I did intend to get a chapter posted yesterday but I ran out of time.
Miami. Present day:
She let out a long breath, she couldn't believe that Horatio would knowingly tamper with evidence in a case; it just wasn't something he would do willingly. She swallowed deeply and asked in a shaky voice, "Did the Malucci's take the bait?"
Collins smiled at her again, "They were very impressed. Without Petrelli's prints on the murder weapon there was no direct link to him or the Malucci's and the shooting. The witnesses were 'persuaded' to change their statements and the case fell apart, as far as I know it still hasn't been solved to this day." He absent-mindedly picked a piece of lint from his trousers and flicked it away.
His attitude angered her, "How can you sit there and pretend that what Horatio did was ok?"
Sighing, he turned his head and looked at her. "He must have passed on his self-righteous attitude to you too. Instead of concentrating on maintain his cover he spent more time bleating at me about how he couldn't bear betraying his colleagues. I humoured him for a while but soon it began to get quite tiresome."
Flashback. New York 1994:
After wiping Petrelli's prints from the gun he returned to his desk and waited for his colleagues to return from their break, when he saw Medavoy open the gate and enter the squad room he stood and picked his jacket up from the back of the chair. "Giving up for the night, John?"
"Yep. Got a phone call from an old friend, seemed like a much better idea than sitting here filing reports," he picked the papers up, "This crap can wait until the morning."
Greg smiled at him as they passed each other, "Have a good night then."
Nodding his head he quickly made his way down the stairs and out of the precinct, only when he got into his car did he let out a shaky breath. He couldn't believe what he had done; deliberately tampering with evidence went against everything he stood for as a cop and as a man. He was trapped, being made to do things that he hated and the only thing that kept him focused was keeping the people he cared about safe.
Parking up outside his apartment building he realised that he had no memory of the journey, his mind obviously elsewhere. Looking up he could see a light on in his apartment, his heart thumped wildly as he considered who it could be in his home. He placed a hand on his right hip and was relieved to find that he still had his service weapon with him. He made his way silently into the building and slowly climbed the stairs to his apartment, as he inched closer he readied himself with his weapon. He placed an ear to the door and listened for sounds of movement. Holding his gun in his right hand and raising his other to the door handle he took a deep breath before throwing the door open. "Stay where you are!" he shouted as he stood in the doorway, clearing the room as he sighted his gun. He turned quickly in the direction of the kitchen as a figure came out of the dimly lit area and gasped.
"John, what the hell are you doing?"
He blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things before he spoke, "Robin, what are you doing here?" he growled as he re-holstered his weapon and ran a shaky hand through his hair.
She flinched at his harsh tone as she wiped her hands on a dish towel, "I thought I'd surprise you and make you dinner. Obviously that was a mistake." She gave him a dirty look and through the towel down before grabbing for her purse on the counter.
He held his hands up and tried to placate her, "Wait, I'm sorry. It's just been a long day; I've got a lot on my mind at the moment."
Her expression softened as she placed her purse back down, "Go and have a shower, dinner will be ready when you're finished."
He nodded his head and did as she asked; the shower seemed to help get his ragged nerves under control. When he saw the light on in his apartment he had visions of Agent Collins or one of the Malucci crew lying in wait for him. He then realised that Robin could have been in real danger if they had turned up, he would have to make her see that her un-announced visits were not a good idea.
He returned to the lounge in a pair of old jeans and a t-shirt as he dried his hair with a towel. She walked up and kissed him as she ran her hands through his still-damp hair. He tried his best to reciprocate her enthusiasm but was unable to shake the thoughts of something horrific happening to her whilst he was powerless to do anything to stop it.
She pulled away slightly disappointed and couldn't hide the look of hurt from her face. She made her way quickly to the kitchen and brought out two steaming plates of Irish stew and dumplings. He smiled gratefully at her as he sat down and she poured them both a glass of wine. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Her voice made him jump slightly; he shook his head before he spoke. "It's just some hassle at work, nothing to worry about."
She placed her glass down and looked at him intently and it began to make him feel uncomfortable, "I worry about you, John. You have been the same since…..you know…" her words trailed off, he knew exactly what she meant.
He picked up his fork and placed a mouthful of food in his mouth, grateful for the distraction and the time it gave him to think of a suitable response. "I'm over that now, it's fine. We've got the brass breathing down our necks about our solve rate, Fancy's putting the heat on all of us."
Her gaze softened again and he was glad she decided not to push it any further, "You would talk to me though? If the attack is still bothering you."
He tried to give her a reassuring smile, "Yes, I would."
Robin let the subject drop and they continued to eat their meal whilst discussing other things, he tried to nod his head and smile in all the right places but he couldn't help his thoughts drifting back to his actions earlier in the day. A few more glasses of wine later and Robin's presence became intoxicating; he gave into his need for physical contact and fell into bed with her, using her to take his mind off of what had been troubling for weeks now. He found in her a willing participant but as he lay next to her and his breathing returned to normal he felt disgusted with himself, sure their lovemaking had kept his demons at bay for a short while but he still didn't feel any better for releasing his pent-up emotions.
Robin laid a hand on his chest as she spoke huskily, "Wow. That was intense."
He looked down at her and kissed the top of her head, "I'm sorry, I guess I just lost control a bit."
Raising her head to look at him she leant forwards and kissed him deeply, "Don't ever apologise, that was great."
He smiled at her as she lay her head back down on her chest, he waited until she heard her breathing even out before he closed his eyes and felt a wave of shame wash over him. He had used her to try to make himself feel better but all it had done was make him feel worse, he was no better than the people who were using him.
Eventually his eyes became heavy and sleep claimed him, it wasn't long before he was plagued with visions of the woman sleeping in his arms being needlessly slaughtered as she waited for him to return home. Visions of the Malucci's abusing and torturing her before leaving her dead in his bed to find taunted him. He found himself beginning to panic as he opened his mouth to scream but nothing would come out, he could feel the walls begin to close in around him.
He woke up with a start, gasping for breath and holding the recently-healed wound on his abdomen, the muscles around it protesting at the movements his heavy breathing had caused. Robin had sat up and was leaning over him, both of her hands on his shoulders as she tried to shake him awake. "Johnny, what's wrong? Talk to me," she commanded as her hands moved from his shoulders to his face.
He blinked several times just to make sure he wasn't still dreaming, "What happened?" he asked shakily.
"You were mumbling in your sleep, you'd been thrashing around and then you started screaming. What on earth were you dreaming about?"
She looked at him intently once more but he knew he couldn't tell her, he couldn't tell anyone what was happening to him.
Three days later he sat in his car waiting for Agent Collins to pull up in his, seeing the black sedan pull in to the parking spot next to him he rolled down his window.
"Well done, Detective Kelly. I see you managed to pull it off."
"I did what they asked, don't sit there and pretend I enjoyed it."
"Were they pleased with you?"
"They were happy that I got the job done, that's all that matters."
"So you're part of the team now, that's good."
"It's not good!" he snapped, "I'm up to my neck in shit and double dealing, you think this is some sort of game?"
"Oh stop being so dramatic," Collins said condescendingly, "Now that you have insider access I need you to start paying attention to how the Malucci's run their ship. Times, dates, places, people involved and that kind of thing."
"I think you're forgetting that I'm a cop, it's not like I can spend all day with those goons watching what they're up to."
"For the moment you are better placed playing either side off against each other, when the time's right we'll make our next move." The agent responded vaguely.
He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up, lying to people. Sooner or later I'm gonna trip up and this whole thing is going to blow up in my face."
"If you want to keep your people safe then you better start remembering what you've said. It's up to you to keep your cover intact."
"I'm just a pawn to you, aren't I?"
The agent looked away before answering, "Yes, should you mess up I'll just find someone else to do the job for me. Maybe that young, impressionable Martinez boy…" he let the threat hang in the air.
He felt his temper rise, "He has nothing to do with this, leave him out of it."
"Then stop whining and do your job, Detective Kelly. I'll be in contact soon." As the electric window came back up the FBI agent reversed out of the space and drove out of the parking lot, leaving John alone to consider his next move.
I hope everyone is still enjoying the ride, please feel free to leave me comments, good or bad!