A/N: Two more chapters after this, assuming everything goes as planned. Those of you who are reading this, thanks for sticking it out, and I hope to see reviews!


The next month and a half went by with only a couple more incidents, plenty of evidence, but ultimately no breakthrough. Jill sat hunched over her kitchen table, coffee in one hand and a page of the newspaper held in the other. The entire team was frustrated, especially by the fact that it was July but Irons had kept them back from the real investigation, the one on the ground. A curfew had been enacted, and a number of trails in the Arklays closed off for the time being. Claire had long returned to Minnesota, allowing Chris to devote his focus to the case.

Eleven murders, three animal attacks, a handful of disappearances, and plenty of alleged sightings ranging from transients to oddly behaving dogs, even to strange and impossible creatures. Jill refused to believe in the last ones. The descriptions were all outrageous, and at night without a clear view. Looking out her window, she saw the empty McGee house. They had moved out only a couple days later, unwilling to continue to live around here. Jill didn't blame them.

Jill had slept in that morning, finally deciding to make use of a Saturday to catch up on some of the sleep lost over the past couple months. Despite her best efforts, she had gotten out of bed around nine, unable to go back to sleep.

She was already able to tell it was going to be a lazy day. Then the phone rang. She picked up the handset and brought it to her ear before answering. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me. We have to talk."

Chris.

"Why? What happened?"

"I can't tell you over the phone, people might be listening." Suddenly, she realized that Chris had been keeping his voice low. Was her partner getting paranoid? "Meet me at J's Bar as fast as you can."

"Okay, I'll see you there."

Click.

She set the phone back down on the receiver, wondering what had Chris so up tight as she pulled on a light jacket and hunted for her shoes. She had never heard him like this, not in the entire two and a half years they had known each other. Also, they didn't go to J's Bar that often anymore, usually it was the diner. Deciding to give up her attempts at figuring out what was up, she finished the coffee and headed for the door.

When Jill arrived at the fairly modern looking place, the bartender, their friend Will Solomon, was polishing glasses. The clean-cut, neatly dressed young man nodded at her when she entered, motioning towards the back corner near the arcade games. Chris sat over a mug of beer, with a five o-clock shadow, tired eyes zipping back and forth from one thing to another, constantly scanning before they found her. He seemed to relax a little as she sat down.

"What happened?"

He took a swill of the frothy lager. "You remember my friend Billy, who died in that plane crash last fall?"

"Yeah, Billy Rabbitson, right?" She guessed Chris must have been here since some time last night or really early this morning.

"He gave me a call last night. Before you ask, it was him, I'm sure of it. He said someone was after him; they were going to kill him if they found out what he knew. He said that someone was Umbrella."

"Umbrella? What could he have possibly found out that was so secret?"

"That's the problem - I don't know, other than that it had to do with the Victory Lake case. We were supposed to meet at Emmy's, but he never showed. I went out looking for him, and I found something of his. Something he never would have lost. I know he's dead, and I think Umbrella is behind it."

"And you're sure he wasn't just making stuff up?"

"I've never heard him that freaked out in my life, and he wasn't the type to pull pranks. Trust me, something isn't right with Umbrella. Did you know that Spencer, Umbrella's founder, had a mansion up north of here, out near Victory Lake?" Chris looked at her with tired, bloodshot eyes.

She blew out a breath through her mouth. "Better pass that drink over here, I'm gonna need some of that soon."


"Any new theories on the case?" Chris raised a hand. "Yes, Redfield. Go."

"I think that the Umbrella Corporation is behind it, somehow."

Where had that come from? Even Captain Wesker seemed to be caught off-guard. Barry rubbed his beard.

"What makes you think that?" asked a still startled Wesker.

Chris explained that he had gotten a call from his old friend Billy Rabbitson, and all that had happened with that as well as the research and other digging Chris had done over the past two days. Barry had to admit that though it was a little - no, a lot out there, it still seemed plausible. But the likelihood that it was true… completely different story.

"And yeah, I know how crazy it all sounds. I find it hard to believe too, but I don't think Billy would have been so freaked out if it was all a bunch of bull."

Wesker raised his eyebrows skeptically. "You do realize that you're basing all this on speculation, right?"

Chris nodded, understanding that no one was going to believe his theory.

"I know it's got to be tough losing your friend, but that doesn't necessarily mean this is all some conspiracy. I know you know that." Wesker paused before continuing. "Anyone else have any new thoughts?" No one raised their hand. "Alright, everyone back to work."

Barry buried himself in a research paper on ritualistic cults, pushing his reading glasses back up on his nose. He would have to talk to Chris later; the young man was obviously pretty shaken up. Barry continued reading.