Montoya stood on stage, next to Eva, smiling at the crowd. She did not know if they had really liked the way that the two had sung the popular TATU song, or the fact that the male populated, testosterone driven crowd had merely liked what the song had implied. She would have gone with the later, if she had bet on it. She noticed the plainclothes officer in the crowd that the GCPD had placed there for added support and her protection. He could not keep a straight face, and was grinning.
~Great, like there aren't ENOUGH rumors about me~ Montoya thought to herself as she took her final bow. She knew that some of her fellow co-workers talked about her, and her lack of a social or love life. It really was not that she was not interested in men; She just had not found that special someone who made it feel right. So, she spent her nights working on cases. Was that a crime?
Shaking off the morose feeling that was slowly creeping into her heart, she carefully exited the stage, leaving Eva to her show. The diva's husky voice screamed through the sound system as it shorted again. Montoya had to grit her teeth to keep herself from covering her ears. She would never work under these conditions, she thought to herself. However, these girls did not have much of a choice. It was still better than the streets.
She headed for the break room, her throat on fire. She would never admit it to anyone, but knew if she had to keep this up for many more days, she would surely loose her voice. Renee simply did not have the vocal stamina that the other singers did. The most vocal thing she usually did in a day was to interrogate suspects.
Or yell, "FREEZE, GCPD!"
Montoya smiled at Christina and a singer she had not met yet, who were already in the break room. She knew her to be Kay, from the briefing she had on the girls. When she entered, the women had been chatting and did not bother to stop when she entered. Luckily for her secrets seemed to be scarce around here. As she went for her purse for coffee money, she listened into the women's conversation.
"I don't know what she sees in him," Christina piped up. Renee dug through her purse, looking for loose change.
"Are you SURE they're together? I mean, what about Nicki?" Kay busied herself by perfecting her fingernails' form while she talked.
Christina shrugged.
" I guess he's over her. He kinda has to be now doesn't he? Still, he's nothing but a horny dog. He'd nail every girl in here, if we let him, but you can't tell her that."
"Yeah, Summer's so in love with him. He can't do any wrong." Kay looked up from her nails and over at Montoya. "What do you think Belle?"
By this time, She had gotten her money out and had been trying to work the coffee machine, which, of course, had eaten her money.
"Pardon?" She turned to look at her companions. "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening. What do I think of who?"
Chris rolled her eyes and got up from the chair she had been sitting in. She moved over to the machine and hit it squarely, just below the money feed. As if duly chastised, the machine whirled to life. Then she turned to Montoya and spoke.
"Who cares what she thinks about that…. I want to know about you and TwoFace. What are you doing, sleeping with him? Don't look so shocked. Celina told me. She said you two looked QUITE cozy earlier, so there is no sense denying it, Belle."
"Belle? You and TwoFace?" Kay put down her nail file. "Chris, you've got to be shitting me!"
~DAMN YOU HARVEY~
"Nope, Celina caught them in Morley's office earlier. So, come on. Talk to us girl!" Christina grabbed Montoya's cup of coffee with one hand and grabbed Renee by the arm with her other, and dragged her to the small table the women had been sitting at. Renee pondered the question for a moment or two. While, to her surprise and great concern, there were quite a few reasons that she might like Harvey, she could come up with no reason why her cover would hook up with TwoFace.
"It just happened," she replied, hoping her ambiguous answer would fly with the two ladies. As she looked from the one to the other, she saw that it was not. She gently blew on her steaming coffee and took a drink, trying to come up with a plausible story. She could not. "I'd rather not talk about it, ok?"
Chris shook her head in refusal.
"No way. You are NOT getting out of this that easy. Talk!"
"Well…I suppose when we first met," Renee thought back to their first meeting right after the quake. She had thought him to be a monster, and yet, he had proven her wrong. "I saw a part of him that made me want to give him a chance." She was pleased with herself. She had given a plausible, and true account of her feelings for Dent while managing to maintain her cover.
"Well, I'd be careful if I were you." Kay leaned in conspiratorially. "I heard that he really has the hots for some cop. It was in the papers and everything."
Inwardly, Montoya bristled. Damn the Gotham Post and the stories that they published. Shortly after Dent had sent her tulips for her birthday last year, the Post had come out with a story about a secret affair they were supposedly having. Now, she and most everyone she knew took this for the garbage that it was. Obviously, there were those who took the Posts trash serious. Her main concern was how much Kay knew about her from the article.
"Really? I hadn't heard. Who is she?" She tried to sound jealous for her cover's sake.
"Some 'High and Mighty' up at the GCPD," Kay shrugged. "I don't really remember. They didn't have any pictures or anything. Just a story. I think she was a detective, but don't quote me on that."
"I'll have to keep that in mind." Renee found it rather odd talking about herself, disconcerting. What was even worse was knowing that people were still talking and speculating about her and Dent. She was about to ask the ladies more about Summer and her boyfriend, when Morley walked into the break room.
"Your ride's here, Bella. You can go. Be sure to get here on time tomorrow."
Montoya's heart leapt to her throat. She hated not being in control of a situation. It seemed that every time that she tried to rein in, she ended up further behind than before. The case kept throwing her more loops than she was accustomed to, even for Gotham. She needed time. Time to really research what was happening. She also wanted a closer look at Morley's computer. She knew she could access it from her laptop, since she had jotted down the computer's ISP earlier.
What she needed was some peace and quiet.
"You don't want to keep him waiting, do ya?"
Morley's gruff voice brought her back out of her thoughts. The women were watching her expectantly. Montoya realized that she was not acting like a woman who was heading out to meet her guy. Dragging her feet the way she was, it looked like she were on her way to her death. Mentally kicking herself, she smiled and gathered her things, mumbling something about how sweet it was for him to have a car sent for her. Luckily, Kay and Christina looked at her with sympathy.
"Don't worry, maybe you can make him forget about her," was Kay's optimistic advise. Montoya sighed in relief. They thought she was upset over "the other woman" in TwoFace's life. She had to smile in amusement. If she removed herself from the situation, it really was funny.
"Thanks, I'll do my best. See you all tomorrow." With that said, she gathered her coat and purse, and with her pulse racing, followed Morley to the front of the building. Before exiting, he gently took her arm and pulled her aside.
"You be careful. You know more about him than any of us. You know what he's capable of. I hope you can find what you're looking for while you're there tonight. I know how taken he is with you. Just don't let your guard down."
Montoya stared long and hard at Morley. The way he said what he had just said… If she had not known that TwoFace had been at Arkham during the last murder, she could have sworn that Morley was fingering Dent for the murders. Silently, she screamed. What if Dent did know more about the murders than he let on?
Renee stopped that line of thinking in its tracks. She trusted her intuition, and it told her that Dent and TwoFace were not involved. Nodding her thanks at Morley, she hopped into the waiting car. She had seen Dent in the driver's seat before she opened the door, so she knew that he was driving. Not bothering to acknowledge him, she buckled up and stared out the side window. She was not going to hide her annoyance at being manipulated.
"Something wrong?"
Montoya opened her mouth to answer, but quickly snapped it shut again. It took far to much energy to fight him, and she had another long night ahead of her. She shook her head and leaned back in her seat, trying to find a few moments rest before reaching their destination, wherever that was. She closed her eyes, just for a moment to rest them. She could not afford to fall asleep.
****
It was a nice dream. Usually when she dreamed she was cold and alone, with shadows chasing her. This dream was different. Strong, warm arms surrounded her, carried her, and for the first time in a long while, she felt safe and protected. She buried her head into the warmth, clinging to the dream. Part of her knew she would need to wake up soon, but for now, for that brief moment, she allowed herself the illusionary luxury of comfort and security.
***
Montoya awoke slowly, yet she kept her eyes closed, trying to get her bearings. She could feel that she was in a bed, yet it was not hers nor the one from her room at the Gotham Arms. She was covered with a warm blanket and she noticed while her shoes had been removed, she was otherwise fully clothed. Renee could hear someone moving about in another room close by.
She opened her eyes. The room was unlit, yet light filtered in from the slightly opened doorway. Curious and confused, she looked around. She was in a hotel room. Nothing fancy, yet not a dive like the Gotham Arms. More than likely, it was a Marriott or a Holiday Inn. Sitting up, she notice her suitcases set carefully on top of the dresser and several of her club outfits hung up in the closet. The curtains were shut tightly, keeping the harsh city lights from entering the room.
Quietly, she swung her feet from the bed, her mind still processing information. On the nightstand lay her gun and detective's badge that she had hidden under her bed at the Arms hotel. Hesitantly, she picked up her gun, and checked its clip. It was still loaded. Montoya set the gun back down where it had been lying and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She glanced over at the alarm clock and saw that it was half past two in the morning. The irony was not lost on her. However, they had left the club around midnight and she was shocked and more than a bit alarmed that she had slept so soundly, for so long.
She was about to get up when she heard voices coming from the other room. Inwardly she cringed, as she recognized the voices to be that of Dent and TwoFace. Montoya knew Dent better than most, yet she still had yet to see a full-blown TwoFace incident for herself. Dent always seemed to restrain TwoFace around her. This was the first time she ever had really heard them talking to each other, besides the occasional snide comment from TwoFace.
Why don't you just shut up you sniveling fool? If you don't have the balls to take what you want, I say we just get rid of her! She's just going to cause us trouble later.
"No! We flipped, good heads came up, so stay out of it!"
You cheated; good heads is coming up way too much lately!
Montoya put her hands over her ears and closed her eyes tight, as if by doing that she could block out the sounds of Dent arguing with himself. Unfortunately, she could still hear him…them, going at it in the other room. Cursing silently to herself she let her hands drop back to her sides as she continued to listen.
"I did NOT cheat. Bad heads came up not three days ago…it was YOUR idea to break out of Arkham, remember?"
Damn bastard doctors! Try to give US pills to make ME go away! I'm stronger, you booty whipped pansy! That's what you are…. You're blinded by booty. Now either go in there and grab a piece of that tail, or let me get rid of her!
Pills? To make TwoFace go away? This was news to Montoya, but if she wanted to live to learn more about it, she would have to get Dent calmed down, and quickly. He had obviously worked himself up rather good over something, and was going to take it out on her. She glanced at her gun longingly, wanting to take it with her for protection. However, she knew that it would only serve to further provoke an already unstable man. Taking a deep breath to help bolster her courage, she quietly stood up and crept to the door.
"I will do NO such thing. I want her to like us, not fear us! You're not helping!"
Renee took another shaky breath as TwoFace laughed and continued to berate Dent. Then, with a strength she did not know she possessed, she quietly opened the door further and peered into the small living area. Dent whirled around as the door opened, his mouth agape. His coin was in hand, ready for a toss. Her heart hammered in her chest as she entered the small room. ~Just act normal~ She thought to herself before speaking.
"Thanks for letting me take that nap. I slept like a baby!" She pushed her hair from her face and spied her laptop plugged into the wall. She got an idea. " I need to get back to work. You wanted to help, right?"
He looked at her, puzzled. She could almost read the disbelief on his face. Slowly, he turned the coin over in his hand several times. Not waiting for an answer, she walked up to him and cautiously took his hand, the one with the coin, and led him over to the small desk that was provided. She pulled up a chair and motioned him to do likewise. As they sat, she stared into his eyes, and slowly slid the coin from his hand into hers.
"It's just a distraction, right?"
A faint flicker of light shone in Harvey's eyes as he relinquished his grip on the coin. Renee slid it into the pocket of her skirt promising to return it after the case was solved. He seemed satisfied with this, more relaxed now that he had been reminded of his earlier toss. Montoya knew she had some sort of connection with him, and it was at times like this it was worth it.
She smiled reassuringly at him and gently squeezed his hand for comfort. Even though he had just threatened to kill her, she found herself forgiving him. They would get through this…somehow. He looked up at her, a tiny glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"So, what do you want me to do?"
*****************************************************************************************
OK this was by far my longest chapter yet, and there was more I wanted to add to it. Alas, it will have to wait 'til chapter 9. Thanks to Chris Dee for letting me borrow the Gotham Post from her Cattails.
~Great, like there aren't ENOUGH rumors about me~ Montoya thought to herself as she took her final bow. She knew that some of her fellow co-workers talked about her, and her lack of a social or love life. It really was not that she was not interested in men; She just had not found that special someone who made it feel right. So, she spent her nights working on cases. Was that a crime?
Shaking off the morose feeling that was slowly creeping into her heart, she carefully exited the stage, leaving Eva to her show. The diva's husky voice screamed through the sound system as it shorted again. Montoya had to grit her teeth to keep herself from covering her ears. She would never work under these conditions, she thought to herself. However, these girls did not have much of a choice. It was still better than the streets.
She headed for the break room, her throat on fire. She would never admit it to anyone, but knew if she had to keep this up for many more days, she would surely loose her voice. Renee simply did not have the vocal stamina that the other singers did. The most vocal thing she usually did in a day was to interrogate suspects.
Or yell, "FREEZE, GCPD!"
Montoya smiled at Christina and a singer she had not met yet, who were already in the break room. She knew her to be Kay, from the briefing she had on the girls. When she entered, the women had been chatting and did not bother to stop when she entered. Luckily for her secrets seemed to be scarce around here. As she went for her purse for coffee money, she listened into the women's conversation.
"I don't know what she sees in him," Christina piped up. Renee dug through her purse, looking for loose change.
"Are you SURE they're together? I mean, what about Nicki?" Kay busied herself by perfecting her fingernails' form while she talked.
Christina shrugged.
" I guess he's over her. He kinda has to be now doesn't he? Still, he's nothing but a horny dog. He'd nail every girl in here, if we let him, but you can't tell her that."
"Yeah, Summer's so in love with him. He can't do any wrong." Kay looked up from her nails and over at Montoya. "What do you think Belle?"
By this time, She had gotten her money out and had been trying to work the coffee machine, which, of course, had eaten her money.
"Pardon?" She turned to look at her companions. "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening. What do I think of who?"
Chris rolled her eyes and got up from the chair she had been sitting in. She moved over to the machine and hit it squarely, just below the money feed. As if duly chastised, the machine whirled to life. Then she turned to Montoya and spoke.
"Who cares what she thinks about that…. I want to know about you and TwoFace. What are you doing, sleeping with him? Don't look so shocked. Celina told me. She said you two looked QUITE cozy earlier, so there is no sense denying it, Belle."
"Belle? You and TwoFace?" Kay put down her nail file. "Chris, you've got to be shitting me!"
~DAMN YOU HARVEY~
"Nope, Celina caught them in Morley's office earlier. So, come on. Talk to us girl!" Christina grabbed Montoya's cup of coffee with one hand and grabbed Renee by the arm with her other, and dragged her to the small table the women had been sitting at. Renee pondered the question for a moment or two. While, to her surprise and great concern, there were quite a few reasons that she might like Harvey, she could come up with no reason why her cover would hook up with TwoFace.
"It just happened," she replied, hoping her ambiguous answer would fly with the two ladies. As she looked from the one to the other, she saw that it was not. She gently blew on her steaming coffee and took a drink, trying to come up with a plausible story. She could not. "I'd rather not talk about it, ok?"
Chris shook her head in refusal.
"No way. You are NOT getting out of this that easy. Talk!"
"Well…I suppose when we first met," Renee thought back to their first meeting right after the quake. She had thought him to be a monster, and yet, he had proven her wrong. "I saw a part of him that made me want to give him a chance." She was pleased with herself. She had given a plausible, and true account of her feelings for Dent while managing to maintain her cover.
"Well, I'd be careful if I were you." Kay leaned in conspiratorially. "I heard that he really has the hots for some cop. It was in the papers and everything."
Inwardly, Montoya bristled. Damn the Gotham Post and the stories that they published. Shortly after Dent had sent her tulips for her birthday last year, the Post had come out with a story about a secret affair they were supposedly having. Now, she and most everyone she knew took this for the garbage that it was. Obviously, there were those who took the Posts trash serious. Her main concern was how much Kay knew about her from the article.
"Really? I hadn't heard. Who is she?" She tried to sound jealous for her cover's sake.
"Some 'High and Mighty' up at the GCPD," Kay shrugged. "I don't really remember. They didn't have any pictures or anything. Just a story. I think she was a detective, but don't quote me on that."
"I'll have to keep that in mind." Renee found it rather odd talking about herself, disconcerting. What was even worse was knowing that people were still talking and speculating about her and Dent. She was about to ask the ladies more about Summer and her boyfriend, when Morley walked into the break room.
"Your ride's here, Bella. You can go. Be sure to get here on time tomorrow."
Montoya's heart leapt to her throat. She hated not being in control of a situation. It seemed that every time that she tried to rein in, she ended up further behind than before. The case kept throwing her more loops than she was accustomed to, even for Gotham. She needed time. Time to really research what was happening. She also wanted a closer look at Morley's computer. She knew she could access it from her laptop, since she had jotted down the computer's ISP earlier.
What she needed was some peace and quiet.
"You don't want to keep him waiting, do ya?"
Morley's gruff voice brought her back out of her thoughts. The women were watching her expectantly. Montoya realized that she was not acting like a woman who was heading out to meet her guy. Dragging her feet the way she was, it looked like she were on her way to her death. Mentally kicking herself, she smiled and gathered her things, mumbling something about how sweet it was for him to have a car sent for her. Luckily, Kay and Christina looked at her with sympathy.
"Don't worry, maybe you can make him forget about her," was Kay's optimistic advise. Montoya sighed in relief. They thought she was upset over "the other woman" in TwoFace's life. She had to smile in amusement. If she removed herself from the situation, it really was funny.
"Thanks, I'll do my best. See you all tomorrow." With that said, she gathered her coat and purse, and with her pulse racing, followed Morley to the front of the building. Before exiting, he gently took her arm and pulled her aside.
"You be careful. You know more about him than any of us. You know what he's capable of. I hope you can find what you're looking for while you're there tonight. I know how taken he is with you. Just don't let your guard down."
Montoya stared long and hard at Morley. The way he said what he had just said… If she had not known that TwoFace had been at Arkham during the last murder, she could have sworn that Morley was fingering Dent for the murders. Silently, she screamed. What if Dent did know more about the murders than he let on?
Renee stopped that line of thinking in its tracks. She trusted her intuition, and it told her that Dent and TwoFace were not involved. Nodding her thanks at Morley, she hopped into the waiting car. She had seen Dent in the driver's seat before she opened the door, so she knew that he was driving. Not bothering to acknowledge him, she buckled up and stared out the side window. She was not going to hide her annoyance at being manipulated.
"Something wrong?"
Montoya opened her mouth to answer, but quickly snapped it shut again. It took far to much energy to fight him, and she had another long night ahead of her. She shook her head and leaned back in her seat, trying to find a few moments rest before reaching their destination, wherever that was. She closed her eyes, just for a moment to rest them. She could not afford to fall asleep.
****
It was a nice dream. Usually when she dreamed she was cold and alone, with shadows chasing her. This dream was different. Strong, warm arms surrounded her, carried her, and for the first time in a long while, she felt safe and protected. She buried her head into the warmth, clinging to the dream. Part of her knew she would need to wake up soon, but for now, for that brief moment, she allowed herself the illusionary luxury of comfort and security.
***
Montoya awoke slowly, yet she kept her eyes closed, trying to get her bearings. She could feel that she was in a bed, yet it was not hers nor the one from her room at the Gotham Arms. She was covered with a warm blanket and she noticed while her shoes had been removed, she was otherwise fully clothed. Renee could hear someone moving about in another room close by.
She opened her eyes. The room was unlit, yet light filtered in from the slightly opened doorway. Curious and confused, she looked around. She was in a hotel room. Nothing fancy, yet not a dive like the Gotham Arms. More than likely, it was a Marriott or a Holiday Inn. Sitting up, she notice her suitcases set carefully on top of the dresser and several of her club outfits hung up in the closet. The curtains were shut tightly, keeping the harsh city lights from entering the room.
Quietly, she swung her feet from the bed, her mind still processing information. On the nightstand lay her gun and detective's badge that she had hidden under her bed at the Arms hotel. Hesitantly, she picked up her gun, and checked its clip. It was still loaded. Montoya set the gun back down where it had been lying and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She glanced over at the alarm clock and saw that it was half past two in the morning. The irony was not lost on her. However, they had left the club around midnight and she was shocked and more than a bit alarmed that she had slept so soundly, for so long.
She was about to get up when she heard voices coming from the other room. Inwardly she cringed, as she recognized the voices to be that of Dent and TwoFace. Montoya knew Dent better than most, yet she still had yet to see a full-blown TwoFace incident for herself. Dent always seemed to restrain TwoFace around her. This was the first time she ever had really heard them talking to each other, besides the occasional snide comment from TwoFace.
Why don't you just shut up you sniveling fool? If you don't have the balls to take what you want, I say we just get rid of her! She's just going to cause us trouble later.
"No! We flipped, good heads came up, so stay out of it!"
You cheated; good heads is coming up way too much lately!
Montoya put her hands over her ears and closed her eyes tight, as if by doing that she could block out the sounds of Dent arguing with himself. Unfortunately, she could still hear him…them, going at it in the other room. Cursing silently to herself she let her hands drop back to her sides as she continued to listen.
"I did NOT cheat. Bad heads came up not three days ago…it was YOUR idea to break out of Arkham, remember?"
Damn bastard doctors! Try to give US pills to make ME go away! I'm stronger, you booty whipped pansy! That's what you are…. You're blinded by booty. Now either go in there and grab a piece of that tail, or let me get rid of her!
Pills? To make TwoFace go away? This was news to Montoya, but if she wanted to live to learn more about it, she would have to get Dent calmed down, and quickly. He had obviously worked himself up rather good over something, and was going to take it out on her. She glanced at her gun longingly, wanting to take it with her for protection. However, she knew that it would only serve to further provoke an already unstable man. Taking a deep breath to help bolster her courage, she quietly stood up and crept to the door.
"I will do NO such thing. I want her to like us, not fear us! You're not helping!"
Renee took another shaky breath as TwoFace laughed and continued to berate Dent. Then, with a strength she did not know she possessed, she quietly opened the door further and peered into the small living area. Dent whirled around as the door opened, his mouth agape. His coin was in hand, ready for a toss. Her heart hammered in her chest as she entered the small room. ~Just act normal~ She thought to herself before speaking.
"Thanks for letting me take that nap. I slept like a baby!" She pushed her hair from her face and spied her laptop plugged into the wall. She got an idea. " I need to get back to work. You wanted to help, right?"
He looked at her, puzzled. She could almost read the disbelief on his face. Slowly, he turned the coin over in his hand several times. Not waiting for an answer, she walked up to him and cautiously took his hand, the one with the coin, and led him over to the small desk that was provided. She pulled up a chair and motioned him to do likewise. As they sat, she stared into his eyes, and slowly slid the coin from his hand into hers.
"It's just a distraction, right?"
A faint flicker of light shone in Harvey's eyes as he relinquished his grip on the coin. Renee slid it into the pocket of her skirt promising to return it after the case was solved. He seemed satisfied with this, more relaxed now that he had been reminded of his earlier toss. Montoya knew she had some sort of connection with him, and it was at times like this it was worth it.
She smiled reassuringly at him and gently squeezed his hand for comfort. Even though he had just threatened to kill her, she found herself forgiving him. They would get through this…somehow. He looked up at her, a tiny glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"So, what do you want me to do?"
*****************************************************************************************
OK this was by far my longest chapter yet, and there was more I wanted to add to it. Alas, it will have to wait 'til chapter 9. Thanks to Chris Dee for letting me borrow the Gotham Post from her Cattails.