A/N: Chapert Two is up. Ok, I know I said a week, but I really wanted to post this. Read, review and enjoy.
Disclaimer: I own what is mine.
Chapter Two
O'Hara International
This is amazing. No, this is beautiful. Audrey wondered if this was Jensen's way of apologizing for interrupting her vacation…she snorted, yeah right. From her spot inside O'Hara International, Audrey could see the private jet that was setting up to take her to Gotham. No screaming kids, no annoying head shoved up their ass passengers or stupid food carts that block the aisle when she needed the bathroom. A plane to herself for the next couple of hours.
Definitely beautiful.
No one had any idea how much Audrey hated flying; she would rather drive than take a plane. It wasn't that she feared flying… it was just a hassle, there were too many loops to jump through and too many people to deal with, in order to get from point A to point B. She glanced at a nearby clock, it was nearly eight forty. Time to start boarding the plane. Audrey looked over and could see a car pulling up to the doors that lead out onto the runway.
She walked away from the window and over to the chair that was holding her belongings. There wasn't much. She didn't really need a great deal and the truth was she was never in one spot long enough to enjoy having material possessions. Her old duffel bag contained all her clothes and hygiene products, the only other bag with her contained her laptop and a few personal mementos. Anything else, which sadly fit into two boxes, would be shipped to her in a week. That also meant a week without her baby, Audrey remembered the argument she got into with Bobby when he told her that he couldn't get the bike to her any sooner than that, which to be fair was rather fast… she just wanted her motorcycle.
A man that was obviously a driver made his way into the lounge and smiled kindly at Audrey, "Ms. Douglas, the plane is ready for your arrival."
Audrey raised her eyebrow at his formality, but nodded and followed him to the car. The trip itself was only a few minutes long, a complete waste of gas in her opinion, but it was probably safer than walking across the runway. She gave a nod to the driver as she made her way out of the car. Audrey slung her bag across her shoulder and made her way up the stairs where a serene flight attendant was waiting. At least he didn't look like he was on happy pills like most of the women flight attendants did.
"Good evening Ms. Douglas. I'm Todd, your flight attendant for the night. Your estimated flight time is two hours but with the weather being as good as it has been, you may be there sooner." Todd had a very soothing voice Audrey decided; he wasn't bad on the looks either. At least she would have something to look at for the next two hours. In a way, he reminded her of a slightly more masculine Leonardo DiCaprio.
"Mr. Harris has requested that you look over the files that he has left for you in the bedroom, if you need anything let me know." Todd supplied as he made his way to the back of the plane. Audrey sighed at the mention of work as she replayed the events of that morning in her head.
She had arrived at the corner of sixth early, she still had ten minutes to spare and Audrey was hoping that she would be able to grab a cup of coffee before she had to deal with her boss. It wasn't until she had stepped inside that she noticed Jensen had already arrived.
Jensen Harris somehow stood out in the sea of business men, even though he dressed exactly like them. Maybe it was his posture he was stiff as a board, while most men had a slight slouch, or it could have been that he was the only person in here that was over the age of forty-nine. Even with his graying hair and age, the man held an air of silent strength around him. All Audrey was sure of, was the fact that her superior knew how to get what he wanted; her question was what did he want now?
She made her way to the little table he was sitting at, it had the perfect view of the morning rush outside and inside. She slumped into the chair across from him kicking her feet out and crossing them at the ankle giving her the presence of a person beyond bored with life.
"You wanted to see me."
Stern grey eyes stared back at her, "Nice to see you dressed for the occasion."
Audrey looked down at herself knowing that he was referring to her biker boots that currently clung to her jeans. She shrugged, she was comfy, "Last time I checked I was on vacation, I can dress however I wish. Which brings me back to the question of: why am I here?"
He rolled his eyes, "I need you to go to Gotham."
Audrey stared waiting for more, getting answers from this man was worse than pulling teeth. "Why?"
"You have a job to do."
"Kinda figured. What's the job?"Her sapphire eyes glinted with annoyance.
Jensen however remained as stoic as ever, "We have a serial killer on our hands."
Audrey frowned at Jensen's phrasing, "So I'm just observing the investigation into the killer? You can get one of the twins to handle that."
"The twins are already stationed in Gotham and you won't be observing."Jensen replied. His countenance became grim, "You'll be going after the killer."
Audrey felt herself pause. This wasn't what she normally did which only meant one thing, "You want me to kill him."
"Dead or alive doesn't matter." Jensen said in answer to her statement, but he knew that the higher ups would want the killer disposed of.
The older man hesitated a moment before pulling an envelope from his coat pocket and slid it across the table to his spy. Audrey warily opened the folded paper only to discover four photos. Two men and two women…all dead. She only recognized one of the men as Daniel Sullivan, a fellow Company agent.
Jensen watched as she focused on Sullivan's photo and began to talk, "The other three are Gary Field, Cecilia Stuart, and Mary Elkin. All four of them have been murdered by the serial killer that the media is calling the Artist. The other thing they have in common is that all of them worked for the Company at some point in time."
Audrey nodded as she began to understand why the Company was so interested in a serial killer. He was going after their agents, "He was probably an agent as well."
"Probably." Jensen agreed, "The police haven't been able to find a connection to the victims, yet. It needs to stay that way."
Audrey sighed, she knew what that meant. She would be undermining a police investigation. Not exactly a pleasant task.
Her boss continued, "Once you finish this assignment you'll be stationed in Gotham for awhile."
"What's awhile?"Audrey questioned, she really didn't want to be stuck in the crime capital of America.
"As of six o'clock this morning indefinitely. Charles and Reed are to be used at your disposal until this is over." Jensen stood up to leave, but not before sliding another envelope across the table, it probably contained her ticket, "Be careful."
She picked up the envelope and slipped it into her pocket before going to order herself a coffee to go, she needed to walk.
Audrey went in search of Todd a few minutes later after shifting though the case files that Jensen had left her, "Todd, You don't happen to know anything useful about Gotham do you?"
Green eyes twinkled as they took in the lady before them, "Sure do, Ms. Douglas. I live there."
"Do you? Is it as bad as everyone says?" Audrey arched her eyebrow at the man before her.
"It can be. It depends on what you've heard really. You don't go out after dark if you want to see your next birthday. Things have been getting better though. Especially with the new police commissioner, but I wouldn't consider it a place to raise children." Todd replied.
Audrey nodded to show her understanding. That was the last of the conversation until the plane made it to Gotham.
When the jet landed she hoped that she would have better luck with either Charlie or Reed. Charles and Reed O'Halely were identical twin brothers and hilarious to watch when together. They had the worst time agreeing on anything. The funny thing about the two was that Charlie was the one that did most of the undercover and muscle work but was the shiest person Audrey had ever met. Reed was the polar opposite he was happy as long as he had a keyboard under his hands and never had to get his hands dirty…well, dirtier but he was the most outgoing person that she knew.
It was Charlie that was waiting for her at the gate. Audrey found him leaning up against a nearby wall. She would have missed him too if it weren't for the fact that his dark hair and six two stature clashed with their brilliantly white surroundings and lack of people. He had his hands stuffed into the front of a grey hoodie and was watching her approach, a small smile played on his lips.
Audrey smiled gently back, "Hey Charlie."
"Hello love, it's been awhile, yeah?" his voice slightly hushed
"Yeah. What happened to your accent?"
Charlie grinned, "Have to fit in with you Americans. Can't have an Irish brogue here, people tend to notice."
Audrey raised an eyebrow, "Did Reed have to adapt as well?"
"Yeah, you should of heard all the bellyaching he did over it to. Could have sworn that someone had taken a computer away from the sod." Charlie chuckled as he thought about his brother.
Audrey let out a snort, "You know that Americans don't typically say sod right?"
Charlie just shrugged, "Yeah well I'm talking to you and not someone local, now am I? Come on…let's get the rest of your stuff and get out to the car so you can ask me your questions."
"How did you know I wanted to ask you something? And this is all my stuff." Charlie turned around and looked at her duffel and carrying case before giving Audrey an odd look.
"You know you're the only girl I know that can bring everything necessary in two bags."
"Charlie, how many girls do you know with my job? You didn't answer my other question." Audrey followed behind Charlie to the car.
Charlie waited until they were both situated inside before answering her.
"Point taken…to the job thing and to the other question…you always have questions, you have to be one of the most curious people I know. Besides knowing Jensen, he probably did what he normally does and gave you small tidbits of information and will gradually let you know more along the way. From the way you sound though it seems like you found out something that you didn't want to hear." The car started up with a grumble and made its way out of the parking lot.
Audrey sighed, "Something like that. Tell me what you know about this job."
"Basically there's a serial killer loose in Gotham and we're supposed to find him."
Audrey wanted to roll her eyes. She already knew this. Her mind drifted back over the case files that were now stored in her bag. She had details on how each victim was killed, where it happened, and the different poses. What the case files didn't tell her was who were the people killed?
She shifted in her seat, "What can you tell me about the victims? Who were they? What did they do?"
"Well, you know Danny Sullivan was one of our boys working undercover in Maroni's mob, he's the latest victim." Audrey remembered Danny, they had met briefly during a conference…he had a girlfriend, did he still?
Charlie's face became remarkably blank and Audrey knew then that the two had been friends, she said nothing, but gave him a moment to gather himself. "The other was Gary Field, he was a retired Company agent…came out here to spend time with his family, see his grandkids. The other two were both women, one a prostitute, Mary Elkin, also known as Trix. She was one of Danny's informants. The other was Cecilia Stuart, a linguist and research analyst for Wayne Enterprises. From what I understand she was in the process of being recruited into the Company. The dossiers on the victims are at the office."
"When did the police start looking at this as a group murder?"
"After the third murder occurred the police started thinking that it was a group murder, each kill was different from the other. Reed and I agreed that it may be a group of murders and have put together a list of suspects that had access to these people at their times of death." He paused for a moment going over the information in his head, "The first kill was Stuart, she was a workaholic with no boyfriend and her family all lives in California, doesn't really have any friends either. Most of her time was spent collaborating with Fox on various work projects."
Audrey frowned thoughtfully, "I don't think we're looking at a group."
Charlie glanced at her from the corner of his eye, "What do you know that I don't?"
"When I spoke with Jensen, he made it seem like there was only one killer." Audrey grimaced, "It wouldn't surprise me if the old goat has already figured out who's doing this and is just waiting for confirmation."
Charlie nodded in understanding, "It does sound like something Jensen would do, but what led you to think one person is doing all the killing?"
"The higher ups want the Artist taken care of." Audrey answered grimly.
Charlie's expression quickly turned serious, "I see…it's going to be one of those operations."
"Yeah." Audrey sighed, "According to Jensen, dead or alive doesn't matter."
"But we both know what that really means." Charlie replied, finishing what Audrey had left unspoken.
She drew a breath and focused once more on facts she needed to gather, "How long have you and Reed been set up here?"
"We were sent here about two days after the third killing." Charlie quietly steered the car through some darkened streets, "Reed has been stuck in the warehouse running logistics through the computers. I've planted myself in the district attorney's office."
Audrey smirked, "Finally putting your law degree to work, huh?"
A faint smile passed over the Irish man's face, "Something like that."
Before either knew it they were at the office and were being greeted by an overzealous Reed. His was hair was all scattered like he had been running his hand through it repeatedly, he had a stubble coming in and the piercing green eyes that he shared with his brother were red rimmed behind thin wire glasses…Reed looked like hell.
"Ah Gorgeous Girl, long time no see." He fidgeted in the chair he had been sitting in when they arrived.
"When was the last time you got some sleep, Reed?" Audrey asked eyeing Reed a bit warily.
"Cor, what kind of greeting is that! No, hello Reed. It's good to see you again and my, don't you look good. No manners at all with you."
Audrey gave a snort "Maybe I would say that if you didn't look like you were about to keel over from sleep deprivation."
"Lovely you are, you're starting to sound like shy and brooding over there." Reed pointed over to where Charlie was standing.
Charlie threw a crumble up piece of paper at his brother, "Only because you don't know how to take care of yourself properly."
"I can take care of myself just fine thank you."
"Oh please, the day you start looking after yourself is the day I die from shock."
Reed looked over with a grin, "Didn't realize I was talking to the undead, wait until I tell mum."
Charlie rolled his eyes, "There is a reason why we're all here right now, Reed. And that isn't so you can annoy me. Missy over there needs to get settle into her apartment sometime tonight."
"Did you just call me missy?" Audrey asked incredulously.
Reed snickered, "Yes, he did. Has he told you about the list yet?"
"Of suspects you've put together? Yes." Audrey answered.
Charlie shook his head, "He means another list. Danny had been working on something while he was undercover…created a list of Company agents that had gone rogue or were presumed dead. He said someone had Maroni…spooked. No one knew who this man was, but according to Danny the way he acted was like someone in the Company. The thing is, this man wasn't someone he recognized or was able to get a positive match on in our databases. You know how Company agents are we stand out like a sore thumb to other Company agents. Anyway, Danny said he thought that this man had something to do with all killings, just a feeling. And if he's right then the list could help us find the killer."
"Do we have the list?" Audrey had a sinking feeling.
Reed shook his head no, "I've been looking through all of Danny's effects the past two days searching for it. It seems that either Danny is really good at hiding things or someone else has that list."
Charlie looked thoughtful, "It could be why Danny was killed. He was getting to close."
"I mentioned to Jensen that it could be another agent committing the murders. Only someone working for the Company would be able to find others working for us." Audrey commented as she slumped against the wall, "If we go off Danny's theory that the killer is a rogue agent or has been considered dead then he may have changed his appearance to the point that none of us would recognize him."
Reed let out a low whistle, "We're going up against one of our own. This isn't going to be easy…he knows all of our tricks."
Charlie turned to stare at Audrey, "Here's my question: Why make such a production out of these killings? It's like he's begging to be caught."
Audrey gave him a bitter smile, "So we would come running."
Both Reed and Charlie looked confused at that, so she continued on, "Think about it. How many agents are killed in a month? Five...maybe six? The agency wouldn't have blinked if Stuart, Field, Elkins, or Sullivan had just been found murdered. The investigation would have been left up to the police. Danny could have been killed by another mobster. Field lives near a bad area…he could have been mugged by a random thug. Elkin's is a prostitute who works for the mob, not even the police would have been surprised by her death. And Stuart could have been the victim of unfortunate circumstance. To top it off, they all live and work in the city known for its high crime rate, but kill all four of them and pose them as art pieces…"
The twins had caught on once she started to explain and didn't need her to finish her sentence. They already knew what she was going to say.
By killing four agents and posing them as art pieces, the murder was sending the Company the message that he was coming after them. The question now was why?
Special thanks to LexieAnn-loveandfiction for reviewing. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. : )
To everyone else reading, don't forget to review.