Bury the Past
Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious
A/N:
Chapter 9 (Square One)
"So you're stumped." The icy blonde's voice was surprisingly calm and warm, as Commander Chapman had been since Trina started working as a Liaison. During her time with the SST, the commander reminded her so much of Jade, but later Trina learned that the personality conflict was just due to slight envy as the woman mentioned having wanted to be a deputy herself when she was younger and not making the cut because of different standards towards age and physical requirements.
"I guess I'm at square one again." Trina scratched her head and started to groan as she held the phone to her ear. "We haven't found any viable suspects, and we have one mystery person that may or may not exist."
"Are you having difficulty focusing with how close you are to your victims?"
"No, it's not that, it's just…I don't know what the next step is. I can't figure it out, there's a whole life that my victim is into and even then I can't find any connections." It was one roadblock after another, and it didn't help that most of the people in the industry they talked to had solid alibis for the night of the murder.
She ran her wrist over her forehead and groaned softly. After a minute, the woman spoke up again. "Sometimes when I hit a hard spot in something, I like to take a step back and look at the big picture, find out if I missed anything. Have you started over? Have you looked at your crime scene again, or all the victims? Is there a chance you've missed or forgotten something?"
Trina leaned back slowly, considering the commander's words for several minutes. She looked down at the folder on the table, and the pictures of the crime scene that were spread out. Her eyes scanned Tori's body, Andre's body, and Holly's before traveling to a photograph of Jade.
Jade had been fully conscious during the assault, and while she apparently suffered amnesia, some of her memory could have returned. As this realization slowly dawned on her, she threw her head back with a triumphant laugh.
"Thank you Commander. You're a great help, you know." The woman chuckled and Trina was certain she was smirking on the other end of the line.
"Well, it's kind of what I do. After all, we are the Sheriff Support Team…"
When she arrived to the glass company, she was surprised to see Beck with a pair of workman gloves carrying large panels of glass to a large truck. "Hey Beck." She pulled her hair from her face and smiled as the man turned his head to look at her. "How's everything holding up lately?"
"Decently." He pushed a long box into the truck with a grunt and sat on the bumper of the vehicle. His hands gripped his knees firmly and a white towel hung loosely around his neck and shoulders. Sweat was flicking off the man's face and body, and he was breathing heavily. "I just got an order I have to ship out."
She turned her head, feeling a bit suspicious of the statement. "You're not staying to take care of your wife?" Beck grabbed his towel and wiped the sweat off his brow.
"She's coming with me. Work never stops, I have to keep the money flowing. Especially now, you understand." She crossed her arms, grasping her elbows gently and nodding her head. It wasn't hard to understand. In Jade's state, Beck had to pay the bills and support her. "I know I need to keep her here while you guys work on your investigation, but I worry about her. She's still in such a fragile state right now, I can't leave her behind."
"She's lucky to have a husband like you."
Beck grinned and squinted as the sun pierced his eyes. "Yeah. I don't know what I'd do without her." He looked over his shoulder and pointed. "She's in the passenger seat right now, we're about to shove off."
"How long are you going to be gone?"
"Probably not more than a day or two. I'll have her back in town for you guys as soon as I can." Beck rose up and motioned to the other boxes with panels. "I've got more to load up, you can go ahead and talk to Jade if you'd like."
"Sure. I'll do that." He walked off with a deep sigh. Trina hummed gently and moved around the side of the car, approaching the open passenger side door. Jade was sitting in place, her hands sliding up and down her legs and her eyes moving from side to side. "Jade?"
The girl jumped and looked at Trina looking like a deer in headlights. She started to relax after a few seconds. Trina grasped the metal bar on the side of the car and put one foot on the side step of the car, standing in place.
"It's okay Jade. I just wanted to see how you were doing." Jade frowned, her eyes dipping for a moment. "I know what happened to you must be hard, and I know remembering is difficult, but if you know anything, I need to know. I need to know so we can find whoever did this to the others."
Jade's eyebrows curled and her lip furled. "I don't remember," the girl whispered, "I don't remember." Trina bowed her head and sighed. She was afraid of this, but it wasn't unexpected. "His face." She lifted an eyebrow and raised her head up. Jade began breathing heavily, rocking back and forth in her seat and hugging her arms. "His voice. He spoke."
"He spoke? To you? To Tori?"
"'I want you to suffer'." For a girl with amnesia, Jade was pulling at some incredible details. It wasn't uncommon for someone with amnesia to have spurts of memory though, it was usually a good sign their memory was coming back. If this was the case, she needed Jade to remember.
"Is there anything else you can pull out for me, Jade? Anything at all?"
Jade stopped and looked at her, her eyes growing large. "I saw his face." Jade's voice was hushed as she leaned towards Trina. "Through the glass, before he put on the mask." Her heart stopped and she almost shouted for joy. Perhaps a short road trip with her husband would help her to relax and finally start remembering the details of the crime.
"Jade, thank you. I want you to rest, okay? I want you to try and remember, but don't force yourself." Jade's brow wrinkled and tears welled up in the woman's eyes. "Do you remember a description of this man's face?"
"I don't remember. Too hard to remember." Trina moved her foot back to the ground and let go of the metal bar. Her eyes focused onto Jade's gaze, which was focused elsewhere. "Don't make me remember."
"It's okay Jade, just take a deep breath and relax. Let it come naturally, don't hurt yourself." For the first time in her life she felt a great deal of pity and sorrow for this woman. Never had she seen Jade so wounded, so weak and powerless, and now it was hard to look at. She was a shell of her former self.
"It's about time to go," Beck said. Trina tensed up and spun around to see Beck slowly peeling away his gloves. "I hope Jade's been somewhat helpful." Trina smiled gently and nodded.
"A little bit."
"Good. Maybe I can help somehow?" He crossed his arms and furrowed his brow. "You remember Danny from years ago?" She raised her eyebrows and leaned back against the truck.
"A little. He was the guy that cheated on Tori when she was young, then started dating Cat later." Trina looked at Jade, curious if the girl might react to the mention of Danny. Instead, Jade was staring endlessly into the air in front of her.
"Right." Beck took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "Tori started dating him again a while back." Trina hummed gently and looked at Beck. "But like usual, he started checking out other girls. Andre got into a huge ass fight with him, beat the shit out of the guy. I don't think he ever recovered from that."
"Anything happen with Tori?"
"Oh she went back to him." Beck rolled his eyes and scoffed. "He wasn't happy that she accused him of cheating. They had a number of fights." Beck rubbed his hands together and sighed softly. "I heard he got physical a couple times."
This was going to be something she needed to look at, especially since an aggressive ex was always a potential suspect. "Thank you, Beck." She looked at his hand and pointed. "Can't help but notice you've got a bandage there, what happened?" Beck looked at his hand and sighed.
"Cut myself last night." He tightened his hand into a ball and clicked his tongue. "Carrying a pane of glass and dropped it, damn thing nearly sliced through my hand."
"Damn. Sorry to hear about that." She pushed her hands into her pockets and looked at Jade with a slight frown. "Anyway, I'll be sure to check out what you've said regarding Danny. Have a safe trip…are you sure you want to take Jade along? She might not travel well in her state of mind."
"I worry too much leaving her alone, and I don't trust anyone else to look after her in her state of mind."
"I can understand that, I'd worry too."
Beck motioned to the ring on her finger and smiled. "Married? So you've finally settled down?" She gazed down at it and smiled bright.
"Yeah. Martin Skopic, great man." She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. Looking at the factory, she could see a large panel of glass against the wall, it was cracked and shattered like it had been dropped. The side was covered in blood. She winced and turned her eyes away. "We got married not that long ago."
"Well congratulations." He closed the passenger side door and started moving around the front of the truck. "Anyway, I'm a little behind schedule. It was good talking to you again, Trina. You have a good day."
"Same to you, Beck. Safe travels." She narrowed her eyes and ran her finger along her chin. "Danny, huh…Looks like I'll have to check you out." It wasn't much of a lead, but it was better than what she had right now.
She watched as Beck started up the truck and began to drive. As he pulled out, she could see Jade watching her from the window. "Don't worry Jade." Trina smiled gently and exhaled slow. "I'm going to solve this one way or another."
Trina would have to thank Commander Chapman for the much needed advice. In her stress, she'd almost forgotten to check up on Jade and Beck. While she hadn't forgotten them, she'd put more focus on Andre and Tori since they had been the primary targets of this crime.
It was important to remember all the details, even the victim that seemed the least involved may be important.
With that, Trina remembered Holly. Holly was a victim truly in the wrong place at the wrong time, not associated with the killer at all from what it appeared.
Even so, it was an important reminder that she needed to look into Holly as well. It was best to leave no stone unturned.
Hmm so what are your thoughts here? It's claimed Jade suffers total amnesia, but is that to be believed? Beck may not be a suspect at this point, and Jade is a recovering victim, but is it wise to let them travel? Trina may very well find herself regretting that decision if she is not careful.