?"
"To you, I am Captain McIntyre. And I hope this behavior never happens again. I would be heartbroken if one of New York's finest detectives didn't complete her work effectively because of daydreaming or lack of sleep. Please rest well tonight. I am counting on you to lead on any future investigations," McIntyre briskly warned. Cat just nodded slightly.
"Now that we got that out of the way," the salt and pepper police captain continued as he changed subjects, "I need your help. There has been a report from the police radios that there was a possible rape near 102nd Street last night. This might be connected to the serial rapist that has been targeting a young woman once a week at a well-known location."
"Do we have a profile of the suspect? Who has been running the investigations of the two somewhat similar incidents?" Cat asked as she ran down the list of basic questions that all detectives ask at the beginning of any case.
"I don't have all the details as this possible rape incident is the first one in this precinct. All the rest have happened in other areas. The mayor and the Chief of NYPD has recently asked all precinct in the affect areas assemble a task force. I want you to assist in this team alongside Detective Almodóvar. I recommended you due to your high success rate of solving cases, especially the ones which were left open for a long time. I know with your skills, you could help the police department catch the suspect in a timely manner. I hope that you are willing to participate," Captain McIntyre concluded with the hopes of her joining the task force.
It seemed that there was a lot of task forces popping up everyday, from this one to the secret one lead by Gabe Lowen. This must be a norm of working for the largest police departments in the country.
However, Cat was beginning to question his tactics. Why did McIntyre wan her to partake in a sex crime? Wasn't that a job for the Special Victims Unit, not Special Crimes?
The petite officer was flattered that her ex-boss Joe left very positive reviews about her work. Speaking of those notes, didn't he leave comments about how she worked efficaciously on solving occurrence that were related to the mysteriously beast creature of last spring? Wasn't she more appropriate to be on Gabe's secret taskforce than half the people who got appointed. Something was certainly fishy!
Yet, Cat concluded that she had to work on this sex case because she didn't want to leave a bad impression with the new captain. "I agree to take the case. Just let me what should I do and who I should see," Cat grinned the most fake smile on the planet. She didn't want to work this case but she had to!
"Thank you for your willingness," the salt-and-pepper haired man grinned back, "You can meet Detective Almodóvar at his desk on the floor below this one. Yes, he is a detective for Special Victims Unit but one of the best. He is currently waiting to depart with you to the crime scene to investigate the leads and interview any possible victims. Please let me know what you find and if you need any help at anytime."
Cat nodded as she began to take her purse and necessary belongings with her. She simply told the Captain "I will" as she stood up, pushed her chair in, and waved a simply goodbye to him as she walking to the elevator.
"Good", McIntyre evilly smiled as the brunette detective walked away, "I got her to chase a case that isn't in her expertise. The further I get that mousy little Cat away from Gabe's secret beast-related case, the more I can have access to it. Hopefully, my secret agent in Gabe's taskforce can gather great deal of information. I don't want to disappoint Li Zhao."