Ch. 2

Lucky was in the alleyway to the Metro Court Hotel asking questions to potential witnesses. Teams of expert Law Enforcement Personnel like the PCPD, CSI's, and forensic scientists were already on the move as far getting to business goes. The crime scene was sectioned off from the public and the media with yellow crime scene barrier tape, allowing only people involved in the case to get through. It generally looked like a circus act with the way everyone scrambled around each other to collect evidence.

"And are you sure that is the last thing you can remember?" Lucky asked Metro Court employee, Chris Isaacs. He was a custodial worker who was taking out the trash when he saw the victim's lifeless body lying in a puddle of blood. Chris was a bulk man, in his mid 20's. He had on a blue custodial suit on with the Metro Court's initials on the back and a nametag with his first name on it placed on the front. Compared to Lucky who had a full head of nice, short black hair, Chris was completely bald. He had a snake tattoo popping out on the side of his neck and dull grey eyes.

"Yes." Chris answered rather annoyed. "As I said before, I was taking out the trash this morning around eleven in the afternoon as I usually do when I start my shift. I exited out the backdoor because it is the quickest route to the back alley." He pointed to the dumpster, making sure that he nailed his whereabouts to a T. "After dumping the trash in the dumpster, I headed back to the door, but stopped when I noticed what I thought to be an empty cardboard box further down the alley."

"Thought?" Lucky asked, curiously.

Chris nodded. "That's what I saw. Look, my vision is kind of messed up, alright. I normally wear eyeglasses, and when I don't wear them, my eyes sometimes plays tricks on me."

"Why didn't you have your glasses with you this morning?"

"I was running late to work so I was rushing. I didn't think to make sure I had my glasses with me. Anyways, knowing Carly Jacks pays me to keep the Metro Court Hotel area spotless, not just inside, but outside as well, I decided to go pick the box up so I could put it in the dumpster. As I started walking over there, I looked down for some strange reason and that was when I saw it."

"Chris, I need details or you're wasting my time." Lucky said impatiently. Mac Scorpio, the PCPD Commissioner joined in with them.

Chris glared at Lucky. "Blood on the ground. Drips of blood heading right towards what I thought was a box. When I walked over there, I realized I was wrong. It was a female body, man. A bloody body just lying there lifeless."

"And you thought that body was a box?" Lucky was skeptical and Chris could tell.

"Like I told you before, my eyes tend to play tricks on me when I don't wear my glasses."

"Thank you, Chris. We'll contact you again if we need you back in for questioning." Mac interceded. "You're free to go."

Chris didn't say anything. He just stomped off.

Mac looked at Lucky. "I just don't get how someone can be so coldhearted that they attack someone like that."

"I don't get it either." Lucky agreed. "This is the eighth person killed. We got to catch this guy."

Mac looked off to the side, nodding his head in agreement. "Yeah, well, from the looks of it, it seems like your girlfriend wants to catch this guy as well." He pointed over to Sam and Spinelli. Sam, who was now dressed in denim skinny jeans, a black low-cut top, black knee-high boots, and her black leather jacket was talking to a member of the forensics team. Her hair was worn down, falling around her face. She looked like a badass with her small crime scene investigation kit (she preferred to call it her PI kit) in her hand.

Spinelli, standing with her, wore something that showed off his laidback style: a blue tee-shirt that said "Cyber-Geek", a red jacket, and loose fitted jeans, and matching sneakers. As usual, he had his laptop with him. Style-wise, he and Sam were as different as night and day.

"Should I arrest her now, or are you going to handle this?" Mac asked.

"I'll handle it." Lucky said, marching over to Sam, pulling her over to the side. Spinelli knew to follow, knowing where this was conversation was headed. "I should have known better than to ask you to promise not to show up because you can barely keep a promise. Considering how you are always a no-show when we're supposed to meet up." Lucky said bitterly.

Sam threw her hands up, in frustration. "And I knew that was going to get thrown back in my face eventually."

"If The Jackal could so kindly interrupt the apparent altercation that is going to persist between Fair Samantha and her Law Abiding Knight, that way…." Spinelli began.

"Spinelli, be quiet." Sam interrupted before turning her attention back to Lucky. "Okay, I promised that I wouldn't get involved in this investigation on my own. I didn't say I wouldn't come here with Spinelli."

"You knew what I meant, Sam." Lucky defended.

"Well you should have known that I don't take orders. Lucky, I want to be a part of this investigation."

Lucky stood his ground. As much as he loved Sam, her stubbornness and her insane ability to not listen drove him crazy at times. "You can't expect to be treated like a cop, Sam. This is police business. Stay out of it!"

Those words stung to Sam, like a bee. She hated it when people made it seem like her job wasn't as important because she wasn't a part of the force, especially since becoming a cop was an option she chose to live without. She was actually given the opportunity to join the police force a year ago after she jumped off the Metro Court roof, risking her life to save people during the Metro Court hostage crisis. Ultimately considering taking Mac's offer, she changed her mind and laughed in Mac's face when she realized she couldn't just stand back and wait for the police chief to give her the go ahead to get into battle mode. She would much rather handle things her way.

Joining the PCPD meant having to take orders and having to follow the law abidingly. And that was nothing but complete bull shit in Sam's eyes. Being a PI was much more her cup of tea since she was never really a rules following kind of girl. Not to mention the police force wouldn't necessarily approve of her tactics for solving cases. The way she got down to business meant kicking ass and taking names later or having Spinelli illegally hack into police files and FBI databases to get information. Oh yeah, if she would have became a cop, she would have gotten fired on the first day.

Cruz Galvez, Lucky's police partner, walked over, interrupting the smart comeback Sam was going to throw back into Lucky's face. "Lucky, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Really? About what?" Sam asked, clearly ignoring the fact that Cruz addressed Lucky and not her.

Cruz chuckled sarcastically. "No offense, Sam, but this is a police investigation. Don't expect to be treated like a cop."

"As if I didn't hear that 30 seconds ago." Sam muttered.

Lucky shot her a warning glare, before dragging Cruz away. "Let's talk in private."

Sam looked at Spinelli who was smiling sympathetically at her. "Can you believe him? He's completely shutting me out!"

"I wouldn't exactly have knowledge about the romance area of expertise pe se, for I am still struggling to make Maximista fall for my charms, but it is apparent to me that your lover's quarrel could be out of worry for one another's safety?" Spinelli, said. His short messy brown hair fell into his eyes a little.

Sam shook her head. "No. This is about his male ego. He might as well admit that he hates the fact that I'm not the type of girl who likes to sit at home and play housewife."

Spinelli furrowed his eyes brows with confusion. "This is nothing new to The Jackal for you and The Law Abiding Knight argued on this touchy subject beforehand and triumphed over it once you both realized what was upmost important."

"What's important is he doesn't understand how much this job means to me. And I really wish he would, sometimes." Sam said quietly. Spinelli could detect a small hint of sadness in her voice when she uttered out that last sentence. He was going to ask her if she wanted to talk about it, but she brushed it off and went right back to business mode. "Sorry. Let's just get to work. What did you find out about what happened here?" She pointed to the crime scene.

"According to the police files I hacked into, around 11 am, Chris Issacs, a custodian here at the Metro Court was taking out the trash when he came across the victim's body." He pointed to the ground where the dried drips of blood was traced to the crime scene. "Judging from the drips of dried blood on the cement, the victim was bleeding heavily from her wounds starting from around here. The drips of blood continued onward, coming to an abrupt stop once and for all. One thing I became aware of when looking at the scene is that the blood on the ground was not a continuous line, but was trickled from point A to point B where the body was found."

Sam tried to grasp Spinelli's wording into her mind. "So you're saying that it might be possible that the victim was attacked here and…maybe she fought the killer off. And that was when she ran which is why drips of blood went in that direction. The killer caught up and finished the job, am I right?"

"My theory, exactly." Spinelli concurred.

"She was stabbed, right?" Sam asked, handing Spinelli her PI kit. She opened it, and took out a pair of latex gloves and started putting them on her hands.

"Multiple stab wounds inflicted upon the victim's chest, and slit upon the victim's throat."

Picking up a black string of hair mixed in with blood off of the ground using her stainless steel tweezers, she placed it in a small, clear glassine evidence envelope and sealed it closed. She safely put the small evidence envelope into her kit and locked it, managing to stand up without breaking a sweat. "Spinelli, I need you to get in contact with Chris Isaacs. I want to question him myself." Spinelli's eyes wandered off past Sam, his attention to her no longer present. Sam noticed this and waved for his attention. "Spinelli? Earth to Spinelli. What's wrong?"

Spinelli's attention referred back to Sam. "Yes, Fair Samantha?"
"Okay, um. Is something wrong?"

"Not with I, but…it appears something is troubling The Law Abiding Knight."

Sam turned around to find Lucky heading in their direction. He seemed upset when he finally reached them. Sam figured it was because she didn't listen to him. "Look, if you're angry because I didn't listen to you, I'm sorry, but I'm not backing away from this."

Lucky's eyes looked weary. "For once, I'm not angry about you getting into trouble."

"Okay, then what's wrong?"

"They just identified the victim's body…It was Emily."

Sam and Spinelli exchanged worried as well as confused glances with one another.

"You mean, The Noble One?" Spinelli couldn't help asking Lucky.

Lucky nodded.

"This is quite unexpected news." Spinelli continued. Lucky didn't say anything. His eyes were on the ground. The news was obviously as big of a shock to him as it was to them. Emily Quartermaine was Lucky's best friend. She and Lucky have been friends since they were kids and she grew up to fall in love with Lucky's brother, Nikolas Casssadine, who just so happens to be Sam's cousin, resulting in them getting married. If this sudden news was hitting Lucky hard, then she could imagine Nikolas being even worse.

Sam's instinct of self preservation kicked in at that point. Without even realizing what she was doing, she reached out to Lucky unexpectedly and hugged him. All of a sudden, their fight no longer mattered. She just wanted to show him that she would be there for him whenever he needed her. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Luck buried his face in her hair. No words ushered out of his mouth, but a tear started to stream down his cheek.