Bury the Past

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious

A/N:

Chapter 16 (Prime Suspect)

"So you weren't joking when you told him not to take me to a motel?" Trina smirked at her father as he drove the car towards their newest destination. David shrugged and glanced sideways.

"You have a place to stay, and the motels around here are shitty."

"But you're not letting him stay with us? He is my husband." She had a greater outlook now that Martin was here, but it did suck her dad didn't want to let the guy stay for a while. Granted, her bedroom was right next to his, so David didn't want any late-night noises startling or bothering him. "You know I'll just go to his motel room anyway; and if you let him stay with us, you get to keep an eye on him."

David raised a hand and cleared his throat. "If Martin wants to stay in a room where a gambler was murdered last year, that's entirely up to him." Her eyes widened and she snapped her eyes over to him.

"What?"

He laughed. "I'm kidding." She hummed and sank in her seat as her father casually looked across to his left. "The gambler was murdered a floor above that room." Rolling her eyes, she crossed her arms and caught a glimpse of an apartment.

"There. Andre's place." She felt a sudden rush in her stomach as they pulled up to the place, she couldn't figure if it was nerves or something else. "What are we looking for here?" David stopped at the curb and shifted the car into park.

"Anything to tie Andre to someone on our suspect list. That includes Beck." Beck was far from the prime suspect at this point, but he was one of the strongest leads. He couldn't be considered a prime suspect simply because he tried to fuck with her marriage-especially considering the history that existed between Beck and herself. Any lawyer could accuse her of being emotionally charged. "I want to know which of us is the lead detective on this…I've figured it's been you."

"Technically it is me, but I've been handing all evidence to my superior. So anything we derive should be the same that he does."

"Ah, I see."

They made their way into the house, and the moment they did, she felt a rush of cold air. The house was dark and silent, eerily so. "What's this?" She lifted a framed photograph of a man and two young boys. "Andre had relatives besides his grandmother?" David leaned in and frowned.

"Ah yes. His father and two brothers. You never knew? Andre went by his mother's and maternal grandmother's name. He was too young to remember the tragedy…His dad and brothers died in a tragic fire-arson case."

"Arson?"

"Yep. A serial arsonist bombed the townhome." Her heart sank and she looked at the family while shaking her head. "Mom went crazy after that, left Andre with her mother and drowned herself in the lake." David blinked twice, shuddering once. "What was truly eerie was how she went out."

"How?"

"She put on 'Goodnight Irene', and made her way to the center of the lake." It was horrible news. She couldn't imagine how Andre must have felt when he would have learned about the tragedy of the family.

David crossed his arms and Trina set the photograph back in its place. "His grandmother used to say the family was cursed by some voodoo priest her husband pissed off. Her husband was killed in the late 1970s, and so far aside from her daughter, everyone in her family was murdered…"

"I don't believe in curses." She closed her eyes and breathed out slowly. "But it looks like it ends with Andre."

"Yeah. Not quite, but let's hope."

They didn't find a lot at Andre's apartment aside from camera equipment and the name of a woman. It turned out this was a woman he met recently and started to legitimately date as a result of this open relationship between him and Tori.

She wound up pregnant with his child. Learning this was devastating news to Trina, but even harder was having to notify the woman. An act she'd never done before, and one David said never got any easier. It was a shame that investigators never found her before.

She was unfortunately HIV positive, but was taking enough medication to hopefully allow the birth of her coming child to be free of the disease.

"It's horrible," Trina said as they drove to their next stop, "That poor woman. Her baby will never know its dad." The woman said she never met Tori, but that Andre was slowly weeding himself out of the life of porn. "I wish we'd found something more…"

"Sometimes it's a hit or miss."

Their next stop was even harder; it was Tori's apartment. The ceiling fan was still going in the living expansive living room, which was lit by the sunlight shining through the large glass windows. "I've always wondered how she afforded this place," David said with a choked voice.

Trina made her way to the marble countertop in the kitchen and looked out across the tiled floor. It was an expensive place for sure, and Tori seemed to be able to pay rent.

They combed the place, bringing Trina to tears the more she looked around. Tori had several files and folders, some mentioning a woman by the name of 'Mystique' that tried a three-way with her and Andre a little over seven months ago. "This might be our mystery girl," Trina said while handing the paper to her father. David ran his hand along his chin and narrowed his eyes, studying the page closely.

"Perhaps."

Trina made her way through the apartment, sliding her gloved fingers along each piece of furniture as she gazed at the walls. There were framed photos all along them of Tori's childhood, and in many of them, was her older sister. Seeing these made Trina's heart ache, more with each she passed.

There was one that stood out to her, gripping her heart tight and reeling her in. It was an enlarged photo that sat just above a large bookshelf. In the photograph, two children played upon monkey bars at a park that had long since been taken down. In it, Trina hung like a monkey on one end of the bars and extended her arm, coaxing her little sister across.

David stepped behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "That was the first time she went across those bars, wasn't it?" Trina nodded and looked up at him with a mournful smile. "Ever since then, she's always been adventurous. Wanting to try new things and seeing how far she could go…she always said you inspired her. She loved you, Trina, even though she couldn't show it when she got older."

"I want so badly to find who could have done this to her." Trina clenched her fists and sniffed. "God I hate this." She leaned against the side of the bookshelf and closed her eyes, taking slow and deep breaths to keep from crying.

When she felt a nudge, her eyes shot open and she let out a shout as her body and the bookshelf moved sideways. "Holy shit." David's eyes grew wide and Trina was stunned to see a doorway behind the shelves. "She's got a room closed off…"

"I wonder why…"

"Let's find out." Moving in, Trina was stunned to see a much darker scene. The walls were painted black, and at the far end of the wall was a black book bound with leather. The pages were crisp and pale, and a pink ribbon hung from the pages.

Trina opened it and was shocked to find a series of ranting. It started out nice: "To my sister, I love you and I'm sorry", but after that the writing became filled with rage and venom. Tori blamed more than just herself for the separation of her family-she accused her friends and even the men that slaughtered her grandparents.

Trina's hand trembled over her mouth as she read over Tori's heated desire for revenge.

"He infected me, that boy I dated in college. Before Andre, after Danny. I hate him. I hate him for what he did to me. I got him to go to jail, accused him of assault…"

She gasped and clutched her throat. "Oh Tori, no."

David's brow tensed and he walked over, shaking like a leaf. His eyes read over the words of the next few pages, and he looked as pale as a white sheet.

"I found him. The man that tore my family apart. He's in the same prison as my ex. My ex wanted me to forgive him, so I had him do something for me. I had him crush that man's hands…"

"Trina." Trina craned her neck and saw David holding an orange pill bottle. Her forehead tensed and she read the prescription. "Videx. It's prescribed to HIV users…she knew she had it."

"What do we do, Dad?" She didn't know what all this meant. Tori knew she had it, she knew she was infecting people in her porn shoots too. "She was angry."

"Yeah, angry at the world apparently…We have to take this stuff in."

"But there's nothing that points to the investigation, right?"

"We don't know that." He was right. There was always a chance someone caught wind of what she was doing, but Trina didn't know what that could mean for her sister if she ever woke up. "She would have known she infected Andre. She would have known those porn stars were infected…"

Several firms had turned her down, and according to Tori's diary, she wanted to find a way to lie because she genuinely was intrigued by porn. She started webcams and never told anyone that worked with her that she was infected, and in the diary she confirmed that she never told them.

"Could criminal charges be brought against her, Dad?" She tensed as her father looked down at the pill bottle. His eyes closed and he let out a sigh.

"I don't know. It's unrelated to the investigation. I suspect unless someone brings up the matter or tries to press charges, then she's liable…"

''I-I can't believe this. I can't believe any of this."

"She was angry."

"I know. I just…" Her eyes drifted to the book and her blood ran cold as she read the last of the entries.

"He knows. She told us he knows. She had a medical exam. She wanted to try something new, so we did. I didn't think I'd feel anything. I did. I hope she knows what was felt was real but now it's over. It's all over, the jig is up…"

"That's a little cryptic. I wish she would have given names." Nowhere in the diary had Tori mentioned a name, which left identification vague enough that lawyers could easily suggest alternatives.

"There's only one other place left to go to now, Trina…I suggest not worrying about the things your sister's written down for now. Chances are nothing will come of this."

"God…"

Their next stop, though difficult, would be easier than the last as far as she were concerned. The Oliver's lived well, in a two story home with windows that glistened in the sun.

To her, it didn't look like the home of a suspected murderer, but the home of a king and queen. She had to ignore the fact that Beck approached her husband, but at the same time, he was to know this made him a suspect in their investigation.

"Ah Detectives!" Beck flashed a toothy grin as his head poked out the opening of his door. Trina's eyebrows dipped down in the center and her nostrils started to flare. "How can I help you?" David cleared his throat and glanced over as Trina stepped forward.

"We would like to look around." They had a warrant ready, but didn't think it would be necessary. Beck frowned and opened the door further.

"Certainly, if you must."

"Thank you," David replied gruffly. The man pushed past Beck. Trina walked alongside Beck and glanced at him.

"You should be made aware, Beck…your visit to an investigator's relative puts you on the police radar." Beck furrowed his brow and his smile faded in an instant. There was a great deal she wanted to say and do to him, but she had to be careful. Anything could be considered 'police brutality' in this case. Even now, if she were able to punch him in the jaw, she would. "It's unwise to behave in such a way."

"I don't see how that makes me a suspect in what happened to your sister, Detective Skopic…It is 'Detective', isn't it? Or is it Deputy?"

"Deputy is my official title…" She looked around the large, open living room and grunted. "Where is Mrs. Oliver?"

"In the dining area."

"How is she doing?"

"Still can't remember a damn thing."

"So you say." Trina pressed forward, shrugging as she made her way into the dining room. It was large as well, ready with a long oak table. Jade was resting at the end of the table, with a china cabinet behind her. On top of the cabinet was a blue vase. "Jade, hello."

Jade looked up, gasping softly. "Trina." Trina raised an eyebrow and walked towards the girl. "How can I help you?"

"Have you remembered anything else about the case, Jade? Anything about Tori, Andre?"

"Um…" Jade looked to the doorway and Trina turned around, groaning when she saw Beck leaning against the frame. His eyes were sharp and narrow, and his lips were twisted into a snarl. "I don't really remember them."

"Why are you pressuring her?" Beck inquired. "It's too painful for her."

"Is it?" She wondered how much Jade remembered, or if she'd truly forgotten anything. Trina turned to Beck, narrowing her eyes. "Do you think you could give me a moment with your wife, Mr. Oliver?" Beck shrugged, rolling his eyes.

"Whatever. Take all the time you need."

"Beck!" David called from the other room. Beck let out a grunt and twisted around. "I've got a question for you."

Once the man left, Jade set a few notebooks down on the table. "Look," Jade whispered, "Stories…" Raising an eyebrow, Trina picked up one of the notebooks.

"You're still writing, Jade?" the girl remained silent, so she opened the notebook and began reading.

The first novel was about a woman that was bored of the same dull routine.

So she sought an old friend. She'd never been with a woman before, but this was an experiment. She craved the feeling of a man yet, but couldn't deny the passion of another woman's touch to her precious spot below…

Surprised to be reading erotica written by Jade, Trina skimmed through multiple paragraphs.

Ever daring to push her boundaries, she tried something never done before. A three-way. She had the man's touch that she craved, taking deep pleasure in the length of his piece inside of her while that woman proceeded to fondle her.

Trina cupped her mouth and looked at Jade with surprise. She wasn't sure how to respond, or even certain if Jade was writing about herself or making this up. "Jade, what's inspired these novels? Do you know?"

"I don't remember." Jade began fretting and ran her hands along the wheels of her wheelchair, backing into the china cabinet. Trina turned to see Beck and David in the doorway, watching. "I can't remember anything."

The woman struck the china cabinet again, causing the blue vase to shake. Trina's eyes widened and she hurried forward, hoping to catch the vase as it toppled over.

It fell through her hands and shattered on the floor, causing everything in the room to stop. Trina held her breath and looked down, seeing the very gun mentioned by Martin as being used by Beck.

She reached down and picked it up gently, turning her head to look at Beck. "Well, well, well…" Beck raised his hand to his forehead and sighed as David slapped his hand onto Beck's shoulder. "What is this you're hiding, Mr. Oliver?"

"It's a gun," Beck replied, "I keep it for protection. We need it a lot more now after what happened to Jade."

"You don't mind if we take this in, do you?" She knew it could be evidence. There was a chance it was the murder weapon, so she would need to run ballistics on this.

Beck crossed his arms and groaned. If he said no, it would look bad. Trina knew he realized this. "Do what you want, but I don't think you'll find anything."

"Oh don't worry." She bagged it and flashed a smile. "We'll see what comes up. Thank you for your cooperation…"

"Sure."

Leaving the house, things were quiet until they got halfway to the department. "I found something," David said. Trina looked up to him, eager to hear what he might have found. "Some medical records on file in Beck's office."

"Oh?"

"He had an appointment about five months ago. Blood donors wouldn't allow him to donate." Her heart stopped and she leaned forward, raising her eyebrows. "He was tested for HIV…"

"Shit."

So much in this chapter. What are your thoughts? Observations? Do tell.