Chapter 2:
Analise and Deidra both sat in the back manager's office while the police poured over the tapes- the decidedly blank and void of all information tapes. The group of thugs had planned at least far enough in advance to knock out both Henry and Albert and then take out a few choice cameras set on the jewel exhibit for their escape.
"I have to hand it to those idiots," Analise folded her arms over her chest as she looked through the last of the video footage from the docking area where they knocked out Albert and Henry. She squinted at the hit that Henry got to the back of the head, stopped the tape and handed it over to one of the nearby officers, "It was a good idea to knock out the video feed."
"They still didn't think it all through," Deidra gave over the last of the details the officers were asking for, "They didn't account for everything."
"You couldn't expect them to account for us," Analise grinned.
"That's impossible," Deidra agreed, "No one could expect us."
"Anything else we could help you with, Detective?" Analise asked with a smile as she locked up the back office. The detective had arrived moments after the lieutenant and set to work with getting what answers he could. It was his idea to watch the tapes from the security offices, which eventually made the girls late for their movie. Analise was most displeased by the development, but she knew it had to be done. Hopefully they would rerun it later in the night. She had the day off tomorrow from the looks of it anyway.
"One more thing… since we don't have the tapes to explain everything," the detective put his jacket back on before stepping out into the night, "One of the guys who came to after that beating you gave them said something about giant turtles. You got any idea what that could mean?"
Analise's eyes went huge, but Deidra gave her a look that made her calm down. Although the gentleman in front of them didn't miss it.
"Miss Arelle?" he asked as he reached for his notepad.
"I'm sorry, did you say giant turtles?" Analise asked as she coughed into her hand and tried to make it out like she was laughing.
"Yes."
"Like those in the tabloids?" Analise laughed a little and put her hands on her hips as the detective thought over his words and how they sounded a bit off, "I love reading those- collect them, really- especially the ones about the supposed turtles that guard our streets. The stories that they print in there are really fantastic. I think it would be totally awesome to meet one or more of them, wouldn't you Deidra?"
"Totally," Deidra copied her inflection of the word and made it sound more "surfer". Analise play glared at her, but stopped when she was shot a warning glance not to push the subject at hand.
"Maybe those thugs thought that we were giant turtles, huh?" Analise looked at her tour outfit, "Although I don't know how they could mistake our figures for ones with a shell. Too vertical."
"Or they hit their head on the way down to the floor," Deidra offered and started to walk with Analise out of the building with the Detective following them. Analise bolted the door on the outside and made a mental note to give Henry the keys the next time he came in.
"Those tabloids have been having a hay day with those stories lately. As if they didn't have enough of those tales over the years," he nodded and shrugged his jacket tighter to his body, "You have a good night, ladies. I will give you a call if you need anything else."
"Have a good night, detective," Analise nodded in his direction before he completely disappeared.
"Nice cover," Deidra smirked as they walked toward her car.
"Would you have rather that I told him the truth," Analise laughed at the notion, "'Actually detective, there were giant turtles. And they could kick ass just like us. I think they were ninja like the stories said because we didn't hear them take out two guys. They got some skills, that's for sure.' That would have gone over well. You would have been discredited and I would be sent to the loony bin. Mother would be so proud."
"Your mother?" Deidra laughed and opened the driver's side door to slip into her car, "She would be ecstatic."
"Beyond so," Analise rolled her eyes at the thought of her mother going ballistic because of a call from an asylum- not that she wouldn't have expected it at one point or another. Analise got comfortable in the passenger seat and looked at the buildings as they passed her by, "Do you think they meant it?"
"Meant what?"
"That we would see them again," Analise looked to her friend who focused on the road ahead.
"Hell if I know," Deidra shrugged and stopped at one of the lights, "But I think I could use some tips from them if they could take down gangs like that. Just think what I could do with serial murders if I could move without sound. I would be sure to show them what true torture is."
"That's scary," Analise shivered at the 'a little too happy' grin that Deidra had on her face from some mental pictures that would even make the jigsaw killer cry in a corner, "I'm glad you're on our side."
"Yeah, me too."
Analise looked back out her window and into the side mirror of the car. There in the reflection she saw four figures on the edge of one of the buildings and looked to be following their car. She smiled to herself and leaned back into her seat.
"You saw them too, huh?" Deidra asked and hit the accelerator as the light turned green.
"How long have they been on that building?"
"Probably since we left the museum. They have a good vantage point to watch the proceedings there and then watch us leave," she turned sharply down one side street that Analise didn't recognize, "I noticed them about two lights back."
"Where are we going?"
"They're following us," Deidra smirked to herself.
"Why would they do that?" Analise looked out the back window to see a few figures jump over some buildings above them.
"I don't know, but I bet I could lose them."
Analise smiled at her friend's competitiveness and would have taken the bet if she hadn't noticed something before Deidra turned the next corner. Analise watched again for the flash of black metal as they turned yet again.
There it was.
A dark black sedan was following them about a block away. That was strange, it didn't have its lights on. Never a good sign.
"Um, De?" Analise asked with a shaky voice, "I don't think that our new friends are the only ones following us."
Deidra's eyes flicked to the rearview mirror and picked up the dark shadow of the sedan even without the other vehicle's lights on. She heard and read some of the reports from the precincts about this kind of hunting behavior. It was a case that she and some others were starting and didn't look all that pretty. So far the un-sub was dangerous and very deadly. He never kept his victims alive for long, if he even wanted to play with them to begin with. Deidra floored the gas and threw Analise nearly into the backseat.
"Dude!" Analise yelled toward her friend and tried to push against her seat to get back into the right position, "Warning would be nice!"
"Sorry, make sure you're buckled in well," Deidra gripped the wheel as Analise got situated, "This is going to get bad."
"What is this crazy girl doin'?" Raphael asked as they jumped another building to a lower one. The car below them skidded to the side as they made a hasty right turn. He had to admit, she had great control for the speed she was pushing, "Did she spot us?"
"I don't think those girls would be running this fast from only us," Michelangelo thought out loud, "They were way too calm to begin with."
"Besides, they spotted us at least two lights before this," Leonardo mentioned.
"Then what are they running from?"
"The black sedan behind them," Leonardo looked behind them just a little ways and saw the black vehicle try to make the same turn as the girls, and nearly crash their passenger side into a wall.
"Who would be following them?" Michelangelo asked as Leonardo suddenly stopped and looked down where the girls had stopped the car and turned out their lights behind a large collection of dumpsters and refuse.
"Don't know enough about them to know for sure, Mikey," Leonardo said and watched as the black sedan slowed down and seemed to search for the girls' car.
"I'm already ahead of you there," Donatello said as he typed furiously on the screen since they had stopped, "What did the lieutenant call the red head?"
"Agent Jameson?" Raphael asked trying to think of the name.
"Agent Jenson," Leonardo corrected, "I think her friend called her Deidra."
Michelangelo watched the black car double back over the area that it lost its track on the girls, "Is it just me or does that car seem familiar?"
"Casey and I have seen it on our few patrols when he isn't taking care of Shadow. It stays around areas with a lot of girls usually," Raphael folded his arms and narrowed his eyes on the black shape. After a few moments the sedan seemed to give up and turned down the street and toward the bridge.
"Looks like the coast is clear," Michelangelo gave his brother's the thumbs up.
"Let's give them a little more time to calm down before we reintroduce ourselves," Leonardo suggested.
"I got it," Donatello said and placed his handheld down on the rooftop they were on. A small spark flew up and then shot a small hologram of a list of information for Deidra Jenson, "She's very accomplished for only being twenty-four years old. She's a special agent of the FBI criminal profiling division. She has partnerships with the police departments in New York and help to profile and catch notorious criminals. Mostly murderers. Been in a few papers about how her more serious offenders are often beaten or killed by various means before being 'captured'. Some say she did the deeds herself."
"Could she have?" Leonardo asked.
"Possible, she has the training for it," Donatello nodded, "She's the one that profiled and eventually caught the Parkside Sniper just last month. He was found with gun barrel burns up and down his face. Not to mention his trigger fingers torn off."
"Irony," Michelangelo gagged a little on the details while Raphael just smiled.
"Has anyone tied her to the torture or killing of the individuals?" Leonardo asked.
"No, and even if they did, most of New York would hail her a bigger hero than she already is."
"Eh, that's nothing," Raphael rolled his eyes, "We take down pervs and freaks all the time."
"Moving on," Donatello nudged the device and it jumped to a picture and information on Analise Arelle, "She is also very accomplished. Miss Arelle has criminal justice training, but took a completely different route in life. She went through a police officer training academy back in her home town with the sheriff's department, but decided not to further her training after the first year. Instead she took a more artistic approach. She has a Masters in Conceptual Art with an Art History minor. She's a manager and tour guide at the Museum, but is a talented concept artist for many publications, cartoons and movies."
"Cartoons?" Michelangelo perked his head up a little higher.
"That's what it says," Donatello picked up his device where the hologram shrunk back down, "The last thing she worked on was the main character development of that new show you're always watching."
"Commander Titan and the Furies?" Michelangelo nearly squealed.
"That's the one," Donatello nodded, but laughed a little at his brother's enthusiasm.
"I love that show!"
"I've noticed," Raphael lightly pounded on the side of his own head a little as if it would un-lodge the scream that Michelangelo just gave him.
"So… what's this mean?" Michelangelo looked down at the car still sitting below them.
"It means a good start, but we need more information," Leonardo thought to himself.
"Then why not go to the source?" Michelangelo smiled and leapt from the building to slide down the piping toward the car. He landed on the passenger side door and tapped on the glass. Analise hesitantly rolled down her window and looked up at him, "I am sorry miss, but this is a no parking area."
"I am sorry office-ma-sir," she smirked from inside the car, "There seemed to be a really bad car following us. Are you my new body guard?"
Michelangelo chuckled a little at her comeback, "Only if you can pay in pizza."
The other three turtles made it down the side of the building and Analise rolled her window the rest of the way down.
"Is the sedan gone?" Analise asked a little more serious.
"Yeah, took off towards the bridge," Raphael nodded in the right direction.
"How the hell were you able to follow us?" Deidra asked from her side of the car.
"How the hell did you learn to drive like that?" Raphael asked and leaned on the hood of the car.
"I has a car in New York," she said in a dull tone as if it was common knowledge.
"And we're ninjas," Michelangelo said with a smile and got hit in the head by Raphael, "Hey!"
"Someone was hunting you just now," Leonardo folded his arms over his plastron.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Deidra put the car in park, "We kind of noticed."
"Hey, we were trying to help you," Raphael leaned through Analise's window and toward Deidra, "Don't give us attitude."
"We can take care of ourselves," Deidra flicked the end of his beak which made him back out of the car, "We didn't ask for your help."
"Not that we don't appreciate it," Analise frowned at her friend and gave her a pointed look.
"Who do you think would be following you?" Donatello asked as Michelangelo tried to calm the fuming Raphael.
"There is quite a list for Deidra," Analise looked at her friend.
"Which is shrinking, but I got a good idea on who it could be."
"Then we could discuss it at the lair," Leonardo offered.
"I am not going anywhere with you four," Deidra started her car once again, "When someone says 'lair' in my type of work that usually means where they keep their victims."
"It's our home," Michelangelo explained, "Plus I don't think you'd want to stay out here for very long."
"Let's go to our place, dude," Analise offered and looked at Deidra as she gave her a surprised, yet a little angry look. Michelangelo tilted his head in her use of a word he only heard from himself.
"We barely know these guys and you want them to know where we live?" Deidra asked and pointed at the group of brothers.
"We already have that information," Donatello said and pointed to his small computer, "It's in your files. Nearly public knowledge if you know where to look."
"What kind of hacker program do you have?" Deidra narrowed her eyes at Donatello.
"Donnie is his own hacker program," Michelangelo said proudly and rubbed Donatello's head in a noogie.
"And we just came to the museum to save your ass and then followed you to make sure two girls got home," Raphael sneered.
"We were fine before you got there and us girls can find home fine," Deidra growled at Raphael.
"Let's go," Raphael snorted and started to turn away. Michelangelo looked from his brothers to the girls with a worried look. He didn't feel right about leaving them on their own, even if they were capable in fighting. Analise felt a really bad feeling grow in her gut and she looked at Michelangelo and could almost sense he had the same feeling.
"Finally," Deidra started to put the car in gear.
"That's it," Analise unlocked her safety belt and put her bag over her head as she got out of the car.
"What are you doing?" Deidra asked as her friend slammed the car door.
"I know we can take care of ourselves, but every once in a while it's good to have a backup plan," Analise stood closer to Michelangelo, "They offered to help us and they haven't given us any reason to distrust them since they came to help. You even said yourself that the new profile you've been working on is going to be crazy and that it will get worse before it gets better."
"And you think these guys could help?"
"We've taken down murderers and much worse around here," Leonardo said.
Deidra looked at the turtles and then at the stubborn face of her friend, "You aren't getting back in the car unless I agree, are you?"
"Exactly," she nodded.
"Are any of your warning systems going off?" Deidra tapped the side of her own head.
"Not a one about these guys," she shook her head and nodded toward Deidra, "You?"
Deidra stayed quiet and then sighed, "Get in the car."
Analise smiled and knew she had won.
"You can follow us from the rooftops right?" Deidra looked at Leonardo.
"Easily," he nodded.
"See you there," Analise smiled at Michelangelo and hopped into the car next to Deidra.
As Deidra started to pull out from the alleyway Raphael turned toward Leonardo before they jumped to the rooftops, "We're still going to help them?"
"She knows more about this guy than we do, Raph. She might not be the only one who needs help," Leonardo and the group climbed up the side of the building and began to follow Deidra's car.
Meanwhile back in the car Analise looked behind them and through the mirrors to make sure they were behind.
"You trust too easily, you know," Deidra said in a low growl.
"I trust who I get a good vibe off of. You are the best example of that," Analise said back and looked to her friend, "You know if I had any bad feelings off of them I would have told you to hit it as soon as he tapped on my window. And no warning systems have gone off in your head either."
"How do you know what's going on in my head?"
"It's scary in there, but I know a good deal about Deidra," she smirked, "Maybe not all, but a very good portion. That's why I'm your best friend."
"Aren't some of the neighbors going to be interested to find turtles on the other side of our windows?"
"You keep the blinds closed all the time. I don't think it's going to be a big issue," Analise rolled her eyes, "Just trust me on this. I think this could be the start of a great partnership with them. They'll give us insight that we don't have."
"Always the positive one," Deidra sighed and turned down another street which made the boys double back, "Doesn't mean I can't make it challenging."