Shattered

By: Abellen

Chapter Thirteen: Fury

How could I have been so stupid? I shook my head bitterly to myself as I sat in history class waiting for the teacher to arrive. How could I have been such a fool? Rossi had let it slip in conversation that Ingrid has used to go out with Harris. At first I had just laughed in disbelief and told her she was mistaken, but the more I thought about it the more it began to make sense. Ingrid was protecting him, and that was why. I had never felt so betrayed.

It was in the media almost every day how beaten wives stayed with their violent husbands, either out of devotion or because they had nowhere else to go. It was clear that love messed with people's perceptions. A year ago I would have seen Ingrid's actions for what they were, rather than ignoring the obvious. I scowled more ferociously when I realised I'd just admitted that I loved Ingrid, or at least cared for her more than I should. Normally Ingrid would report anyone who laid a hand on her, but he had broken a stitch and made her bleed and she'd claimed it was an accident! I huffed in disbelief and slouched lower in my chair.

Then there was Monaco. That I should have seen from the start. I had seen the way he looked at her, and I'd just ignored it. I'd thought she wasn't interested. Then I find her holding his hands in a secluded, quiet spot of the school. For all I knew they'd been kissing a moment before, and I'd only just missed it! I seethed as jealousy and pain surged in my chest. I'd started to think that Ingrid cared about me as more than a friend. I guess it just went to show how stupid I'd been.

The teacher walked in and set her books down before she began to call the register. I looked at the clock and scowled, feeling the familiar sick anxiety creeping up on me. Ingrid didn't miss class, and she was already late. The teacher looked up when no one answered Ingrid's name. She shook her head in concern and made a mark on the roll call before continuing, and I saw Anza and Tehama share a worried glance.

We were supposed to carry on with a research project on the civil war, and after ten minutes we were released to the library with the teacher's supervision. Anza and Tehama came my way and I held up a hand to ward off their questions. 'I don't know where she is. I saw her about ten minutes before class. She must have got held up somewhere.'

'Maybe it's Harris?' Anza asked quietly, his face pale.

'Yeah,' I bit my lip in concern, 'but she hasn't exactly been truthful about that.'

'What?' Karen asked, looking up from the book in her hands.

'She used to go out with him. Who knows what else she hasn't told us,' I mumbled, scowling unseeingly at the shelves.

'Did Ingrid tell you that?' Karen asked dubiously, pursing her lips.

'No, but she hasn't denied it either.'

'Well, who told you?'

'Tanja Rossi.'

Karen gave a short, mirthless laugh and shook her head. 'You believed what that viper said? I bet you didn't even give Ingrid a chance to deny it, did you?'

'She had plenty of chances!' I protested, but the look on my face must've given away my uncertainty.

'But would you have listened or believed her if she did? Why are you so set on thinking the worst?' Karen asked.

'Because it makes sense,' Anza interrupted quietly. 'If she used to go out with him, and maybe still has feelings for him then it explains why she was protecting him.'

'Exactly.'

Tehama slammed the book back on the shelf, earning herself a disapproving glare from the librarian. 'Are you two out of your minds? Ingrid doesn't care about Harris! When you mention someone she has feelings for she gets a mischievous little grin on her face and flushes slightly.' Karen gave me a knowing look before she continued, 'If you mention Harris she looks horrified and ill. She probably didn't want to tell Folsom about him because he threatened her or something. She is frightened of him and what he might do to her. She would never have gone out with him, and if she did she would have been honest. You know Ingrid, she's honourable.'

'Not honourable enough to resist getting involved with a case,' I said quietly. Karen may have provided a reasonable argument over Harris, but that still left the issue of Tony Monaco. 'I saw her and Tony together.'

Karen bit her lip, her eyes widening in uncertainty. 'What exactly did you see?'

'They were talking, but he had both her hands in his. They looked pretty close.'

'Did you jump on her about that too?' Karen asked, wincing when I nodded in agreement. 'So let me get this straight. Firstly you accused her of lying to you, and once going out with a guy who broke her ribs and is now making her life a misery. Then you saw her in a slightly intimate situation and didn't stop to ask questions, but shouted at her for getting involved?'

'You blew it,' Anza said, shaking his head. 'She's never going to speak to you again.'

'That's no loss,' I said harshly, shoving my hands in my pockets and staring at the carpet.

'Fillmore, you don't mean that,' Anza said quietly. 'If nothing else don't you owe it to your friendship to let her have her say? Maybe Rossi lied about Harris, and the Monaco thing is just a big misunderstanding.'

'The most important thing is finding out if she's all right. Ingrid never misses class without a good reason. Fillmore, what if something bad is going down and you've left her to deal with it by herself?' Karen asked quietly. 'Go find her and make sure she's all right.'

'Maybe one of you two should go,' I suggested.

'No, Fillmore, you're on your own. Radio in if you need help,' Anza said firmly. 'Maybe you're right to be angry at her, but at least give her a chance to defend herself.'

Grudgingly I did as I was told. My pride still stung, and I wasn't quite ready to believe that my doubts and suspicions were as baseless as Karen suggested, but between her and Anza they'd hit on the truth. Ingrid was my best friend. She had proven time and again that she could be there for me when I needed her, and I couldn't throw that away. Maybe that's why the thought of her deceiving me hurt so much. I couldn't bring myself to acknowledge that maybe she didn't trust me enough to tell me everything.

The teacher nodded her consent when I asked if I could go and look for Ingrid, and without hesitation I made my way to the Safety Patrol office. It was a long acknowledged hiding place for each and every one of us. There wasn't anyone with a badge who hadn't hid in here at one point or another.

The door was unlocked and I peered inside. Empty desks filled the space, and there was no sound but the hum of the computer and a persistent buzzing. Ingrid knew better than to leave the office unlocked; it called all our evidence into suspicion for one thing. The phone receiver was on the floor and I picked it up cautiously, listening to the dull dial tone at the other end before placing it back on the hook.

Ingrid's bag was beside her desk and I groaned when I saw her radio, well, my radio, sticking out of the top. Wherever she was she couldn't have gone far. There were no signs of a struggle, and nothing to suggest that she'd been taken by force. The question was, if she'd left the office willingly what could have made her forget to lock the door?

I looked up when the door opened and Ingrid walked in with a bottle of water clutched in her hand. She was normally pale, almost ivory-skinned, but now she looked slightly blue and she was shivering fitfully. She jumped backwards when she saw me and collided painfully with the filing cabinet.

'Geez, Fillmore! What are you trying to do, give me a heart attack?'

'Sorry.' I'd reached out to steady her, and she looked at my upturned palm like it was poisonous. 'I just came to see why you weren't in class.'

'I – um,' she frowned and turned away, rubbing a hand across her forehead. 'I'm not feeling too well.'

'Is it your head?'

'No, I think it must've been something I ate.'

I rolled my eyes at the barefaced lie. She didn't sound very convinced of it herself. I watched as she sagged into her chair and stared at her feet.

'Why are you lying to me?' I asked quietly. The hurt I'd been trying to hide came through in those words and she screwed up her eyes tight. 'Don't you trust me at all?'

'Of course I do, it's just there are some things I can't tell you!'

'Why, what's stopping you?'

'Several things, and I can't tell you about any of them.' She pressed her fingertips to her forehead as though she were trying to get a firmer grip on her thoughts. Eventually she looked up at me with determined eyes. 'Please Fillmore; you have to believe me when I say that I never went out with Harris. The very thought…' she trailed off, looking ill.

I sighed heavily and gave a curt nod, before another sharp stab of jealousy reminded me of the other reason for my anger. 'What about Monaco?'

Ingrid gave a mirthless chuckle and shook her head. 'We were just talking. He's concerned about the exams and he was asking me to do him a favour.'

'He was holding your hands!'

'Why does that bother you so much, Fillmore? He's a very physical person. It didn't mean anything, and it would have been rude to pull away.'

'Ingrid, I've seen the way he looks at you. Even Tehama's noticed that he seems to see you as more than just someone to help him with his homework!'

Ingrid took a large swig from the bottle of water and froze suddenly, staring at something on her desk. I tried to follow her line of sight, but I couldn't work out what had caught her attention. In a split second she tore her gaze away and shook her head again. 'Fillmore, I don't see what Tehama thinks is there. Besides, it doesn't matter what Tony thinks of me. I wouldn't get involved with him, and not just because he's a victim in this case. I just don't see him that way. He's just Tony.'

I looked at her face intently, trying to glean the truth from her expression. I could tell that, in this at least, Ingrid wasn't lying. I sighed and hung my head, feeling hot with shame. I had over-reacted, and I'd done it in the worst way possible.

I moved from where I was leaning against my desk and crouched down in front of her. 'Ingrid, I'm sorry for not listening to you earlier, and leaping to conclusions. It just feels like you're not being totally straight with me, and I'm left to fill in the gaps,' I sighed regretfully. 'I know I'm getting things wrong, but…'

Ingrid reached out and put her fingertips to my lips, effectively silencing my apology that was rapidly heading towards another accusation. She smiled weakly before taking hold of my hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. 'I'm sorry I hurt you, Fillmore. Believe me, as soon as I can I'll tell you everything. It's just not possible right now.' She glanced at the clock and her face twisted into a grimace. 'You'd better get back to class. Can you tell the teacher that I'm a bit unwell?'

'Yeah, sure. Do you want me to get anything for you?'

'No, I'll be okay, thanks.'

I got up to leave, but stopped at the door and looked over my shoulder. She had opened the blue book again and was reading it intently. Her hair swung down in a thick swathe of black and she reached up to tuck it behind her ear. 'Ingrid?'

She looked up, and I could see why Harris was fixated on her eyes. They really were beautiful, even when I was still a bit angry with her. 'If you're in any danger, you will tell someone won't you? A grown up I mean.'

She stared at me for a moment before nodding in agreement. 'Of course, Fillmore.'

I turned away, shutting the door behind me and letting my shoulders slump. Distantly I heard Ingrid get up, and the evidence drawer open and close. She was working on something, but this case was different. At some point it had stopped being ours, and had become hers.

I wandered along the corridor, in no hurry to get back to class, trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle. It seemed almost unbelievable that it was only just over a week ago that Ingrid had been involved in the car-crash, and only a handful of days since she'd buried her parents. Those events would be earth shattering to anyone, but they seemed eclipsed by the things happening at school. Ingrid had struggled with her priorities, torn between solving the puzzles of the present and laying the past to rest. It was obvious that, while she had physically dealt with things, mentally she was off balance.

I thought back to the beginning. It had started with a rose on her doorstep and a note slipped under the office door. Before long it had become clear that the top five students at X middle school were the targets, but why had they stopped at those five? As far as I knew nothing else had been heard from the callers. At the same time over sixty dollars had been stolen from the cheerleaders' cash box. I was with Tehama on that one; it had all the trademarks of an inside job, but progress had been slow. I didn't know if the two cases were linked, and if they were I couldn't see how one was relevant to another.

I looked up when someone tapped my shoulder, and I realised that I'd reached the library. Anza and Tehama were standing in front of me, both trying to read the expression on my face.

'Well?' Karen demanded.

'She's all right, just feeling a bit poorly.'

'And what about Harris, and Monaco, did she say anything about that?' Anza asked, watching me intently, the book in his hands ignored.

'She says she never went out with Harris, and isn't with Monaco. She does admit that she's not being entirely truthful though. She said something about…' I trailed off, trying to remember her exact words. 'She was really vague, and said that there were some things she couldn't tell me, and she couldn't tell me what was stopping her either.'

Karen sat down at one of the desks and put her chin on her palm. 'Maybe it's to do with the note and the phone call. I mean it's been very quiet. I would have expected them to make their move by now. Have you heard anything from any of the victims?'

'Nothing,' I replied. 'To be honest I can't even remember the girls' names.'

'I've been thinking about it, and talking it over with Anza. Why would anyone call people and threaten them so vaguely unless they were planning to clarify it all later? If it was bad enough maybe the victims wouldn't tell us. If it was blackmail, or they were in direct risk then they'd keep it quiet.'

'But who's got motive for that kind of thing?' I asked, leaning against one of the bookshelves. 'We don't have a motive or any real suspects. Without a reason for the threats we're in the dark.'

'Well what about revenge?' Anza asked.

'No, they don't seem to have any common enemies, except those below them in the grade listings, and we checked them all out.'

'Did you check their alibis?'

I paused and tried to remember. I'd only spoken to Harris. Ingrid had covered the two suspects, and she'd taken their alibis, but had she checked them?

'I don't know, did you check Harris'?' I asked Anza.

'Yeah, his checked out. What were the names of those suspects and we can see if they stand up or not.'

'Tanja Rossi and Antony Flint.'

'Hmm, that's a recurring name these days,' Karen said softly. 'I'll see what I can find on her.'

'I'll check out the bloke. Maybe there's a false alibi somewhere.'

'Any leads are better than none,' I said, rubbing my palm across my head. 'I'll work on the motive. It's all to do with the top five students. That's important somehow, I'm sure of it.'

'What about Ingrid?' Anza asked carefully.

'She hasn't told us anything, or asked for our help. We're using our own initiative.'

'And if she asks us what we're doing?'

'Tell the truth, Karen. We're solving a case.'

Anza and Karen nodded, both smiling despite the seriousness of the situation. Together we packed up our things and waited for the lesson to end. As the bell rang I felt the hollow, helpless anger fade a little. Whatever was going on with Ingrid she didn't have to do it alone. There was no way I was going to stand by and let her struggle through on her own. I'd help her in whatever way I could.

I just hoped that she had the sense to help herself.

End of Chapter 13

A/N: Wow, I'm getting these chapters out fast now. (Thirteen chapters in eight weeks isn't bad!) I have to say this isn't my favourite chapter. Fillmore wasn't being very cooperative! I would love to have an update out on Sunday too, but I'm not sure if I'll manage it. It'll either be Sunday or next Thursday!

As always, thank you so much to my reviewers. In answer to your questions the projected length in this is twenty-one chapters. It's probably going to be more drama than romance from now on BUT the sequel will be mostly about the consequences of this story and the relationship, rather than any major case.