Chapter Twenty-One – Remember To Breathe

Peter had left the room at the beginning, hiding out in Walter's office. When Olivia had told Peter her plan and he had said he didn't want to hear what Rayne had to say. It disturbed him, the depravity of mankind. He had agreed to stay in the building at least just in case. But as they sat in the dark, she wondered if she had made the right choice. When they had first started, it was the same as when Olivia had initially spoken to Rayne. She told the story with the same edge to her voice and the same dark acceptance. But it was still hard to hear, even a second time. It was hard to wrap your head around not only how she survived the attack but also how she kept living afterwards. It took a while for the tension to drain from her body and start to relax. Then Walter had gently led her to the stretcher and Rayne had closed her eyes keeping her breathing deep and even as Walter had instructed. Walter had directed Astrid to turn off all the lights and he started talking to Rayne, his voice deep and even. The only light coming from the soft flickering candle littered around the lab. Even Gene, who liked to make her presence known, chewed her cud silently.

"Now Rayne, we're going to go over it again, step by step."

Rayne said nothing, her eyes flicking behind her closed lids. Bit by bit the story came through again. Olivia listened closely, Heather making notes beside her. The change in Rayne's story came so suddenly, Olivia almost missed it.

"He had a scar."

Olivia froze. She reached over and squeezed Walter's arm, giving him a slight nod. Thankfully, he got the hint.

"Where is the scar Rayne?"

Rayne gasped, her hands tightening into fists. She started shaking her head, a thin sheen of sweat breaking out on her forehead.

"I don't want to be here anymore."

"Rayne, listen to me. You are safe. This is nothing more than a memory. But I need to know where the scar was."

"No."

"Rayne-"

The rest of Walter's words were swallowed by the blood freezing scream that tore from Rayne's throat. She started fighting, her arms lashing out, trying to connect with an invisible enemy.

"NO! Get off me! NO!"

"Rayne, listen to me."

But Rayne wasn't able to hear Walter's words anymore. She was lost in the battle for her life.

"What the hell?"

Peter had slipped from the office, his face confused. It took him a moment to take in the scene, his voice hard.

"Walter, pull her out."

Olivia stood, shaking her head slightly.

"Peter, she might be able-"

"Liv, look at her! She can't help us with anything else. Walter, pull her out. Now."

Walter glanced between Olivia and Peter before turning back to Rayne. He took her hand, which was still in a tight fist, lashing out at the empty air.

"Rayne, I'm going to count to ten. When I hit one, you will wake up feeling refreshed. You won't remember any of this. Do you hear me Rayne?"

Rayne mumbled something under her breath, trying to pull her fist from Walter's grasp. Walter started counting back from ten, his voice low and even. The moment he hit one, Rayne's eyes flew open and her body stilled. She sat up, glancing at the people around her.

"Did you get anything?"

Olivia nodded slightly.

"Yes, we think so."

"What?"

"You mentioned a scar."

Rayne frowned.

"Where?"

"You didn't say."

"Oh."

Olivia gave her a wide smile.

"You've been a great help."

"Really?"

"Of course."

"Now what?"

"I'll take you home and you can get some rest."

Walter and Astrid helped Rayne gather all the art supplies, while Olivia talked to Heather.

"Does that sound like anyone you know?"

Heather shrugged.

"Scars aren't that unusual. I still think that we might be best talking to Melanie Gruit."

"The first victim."

Heather nodded, glancing at her watch.

"I'll head back to the office, try and track her down."

Olivia nodded, glancing at Peter as Heather left the lab. She moved closer to him.

"Peter-"

"I know what you are trying to do here Liv but that poor girl has been through enough."

"We could have gotten something."

Peter shook his head.

"I don't think so. She wasn't listening to Walter anymore. She was too terrified to hear anything."

Olivia watched as Rayne smiled slightly over something Walter has said.

"I was hoping to get something out of this."

"I know but it's not the end of the road yet. Heather said she wanted to talk to the original victim."

"That will only work if the men worked together back then."

"But it's still a lead."

"I know. Did you find anything new on the bodies?"

"Not really. But we took a scan of the tattoo and right now it's making its way through the database."

"That's going to take a while."

"At least another forty-eight hours. I told Astrid to leave the scope as open as she could. If there's a database, our girl is going through it."

"How old was she?"

"Nineteen if we go by what Walter was saying."

"Is she the youngest?"

Peter shook his head.

"Sadly, no. The youngest was sixteen."

"A sixteen year old prostitute? That's depressing."

"Tell me about it. But since we have some time to kill, you and I are going on a road trip."

"We are?"

"Yup. We are going to Newton."

Newton was the seedy underbelly of Boston. Her badge and title would mean little there and they would be able to do nothing to force people to speak to them.

"And how do you expect to find out anything?"

Peter raised his eyebrows with a smile.

"Because I know people."

"Should I be concerned that the people you know are hookers?"

"Not hookers."

"Pimps then."

Peter shrugged.

"Maybe. But you can't deny that my connections have come in handy in the past. This could be one of those times."

"How do you know these people?"

"It takes all sorts to make up the world, my love. Sadly, someone has to be at the bottom."

With Rayne safely delivered back home, Peter drove them to Newton. After a moments though, Olivia shook off her coat and un-tucked her shirt, trying to give herself a more relaxed look, carefully removing her wedding ring and slipping it into the glove compartment with her gun. She shook out her hair and glanced at Peter.

"Better?"

"For who?"

"For talking to your people."

"Not on your own. But with me, you'll be good."

Olivia returned Peter's smile before slipping out of the truck. They walked for a block before Peter pointed to a tall, derelict looking building.

"This is the haunt of Trigger."

"And he is?"

"One of the best known sex peddlers in town."

Olivia stayed a step behind Peter as they moved closer and knocked on a heavy wooden door. Olivia caught the flash of a blinking red light as a camera tucked above the door scanned them. Peter waved at the camera and seconds later, the door was pulled open. Olivia had to take a step back to take in the huge man that greeted them. He remained silent as he ushered them inside, pausing at the top of a set of stairs. In a few seconds, the floorboards above them creaked and the huge man was joined by an only slightly smaller one. He approached Peter first, pointing to the wall. Peter pressed his hands against in, allowing the man to frisk him. He turned to Olivia, who promptly followed Peter's example. The second man turned back to the first.

"They're clean."

"Good. Follow him."

Olivia felt exposed with one huge man behind her and the other just in front of Peter. She was questioning how wise this adventure was. Without her gun, she felt completely naked. They went up the stairs pausing at a door directly at the top. The big man ahead of them knocked in a complicated pattern before the door was pulled open. Olivia didn't catch the face of the person who opened the door as they were shuffled inside. The first thing that Olivia noticed was the heavy smell of marijuana and alcohol. The second was a man sitting behind a heavy oak desk, something that looked completely out of place against the damaged floors and walls that desperately needed painting. The man stood and moved around the desk, a wide smile on his face, the dim sun glinting off his gold teeth.

"Peter Bishop. Where the hell have you been hiding?"

"Hey Trigger. I've been around."

They shook hands and Peter indicated to Olivia.

"Trigger, this is Agent Olivia Dunham."

Trigger offered his hand to Olivia.

"Hello. So what brings you here?"

Peter sighed.

"Nothing good I am afraid. Half a dozen bodies have shown up in the old train graveyard. They were all hookers."

"Oh. Well none of my ladies have gone missing."

Peter pulled a picture of the tattoo from the latest victim.

"Do you recognise this?"

Trigger nodded slightly as he examined the picture.

"I think so."

"Who is she?"

"She went by the name Rose. But I haven't seen her in months."

"Why?"

"She decided that she wanted a normal life."

Olivia frowned.

"And you let her go?"

Trigger cocked his eyebrow.

"Of course. I'm not a monster."

"Do you know where she went?"

Trigger nodded slightly.

"Last I heard, she ended up at Rotation."

"What's that?"

Trigger smiled.

"Strip joint not far from here."

"Trigger, can we check in with some of your girls?"

"Sure. Terrence, can you get the girls that are here?"

Terrence turned out to be the huge man that had greeted them at the entrance of the building. He nodded once and slipped from the room. Peter took a seat across from Trigger's desk, making himself at home. Olivia, on the other hand, couldn't relax. She remained standing.

"Trigger, have you heard about any other girl's going missing?"

"Of course. It's a risk that the girls take."

"How many?"

"A handful."

"But none of yours?"

"No. I know that Plush had a girl go missing a few weeks ago."

Olivia frowned.

"And he never reported it?"

Trigger turned his attention to her.

"You're in the law, Agent Dunham. You should know that no one looks for these girls. Why waste your time on a hooker when there are children missing?"

Trigger had her there. As Heather had pointed out, the priority of the police didn't lie with the lower rungs of society.

"Anyone else?"

"Not off the top of my head. But I can give Plush a call and set up a meeting if you like?"

Peter glanced at Olivia before responding.

"Do you think Plush would come here?"

"I could ask."

"Thanks."

Olivia knew what Peter was doing. Going into the lair of someone he didn't know wasn't the safest option, especially with no way of defending themselves. Olivia's train of though was broken by a chorus of voices. Seconds later, five women, all in various states of undress came into the room, followed closely by Terrence.

"Girls, this is Peter Bishop and Agent Dunham. They are investigating some murders."

The women all stared blank eyed and bored, one of them twirling her badly dyed hair around her finger.

"Do any of you know anything about girls going missing?"

All five of them glanced at each other before shaking their heads. Trigger sighed.

"Girls, you won't be in trouble for speaking. There is a killer on the loose and he needs to be stopped."

The encouragement from Trigger forced one of the girls, a demure blonde that didn't look older that twenty-one, raise her hand. Trigger offered her a wide smile.

"Sandra, what do you know?"

"Chantal went missing a couple of weeks ago."

"Who did she belong too?"

"Leonard. There were rumours that he killed her."

Trigger frowned.

"Did he?"

Sandra shrugged her slim shoulders.

"No one knows. But after the beating she took last time, I wouldn't be surprised."

"When did that happen?"

"The beating?"

"Yes."

"About a week before she went missing. She refused a gang member and he told Leonard. But I know the John that she talking about and I don't blame her. He had something wrong with his dick."

Trigger nodded and turned his attention to the other women.

"What about the rest of you?"

Another glanced was passed between the four remaining women before one of them put up her hand. She had dark skin and wore too much makeup.

"Peaches has been AWOL for a while."

"When did you last see her?"

"Two weeks ago on her corner. She got into a John's car and that was it."

"Who has her?"

"Nixon."

"Ok. Now have any of you heard from Rose lately?"

All five shook their heads. Sandra, emblazoned by Trigger's encouragement earlier, spoke again.

"Why?"

"Because one of the victims had her tattoo."

The blood drained from Sandra's face before she swayed and started to fall to the floor. Peter moved quickly, managing to catch her before her head hit the ground.