(a/n insert standard disclaimer here ( )
*-*-*-*-*
Andreas opened the door to the study a crack and peeked out. He only saw his fiancé in the hall but he couldn't be too careful. "Is anyone with you," he asked cautiously.
"Not a soul, let me in," she said as she began to loosen the lacings on the bodice of her gown. The Count hesitated no longer and pulled her into the room. There was something about Katja that always made him over come his fears. She began kissing his neck. "What is going on out there," he asked her.
"You should be more worried about what is going on in here," she replied continuing to distract him.
"But the gunshots..Kat," he said resisting his growing desire for her. "We really shouldn't be doing this. Plus I haven't locked the door; the madman could come in here and kill us both." He removed her hands from around his neck and went towards the door.
"No one from out there is going to kill you."
"Well someone certainly wants to, death threats, my sister is dead, gunshots at my party," he placed the brass key back in the lock and twisted until the bolt slipped into place. He turned back around and took a large swig from his champagne glass. As he breathed a sigh of relief he noticed Katja was looking oddly at him. "Kat, Love, what is wrong?"
"How are you feeling?"
"Nervous there is a killer out there."
"Are your fingers numb," she asked with a smile.
"My fingers?" He sat the glass down and wiggled the fingers on his right hand. "They feel so heavy." Andreas went and sat on the couch. "W-What?"
Katja went over and sat on the couch next to him. "You were so worried about killers out there you didn't think there might be one in here with you. They will all think that your drink was spiked with poison before you came in here. I am just the grief stricken, soon to be very wealthy fiancé who you managed to let in before the poison took hold."
"But why," he asked sadly
"Why not, you were looking for love in all the wrong places to quote an old song. You have money, I love money, but I don't love you. Michael on the other hand, I do."
"But Helene, she and Michael."
"Yes, yes, and they broke up years ago I know that. What you don't know is Michael was my lover many years ago as well. We lost touch but imagine our surprise when you hired me for your murals. We found out both of us are in your will so we decided to get together and make a fortune. I even went so far as to hire my ex-fiancé Charlie's so called 'angels' to solve the mystery. I knew they wouldn't be able to save you and then I could discredit that bastard too. How are you feeling now?"
"Sleepy." His eyelids were heavy and he was having a hard time concentrating on what she was saying.
*-*-*-*-*
The angels rushed down the stairs and found Bosley trying to calm the guests. "Everyone calm down just a little party fun, nothing to be worried about."
"Bosley," said Alex out of breath "has anyone gone to the study?"
"Just Katja," he said calmly as the angels ran to where the Count was. They pounded on the door. "Andreas, Katja, are you in there."
Katja straightened her dress and made herself cry. Her mascara ran perfectly giving her a sorrowful look. She threw open the door and collapsed crying inn Natalie's arms. "He's sick, I don't know what is wrong with him, he complained about his fingers going numb. Then he said he was tired," sobbed Katja.
Alex entered the room and knelt on the floor by the dying Count. She took his pulse and checked his breathing. Looking at the distraught Katja she asked, "Did you see him eat or drink anything at the party?"
"He had a few glasses of champagne and some, hors d'oeuvres" she said signaling to the glass on the desk. "I think he was drinking that one when Dylan told him to come in here."
Dylan picked the flute up and sniffed it, "It doesn't smell quite right. Nat take a whiff." The blonde went over and took the glass from her friend and smelt it. She then stuck her pinky in the glass and dabbed it to the tip of her tongue.
"Very subtle. If you weren't looking for something you wouldn't even know it was there. It's a lot like curare but it doesn't seem to be pure," declared Natalie. "You know Mills was hanging out by the bar the whole night, he would have had plenty of chances to doctor the Count's drink."
Katja was feeling very smug. She tempered her crying down to sniffling level. "He did give Andreas the last glass," she said trying to deflect the crime onto the dead man upstairs.
*-*-*-*-*
"Why would Karl Mills, hired assassin have a picture of Rhonda Zaas, Dylan's mother," wondered Anthony. He looked closely at the man in the photo and realized close to thirty years ago Karl Mills had a full head of hair and had been a good looking man. "Dylan has his nose," he thought absently then startled at what he thought. He looked at the picture again. Karl Mills was Dylan's father and she didn't know. He knew that her mother died when she was young, he had found that out through his research after the McCadden job. He had been curious about the girls who defeated him and fascinated by the redhead, although he wouldn't admit it to himself at the time. How would he tell her, he wondered. Would it do her any good to know? He slipped the photo of Karl Mills and Rhoda Zaas into his pocket. He went to the bathroom and cleaned the blood off his face, and headed downstairs. He would decide what to do about the Dylan/Karl connection later.
In the ballroom it was like a different world. Although the guests had to have heard the gun shots they were still drinking and dancing oblivious to what was going on under their noses. He quickly scratched out a note and showed it to one of the guests who then directed him to the study.
The study door was open and he could see the angels, Bosley, and his boss inside. "Andreas stay with me," he heard his boss say to the unconscious Count on the couch. Dylan was on the phone with 112 the German equivalent of 911 ordering an ambulance and informing the operator that the victim was poisoned with curare like substance. As she hung up the phone she spotted him just outside door way and went to him.
"You knew about this didn't you," she asked bitterly.
Anthony nodded and reached out to her, but she pulled away. Her rejection hurt him deeply. He wasn't sure what to do to correct what had gone wrong so he did the only thing he could think of he took out his note pad he wrote, "Let me explain."
"You have nothing to explain," she said simply. "You are a killer." Despite feeling some strange bond with him she was confused. Dylan closed her eyes and turned to rejoin her friends in the study.
"Dylan."
Dylan stopped at the sound of the man's voice, soft and raspy due to disuse, saying her name and turned back to him. He had hoped to catch her attention and it looked like he did. He held out a piece of paper to her and she reluctantly took it. He had written in his distinctively neat script, "I know who organized this. I want to help you."
"Who," she asked simply she could already hear the sirens wailing from the ambulance nearing the house. He pointed to someone emerging from the study behind her. Dylan turned and was face to face with Katja James.
Katja didn't notice Anthony standing there. She was putting all her energy into being the distraught fiancé as she ran out of the study towards the main doors to meet the paramedics. "Are you trying to tell me," asked Dylan, "that Katja James has attempted to kill her own fiancé?"
Once again he nodded and wrote some more, "She hired me and Karl Mils in LA last week."
Natalie, Bosley emerged from the study. "How is he doing," asked Dylan.
"Not good but Alex has kept him alive so far. Katja is really upset. Why didn't one of us stay with him," said Natalie who looked quite upset herself.
"I don't think Katja is that upset," said Dylan. Bosley and Natalie looked at her questioningly. She handed Anthony's note to her friend. Natalie read it and glanced at Anthony.
"Are you sure that we can trust him," asked Nat looking at the thin man.
Dylan really had no reason not to trust him; he had saved both her and Alex the year before on the HALO case and he had saved her and Natalie just that day from Michael and Karl. "Yeah, we can trust him," said Dylan and Anthony looked up surprised. He had half expected her to say no.
"Okay, but we have no proof that she poisoned the Count that very well could have been Mills," stated Natalie. "That bitch will probably get away scott free."
Katja led the paramedics through the winding halls to the study. The paramedics along with the emergency doctor relieved Alex who joined the other angels in the hall. "At least there is a doctor. He still has a pretty good chance of surviving. He is fighting it. So what is the Creepy Thin Man doing here," she asked directing the question at Dylan.
"He was hired to kill the count."
Anthony handed her another piece of paper, it read "and you."
Dylan looked startled. "And me?" Anthony pointed to each angel in turn. "Ok to kill us. Then why didn't you."
Anthony wished he could answer that question but instead remained unmoving and silent. He could have easily written why but he had done that and gotten no response from his favorite angel. He hadn't stuck around long enough to get one either but until he did he wouldn't again reveal what he thought was a weakness.
"So, it was Katja, Mills, and him," she said glancing at Anthony. "Why would Katja do it?" A light went on in Natalie's head. The thought was so sudden her friends could actually see the cartoon bulb over her head. "Mills told me why. I just didn't understand at the time," she said excitedly.
"What did he say;" asked the Asian angel.
"He asked what I would do for three hundred thousand dollars. Then he asked if I would marry someone I didn't love. I thought he was talking nonsense because he was acting pretty sick when I helped him up stairs but you know I bet that Katja was marrying the Count for money, but a lot more that three hundred thousand."
"Michael," said Dylan," he was in on it too. Anthony stopped him from killing me in the maze."
"Figures you thought he was cute so he is one of the bad guys," said Alex playfully. Anthony felt a jealous twinge at the idea of Dylan finding Michael cute.
"Yeah I'm a bad guy alright," they heard a voice say. They turned to see Michael who somehow managed to untie himself standing in the hallway. "What is it with us and bad guys who never stay down," asked Natalie amazed. He had the same gun he had in the garden maze and started shooting. The angels jumped out of the way but Anthony didn't move. He calmed stood there as the five bullets whizzed past him. Once Michael' gun was empty he attacked.
"Bastard," yelled Michael, "you were supposed to be on our side. That's what we are paying you for." The butler put up a harder fight than out in the garden. His fist connected with Anthony's already battered lip and it burst open again, fresh scarlet soaking his shirt. Michael then delivered a kick in the center of the thin man's chest. Dylan knew that it had to hurt, it was the same spot where Seamus O'Grady had stabbed Anthony with the sword a year ago. The kick however didn't hurt Anthony as much as fuel his anger. He attacked the butler with full force.
Katja came out of the study finally realizing what was going on around her. Her hired assassin and her lover were fighting, and all three angels were perfectly safe watching the scene. She refrained from making a scene. It was obvious that Michael had not only lost sight of her goal, seventy five million euro, but also the fact that if he went down so would she and she would not let that happen.
Anthony knocked Michael to the ground with a solid kick to the midsection. As the man scrambled to get up the assassin unsheathed his sword and held it to the man's throat. Michael swallowed hard, his Adams apple bobbing against the cold metal blade. "Toten Sie mich. Ich wird nicht ins Knast gehen," said Michael. Anthony shook his head and waved Dylan over. She approached him cautiously and he gave her a small smile which was nothing more than a corner of his mouth turning upwards. He took her hand and placed it on the sword. He wanted her to keep it on the man. She looked at Anthony puzzled then she heard them too; police sirens. Anthony then disappeared.
(Toten Sie mich = Kill me. Ich wird nicht ins Knast gehen= I wont go to jail)
*-*-*-*-*
Andreas opened the door to the study a crack and peeked out. He only saw his fiancé in the hall but he couldn't be too careful. "Is anyone with you," he asked cautiously.
"Not a soul, let me in," she said as she began to loosen the lacings on the bodice of her gown. The Count hesitated no longer and pulled her into the room. There was something about Katja that always made him over come his fears. She began kissing his neck. "What is going on out there," he asked her.
"You should be more worried about what is going on in here," she replied continuing to distract him.
"But the gunshots..Kat," he said resisting his growing desire for her. "We really shouldn't be doing this. Plus I haven't locked the door; the madman could come in here and kill us both." He removed her hands from around his neck and went towards the door.
"No one from out there is going to kill you."
"Well someone certainly wants to, death threats, my sister is dead, gunshots at my party," he placed the brass key back in the lock and twisted until the bolt slipped into place. He turned back around and took a large swig from his champagne glass. As he breathed a sigh of relief he noticed Katja was looking oddly at him. "Kat, Love, what is wrong?"
"How are you feeling?"
"Nervous there is a killer out there."
"Are your fingers numb," she asked with a smile.
"My fingers?" He sat the glass down and wiggled the fingers on his right hand. "They feel so heavy." Andreas went and sat on the couch. "W-What?"
Katja went over and sat on the couch next to him. "You were so worried about killers out there you didn't think there might be one in here with you. They will all think that your drink was spiked with poison before you came in here. I am just the grief stricken, soon to be very wealthy fiancé who you managed to let in before the poison took hold."
"But why," he asked sadly
"Why not, you were looking for love in all the wrong places to quote an old song. You have money, I love money, but I don't love you. Michael on the other hand, I do."
"But Helene, she and Michael."
"Yes, yes, and they broke up years ago I know that. What you don't know is Michael was my lover many years ago as well. We lost touch but imagine our surprise when you hired me for your murals. We found out both of us are in your will so we decided to get together and make a fortune. I even went so far as to hire my ex-fiancé Charlie's so called 'angels' to solve the mystery. I knew they wouldn't be able to save you and then I could discredit that bastard too. How are you feeling now?"
"Sleepy." His eyelids were heavy and he was having a hard time concentrating on what she was saying.
*-*-*-*-*
The angels rushed down the stairs and found Bosley trying to calm the guests. "Everyone calm down just a little party fun, nothing to be worried about."
"Bosley," said Alex out of breath "has anyone gone to the study?"
"Just Katja," he said calmly as the angels ran to where the Count was. They pounded on the door. "Andreas, Katja, are you in there."
Katja straightened her dress and made herself cry. Her mascara ran perfectly giving her a sorrowful look. She threw open the door and collapsed crying inn Natalie's arms. "He's sick, I don't know what is wrong with him, he complained about his fingers going numb. Then he said he was tired," sobbed Katja.
Alex entered the room and knelt on the floor by the dying Count. She took his pulse and checked his breathing. Looking at the distraught Katja she asked, "Did you see him eat or drink anything at the party?"
"He had a few glasses of champagne and some, hors d'oeuvres" she said signaling to the glass on the desk. "I think he was drinking that one when Dylan told him to come in here."
Dylan picked the flute up and sniffed it, "It doesn't smell quite right. Nat take a whiff." The blonde went over and took the glass from her friend and smelt it. She then stuck her pinky in the glass and dabbed it to the tip of her tongue.
"Very subtle. If you weren't looking for something you wouldn't even know it was there. It's a lot like curare but it doesn't seem to be pure," declared Natalie. "You know Mills was hanging out by the bar the whole night, he would have had plenty of chances to doctor the Count's drink."
Katja was feeling very smug. She tempered her crying down to sniffling level. "He did give Andreas the last glass," she said trying to deflect the crime onto the dead man upstairs.
*-*-*-*-*
"Why would Karl Mills, hired assassin have a picture of Rhonda Zaas, Dylan's mother," wondered Anthony. He looked closely at the man in the photo and realized close to thirty years ago Karl Mills had a full head of hair and had been a good looking man. "Dylan has his nose," he thought absently then startled at what he thought. He looked at the picture again. Karl Mills was Dylan's father and she didn't know. He knew that her mother died when she was young, he had found that out through his research after the McCadden job. He had been curious about the girls who defeated him and fascinated by the redhead, although he wouldn't admit it to himself at the time. How would he tell her, he wondered. Would it do her any good to know? He slipped the photo of Karl Mills and Rhoda Zaas into his pocket. He went to the bathroom and cleaned the blood off his face, and headed downstairs. He would decide what to do about the Dylan/Karl connection later.
In the ballroom it was like a different world. Although the guests had to have heard the gun shots they were still drinking and dancing oblivious to what was going on under their noses. He quickly scratched out a note and showed it to one of the guests who then directed him to the study.
The study door was open and he could see the angels, Bosley, and his boss inside. "Andreas stay with me," he heard his boss say to the unconscious Count on the couch. Dylan was on the phone with 112 the German equivalent of 911 ordering an ambulance and informing the operator that the victim was poisoned with curare like substance. As she hung up the phone she spotted him just outside door way and went to him.
"You knew about this didn't you," she asked bitterly.
Anthony nodded and reached out to her, but she pulled away. Her rejection hurt him deeply. He wasn't sure what to do to correct what had gone wrong so he did the only thing he could think of he took out his note pad he wrote, "Let me explain."
"You have nothing to explain," she said simply. "You are a killer." Despite feeling some strange bond with him she was confused. Dylan closed her eyes and turned to rejoin her friends in the study.
"Dylan."
Dylan stopped at the sound of the man's voice, soft and raspy due to disuse, saying her name and turned back to him. He had hoped to catch her attention and it looked like he did. He held out a piece of paper to her and she reluctantly took it. He had written in his distinctively neat script, "I know who organized this. I want to help you."
"Who," she asked simply she could already hear the sirens wailing from the ambulance nearing the house. He pointed to someone emerging from the study behind her. Dylan turned and was face to face with Katja James.
Katja didn't notice Anthony standing there. She was putting all her energy into being the distraught fiancé as she ran out of the study towards the main doors to meet the paramedics. "Are you trying to tell me," asked Dylan, "that Katja James has attempted to kill her own fiancé?"
Once again he nodded and wrote some more, "She hired me and Karl Mils in LA last week."
Natalie, Bosley emerged from the study. "How is he doing," asked Dylan.
"Not good but Alex has kept him alive so far. Katja is really upset. Why didn't one of us stay with him," said Natalie who looked quite upset herself.
"I don't think Katja is that upset," said Dylan. Bosley and Natalie looked at her questioningly. She handed Anthony's note to her friend. Natalie read it and glanced at Anthony.
"Are you sure that we can trust him," asked Nat looking at the thin man.
Dylan really had no reason not to trust him; he had saved both her and Alex the year before on the HALO case and he had saved her and Natalie just that day from Michael and Karl. "Yeah, we can trust him," said Dylan and Anthony looked up surprised. He had half expected her to say no.
"Okay, but we have no proof that she poisoned the Count that very well could have been Mills," stated Natalie. "That bitch will probably get away scott free."
Katja led the paramedics through the winding halls to the study. The paramedics along with the emergency doctor relieved Alex who joined the other angels in the hall. "At least there is a doctor. He still has a pretty good chance of surviving. He is fighting it. So what is the Creepy Thin Man doing here," she asked directing the question at Dylan.
"He was hired to kill the count."
Anthony handed her another piece of paper, it read "and you."
Dylan looked startled. "And me?" Anthony pointed to each angel in turn. "Ok to kill us. Then why didn't you."
Anthony wished he could answer that question but instead remained unmoving and silent. He could have easily written why but he had done that and gotten no response from his favorite angel. He hadn't stuck around long enough to get one either but until he did he wouldn't again reveal what he thought was a weakness.
"So, it was Katja, Mills, and him," she said glancing at Anthony. "Why would Katja do it?" A light went on in Natalie's head. The thought was so sudden her friends could actually see the cartoon bulb over her head. "Mills told me why. I just didn't understand at the time," she said excitedly.
"What did he say;" asked the Asian angel.
"He asked what I would do for three hundred thousand dollars. Then he asked if I would marry someone I didn't love. I thought he was talking nonsense because he was acting pretty sick when I helped him up stairs but you know I bet that Katja was marrying the Count for money, but a lot more that three hundred thousand."
"Michael," said Dylan," he was in on it too. Anthony stopped him from killing me in the maze."
"Figures you thought he was cute so he is one of the bad guys," said Alex playfully. Anthony felt a jealous twinge at the idea of Dylan finding Michael cute.
"Yeah I'm a bad guy alright," they heard a voice say. They turned to see Michael who somehow managed to untie himself standing in the hallway. "What is it with us and bad guys who never stay down," asked Natalie amazed. He had the same gun he had in the garden maze and started shooting. The angels jumped out of the way but Anthony didn't move. He calmed stood there as the five bullets whizzed past him. Once Michael' gun was empty he attacked.
"Bastard," yelled Michael, "you were supposed to be on our side. That's what we are paying you for." The butler put up a harder fight than out in the garden. His fist connected with Anthony's already battered lip and it burst open again, fresh scarlet soaking his shirt. Michael then delivered a kick in the center of the thin man's chest. Dylan knew that it had to hurt, it was the same spot where Seamus O'Grady had stabbed Anthony with the sword a year ago. The kick however didn't hurt Anthony as much as fuel his anger. He attacked the butler with full force.
Katja came out of the study finally realizing what was going on around her. Her hired assassin and her lover were fighting, and all three angels were perfectly safe watching the scene. She refrained from making a scene. It was obvious that Michael had not only lost sight of her goal, seventy five million euro, but also the fact that if he went down so would she and she would not let that happen.
Anthony knocked Michael to the ground with a solid kick to the midsection. As the man scrambled to get up the assassin unsheathed his sword and held it to the man's throat. Michael swallowed hard, his Adams apple bobbing against the cold metal blade. "Toten Sie mich. Ich wird nicht ins Knast gehen," said Michael. Anthony shook his head and waved Dylan over. She approached him cautiously and he gave her a small smile which was nothing more than a corner of his mouth turning upwards. He took her hand and placed it on the sword. He wanted her to keep it on the man. She looked at Anthony puzzled then she heard them too; police sirens. Anthony then disappeared.
(Toten Sie mich = Kill me. Ich wird nicht ins Knast gehen= I wont go to jail)