As Thea was walking out of the office later that night, she walked through the car lot to get to the main street to hail a cab. Thea was rubbing her eyes, she was overtired by now. It was way after midnight, and she had to work in less than 4 hours. Thea made her way to the main street, walking down a little bit to the edge, waving her hand out for a cab but none were stopping for her.
"Oh, come on!"
Thea kicked at an old soda can, making it skid down the road as a black car pulled up. She raised an eyebrow as one of the back windows rolled down. Thea tilted her body to look inside; there was a woman on her phone. "Get in."
"I don't even know you."
"Detective Karr-Michael, you don't have a choice."
"How do you know me?" The woman held up her cellphone. Thea looked around before getting into the car. It was pointless to try and even think that whoever knew her was okay. Thea had two options: either get into the car and find out who knew her or run for the hills. Honestly, Thea was interested.
Thea clicked her tongue off the roof of her mouth. "So, who's your boss?" Thea asked, turning her attention to the woman next to her. She glanced up from her phone, not saying a word. Thea tapped her fingers against her leg as the car ride seemed to take forever.
The car stopped and the woman on the phone told Thea she could get out. Thea hesitated before exiting the car. When she closed the door, she saw a man standing there with an umbrella, staring at her. She also saw a chair waiting for her to sit in.
"Have a seat, Thea."
"No, I'd rather stand."
"Sit, please. John refused to sit as well." The man told her. Thea looked around the empty warehouse type building. Thea took her time to walk to the chair and sit down. She crossed her legs, placing her hands on her knees. "Thank you."
"You know, late evening kidnapping really wasn't on my to-do list." Thea stated. "Please. This isn't a kidnapping, Detective Karr-Michael. Besides when one is avoiding the attention of Sherlock Holmes, one learns to be discreet." The man said to her.
"Hence this place? A drug deal gone wrong?" Thea joked.
The man in front of her rolled his eyes at her. Thea snickers. "Now I understand your role." The man said.
"My role?"
"In helping Sherlock Holmes."
"How do you know about Sherlock Holmes or my job?" Thea asked, crossing her arms.
The man ignored her question. "What is your connection to Sherlock Holmes?" He asked. It was Thea's turn to roll her eyes. "I don't have a connection with Mr. Science of Deduction – I only just met him yesterday because of a job." Thea explained.
"And since yesterday you've moved into Baker Street, right next to him, and now you're solving crimes together." Thea looked straight at the man.
"How the hell do you know that?"
"How does anyone know anything, Detective Karr-Michael?" He asked.
"Who are you?" Thea asked, standing up from the chair.
"An interested party."
"An interest in Sherlock? I'm going to guess right off the bat you aren't a friend of his." Thea stated. "You've met him. How many friends do you imagine he has? I am the closest thing to a friend that Sherlock Holmes is capable of having." The man said.
"And let me guess, an enemy?"
The man smiled at Thea, "You are correct."
"Not many people have enemies."
"In his mind, certainly. If you were to ask him, he'd probably say his arch-enemy. He does love to be dramatic." The man said.
"No one has arch-enemies."
"Tell that to Sherlock Holmes."
Before Thea could say her witty response, her phone buzzed. She looked at the screen, seeing a text from Sherlock.
Baker Street. Come at once is convenient. –SH
She rolled her eyes.
"I hope I'm not distracting you."
"Distracting me from what?" Thea questioned, pocketing the cellphone. "I'm a detective on a quad-murder investigation with a new job as Sherlock Holmes' babysitter. I don't need a distraction; I need a way of making sure I don't kill Sherlock Holmes. If you are offering that, then I'll listen." Thea stated.
"Do you plan to continue your association with Sherlock Holmes?"
"I have no choice in the matter – but that's not your business, is it?" Thea asked. "It could be." The man said.
Thea's eyes narrowed, something wasn't making sense. "How do you know Sherlock again? Besides being his arch-enemy." Thea asked, stepping forward.
"I didn't tell you."
"Right, because you are hiding something." Thea smirked. The man looked at her, seeing that Thea was someone that Sherlock would trust – he needed her on his side.
"I'd be happy to pay you a meaningful sum of money on a regular basis to ease your way." Thea crossed her arms, giving him a smile. He was thinking she was going towards his side of all of this.
"Alright – as long as I get the first check within the next two days. But the name on my bank account is different than my real name." Thea stated, egging him on. The man pulled out a little notebook from his breast pocket. "I'll spell it for you, so you understand better."
"Whenever you are ready."
"F." She watched him write down the letter. "U." He hesitated before writing that. "C."
"Ah."
Thea smirked, happy with herself right now. "I don't want you bloody money, sir. Just tell me why you want to know about Sherlock Holmes." Thea asked.
"I worry about him. Constantly."
"Worry about Sherlock Holmes?" Thea shook her head. "Why would you…" She stopped short, realizing what was happening here. "Oh, oh. I get it." Thea commented.
The man raised an eyebrow.
"You worry about Sherlock. The same way my cousin worries about me. You are family – so, who are you to Sherlock Holmes?" Thea asked.
"His older brother."
"Ah. And do you have a name Mr. Umbrella Man?" Thea smirked.
"Mycroft."
"Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes? Were your parents high when naming you two?" Thea asked as her phone chimed again. She pulled it out of her pocket, looking at the text from Sherlock.
If inconvenient, come anyway. –SH
Thea shook her head, ignoring the young brother. "I'm leaving." Thea turned to walk away to the car.
"Thea Karr-Michael, you wouldn't want anyone to harm her, now would you?" Thea stopped dead in her tracks. Her heart dropped, turning back to Mycroft Holmes – her fist was clenched and she was ready to hurt him. "Ah, I got your attention."
Thea was lost for words. How did he know? She gulped, trying to keep her emotions in check. "Wouldn't want anyone to know about her either?" Mycroft stated.
"How?"
"How, indeed, Detective Karr-Michael."
Thea sighed, closing her eyes. "Fine." She snapped out. "But don't expect a quick response from me on any matter – I have a life." Thea stated.
"Good to see what side you chose."
"I don't choose sides, Mycroft Holmes. Don't make me regret this." Thea hissed, turning back to the car. Her phone buzzed again. "For the love of…" Thea looked down at the message.
Could be dangerous. –SH
Thea couldn't help but smile at that message. "Goodbye, Detective Karr-Michael. I will be touch." Mycroft called after her. Thea gave him a smile with her middle finger up before getting into the car.
"Address?"
"Baker Street."
TKM
Thea climbed the stairs to Baker Street, rubbing her eyes. She walked into the flat of Sherlock and John's. Before she could comment to Sherlock about his brother when she noticed the patched on his arm – three of them.
"Nicotine patches?"
"Obviously."
"Uh, not really. Why three?" She questioned. Sherlock groaned, ignoring her. She turned to John. "According to Sherlock, it's a three-patch problem." John explained.
"Ah." She nodded her head. "See, that's communication." Thea pointed to John. Sherlock just rolled his eyes. "So why am I in this flat instead in my comfy bed right now?" Thea asked, covering her mouth as she yawned.
"He wanted to use one of our phones."
"What?!"
"Why?"
"He won't tell me."
"Does this have to deal with the case?" Thea asked, turning her attention to Sherlock.
"Her case."
"Her case?"
"Her suitcase, yes, obviously. The murderer took her suitcase – first big mistake." Sherlock said. "So?" Thea shrugged.
"It's no use, there's no other way. We'll have to risk it." Sherlock muttered to himself.
"You do realize there are two other people in this room right?" Thea asked, seeing something pink in the corner of the room. "Sherlock, is that?" Thea pointed to the case.
"Her case, yes." Sherlock commented, getting up from the couch. "What's wrong?" He asked, seeing the expression on her face.
"I'm trying to figure out if I should yell at you like your mother would, call Lestrade, or punch you in the face." Thea said, blinking rapidly.
"You also met my arch-enemy."
"Oh yeah."
"Did he offer you money to spy on me?"
"Yes."
"Did you take it?"
"Yes."
"Now, see John, Thea thought it through." Sherlock commented, picking up the pink suitcase. "No, no, no. It's because he basically blackmailed me into doing so." Thea groaned.
"Ah, he does like that sort of thing."
Thea shook her head – she had enough of the Holmes men for a lifetime and it's only been a few hours. "Oh, perhaps I should mention, I didn't kill her." Sherlock mentioned.
"I never said you did."
"Before you go on a tangent about how you didn't kill her, how about you just explain how you found the case?" Thea suggested, taking the wooden chair from the desk, which Sherlock stole at the last second. Thea huffed, walking around the chair that John was sitting in to lean against the mantle.
"By looking."
"Where?"
"The killer must have driven her to Lauriston Gardens. He could only keep her case by accident if it was in the car. Nobody could be seen with this case without drawing attention – particularly a man, which is statistically more likely – so obviously he'd feel compelled to get rid of it the moment he noticed he still had it. Wouldn't have taken him more than five minute to realize his mistake. I checked every back street wide enough for a cat five minutes from Lauriston Gardens and anywhere you could dispose of a bulky object without being observed." Thea and John exchanged looks. "Took me less than an hour to find the right skip." Sherlock finished.
"Pink. You got all that because you realized the case would be pink?" John asked. "Well, it had to be pink obviously." Sherlock stated.
"Why didn't I or the police think of that?" John muttered to himself.
"Because you're idiots." Both Thea and John looked at Sherlock, shocked and annoyed. Thea crossed her arms at the consulting detective. "No, no, no, don't look like that. Practically everyone is." Thea rolled her eyes at the comment. "Now, look. Do you see what's missing?" Sherlock asked, opening the case.
Thea took one look at the case – seeing everything that a woman would have in their suitcase for a day trip. She narrowed her eyes, seeing what was missing.
"From the case? How could I?"
"Her cellphone." Sherlock and John looked at Thea. "What, I pay attention." Thea stated.
"Thea's correct. Where's her mobile phone? There was no phone on the body, there's no phone in the case? We know she had one – that's her number there, you just texted it." Sherlock said.
"Maybe she left it at home."
"She has a string of loves and she's careful about it. She never leaves her phone at home." Sherlock explained.
"Er…" John was looking back and forth between his phone and Sherlock. "Why did I just send that text?" He asked.
"Well, question is: where is her phone now?"
"She could have lost it."
"Yes, or…?" Sherlock glanced between Thea and John. "The murderer…" John commented.
"You think the murderer has her phone?" Thea asked. "Maybe she left it when she left her case. Maybe he took it from her for some reason. Either way, the balance of probability is the murder has her phone." Sherlock explained.
"Sorry, what are we doing? Did I just text a murderer?! What good will that do?" John asked. Just then, John phone began to ring, he glanced to the scene then at Sherlock who noticed right away.
"A few hours after his last victim, and now he receives a text that can only be from her. If somebody had just found that phone they'd ignore a text like that, but the murderer…" Sherlock paused, the phone finished ringing. "…would panic."
Sherlock flipped the case lid closed, standing up from his leather chair. Sherlock walked over to his jacket and scarf.
"Have you talked to the police?"
"We have a detective in our house, John."
"And I have all the right to call Lestrade right now." Thea stated. "But you won't." Sherlock said.
"Why not?"
"You're interested. You are interested in having people knowing your name over Lestrade's." Sherlock commented, putting on his jacket.
"Why are you talking to us?" John asked. Sherlock looked over at the mantle where Thea was standing. She glanced to the side. "Mrs. Hudson took my skull." He commented. Thea's eyes widened.
"So we're basically filling in for your skull?"
"Relax, you're doing fine." Neither Thea and John moved. "Well?"
"Well what?"
"Well, you could just sit there and watch telly." Sherlock offered.
"What, you want me to come with you?" John asked. "I like company when I go out, and I think better when I talk aloud. The skull just attracts attention, so…" Sherlock trailed off.
John gave a smile for a second.
"Problem?"
"Yeah, Sergeant Donovan."
"What about her?"
"She said…you get off on this. You enjoy it." John said. "And I said 'dangerous,' and here you are." Sherlock stated, walking out of the room.
Thea shook her head, heading towards the door. "Seriously?"
"I have no choice in the matter. Sherlock, wait up!" Thea bounded down the stairs after him.
It's been a while - and I'm sorry. I've been trying to post this chapter but every time I go to add something, it never saved. Until today. Of course.
ENJOY!