Duplicity
By Divamercury
Hope you enjoy Chapter 6! Thanks, Pix, for my continuing loan of Raven Coleand all you readers out there, if you want to understand a certain line in this chapter, read One's Will by Pixie-Dust. Thanks for paying attention this long, and please, PLEASE review. I haven't been getting manywhich is a definite turn-off for my muse. Lots of dialogue in this one! Enjoy!
~DM
Chapter 6
The forensics team finished up in Irons's office and Connor already had statements from Adair, Gina, and Timothy Barker.
This kid's gonna be one hell of a cop,' I thought to myself, grinning.
"Pez, we're pretty much done here. I think we should head out."
"All right. We'll just have to wait to hear from Vic about the cause of death. Let's get out of here."
We left Vorschlag Industries for what—I hoped—was the last time and headed back to the precinct.
We got out of the car in the parking lot and headed up to the building. I stopped on the front step.
"You go ahead and get back to that paperwork. It's not signing itself. I just need to make one quick phone call."
"Sure, Pez. Just don't take too long; your share of paper's calling your name." Connor put a hand up to his ear, pretending to hear it.
"Get back in there, you wacko," I said, grinning helplessly. He shuffled inside and my grin faded as I remembered what I had to go and do. Sighing, I flipped open my cell phone and hit one button on my speed dial.
"Sara?" Ian answered. I was one of the only people that knew his numberand the only one that currently used it.
"Yeah, it's me. Whatcha up to?"
"Waiting in a ridiculously crowded unemployment office. I'm having a blast. I'm number D15 and they're only on A12."
"Ouch. I can tell you're really enjoying yourself. Listen, IanI've got some news. I'm not sure if you'll find it good or bad."
"Well, what is it?" he asked.
"I'm not sure how to say it"
"Don't try to sugarcoat it. Just be blunt. You've never had a problem with that before." I heard the smile in his voice.
"Hey, watch it, mister. You're treading on dangerous ground. Remember who you're talking to. Especially if you want to get into the apartment tonight."
"I know. I just couldn't resist. So what's the big news?"
I took a deep breath and began. "IanIrons died this morning. We don't know how yet, but I thought I should let you know."
Silence on the other end of the line.
"Ian? You okay?"
"I suppose. On one hand I'm glad he's deadso he is no longer hanging over us. Threatening you. But on the other"
"You're sorry he's dead because he raised you," I finished.
"There goes that bluntness again. Yes, that's what I was trying to say."
"I'll let you know as soon as anything meaningful turns up. You'll probably still be sitting there," I teased.
"Probably so," he chuckled. "This line doesn't appear to be moving at all."
"Well, good luck, andIan?"
"Yes?"
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry."
"Thank you, my love. I'll let you get back to work. No doubt you have quite an accumulation of paperwork to do."
I groaned. "Thanks for reminding me. See you tonight."
"Not if I see you first," he returned.
"You probably will, knowing you. Bye," I said, laughing a little, and we both hung up.
Satisfied, but still a little worried about Ian, I headed back inside. I passed a TV on the way in that was tuned to VCN News, talking about—what else?—its founder's demise.
"So, the press already knows about it," I said to Connor as I came in.
"Yup. We haven't gotten grilled yet, but Laredo's been fielding calls all morning. Not happy about it, either."
"I don't blame him," I said as I sat down at my desk and searched for a pen under the towers of documents on top of said furniture.
"What do you think about it?" Connor asked abruptly.
"Come again?" I asked.
"Irons's death. What do you think? How? And how do you feel about it?"
"Personally, I feel that the bastard deserved it."
"Really?" Connor asked, quirking an eyebrow.
The kid's been hanging around me too long,' I thought. Aloud I said, "Yeah. He was a real jerk. I met him more times than I'd care to remember."
"How do you think he died?"
"Something internal. No one came in and hacked him up, obviouslyso it's probably not related to our other murder. Different MO. We haven't even proven that Irons was murdered yet, but that's my wager. We'll just have to see."
Connor nodded solemnly. "I think poison."
"Maybe. Could have been heart attack. But we'll just have to see."
My cell phone chose that moment to shatter the silence.
"Hello?"
"Ding dong, the bastard's dead!" Raven Cole sang cheerfully in my ear. "Yeah, I know, don't start passing out the Grammies yetI definitely don't deserve one."
"Hmm hi to you too, Raven, and you seem so distraught about his death," I remarked. "Besides, what would you do with a Grammy? Use it as a weapon?"
Raven?' Connor mouthed. Weird name.'
Watch it. She's a friend,' I returned.
"Oh, yes. Probably the only good I could get out of it. It's just that Irons dyingwas such a shock, andI don't know if I can make it through this difficult time" Raven trailed off.
"Are you going to thank the Academy now?" I groaned.
"Just send me my Oscar in the mail, Sara."
"Sure. So how are you holding up?"
"Just peachy. Everything's coming up daisies and lemon drops."
"Ooookaysorry I asked."
"Hey, I'm just glad Irons kicked the bucket already. My life was enough of a hell trying to deal with himI'll never forget that day that I first learned to control my powers"
"What, when Kenny got the red-hot poker and the dry ice spoon?" Connor gave me a weird look after that one, not that I blamed him, but I ignored it. Raven's own description, shared with me long ago, had stuck in my mind because of its originality.
"Oh, yeahyou'd better believe it." I could picture Raven smirking on the other end.
"So how's everything going with you and Jackson?" I asked.
"Great. Destiny's definitely a good reason to hook up, as I'm sure you know."
"Absolutely." I noticed Connor's attention waning, thankfully.
"How's Ian doing? I haven't heard from him in a while. It's weird; we've all diverged since the warehouse fire."
"He's great. Not sure how he's going to take this, though"
"Well, he was around the man longer than I was. He's stronger than I could have ever imagined, living with Irons for his entire life. He's lucky he's got you."
"Oh, stop it, Raven. You're going to make me blush." Connor's ears pricked up at that and he started paying closer attention. " We should all get back together sometime soon. I'll talk to Gabe and Mac about ityou two are for it?"
"Absolutely. It'll be fun. Just like the old days."
"The old days were only six weeks ago. You make it sound like six years."
"True. Well, anyway, before I go, I heard about that murder case you're trying to solve."
"The one where I got a special present?" I asked with disgust.
"Yep. Actually, Jackson heard about it. It piqued his interest, so he and I are going to see what we can dig up. Hopefully if the killer's a serial we can stop him or her before another person gets killed. You don't think this killer has anything to do with Irons's death, do you?"
"With what I know, no. Irons's death wasn't messyit probably was something internal like poison or heart attack, but we don't have results yet. Anyway, let me know if you find out anythingand Raven?"
"Yeah, Sara?"
"Don't go all vigilante on me, okay? If you find something, tell me and let me handle it."
"Okay," Raven said reluctantly. "You take all the fun out of this, Sara."
"Murder isn't fun, Raven."
"Depends on if you do it the right way," Raven teased.
"I never said you had immunity, Raven. Don't push me," I returned, fully facetious.
"Touché. See ya, Sara."
"Bye Bye, Birdie."
Raven groaned before she hung up, and I couldn't help laughing.
"What the hell was that all about, Pez? Red-hot pokers, dry ice spoons, vigilantes? Riveting stuff, but I hardly understood it."
"More than you'd care to know about, Connor. Maybe someday you'll find out, butdon't count on it. And you weren't supposed to understand it. It was my conversation."
"This Raven friend of yours seems like a real live wire."
"Trueand if nothing else, Raven is most assuredly one of a kind."