He sat before the monitor, seeing everything the decoy was seeing thanks to the hidden camera pin. Halle was walking beside her as they went to the destination. Beside him, Rester asked, "How do you know Inclementia knows what you're talking about?"
Near idly tapped the head of his Optimus Prime action figure. "I believe he knows about the Los Angeles BB Murders. Therefore, if I told him to go to 'LABB' he would figure out I want him to meet us in Los Angeles on Beyond Boulevard. There is also a cafe on a corner of Beyond Boulevard called 'The Quarter Inn.'"
Rester wasn't too sure what Near was talking about, but nodded his head like he understood. "I see. And you're sure the decoy will be able to see the Shinigami?"
"Yes, more than ninety five percent sure, actually, if my suspicion is accurate and Inclementia has a killer notebook."
Near grabbed a headset and put it on, tapping the microphone in front of his mouth.
"'Saxon', can you hear me?"
"Yes. These earrings were a great idea."
Halle spoke up then, staring straight ahead. "N, do you have a visual?"
"I do. Please approach the cafe and sit in one of the back booths, but don't go in simultaneously. Halle, sit nearby but act like a civilian. 'Saxon', I must remind you again, do not react in any way if and when you see the God of death."
"Alright."
Near watched the two women enter the Quarter Inn, following his orders exactly. Saxon sat in the back booth while Halle sat within sight.
"Good. Halle, do not make an arrest no matter how suspicious Inclementia may act; I'm still not certain if he will approach her directly. He may use a decoy. Be on the lookout, though."
"Yes, sir."
For a few minutes, people were leaving and entering, none heading toward the back booth. Saxon had gotten a coffee to sip while she waited. Near toyed with his action figure, childishly making machine gun noises. Rester watched him with suppressed amusement
"S-Saxon?" The hesitant voice made his head snap up.
Saxon looked up and stared at the lanky man before her. He had brown hair the color of mud and light green eyes gleaming with admiration. He had crisp clothes on that looked like he had ironed them twice. Her eyes drifted to behind him momentarily, a nuance of surprise filling her eyes as she saw the monster hovering behind him.
"Yes, I am. You must be my 'blind date.'" She smiled charmingly and his cheeks flushed a little.
He was scrutinizing her, evidently trying to see any wires poking out. The monster suddenly floated closer to her and began to touch her, his claws becoming transparent underneath her clothes. At first, she wasn't certain what he was doing, but when his claws just patted her skin, she understood he was feeling for wires. She did her best to pretend she didn't feel it and after a few moments, he pulled back.
"She's clean." He stated and Inclementia's face grew much friendlier as he sat across from her.
"Thank you for meeting me, Saxon. You don't know how much it means to me." He said breathlessly.
"I'm flattered, but I must ask you to stop killing all these innocent people. They have done nothing."
He frowned slightly. "But, they're stealing your rightful place from you! I'm just trying to help you get it back!"
She shook her head. "I'm not the world's best writer. No one is; it all depends on the readers. Murder is wrong and you know it."
"You are the best!" He argued.
Near watched the banter, amazed by how naive Inclementia seemed to be. Never had he seen a grown man so childishly stubborn about an idol. Mello hadn't even been that blind.
"He can't be serious; there is no way he could so blindly believe such a thing." He muttered to himself.
Saxon sighed and rubbed her temples. "You're missing my point. I don't want you to kill people on my behalf. I want you to stop it. It isn't up to you to decide the worth of authors."
Something suddenly shifted and Inclementia's eyes narrowed. Saxon squirmed uncomfortably under his hardened gaze and Near leaned forward slightly.
"You aren't my Saxon." He suddenly declared, standing up.
"What? Don't be ridiculous." The decoy waved the accusation away with her hand, but her face conveyed nervousness.
"Saxon would never tell me to stop my noble cause! You aren't her!" He pulled out a scrap of paper and began scribbling on it. She watched him in confusion, not registering what was happening and he glowered at her. Near held his breath.
At first, nothing happened, then the decoy screamed. Near cringed and pulled the headset slightly away from his face before demanding, "What is it?"
Her hands scrabbled at her chest before she slumped forward. People in the cafe were quiet for a minute before erupting into panic. Near, having lost his visual, pressed his earpiece.
"Halle, arrest him right now!" He commanded.
The earpiece hissed in his ear before she replied breathlessly, "I-I can't! He disappeared! Dammit, what happened?"
Near popped the head off his Optimus action figure forcefully, not entirely aware he had done so. Rester's eyes were on him and he said, "...Very well. Return to headquarters. Make sure you aren't followed."
"Y-yeah."
He slumped back into his chair and began to twirl his hair tersely. A new plan was being formulated in his head and hopefully, this time he wouldn't be so bold in his next move.
Sam
"The woman posing as Saxon Leroux collapsed in the Quarter Inn earlier today. Witnesses say she was speaking with a dark haired man, though no one saw his face. She then reportedly screamed before dying of a heart attack. Could it be this man was Inclementia?"
She listened to the news in silent horror. She wasn't exactly sure what to think about her double's death. She believed the woman knew what she was getting herself into, but did she ever fully consider death may be inevitable for her?
Sam sighed and leaned back against her sofa, staring out the window to the bright lights of the city. She was having a poetry slump again. She had picked at all her negative emotions until there weren't even bones left. Problem was she still had over fifty poems to do. She groaned in frustration and hugged one of the pillows to her chest.
"I can't wait for this all to be over."
Inclementia
He ran back to his home, locking the door behind him. He was breathing hard and he was now in disarray from his escape. Ryuk floated lazily through the wall and the young man glared at him.
"You're sure we weren't followed?" He panted.
"Yup. No one. Got lucky, I'm pretty sure that decoy had someone watching. Good thing you made the Eye Deal when you did." The shinigami cackled.
Inclementia saw nothing amusing about the situation. He spat, "I can't believe I so foolishly walked into that trap! I need to be more careful. This was too clever to be the local police...it must have been L. Damn! Does that mean she had wires on her? Ryuk! Did you lie to me?"
"Huh? No, I didn't feel any wires." Ryuk dropped an apple into his mouth, munching loudly.
Inclementia suddenly smiled. "I'm glad she wasn't the real Saxon. My Saxon would never trick me like that. Now, I really want to try to find her. But how do I go about it...? I need to think about this some more."
He went into another room and turned on a light before walking over to his armchair. He sat down and wrapped his hands behind his head. Ryuk had floated off to scavenge for more apples, leaving him to think to himself.
Inclementia knew there were only two known links to Saxon: her publisher and the publishing company.
"I could always pose as a new writer and ask to work with her...No, no, they would see right through that. I could threaten her publisher...That could work. But, how do I find her publisher?" He pondered aloud, tapping his skull with his fingers.
He sighed, exasperated he couldn't come up with some sort of solution. He stood up. "I'll just think about it tomorrow. Maybe then something will come to me."
Meanwhile, Ryuk was studying Inclementia's laptop, head tilted slightly to the side. The page was on Saxon's personal website, edited by the publishing company. On it was Tanya's information. He laughed hoarsely, gulping down another apple.
"Hehehe, humans may be interesting, but they sure are stupid." He mused to himself.