Double update day, don't miss chapter 2.

"But Katherine, what do you know about this guy?" Elena moves to block her sister from leaving the room.

"He loves me, Elena. Look what he gave me?" she lifts a pendant from beneath her shirt. It's an infinity symbol encrusted with diamonds.

"What's it supposed to mean?" Elena looks at her, concerned about her normally level headed older sister.

"We're going to be together forever," her eyes drop dreamily to the pendant as she runs the pad of her index finger over the shimmering stones.

"Who is he? What do you know about him?"

"Elena, I love him. Now get out of my way," Katherine picks up her suitcase.

"I think you should at least talk to Uncle Ric and Aunt Jenna... Please, Katherine?"

"No, they'll just try to talk me out of it. Now either step aside or I'll climb out the window, Wes is waiting."

"That's his name, Wes?"

Katherine sucks her bottom lip between her teeth. "Forget you heard that, now move," she pushes Elena out of the way, runs down the steps and out of the house. Elena hurries after her, arriving just as the Mercedes is pulling away. She catches the Virginia license plate that's it. The Mercedes is gone before she can commit the numbers to memory.

"Mr. Mikaelson, can you tell us where you were today?" Enzo asks, setting a bottle of water on the table for the distraught man as they sit in one of the precinct's interrogation rooms.

"I'm a pharmaceutical rep but I also do health care consulting, I give in-services about how to improve customer satisfaction and how hospitals can save money. I visited several in Baytown, Beaumont, Passadena and Port Arthur. I called Katherine from Beaumont. I swear I didn't hurt my wife, I would never."

"Do you know of anyone who'd want her dead?" Enzo watches as he opens the water bottle and takes a long swallow.

"She had an affair, relocated to Virginia. The guy was manipulative as hell, kept her on a string with extravagant gifts, expensive meals etc. He paid for most of her needs but she wanted something to do, so she got a job at the hospital's Starbucks. That's where we met."

"Do you know his name?"

"That's the funny thing, she wouldn't tell me, said I was safer if I didn't know. We eloped when we found out she was pregnant, both of us were thrilled. As soon as we got a place together, she'd complain she was being followed and that she'd see him parked outside the apartment watching her when I wasn't there. It got to the point where she was scared to leave the place. We moved to a new house, big enough for the babies, we knew we were having twins by then. We had a few months of peace but then Katherine started to notice strangers hanging around again. That's why we packed up our belongings and left in the middle of the night. We had a few close friends to help us but other than her sister, Elena, and my parents, no one knew we were here. And even so, yes, he was annoying but I don't know that he'd be so obsessed that he'd kill her... If it was this man, I don't know how he found us?" Nik drops his face in his hands till he gets control of his emotions.

"Alright, Mr. Mikaelson, you're free to go, but we'd like you to stay in the area in case we have more questions."

"Sure, where are my children?"

"They're at the hospital, they were covered in blood... we wanted to make sure they weren't injured. I'll have one of my men drive you over there."

Nik gets up and twists the doorknob, but before stepping out, he looks back at Enzo. "Find the bastard who butchered my wife."

"We will," Enzo nods and follows the bereaved man out of the interrogation room.

Damon looks up at the sound of a knock on his door. "Enzo, come in," he gestures with his hand.

"I interviewed the husband. I don't believe that he had anything to do with it. I know people can fake emotions but he has an air tight alibi, not only from the hospitals but we were able to triangulate his cellphone signals, he was exactly where he said he was."

"We got a hit on the partial print through AFIS, a Markos Barstow. He has a long record of petty crimes, starting at 18."

"Which means his juvenile record was probably expunged when he turned 18. What else do you have?"

"He has a West Virginia address, as he got older, his crimes became more serious. Spent two years in prison for assault."

"I already put out an APB, sent a directive to Huntington PD, I'm waiting for a call from their chief, a guy named Fell."

"Did the husband know anything about someone named Wes? Her sister mentioned that our vic had an affair with him and that she was the only one who knew where they lived so how did this Markos guy find them?"

"We checked the airlines and bus companies. He didn't fly here or take a bus, he drove himself. One of the neighbors wrote down a license plate number when they saw a guy drive through the neighborhood a couple of times like he was "casing it out" his words. He jotted them down when he saw the car again, this time parked up the street from the Mikaelson's home. A little later he saw a guy run down the block, and that same car speed away. When we traced the place, it belongs to a Sloane Barstow, the sister of our suspect."

"Excellent. But we still need to know how this guy found them and did he have a gripe with Mrs. Mikaelson?"

"That's the million dollar question isn't it?"

"We need to find out about this Wes guy too... but how when we don't have a last name, only that Katherine Mikaelson followed him to Virginia."

"I've already talked to the Richmond police. I have a couple of men on their way to the airport, they'll meet them there and plan the next move."

"Good, keep me up to speed."

"That's my job," Enzo nods and leaves the office. Damon watches till the door closes then turns back to the file, wondering who would exact such violence on a beautiful young mother. Damon fists his free hand at the thought of those two babies, running around in her blood. Sighing, he sets the report down then grabs his jacket to head down to the morgue to talk to Dr. Lockwood about the autopsy.

Upon returning from the morgue, Damon learned that Katherine Mikaelson was shot in the face with a .45 caliber weapon and slit her throat twice, most likely in full view of her children. Just as he's about to step back inside his office, he hears his name.

"Ranger Salvatore, I need to know if you have any leads?" Elena approaches him, going inside when Damon opens the door and outstretches his arm, gesturing for her to go first.

"Miss Gilbert, we're..." he starts but she cuts him off.

"I know about the first 48, you need to find and punish whoever did this to Katherine. You questioned Nik for hours and me too, we didn't do it," she reaches into her bag and pulls out a Kleenex to dab her eyes. "Have you learned anything?"

"I'm well aware of how the clock works, Miss Gilbert and we do have some leads but I'm not at liberty to spill the goods as it were. We have to keep things underwraps, things that only the killer would know so we can use that to nail him or her."

"You think a woman could have done this?" she looks at him incredulously.

"Miss Gil..."

"Call me Elena," she wobbles and grabs the edge of his desk to keep from falling. "Have you learned anything about Wes?"

"You didn't really give us anything to go on but a first name and that he's from Virginia."

"How many Wes's are there this day an..." Elena spits then the next second her eyes roll back in her head. Damon jumps up to catch her before she crashes to the floor...

Sometime later, Elena awakens confused to her surroundings. Slowly, she raises up to meet the eyes of Ranger Salvatore.

"What happened? Why am I here?" she looks at him confused to find herself in a hospital gown with a monitor attached to her chest.

"You fainted, the ambulance brought you here."

"This is ridiculous. I need to get out of here, Nik needs help with the babies."

"Your brother in law knows where you are. Detective St. John called him."

"You need to stop concentrating on the two of us and find who did this," she snaps at him.

"Miss Gilbert, I didn't say we didn't have any leads, you fainted before I could tell you anything. I will tell you that a neighbor saw something but I'm not at liberty to say what that was. We did find some evidence at the crime scene too. We have men working on that right now," Damon explains, trying to keep his voice even, he knows the woman is grieving for her sister.

"I just miss her so much," Elena drops her head and whimpers softly. Damon, seeing her body shake and not really knowing what to do or how to comfort the young woman, gets up and takes her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze.

"I'm very sorry, Elena, I can't imagine what you must feel but you have my word, we will find and punish who did this. Your sister will get justice."

Elena wipes her eyes with her free hand and looks up. She doesn't let go of his hand, liking the warmth he gives her. "I promise you that I'll be your biggest pain in the ass until you get the person or persons who slaughtered my sister."

Damon smiles, meeting her eyes. "I'm looking forward to it," he says with a slight grin on his face, surprised that he really means it. "I need to get back to work. Get some rest, Elena."

"Can you send the nurse in, I need to get home?"

"Sure," Damon nods, raises his hand in a short wave then walks out of her room. Elena watches till the door closes with a light snap.

The next afternoon, Damon is about to leave the station to go to court on another case when when he hears Enzo's breathy voice coming from behind.

"Good news," Enzo starts, handing Damon a file.

"The police in West Virginia found the car. It was a treasure trove of evidence. They found directions to the Mikaelson home, bloody clothes and a .45. They're sending it so we can do ballistics testing."

"What about our perp?"

"He was nowhere to be found and the sister was tight- lipped." Enzo shakes his head.

"So they threaten to charge her with conspiracy, she'll talk," Damon looks at pictures of the vehicle's interior, smudges of blood on the upholstery, and the .45 laying on the floor below the passenger seat.

"That's exactly what they're going to do."

"Good work Enzo, I have to get to court, I'm going to give a call to her family, tell her we're getting somewhere without being specific."

"I know I don't have to tell you to be careful..." Enzo quirks his brows.

"No, no you don't," Damon nods at him, takes the file and hurries into the courtroom annex of city hall, the double doors swinging closed behind him.

AFIS - Automated Fingerprint Identification System.

Thank you so much for reading and the warm welcome to this story. Your support is appreciated so so much.

Thank you Eva. You're the best-est.

Chapter title: 'Gone Too Soon' by Daughtry.

We hope you have a truly wonderful day. We'll see you next time.