I got off my butt and wrote a little more ^_______________^ I'm so proud of me.
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"I….can not believe this!" I gasped, surveying the ruins of my apartment. My entire home had been trashed; pictures had been torn from the walls, my TV and stereo had been smashed in, pillows from the couch had been torn, their innards scattered around the living room like tufts of snow. The entire contents of the refrigerator had been splattered all over my kitchen floor, and the cupboards were hanging on broken hinges. The window was shattered, like a wide maw with its teeth of jagged glass gaping at me mockingly. And I didn't even want to think about the wreck of my bedroom…
"How…I mean, why?!" I was in something of shock. It seemed odd to me that no one had heard anything or come running. The amount of ruckus damage like this must have caused should have brought investigators! That crotchety old man upstairs who always complained about the noise level must have heard it, at least!
Sage emerged from my bedroom, his expression somewhere between grim anger and confusion.
"Well?" I asked him, fearing the news of what might have been stolen.
"Nothing." He shook his head, and I felt both my eyebrows shoot upwards. "It's a mess in there, and somebody found that false bottom in your drawer, so your jewelry's all over the place, but none of it's missing, I don't think."
"What!? That's not possible! Why would anyone break in, and not make off with all my jewelry at least?!" I didn't get it. It just didn't make sense!
"Because this wasn't a robbery." Sage sighed, pushing his hair out of his face. "This was a warning."
"What do you mean?" I felt my stomach clench ominously.
"I mean that this wasn't done by any two bit crook. I'd bet my life on the fact that the Mob must have set this up, to scare you off the case."
I stared at him in shock, sure that I must have heard wrong. "But, they don't know that I'm involved in this! How could they?"
He smiled humorlessly, shaking his head at me. "Do you remember that other man, at the docks? The one that ran away?"
My lips formed a little 'o' of surprise. It was possible, I supposed.
"You think he saw me and recognized me?"
Sage nodded. "I'm almost sure of it. These guys know every PI in the city, just in case. They never would have suspected you, just because of the cases you specialize in, but if that man saw you and reported it, they'd take steps."
"Right." I agreed, accepting what he had said. "But how would they get my address?! Do they know that much about me?!" The thought was enough to freak me out all over again. This evening was playing hell on my nerves.
"No, I wouldn't think so." He frowned. "But they would know where your office is…"
My eyes widened in horror. "If they trashed my office too, looking for my home address…then what if they found…"
"Kayla's?!" Sage gasped. "Oh God, you gave her the day off. And it's late, she would have been at home!"
I snatched the phone out of its cradle, pressing the receiver to my ear and reaching for speed dial. The buzzing noise rang through my skull, and I squeezed my eyes shut and begged for someone to pick up on the other side…the phone must have rung a good fifteen times before I heard my name being called.
"Mia." Sage touched my arm, drawing my attention. "She's either not home, or she can't answer the phone. Either way, we have to get over there now!" I nodded and grabbed my purse, since my key ring was stowed away there, and the key to Kayla's apartment was on that ring.
We clattered down the stairs of the apartment building, leaving the door wide open behind us. What was the point, anyway?
This late at night, there wouldn't be much in the way of cabs, and I doubted that any would be coming down my street right when I happened to need one. We didn't even stop to hail one, we just kept on racing down the street, shoving aside any poor pedestrians and passers-by that were unlucky enough to be in our way.
The entire interlude was a complete blur. My feet ached from running in pumps, and my chest felt as though an iron band had been wrapped around it. Some small part of my mind noted that I was really out of shape.
Before I knew it, Sage and I were running up the stairs to Kayla's apartment, our footfalls echoing loudly off the whitewashed walls. I didn't even have to go through my purse for the keys; like the door to my apartment, Kayla's was wide open. Again, that small part of my mind wondered why no one had even bothered to look in. This must have made some kind of noise!
Enough wondering. We had to find Kayla.
I picked my way through the debris in the front room. Kayla's apartment opened up into a kind of coatroom, entering into the kitchen, which segued off into the living room and the hallway to the rest of the apartment. Someone has smashed the kitchen chairs into splinters, and all the crockery was in shards. The lights were out, and only the illumination from the streetlights filtering in through the broken screen of the window lit the scene.
"Check the backrooms." Sage instructed me, heading for the living room himself. I nodded and headed down the hallway, sticking my head into each room as I went. It seemed to me that though things had been upended, broken and generally appeared to have been hit by a whirlwind, nothing had been looted. So Sage's guess had to been correct. This was just a warning. My blood ran chill as I realized how bad things could have been if they'd intended anything serious.
I'd already inspected the bathroom, spare room, and study…but the bedroom was at the end of the hall. My heart clenched in my chest. So far, there had been no shout from Sage, telling me he'd found her. So that left only the room beyond the door before me. Some small part of me still hoped desperately that she hadn't been home at the time of the break-in…but that was so unlikely the possibility was practically non-existant.
"Kayla?" I stepped into the room, taking it all in with a quick turn of my head. The pillows and the down comforter had been slashed wide open, covering the room with a faint dusting of feathery snow. I walked slowly forward, frowning as I searched. Small eddies of goosedown swirled upwards around my feet as I made my way. I paused on the right side of the bed, feeling an immense amount of relief. Some way or another, she just hadn't been home. A tiny smile tugged at my lips.
Then I heard the groan.
My heart stopped squeezing and jumped up into my throat, intent on choking me. I looked around wildly, certain that someone else was in the room with me. A horrible suspicion occurred to me, and I crawled over the top of the bed, peering over the side.
Sprawled in an awkward pile of limbs, feathers, and sheets was my best friend. I screamed for Sage and scrambled off the bed, on my knees beside her in a moment. I frantically brushed away the feathers and strands of chestnut hair, searching for a pulse. My hands were shaking like leaves in the wind, and it took a conscious effort to steady them.
A strong, fluttering beat under my fingers eased some of the tension from my shoulders. At least she was still alive. Sage burst through the doorframe at that moment. Since I was crouched on the far side of the bed, away from the door, he paused for a brief second before noticing me.
"How is she?" He asked anxiously, kneeling beside me.
"Alright, I think." I said shortly, searching for any injuries. A large bruise on her temple spoke of a blow to the head, and her left arm was twisted at an unnatural angle. I swallowed a soft sob as she groaned when Sage reached over and prodded the obviously broken limb.
"Call an ambulance." He advised me distractedly. "Her arm's broken, and there's the possibility of a concussion."
I nodded and jumped to my feet, racing into the study to fumble for the receiver with hands that were suddenly shaking once more. Since I'd gotten a dial tone when we'd tried to call earlier, it was obviously still connected. I punched in 911 and held the receiver to my ear, praying for a swift pick up.
"911, what is your emergency?" A slightly detached voice on the other end of the line inquired robotically.
I quickly informed the emotionless voice about the breaking and entering, and that Kayla could be seriously injured. We didn't know, after all, if any of her ribs had been broken, or if there were any internal injuries. A few moments later, after giving them the address and phone number, the voice promised a police car and ambulance would be dispatched as soon as possible.
Of course, in a city like New York, that wasn't much of a promise.
I paced back and forth in the ruins of the living room, taking deep breaths to compose myself. Sage stayed back with Kayla, perhaps trying to coax her back into consciousness. But I couldn't go back there…I couldn't see her like that. It was too horrible for me to face. A slow, hot feeling spread through my limbs, an unfamiliar sensation that I just couldn't understand.
A high pitched wailing approached from off in the distance, growing ever closer. Alternating flashes of blue and red spun around the apartment's walls, glaring brightly off the framed photos and paint-prints in their wooden frames. The pounding of feet echoed up the stairwell just before paramedics burst through the open door, a stretcher between them. Wordlessly, I pointed down the hall to the bedroom, and they brushed past me without even a nod of acknowledgement. Not that it mattered much to me.
In seemingly no time at all, the same two men were hurrying back towards the door, Kayla's limp form lying prone on the stretcher. Sage came out after them, and we both followed the medics down the stairwell and out onto the street. I could only watch numbly as they moved my friend's body onto a gurney, and then moved that into the ambulance.
One of the men spared a moment to give us the address of the hospital they'd be taking Kayla to. I stowed the name and numbers in the back of my mind and watched as the ambulance pulled away.
I clenched my hands into fists at my side. Suddenly I recognized that feeling in the pit of my stomach…it was rage. I'd never actually felt something that hot and horrible before. It was almost like poison seeping through my veins.
They'd broken into my home and shattered most of my valuables, but that was no big deal, in the big scheme of things. That might even have worried me enough to actually put me off the trail. But by attacking my friend, in her own home, a place of safety, no less, all the thugs had achieved was to royally piss me off.
Those bastards in the Mob couldn't have picked a better way to make me more determined to solve this case if they'd tried.
Now it was personal.
I hadn't realized I was clenching my teeth so tight until my jaw started to ache. A police car pulled up while I was lost in thought, battling the hatred for the faceless individual that had threatened all I held dear. Two policemen spilled from the vehicle, one of them dashing up the stairs, the other crossing over to Sage and me. I sighed and tried to think of something to say. Sage squeezed my shoulder briefly, giving me an understanding nod before pulling the cop aside. A hushed conversation occurred while I puzzled things over.
No, I wasn't going to give up on this. Not now. Not after this. For one thing, Kayla would kill me for being scared off so easily. For another, I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror anymore. I'd just dragged Kento and Rowen into it, even though they'd offered their services.
Up until now, I hadn't really understood the motives of the men I'd been working with. Ryo was in this to get back his best friend, Sage was in it to rescue his wife, Rowen wanted his family back, and even Kento had personal ties, since he had given his word to protect the city at any cost. They all had deep, distinct reasons for wanting the Mob to be brought down, but I'd just been in it because it was what I'd been paid to do. But nobody screws around with my friends and family and gets away with it.
But things were going to be a whole lot more difficult now, especially since the Mob knew who I was, knew what I was up to, and could keep an eye on me.
Which meant I'd have to reschedule tomorrow's meeting, since the office was probably a wreck too. There were ways to avoid watchers, and not every phone line in the city could be tapped, so I had to get a hold of Rowen, Ryo, and Kento between now and tomorrow morning. They probably would be a little cross over losing even more sleep, but it couldn't be helped.
Speaking of which…what time was it anyway?
I glanced at my watch and blinked in surprise to find that it was nearly two in the morning. And it was just going to get worse.
"Mia?" Sage asked softly, coming up behind me. "We have to go downtown and answer a few questions…" I could hear a resigned note in his voice, and knew he'd been looking forward to a little extra sleep as much as I had. Drat it all, no rest for the wicked, as they say.
"I know, I know." I sighed. "I kind of saw that coming. But…well what are we going to tell them?! I can guarantee you that Kento's not on shift, so we won't have anyone to cover for us."
He just shrugged. "We tell them the truth." He raised a hand to still my protests. "No not all of it, of course. We'll leave out the part about Rowen, since he can't afford for the police to know. And with any luck no one else around HQ will recognize me"
"And if that 'little luck' has deserted us totally?" I snorted wryly, raising an eyebrow.
"Then we explain that too." Sage said firmly. "You know as well as I do that the NYPD can't afford to give us much in the way of official help. The Mob has too many influential people higher up. People with purse strings in their hands."
I shook my head. "You're talking about government officials!"
"And is that really so surprising?" He murmured softly, indicating that I should lower my voice. "Think of all the cases that have been thrown out, or where someone's looked the other way."
"This sounds an awful lot like a conspiracy theory to me." I couldn't keep the skepticism out of my voice.
"No, not a conspiracy theory." Sage shook his head. "I'm not that paranoid. But someone is controlling things. If we succeed in shutting down the branch of Mob activities here in New York, then we'll be dealing them a fatal blow."
"Not 'if'," I corrected him. "'When'. I'm not going to let this happen again, thank you very much." Even I wasn't too sure what I meant by 'this', whether it was the whole crime ring, or just this attack on Kayla and myself.
Sage just smiled and nodded, understanding completely. He slid a companionable arm around my shoulders and I leaned against him, stifling a yawn by the barest of margins. After the day I'd just had, I was convinced I'd earned a few hours sleep. But I still had one last task to do…fill out a report for both break-ins.
Things just weren't going my way.