Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters don't belong to me. Any other characters you might not recognize is probably mine.
Author's notes: Yay, here's chapter 4! Unfortunately, clearing up my schedule to write the story didn't turn up as well as I had hoped. Still behind in my writing, but at least I had an update . Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter: Panda-Monium and Lost-Remembrance - really appreciate it. Enjoy and hope you like how the story is going!
Chapter 4: Unraveled: Part 1
Present
The trip to the police station had been silent. After receiving the phone call from Quatre, Heero had placed Sally under protective custody and taken Relena to the station for questioning.
Relena looked at the stoic young man beside her. "So, how have you been? I haven't seen you since the …um… the night of the party."
Heero noticed how her voiced had trailed off and knew that she was remembering what happened that night seven years ago. Quickly sparing her a glance, he grunted a reply and led her towards the interrogation room.
"Detective Yuy!"
Two heads swung in the direction of the voice and saw an officer jog towards them. The man stopped and paused to catch his breath.
"So, we finally have someone in for questioning, huh? Where's our guy?" Officer Daine asked. He looked at the woman standing next to the detective and did a double take. "Whoa, aren't you one of those Peacecrafts? What are you doing here?"
"She's 'our guy'," Heero said, motioning for the other two to proceed inside the room.
Relena calmly sat down in one of the chairs and looked at the two men. Daine gave the girl a nervous glance before whispering his thoughts to Heero.
"You sure, you wanna involve her?" he asked. "Imagine the trouble we're gonna get if Milliardo finds out that you've dragged his family into this."
Heero kept his eyes on Relena. "But she is involved. It was her books we found at the crime scenes."
"Look, Heero," she replied. "I don't really understand what's going on here. Yes, I wrote those books, but I hardly see what it has to do with the death of six people."
Daine briefly wondered at the girl's familiarity with the detective. Then asked, "You're Linera McPierson? But … then… how … that means –"
"She may have killed all those people."
This time it was Relena's turn to be surprised. "What!" she shouted, shooting straight out of her chair. "Are you saying that you brought me in, because you think I'm the killer? Are you insane! Heero, I think you know me better than that."
The officer looked at the arguing couple with interest. "You two know each other?"
Heero ignored Daine's question. "Then give me an alibi for each night of the murder."
"You want an alibi? Fine, how about a hundred of them? I've been in Italy. I wasn't even here until a few days ago."
Before Heero can say anything, the door opened and a blonde man rushed in.
"Heero, I think you might want to see this before you start … accusing …" he trailed off when he saw Relena's expression. "Too late."
Her irritation quickly faded when she saw the familiar face. "Quatre? What are you doing here?"
"What, you two know each other also?" Daine asked the two blondes. This time, even Heero waited for the answer.
Quatre closed the door and smiled at them. "Yeah, we went to college together." Then Daine's words came back to him. "Wait, what do you mean 'also'?"
"He was referring to my acquaintance with Heero," Relena said. "He and I went to high school together."
"Wow, really? Imagine the coincidence, what a small world," Quatre replied with a laugh. "Hey, it's like a mini reunion or something."
"Can we get back on track people?" Heero said to everyone.
"Um, right." Quatre handed Heero the papers he was holding.
"What's this?" the brunette asked.
"Flight records, conventions she attended in Italy in the past few months, and her other whereabouts. I think it's safe to rule her out as a suspect."
Heero looked up at Relena. She looked back in triumph.
"She could be working with an accomplice. Is this some deranged way of promoting your work?"
Relena lost her smile. "I think you're one who's deranged."
Heero's lips almost twitched into a smile, but stopped it in time. He sighed and dropped the papers on the table. Deep down he knew that Relena wasn't the killer. But she was still involved.
But did this make her a target instead of a suspect? he asked himself. Her friend did get attacked because the guy thought she was Relena.
A thought suddenly struck him. "He doesn't know," Heero said out loud and received several blank stares.
"It was something her friend said," the detective continued as he walked around the room. "She said the man that attacked her kept calling her 'Lenira' and kept asking her if she liked what he's done."
He stopped pacing around the room and looked Relena. "How many people know about your penname?"
"Very few," she answered. "I really like my anonymity."
"I think we're dealing with a crazed fan."
TBC
Preview from chapter 5:
Relena's silent monologue was interrupted when heard a noise come from the kitchen. Heart beating faster, the girl took a tentative step towards the sound.
"Sally?" she called out hopefully.
When there was no answer, she slowly made her way to the kitchen. As she rounded the corner, Relena gave a startled gasp when a tall figure suddenly stepped out in front of her.
"Hey there," the masked man said smoothly. "Thought it's about time I introduced myself to you, Ms. McPierson."
