Shattered

By: Abellen

Chapter 12: Forsaken

I followed Fillmore back into the office and rolled my eyes at the sight that awaited me. Rossi was there, perched on Fillmore's desk. She had a horrid pout on her lips, but as soon as she saw Fillmore it disappeared and her pretty face lit up. She would have been beautiful if it hadn't been so false.

'Oh, Fillmore! I mean, Officer Fillmore,' she corrected herself with a smile. 'I desperately need your help. There's been another burglary!'

I watched Fillmore's face carefully and noted with some satisfaction that he didn't seem remotely happy to see Rossi. She twittered away at him until he finally relented and, with a despairing look in my direction, followed her out of the door.

'You let him go with her?' Anza asked in surprise from where he sat at his desk. 'You do know they used to date, right?'

'Yeah, he's mentioned it. I don't think it's too much of a conflict of interest. I mean, he wasn't falling all over himself to help her, was he?' I asked.

'Unlike some people,' Tehama added scathingly. She looked frazzled and annoyed, and I winced when I remembered I'd left printing powder all over her desk.

'Funny, I thought you'd have wanted to protect your interests, Ingrid,' Anza said, no doubt watching my face intently.

'What do you mean?' I asked absent-mindedly, trying to tidy up Karen's desk and read at the same time. I knew what was coming and tried to give out a "back-off" vibe, but Anza didn't pick up on it.

'You're terrible at playing dumb. There's something going on between you and Fillmore, and whatever it is, it's mutual.'

'Like you and Karen, you mean?' I retorted without missing a beat.

The office fell silent and I glanced up. Both Anza and Karen were flushed a brilliant crimson. Anza was opening and closing his mouth like a fish but Karen was glaring at me, and I felt a twinge of sorrow at embarrassing her in the process of shutting Anza up.

The bell rang loudly and I made my escape, promising myself that I'd buy Karen some chocolate at lunch as a peace offering. Honestly though, Anza was hardly one to talk if he couldn't notice his own obvious and mutual attraction to Tehama!

I slipped into science and took up my usual seat by the window. As I was unpacking my things I saw Tony walk into the room. He looked paler than usual, and his hair, normally meticulously spiked, was a ruffled chaos of blue and black. His grey eyes found me with no trouble and he made his way over.

'Ingrid, I really need to talk to you. Can you meet me at break?'

'Sure. Are you okay?'

Tony was looking over his shoulder and his gaze returned to mine before he nodded. 'Yeah, yeah I'm good. Just meet me around the back of school, by the old swing-set, okay?'

'Okay, Tony. I'll see you there.'

'Thanks.' He grinned, and I saw a flicker of the carefree young man I'd got used to over the past few days. Something was obviously bothering him and making him edgy. I doubted it was going to be as simple as the upcoming exam day making him nervous.

Someone slammed some books down on their desk and I looked around to see Fillmore scowling at Tony's retreating back. He didn't look happy, and I couldn't work out if it was because of Rossi's pestering, or Monaco's attention to me. His eyes met mine and could see the anger written in every feature of his face. I raised a questioning eyebrow, but couldn't ask him anything because the teacher came in and started pairing us off for our Chemistry experiments.

I winced as Tehama was instructed to pair up with me. She looked thunderous at the idea, and I hastily considered my options. Desperate apologies were the best I could come up with.

She put her things down in silence and tucked her hair up out of the way of the caustic chemicals we were going to use.

'Karen, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I didn't mean to embarrass you, just Anza.'

'You should have thought about that before you opened your mouth, shouldn't you?'

'Yeah,' I mumbled, bowing my head guiltily.

Karen pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. 'I suppose he did deserve it; it's just a complicated subject. I mean, sometimes I think he really likes me.' She paused, passing me a bottle of acid as the teacher scribbled on the board, 'Other times I'm not so sure.'

'Why don't you just go with it? Ask him out and see what happens.'

Tehama snorted. 'Yeah, right. I'm a traditionalist. If he wants me to go out with him, he can ask me. Otherwise, well, he doesn't know what he's missing does he?'

I nodded in agreement. 'So, am I forgiven?'

Karen looked stern for a moment, before she smiled. 'Yeah, I guess, but only if you answer this question honestly. Is there something going on between you and Fillmore?'

I cringed inwardly, but huffed a resigned breath. Tehama could be discreet when she wanted to be. 'Honestly? I don't know.' I sighed and followed the instructions on the board dexterously, watching the concoction turn the required blue. 'I mean, yes, something is going on, but I don't know what it is.'

Karen gave on satisfied nod, before the pair of us got down to work.

The lesson flew by, but I couldn't get rid of the hot feeling on the back of my neck. I was sure that Fillmore was glaring at me, but I couldn't for the life of me think why. 'Hey Karen, does Fillmore still look angry?'

Karen reached into her pencil case and pulled out a small mirror. She made a show of getting something out of her eye and discretely shifted the focus of the mirror.

'Yes. Funny, he was in a good mood before Rossi dragged him off.'

'Tony was talking to me earlier, but I think Fillmore's angry at me.'

'Have you got any deep, dark secrets that Rossi might have told him?'

'I don't think so.'

'Have you lied to Fillmore for his own protection recently?'

'No…' I mumbled beginning to worry more. 'Tony was talking to me before the start of lessons.'

Karen shook her head. 'No, if it was jealousy he would be glaring at Tony, not you. You've done something he didn't like.'

'What's new?' I asked weakly, picking up our glassware and taking it over to the sink.

I was rinsing a flask out carefully when I became aware of Fillmore's presence. His lips were drawn into a thin line and his eyebrows had fallen into a scowl. 'Why didn't you tell me?'

'Tell you what?' I asked, my mind racing. There were several things that I didn't want Fillmore to know about my past, but none of it was the likely cause of his anger.

'That you used to go out with Harris.'

The flask in my hand slipped and I caught it deftly before piercing Fillmore with the coolest glare I could muster. 'What?'

'No talking at the sink please, move along now,' the teacher called out.

I put the flask down forcefully and turned away, stripping out of the lab coat as I stalked back to the desk. Karen held out a hand in concern but I shook my head and grabbed my bag, storming out of the door just as the bell rang.

I didn't know who to be more furious at: Rossi for undoubtedly feeding Fillmore a load of lies, or Fillmore for believing her. My stomach churned in horror. Maybe Harris was spreading it around that I had gone out with him. The thought made me feel physically unwell. My legs were shaking and a cool, clinging sweat had broken out across my skin.

I pushed open the doors that led out towards the back of the school and gasped as the cold air hit me like a fist. Tony had asked to speak to me, and the prospect of talking to him was more comforting than the one of setting Fillmore straight. It stung that he'd believed it, that he had even begun to think it was true! I gritted my teeth, reminding myself to check my emotions at the door. Feelings weren't logical, and I needed logic if I was going to crack this case.

I made my way to the old swing-set and waited, my eyes focussed on the ground and my thoughts elsewhere. The old, dead grass was littered with cigarette butts. Some of the oldest middle school students smoked around here, and despite our best efforts it was something we couldn't stamp out. If Tony smoked he was good at hiding it. I'd been close enough to him, and I'd never picked up on the telltale tobacco scent.

I looked up at the sound of someone jogging closer and gave Tony a weary smile. 'You wanted to talk to me?'

'Yeah. I got a call from the mysterious female voice this morning.'

'You did?' I leaned forward, giving him my full attention.

'I take it you haven't got one yet?'

'No, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.'

'They want us to fail the tests on Thursday.'

I frowned in confusion. 'Is that all, they just asked you to fail?'

'No, it's blackmail.' He drew in a sharp breath and I saw him pat his pockets.

'Don't smoke in front of me, Tony, or I'll have to book you.' I felt a sharp stab of disappointment that he could indulge in such a bad habit, but I pushed the thought down.

Tony nodded and clenched his hands into fists, as though to try and control his fidgeting. 'They said they'd make my sister's years at X a misery if I didn't throw the exams. She's only just started! What am I going to do?'

'Tell the Principal, and make an official report,' I instructed him, my mind racing.

'I can't. Don't you see I'm risking so much by just telling you?'

'So you're just going to let them walk all over you?' I asked in disbelief.

'No, I'm telling you so that you can stop it. Please, you've got to! Ingrid, you're the brightest person in this school. I'm pretty sure that your IQ is higher than any teacher here. If you can't discover what's going on then no one can.' He grabbed my hands and held them tight and I smothered a flinch at the desperation of his grip. 'I can't choose between my sister and my future, Ingrid!'

I took a deep breath and shook my head. The Principal needed to know, not to mention the other Safety Patrol members. 'Tony, I can't do this on my own.'

'You've got to, please? If this gets out they'll know that I told someone, and my sister can bid a good life at X goodbye!'

'You really expect me to find out who's doing this, and why, and prove it without any help?' I looked blindly back at the school and gave a jolt when I saw that Fillmore was leaning against the wall. Even at this distance I could see that his arms were crossed. No doubt he could see both Tony and I, and was reading the situation entirely wrong. 'I'll try, but I can't make any promises about not telling other people.'

'Thanks, that's better than nothing.' Tony breathed out a sigh of relief and withdrew his grip on my hands. 'Look, watch yourself okay Ingrid? I don't think these people are just fooling around.'

'Me neither, Tony. Be careful, and Tony?'

'Yeah?.'

'Don't light up until me and my partner have gone inside, and do yourself a favour.'

'What might that be?'

'Quit.'

I turned on my heel and walked away, balling my hands into fists by my side in my efforts to remain calm. Tony was crazy if he thought there was an easy way out of this, and I knew I was crazy for trying to find it for him. I wanted to scream, or kick something. I had that hot, heavy feeling in my mind, which meant I was trying to deal with too much at once. There were so many things demanding my full attention that I felt like butter, spread too thin over a piece of toast.

Fillmore opened the door for me wordlessly and motioned me through. His jaw was clenched and I could see he was trying hard to keep his feelings in check. His anger about Harris had probably just escalated even further at the sight of me with Tony. I felt my own irritation swell as he grabbed my shoulders and spun me to face him.

'What is going on?' he demanded, his eyes fierce as he crowded me into a corner, effectively trapping me. 'First Harris, now Monaco?'

'You don't know what you're talking about. Fillmore.'

'I have eyes, Ingrid. I saw that touching scene outside,' he sneered, his disdain clear. 'Whatever happened about not getting involved in a case?'

'I'm already involved in the case, Fillmore! I received a rose and a threat and a phone call, just like all the other victims!'

'That doesn't mean you can get intimate with Monaco!'

I put my hands on his shoulders and shoved him hard. He stumbled backwards, more out of surprise than as a result of my strength. 'What is between Tony and me is private, and none of your business!'

'I thought you were smarter than this, Ingrid,' Fillmore muttered, his voice heavy with disappointment.

'And I thought you trusted me! It just goes to show how wrong I was!'

'What's to trust? You lied, Third.'

I glared at him with my hands on my hips. I wanted to set him straight about Tony, and Harris, but his belligerence was coming through loud and clear. Right now he didn't want to listen. 'Why don't you ask for the truth when you're ready to hear it? Goodbye, Fillmore.'

I slipped around him and walked away, moving blindly towards the office. I felt tears of frustration and distress well up in my eyes. Behind me I heard him punch the lockers in anger and swear softly. I picked up my pace and finally made it to the sanctuary of the office. The desks were thankfully empty and with a glance at the clock I realised lessons were going to start in a few moments. I was about to make my way to class when the phone on my desk rang shrilly.

My stomach gave a tingling jolt and I took a deep breath before picking up the receiver and hitting on the record button on the answering machine. 'Hello?'

'Miss Third, what a pleasure to hear your voice,' the husky, disguised voice murmured, sending chills down my spine. 'You will throw the exams on Thursday. Ensure that you do not pass, even by accident.'

'Or what?'

The voice laughed and the answer turned my blood to ice. 'We have been restraining someone who is quite desperate to get to know you better. We suggest that you don't tell anyone in authority, or we will punish you regardless of the outcome of the exams. Fail, Miss Third, or we will let Michael Harris have exactly what he wants. You.'

The line disconnected and the receiver slipped from my numb fingers. My heart thudded heavily in my ears and I felt the blood rush from my head. The room spun and my stomach coiled with greasy nausea. I leapt over my bag and raced to the bathroom, only just making it to the sinks before losing the pitiful remnants of my breakfast.

I bent over, my face pressed against the cool porcelain as I gasped for air. I had two days to find out who was behind this and put a stop to it, and I knew I had to try and do it alone.

I was doomed.

End of Chapter 12

A/N: Fillmore's mood change will be better explained in the next chapter, when we return to his point of view. Is Ingrid going to be able to stop the blackmailers, or will she have to throw the exams to save herself from Harris' clutches? As for the early update (just over 24 hours later no less!) Consider it a Halloween present!