Chapter Fifteen
Fang smiled in content when she and Vanille returned to Farron's after they'd enjoyed the guitarist's work-free day together outside in Bodhum. The sun was already setting outside, and its orange rays painted a lovely picture as they shone into the homely living room.
They dropped their shopping bags in the kitchen for now, and quickly found they had the house for themselves. Serah was out with Snow and his friends, and Lightning must still be at work.
The couple let themselves fall on the big couch in the living room, and Fang sighed happily as she put her arm around Vanille's shoulder. The redhead smiled and went to say something when she was interrupted by the ringtone of her mobile phone. Fang smirked as she immediately recognised it as the intro of one of her band's songs.
The girl took a glance at her phone, then back to Fang. "It's Lightning. I better pick up", she said and pressed the device to her ear.
"Hey Light!", she greeted her adoptive sister, all sunshine and happiness. Fang leaned back, dreamily staring at the ceiling as the girl talked to Lightning.
"What? You ... what?", she heard her girlfriend say suddenly, shock evident in her voice, which made Fang turn her head in more than curiosity.
"Okay, I'll tell her ... okay, okay. We are here, see you in a minute, Light", Fang could hear the redhead say then before she hung up and turned to the brunette, who could see the shock still written all over her face as her widened emerald eyes stared back at the taller woman.
"What's wrong, love?", Fang wanted to know, definitely certain now that something bad must've happened.
Vanille averted her gaze downwards as she finally spoke after a moment. "You're in difficulties, Fang... Light said police will be here in thirty minutes at the most, picking you up to take you into custody. She said she'll be here in a few minutes to talk to you before they do"
"What? What happened, Vanille?", Fang asked of her, placing her free hand on hers as she saw how scared the girl looked. But she, too, couldn't deny that she felt a certain uneasiness creep into her system, knowing that she must've done something so bad that police wanted to take her with them right away. But what? What had she done wrong?
"She didn't say. She only mentioned that it's bad and she'll explain everything to you once she's here", the redhead went on, laying her other hand over Fang's holding hers, holding it tightly between her hands to get some kind of comfort.
And suddenly, they heard the entrance door fly open and close loudly. It only took Lightning a full ten seconds at the most before she found the couple in the living room, staring back at her as she entered in her blue and white police uniform.
"I need to talk to you. Vanille can stay and listen if she wants", Lightning announced seriously, sitting down on the armchair close to Fang.
"Oookay ... what is goin' on here, Light? It sounds damn serious, and Vanille here is terrified, as you can see", the brunette asked, frowning a little in anger as she turned towards Lightning and gently pulled Vanille closer to her, who gladly accepted the offer and leaned against Fang's shoulder while laying an arm around her waist as if fearing she might lose her otherwise.
"It is 'damn serious', Fang", Lightning responded momentarily annoyed and looked away for a moment to gather herself. "We have found drugs in your band's private room in the studio", she stated matter-of-factly as she turned back to lock gazes with the brunette.
Both Fang and Vanille simultaneously let out a gasp at what they heard. "They ... what?", the guitarist said in pure shock, not wanting to believe her own ears.
"You heard me right. You and the other band members will be taken into custody. They'll be here soon", the policewoman explained, struggling to maintain as professional as she was supposed to, as she was used to.
But hell, it was hard when you knew the person accused of something, and when you had this uncertainty in your mind, torturing you with this one doubting question over and over: Is it true? Is your adoptive sister's girlfriend a drug addict, or worse?
"I- ... I'm not allowed to, but I came here before them to talk to you. To help you. But you need to be honest with me for me to do that, Fang. Can you do that? Can you be honest with me?", Lightning went on, and she was unable to hide how concerned she was now as her pleading gaze met Fang's, silently urging her to do the right thing.
The brunette gulped, tightening her grip around Vanille's shoulder as she felt the hand on her waist clutch harder, more desperately onto her. "Yeah"
"Good. In brief, because we really don't have much time: I need to know, Fang. Did you hide drugs there, or know that any of your band mates hid them there?", the older Farron came straight to the point, her ice-blue eyes narrowing as she looked into Fang's in concentration.
"Hell, no! I've always stayed away from that nasty shit, as well as the others. We all agreed on that we don't wanna poison ourselves, our lives with drugs", came the reply from Fang, who raised her free hand in defence and shook her head.
"Of course Fang doesn't have anything to do with it! You don't think she would do something like that, right?", Vanille piped up to defend her girlfriend, a questioning look on her face as she looked back at Lightning. Her adoptive sister didn't believe Fang was guilty ... right?
"What I believe doesn't matter to the law, Vanille. The truth does.", Light explained herself, "And if what you, Fang, say is true, meaning you and your band didn't place the drugs there, then ... that means somebody else hid them there, possibly to set you and your band up", the policewoman shared one of the many theories she'd been thinking about over and over on her way home.
"But you believe she's guilty, don't you? You have that look on your face, Light...", Vanille piped up again, not giving her girlfriend a chance to react. Her face was a strange mix of several emotions as she snuggled even closer to Fang if that was even possible.
Lightning found herself frowning at Vanille's reaction. It was just so ... without reason. She didn't think. But then again ... who could blame her, when the woman she loved was accused of something like that? Who wouldn't defend their beloved in such a situation, no matter what?
"To be honest, I don't know. I haven't known Fang for long, Vanille.", Lightning started, her gaze wandering between the two women before coming to a rest on Fang. "But from what I have gathered in the short time we've known each other, I don't take you for someone who's into drugs", the pink-haired woman said, a hint of a soft smile on her lips for a brief moment before a more serious feature took over again.
"Also, the anonymous caller who gave us the tip to search the band's room for drugs made a strange impression on me when I had them on the phone today. The person concealed their voice with a program to make recognition impossible. It leads me to believe this whole thing might well be a planned set-up", Lightning explained her view on the situation.
Fang found herself smiling a little. She was positively surprised the older Farron had not directly labelled her as guilty, but was actually quite willing to believe her, though she'd still made clear she wasn't undoubtedly convinced yet that Fang didn't have anything to do with the drugs. But Light's will to believe and, on top of that, help the brunette was definitely worth a lot.
Fang absentmindedly stroked over her girlfriend's shoulder as she let the policewoman's theory sink in. It sounded plausible, especially since it must've been somebody else's doing, as Fang was sure beyond any doubt that neither of her band colleagues, who were also her friends, had secretly come into contact with drugs and had hidden them in their room.
"Well, I'd say-", the brunette started, noticing Lightning's expecting gaze on her, but then the doorbell rang, silencing her as everyone's heads immediately turned in the direction of the door.
"That must be the police. Vanille, you open the door, and you, Fang, do as you're told, okay? It doesn't help you if you provoke them, so keep it cool.", Lightning instructed them as they got up and neared the entrance door.
"Alright, I'll go upstairs. They don't really need to see me, might give them the idea I talked to you against the rules", Lightning turned to Fang again, smiling briefly, and the brunette was sure she saw something like compassion sparkling in her blue eyes, if only for a moment.
Fang nodded appreciatively, and so did the older Farron before she quickly disappeared and Fang went over to the kitchen. Vanille then opened the door, revealing two police officers.
"Good evening, Miss. We're here for Fang Yun. Is she here?", the taller of the men asked politely, though it sounded more like he knew the answer already.
Vanille nodded a little nervously as she played with her hands. "Y-yes, she's here. Come in, please"
The men followed her to the kitchen, and Fang did her best to try and play it cool when the policemen were quick in telling her she would be taken into custody like her band colleagues, as illegal drugs had been found in the band's private room.
There wasn't much point in resisting, really, and Fang remembered Lightning's advice well, so she did as told and let herself be put into handcuffs before the men walked her to the door under the terrified gaze of Vanille, who helplessly followed them closely.
"Wait. One minute, please", Fang asked of the officers when they'd reached the entrance door, looking back to Vanille. The men exchanged a gaze and then nodded to her to proceed, and the smaller one of them was so kind and reopened her handcuffs for the moment.
Fang immediately closed the two steps towards Vanille under the watching gazes of the officers, hugging her tightly.
"Fang, I'm afraid for you...", the girl said, the sadness and worry in her voice only muffled by her girlfriend's shoulder as she nuzzled into it while wrapping her arms around her tightly.
Fang stroked softly through her hair as she held her love. "Hey, we'll sort this out, okay?", she reassured the girl, who nodded against her shoulder.
When Fang heard one of the men cough behind her, she knew their time was running out. So she pulled away from the embrace and looked briefly into Vanille's glazed eyes before leaning forward to press her lips onto hers. The kiss was short, but that didn't rob it off any of its passion as the two expressed their love for each other.
They broke apart a few moments later, and knowing the officers wouldn't keep on waiting for her forever, Fang stroked over Vanille's cheek. "Don't you worry for me, okay, love? We'll prove I'm innocent, somehow", she reassured her once again, eliciting a small smile from the redhead. The brunette smiled herself before stepping back and turning a bit to face the men, nodding to them.
Still, when Fang was handcuffed and led to the car of the policemen outside while curious paparazzi took one humiliating photo after another - of course this pest wasn't far when they could get a good shot of a famous person in handcuffs - she couldn't fight the disgusting emotion of utter helplessness from rising within her, overpowering her. After all, police had found drugs at the band's place. How, for Etro's sake, should they prove anyone it wasn't their doing, weren't their drugs?
Fang didn't know. No, for once all nonchalance had entirely faded from her person. But when she came to a stand in front of the police car and turned around one more time, she met gazes with Vanille who stood in the entrance door and watched. And when she saw a small, loving smile grow on the girl's face at their eye contact, it relit the fire in her chest that had burned out just moments ago, the warm flame of hope.
Fang smiled back to her before getting in the car. Hell, somehow she'd prove her innocence. Somehow, they'd find whoever responsible for the drugs in their quarters. She had no idea as to how, but one thing she knew very well: she wouldn't go to prison free of any guilt, leaving Vanille alone. She wouldn't let that happen.
"The job is done. Everything went smooth", the man spoke into the phone once somebody had picked up with a curt, impersonal hello.
"I know. According to the news, they've already been taken into custody this evening. Good job", was the reply from the other side and you could even hear the smug smirk in the voice.
"What about my payment?", the other asked back, staring outside the window into the darkness.
"Yes, your payment. Meet us tomorrow at 9 pm at Primarch Avenue 13, behind the old sushi restaurant. There you will receive it. And good job again. You did something good, and my boss won't forget this", the other voice replied, again with that smirk in his voice. Then he hung up.
The other only stared outside wordlessly for a few moments as he lit a cigarette. You did something good, it echoed in his mind. But why didn't it feel like it, then?
Maybe because he'd deliberately pulled the strings to have innocent, good people arrested. Maybe because he would've never done something like that if it hadn't been for the money.
But this couldn't be changed, it had happened. He would have to live with it, whether he liked it or not. And despite his employer telling him, it was most certainly not 'something good' he'd done. Definitely not.
Lightning sighed heavily as she let herself fall into her chair in her office. There'd be a lot of work ahead of her. She'd just talked to her superior, Lieutenant Amodar, to see if it was possible for her to help investigating Fighting Fate's case.
And luckily, the man had allowed for her to get involved into the investigation of this case. This happened rarely with her low rank, especially with a case of such big importance, but the Lieutenant had decided he could need another officer on the team, and even implied he'd reward the woman with a much overdue promotion if she did well.
So far, so good. She took a glance at the clock, almost a little shocked to realise it was already after nine. She shut down her computer and said her goodbyes to the people still in the department before leaving to enjoy the rest of her Saturday evening.
She smiled when she drove home with a good feeling in her stomach, knowing she was actually able to help Fang as she'd promised her earlier today. Of course she knew very well it was still not said that the woman was as innocent as she'd assured Lightning, but the policewoman just had that feeling that the woman had told her the truth.
Either way, she would trust her word for now, after all she could still make her life a living hell if she found out Fang was guilty. And the truth would come to light sooner or later as the investigation progressed, there was no doubt. But it was still a way to go to that truth, seeing that investigation only started today.
And it only spurred on her determination to solve this case as soon as possible when she returned home and saw how little Vanille sadly sat on the sofa, draped in a blanket and cuddled tightly to Serah as they watched some movie the redhead didn't even really seem interested in as she blankly stared at the screen.
I'll make sure this case is solved, and if it's the last thing I do.
AN: Only while writing this I realised how hard it actually is (for me) to write a crime story. I've never done this before, so I hope I've managed to make it interesting and exciting so far. You can always, of course, let me know what you think in the reviews or in a PM :) I'm open to any kind of feedback, good or bad!
Also, I'd like to mention I had some difficulties imagining how police actually works. I don't know much about it, not even in my country (Germany), so I freestyled a bit, which could end up as a mix of German and US police or just complete nonsense. But anyway, it's a fictional world, so I guessed I make my own rules for how police works in that world :)