It felt quite strange to settle into a place, where an huge and bad evidence was planted here, under the bed. Wearing nothing but a short dark blue and silk nightrobe, Cat stared at her reflection at the mirror as she stried to find something unexplained through her reflection. A dark long haired and drenched woman with hauntening hazel eyes that had just come out from the shower in a sexy short blue robe, one of Gretchen's robes, was staring right back at her as if she waited for her to act. Her alter ego and mysteriously, seductress and manipulative; Ayaka Richardson was waiting for her to act and fast, but also to hunt and hurt those stupid and bad girls.
If Cat had through some split personality disorder in her life, it would be seeing another woman through the mirror, a certain mean woman named Ayaka would be the perfect example as if she wanted to destroy the nice girl with the mistress with bad attitude. Destroy all the women who were bad to the men they were ordered to seduce, but only if they desobey any rule they swore to follow, through the contract they signed to follow. Just to think of it, meant revenge?
To chose, but to stay into Gretchen's old room, where Lena decided to switch their own rooms, including the hidden gun under the bed, which only meant that someone must had blown Lena's cover and decided to kill Gretchen, at her weakest point as a threat to Lena who ended up, attacked and left for dead in her jail.
Why did she volunteered into this undercover work, already? To seek justice for Lena, or to punish Àlvarez by seducing him?
Or it was just the thrill to kill, rushing into her veins? Would she be able to control it? Only Ayaka knows the answer. In all of sudden, her lying purse on the hairdresser had started to vibrate, making Catherine spooking out from her thoughts. She leaned over an arm to get the burner phone from her purse as she opened it and took it out.
"Moshi, moshi.." Tess just moaned, getting annoyed. Learning different new languages wasn't her thing, at all.
"Seriously, Cat? What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means, hello in japanese. I've been trying to learn a few words for the job, Tess, so that I won't sound too much of an american here.."
"Pfft, whatever you say. So how's it going over there? You've seen that famous contract?" Cat tried to hold back a hiss, when she remembered that fact. After she and Esperanza left the special underground building and told Cat to go and chose the room that she would want to stay while she could go and fetch the contract. Cat felt uneasy as she read the contract. Which was very pretty much detailed from what she had seen. Torture and massacre, wipping stuff for an complaint coming from a client and many other talked about the work and settlement, even if it meant by staying the crime scene room, which was quite creepy and they had come up to an agreement. Esperanza had left later on and fast enough as if the devil was on her back, stating she deserved to go away and be with her remaining family, after leaving the contract into Cat's hands, from now on. But it was quite an awkward feeling to be in the same place where Lena could had prepared something bad enough. A gun was found here, making her look like she was the one who murdered Gretchen, when she wasn't even there at that night.
Someone had found out about the switching deal and framed Lena for murder. But for what? To scare her off, so that she would be obliged to tell Àlvarez; where is his daughter is being held by now? Over my dead body. Bitch. As for the rest of her stuff, she'll pick them by tomorrow.
"Pretty much detailed, if you ask for my opinion. It's a contact that a new debut country singer would agree to sign. To seven to eight years, paid with liquid cash to three hundred to sixty, but that depends on each hour girls would have to go through. Girls can stay in their rooms, till night or they could have their own place outside, as long they stay quiet about their other living style. Doctor would have to check on them if they ever have to go through to any beating signs from custumer or the hired hitman-"
"Wait a minute here! There's also a hitman-"
"That goes with the bodyguard job? Yeah, it is."
"So what you are telling me here, is that not only you gonna have to protect the girls, you're also gonna have to beat them up, if they ever had to desobey any client or upsetting them? You're just gonna have to deal with it?" Tess concluded from what she had understood from Cat's cover.
"It won't be my cup of tea, in a way, but I'm gonna have to do it, anyways.." She pursed her lips to a corner from holding a grimace as her partner growled at the line.
"What do you think, about it?"
"I don't like it.." Cat just rolled up her eyes at this question.
"I figured out, but.."
"But what?"
"I feel there's more into this. What else is there, Cat?"
"There's a cave." She sighed at this answer.
"A cave? You mean like a underground basement?" Such as in a nightmare coming true.
"Sort of. It's where they keep the girls and attack them into their cages.." Cat could hear Tess swearing under her breath at the recording phone. She just couldn't believing what she had just heard now.
"You mean like in prison? Are you saying that not only the girls had signed this stupid contract, but they're being beaten to death inside of these cages, like animals?"
"I didn't said that-"
"And you're fine with it?"
"No, I'm not-And keep your voice down, we could be over heard from here.." She eyed the closed door to her left side, hoping that nobody would listen or else her cover would be blown. But Tess wasn't having it so easily than she did, as she almost had exploded her anger through the phone.
"I just don't like this, Cat. Not only you're doing this for Lena, but I'm afraid you're being way too attracted into this case and it could end very badly.."
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll try to find how Àlvarez is involved into this and if he is implicated into the girls murders. Talking about death, you have any news on Alicia and Helga?" Trying to change the subject.
"Don't know about it. I'll have to ask that monk dude if he had got the toxicology results, so we can have a clear mind into it. It might take time Cat."
"I know.." Till now, there was no change.
"Just to let you know this-A few guys are going to have the entire place wired from tomorrow morning.."
"Wire? They're going to over hear, everything?" It caught her attention. The bar was going to be wired so that cops could follow their moving steps and sounding of voices. Would the girls be heard as well?
"And filmed too. Ward made a few researches into Àlvarez's past, the bar and since, he has two daughters at home, he doesn't like it. He thinks Àlvarez is bad.." Lena was right into that point.
"Like?"
"He asked Tucker to do some work on him and got a few answers. Hear this, Cat. Òliver Àlvarez used to be suspected on organ trading back at Cuba, but also suspected into his first and young wife, Marita Lopez's murder back was found naked and dead inside of her car at some beach and left alone. Car accident. Damn, she was only twenty one year's old, Cat." Organ trading? There was another woman to the picture?
"Oh God.." Too young to die.
"Of course, he denied all this from his lawyer's advice. No wonder Lena ran away from him, she might had discovered it and vanished from his life with his daughter, since she wouldn't had wanted to commit a murder.."
"And even if it was by self defense, she'll still go into prison.." However, Cat didn't wanted to hear the last part of story, cause she knows how things would probably end for Lena. Kidnapping charges, for an example.
"You're reading my mind, Cat.."
"Does Ward has any evidence on Lopez's murder? Any clue?"
"Not quite, he's still searching on photos of the crime scene and been trying to reach up to the lead detective that occupied the case before. Lopez's murder goes back from ten years ago, so to look back on it would be hard to find that cop. However, Tucker did find one single old photo, though. Wait, I'm looking for it."
"Okay, go on.." Everything from this case was getting very interesting now. Now that a dead woman was involved into this mess. She heard Tess looking through something from the phone. Mostly, from her computer since she heard it from the beaping sounds from the keyboard monitor. Cat kept watching the door as she held the burner phone close to her ear, waiting for Tess to answer. Patientely, but worried. "Tess?"
"Gotcha! A necklace. A golden chain with a red gem tied up on it..Spanish newspaper said that the dead chick was found with it.." Cat just widened her eyes in surprise as Tess had just revealed. A necklace? What was that supposed to mean?
"A necklace with a red gem, what do you mean?" That was unexpected, why did it looked so important? Because it was the only clue left to the crime scene. That would probably link Àlvarez to his past demons.
"Birthday present, I believe and it's called, I think-'El veneno del amor' Poison of love. Who knew that love could kill?"
"Where's the necklace by now? Did they kept it?"
"That's the thing, Cat, they kept it into the evidence room during the invastigation, until it ended up missing.." Say what? The most personal item was missing?
"Missing? What do you mean-"
Loud knockings at her door could be heard that shut them their conversation, Cat eyed the door as she covered the receiver with her fingers, supscious.
"Who is this?"
"It's Àlvarez, you don't mind if I come in for a minute?" Her heart was racing so hard, at the sound of his voice. Àlvarez was supposed to be held up at the hospital all night, if so, then, what on earth was he doing here and how long was he hanging behind the door?
How far did he heard?
"That jackass is here? You think he heard us talk?" Great, Tess must have heard him too. Genius.
"I don't think so. I'm sorry I have to hang up.."
"Don't even say you're sorry-Act as if you refused to have a one nightstand with a girl, but put the phone on speaker.." Damn, what's with her partner and girls, that was just going so weird, lately.
"Why?"
"Because I want to hear that stupid jackass's voice again and to let you know, Ward is just behind my back right now and demands to listen to him, too.." Not only Tess was listenening, but so was her captain behind the line. Just great! It was just embarassing enough.
"Okay." She managed not to whine to this statement. Even if she felt like she'd been caught by her parents, after she sneaked back home from the window.
"Offer him a present, like you're ready to give him a free renovation for the bar, so he won't suspect the techenicians that would come up to place the wires by tomorrow morning, and one last thing Cat.."
"Don't forget the basement. It's where the skeletons are sleeping during the day.." Nice idea, so that the whole precinct could watch her torturing the girls inside of these cages. Wanna have some popcorn with it? Before she hanged the phone, Tess replied with a defeating sigh.
"Yeah, whatever, I got that noted. And like I said, Cat-"
"What?"
"Don't fall for the villian one here.." And Tess went up silent after that part, reminding Cat what she had to do and what she was doing here, in the first place. So, Alvarez was married to someone else before, huh.
And this woman ended up dead with a golden chain with a red sapphire, mostly close to a gem would look like, but why did it ended up missing Cat managed to leave the phone on speaker with the volume loud enough for Tess and Ward to listen to their conversation as she covered it with her purse under, covering all of the recordering evidence away from Alvarez's sight.
She took one last look to the mirror, as she slid the sleeves of her robe a bit down from her shoulders, making them look a bit bare and placed her wet hair from one side leaving her neck exposed as she was ready to get bitten by a very nasty gentlemen. She loosen up the knot so that her robe would reveal a bit of her chest sign, but not too much, but enough for a man look down onto. A drenched and naked woman who was getting ready to be desired and heated by an powerful man. Ayaka was ready to unleash, every bit part of herself to an beast, named Oliver Àlvarez. She was about to use her seductress talents to the test.
"Ayaka.."
"In here.." She watched him peeking as he managed to open the door a bit, finding his blue eyes staring at her, like he was being nervous.
"I thought you ended up lost in this mess, no one finds its way out from these rooms.."
"Esperanza had helped me a lot to find my way back to the bar, but I'm a big girl, I can handle a map to get out.." chuckled Catherine, as if she was being all natural towards Alvarez, who opened the door of the room as he looked down on her with a surprising stare as she watched his blue eyes widen up as he watched her wetting body hidden by blue robe.
Alvarez shook his head as he blinked a few times and closed the door back, so that the two of them could talk alone from any little and bad birds. Cat noticed that he was hiding a black box behind his back and the fact he quite looked a little nervous as he faced her back.
"So I see you ended up by choosing Yalena's room.." He looked around the place as he dropped the black box on the bed, before he could put his hands on his hips as if he did not approve her choice of taking someone's room who used to be a crime scene where a big and bad evidence was found here. However, Catherine had choose this room, so that Àlvarez could relieve that nightmare over and over again. A nightmare that would make him confess the most and horrible sin that a husband would have to make. Admitting that he was in fact implicated into his wife's attack, at jail. Catherine stood up from the chair as she went for the unmade bed. She crossed her legs together as she continued to watch him, being careful to not touch the black box that had lied a few centimenters from her fingers.
"It wasn't supposed to be Gretchen's..?" She was good at playing the inoncent one here, so much that Àlvarez didn't noticed at her act.
"It used to, but litterly spoken, Yalena made it her mark here. Before it all happen with the room being a crime scene." But charges were dropped after Catherine decided to take the room. It was a risky choice with all the footprints and fingerprints being earased here by her own, but since no other than the gun was found here, it was no use for them to keep under supervision anymore. And besides, the forensic team took their time to work up here to find anything interesting for describing a great DNA sample here. Everything was now up to them, to reveal what they had found and it was getting late to wait.
"Did she used to watch you from a far, before?"
"From what I heard and now, I hear she must be all locked up into another hospital, that I don't know the existence. Damn, I don't even know where the hell she is now..I mean, I'm still her husband in papers."
Not for long.. had thought Cat as she continued to watch him pace around the room, for a minute until he could calm down. "Mister Àlvarez, I-"
"Òliver.."He stopped pacing as he looked back at her, being serious, even if he was sweating as he still was feeling presured about his wife's missing and unknown condition. "If you're going to work here as my bodyguard, you might have to drop the formalities, Ayaka. Especially, the two of us, would have to.."
"Alright, Òliver. Then, tell me what's bothering you.."
"I'm afraid you might stare at me, in a bad way.."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm afraid I was not completely honest with you, Ayaka..There used to be someone else before. Before I had meet Yalena, there was another woman I used to be married, once.."
"Okay.." She tapped the open space next to her left side on the bed waiting for him to sat down. Àlvarez sat on the bed as he looked down on his hands, trying to avoid her staring at him. Damn, he looked so shaken, good enough to have an Academy Award nomination, but Cat decided to wait for him to talk.
"Her name was Marita Lopez..She was so beautiful back then, dark long haired, her legs were made as fast as an tigress. She was full of life and we used to breathe the same air of love, before it was taken away.."So it was true, he used to be married to someone else before, but from what Marita had died anyways? What happened through them?
"Òliver.." He held an hand as he wanted to follow with his talk. He still did not wanted to look back at her, as he tried to breathe in deeply. The rest of the story might be hard enough for him to say. Before thinking twice of her action, Cat put her hand on his knee, for comfort as he went on. "We were so young, Ayaka and madly in love. Even if she was full of life, she used to be very sick. Early stages of AIDS, I believe she was experimenting after she got raped once. But it was commun back at my country. Oh, don't get me wrong, Cuba can be a very amazing and the most safe place you can put your feet into, but you also need to be very careful of the strangers and that's mostly men from gangs. My family did not approved my marriage back then. Our love. Poor Marita.."
"How did she ended up dead?"
"Car accident, but I know it wasn't.."
"What do you think happened?"
"I believe it was a set up. Like I said about the strangers living in Cuba, you cannot trust anybody there." He looked up at her from the corner of his eye. "You see, Ayaka, Marita came from a very dangerous family where her brothers belonged to gangs from the streets. An angel among evil, as they could say, but once they had known about our affair and secret marriage, things went badly.."
"You think, they had her killed?"
"It could be a good guess, since she was found dead inside of some red car and naked. Nothing but a red necklace that I gave her as a birthday present."
"A necklace, you say?" The necklace?
"With the most beautiful gem ever made. I still remember the day she wore it around her slender neck. It matched her skin and her dark eyes. She was so beautiful to die for.."With a sigh he reached from behind theirs back, the black box. With intrigued eyes, Ayaka followed his movements as he brought up the box to his knees. Àlvarez took a moment as he stared at it, before he could add this. "Not even Lena knows about my first marriage, Ayaka, because I've been keeping it in secret as long as my heart beats and remember those precious moments that I've had with Marita.."
"They say the second love is always the better, but I believe that the first love stays the best, from all of them.." That was quite true to her experience with men. Àlvarez looked back at her, being sympathetic due to her sober tone of her voice.
"However, it didn't worked for you, no?" She just sighed in defeat.
"Can't always get what you want. I had learned a lot from that lesson, Òliver." Be a good actress, Cat had reminded herself.
"You mean from that man that made you sick?"
"He did more than making me sick." Cat looked back at him with moisted eyes. She nearly gave up on her freedom for Vincent, even sacrifising everything so dear to save him. A part of her wanted to hate him, but yet, she still had feelings for him. However, it was now mixed with Lena's attack at jail. She had accused him of setting everything up and right behind her back. Making her look like a complete fool of herself. "He did break my heart and my trust of men.." It was quite true.
"You don't have to be afraid of every men, cause I know I won't hurt you, Ayaka.."Nice promises and that's how you've saved Lena, from before? Making her believe your promises of one thounsands and living nights of everlasting love? Cat just shook her head, not believing a word of whatever he had told her to be true.
"I know that. It's just not easy to open up your heart to an stranger.."
"Because I'm no stranger, Ayaka. Not to you, now.."He turned his attention right back to the black box on his knees and opened it to reveal a very glowing treasure inside from what could Cat from the corner of her eye. It was the necklace. The gold chain with the red sapphire tied to it, which kinda had reminded her of the other gem that used to control beasts on the streets. Her anscestor Rebbecca Reynolds's green gem, only this one looked quite scarier liked it had some deadly secret on it.
That jerk had stole the evidence. He had the necklace, from the start.
"No. I'm not a stranger to you anymore.." He pushed a knee up so that he could find himself behind her back, lifting up the necklace. Cat brought her hair up to aside to her left shoulder, so that he could place the necklace around her neck. The red sapphire gem was now resting between her breasts, but somehow it gave her a strange feeling of control, of possessing everything that breathes and lives around her surroundings. She tried to look overwhelmed as her eyes looked down on the hauntening crismon gem. She sucked his name in only one breath.
"Òliver.."She touched the red gem with her fingers. The gift that an owner would give to its new protector.
"That necklace is called 'El veneno del amor' The Poison of love.. Marita used to wear it everyday, including in the time of her death.." She felt his hands slippering onto her shoulders with such softness through his fingers that gave her shivers till it could reach down of her spine. "It belonged to my family from many centries ago. Often rumored to be cursed, that whom ever wores it, everyone close and including its beloved soulmate gets poisoned and dies of an horrible and long painful death.." Feightened a bit of fear through her eyes, she turned her head up to look up to his blue eyes. No trace of any lie were into them, but she went up with her act.
"You mean that necklace is cursed?" Cat had raised up her tone loud enough, so that Tess could hear from the hidden phone, lying on the hairdresser. A cursed necklace?
"It's only a rumor, Ayaka. Nobody needs to frightened by an harmless necklace.."
"If so, then why Marita wored it, on the crime scene?"
"Like I said, it could had been a set up, that someone had the guts to finish her up and then made it look like she was wearing it. To get to me." He brought the back of his hand to her soft and dried cheek, with such kindness that she hadn't noticed that he still had some good into him, despite looking all evil and dangerous. She closed her eyes, leaning to his touch. Making him believe he has gotten her into his wild and enduring spell. "And it belongs to you now, Ayaka. Just as my heart belongs to you." Only, he did not know, this fact. Being at her mercy.
That she was a damn good actress. Ayaka had snapped her eyes open to reveal that they were darkened with desire, much to his excitement. It was her turn to make him fall for her.
"Why, don't you just lie down now.."
"What do you mean?" She watched him raise an eyebrow in question. She placed her hand on his chest with a wicked grinning smile. Damn, his heart was getting excited and very.
"You know, exactly what I mean. You said your heart belongs to me now, so you can have mine in return.." She watched him lie on the bed, with a smile that didn't reach up to her eyes. With a delicate gesture, she drops her blue robe who fell down on the floor, revealing herself into an very naked version of Eve. Well, an very exposed and naked verson of Ayaka, to be clear. "Because, I'm the boss, here.." She put her long hair back away from her breasts so he could stare at them as she dare him to do so. Hypnotized, she could describe from his features.
Lying down on the bed, Àlvarez's eyes widened in shock as he kept staring at her naked body sitting a few inches from him. There she was very much exposed in front of him, smiling like a feline creature, while he lied there fully clothed like an idiot into his white shirt and black pants. Oh God, he really wanted to suck very hard into these nipples. Ayaka was just perfect. Not like an old expired woman like Lina or a troublemaker like Lena or Gretchen. She had nothing on, but the necklace with the red and glowing gem. Such as a feline creature.
Sensing his discomfort, she smiled like a little girl as she crounched down on the bed, crawling up to him like as her eyes were laughing at his stunned reaction. Once she reached up to him, Cat touched his face with the back of her right hand, crushing her naked breasts on his shirt, spreading her legs on his hidden and exciting crotch as she demanded to go inside of him with her vagina. She could hear him letting out a hiss of surprise. Damn, she was making him go wild with pleasure. She stared at him with her half open eyes as his own had closed. Trying to take the shock, he had been exposed into and feel it. Damn that was hard. He could feel her lips as they went down to his ear, whispering with the most sexiest and huskiest voice he'd had ever heard.
"Don't worry, I got everything under control here.." And before he could say anything, she brushed his lips into a very hard breathing kiss. Oh God. That was too much pressure with her on him and completely naked. An dangerous and hardest kiss coming from Ayaka. His sexy bodyguard. He covered her with his arms as he responsed her kiss right back. Oh, yeah. She was perfect.
...
"Okay. That's enough. I believe I've had heard enough here." Tess hung up the phone with a groan. She couldn't blame her captain, he was also fed up from hearing an undercover cop having sex with a possible murderer. Protected sex, to specify.
"You really believe, that Chandler would able to make him talk? By making sex with him?"Damn, not only Ward was disgusted by it, Tess was going to have a few nightmares as well.
"Well, she has in a way to earn his trust, one way or another. Even as a bodyguard or as a hitman." Expecially when they now know that Àlvarez could be sensitive when he talks back about his past, about his dead wife and that Cat can somehow soft him up until he could get caught. Unless, he was a good actor and a manipulator."And going undercover for a week or a month would be hard enough to do so. And do things you don't want to do, is a fact." However the man in the blue suit had warned off, just like he did when Cat told him she was going undercover.
"Just to let you know, Detective Vargas, if it gets any harder or any closer, FBI here would have to take the case, any time sooner." She only rolled up her eyes at that point.
"Just let Cat dig a few things, before we do it. Give her at least, a month to discover Àlvarez's tracks, and the case would go Agent Landon, if anything goes wrong. Captain." Tess sighed towards the middle aged blond haired lady in a grey suit who was standing next to a very stressful Ward.
"A month, no more, Vargas. I have two daughters at home and it is a little personal here. Far too much."He answered back and left leaving the two ladies alone. "I'll ask a couple of guys to wire up the bar, as a welcoming gift, like you've told, Chandler.." No warrant would be used to this time, since they got a lot of stuff from Àlvarez's background, now. Ward hadn't reached up to the detective who worked on Àlvarez's case from Cuba, but with three dead girls on his shoulders, it was time to do something and this is where FBI Agent Dana Landon had volunteered to help, in meanwhile.
"Oh Boy, it wasn't that easy than I thought would turned out to be.." Tess leaned her back to her chair, tired enough for staying awake all night, listening to weird sex sounds with her captain and an profiler like Dana whose eyes eyes followed Ward going up to his office.
"You tell me.."
"Thanks again, for standing with us and keeping this quiet, from your boss."
"It's the least I can do. You, Chandler and Keller had saved my life once and expecially from Sam, as well. So I want to help you as much I can, on this case. Saving those girls from becoming other victims. Beasts creatures or not." Dana looked back, with a rassuring smile back as she recalled back the events through the past month, with her crazy soon ex-husband in trial, soon and she could stay under witness protection, for the meantime. She could breathe far better despite all that, Dana still wanted to help Tess and Cat, in order to express her gratitude towards them."But you do know that if it gets any worse or out of control, my departement would have to take care of that case. Protocol is protocol and you know that. It could be human trafficking or organ trading, though and it could end very bad." It was a warning sign from the professional woman now. FBI had dealt with these cases from before and it'll take no hard way to fetch them away from the cops. Warrant or not.
"I know Cat, she won't give up for a fight. So she'll do the best she can to bring Àlvarez to the light." had confessed Tess back.
"She knew it was personal, stating that there was a friend that your partner wanted to help. She knew the risks and it could go bad." Not only Dana had wanted to come to the precinct, she did in fact learn a few things about the Sandler case and how it was close to Cat. It was always a risk, to let a cop who's too close to someone who might be guilty or dead to take the thorns on its hands.
"Let's just say, that Cat wants to save an old friend, when she couldn't save her ex-boyfriend before that.." The profiler had raised both eyeborows at that. Duh, it was too getting too personal now.
"You mean Keller? I had no idea they used to be together.." That woman must had noticied from the way Cat and Vincent were staring at each other from before. Tess just shrugged her shoulders for an answer.
"It was from the past. They were seeing each other while he was still in hiding, before he got kidnapped and been brainwashed by Reynolds. Even though, they reconciled, things didn't go so well. After Sandler's attack.." Dana just nodded at this point, thoughtfully.
"Chandler thinks he had set this attack up?"
"Could be. We have no idea if Vincent had set this up with Tori or not. All I know is that Cat refuses to talk or to see him, ever again." Like Cat had told her before, Vincent could be capable to do anything now. No wonder she can't trust him anymore. Dana didn't see anything bad in the problem, stating that nor Vincent or Tori had done or said anything to make them feel like bad people.
"But nothing happened when Keller and Windsor stayed under radar after the kidnapping, Vargas. Both of them didn't do anything, if you say that Keller spent the whole day with your partner.." But Tess wasn't so sure about that. Medina did said that he had heard Vincent's voice through a recording. Which was bad. And Vincent stated he wasn't there when Gretchen was murdered or wasn't there when Lena got attacked in prison. But that didn't explain Tori's situation now.
"But we still don't know where was Tori during this time, Agent. No one knows where's she has been.."
"But what about the ADA Lowan, did you asked him?"
"Ever since he's been involved with Tyler's murder, he can't say a word or else he might be into trouble. But it's not what worries me.."Tess made sure that no one was listening to their conversation in the station as she explained adding the event from that day when Cat had cut things with Vincent and followed with the red haired ex-heiress that got attacked. J.T.'s words.
"A few days ago, after Lena's attack and on the same night, Tori got attacked by an very raged Vincent and from what had happened, she couldn't even defend herself anymore like she used to. The next morning, Windsor was hiding when Vincent had no other clue of whatever had happened to him, that night. It was like a blackout. Couldn't remember a thing, at all." She watched Dana who was trying to adjust the news as if she couldn't believe the thought from happening. On guard, she only add this answer.
"So, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that she didn't do the attack or did Vincent, either. Forbes had told me that she has changed, not only from beast sight, but in a deranged way..She was no longer the same after the kiddnaping thing with Forbes.." Tess was sure about that fact. If it wasn't Tori or Vincent who attacked Lena, then who did it?
...
Just as J.T. was preparing making coffee in his pyjamas, Vincent came into the place with Ed tied with his red leash, at this early morning. And from the looks of it, Vincent seemed to look like he had spent the entire night outside, only he didn't raged out like a madman, but more like a dead walking person with dark circles under his eyes. Damn, he was tired, but tired to carry all that heavy burden under his shoulders and that's not only the beast, he's been thinking about. As the machine was doing its work, J.T. rose his head up to see him coming in with Ed.
"You went out?" His best friend's voice had spooked him out of his thoughts as if he got himself caught. Vincent shook his head in defeat. He must have been sleepwalking through all night, only he hadn't took someone's life this time.
"Yeah, I couldn't stay here or even managing to sleep here, after last night.." He bend down to Ed's height to release him from his leash despite sensing the dog's huge tongue out like an excited kid as he licked him. God, Ed looked far more happier than him with its tail waving up. Vincent sighed deeply at this sight. Ed was happy that his own master was finally paying attention to him, like taking for a walk, even if it was at three to seven o'clock of the morning. A long walk to clear a few things up. Catherine, Ash, Jeffrey, Carl, Regan and the little and famous Vincent, Regan's son. Everything about them was a huge deal to handle.
"In case, you're asking where the group went. Regan went to the hospital in order to check up with her scars, knowing if she can reverse them or not." Vincent turned his head back to J.T. on his guard. Those scars on her body were pretty hard to forget, one mistake ahead and Carl would had killed her in cold blood. Vincent would never be able to forget them, ever and it was one part of the reason why he couldn't sleep at all. Once he had his eyes closed, he would see them and see Catherine killing him-No, she wouldn't do it, never. Why would Regan get rid of her scars that nearly had scarred her for life? What about her son? Where is he hidding by now?
"Reverse them?"
"You know, going under plastic surgery to make them disappear, but I doubt she'll do it. Jeff went back to work, replacing someone else's shift, Rambo guy is still tracking over Carl and Ash decided to go back to the precinct after he had received an emergency call from his lab partner. A girl named Tanaka, I think." Something was definately wrong, not only with Regan but with Ash. What did he and his partner had found?
"An emergency? Like what?"
"Dunno, he took the call and grabbed his pants and took off, right before I could ask..Man, the world has gone to a mess here. Beasts, ex-girlfriends and and crazy stalking husbands.."
"You tell me.." But Vincent followed as he rolled his eyes, more tired than ever. God, things were getting more worse here.
"What I'm trying to say is, that after what I've heard from the others last night is just.." Realizing that his master couldn't finish his own line, Ed had let out a short whine and started to lick Vincent's chin for comfort as he sat down on his paws. Damn, these dogs were so good at distinging feelings and being loyal.
"A complete mess?" However, Vincent was too worn out to defend his mistakes from the past and that explains by admitting about Carl's drug abuse, which he had completly forgot. He patted Ed's head, sat up from the floor and went to the bar, took off his coat as he lay it on his seat before he could sat down on it, in front of his best friend with the dog who went to his left side.
"I really had no idea, how bad it had been for Regan.."
"And you didn't say anything about Carl? Vincent, you knew something was wrong and you acted as if you didn't care.."The events from last night still haunted J.T when he had heard Vincent admitting that he had known about the drugs that Carl had kept into his locker and that he hadn't said a word about it, until last night. The ex-soldier just closed his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose as he really didn't wanted to be scolded, for something he had completely forgot about it. Or more like someone who forcedly made him forget about everything to become the perfect super soldier or assassin, to be clear. Frustrated, he tried to explain back as he brought his tired eyes, back up.
"I could have had said something, I could have! But after my brothers died, it just changed everything, J.T." It did change everything, though how easy things were before. When the coffee machine was done, J.T. got two mugs from behind and poured the strong waking up drink to each of them and pushed one blue and hot mug towards Vincent who just stare at it.
"You feel like you're stuck between two worlds here. Cat and Regan.."
"Three, if you can count the beast. Oh, God. What a mess.."He made a grimace as he took a sip from the drink. "And I thought it wouldn't get any better with Catherine accusing me of a crime I didn't do, I also have Regs's problem with her drugged husband on my mind, now." He waved for the milk carton and sugar to be passed in a hurry.
"There is help for Carl, I mean.." J.T pushed both items close to him as he watched Vincent pouring milk and a long trail of sugar into his coffee, both eyes widen in surprise as Vincent took his heart out at this reply;
"And for what? Finding help for a junkie who almost had commited a murder on his wife all because of jealousy, or even thinking that his own son was the devil itself that has to be destroyed, just because he was named after me? Jeffrey was right in one point: You can't change a junkie. And you know, why? Because Carl is always going to be what he is and that won't change, unless he gets real help. Which won't happen, probably."And with a spoon, Vincent mixed the items all together, despite his hand was starting to tremble, mostly because from the events from last night, were still hard enough to digest. He was sure of it, but J.T. thought otherwise as he stared at this shaken movement. Vincent was acting a little differently lately, ever since that night with Catherine. He noticed his friend was getting a little agressive, quite like he used to have blackouts from before and that weird headache, he had-when everyone in the room was forcing Regan to speak out. Sweating? Like he was having a fever? Damn, the guy had attacked Tori as well and out of rage, which scared the hell out of him. He jumped out from his thoughts as he heard Vincent who continued to talk his anger out.
"And you know what's worse in all this? It's that everyone living here wants me to join their group. Tracking Carl and handle him all together as a family. That's just disgusting to think of it!" And he drank his coffee after he mixed both ingredients together.
"It was their idea, Big Guy.."had clearified J.T. again with Ed who only blurted out a bark as if he agreed, but Vincent pointed out this as he put his mug back down to the counter.
"It was an horrible idea. They should've have let the cops handle the case, J.T., not us. We don't know everything in it-"
"How about the threatening letters, Vincent? We all had received one, including you too..You think we can leave them to the cops? Like Ash had said last night: They'll start an invastigation, from how you discovered the drugs from Carl's locker and the reason you went to war, which would bring them back to the beast background. You want that to happen, Big Guy?" J.T had slapped the counter in front of Vincent as if that detail could shake things up to him. Exposure was the last thing he would ever want to happen. He groaned at that point. "On-why Regan didn't file a complain about Carl, on abusing both of her and her son, sooner before it was too late? Damn, Vincent. Carl must had found out from the news about you being alive and used that fact to go and kill Regan-"
"Before she could go and run into me, when she has Miguel for boyfriend whom she has real feelings for him. Not for me." He had concluded with a sigh, but the other guy with the glasses, went on;
"Must have been a past crush, so.."
"We all had past crushes, J.T.. You and Sara. Alex and I-"J.T. just rolled his eyes, annoyed. Damn! Don't even go there, again. The lying thing with Sara, especially. Never got the chance to tell her how sorry he was after he had lied or more like dropped their so-called relationship, that probably hadn't never took place.
"And Cat?" Vincent just stopped him right here from the looks of it, he was serious enough to let him know that if he said one bad word refering to Catherine, J.T would be doomed for good.
"No. She's not some past crush and she would never be.."Despite the situation he had with Catherine, he still wanted to prove that he was innocent. Proving that he had changed that he was no longer the jackass that she had known. "I still want to prove to Catherine, that I'm a changed man, that I didn't had to do anything with her friend that got attacked in behind bars. I'm sure of it."
"What about Tori? You think she was involved-" Once again, Vincent cut him off, at this. He held a hand stopping his best friend in alert.
"What? You think I attacked her, because of that? I don't even know if she was involved or not."He took a moment to think about it, might even considering the idea of an raging red haired beast attacking a prisoner, even if he didn't wanted to believe it or not. "But now that you're talking about it-Tori was in the bathroom, probably trying to get rid of any clue or the blood. Lena's blood off from her.."
"Actually, she didn't had any bloodstain on her, when she first came in. She only said that she couldn't stay with Gabe. That he was starting to scare her."
"But she doesn't have any alibi, unless she can defend herself, so. One way or another, I'll have to ask Gabe if he's behind this." Or the both of them, one day or another. He hated that fact, but he'll have to confront Tori once again and Gabe? He might not say a word since he's still under invastigation and his lawyer told him to not say another word, if he still wants to keep his name clean from everything.
"You think, he's behind this? That he has gone too far with Tori?" Has Gabe gone too far with his threats? He had no clue.
"I don't know. All I know that he was the one who took the first step after the kidnapping thing. He took her in, so that I can stay in the dark and far way from the spotlight, for a while. And from Catherine too, but no matter how I try to stay away from her, I kept showing up again and again.." He meant it.
"Because you still love her, you big idiot.." Yup, he still does. That dumb ass. However, he followed as he ignored J.T.'s reply as he kept on going.
"I sneaked up to that spanish bar to check in-"
"A little too early to get a drink-"
"Saw a job sign at the window, stating the bar needed a doctor to take care about the dancers and strippers-"Chuckling at the sound of it, J.T. rose his coffee mug to his lips, trying to hold his laughter from his best friend's face.
"You've read too many chick novels, lately, Big Guy-" However, Vincent wasn't done as he blurted out something dumb like this."And I've seen Catherine walking back to the club with a bag of condoms and pils-" Vincent just stopped right as he saw his friend's face getting a little bit blue as he tried to get air. Desesprately to stay alive, though. J.T. chocked himself after that comment, did he heard right? Vincent watched him worried for a minute. "J.T., you okay, man?" After a few attempts of trying to find compusure from the humiliation he made, J.T had punched his chest as he cleared up his throat, before saying between two coughs;
"Damn, you said what? That Cat bought sex protection?" And who knows what else? Vincent went on after he had gotten rid of any shocking feautures on his face.
"Early dawn. Must be for the undercover mission she's under now. "Kinda glad, she hadn't noticied him watching her behind her back as she made her way back to the club. Even under her disguise, she still looked as beautiful and sexy with that asian traditional red and short dress showing her bare and slim legs despite the cold weather. Even with a bad ass attitude. And then, a weird thought came into his mind." And how did you figured out about the chick novels? Cause I have to remind you, it was Alex who read them, not me.." Getting curious from all sudden, he watched J.T who managed to shrug his shoulders, trying to look as inoncent as he could.
"I don't know. I mean, there were a few Barbara Cartland's hanging around your place and I remember you reading one of them when you were heavily drunk one night at some bar and Alex had almost snapped your head so hard-" J.T. watched Vincent's eyes going up wide in shock as he just shut him off in surrounder, right before he could go on. He looked already ashamed, the fact he may had done something way more stupid before, then today. Not quite sure if he wanted to remember that kind of relief moment.
"Okay, Okay-I don't want to know what happened next, so spare me the details, man. Anyways, I ripped off that job sign, which would help me to discover about the murders with the girls.." Changing the subject, Vincent took out a folding paper from his pants's pockets and drop it on the counter so that his friend could see, from his glasses. The paper was in fact a job offer for a doctor of any experience, either if she or he was a gynecologist or ER resident. As long they were qualified as a doctor that could read a book and handle a syringe, that would be just fine, enough to know. The new hired doctor would probably take in charge the girls in case they're showing any signs of transmitting disease or after they got severly beaten by their hitman and bodyguard, for any disobedience. Wait a minute, a bodyguard that hits its people in distress? J.T. gulped very hard at the very demanding prize that Òliver Àlvarez was willing to pay the new doctor. Over eighty dollards in each month? For the work or for keeping the silence while the hitman would do its job?
"Yeah, I know what you're thinking." Completely dumbfounded from the job offer, J.T. looked up at Vincent whose face looked grim back up at him. He didn't like any of this mess." I was shocked too when I first read it about Catherine's cover and I thought my eyes were playing tricks when I had seen that prize.. Eighty hundred bucks is quite alot and something's telling me that it's not by generosity, but for keeping someone's mouth shut..Black last doctor could had something to do with the murders, and ran before he could get caught. He knew them. Alicia, Helga, Lena and Gretchen-"
"You mean, Cat's friend, the other Lena girl who was found dead at the hospital and the two others that were buried under?" Vincent just nodded. Something was just fishy.
"All of them, including Cat's friend had worked to the same club, J.T. Three of them are dead, while the other is still on life support. I need to find out what happened, without blowing Catherine's cover.."
"You almost did, last time.." A time that he had gone almost dark enough to kill. Vincent could remember Catherine's sad, but hauntening eyes back then, when she had dropped her gun, from shooting him when he was trying to strangle or more trying to twist that random man's neck, for a stupid gem. Hatred was sealed into his soul. "What happened to you?" She was stunned to realize of how much he had changed from man to a monster. After he ran off from the party and from Catherine, he had returned back to the houseboat to change clothes and with Tori out of sight, he could have some time alone. Frustrated, he went up to his room as he started to untie his tie, throwing off his jacket to the bed, but when he finished to unbutton his white shirt, he turned back to the mirror and stopped for a minute as he stared at himself, almost stunned as he stopped his act. He didn't even realized that his eyes were still glowing even after he had left the party. Glowing in anger with hard veins on his face, reflecting the beast out and was taking the best of the man outside. Damn, Catherine was right.
He was becoming more beast than man. It was a fear he always tried to push away, but with the anger and Tori's effect on him was making things worse, than he realized and it still gave him shivers to think of it now. He vowed, this time, to never going back to that phase ever again. And he wouldn't let no one control him anymore. He shook his head, trying to stay in the right subject.
"That was different. Now, I believe it's much more personal than a stupid gem about beasts. Which reminds me about the smell that I had scent back at the autopsy room once with Ash. No one detect it, except for me.."
"You really believe they were beasts? That someone injected them with the beast serum, I've made? But the poison thing?" But J.T could see that Vincent was getting in there as he spoke. "If I was the only one to have been detect it, so to answer your question: It's a complete yes. I've got to warn Catherine. The girls were poisoned, both Ash and I believe in that. I think they were beasts from the serum, but died after they got poisoned and Àlvarez might be behind it. So the better Catherine would know with whom she's dealing with, would be better.." It was more than human trafficking, if it was the case. Something else was going wrong here.
"What about Regan? You can't let her down.." It was hard enough to hold Regan's tears from last night. However, he knows one thing for sure in this situation. He doesn't want to play with the dark side, anymore. Since his heart was begging him to go to Catherine's side right away. Regan and the others would have to turn themselves to the authorities, unless they did want to enjoy a few years behind bars, which he wasn't willing to do so.
"I can't play beast again. Call Tess, she'll find something about Carl's situation, I don't know-"
"Might not be possible.."J.T. just pointed the three tossed computers away from the place with a frown. But Vincent didn't quite understand at this meaning thing. "Tess burned one of my computers.." That was it? His friend was scared of a woman? He rose an eyebrow in confusion.
"Couldn't you-I don't know, get it fixed?" And that was it, J.T. started to panic now.
"Are you, out of your mind? You have any idea how it would cost me? Gabe would have my ass wipped! For three damn months, Cat and I were looking for you and all that data system was from Gabe's idea to steal-No, borrow them for me. Police data might be destroyed-"
"And Tess, in all this?" J.T. just winced at that question and looked down at the counter, feeling ashamed.
"Burned one of them with coffee, when she was chatting with Cat.."
"Well that makes sense now.."Now he understood what J.T. meant by not wanting to talk to Tess or do anything with her, ever since that unforgettable morning when Catherine had told her that she was going undercover and that her partner would have to cover her, which made Tess drop her coffee from her mug as she stood up in shock. And J.T. wasn't quite ready to forgive her, yet. Arghhh!
"So what? Just because she burnt one of your computers? You're just going to avoid her, like a coward?" Alarmed, the professor had rose up his head to him, Vincent was pissed. He thought that he was way more smarter than this. Running away from a girl, it was just stupid.
"It's not that easy-"
"Oh, it is easy! You go and ask her for an explaination or negotiate with her! And then try confront Gabe's anger as you're both at it! Be a man! J.T.!" Say what? Vincent was now giving him a pep talk? The world had lost its mind, seriously.
"I am a man! But you can't just throw me into the lion's den and unprepared!" But, he looked scared to confront Cat's best friend. Like Tess said once, she could look too intimidating, at times and scary too.
"Then, try to come up with something. Tell Tess, you're doing a favor for a friend that needs help. Carl might jump up and attack again. He wants all of us to go mad here and setting up a trap won't help at all." It was quite true. If Carl attacked any of them again, it might go deadly. Setting up a trap wouldn't help and Vincent wanted to do the right way, this time. But it was like he wanted J.T. handle Regan's problem on his own, while he would go and haunt into Catherine's job and discover how Alicia and Helga became beasts and got poisoned.
They didn't need another I Know What You Did Last Summer or another It movie to be rebooted all over again.
J.T. knew he had no choice. He wanted as much like Vincent, to see his best friend and Cat back together as well, but he also had known that Carl would strike again. Yup, he might need Tess's help now.
"You're right, I should try to call her. I wouldn't want to live in fear for another few years to come." He groaned in defeat at that thought as his friend had a cracked up into a smile, for the first time of the morning. He snickered as he had managed to crack up a joke, for once.
"Good and who knew that my short pep talks would work too. Next time, it might be for one dollar an hour-" Vincent had stepped down from his seat and quite a little too fast, as he almost lost balance of his body movements for a second. That took him in surprise. That was weird, cause he never felt so weak before. Never did, until now. Could be the lack of sleep, though, he spent the whole night outside. He blinked once or twice as his head felt like spinning around, trying to to steady himself and then, made his way out of the bar when an annoyed J.T. had called him back.
"Uh, just where do you think you're going?"Sucked into a jumping gasping sound, Vincent stopped his tracks as he turned back, pointing the door as he explained.
"Uh, outside? I thought I'd check on Catherine's friend's condition, before I could track around the club.."
"If it means by that you'll have to face a few other people outside, it means that you might need a shower and new clothes , not that you smell or not.." It was a good point. "And take an Advil pil, as you're it.." Yup, his friend had caught him into the act. But he tried to keep things cool enough to assure J.T. that it was certainly nothing to worry about.
"Yeah, I'll hit the showers and change here, since I can't go back to my place, for now on.." The houseboat would need a cleaning up bill right away, if he wanted to stay out of any stepped back to J.T. before he ran away again."Oh and take Ed for a bath, he really needs one.." And he rushed himself to the bathroom, leaving his best friend and his dog where they were.
"Yeah, sure.." J.T. just stared at the poor sweet little thing who stared up at him back with brown eyes. Inoncent brown eyes, demanding him to do what his buddy told him to do. Once his friend would get better sense, he'd get better later on, healthy as well. The headaches. The fatigue and not being able track things like Vincent used to do was not a good sign.
Because, J.T. had a feeling that his only best friend was not doing so well.
Vincent threw the new clothes on the bench as he started to kick off his shoes, throwing his shirt off from his head, unbelted his belt as he got rid off his jeans, socks and so the rest came off later in haste. He turned the tapes on. Naked, he let himself walk into the heating water who was now slapping his skin as he tried to wash himself taking every smell and dirt away. He closed his eyes as he massaged his shoulders that seemed to weight like a hundred of bricks under. Hundred of bricks of burden of guilt. Letting himself relax and sigh from felt so good he thought back with a sigh. Regan and Catherine, two women completely different haunted his mind, but if he had to make a choice on saving one life here, it was Catherine's. Regan would need to have faith on trusting people like Tess, on saving her against Carl's threat. Ow, he blurted out a hissing sound, as he kept his eyes closed but tight in pain, like a mousquito had bit him very hard.
He felt something weird irritating sudden. When he first walked into the shower, he felt like he had some unexpected bump to his feet. He thought, it was some stupid bruise that he must had tripped on his morning walk or whatever, but until it started to burn by now, it was strange. He opened his eyes through the water and raised up his left foot high enough to examine whatever was bothering him, as his back held him to the wall. But what he saw had got his breath caught, once again. His eyes widened in shock. Something was wrong.
He could see a small faint of a purple bruise at the palm of his foot.
...
Gabe had closed the door behind his back as he blurted out a tiresome sigh. He had a hard day of work and felt like he had came back from only he did not follow his lawyer's advice of leaving the country, but it wasn't like he hadn't break any law yet. Yesterday, he went on a three hour road to get to Mantuk. The house that had once belonged to the ex-FBI Agent, Robert Reynolds who told him to get them. Them. These mysterious letters from the house and to get rid of them, before his daughter and ex-boyfriend could get their hands onto. And burn them. However, while he was searching down at the basement, Gabe had not only found them, but had discovered that these letters were adressed to an certain person whose last name was familiar to him.
Rebecca Reynolds.
From Boston to New York, City. Back in 1853, way too long.
He couldn't read them all together since he had no time left and left the house right away with the whom were old enough to hide from the entire world, over two thousands years ago. Written by an feather and which its black ink was old. An writting ink and its quill.
Catherine's anscestor, Rebecca Reynolds had a secret admirer and that mysterious man had wrote her many letters. So many. Gabe even wondered if she had the chance to write him back, if she had the chance or not. And to whom? He did not know this fact, since they were quite hard enough to read.
'And Reynolds wants me to burn them, without even knowing what's into them?' He thought back. Reynolds had told him to get rid of them. These letters that might have had a connection to Catherine's anscestor and wanted him to get rid of them? There was once in a time that Catherine wanted to know more about her origins and her past, knowing that not only she had to deal with beasts, but that Rebecca was also doing the same thing as well. Tracking them down, until she had fell and tried to save one of them, at the end. He rubbed his eyes trying to shake himself up from the slumber until he noticied an very and agitating Tori who was filling up a big sport and blue bag with clothes and from the looks of it, she did not looked very well, but much more frightened like a beaten housewife who just couldn't wait to get out from the house. Stunned, he watched her trying to suck her clothes inside of it with such force he had seen.
"Tori, what on earth are you doing?" Gabe dropped his briefcase and coat onto the bar counter, as he watched the red haired girl sucking up her clothes into a suitcase and from the way she was doing it, looked like she wanted to get away from this place as fast as she could.
"Packing my things, I think I need some space.." From him, mostly. If Veronica could give her answers about her parents's past, it wouldn't be by staying here. Her own father had hired an hitman in order to kill her mother who wanted to run away with a lover. Oh God.
"And where you're gonna go? You have nowhere to go!" But she looked very decided and into her own world, like his opinion didn't mattered.
"I'll think of something. In the meantime, I don't think I can handle by staying here for any minute longer!" She had gone back to the bathroom gathering the rest of her things in there, tootpaste, toothbrush, make-up, hair-dye, hairbrush into her hold ..Until she was taken back at the reflection that she was staring at the mirror up the washbowl. Dropping her stuff into the sink, into a shocking move. Her breath got caught from air, from what she was seeing now. It has to be an hallucination. It has to be. Oh God. Tori rubbed her eyes hard enough to make the image disappear, but once she opened them back, she had realized it wasn't the fascination of her mind. It was deadly true and for real.
A blond haired but dead woman was staring back at her. The woman from her vision. Gabe's dead girlfriend. Tyler.
Tyler Stevenson was looking back at her, with the same pale body covered up into a white sheet in blood from the wounds she had got. Her blond hair was into a horrible mess as if it hadn't been brushed for days were stucked into knots. Her pale lifeless green eyes were staring back at her. Giving her a warning.
"He's gonna go after you too.." The vision had silentely mouthed out a name. Gabe. She narrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Tori didn't quite understand at this reply. Gabe and Tyler used to love each other, did they? And if they did, then why would Tyler gave her warning about Gabe? It was a tricky question, until the last vision she had with him had crossed her mind. She remembered the scars on Tyler's back and her cries while she lay in bed. Yes. That made sense.
Tyler paid the price for Gabe, Catherine had managed to walk away from him and in pieces, but would she have the same chance as well? Including with these hauntening visions that would make her lose her mind? Her eyes sticked to the mirror, staring at the reflection in horror as she watched the blond haired woman raising a hand towards her, pointing her back as if she kept on warning her. "He's gonna go after you too..And after them as well.."
Them? Did she just meant, Cat and Vincent? Were they in any more danger with Gabe? No, the man had changed. He did. Didn't he? But the dead ones had known better. These visions were getting out of control now. She can see the past, through a shaking hand, the future though an agressive grabbing of hold onto something, and now ghosts, through fear? Good thing she hadn't seen anything bad from Vincent, from past or future yet. But it could happen, if he goes and attacks her again.
"Tori, you okay?"
She whirled back away from his touch, jumping away from him. It was absurd, now she was afraid of people touching her and why? Because she might get an reaction from them. Past, ghosts, futures, etc. The dark haired man stared at her, stunned that she was scared of him now. As if he still was a beast from before because that's how an frightened Tori was staring at now.
"Tori, I-"
"Don't touch me!"She could feel her heart racing, as she kept herself on guard from any threat.
"Tori, just calm down.." But she just shook her head in denial, stepping back to the sink for support.
"Don't tell me what to do!"
"At least, let's talk-"
"There's nothing to talk here! You've killed her. You hired Reynolds as an hitman to finish her off so that she won't spill the beans!" This again? He had to drive all the way up from Mantuk to come up here and see this? Tori pretending to know that he had in fact arranged Tyler to get killed. That was just absurd to hear.
"What are you talking about?" He had learned from Reynolds that the man behind bars did killed Tyler in cold blood.
"Tori-"
"Tyler! I've seen her getting killed by Reynolds and from you..That scar on her back. Claws of a monster. You did this to her!" She was hypervilating by now, as every move of her body was trembling now. Trembling in fear. How come she had known about this idea? This scar?
"You must be out from your mind! I didn't killed her-"But she kept on pointing him.
"But you almost did! You scarred her, for good..You almost did kill Cat and Vincent!" What? How did she had known that? Instead of accusing her, Gabe tried once again to calm her down. He didn't wanted to make things way worse than he did when he had left her alone, outside at the rain. If she had anything to do with Cat's friend that got attacked in jail.
"Tori, just tell me what's going on?" He waited for answer to come when she bursted into silent sobs like a little girl would do. She didn't knew what else to do then feeling completely helpless and tired by trying to make people listen to her. He could tell that she looked so exhausted, ever since that day she had gotten out from the hospital. "Tori.." Not waiting for him anymore, the red haired girl started to lift up the hem of her purple tank top. There was a scar. A surgichical scar and big enough to leave a huge mark as if it was cursed. Strucked into fear, Gabe had trouble to get his eyes out of the pink and sutured scar printed onto Tori's side, when he finally had the strength to look up to her. She nodded to his staring. The transplant made her do this. She looked so pale and frigthened guessing his answer that not even her drenched face of tears could give her. Because the eyes could tell everything. After all, they were the window of the soul. Hers, they had dark circles and were bloodshot from the tears and exhaustion.
"It all started with this scar.."
Not only Gabe had the thought of Tyler's death into his conscience, Cat accusing him of a possible murder like Tori just stated and what's worse into all this? Is that a nearly start of an infection was about to make Tori look sick and delusional from how the scar looked pale pink, but a little burned. He believe that she was facing infection by any minute. However, for Tori, it wasn't infection, it was way deeper. Ever since that transplant, she had these visions ever since day one. And they hadn't stopped from then.
A loud knocking at the door was heard which had interrupted their silent meeting. Gabe looked at the direction of the entry door as an familiar sounding voice was heard.
"Gabriel Lowan? It's Detective Santiago Medina from NSJPD! I'd like to ask you some other questions to you.."
It just wasn't the last of his troubles by now.
...
"What do you mean, you lost all the results?" Tanaka and Ash were both paying theirs coffees and sandwiches, at the cashier counter before they went to an empty rounding table near to the window, sitting across from another, in this lovely, but cold noon. He could see that the short dark haired girl was trying to unwrap her sandwich, but with her shaking hands, it was no use. She was still shaken from this morning and couldn't even believe it could happen to her. Her short black hair was into a mess, her grey winter coat was half buttounted like she was in a hurry to find her colleague up in here. She was supposed to the more controlled one here, being all perfectionist and steady while Ash would be the one who would fool around the block.
However, he had sent all the things he had known to Tanaka. The two dead girls's bodies and everything for Tanaka to study, so she could do a second check-up and stated that he was right with the poison thing. Alicia died faster, but Helga didn't. The poison thing was still real to him, but he couldn't found anything that could prove that to be true. And Tanaka wanted to help him. Knowing the hard workholic woman, he could trust her.
She had the answers, until they were both gone, now.
"You know what I meant by it! I don't know what happened, okay?"Worried, Ash just watched his bussiness partner Tanaka who was trying to adjust all the shock she's been through from this morning. When he received her call, he jumped out from the couch he was sharing with J.T at the club and almost got out from the place, completely butt naked. However, it wasn't this stuation that he had to face, but to face Tanaka's answers, when she told him in a halt, that all the tests were gone from the lab."I left things the way they were last night and came back here this morning, to find nothing in the lab. Just empty!"
"So, you're saying that someone had came in and stole the results?" Could be a good guess, for a start.
"Looks like a break-in, if it's that what you mean or otherwise, the lab would have been left into a mess, which didn't happen.."
"You called the cops?" Tanaka just gave him an frowning stare as if he was kidding around with her.
"And say that the blood evidence from the two dead girls was stolen? Hell yeah, I did. However it won't be any use, if they hadn't come up by now.. , they took the cameras, so they can find out if someone had penetrated into the lab, or not."
"And the bodies?"
"To the morgue section and safe, baka.." And left alone up there. So the bodies were safe, but not the results?
"You said you went on looking through their blood, Tanaka, so tell if I'm right to be worried here. You think it was poison or an virus?" Tanaka took a big sip from her coffee as she stood silent at this question. She could see that Ash was getting worried about the results on what she had found when he couldn't, back at the precinct.
"Look I did the best that I could, Ash. I went on doing the work you told me to do, looking under the microscrope, looking for any contimination. Went to do the blood work to twice to thrice all over again, doing an evaluation of theirs burdened organs, sore throats, lesions. Did the toxicology, all the damn tests, all that in one day, like a crazy woman and wanted to sent you back the results settled for this morning, but when I figured out they were all gone-"
"Tanaka? It was poison or not?" Ash had cut her off as he wanted things to be clear about the way the girls had died. His partner just followed with a long sigh as she continued to explain.
"I've seen two viruses through their blood, one was the HIV-virus while the other stays unknown, but it did looked like the girls were both HIV-positive when they were both alive. From what I remember. I don't think they were both raped. I didn't see any signs of that, though." The girls had transmitted diseases? AIDS can't burn people's organs, unless it was by following another disease that had complicated things for them. But if it's that possible, then why Ash didn't find any signs of rape on them? "Unknown virus." But he brought up his eyes back to her.
"But how did they ended up dead?" Tanaka just shrugged her shoulders up to that answer. She wasn't certain enough, now that the results from Alicia's and Helga's blood and everything else was stolen from the lab.
"That's the thing. I don't actually know.. I would have believed it was axshysia and that they had died faster, from how they looked like. Like you mentioned before to your report, but the results weren't so clear. It could be poison or AIDS, I don't know. Cause if there is an possible epidemic of an similiar disease like HIV or that there's a poison going on around here, we would need to stop it, one way or another.." He put his elbows to the table as he covered up his face with his hands, trying to adjust from what he had learn from his partner, trying to control the anxiety of a nervous breakdown. Oh God. Could Tanaka be right into this?
"But for Helga? You believe she had fought?"
"About that point, it was true. She did fought whomever had attacked her, before she died..All the signs were there." Ash dropped his hands down and as he gave her a pleading look about another thing that he needed to be sure about.
"And the blood into her nails? Did you got the time to analyze it?" He begged himself for the truth to come out from her mouth.
"I did. I went it through DNA identification and thought the results would be ready for today, but it went missing, Ash. Everything went missing this morning.." However, everything from the lab, all the results went out missing, including the DNA sample. Now, they won't know if the blood belonged to Helga or to someone else.
"Okay. One last question, Tanaka-You think it was someone else's blood or Helga's?"He watched her eyes getting a little darker on this statement. Ash knew he had hit a nerve."If you ask about my own opinion, I might say it was someone else's blood.."
Oh yeah, she remembered seeing something, through the victim's nails. It was someone else's blood and that person might have been the one who stole the results, last night. In order to not get caught.
...
Walking around the hospital's corridors were hard enough for Vincent to not feel the bump on his foot. He was still shaken from what he had seen a few hours ealier when he was taking a remembered turning the tapes off, drying himself with his towel and managed to get himself through into a pair jeans and a a black sweater and rushed out from the bathroom, without even checking on J.T. or an very worried Ed who kept on whinning as he had left the club taking his winter coat he had left on the seat from the bar, in a hurry. A purple bump that made him wince every time he took a step, like he walked on pines. Did he fell or had walked on a small sharp of glass? No, he would have noticied from before. Wouldn't he?
It just frightened him, litterely. A part of him was starting to feel a little different here and quite weak. Once he'd be done on checking on Cat's friend and on checking on her, during her undercover job and to warn her about what kind of evil human being Àlvarez can be.
Unless, she must have known by now. He rubbed his eyes for a second before he continued his walking. Come on, Catherine's too smart to not have noticied anything wrong with Lena's abusive husband. Or else, she wouldn,t have to go undercoving that jerkfor nothing.
Good thing that nobody had noticied anything wrong at the hospital or else they would had his foot checked up right away and for what? A stupid purple bruise, that barely look like danger to him?
Not only that went to his mind, but with his head spinning like mad. Like back at the club, when he almost had fell from his seat or that out raged temper he had, when he scared everyone off, last night. He couldn't even track up the scent of a human being and yet, he had managed to beast out in front of an very naked woman. But nothing was normal for him, anymore. When Vincent had finally reached up to the ICU section, he made himself quiet as he kept on listening from afar where two uniformed cops were guarding a room. Two young gentlemen, one short, mostly an obese cop with glasses, on the left side when the other one looked way taller than him. And skinny way too much. Vincent had walked a bit closer to them, as he managed to hide behind the wall, peaking them up from a corner to his left where the two cops were whispering to one another.
"Damn, I don't think she's gonna make it alive. I mean, with that head injury.."
"Heard that the docs had operated on her skull to repair the damages, to sooth the swelling and to stop the hemorrage thing. Damn, I don't know any of that medic stupid stuff.."
"She could be braindead-" Hidden behind that wall, Vincent tried hard enough to hold on his anger when he kept on listenening to their conversation. He kept on controlling on his breathing.
"And yet, that stupid boyfriend of hers refuse to unplug her from the machines, when that dumbass knows there's no more hope left.."
"With how she hit her head, it wouldn't be any surprise.."
"What can you do about it? Love is so blind, sometimes and it makes you look delusional and crazy.."
"Excuse me, sir?" Vincent whirled around in surprise when someone had touched his shoulder. He saw a man with black hair and silver strippes looking suspicious to see another person here. He watched the man's blue eyes widen up in surprise when he finally had realized to whom he was talking onto. That guy looked like he hadn't had any sleep since forever. His blue t-shirt was wrinked with his brown coat and his jeans had sand spots as if he used to work at the construction area or most coming from it. He was in a huge mess.
"Captain, Vincent Keller? War hero guy?" The guy looked quite uncomfortable when he'd been found from that unknown guy here.
"News goes fast, lately.."That title wouldn't never leave from people's mouth from what he could see."And you are?" He looked back with a more serious face watching the man in front of him answering to his question. After he managed to calm down, the man tried to raise a hand for Vincent to shake, but his brain failed to give him a sign of power.
"Patrick, I'm Yalena's boyfriend. The girl inside of that room in a coma.."He struggled to find the right words without collapsing into a river of tears and from his rushing heartbeat, Vincent knew he wasn't faking at it. Patrick looked like he had been through hell.
"I'm sorry to hear that. How is she?" He tried to look sympathetic as Patrick just sighed and that sigh sounded like a shivery breath. That man looked like was about t lose all complete control here.
"Stable for now, however no one believes she can make it out of it.."That was certain as Vincent looked up at him, trying to understand the meaning of his words for a second.
"What makes you say that?"
"From what I've heard from the doctors, I think."Patrick went on walking passing by him as he turned around to see the invisible twin doors where a young woman lay in bed, surrounded by many and hooked by machines. Vincent had followed him right back as he stood to his left side, but what he saw through the doors had left him stunned and out of words. No wonder the guards believed that the suspect would never make it alive and how Patrick was ready to do anything in his own strenght, to not let her go. "If she doesn't reach out a sign, then it would be hopeless for wait for her to wake up.." He had added back something like this.
"Yesterday, they said the surgery went well without any complications. They managed to stop swelling from the brain and the hemorrage and had closed her up, after six long and enduring hours. However, they don't know if she would carry on the aftermath or having any damages after the attack.." Vincent had tore his eyes away from the woman to look up at Patrick, getting a little uneasy here. How serious Yalena's condition could be that serious?
"Like she might be paralyzed or handicaped?"
"Or the fact she might never wake up and be dead. all that for running away and sending Angela away from an abusive and manipulative man such like Àlvarez." Oh God. This was horrible. Lena would probably never wake up, and even if she would, she'd never go back to the same physical or mentally condition as she used to be from before. The attack might had done too many damages that might never be able to go away. No wonder, why Catherine had accused him. No only she'd believed that he fooled her around, but had hurt her by using the person that mattered her the most, for the moment. That only the beast had managed to live upon him, that he had lost all signs of humanity. No wonder, she hated him from that day. Vincent was lost into his thoughts for a moment when Patrick's voice had called him back.
"Keller, you used to work here as a doctor, before you entlisted to the army. What's your opinion?" Great. Now, that guy wanted his opinion about his girlfriend's condition? However, he just shook his head in defeat not knowing what else to say.
"I really wish I could answer, Patrick. I really want to, but I can't." He stared back at the lying form who was intubed and with her head being so heavenly bandaged as if it could protect her from any harm. Vincent just sighed, wishing he had better news for Patrick, but he couldn't. "Not if I can't take a look to her medical history or how serious her condition is by now. I was only working as an ER, at the emergency section, not a surgeon." But he added, as he tried to assure the desparate guy who couldn't take his eyes off from the glass.
"But I do know is that she is under better care here, than any where else and safe here with all the guards that the precinct can have to protect her, here." Okay, that was enough for Patrick to agree, as he continued."Did her husband had tried to call or to reach up?"
"No. And I hope he doesn't at all. He's just a son of bitch and one day, he'll get what he deserves and hopefully, Detective Chandler would make that happen. Catching this guy and kill him, so that nobody would never get hurt under his care, ever and ever again..Or I'll have to do it, myself. It wouldn't mattered if I go to prison or not. Someone would able to get rid of him. If Chandler can't do it herself, I'll take the job with pleasure." Vincent took a look to him, trying to hide any stunned feature to his face. Patrick was serious about it. No doubt from his voice. Damn, these were the same words that Tori had sworn to him before, telling him to go and kill Catherine's father and release all the frustration like the monster that Cat hated to see. She did told him that she had accepted him for who he really was. Man and beast, but there was always a limit about it or more like a crossing line into it, that she had warned him before. And somehow, Patrick was taking the same direction like he had done before. Vincent snickered by this remark, he turned his head away from the stubborn man standing next to him. Story was about to go wild now.
"If you believe that Detective Chandler would catch him, then you'd better be stopping thinking about tracking Àlvarez and handle all the guilt to yourself, because it's not gonna help you, but it'll go the other way around if you do.." It was a fair warning that took the black haired guy by surprise, as he could feel his blue eyes staring at him back.
"What do you mean by that?" Spill the beans, Vinnie boy as his father had once told him, from a lost memory. When he was a sixteen year old boy who had managed to sneak off passing by the window from his bedroom, for wanting to join a party near at the neighborhood with other kids at his age. Only to be caught at three of clock of the morning by his anxious parents, his mother was mostly worried while his father looked angry, but dangerously calm enough to see his sixteen year old son sneaking back into the house but from the wrong window. Michael Keller, whom had woken up and wanted to get a glass of milk, had heard a noise coming from the kitchen and had caught Vincent coming back into the house, from the kitchen window as he put one leg in as he almost crushed his groin and then put his other leg inside with a burb, but instead of trying to stand on his feet, he collapsed down hard on the floor, cheek first. He growled in pain and in wanting to be sick. Luckily, no bones were broken but quite had damaged his pride, though. Drunk enough to smell like vomit and to look ashamed of his actions, when his dad had found him in a state like this and grounded him for a whole month. Teenegers, what can you do about it?
"Let's just say that I once had known a man who was onto something dangerous before. He was kidanapped from his family, friends and girlfriend and been brainwashed to do horrible things that he wouldn't have never had done for once in his life. And once his handler had thought he was done with him, he ordered people to get that man killed." Somehow, he hoped by telling his story would help Patrick to not do the same thing with the revenge path, he once had took.
"But smart as he was, the man had found out about it and escaped his death penalty and had tried to kill his handler on the way back.."
"Did he do it?" He shook his head as he folded his arms against his chest.
"No, he didn't, and you know why? Because his girlfriend who was a cop was forced to shot him, in order to bring him up to his senses, before he could do something he might never come back from."
"Like?"
"Killing the bad guy, so he could go and rot in prison.."
"What happened to the other guy? The one that tried to kill the handler?" Oh damn, he has to remember that part all over again now. Vincent held a wince, but he had tighten up his fists, trying to keep on talking and not let himself go into anger. He felt his blood boiling inside of him as the beast wanted to go out and attack Patrick, but kept him in his place for once.
"Well, he disappeared through thin air, after he had realized that what was precious to him was gone. His girlfriend had left him and his family and friends didn't wanted to do anything with him anymore. Since he had chose a bad side. He took the run and vanished away like a fugitive.." That was half of the truth here. Catherine may had left him after he took the wrong path. All thanks to Tori. However, J.T. was the only one who stayed with him, even if it was for the bad reasons. He stood by his side, like always.
"What I'm trying to say Patrick is that you can't go all executionner and decides who lives or dies. It's not up to you to judge. Let the cops handle it."He exchanged a questioned look towards the guy next to him who started to pace back and fourth.
"You believe in Detective Chandler's work?" Catherine. She was the source of his heart and the reason on why he was still here. Being more Man, than Beast. Vincent just smiled, faintly at the mention of her name. The anger in him, was now gone.
"Well, I guess. I mean, going undercover must not be all easy, like in the movies." Patrick stopped to walk around as he pulled his hair back, as he tried to control his anger. The ex-soldier just shrugged, not knowing what else to say.
"No, it's not. But from what I've heard when I was held up in hostage back at the precinct is that you can count on her, no matter what situation. She'll do it, without any hesitation at all. Trust me, she'll catch Àlvarez soon enough, but it might take time.." Through his words, Patrick stared right back to Vincent, a little intrigued than he used to be for a very longtime.
"You sound like you've known her from before.."Damn, yeah. Buddy. He looked back at the young man with a frown.
"Maybe I did in the past, or maybe not. All I know is that you can trust her about bringing Àlvarez in. I know it's not easy to wait for answers, but I don't think your girlfriend would approve you of being capable of commiting a murder. I don't think Lena would ever forgive you for that."That was quite true. Look what happened with Catherine.
"It just frustrates me to stay here, being surrounded by cops and do nothing!"
"I know it's hard, but it's the only thing you can do for now." Vincent pointed the lying woman at the bed as he followed eyes still locked into the young man's. "Try to talk to her. It may sound weird, but somehow comatose people can hear their love ones from a far. I won't hesitate on trying, if I were you, man.." He watched Patrick trying to hold back his tears as the man in here looked back at the glass where the love of his life lay in bed, mostly fighthing for her life. If she was still strong to fight it in order to comeback, not only for him but for Angela. If she was still there, despite her worst state of condition. After what seemed to be hard time for him to adjust the struggle of letting any revenge thought down, Patrick had finally nodded to Vincent's talk. Pep talk. J.T. taught him, a little.
"Ok. I'll try.."
"Good." It wasn't a easy decision for Patrick, but he'll give a try from what Vincent had thought as he patted the man's back, trying to support him through this hard time. But it was worth it.
While Vincent was trying to get rid of any negative thoughts from Patrick's mind, he hadn't noticied that Tess was watching and listenening to their conversation, in hide from their sight. She was impressed to hear that Vincent was talking to an desperate Patrick, but mostly speaking of Catherine, but only in the good terms now. And from the way he talked about her partner was out of admiration and of love. She guessed that, somehow, he still had feelings for Cat, even after the hard road he took.
...
Hectic , lousy and unstable was the bar at nights, at least from Lina's point of view as she passed an Bloody Mary drink to an costumer when she caught up an very confident Àlvarez wearing a white tuxedo showing off his broad shoulders, was coming downstairs. With an very satisfiying smile to specify. The guy must had gone into the new girl's arms and mostly for her bed. A woman's dead bed. Yalena. Why would she ever choose that place who used to be a crime scene?
She didn't liked Ayaka Richardson. This woman was like the most badest creature that she ever had to face, expecially her eyes which she had seen from before. She was sure of it. What was worse into this? it was the fact that Ayaka was HIV-positive just like herself, but with a better gene that can fight off the disease. Yeah, right. Like she would be dumb enough to believe that.
For Lina, Ayaka was a threat. Not only for Àlvarez, but for herself. Once before, she used to be young and innocent and, not to forget-confident and beautiful, once in a lifetime. Before reality had gotten into her and hard enough. She could still remember the results that ended her life. And Esperanza made sure she'd never forget it. To make people admire her dancing and to feel desired, even loved for one moment. She fell in love with Àlvarez once. She was only nineteen, wishing to have an aspiring career into the show buisiness which her very traditional parents had disaproved and disowned her as she was kicked out to the streets. After three years, trying to live on the streets with little money left into her hands and singing to clubs with her old used guitar, Òliver Àlvarez had noticied her and took care of her. And made her his queen, from this day on.
However, everything had changed after she found out that she was sick and mostly when she had heard that Òliver had a wife and the fact he was only use her to get himself satisfied. Things were about to change now. Which, Lina couldn't help but think about the consecquences of her actions now.
'Stop it! Lena is dying, at the moment. And all you think is about this new girl that Òliver is now seeing? Be happy about the fact that this little sneaker bitch is rotting in hell and that no secrets would ever come out. Never.' She shook her head, trying to not think too much as she kept on doing her work, grabbing a rhum bottle with a cola can as she both mixed them together and poured them into the glass as if it was a way to distract herself. And served another client who was impatient to get another drink.
Lina had secrets and most of them were from Àlvarez. Dangerous secrets. He made sure he get her medicine for free and in exchange, she has to get a few things done for him, in return. Horrible things that made her shiver through her spine. Not only she doesn't satisfy him anymore, but she was now being a slave for him, for many years now.
A thirty-eight year old and expired woman like herself, serving a disgusting human being. Instead of becoming a star in Hollywood or in South Korea, recording singles and albums, she was now serving high expensive alchool drinks to men in all ages in order for them to be seduced by the strippers and dancers in this bar. Young women, unlike herself. She gave Àlvarez an uneasy stare when she watched him coming closer to the bar.
"Looks, like you're having a good time with the new girl.." She watched him taking a seat and put his elbows to the counter, feeling too much happy.
"You can say that, just right."The guy was into dreamland from his happy smile and wasn't going anywhere from it. "I'm telling you, Lina. Ayaka is a godness when it comes to love making.."
"Love making? Isn't that too early, already? You've just meet her-"
"When she came into my office, from yesterday. And I know with whom I'm dealing with.."
"You do know that she is sick.."With a hand, he managed to explain as he cut her off from this point.
"Yes, but unlike someone that I know, she knows how to take care of herself. I've seen her results. Her doctor had sent me, her medical history. Ayaka has a special gene that keeps fighting off the disease and has been healthy, ever since.." Oh really? She gave him a look. Bad look. Like she dared him to say more than what she already know by now.
"You really believe that? With all the meds she has to take, it won't give her any bad side effects?" She really didn't believe that fact, knowing her experience with her medication which hadn't made her feel easy to take. Àlvarez took a glance back at the jealous woman right here.
"What's wrong, Lina? You're not jealous of Ayaka, aren't you?"
"No. I'm not jealous. I just don't buy that story, that's all. After all, what makes you think that she's gonna stick with you, forever?" She denied being jealous, but somehow couldn't buy the act from him. Falling for a sick person with the same disease like herself. Not knowing where she was going with her words, he folded his arms to his chest with a wondering stare.
"What do you mean?" Lina only had rolled up her eyes as she started to explain with a sigh. Getting to the facts.
"You barely know her, Òliver. That's the thing. Be careful with whom you're dealing with and with whom you're confinding yourself with..That's all I ask.."
"You're afraid that I'm gonna spill the 'beans' to her? Ayaka doesn't know about our little secret. Things that are locked into the closet stays into the closet. Ayaka would be working here by protecting and correcting the girls. However, it would come a day, that I would have to tell her everything about the other job that you and I do in private. After all, she's also my bodyguard too..She'll have to know about it, someday.."That was far too much detail for her to take, Lina really didn't wanted him to trust Ayaka with that statement."Kinda has to protect me.."
"Òliver.." He cut her off with a pointing finger as if he wasn't about to let himself get any order from a woman like her.
"So, don't you dare tell me what to do here and with whom I'm sleeping with, Lina. All this stuff is not your buiseness.."The man was blinded by love. It was just too fast.
"What's wrong, darling?" Speaking of the devil, an very dreaming but happy Ayaka had followed up to him wearing a blue sleeveless and short dress with her brown and curly hair down to her shoulders, looking all beautiful here like she owned the spoltlight here from what Lina could guess as she watched the petite brunette clinging to the man's arm as he stared at her with desire. Someone had sex, tonight.
And somehow, she couldn't get her eyes out of the necklace that Ayaka was wearing, at the moment. Her blood boiled in anger as Lina looked right back at the so-called happy couple before her eyes. Damn, Alvarez was a jerk. If someone had known about that cursed necklace and its vicious red gem by now, the two of them would be good as dead.
"Oh, nothing. I was making clear to an old friend of mine here, that she doesn't need to get all worry about having my heart broken here. Isn't that right, Lina?"The same cursed guy had brought her up back from her lost thoughts. Which she had managed to fake it just in time, before he could notice anything from her angry and anxious glare.
"I wouldn't worry about that. Nice to meet you, Lana Lang, by the way."If looks could kill, Lina would have had done that, immediately and right back to Ayaka whose eyes could have sent snakes from a telepathic sign.
"It's Ayaka Richardson. Nice to meet you too, Lina.." Childlish, from a bodyguard to act with that attitude as Lina rolled up her eyes.
"Whatever.."But the brunette didn't seem to care about the answer as she leaned on the counter with her elbows, trying to look a little inoncent as she blurted out something like this.
"Do I have to pay, if I want to have a drink here?"What kind of question was that? The woman behind the bar went on doing another order, trying to make an magarita drink as she explained."For workers, like you and I, we don't drink, but only if we're not on duty. You don't want to be drunk when you have to keep your head straight to your work here." And started to clean the counter with a rug as if it could help to deal with her anger.
"Lina means you can't be drunk while you're working here. Esperanza did it and fell alsleep when she sorta had to correct Anna once. Anna was lucky to escape her punishement, at that night.."had clearified Àlvarez putting an arm around Ayaka's slender shoulders. Oh God, this woman looked so little compared to a big guy like him. Lina tried so hard to not throw up at them as she felt getting a little jealous from here. After all, she did loved Àlvarez once, but to see him falling and longing onto some other woman's eyes like this wench. Made her mad.
"Anna is one of the girls, dancing at the pole, over there." had nodded the strawberry blond but short haired woman to them as she mentionned one of the girls who was dancing with the pole, moving up her naked curves in order to make all the men go completely insane. That red head would lose its head if she kept on swinging it around like a total barbie had thought Lina as she cleaned up the counter, when Alvarez had checked up with his watch and sighed in defeat.
"I'm sorry, ladies, but I have to go now. I have to go and finish the rest of my shift.."Hospital shifts never ends from what had guessed Lina, as she tried to not call him a coward for leaving two women here. His ex and his new toy girl.
"Sweetie, you're leaving, already?"Ayaka did her best at making herself pout, like a little girl here. Òliver tried to control himself from falling into her smile, but couldn't. Damn, she got him into her spell here and so hard.
"I'm sorry, Ayaka, but duty is calling me and orders me to be at the hospital as soon as possible. Don't miss me too much, darling.." His new girlfriend smile had warmed up to him, despite the eye glare that Lina gave him from the corner.
"I'll try not to. I know how to keep myself busy. Now that I have a job to serve and to protect here." Ayaka exchanged a few quicky pecks with him as she put her hand on his shoulder as if she had to reach him up to kiss him, despite having high heels. Still feeling like an idiot in love, Òliver walked away from the place as his new bodyguard just stared at him, like her breath had been taken away. Under Lina's watch who kept staring at the two of them with a groan.
"I thought clients don't date bosses, here.."
"It's arranged. I can take care of my feelings and of my heart's racing here, making them calm the way I wanted them to be.." Blinking once to twice, Ayaka just watched her new boyfriend walking towards the door,with a grin.
"Or what to look like a robot?"
"Excuse me?"The barmaid watched the new girl turning her head to her sight as everything being happy had vanished away from her features. Raising her head up, Lina threw the rug back at the liquor section and put her hands to the counter as she faced Ayaka with a frown. A daring frown.
"You think you own him here?"
"It was never a question of owning anyone here. Alvarez and I deal things with professionalism. The sex is just a thing between us, which I can take care of.."Sex thing? Didn't buy that, for sure. Ayaka may be tricky and she didn't like it.
"Like spreading your mucus, for an example? Face it, you may be the new girl here, but you're not gonna last more than two weeks, cause I know Àlvarez here. He change and switch women like a pair of a new t-shirt.."
"Like he did with you?" If she could have the permission of breaking or throwing a glass to Ayaka's head, Lina would have had done that with pleasure.
"If you think, you can get your nose into buisness you shouldn't even have the right to know, this is where you mark your death treat here.." How dare she! The petite brunette just shrugged her shoulders as this matter didn't seem to bother her, at all.
"Well, that's too bad. I already have a death wish here and it's to protect and correcting the girls here. However I can slow things down with Òliver a bit, since he's such a sweetheart at caring for others.."Really?
"What about his wife? You must have had heard about Yalena-"
"Yeah, I heard about her and the fact that she may be dead by now as we speak. But that's not my problem here. She asked for blackmail and got what she deserved, at the end. That poor little girl. Àlvarez had warned her to not mess with him and look what happened.."How incredible, she really felt no sympathy at all? Lina did, but mostly for Lena's kid who would probably be searched around the world, by now.
"You think, you're way more smarter, than all of us here?"
"Could be, if you want a wise bodyguard in good compagny here, you better not mess up with my bad side, or else you gonna have to pay the price, that's my quote of being a bodyguard and of a hitman." It was a fair warning here that Lina tried to ignore stating that the woman in front of her was kidding around, but Ayaka didn't looked like she wanted to laugh. She just wanted to let her know that from now on, she was the leading boss here. The one that takes the situation and keeps the control in tack here. Her spot. Her mark.
"It was just a fair warning, no need to get stressed-"
"It wasn't stress, I just needed to think about your statement, making sure you were right and that you wouldn't mess around Àlvarez here. Lana."Still shivering from that remark, Lina tried so hard to not give in fear and right in front of this very confident woman in front of her.
"Don't worry for Òliver, I'll take good care of him and while you stay on my good side, everything should be fine"Ayaka grinned as she looked up to her very serious but warning face, before she turned her head towards the lousy crowd who was starting to get crazy at the bar where Anna and another girl with black hair, Natasha were dancing on stange. "Look, I got to see how the girls are dancing and how wild the guys can be at nights, like tonight, though. So I can be ready if the guys want to file a complaint against our girls."The brunette had turned her head back at her with a wink, as if the barmaid wanted to have a date with her as she was slowly backing away from the bar. "And it's not Lana. It's Ayaka! Get that through your mind!" She pointed her head with a grinning smile and turned her back as she made her way through the crowd, leaving the barmaid totally angry.
This new girl was up to something, she had known about this fact. This Ayaka was sent here to spy on them, all of them here. That stupid jerk Òliver had gave her that necklace, which probably means something.
Ayaka must had turned out to be important to him or maybe more..
Oh. No. The sex thing. What if he had fell for this wench? Oh God. She must had gotten him to her trap, already. However, if Òliver had let himself fall for a woman like Ayaka, it must be for something, cause he had never fell hard enough for Yalena or herself before and quite fast.
She must be possessed and a manipulator and what's worse into all this? Is that she may have recognized Ayaka from some other place. She remembered seeing her in the bar way before Gretchen's death and Yalena's arrest and attack at the prison.
"Hey, you ugly bitch! Where are the shots we've ordered?" A male's voice was heard from the crowd which had woken her up by surprise. Damn, she nearly forgot that she was working here as a bartender! Lina dragged out a cabaret from at her left side from down and put seven to eight empty short and tiny glasses. Now for the vodka bottle. She went to the liquor section to grab a new Smirnoff bottle had uncorked the plug and went to pour the liquid into the shiny and tiny glasses. Trying to distract herself from whomever would get into Òliver's pants.
However when she went to the crowd with its very thundering music, yelling and dancing with all that laughter and the flashing lights here, she tried so hard to not drop her cabaret from her hold as she tried to pass through them, wanting to get closer to the group whom had ordered to the shots. Until some huge stranger had managed to push her from his back, making her fall and not only did she fell, but so did all the shot drinks had went down and broken into pieces. Damn, these stupid high heels! No wonder she failed to be a superstar, because she really had no high class to survive it.
Aware that she lay in the middle of the dancing floor with a black and short dress, Lina had pushed herself to her elbows as she stared down at the broken shots where the vodka liquid were sinking to the dancing floor, in astonishment, but also in horror when she brought up her hand's palm to her eyes.
Blood. Cuts. Mostly from the broken glasses.
"Hey, are you okay? Gee, that must hurt!"had called a male's deep voice who sounded loud enough through the crowd. And that voice was far from being intimidang, more concerned to say. The bartender had looked up to found who that voice came from and looked stunned when she realized it belonged to one and special man. He stood among the crowd and right in front of , God. Even too handsome to be true with his grey coat on his strong back, a black troussed t-shirt forming his very sculptered and hardworking abs. His brown short buzz haircut and these brown eyes that stared right back at her with concern, despite the unshaved beard he bore, he still looked amazing and so tall.
The most perfect man she ever had fascinated and seen. She was staring at him, her jaw dropped to this marvelous sight.
"Hey, I said, are you okay?"She snapped eyes away from the wild imagination she had from him and went back to the present and the blood who was falling from her hand. Great, she felt like a reckless and stupid teenager now.
"Huh? Yeah, I'm sorry-"
"Here, let me help you-"
"It's ok, I can handle this.." Well expecially with the blood, she has to desinfect it from getting worse, but first she needed a towel, which she couldn't find any. The man, however had noticied her embarassement and took out an handkerchief from his pants's back pocket and handed her as he bend to his knees to her height.
"Here, take mine.."
"But I don't wanna to take any advantage of you-"But the man insisted as covered the tissue around her hand in rush with the precious care he could make despite her hissing over the pain.
"No, you're not, don't worry about that. Just press it around your palm, might not want to get worse or even to bleed to death.."He looked down on their feets where the rest of the glasses were spreading all over."I'll help you with these, later.."But she denied his offer, shaking her head back at him.
"Let me do it-"Or maybe not, after all.
"Drop it! The janitor dude would do it. Now get up and let's fetch up the medicine cabinet, so I'll check on your wound and maybe you can serve me a glass of scotch, later on.."He helped her to stand up on her feet. Lina couldn't help but to look stunned and how big he looked toward her. And also beautiful too. His hands had never left his hold onto hers. These big and calloussed with hard veins into these hands of him. Powerful hands that could kill a soul.
"You're a doctor?"
"Used to work as an ER resident before and now that I'm back up here and being officially alive, I might start to look up for a job."When she did realized to whom she was talking to, her eyes widened into shock. No, it can't be him. That famous war hero guy was standing in front of her and tending her injury.
"You mean? You're that guy from the news?" Got caught when she saw him letting out a deep breath from his lungs. Looks like the guy hated to have become a celebrity ever since his coming out from the hospital. Stating he was alive, after being gone for almost eleven years.
"Yep. My name is Vincent Keller and I might need a lot of gauze to treat your wound here.."His brown and focused eyes were now staring back at her, as if the information that the rescued woman just told him, didn't mattered to him."So, you better show me your medecine cabinet and right away!" That man was all about bussiness from what what she had discovered. His pressure on her hand made her feel so good and secure, and mostly safe from harm. Maybe that man would help the other girls to feel safe as well. After all, they would need someone to tend and heal from the injuries and torture from their hitman, Keller would be there to help them, if he could handle the terror from the basement of course. Could he?
"Uh, yeah. Right this way.." She lead him away through the crowd as his hold on her hand had never left her. Oh God. She felt like she was burning with desire inside of her body wanting to have one single night with the stranger behind her back. But Lina made a promise to herself ever since she had received her results from her HIV test. No more sex with anyone. That phase was over. Totally over even if a very tempted and handsome Vincent Keller was making her feel alive and burning wild, whenever he was on her side. She hadn't felt this way, since a very longtime. Too long.
Too bad, she was already condemned to death by a stupid mistake from two years ago. Cause if she had the chance to go back and change it, Lina would had wanted to sleep with Vincent Keller, for only one night. A night to remember.
...
Not my best, but I did work on this chap for three and awful months! Damn, I really had no idea how to finish this one, but I finally did it!
Looks like Cat is finally making her mark through the club and managed to Àlvarez fall in her trap here. Lina does look jealous, though. Sorry if I made you wince during the sex scene. Vincent can't deal with two problems at the same time, so he ended up choosing to work at the club, so he could watch Cat in hiding while J.T would have to deal with Regan's problem for a couple of days. Is that a new gem that we might have here?
Ash is shocked to learn from his partner that all the results she's been working on had disapeared. Vanished from thin air. Looks like both Alicia and Helga were both sick at the time of their death. Is Vincent getting sick, as well? With the beast anger issues, headaches and purple bruises? What the hell is going on?
Turns out that not only Tori can see the past and future, but can also see dead people telling her that Gabe would probably go after her too, in the future. Gabe had found out a few clues on Catherine's anscestor, Rebecca Reynolds. Letters that Bob begged him to get rid off, before VinCat could go after them.
However, I don't think he'd get rid of them, in anytime soon. They might be important. I think Medina won't stop looking after him, for a while.
You liked that scene with Patrick and Vincent? I really wanted to give a good scene between the two of them and with Tess hiding behind them as she listened to their conversation.
You guys missed Agent Dana Landon? I sure did! I kinda had wished for her to appear back at S4 to help VinCat, but it was too bad..
And turns out Lina is falling hard for Vincent, even if he's not here for flirting but for guarding Catherine and making sure she's okay. But with Cat, let's just say that she might do a lot of stuff, that he may not like to see about her. If you think Vincent didn't suffered enough, well that matter is not over yet.
Thanks for the loving support Beasties! I'll try to update as much as I can. Stay tuned for next chap! Thank You!
