5.
Christina had more or less dragged her to the closest bar, which were ironically a cop bar and only a couple of blocks away from the station, and forced her into ordering a drink so they could have a private conversation by easing up the mood. Of course Tris had no idea how drinking beer at a bar was a good place to have a friendly meeting, but she didn't comment on it when the bartender handed over two glasses of beer. Christina smiled and gave the bartender money, taking a small sip of the liquid before she turned her attention back to her who had not yet tasted her own beer.
"What you have never had a drink before?" Christina asked, when Tris just stared at the glass like she waited for a sign to tell her what to do. Tris shook her head. She had drinks before, but she wasn't the extensive drinker. Whenever she had a drink it had been with Tobias in the past and now she had one rarely with Tori and Bud when she really didn't want to spend her night alone and read one of her books. Christina held up her glass and waited for Tris to do the same and when she did Christina clinked her glass against Tris's glass and said cheers and drank another sip. Tris did the same and the two of them remained quiet after that. Only till Christina's glass was half full she asked, "So tell me, what is the story about you and Four?"
Tris almost choked the liquid and had to cough for moment because she had been taken by surprise by her question. It was obvious there was tension between them, but she didn't think people would put together the fact that there was history between them prior to the murder.
"There is nothing going on between us," Tris replied without turning to look at her. Her gaze was mainly focused on her drink. She hoped that Christina would take her word for it and leave it alone, but she had forgotten that Christina used to live in Candor and knew that she wasn't telling her the truth.
"First of all, I asked what's the story between you and Four. I didn't ask what is going on between you two, but you clearly answered the question that there used be something," Christina began reasoning her thoughts. "Secondly, I used to be from Candor so I know that you just lied, so don't bother denying it. Thirdly, you are seriously bad at lying. Which makes me wonder how in the world did you manage to be detective when your lying skills are at this level."
"There is a lot of reasons why I suck at lying," Tris argued with a playful tone. "When I used to work as detective there wasn't many from Candor I arrested, so no one managed to catch me lying. Besides you are obviously good at knowing when someone lies and when someone tells you the truth, so your skills shouldn't be doubted."
"Alright I can agree with that, but that doesn't answer my question. What is the story between you and Four?"
Tris sighed. She had never talked with anyone about her relationship with him, not that she had any close friends or any close family to talk with about her social life, but when she thought about it the more clear it became that she really did need to open herself up more towards other people. Christina seemed like friendly and kind person, who had not done anything to betray her trust, so she really didn't have a reason in not confiding in her. If she was ever going to have friends then the first person she should try becoming friends is Christina, right?
"We used to be partners back when I used to be a detective at Abnegation Police Department," Tris said. "In the beginning we used to bicker over everything, but the more we worked together the closer our relationship became and it resulted we became very close friends. There was a time there was something more between us…"
Tris stopped for a moment to take everything in. She didn't try to elaborate on that last part, since Christina obviously understood what she had meant, but Tris felt her heart ache just by thinking even talking about her relationship with him. However she needed to allow herself to trust Christina, so she continued her explanation.
"Anyway something came between us and everything fell apart after that. And because of that I cut all ties with him and haven't seen him ever since until now," Tris tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and waited for Christina's response. Christina was surprisingly quiet for a second and swallowed before she asked quiet and sincerely, "What exactly came between you?"
"I'm quite ready to talk about that just yet, but I hope that one day I will be comfortable enough to talk about it with you," Tris revealed. She hoped that Christina wouldn't be offended because of her reluctance to talk about her parents, because for her the death of her parents was too hard to talk about right now.
Christina didn't say anything, but nodded her head and gave her a gentle smile like she was telling her that she accepted the explanation. Then they both went back to their drinks and began having a lighter conversation. They talking about work, their interests and Christina even mentioned her boyfriend Will who she had been dating for four years now and was very happy with. And over the time they spent at the bar they somehow managed to plan on going on a shopping trip together next Saturday. The two of them was having a great time when Christina's phone began to ping. Christina excused herself and pulled out her cellphone from her purse to check her messages. Once Christina was done reading her text she turned to look at her and said with a businesslike voice, "It's seems like the blood we found on the tip matched the victim's blood. So in other words the syringe that you found in the container was indeed the murder weapon."
Tris nodded and waited for her to continue with the forensic report. It was great that they found the murder weapon, but they needed to find out what exactly killed him in order to solve this case.
"Al Price was killed by aconite poisoning, a poison that comes from the Monkshood flower. And you normally find this type of plant in the mountainous parts of the northern hemisphere, growing in the moisture-retentive but well-draining soils of mountain meadows."
"So the murderer is someone who does a lot of hiking in the mountains?" Tris asked. She thought about how the murderer managed to get a hold of this kind of poison. Perhaps the murderer was someone with a chemical degree?
"Maybe," Christina shrugged. "But it's not that difficult to get a hold of poison. The only thing about this poison is that need to be dealt with carefully."
"Okay, that doesn't really limit things down since according to the police Al didn't have much of a social life," Tris said. She ran her hand through her hair in annoyance, not sure how to work from there. "I guess we have to go through everyone who was involved with Al's life in order to find out who killed him."
Tris sighed. This murder was certainly not going to be an easy one, but then again it was the challenging cases that were most fun to figure out.
Tris got up from her chair and told Christina she had to go and tell Four the news, while Christina gave her a short hug and told her that she was going to wait for Will before going home. So they said their goodbyes and Tris left the bar.
Even after his frustrations over Christina's bold actions by hogging Tris before he got the chance to even have decent conversation with her was gone, the worry didn't fade simple. Four had been bothered what exactly Christina was doing with Tris, even though he knew that she would never harm Tris, he couldn't help worry about her leaving her to fend for herself with this annoying yet honest and kind-hearted person. Which was why after thirty minutes of pacing back and forth at the office Zeke threw him out and told him to go home. Four had of course tried to argue, but it was already late and Zeke argued that the murder would still be there tomorrow morning for them to solve. So after a few minutes of bickering Four left the station and went back to his apartment. He tried to distract himself by trying to read a book or watch television, but nothing seemed to work so he lied down on his bed and stared at the roof where the words "Fear God Alone" was painted on. He had painted that on the roof wall the day he moved into this apartment two years ago when he realized that the only thing he should fear was God, and not the people or events that had lead him to this point of his life. Of course that didn't mean he was fearless, because he still had his own fears that he has yet to deal and get over with, but the difference was that they didn't control him and he had to be brave in order to face his fears. As he thought this someone suddenly knocked on the door. For a moment he thought it was his imagination, but when the knocking continued he leaped out of the bed and hurried to answer the door. He was surprised to see Tris standing there and had to blink his eyes a few times in order to make sure he wasn't hallucinating seeing her in his apartment know less.
"Tris?" Four said astonished. "W-what are you doing here? Is everything okay? How did you find out where I live?"
"I asked Zeke when I found out you had already left the station," Tris shrugged. She tilted her head to the left and had a questioning expression on her face. "Um…are you going to invite me in? Or I can come and see you at the station tomorrow…"
"No-no," Four said flustered. He stepped back, opening the door by increasing the gap, allowing her step inside. "Come in."
Tris entered his apartment with a heedful manner and Four closed the door behind her and locked, so they would be disturbed. Tris didn't show that she felt threaten by being locked in his apartment, so he guessed she was cool with it. Tris had always been very stubborn and very direct about things she didn't agree with, like in the past when she talked back whenever he gave her more paperwork to do.
He led her slowly into the living room, which surprisingly was very similar to how her apartment was decorated including her living room. There was a big couch, a couple of armchairs, bookshelves covering one side of the wall and a coffee table that was currently occupied with papers and case files. She took a seat down on the couch and Four offered to make some coffee, which she accepted with a small smile. He went to the kitchen to prepare the coffee and other supplements like sugar and milk, even though he already knew how she took her coffee, he also knew that she didn't like people doing her any favors if she could help it. Once the coffee was done he placed it on a tray along with sugar and milk and brought it back in to the living room. Tris hadn't moved from her seat since he left her there, but her gaze was directed towards the bookshelf. She was looking at the book titles, either to see what kind of books he read or if the two of them had any books in common. She was so distracted by the books that she didn't seem to have noticed him. He got finally her attention when he cleared his throat and she turned her head quickly in his direction.
"Sorry," Four apologized. "I brought the coffee."
"Thank you," Tris said with the appreciating smile. She took one of the mugs and put two sugar cubes and a few drops of milk into the hot liquid. Then used her spoon to blend the supplements and the coffee together before taking a sip of the drink. Four kept his coffee black and took a few sips before he put the mug on the coffee table and waited to hear why exactly Tris had showed up at his apartment. However she didn't say anything at first and just kept drinking her coffee until the mug was half full. Then placed her mug on the table and turned to look at him.
"Christina confirmed that the syringe we found was indeed the murder weapon and even found out what kind of poison killed Al," Tris said with a clarifying voice. Four didn't expect that she would show up at his place just to talk about the case, but he would take it as along as she was willing to be near and spend time with him without trying run away from him. "He was killed by something called aconite, it's a poison that comes from the Monkshood flower. Unfortunately Christina couldn't limit down the few suspects that we have, but I can reassure that it is not me."
Four nodded and thought over the information she had given him. She was right about the suspects or should he rather say the lack of suspects due to the fact that this guy's life was like the most boring novel in the world. Nothing about his background or financials stuck out, but over the years he learned that no one had this clean slate unless there was another reason for it.
"Okay, let's think this over for a second," Four said with a thoughtful look. They needed to go through everything they knew about the case. That included Al's background, his financial records, mail and e-mails, suspects and evidence. "What exactly do we know about the victim?"
"We know his name, age, occupation, family, friends and etc." Tris replied flatly. "The thing about Al is that he appears like he is relatively a normal guy, but he comes off like a totally introvert with the few personal relations. So there is obviously something wrong with this picture, right?"
Four had to agree on that. Al was relatively normal, despite appearing as a very dull and possibly socially awkward person. It still didn't make sense to why anyone wanted to kill him? The guy had no criminal record and no one in his closest circle mentioned him having any problems or enemies. Where was the motive?"
"You talked to his family and closest friends, did they say anything about Al's behavior the last couple of weeks or months?" Tris asked, taking another sip of the coffee.
"No, they all said he seemed calm and didn't seem stressed about anything," Four answered casually. His thoughts were going anywhere in order to think or remember something that could help this case. Then it hit him like a bullet and quickly began searching through the papers on the table to find what he was looking for. When he finally found the paper he was looking for he turned to look at Tris, who had an expression on her face that clearly wondered what he was getting all riled-up about. "It doesn't appear straight forward and significant to the case, but if you look at Al's bank records you can see a withdrawal with the same amount every month for the last seven months."
Tris took the file that he had handed to her in order to see the bank records and she asked as she read through the file if it was possibly that it was only a coincidence, but Four didn't think so as he referred to the big differences on Al's spending habits and withdrawals. The victim used difference amount of money each month, but the withdrawals was consistent and always in the same amount, which was a five hundred dollars. Four and the others must have overlooked this earlier since the amount wasn't significant to think there was something weird or criminal about it. However the question was why the victim withdrew the money, possibly also what the money was used for.
"Hmm…if I didn't know any better I would think that someone was trying to blackmail him," Tris said before she turned to look at him straight in the eyes. "Don't you think so?"
"Yeah, I can agree on that," Four replied. "It is possible that Al was being blackmailed, but for what? And what more how does the blackmail connect to the murder? What is the point to kill someone when they are already paying you?"
"I don't know what the money was meant for, but it might be worth looking into since one motive to kill Al if blackmail was involved would be that Al either stopped paying or he decided to come forth with whatever was behind the blackmail," Tris handed back the file. She readjusted her position awkwardly on the couch and began playing with a piece of her hair. Four thought it was cute how she handled her insecurity, especially when her cheeks started become slightly red in embarrassment. It was signs that told him that even though she was a brave and strong person, there was also a sensitive and vulnerable part of her that she desperately tried to hide on the inside. She was naturally guarded when it came to her thoughts and feelings, which made it difficult for anyone to become her friend and establish a close relationship. If only she would let down the guarded wall that stood between them and just let him instead of doing everything in shut him out with the exception of this case.
"Yeah, I will talk with Zeke and we shall look into it tomorrow," Four replied.
Then they just remained quiet for a while, only staring at each other. He stared into her beautiful gray-blue eyes and she stared into his dark blue eyes with this gentleness. And for once the tension between them wasn't awkward and they simply got lost in the quiet moment. Four wasn't sure why he did it, but he began leaning closer to her to get a better view of her face. Half way through he expected her to pull away and tell him to stop, but she didn't move and instead she tilted her head slightly to the left. He couldn't help wonder why she suddenly allowed him closer to her, just like the time they used to be together. However he didn't question it as lifted his right hand and began caressing her cheek. She leaned into his hand and closed her eyes for a second before she took a glimpse at him with this unknown look in her eyes.
"You are still as beautiful as you were the day you left," Four whispered. His lips touched her cheek gently. Then he moved his face up towards her nose and gave her an eskimo kiss. Which she returned with a small smile on her face and that made him smile as well. "I really missed you."
She didn't say anything at first, but her eyes dilated with fear for a second before she relaxed and kissed him softly on the cheek before she pulled back.
"I…I probably should go. It's getting late," Tris said awkwardly. Then she stood up from the couch and walked towards the door. Four followed after her, almost wanted to stop her from leaving, but he knew she was right. It was late and she might was probably not ready to spend the night here, especially when things where no longer the way they were when they had been together. During that time they used to spend a lot of time in his apartment, she would even sleep over most of the time and he was more than happy about it. There had been a moment where he had even considered asking her to move in with him, but then they broke up and that plan went down the drain.
"I'll see you tomorrow then," Tris said quietly. She stood by the doorframe, waiting for him to respond to her question.
"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," Four replied, while trying hold back the soft smile he usually had for her. "Do you want me to pick you up at your place or are you going to the station?"
"I think I will see you at the station," Tris said. "But thank you for offering, To…Four."
She almost said his name, but she quickly corrected herself and went by his alias. He had to keep his emotions in check since he was sad that she wouldn't call him by his real name, even when they were alone.
"Okay, good night…" Four placed his hands gently against her cheek. She didn't react this time instead just said quietly good night before she got out the door, leaving him there standing all alone. But he knew one thing and that is that she had taken his heart with her and he didn't want it back as long as she was willing to give him hers in return.
That was just stupid of you, Tris thought to herself as she ran out of Four's apartment and during the entire trip back to her place. The moment she had gotten inside and locked the doors she threw herself on the couch to hide her face in embarrassment. Being alone with him had stirred up old feelings, feelings that she thought she had buried deep down in heart. And though those feelings were wonderful and she had never once regretted having them for Tobias, but it also scared the hell out of her. She was afraid of getting hurt again, not only by Tobias, but also from anyone who came close to her and established a close relationship with her. Then she remembered what she had decided upon back at the bar with Christina. She wasn't going to let fear stop her from caring about the people in her life. She had to try and trust people instead of just being suspicious over them and shut them out of her life. Even though that didn't mean that she was getting back together with Tobias any time soon, what she needed to do was to try and trust him again before she was willing to take a chance on those old feelings they had for each other.
"I should go to bed," Tris murmured to herself. She lifted her head from the cushion and began brushing her hair back with her fingers. "I have to check in with Tori about my work hours before I head down to the station."
Tris got up from the couch and wondered if she should take a shower or not, before going to bed. She could still smell Tobias scent on the places where he had touched and kissed her. The warmth on her cheeks from those soft kisses and him whispering how beautiful she was, even though there was no way she was as beautiful as he described her, but it warmed her heart that he still saw her as beautiful despite the fact that she was considerably flawed both on the inside on the outside.
In the end she decided to skip the shower and quickly changed out of her clothes and into her pajamas, which consisted a light gray tank top and light blue shorts. Then she got to bed and laid her head on the soft pillow. And it didn't take long before she was asleep, dreaming about happier times where she and Tobias was still together and spending time at his apartment. Simpler times where their lives wasn't connected with the world of blood, murder and bad guys trying to get away with the crime. And where the memories of her parents unsolved murder hung like a cloud over their heads before it rained and ruined everything.
The first thing Four did when he arrived at the station the next morning was to update Zeke and Shauna about what he and Tris had figured out last night about that the victim being blackmailed, which was at least a direction that could lead to the murderer. Both Shauna and Zeke was snickering when he mentioned that he and Tris had spent time alone together and obviously been talking without killing each other. Well, in their mind they thought that he and Tris were probably doing something dirty together. But Four didn't bother to correct them on it, since they had absolutely no clue what was going or what had been going on with him and Tris. Who was he to spoil their fun when what they thought really didn't matter to him?
He was sorting through his paperwork by his desk when he lifted his head up for second and saw Eric heading his way over to his desk. Crap, Four thought to himself as he put the papers away before he leaned back and crossed his arms, waiting for whatever reasons Eric had to go and see him.
"Four, just the man I was looking for," Eric said pleasantly, though it didn't take a genius to know that his pleasantness was fake. "Can I talk with you for a moment?"
Four's brow went up in suspicion over Eric's question, while Zeke who had been standing on the other side of his desk listening on the word exchange between the two of them, was worried if he should step in or not. Four didn't give any indication that he was going to move any time soon, but Eric looked at him with a deadly glare and continued saying, "In private."
That was Zeke's clue to leave and it didn't take long before Zeke gave some lame excuse that Shauna needed his help with something and left the office to find her. Leaving Four alone with a complete jackass of a human being.
"What did you want to talk about?" Four asked straight-forwardly.
"When were you going to tell me about the recent change in the Price case?" Eric said. His eyebrows frowned as he continued to glare at him with annoyed look. Four had to wonder exactly what Eric was talking about. The case hadn't change much before last night when they found out what killed the victim and the possibility that the victim was blackmailed before the murder, so what kind of change was Eric talking about.
"I have no clue what you are talking about," Four replied. He tilted his head in questioning manner. "Can you please enlighten me what exactly you think I neglected on telling you?"
"How about the fact that you hired a civilian consultant to help out on the case," Eric said with an insulting tone. "Especially when you are the prodigy homicide detective that has the opportunity to become lieutenant, which makes me wonder why you would need a civilian consultant?"
Four mentally cursed when he realized Eric was talking about Tris. If he had his way there was no way he would have wanted to tell him about her, but then again he was the lieutenant so it was impossible to keep things hidden from him for long. Especially when he watches almost every move he made like a hawk.
"If you are talking about Tris," Four began explaining and put his hand on his side. "Then I thought it might be a good idea since she was the first on the scene. She is also a former detective, so she is professional in doing her job and I can count on her having my back when I need it."
It was then Tris appeared and entered the office. And she looked even more incredibly than what she did yesterday. Despite wearing almost the same outfit she had worn yesterday with the exception of the dark blue top. However today she had her hair down that fell down to the waist in small waves. He wanted more than anything to feel his fingers running through her hair, but he caught himself for thinking those thoughts at the moment and returned to the situation at hand.
"Hello, I don't think we have met," Tris stepped in and put her hands out to Eric. "I'm Tris Prior. I'm a former Abnegation detective and Four asked me to help on this case, so I hope you don't mind me doing so."
Eric turned to look at her for a moment before he turned to look at him with an expression that almost asked if he was joking with him. Apparently when he heard about Tris consulting the case he had not expected her to be the person to help, and Four wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not.
"You mean to tell me you need help from a Stiff in order to solve this case?" Eric exclaimed in surprise. Both he and Tris frowned over the unfortunate nickname people who lived in Abnegation got from their selfless beliefs and how some used to act. Many people used the nickname to insult them, but he and Tris had different reasons to dislike the nickname.
"Yeah, well…do you have a problem with it?" Four asked with a warning tone in his voice. Eric looked actually he wanted to argue about it, but he quickly discourage the thought and left only saying that he could do whatever he wanted as long as they got this case sealed and done.
When he and Tris was finally alone, she turned to look at him and tilted her head slightly to the right while crossing her arms against her chest.
"So I guess you two are not friends?" Tris stated flatly.
"What makes you think that?" Four asked, a little taken back by her question. Even though she was very right on her assumption, but neither he nor Eric had expressed very much ominous feelings towards each other so he couldn't help wondering how she knew.
"Just observing the interaction between you two and as well listening to your conversation earlier tell me that you two are not exactly close," Tris shrugged her head.
Four only shook his head, not bothering in trying to explain the circumstances between him and Eric, so instead tried to redirect the conversation to somewhere less complicated than everything else in his life. "So are you ready to get to work?"
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New chapter, I hope you guys like it. First I have to say I'm sorry for being so late updating this story. I have been busy with school and finishing up one of my other stories along with starting a new one. Then I got sick a couple of dates ago, which made it hard to concentrate on writing, but I'm fine now and hence to why I'm releasing this new chapter.
There is one thing I do have to comment on, not that I'm greedy or anything, but what is the problem with giving me reviews. I mean, seriously, for the last chapter I wrote only got a few reviews. Reviews are a way for me to know what you guys think of the story, which motivates me to continue this story, despite me feeling that I'm horrible at it. So please don't be afraid to give me reviews, since I appreciate it very much.
Finally I wanted to say was thank you for the reviews, favorite and followings I have received and I hope you guys will continue doing so. And until next time...
xXrebelgirl07Xx