An early update for you all! I had a snow day today, and spent it writing.
Enjoy!
~Christianne
Nikki POV
"Maybe it killed her before we burned his bones." Kory mused as she ate a bowl of cereal in her kitchen.
I shrugged, holding my phone to my face with my shoulder as I typed on Kory's laptop. "Could be. Not likely though."
"You still there?" Bobby asked gruffly on the other end of the phone.
"Yeah." I said quickly, grabbing the phone with my hand.
"Still don't know why you didn't call the boys about this." He grumbled. "Or Ellen."
"I'm not going to call Sam and Dean. If I call Ellen, she'll call them as soon as we hang up." I told him. "At least you'll wait until they call you to tell them where I am and what I needed."
Bobby grunted a little. "If you need a badge ASAP, there's a guy finishing a job just outside Cheyenne. Told him to meet you at Randy's Pub."
"Great." I said, scribbling the name of the pub onto a page in the small, pocket sixed notebook I had open next to me. "What about an ID?"
"Nah, won't need it. Shit's already hit the fan there. They'll take any help they can get." Bobby told me. "Just…Just act like you belong." He added.
Kory and I needed to know when the latest victim died to know if we did our job right. And the only way to do that, was to talk to the cops. They already knew Kory, and wouldn't tell her anything. Going by the newspapers, no one was telling anyone anything. So, I was becoming a fake detective.
"I will." I assured Bobby. "Thanks." I added.
"Just don't get arrested. Don't wanna have'ta drive out to Cheyenne to bail your ass out of jail." Bobby said gruffly before hanging up.
I rolled my eyes. "Bye Bobby." I sighed, a small smile on my face as I shut my phone. "You know Randy's Pub?" I asked Kory.
"Yeah, it's kinda-crappy sports bar on Third Street. And let me tell you, that place has the best, most amazing burgers, ever." Kory told me with a grin.
"God…A burger actually sounds really good right now." I admitted as I checked the time. It was almost noon. "We should get going. I don't know when this guy is gonna show."
"Won't take very long to get there." Kory said, pausing briefly to drink the milk from her cereal bowl. "You have to do something about your hair, though." Kory said, shaking her own head of shiny, perfectly un-tangled waves.
I frowned a little as I looked in a mirror hung on the wall next to me. My eyes widened as I looked at the out of control mess of curls springing up from my head. "Holy Lord." I breathed, toughing my head. I heard Kory giggle as she went to get a new shirt, leaving me to try and force my hair into a braid.
I shut my car door, and stuffed my hands into the pockets of my cargo jacket.
"Shouldn't we be doing this in a dark alley or something?" Kory asked as we walked along the sidewalk to Randy's Pub. "Oh! We could get a couple'a black fedoras and sunglasses, and-and-Oh! And trench coats!"
"Hunting isn't as cloak and dagger-y as you think." I told Kory, pulling the door open to the pub. "Well, unless you need a dagger." I added.
Kory pouted. "Well I still think trench coats would be fun."
I shrugged and picked a high table by the windows. "Yeah, if you're a weak-ass accountant." I mumbled, looking at one of the menus on the table.
We ordered and waited.
Then we ate and waited.
Then we got dessert and waited.
I was about to call Bobby when a guy sat down at the empty spot between Kory and I. He also put a plate down with what looked like sweet potato fries, and a cheeseburger drowned in mayonnaise. If that wasn't odd enough, the guy himself made up for it. Kind of the string bean type, skinny, tall, brown hair and wearing a flannel under a worn hoodie and a jacket over it all.
He let out a content sigh, rubbing his hands together before he grabbed his mayo covered burger and took a massive bite.
"Can we help you?" I asked slowly, one of my hands cautiously moving to the pistol tucked in the back of my jeans.
The guy put down his burger with one hand, and held up one finger with the other, signaling me to wait. He reached forward to the milkshake in front of him.
As he took a drink through the straw, I glanced at Kory. 'Do you know him?' she mouthed to me.
'No.' I mouthed back.
"Sorry ladies." The guy said, putting his milkshake down. "Just took out a rugaru upstate. Need'a little food in the tank." He said, smiling and patting his stomach.
Well, good to know he was a hunter at least. Side note: Figure out how to be mad at Bobby without him shooting me.
"You're the guy Bobby sent?" Kory asked. I kicked her shin under the table; she had way too much disbelief in her voice.
"Garth Fitzgerald the fourth." He introduced himself, holding his hand out to Kory. "Pleasure to meet you, Nikki."
I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms as I leaned back in my chair. Kory just laughed once.
"I'm not Nikki." Kory said slowly. "She's Nikki." Kory added, leaning towards me as she spoke.
Garth looked over his shoulder at me, then turned towards me. "Sorry." He said, the smile not leaving his face.
I didn't take his hand. "It's fine." I assured him. "Did you bring it?" I asked.
Garth nodded and opened one side of his jacket; four rows of shiny police badges were pinned to the lining. Kory's eyes widened and she reached over quickly to yank his jacket closed.
"What are you thinking?" Kory hissed at him. "Cops come to this place!"
Garth frowned a little at Kory's actions, and popped a sweet potato fry in his mouth before speaking. "So, what state? Maine, Florida, Washington-" Garth started listing off.
"Got anything in the Mid-West?" I asked him.
He opened his jacket a little more. "Minnesota?" he offered. I wrinkled my nose. It may because I grew up in Wisconsin, but I did not like the Land of 20,000 Swamps.
"What else'ya got?"
"Montana?" he offered, shrugging a little.
"I'll take it." I said, almost eager. "How much?" I asked, pulling out the small wad of twenties I'd gotten from the ATM outside the pub.
"Oh, no no no." Garth said, mouth full of burger. He swallowed quickly. "I owe Bobby from a few months back." He explained, sticking his hand in his jacket pocket.
"Under…the table." I said quickly. I took the badge from him under the table, and stuck it quickly in my pocket. "Thanks, Garth." I said honestly. "Look, I know you just got here, but we have to go."
"Say no more." Garth said, still with the smile. "A hunter's work is never done."
I laughed once. "Yeah, guess you're right." I said, tossing money on the table for my food, Kory did the same. "Hey, you ever need some help, Bobby has my number." I told him. "I owe you, Garth."
He smiled, a mouth full of burger, and nodded vigorously.
"Huh." Kory said as we walked back to my car. "You know, that's not at all what I expected another hunter to be like."
I laughed once, pulling the badge from my pocket. I ran my thumb over the cool gold badge that read 'Montana State Police.' At the bottom; 'Detective.'
I took a deep breath and put the badge back in my pocket.
"No!" I hissed at Kory. "Go back to your apartment!"
"But-" Kory started to protest.
"Kory!" I snapped, cutting her off. "Apartment. Now."
She huffed, crossed her arms, and started towards her building.
I, on the other hand, leaned on the side of my Mustang and stared at the thinning crowd across the street.
"I'm Nikki Howard." I said under my breath. "Detective Nikki Howard, from Montana."
I repeated that to myself a few more times before fixing my braid, straightening the badge on my belt, and then confidently walking over to the taped-off area.
"Hey!" I called, getting the attention of a young officer. "You!" I called again. "Get over here!"
Stunned, the puppy-faced officer came over to me. "Y-Yes? Is there something I can help you with ma'am?" he asked, obviously a little nervous, even intimidated, by me. I say puppy-faced because he had fluffy blond hair, big brown eyes, and just enough fat on his cheeks to make you want to pinch them.
"First of all, don't call me ma'am." I told him sternly. "Second, I need you to get me whoever is in charge here."
Officer Puppy-Face's dirty blond eyebrows furrowed together. "Can I ask what this is about?"
"All the dead people in the park across the street from my sister's building." I told him, moving my jacket aside to show the badge.
Officer Puppy-Face's eyes widened a little, and he nodded. "Yeah, yeah I'll get Barry over here." He said quickly, dropping some files he was holding on the back of a parked police car. Not very smart, considering that they were open and I was nosy. Seeing Officer Puppy-Face was half-inside the car, talking on the radio, I took a look at the files.
Not much I didn't already know, accept one small detail; all the victims had movie ticket stubs on them. They had all seen a movie before they died. Like, right before they died. I quickly jumped a step back when Officer Puppy-Face got out of the car.
"Barry-er-Detective Watkins, is on the other side of the park. He'll only be a few minutes." He told me.
"Great." I said plainly, cocking my hip and casually crossing my arms.
"Uh, I'm-I'm Lieutenant Tyler Smith." Officer Puppy-Face said, holding his hand out.
I hesitated, then took his hand, giving it one brief shake before letting it go. "Detective Howard." I told him.
Tyler's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Wow. Detective." He said, impressed. "Uh…If you don't mind my asking; you seem kinda young to be a detective."
"First, that wasn't a question." I pointed out. "And second, I'm old enough. And I'm very good at what I do."
Tyler seemed a little embarrassed after that, and didn't say much else until an older man in a gray suit walked up.
"This the girl, Smith?" he asked Tyler.
"Yessir." He answered with a jerky head nod. The older guy, I'm assuming Detective Watkins, turned to me. He looked at me with analyzing, watery gray eyes.
"Detective Nikki Howard, Montana State Police." I introduced myself. I didn't offer a hand to shake; he didn't seem like the type.
"Smith here says your sister lives over there." Detective Watkins said, ignoring my introduction, and pointing behind me to Kory's building.
"Yeah." I said with a simple nod. "She's a bit of a worrier. Kory did her own digging and got stone walled by you people. I looked into it for her, and it seems the deaths here have a lot of similarities to a few cases I've had in my neck'a the woods."
"We've gotten calls from other states with similar cases. Never goes anywhere. Just tell your sister to lock her doors." Detective Watkins said dismissively, turning away and motioning for Tyler to follow him.
"Movie tickets!" I called out to them, both of them stopped and turned towards me.
"What did you just say?" Detective Watkins asked me.
"The Montana victims all had movie ticket stubs on them. Movie ended an hour or less before the time of death." I said, praying my confidence hid the lies.
Detective Watkins nodded slightly, then lifted the police tape so I could walk under it. "Call me Barry." He said gruffly to me, then looked towards Tyler. "Get her a file."
Ten minutes later, I was leaning on a tree, looking at the full file for the most recent death. I called Kory when I found time of death.
"When did we light Sherman up?" I asked right away, not bothering to say hello.
"Uh, one am, give or take 15 minutes." Kory said after a moment of thinking.
"Damnit." I groaned, closing the file. "Time of death was between 1:30 and 3 am."
"Crap." Kory groaned. We were both quiet for a few seconds. "So, what do we do now?" She asked eventually.
I rubbed my eyes with the heel of my free hand before I answered. "Well, either something else is keeping Sherman here…or…" I trailed off, not liking the second option.
"Or what?" Kory reluctantly asked.
"Or…Maxwell Sherman never killed anyone in the first place."