Chapter 11

I kept tossing and turning in bed like something was missing. It was my mythical creature the phoenix. I miss cuddling with it. I miss my Ferri. Yeah, I named him after a character in one of the Final Fantasy game. More tossing and turning and came to a conclusion, I can't sleep! "Fuck." I mumbled to myself. "This sucks."

"What sucks?" I was startled when I heard Leon's voice in the dark. He was sleep on the couch, it looks uncomfortable.

"Shit, you scared me."

"With all due respect, my voice did. So what sucks?"

"I can't sleep. I'm missing something."

"You missing your itouch?'

"No."

"Your two gun?"

"No, there under my pillow."

"Me?"

"Well.."

"Yes?"

"No."

"Then what are you missing? He groaned.

"I miss my stuff animal." I said that with a whimper voice.

"What was your stuff animal?"

"It's a mythical creature that's a phoenix name Ferri and I can't sleep without him." Why do I sound so pathetic? I put the pillow on my face and just lay there. Here's a night when I finally can get a goodnight rest, until I forgot to pack my stuff mythical creature in my backpack. All of a sudden, I felt something soft put in my hand. I lifted the pillow from my face and saw a red and orange colored stuffed animal. It was Ferri. I shot up from the bed and was confused. "Where did you get this?" Leon sat up on the couch and looked at me and gave a shy smile.

"I saw you sleeping with it the day before we left. You slept like nothing ever happened." I looked at him, then at my Ferri. I hugged it tightly, Ferri is my life. I had it for ten years. Mikey's wife made it for me when I joined the Williams family. Memories started to flow in me, I missed everyone. More importantly, I miss dad. Leon walked over, climbed in bed on the other side of me and held me in his arms. The feel of his warmth made me feel warm on my cold skin. I lay on his bare chest with my phoenix Ferri. My eyes started to shut and I could feel my whole body started to fall into a sweet bliss called sleep.

Sun was up and I was still sleeping in the bed with my stuffed creature Ferri and my protector/fighter Leon. He had no shirt on and I was resting my head his bare chest. This feels like a fantasy of a helpless romance novel. Wait, it wasn't just a helpless romance novel, it was reality. I wanted to shot up from the bed and like be surprised about all of this, but then again I really wasn't that surprised. Getting the sleep I needed felt really good and both of us needed it since we have to drive today. I got up very quietly, so I wouldn't wake up Leon, tip toed to the bathroom and closed the door silently. The light turned on by itself and I looked at myself in the mirror and I looked like shit. I flinched a little and saw how my face was greasy a little. Ugh, I don't know how Leon is attracted to me. I turned on the water, grabbed a wash cloth, rubbed soap on it, put it under the warm water and scrubbed my face. All the dirt I had on my face was disgusting. After scrubbing my face, I splash warm water on my face to get the soap off. Hope Leon doesn't wake up yet. He needs the sleep. Poor guy has been working so hard feels like he doesn't get any sleep. I grabbed a hand towel and dried my face off. "Ah, feels better."

"Claire, you there? Boss is looking for you. Claire?" I van knocked on her door like 30 times and still no answer. He was getting concerned. He knew that she was stressed out because she was working on the case and getting information about the subject, but he didn't know how hard she would have to work. Ivan couldn't shake off the feeling, so he opened the door to Claire's room. It was dark and he could barely see anything. He found the light switch, turned on the light and saw Claire on the ground passed out. "Shit! Claire! Claire! Answer me!" Ivan put his arm around Claire and she wasn't waking up. He found traces of blood around her shoulder and found a bruise on her head. She was attacked. How could he not hear all of this happen during the night? He laid her on the couch, found the red button on the wall, pushed it and the alarm went off. Sirens went off and red flashing lights went off. The footsteps grew louder and the door slammed opened. Black ops scattered around the room making sure it was all cleared. One of the black ops came toward Ivan and unconscious Claire.

"What happened to her?"

"She was attacked during the night. I saw her last night and she was stressed out, but she was okay and I don't know how it happened. I came to get her because she was missing work. I knocked on the door and there was no answer so I opened her door and found her on the ground and she wasn't responding when I said her name."

"Did anyone go into her room earlier the day and night?"

"No I didn't. I was with Boss getting all caught up with this investigation." The medical team came in and see if Claire was okay and hoping she's not suffering from head trauma. "Is she okay?"

"She still breathing, but we need to take her for medical attention. She was stabbed in the shoulder. She lost a lot of blood." Ivan wasn't freaking out just yet, but he was getting more concerned. The stretcher came in Claire's room and carefully put her on the stretcher. They took her to the headquarters medical room to run tests on Claire. Meanwhile, Ivan reported to Boss in his office.

"How bad is it?"

"Shoulder wound, she was stabbed with a knife and was hit in the back of the head."

"What was she working on?" He handed Boss the files and he opened to see the first page. Boss sighed out loud. "She was working on The Myers Massacre/Crimson Rose Elite Squad murder case. She was briefing Leon on the information she found."

"Is this what she did all day and all night yesterday?"

"Yes sir. She called Leon again yesterday night about another murder that was reported. A teenage boy was brutally murdered in his bedroom. The mother said he was released from the hospital hours before he was murdered."

"Where is he from?"

"Portsmouth, Rhode Island."

"That's where the subject was from."

"My thought exactly."

"Did the boy have anything to do with the murder of that high school girl?"

"He was in the hospital at the time for treatment. He had a gunshot wound."

"How did he get shot?"

"No one knows. It was never reported in." Boss went through the file and saw my photo I.D.

"So this is the subject."

"Yes sir. She's the surviving member during the murders a year ago."

"How did this beautiful girl get involved in this situation?"

"Maybe she had a motive to be in it or she was just there at the wrong time."

"Both possibilities, only one reason to be in this situation." Silence came upon both Boss and Ivan. Boss sighed. "When is Leon and the subject coming here?"

"At least four to five days tops."

"Are they on the road?"

"They just left New Jersey five hours ago."

"Keep tracking them. Call Leon and fill him in on the information and tell him Claire will be out for awhile." He nodded in agreement. Boss handed him the files.

"I'll get the tests from the medic and see how she's doing."

"Okay, keep me posted on her recovery." Ivan nodded and walked out of Boss's office. He sat and looked at his picture of his daughter who had red hair with blonde streaks in it, it was down and straight, she wore a holliter red and black lace dress and her smile was glowing like an angel. Now knowing his only daughter Claire is in headquarters medical facility. He sighed out. "I'm sorry Claire. I'm sorry I put you through this."