Beyond The Shattered Glass
By Raining Dreams ("Bunny")
She has a new theme song!: Ha... I have mehself a new theme song. Halloween by Aqua. I love Aqua soooo insanely much!! Hem, I'd also like to send a special shout out. WHO WROTE THE INUYASHA STORY WHERE KAGOME ALMOST DIED BUT CAME BACK AN' STUFF?!!! I started reading it after paying a visit to a reviewer's profile and now I can't seem to find it. It's driving me bonkers!! Please tell me who you are -puppy eyes- pwease? ALSO: WHEE!! -throws around confetti- as of reaching 60 reviews, I now have roughly 200 (give or take one or two I think...) reviews for this series!! I feel SO proud of myself right now!! I'm going to get 'choo lot a present for egging me on and being such lovely, supportive reviewers. Whether it comes in the form of a little side fic or a picture, I don't yet know. It all depends on school ;
Beyond the Shattered Glass: File 5
The Moore Detective Agency was quiet as a grave, as usual. People didn't like to call upon the still infamous Richard Moore. Ever since his daughter had left, he'd just sort of fallen apart before them. He still got called in occasionally, but that was very rare at this point. At the moment, he was sitting there, sipping on a non-alcoholic beer in the darkened den, staring at the wall. He'd given up alcohol after Rachel left. It just seemed proper.
He hadn't shaven in nearly a week, so his normally well maintained moustache was now unkempt. His carefully groomed hair was untamed and tangled, and he hadn't bothered to get out of his t-shirt and boxers, which he'd worn to bed. God he missed his little girl. His eyes fell on his favorite picture of her, which was placed on the nearest end table. She was still small, and she and that Kudo boy were sharing an ice cream. Eri had taken it when the girl was only seven. She just had the sweetest smile on her face, a dab of the chocolate treat spotting the side of her mouth. A soft smile curled at the sides of his mouth. She had always maintained her childlike innocence, no thanks to him.
He'd never really noticed how much he had loved her before. How vital a part her smiles and "I love you"s had really been in his day. Now that she was gone, though, he noticed it. He noticed it every second of every day. The phone rang, and he just stared at it for a moment. It was the most irritating phone in creation. One who's ring nagged the nearest person into answering it. He'd learned to tolerate it, as he hated answering the phone now, but something in the base of his skull said to answer. He paused, before picking up the receiver, holding it to his ear. "Hello? Moore Detective Agency...?"
"Richard." the voice on the other end began. The man jumped up, eyes wide.
"Eri! To what do I owe the honor?" He inquired somewhat sarcastically. That was when he noticed the voice of his wife ((A/N: Yes. They're still married. Separated, but married.)) was shaking. She was crying. "Eri...what's wrong?!"
"Richard!" she sobbed. "Rachel is missing. She's just disappeared without a trace!"
"What?! Rachel--what?! Listen, Eri. Calm down... I'll be there as soon as possible, okay? There's a workers strike at the airport, but I promise, I'll be there soon. Just hold on!" he was near hysterics right along with his wife. Rachel? Gone? That couldn't be good. He took a shower, cleaning up before running off to the police department. He was sure his connections could get him there soon. Hold tight Rachel. Daddy is coming to find you.
Back at the base...
Megan stared with a loathing at Jimmy from a chair across the room. A day had passed, and she had since gained the right to sit in the room with the prisoner, along with supervision of course. Jimmy looked very weak...they'd supplied him with only a couple glasses of water and a bit of stale bread. She felt horrible for him; he hadn't slept all the previous night. But for his own good, she had to be "Megan the Mean" as the thugs had dubbed her (she'd dubbed them Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum, although she hadn't confessed this aloud as of yet). She could already see her occasional cruel, sarcastic comments getting to him. She glanced at the old, dusty clock on the wall. Yep. About time for the next one already.
"Hey, stupid. Where's your GIRLFRIEND? I heard you couldn't save her. That you just let them kill her. Maybe they'll let ME play with the corpse!" Her eyes shone black thanks to a pair of contacts Sherry had given her. Jimmy looked up at what was, in his opinion, the Devil reincarnated into a little girl. She was EVIL. He didn't even understand how any living thing could be that mean. They'd given her a wounded bird earlier and she'd picked out a gun and shot it like it was nothing. Rachel truly felt awful. She just had to keep going, no matter how much this was hurting her. Why had she gotten mad with him? Maybe he would get mad at her now...
"Sh...shut up." he whispered hoarsely at her, glaring with all he could muster. He was still in denial that Rachel was dead...surely she wasn't dead. Rachel couldn't die. She'd survived EVERYTHING up until now.
"What is it? Still have hopes she's alive, do we? Yes, I'll make sure to ask Whiskey for the body. I'll mutilate it right in front of you, like I did to my mommy in front of my daddy." Each word stung rather violently at Rachel's very soul. She didn't want to do this. Jimmy looked so miserable right now. But she HAD to. She swore she could see tears well up in Jimmy's eyes...
He lifted his head, clutching the bars to his cage tight as he gave her a full-fledged look of HATE. "SHUT UP!" he screamed. Internally, she was quite taken aback, but she just closed her eyes, keeping her legs crossed at the ankles, her hands folded nearly in her lap.
"Humph. A bit touchy, aren't we? You little weakling. I haven't even started torturing you yet. Wait until they leave you ALONE with me." she forced a soft smirk onto her lips. Jimmy. Please hold on... it'll be over soon. I just need to win them over... With that, she stood. "I have school today, moron, but it's Friday, so I'll be back for you real soon. Then you're ALL mine all weekend." she trotted off, and Jimmy just glared at her. He glanced at thug number one, who remained nameless, and noted he was asleep. He curled into a corner, giving the room one last look around, before breaking down entirely. That little brat had made him realize something. Rachel WAS dead. She was gone. That was it. And it was all his fault. She'd been thriving until he came along. She had had everything going for her; The Olympic team was interested, she had grown into a gorgeous woman, and she was quite possibly the happiest she'd ever been. Then, because he was selfish and wanted to see her, the Black Organization had found them and killed her. Tears flowed freely down his cheeks and he shook, suppressing sobs. He didn't want his captors to know they'd gotten to him this much already.
He finally stopped after a good half hour, crawling over to the locks. He could easily get that combonation lock off if he wanted to, but the key lock would be the hard bit as he had nothing to pick it with. He needed a plan. He came up with one almost instantly, but that certainly didn't mean he liked it...
At the station... (Japan)
Richard Moore bounded through the doors, slamming his hands down on the "help" counter, startling the secretary. "I need to speak with Meguire. Now." he hissed. The girl, who was now severely rattled, just nodded and paged him in after saying a soft "Yessir, Mr. Moore, sir!" He was promptly directed to the Inspector's office. He bridged his fingers, leaning back in his armchair, surveying Richard as he entered and took a seat.
"So, Moore. What's so urgent?"
"Inspector. It's Rachel. She's gone missing and Eri has requested I get there immediately to assist in finding her." he said swiftly. Not a moment to spare, after all. Every minute, quite literally, counted, in his eyes.
"Rachel? Missing? Holy crickets. That girl really needs to learn to USE that karate of hers."
"Inspector, I need a ride to America. Denver, Colorado, to be more exact. The fastest thing you have."
"I dunno, Moore. It might be hard. What with the strike and all. All important business has been moved to boat. I'll see what I can do. You're lucky; One of my associates has a private jet and he's going to Las Vegas in a few hours. I may be able to get you a ride there..." A phone call and a couple of car rides later, Moore was on a plane to Denver. He twiddled his thumbs nervously. Every hour that passed decreased Rachel's shot of coming out alive. He didn't know what he'd do if his little girl showed up dead. He gulped... he didn't like that thought at all. He just decided to think optimistically on this one. He'd gotten this lucky so far. Rachel was alive. He just had to convince himself of that.
At a hotel room across town...(America)
Megan dropped her book bag on the floor, entering and plopping down on the couch, turning on the television to the news, watching the reporter drawl on about her own search. She sighed softly, listening to the lies about "fresh leads and clues" the law enforcement team was putting out to keep the public calm. After all, it would sort of freak people out if they knew a skilled karate expert had just vanished. They were saying she'd possibly gone into hiding from a stalker. Idiots... Shortly there after, Sherry walked it.
"Hey, kiddo."
"Don't call me 'kiddo', Sherry. I'm twenty-three, remember?" Sherry shrugged.
"Whatever. How's Jimmy? Whiskey had me tail some guy all night to make sure he didn't know anything about you or him."
"Cracking like a NUT. I feel rotten." Megan confided, standing up on the couch cushion, craning over the back to keep an eye on her 'partner', whom was making coffee. Sherry, set the mini pot on, allowing it to brew.
"You shouldn't, Rachel." she began, using her proper name. " It's for his own good. You have to make them believe you're this evil, satanic little girl so they'll leave you alone with him before Gin and Vodka get here."
"I still feel BAD. I mean, I'm scared to death he's going to just commit suicide or something before I can get him out of there. He's already looking pretty pitiful."
"Don't worry. He'll pull through. I know Jimmy almost as well as you do. He wont crack. Mark my words, he's thinking up a plan right now." This provided some comfort for the girl as she slid back down, returning her attention to the tv. Sherry was right. Jimmy would pull through...she hoped.
Meh: That was really...short. I just didn't want to give away to much in this chapter. I promise the next one will be longer. Promise. Anywho. All goes well at school. It's still icky, but yeah. Oh! And our AC has been fixed. I'm NOT hot out of my wits!! YAY. Yessum. So anyways. I wanna get up to 80 reviews before my next chapter is up. My goal is over 100 reviews on this one fic before it's over -nods- that MAY be raised upon being reached XD