a/n: short and sweet…or not so sweet. felt it had to stand alone
Law and Order: Criminal Intent
High Maintenance
Chapter Eight
Disorder
Alex sat in her car, forehead resting on the steering wheel, trying to calm down. There was no reason for Ross to pull her from the case, no reason to send her home. She ripped the keys from the ignition and headed inside her apartment.
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Sensing motion to his left, Goren looked up. Sargent Millward approached the desk. Purple bruises seeped from underneath the white bandage across his nose. His eyes looked sunken against the painful color.
"Is there someplace we can talk? I have information."
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"Hi, Sweetheart. Welcome home." Eames froze in the doorway, staring at the stranger sitting in her living room. She reached for her gun. "Go ahead. But I have one, too." He pointed his firearm at Eames. "Why don't you just put yours on the coffee table here?"
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Nichols closed the conference room's door. He gave Goren a questioning look as Sargent Millward removed two pictures, one of the Hales, one of Connie and Mrs. Letner, from the cork board and placed them carefully on the table.
"I believe you know my brother, Detective Goren."
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"What do you want?" Eames asked, carefully setting her gun on the table.
"Right to the point, huh?" He set his gun on the table next to Eames'. "It's very simple, really. I want your partner." He rubbed his hands together slowly. "It's my turn to ask a question. Are you going to come along willingly or are we gonna have a bit of a scuffle?"
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"You took them all away," Millward said, leaning over the pictures. "All of them. Brothers, cousins, friends…All gone." He looked up, meeting Goren's eyes with an ugly smirk. "All but one. Does the name Cameron Dickson ring a bell?"
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He jumped at Eames before she could react. She twisted, trying to free herself from his arms, tripping him in the process. He landed heavily on her right shoulder as they hit the floor. She lifted her left elbow, feeling a sharp pain rip through her arm as she made contact with his head. Turning to lay on her back, she reached up, scratching at his face and slamming her fists against his head and chest, anything she could do to get his body off of hers.
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"Roses are red…" Millward reached to his belt, pulling a hunting knife from its holster, and set it on top of the Hales' picture.
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He thrust a fist into her right side, forcing a halt to her attack. She gasped for a breath, tears filling her eyes.
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"Violets are blue…" Millward laid his gun on top of Connie and Mrs. Letner's picture.
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"Bitch!" He struck her face with the back of his hand. "Don't do that again. I don't want to kill you quite yet. But I will if I have to."
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"I know where your bitch of a partner is." Millward tossed a set of keys across the table, keys Goren recognized immediately as Eames' missing set. "Do you?"