"What makes you think I'm going to tell you anything?" she said.
"Really? Last night you said that we were interfering, and now you want to keep silent. Seriously?" I asked.
"My life is on the line. Could you blame me?" she asked.
"Can I blame you? Yes, but the real question is would it do me any good to blame you? And that answer is no. I have a picture here. It's about fourteen-years-old. Tell me if you recognize anybody?" I asked.
I place the picture on the table, and then the woman reached out and turn the picture over.
"I don't need to see the picture." she said.
"Really? Why?" I asked.
"I don't need to see the picture because I already know who they all are, but that's besides the point." she said.
"Are you sure I should be overlooking the picture? Because it seemed pretty important." I said.
"Yeah." she said, in a gruff tone of voice.
"How do you know all the victims?" I asked.
"The picture only shows the people who were directly involved in the project, but it doesn't take into account any support/auxiliary staff." she said.
"What was your designated job?" I asked, realizing that there were more people involved than I originally thought.
"I was tasked with keeping the mother comfortable and keeping the infant feed whenever the mother couldn't." she said.
In my brain, a portion of my memory that had been sealed for the past sixteen years opens up, and I had a mental flashback. I'm in a sterile room, and I remember being breastfed by this woman. I try not to let onto the fact that I know what she's talking about, so I get the conversation back on track.
"How many support staff were there, and have any of them been killed?" I asked.
"As far as I'm aware, no, but that doesn't mean he didn't attack the support staff to kick this whole thing off." she said.
"The man you tried to kill, was he involved in the project?" I asked.
"Yeah." she said.
"Was he a member of the support staff?" I asked.
"No, he was one of the men in the picture." she said.
I can't remember the man's face to save my life, so I flip the picture and said. "Point to the man." I said.
"This man." She said, pointing at the man standing next to Scarlet on her left.
"What's his name? And do you have any idea why he would do all of this?" I asked.
"Osa Skyworth, and he had the hots for Scarlet." she said.
"Hots?" I asked, with a blank stare.
"He wanted to have sex with Scarlet, with or without her consent. He was really upset that that man, the one who was with you last night, was the one who got to be Scarlet's partner and get her pregnant." she said.
I think about what she just said and debate it. I think she could be of use in the future.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Victoria Bellbrook." she said.
"Mind if I call you Vicky?" I asked.
"No." she said.
"Okay Victoria. I'll be in touch." I said, as I grabbed the picture and got up to leave.
I step out of the room and shut the door.
"Did you get anything of use out of here?" the male officer asked.
I stepped away from the door and said. "She just identified the killer, on top of telling me about the motive behind the killings."
"What should I do?" he asked.
"Keep her safe for the time being. I'll send someone along to collect her." I said.
"I'll put her in a separate holding cell for the time being, but I can only do it for about three hours at best." he said.
"Do what ever you have to keep her safe until we can collect her." I said, and then left.
S.D.D.
Presidential Palace: library-
"What did you learn?" Snow asked as I entered.
"Her name is Victoria Bellbrook." I said.
"Why does that name sound familiar?" Scarlet asked.
"She worked on the project that brought me into this world." I said.
"Ahh, Vicky. I remember her." Scarlet said, getting all teary.
"What was her tasks?" Snow asked.
"She was tasked with keeping Scarlet comfortable, as well as feeding me when Scarlet was unable to." I said.
"I remember her." Rantipol said.
"Hey Doc, I need you to spring Victoria from police custody." I said.
"Why her?" Snow asked.
"She was a member of support staff, and she identified the killer, and his motives." I said.
"It looks like Victoria could be of some use to us." Rantipol said.
"Of use? How?" Scarlet asked.
There was a moment of silence, and then I said. "I'll leave that up to you." Rantipol turned back around left to collect Victoria. Scarlet got all giddy and giggle in joyous glee.
"What did you learn from Victoria?" Snow asked.
"The killer's name is Osa Skyworth." I said.
"I remember him. He was bit of weasel." Scarlet said.
"Osa wanted to be the one who helped you to bring me into this world." I said and shivered at the thought of him being my father.
"We need to predict Osa's next move before he strikes again." Snow said.
"Is there a possibility to spy on him?" Scarlet asked.
"Maybe, but…" Snow began.
"We could use Scarlet as bait." I said.
"Absolutely not!" Scarlet said emphatically.
"Clarify." Snow said.
"Coriolanus!" Scarlet screamed.
"What do you think?" I asked.
"Put Scarlet in a place that is easily accessible for Osa to get to, while leaving someone on guard to watch." Snow said.
"The lucky winner should be Doc." I said.
"Why Rantipol?" Snow asked.
"Gives Osa a chance at vengeance for not being able to impregnate Scarlet." I said.
"That's a big word. Did you just add that to your vocabulary?" Snow asked.
"I learn it from the citizens of your lovely city." I said sarcastically.
"You can thank me later." Snow said, with a smirk on his face.
I roll my eyes as Snow was leaving the room. I walk over to the door and look out. Snow is right outside the door, but the library has a back exit that faces the main entry point.
"Scarlet…" I said.
"Yes Finnick." Scarlet said, looking at me. I can sense the tension in her body.
Then she isn't going to like what I'm about to ask. I thought.
"Can you follow me please." I said, walking out to the balcony.
After Scarlet stepped onto the balcony, I shut the doors behind her.
"What's so important that we had to talk out here with the doors close?" she asked, the tension had left her body, but in it's place I could feel worry rolling off of her in waves.
"What do you think?" I asked.
"I really don't have a clue." she said.
"I spent fourteen years of my life living with a family that I thought I had born into." I said.
"Finnick, wait. Please." she said.
"Why? Why the hesitation? I find my birth parents after fourteen years of living with people who all but abandoned me, you're concerned what that homicidal maniac is going to do?" I asked.
"I was forced into that experiment. Rantipol was forced as well to. We loved each other, but we didn't want our child to grow up a tool of the government." she said, tears brimming in her eyes.
"All things considered, how could you not account for, or at least consider the possibility, that I could have been reaped and still wind up here anyways?" I asked.
"We didn't, and I'm sorry, but we didn't want you to grow up in the Capitol. We wanted you to have a normal life free of the trappings of the Capitol." she said.
"Mom! Tell me what about this life is normal? Omitting the fact that I'm a weapon of a maniac, I'm still their slave. How is that a normal life? I was born into a country where if you're not a part of the ruling class or live in this city, you are a slave. How is this in anyway shape or form normal?" I asked.
Calling Scarlet mom, felt weird and somehow felt poignant. Being called mom struck a cord in Scarlet. She broke down in tears, and pulled me close to her, hugging me. A part of me broke and I started crying as well, and I hugged her back. We stood there for a time, just crying, and holding each other. A moment of catharsis for a mother that abandoned her child but was given a second chance to make things right.
After we finished crying, Scarlet pulled away and kissed me on the forehead. "If you call me mom, or anything to that effect ever again, in public or here at the palace, I will slap you senseless." she said, giving me a stern warning.
I rolled my eyes, chuckle and then said. "And just like that, the moment is way gone."
"I'm serious Finnick. The city doesn't need to know that my son is doing the president's dirty work." she said.
"I have bad news for you." I said.
"What?" she asked.
"The big man wants me to be a Capitol whore when I turn eighteen." I said, with a smile.
"Keep it up, and I'm going to smack you." Scarlet said, and we walked back into the library.
I grabbed a tissue for Scarlet and handed it to her.
"Just for the record, it feels wrong to call you Scarlet." I said.
"I'm ordering you to call me Scarlet when we're in public, or here at the palace." she said.
"Just saying." I said.
"Scarlet!" a voice exclaimed.
We turned to see Victoria walk into the library, followed by Rantipol. Victoria ran over to hug Scarlet. While the ladies were sharing a hug—it's been a while since they've seen each other—Rantipol approached me and asked. "Is Scarlet okay?"
"That's a conversation for another time." I said.
"You okay, Scarlet?" Victoria asked.
"Later. Let's head to my establishment." Scarlet said.
"Umm…Am I even allowed in there?" I asked.
"That' won't be a problem." Rantipol said.
"What?" Victoria asked.
"He's sixteen-years-old." Scarlet said.
"Really?" Victoria asked.
"That's not he only thing, but that's for later. Let's go." Scarlet said, and the four of us exited the library.
S.D.D.
The Delicate Touch-
I entered the brothel, and I was both in awe and blushing. The women are beautiful and had zero body modifications. All of them wore makeup, some more than others. Which is strange because none of the ladies were ugly.
"Oh, Scarlet. Who's the young man you've brought to Touch?" asked one of the women near the desk. All the women on the lobby were at attention at the prospect of being able to bed me.
"He looks yummy." another woman said.
The looks I was getting from these women was making my skin crawl.
"Easy there, ladies. Touch Finnick, and you'll be sorry that you did." Scarlet said.
"Wait, a minute? You don't mean that Finnick?" Victoria asked.
"Yes, I'm that Finnick, Victoria." I said.
Victoria throw her arms around me and gave me a peck on the cheek. Victoria broke the hug but wrapped her arms around one of my mine as we walked to Scarlet's office, but not before Scarlet gave Victoria look, which Victoria let go of my arm.
"If I had known that you were…" Victoria began.
"Save it for when we got to Scarlet's office." Rantipol said, cutting Victoria off.
"Sorry." Victoria said.
We get to Scarlet's office, file in, and Rantipol shuts the door.
"What's the play?" Rantipol asked.
"The first thing is to release information that will lure to Osa to a location that we want. I know of at least one thing that will lure him in, and the thought of getting revenge on the man who stole his chance to impregnate the top girl in Snow's possession. Though we need to play this right." I said.
"Why?" Vicky asked.
"If we leave Scarlet in harm's way for too long, Osa will have his way with Scarlet, and kill her." I said.
"So, we need to Scarlet to be in a place that we can control, and a place where Osa can get to without issue." Rantipol said.
"I think we might need a Plan B as well
"I'll leave that to you." Rantipol said.
S.D.D.
Two days later I was hanging outside a building near the market. I did some spying and found that Osa likes to hide out in this building before and after he makes a move. Osa has already left for the evening, so I decided to head inside and set a trap for him. Snow gave me a small unit of Peacekeepers to handle the search. I tell them to spread out and find any traps that Osa might have set.
At that moment, I heard the earpiece in my left ear come to life with Rantipol's voice. "Osa's here. I'll buy you as much time as possible."
"Have fun." I said, and then I said to the Peacekeepers. "Sitrep," as I was heading into the building.
In my earpiece I heard one Peacekeepers say. "Search is almost complete. All weapons, and explosive devices have been found, and dealt with."
"Fall back to the designated location and what for my command." I said.
"Sir!" the entire unit, and then exited the building.
Being called sir by the Peacekeepers is a little disturbing, but I know that this is a one-time thing. I thought as the Peacekeepers were exiting the building. Now it's time to sit back and get comfortable. Before I could get comfortable, I heard Scarlet on the radio. "Osa is on the move, and he's wounded."
"Standing by" I said to Scarlet. To the Peacekeepers I said. "Keepers ready?"
I heard the radio clicking, which was an acknowledgement from the unit, as I was entering the ground floor of the building.
"Osa is coming from the south." Vicky said.
"Copy that." I said.
From the moment I heard Osa's location and the door opening, I was bristling excitement. I heard a jiggling at the back door, and then I said. "Peacekeepers. Descend on the target, but don't fire."
There was a moment of silence, and then I heard the door slam open, and then shut. I heard thundering footsteps, and then nothing.
"How did?" Osa asked when he saw me in his lair.
"Osa Skyworth. It's so good to meet you. And before you try to look, just know that I've already searched this place, and found all of you goodies." I said.
"Why?" Osa asked, with deflated shoulders.
"That is the least of your worries. I'd be more worried about what President Snow is going to do to you." I said, as the as both the front and back door were forced open and then unit of Peacekeepers filed in.
"Secure him and get him out of here." I said.
I watch as Osa was handcuffed by a Peacekeeper and then dragged out of the room. Osa had the decency to fear for his life, and not claim that he was innocent, or that he was doing the right thing.
