A big thanks goes out to all my awesome readers/reviewers. You guys are totally great and what keeps this story going.
Kall, charmed1979, PrUe AnD AnDy, charmingbrenda, cancer-chris, charmedgirl-alyssaphoebe, WelshCanuck, and du1387:
All your reviews are the best. I know some of you have requested some more sisterly bonding in your reviews. I've been trying to integrate some of that through those lighter moments between them. Sometimes it's some one-on-one or the three of them together. Truthfully, I am finding it a little difficult to get all four sisters together because of all the continuous drama going down but I'll see if I can get another moment in there at some point. I just don't know when. Also happy to note that some of you already enjoy the lighter moments in there, hehe.
I'm intrigued about some of your reactions to the cop and some of you even have guesses on who/what you think he is. That's good because that will continue to unfold and reveal itself in time. He's definitely not meant to be liked.
The relationships will continue to work themselves out and grow so I'm really glad to hear that many of you are enjoying that aspect as well.
Authors Note: Oh, I just wanted to let my readers know that I've decided to work on a sequel when this one is finished. It won't be for awhile seeing as I still have a little bit to go with this one. However, if you happen to be interested, you can click on my profile to get a title and summary on what my next installment will be about. I updated it not too long ago.
And now we continue with the story ...
Chapter 31: Would You Believe Me If I Told You?
Billie approached the front doors to the precinct and then slipped right in.
Her anxious feelings, buried in the pit of her stomach, accompanied her all the way down the hall. Suddenly confused on where to go next, she stopped. While shoving both her hands into her side pockets, she glanced around until her eyes came to rest on a familiar face.
"Billie?" his voice rang out. It was Andy, or rather, her father.
"Hey," she called back.
He was holding a cup of coffee in his hand. With one hand still in her pocket, she waved at him and walked over in his direction, feeling some of the tension leave. At least she was slightly placated with knowing that he would be one of the Inspectors present during the interrogation, even if she did barely know him. Besides, it wasn't like anyone here was really aware of their connection. Which is probably a good thing, she amended on second thought. He waved her over and after approaching him, he led her down another small hallway in a new direction, as other colleagues passing by offered him some muffled greetings. Andy simply nodded back at them.
"Trudeau. How's it going?" one of the them addressed Andy.
"Hey, Emerson, " he offered back to the other officer in somewhat of a hurry. "Hanging in there," he answered.
"I hear ya, man," the officer sighed. Then he stopped in his tracks. "Oh, by the way, Richardson was just looking for you a few minutes ago," he told Andy, pointing back over his shoulder. "He didn't strike me to be in the best of moods," Emerson then warned him and gave him a knowing look.
Andy stopped and turned to look back. "Yeah, thanks," he sounded less than thrilled by the prospect. "I'm on my way now to meet him in one of the interrogation rooms."
Emerson laughed. "Have fun" he smirked continuing on his way.
"Sure," Andy rolled his eyes. Even the other officers seemed to have caught on that Richardson was a strange duck. Hot tempered with a short fuse.
Andy turned around to address Billie next. "Listen, the questions are just standard procedure," he tried to offer some reassurance as they walked side by side down the rest of the hallway. "Keep what you know short and sweet. Meaning straight to the point and don't let yourself feel intimidated in there," he advised. "Remember, you're just repeating what you already answered before. There's no evidence here to the contrary."
Billie smirked. "You sound like my lawyer," she cracked.
Andy smiled back. "It won't come to that," he shook his head. "You'll just answer a few simple questions and be out of here in no time."
"Good." She took a deep breath and visibly relaxed.
Andy opened a door and guided her inside to a small square room. A table, with three chairs, was positioned in the middle of the room and both the floor and the surrounding walls were covered in a gray and white interior which gave off a cold unwelcoming feeling.
"You can just take a seat," he instructed gently. "And if there's anything you need in the mean time, just ask. Like something to drink?"
Billie declined gently and issued a faint smile in return. "No thanks. I'm fine."
"Alright then." Andy sighed and stood with his hands to his hips before moving to leave. "Well, I'll just go check and see what's keeping him and then we'll get this over with, okay?" He was already supposed to be here."
"Yeah, okay," Billie agreed, sheepishly, while pulling out a chair and taking a seat.
Andy left the room and Billie watched him go. After the door closed, the silence surrounding her was practically deafening. Her thoughts traveled to what would be said and how she would say it but that was only until the ringing of her cell phone broke her out of it. Quickly, she reached for her back pocket and pulled it out. After checking the screen briefly, she noticed that the caller ID registered as Phoebe.
Hm, wonder what's up? came her immediate thought.
"Hello?" Billie answered.
X
Golden Gate Park
Phoebe walked at Coop's side. Her arm was linked with his.
They were strolling down the pathway together and she tilted her head to rest against his shoulder. She wanted some quality time away from everyone else and had suggested this walk. All of her energy and attention had been directed everywhere except on her relationship with Coop. It was about to get worse; experience had taught her to prepare for the worst. They needed to find that incantation. There would also be Gideon and the Triad to take on and finish off.
Piper had been home a couple days now and most of the focus had been geared towards her recovery at home but at least the boys had finally been reunited with their parents. They had filled Leo and Piper in the best they could with everything that had been happening during their absence. Suffice to say, it was a lot to take in but at least the secrets and any revelations were out on the table for everyone to deal with. Piper knew about the club, the truth regarding Billie was out in the open, and they all accepted that coming together was the only way to beat the threats they were now facing.
Coop sighed. "So what happens next?" he inquired. "I gather that any wedding plans should probably be put on hold until after everything?"
"Yeah, that would probably be for the best," she agreed rather solemnly. "In order for there to even be a wedding, we should probably make sure I'm still going to be around first," she tried joking.
Phoebe laughed but Coop didn't find the humor in it. "Phoebe?" he protested. "That's not going to happen."
She snorted. "Oh really? Mind showing me that crystal ball you've been peering into because I can sure use that boost of confidence right about now."
Coop looked over at Phoebe. "No magical powers on this one. I just have faith that you and your sisters have what it takes to overcome this."
Phoebe sighed and shook her head. "No incantation means no new power," she looked over to the grassy knoll. She watched two children having fun and chasing each other, their parents in the background sitting on a blanket enjoying the family picnic. "No new power, then we're screwed," a small smile crossed her face at the sight.
"It's probably just misplaced somewhere," Coop tried to reassure her while glimpsing over at what had held her attention.
Phoebe broke herself from the distraction. "We've looked everywhere for it. It's just nowhere to be found which means, well, honestly I don't even want to think about what that means."
"Okay, but how would the Underworld even know to look for it at the Manor? You said that nobody knew that you had it," Coop reminded her, trying to take her mind away from the worst case scenario.
"Okay, fine. And then if that's the case, how the hell could Paige have been so damn careless about it?" she vented against her baby sister. "She probably took it out at some point hoping to use it to get Henry back," she accused, sounding somewhat bitter over being outnumbered on the issue when it came to involving the incantation for the purposes of the rescue attempt. "This isn't some small slip up we're talking about here. The longer we go without it, the better the chances the Triad have to take us out."
"Eh," Coop sighed. "Try and give her break," he offered up in defense of Paige. "I'm sure she feels bad enough as it is. Wouldn't you?"
"Coop, the problem is there's no time for feeling bad. I never would have taken it out of hiding let alone misplaced it to begin with," Phoebe's tone was clearly frustrated. "The Triad can't be stopped without the Ultimate Power and they have to be stopped."
The sudden turn of the conversation regarding the Triad made Coop's thoughts shift back to Billie's revelation from a couple days ago. The one involving a girl that could quite possibly be his niece? Billie said that she was going to break the news to the sisters but the bad part about it was this girl's connection to the Triad. Quickly, he wondered why Phoebe hadn't brought it up yet and then automatically assumed that this particular subject was the reason behind this little walking excursion in the first place. Deciding that it was probably just too difficult for her to bring up, he broke the ice instead.
He released a low whistle. "So then, I take it that's why we're here? Because of what this means about Lana?"
Phoebe abruptly stopped walking. She stepped back from him a little bit and stood there staring. Confusion spread through Phoebe in a flash and the feeling was reflected in her facial expression as well.
What in the world was he talking about?
"Lana?" she questioned him. "Who's Lana? No, I came here with you because I thought we could spend some time together. You know, away from all the never-ending chaos that's been erupting all around us over these past few months? Or at least, that's what I thought this was going to be about."
It was Coop's turn to look completely confused. He thought that Billie was going to tell them. Why hadn't she told them? "Wait, so you don't know?" he inquired.
Phoebe laughed nervously. "Okay, Coop, I'm already feeling pretty jittery right about now and I don't mean that in a good way so can you please tell me what exactly it is I'm supposed to know but apparently don't know?" she waved her hands in front of her face. "Because this isn't sounding like it's going to be good and I thought our family was done in the surprise jolting department. At least for a little while. So please just lay it on me."
Coop crossed his arms and sighed wearily. "I'm sorry," he attempted to apologize before breaking the news. "I just assumed that Billie would have already mentioned it."
"Wait, Billie?" Phoebe questioned, putting up a hand. "What does any of this have to do with Billie?" She looked away from him. "Okay," she sighed deeply before releasing a sardonic laugh and preparing for the news. "Now I know I'm not going to like this," she cracked, looking all around her. "Go ahead. Mentioned what?"
Coop took a moment before continuing. "Billie thinks she may have uncovered who my missing niece is," he began. "Her name is Lana and she's here in San Francisco. But that's not the bad part."
"Uh-huh," Phoebe nodded. "The bad part would be what? That's she's a demon?" she vented, the shift to this particular topic upsetting her. They had this discussion before about demonic origins but she never anticipated the problem staring her in the face so soon.
It came out a little louder than she had intended and an older couple passing by stopped to look at them.
"Phoebe, keep your voice down," Coop warned her as they both glanced around, catching the older man and woman staring at them.
Phoebe plastered on a big fake smile and waved them off. "Yup. Hi there, bye. Nothing to see here."
The couple gave her a dirty look before they continued walking in the direction they were originally heading in. Phoebe rolled her eyes before turning back to Coop. He watched for her upcoming reaction.
"Not just any demon, Phoebe," Coop continued. He had her full attention again. "The Triad," he revealed and then waited for the inevitable freak out.
Phoebe stood there shell-shocked. Then she broke out into a fit of laughter. "You're kidding, right?" Her smile faded when Coop shook his head solemnly. "You're not kidding," she corrected herself. "Oh my god. This has to be some kind of twisted cosmic joke!"
Coop shut his eyes. "No. Afraid not." He reopened them and stared straight into Phoebe's eyes. Then he picked up where he had left off. "You remember the girl Billie found last year? The one she thought was her sister? Well, I guess that's who Lana really is. Supposedly."
"Whoa, what?" Phoebe practically screeched, taking a few more steps away from him. She took a careful glance around at her surroundings and remembered to lower her voice. "Do you mean demon Christy? The fake impostor Billie killed last year? That demon! Do you have any idea what this could mean? She could be the reason the incantation is missing!" her thoughts immediately raced to their biggest concern.
"Phoebe, calm down. I know it sounds bad but that's not it, believe me," he stressed to her. "Billie and that whitelighter, JD, I think his name is - they've been keeping close tabs on her. She's been trying to stay undetected by the Underworld and the rest of the Triad."
Phoebe laughed again but she was far from amused. "Okay, hold on a minute. I know you didn't just tell me to calm down when we're talking about the Triad and a girl that helped my niece try to obliterate me and my sisters in our own home last year!" she raised her voice again. "And I really don't know what the hell Billie's been thinking or doing in all of this but we're putting an end to it right now!"
She grabbed for her cell and paced back and forth in front of Coop.
"Phoebe?" he tried to protest.
"Oh, I don't think so. No way. This is not happening," she chanted in a mantra, to nobody in particular, while dialing the number she sought. "And don't you 'Phoebe' me," she pointed back at him.
Phoebe was in a state of utter disbelief. How could they have kept something like this a secret? Even more troubling, for how long? She quickly assessed how she had become so upset that she hadn't even bothered to ask him any of these questions. But the fact still remained that the same 'Christy' Billie had vanquished last year was somehow still alive. Which, on a more troubling thought, made sense if she really was a part of the unvanquishable Triad. After all, they could resurrect but she couldn't help but to feel the anger that had started to coarse through her at the thought of Coop and Billie not making her aware of such a threat sooner.
"Billie, pick up the damn phone!" her angry voice reverberated around her.
Coop watched helplessly while she continued to pace impatiently, back and forth, waiting for the person on the other end to pick up. He looked upwards and noticed the dark clouds that had moved in and then felt the drizzle. "We should go," he announced. "Those are storm clouds that just moved in."
Phoebe looked up and felt the small droplets of water hit against her face and she moved in the direction of her parked car that could be found in the parking lot. She took quick steps in front of Coop and didn't give him the opportunity to catch up with her. The phone was still plugged next to her ear as she began raising her voice into it. Coop walked with his hands against his hips.
"Yeah, perfect timing, Coop," he muttered.
X
The rain pelted against the cemented parking lot, forming into even smaller rivulets that were running in the opposite direction of the two women. In the distance, the burnt-down rubble appeared piled up in clusters, spanning an area where a once thriving club used to reside. Piper stood underneath the umbrella, wide-eyed and speechless.
"I know. It's bad," Prue volunteered, after precious seconds passed without her sister muttering a single word. She bit down against her lower lip.
"Bad?" Piper's voice finally broke her silence. "Prue, this isn't bad. This is a disaster!" her voice hitched even higher.
Prue watched her sister move closer to the destruction.
"What the heck am I supposed to do now?" Piper observed the remains. "I have the boys to support and the bank accounts have all been drained from the liens because of all the medical bills and Leo doesn't even have a mortal job. I can not believe this happened."
"You're right, I know, and that's why Andy and I will be sticking around for awhile," Prue tried to give her some reassurance. "We'll help out for as long as we can. Promise. Did I tell you how sorry I am?" she squinted her eyes.
Slowly, Piper turned back to her sister. She wore a long rain jacket with a hood attached to it, the hood covering her head. "Prue, it's not just that," she reflected back on the former club's emotional significance to them. "I mean, the club's been the only constant we've had throughout everything. You know, away from our lives as witches and away from all the demons? And now it's all gone."
"Yeah, like I said, sorry," Prue apologized again, shifting her gaze away from her sister and down towards the ground.
"Yeah, me too," Piper vented wearily. "But it's not your fault," she quickly amended. "It's just inevitable; these kinds of things happen to us. It's our lives. It was obviously going to happen with or without me so," she sighed. "Curse these demons."
"Well, we try," Prue nodded and thought about it.
"And it's still not good enough when we do," Piper cracked.
"Yeah, I guess we do lead a Charmed life," Prue tried to joke back in stride but truly felt bad. Her sister's livelihood had practically been ripped right out from underneath her. Unfortunately, being a full-time witch didn't get the bills paid. So, in the end, it didn't matter whether demons had been responsible or if the fire had just been accidental in nature because either way it left Piper in the same predicament:
Without income.
Piper took some more steps back towards the remains of the former P3. "So, then, what's with this Inspector you guys were telling me about?" she suddenly inquired. "Inspector Richards? Or was it Richardson?"
Prue followed her sister. "Yeah, Richardson," she asserted. "Not exactly sure what his whole deal is yet. Andy can't even figure him out."
Piper glanced over at her sister. "But you said he was digging around in our past. Do you think he knows about us?"
Prue sighed and shuffled her feet. "Honestly, I don't have a clue."
"Well, what did Agent Murphy say?" Piper was curious. "You mentioned he happened to call before I got back home?"
The sound of thunder roared overhead and it grabbed the attention of both sisters. They shot their heads up towards the gray sky as lightening bolts followed, dancing across the sky in zigzag patterns. Both pairs of eyes followed the path back to the car and then suddenly, the rain began to pelt down even heavier as their surroundings became blurred by the intense pounding of a rain storm.
"We should go," Prue spoke up. "I promised Paige to have the car back in an hour."
Prue dashed back in the direction of the car, carefully avoiding any big puddles blocking her path along the way. The winds had picked up, blowing against the umbrellas with such force. Piper trailed behind, still intent on receiving an answer.
"Prue?" she shouted through the heavy sound of rain. "You didn't answer the question. What did Agent Murphy find out?"
"Nothing!" Prue shouted back. "He just said he kept running into dead ends."
"Dead ends?"
"Yeah. You know? As in nowhere to go. Nothing to find," Prue stressed in a teasing fashion. "Otherwise known as a dead end. Kind of like right here?" she looked back over where the former club used to stand.
"Ha-ha, I'm laughing over here" Piper mocked in return.
A few feet ahead, Prue smirked. "So am I."
Taking the joking in stride, Piper immediately retorted with a comeback of her own. "I'm seriously considering giving into my urge to just blow you up. How about that?" she cracked. "Then maybe you'll really know what a dead end feels like."
Prue turned and responded with a quick flick of her tongue.
"That's real cute, Prue," Piper smirked. "Did you cast a spell and time-travel back to kindergarten?"
"Hm," Prue played along, pretending to think about it. "Well if I did, it also took me back to a time when a certain 'someone' used to find it mildly appropriate to engage our annoying baby sister with the same gesture."
Piper rolled her eyes and smirked. "Okay, forget it."
Prue smirked back. "How could I ever forget those red striped knee high socks, though?"
Piper pointed at her. "Low blow."
Both sisters shared a laugh and reached the green buggy belonging to Paige. After bringing down her umbrella, Prue quickly unlocked the doors and both sisters made a hasty exit out of the rain and into the vehicle. Prue started the ignition and the window wipers starting swaying back and forth against the mass of water hitting against the windshield. Finally, the car pulled out from the parking lot and onto the main road.
X
Billie answered her cellphone and immediately picked up on the traces of anger laced inside the tone of Phoebe's voice. "Uh, hey," she drew out tentatively. "What's up?"
"What's up?" Phoebe repeated in a raised tone of voice. "What's up is that you can get your butt home right now so that we can fix our problem, that's what. I'm sure you're familiar with it, the one that starts with the name Lana?"
Uh-oh.
Billie's eyes bulged, she sighed, shut her eyes, and rested her hand against her forehead as she spoke. "Phoebe, look, I wasn't trying to keep it a secret, I swear," she defended herself. "I just figured I could help out and then I was going to tell you guys. And I swear I had no idea this was going to lead back to Coop until a couple days ago."
"Billie? Get home!" Phoebe exclaimed. "We are so not discussing this over the phone."
She sighed. "Phoebe, I can't right now. I'm at the police station waiting to be questioned by Inspector Richardson and I have no idea how long I'm gonna be."
In truth, Billie had been so preoccupied the last couple days with the upcoming interrogation and fixating again on what had happened to her parents that she figured putting off the Lana revelation until afterwards wouldn't be that big of a deal. Apparently, she had been wrong because Coop must have beaten her to it and Phoebe sounded pissed.
"Where is she?" Phoebe demanded to know.
However, Billie was suddenly alerted to the sound of voices. The door to the interrogation room opened and both Andy and Inspector Richardson stepped in. She shot her head up and didn't even get the chance to answer the question as she hastily ended the call.
"Sorry. Gotta' go, see ya later, chow!" She slapped the cell phone shut as Richardson walked around the table to take a seat across from her. Andy followed behind the other man and sat down beside him as Richardson threw a manila-colored file onto the table.
"Hello there, Miss Jenkins," he addressed her. "How nice of you to drop by," came his follow-up remark with a sickening smirk in place.
This should be fun, Billie thought sarcastically.
X
Prue and Piper walked in through the front door of the Manor. However, the moment they both stepped in, Prue reached out to catch Piper's fall, who was about to blend in with the abundance of clutter filling the entire foyer.
"Whoa, um, Prue?" she grabbed onto her sister for support.
"Yeah, I know, sweetie, I got'cha, " Prue made a face at the surrounding mess and struggled to keep herself balanced while offering support to her sister at the same time. As they both attempted to take a few more cautious steps together, a loud crunching noise escaped from underneath the huge pile.
They both stopped cold in their tracks.
"Okay, what was that? What did I just step on?" Piper gritted down on her teeth, trying to lift her feet and inspect but to no avail. "Oh great."
Something inside the pile caught Prue's attention. "Is that a clown costume?"
"I don't know but I swear, if I have to invest in another pair of new shoes - Paige, where are you?" Piper's thoughts changed course as she called out for the youngest sister.
Masses of clothes items, toys, bicycles, and various other types of belongings were scattered all the way into the dining room. Then, as the sisters began scanning the staircase, they noticed that area too was just as cluttered if not more than the rest of the downstairs.
"Right - something tells me none of this is ours," Prue announced, trying to kick her way through some of the clutter blocking her path.
"I smell a spell," Piper cracked. "Uh, Paige?" she called out a second time. "A little help in here please?"
Paige hustled in from the kitchen area. "Coming," she shouted. After almost tripping over some piled up clothes blocking her way, she fought to catch her balance quickly. "I'm coming," she asserted one last time, trying to make it over to them. "And before you say anything, I was only trying to help us find that incantation."
Prue snorted. "From where, a local department store?" she cracked, looking around some more.
"Ha ha, funny," Paige narrowed her eyes in at her oldest sister in a teasing manner. "No! I just thought a little bit of an enhancement against the Return To Owner spell might do the trick. Only, now," she paused for a bit, scrunching up her face, while looking around her, "I'm guessing it worked a little too well?" she shrugged her shoulders.
"Okay, so then what went wrong?" Piper asked in all seriousness. "I don't even think I recognize half of this stuff. At least the last time something like this went wrong, most of the stuff actually belonged to us."
Prue nodded sharing in the memory. "At one time."
Paige shrugged her shoulders up in the air. "I don't know what happened," she pouted her lips, in both a serious and playful display. "All I do know is that this stuff clearly isn't ours and more keeps showing up every ..."
Paige was cut off as a blanket suddenly appeared from out of the air and fell on top of her head, covering her face and muffling the sound of her voice. Both Prue and Piper looked on in some amusement and Prue immediately brought a hand up to cover her mouth so she could stifle a laugh while Piper smirked. Then, Prue attempted to put on a straight face while Piper went to pull for the blanket.
"You were saying?" Piper grinned.
"Every five minutes," Paige finished her sentence. "Actually, why don't we make that every two minutes," she rolled her eyes.
"Well, obviously this is what you would call a backfire, Paige," Piper mocked. "So hurry up and reverse it," she said while throwing the blanket back to the floor. "I want to know what it feels like to walk on my floors again."
"Yeah, just make sure to mark it as Return to Sender," Prue teased, while crossing her arms in front of her and narrowing her eyes at Paige.
"Oh, hey, believe me - if I could actually return 'spell' to creator, I would," Paige asserted, blowing some disheveled hair from out of her face. "I'm never touching that stupid spell again," she pouted a little bit more.
However, the moment was interrupted when they were all suddenly alerted to the sound of a cat crying somewhere in an undisclosed location. Piper and Prue glanced at each other, questioning looks upon their faces, and then they began scanning the layout of the downstairs area trying to locate the source. Meanwhile, Paige's eyes darted back and forth with a somewhat guilty expression plastered across her face.
Prue caught movement under a small pile of clothes just near the staircase. She made serious efforts to wade through all the other junk and after finally getting there, she shuffled the pile around only to find her poor black cat, stuffed inside of it. The cat meowed up at her. "Oh, oh Kitty," she cooed. "What happened girl?" she inquired, picking her up and cuddling her against her chest.
Piper and Paige also approached but when Paige reached out to pet her, the cat responded by hissing back while reaching out to paw the youngest Halliwell at the same time. Paige immediately retracted her hand.
"Kitty?" Prue scolded. "That's not very nice."
"Whoa, there. Relax, no need to act like Prue," Paige chided, earning a playful glare from Prue in the process. "But I, uh, take it you're still a little miffed with me over the unfortunate doggy incident earlier," Paige spoke directly to the cat. "Real sorry about that, by the way," she gritted down on her teeth as both of her sisters just stared at her.
"The doggy incident?" the two eldest sisters repeated together.
Paige tried to cover it up with a smile and a nervous laugh. "Uh? Right," she finally stammered out. "The incident in question would probably be the big barking dog that was chasing her around downstairs about fifteen minutes ago," she finished the explanation with a dramatic nod of her head.
"Wait a minute," Piper interjected with narrowed eyes. "What dog?"
Piper's eyes went wide when the barking suddenly sounded off from inside the kitchen. Prue stood in place, a smirk breaking out in place while she still held onto the cat tightly. Then she bent over to place her back on the ground and the cat jetted up the stairs with one final meow.
Paige cheesed before answering Piper's question. "Uh, that dog?"
Piper began to march in the direction of the kitchen but almost lost her footing once again. Prue followed behind her with Paige close on their trail. As they entered the kitchen, they found Henry kneeling down beside a golden Labrador retriever.
"Look, it was just the darn spell, okay? I swear that I wasn't trying to conjure a dog," Paige defended herself.
With Prue and Piper halting their steps just inside the kitchen, Paige also entered and then stopped right next to them to watch the unfolding scene with amusement.
"Roll over, boy," Henry instructed and everyone watched as the dog did as he was commanded. He would lie on his back, tongue panting. "That's a good boy," Henry praised the dog, while rubbing his tummy. "Hey, Paige, he's pretty well trained. We should take him home with us?" he looked over towards his wife, a smile set in place.
"No! Absolutely not," Piper immediately interjected. "Nobody is taking anybody home. Except Paige is going to go upstairs and find a way to fix this mess. Now please?" she stressed. "My kitchen looks like a herd of elephants stomped their way through it."
"Okay, I'm going, I'm going," Paige put her hands up in the air and then she orbed out of sight.
The dog got up from the floor and hopped up onto the kitchen table. Then, he laid his head down and flashed his puppy dog eyes up at Piper, signaling to her that he didn't want to be made to leave and go back wherever he came from.
"And what are you looking at Rover?" she cracked. "Paws off the table now!"
The dog shot his head up and whimpered but, still, he did what he was instructed and jumped off the table and back onto the floor.
X
Billie used her eyes to follow the man's movements. She watched intently as he placed the blank tape inside of the recorder and then watched as his finger went to press record. She saw Andy glance back and forth between the two of them.
"The date is March 7th," Richardson talked into it. "2007. Case file number 46139. Potential witness, Miss Billie Jenkins."
Billie swallowed nervously.
"Okay, Billie? You don't mind if I call you Billie, do you?" Richardson inquired.
Billie shook her head. "No."
"Alright then. Well, I'll be handling most of the questioning so I took the liberty of looking over the initial statement made by you last year," he began. "Now, you originally stated that your parents began making some regular visits out to see you and that's why they were staying in the Bay Area Hotel?"
Billie cleared her throat. "That's right," she answered.
"When did you see them last?"
"Two days before they were scheduled to leave," she answered very smoothly. "Like I already stated the last time."
"Uh-huh." At the same time, Richardson pulled the file to him and opened it up. "So then the only reason your mother and father were out here was to visit with you?"
Billie huffed and crossed her arms. "Didn't I already answer that before?"
"A yes or no answer will suffice," he instructed over her.
"Yes," Billie's voice rose a notch.
"Well, then, why not stay closer to where you were on campus?" the Inspector shot back rather quickly. "There were plenty of hotels closer to the University that you're attending. Why did they pick some place so far out of the way?"
"How should I know?" Billie shot back. She held up her cellphone. "Would you like for me to give them a call beyond the grave and ask?"
Richardson gave her a stern look so then Andy coughed to break up the moment.
Billie sighed. "Maybe it had better customer service?" she suggested, bringing her sarcasm back down a notch.
Richardson lifted up a page in the file and began to report from it. "In fact, I couldn't help but notice that the location was a lot closer in distance to the Halliwell Residence. Any particular reason for that?" He shot her another look.
"No!" she shot back again. "There is no particular reason for that!"
Andy picked up the defensiveness Billie was beginning to demonstrate and he held up his hand to signal her to just relax. Billie took note, closed her eyes, and sucked in another deep breath.
"You sure you don't want to think about that for a minute?" Richardson baited.
Billie sent the Inspector a bewildered expression while Andy shot his partner a glare, not quite sure where he was taking this. Richardson just patiently waited.
"Why would I need to think about it?" she retorted. "My parents lost my sister and they could get rather sentimental whenever the anniversary of her disappearance came around. So they wanted to see me more. What's the big deal?"
"The big deal?" Richardson retorted. "I'll tell you what the big deal is," his voice was now rising for the first time. He pulled out a picture and flung it across the table so it was in full view of Billie. "The big deal is that I've got an eye witness that can place you leaving the scene of the crime the same day the bodies were found," he exclaimed, pointing at the picture.
"What eye witness?" Andy turned on his partner. His reaction was almost immediate and he straightened up his posture in his chair. Shooting Billie a concerned look, he waited on his partner for an explanation regarding the bombshell just thrown at them on the table. Richardson hadn't briefed him before this interrogation on any new evidence or on any new witnesses that may have come forward with information on the case.
Inspector Richardson didn't answer, instead, his smirk and focus remained directed at Billie.
"Inspector?" Andy repeated a little louder when he didn't receive an answer the first time around. "I didn't read anything about any eye witness account?" He pulled the file over to him.
"This eye witness just came forward this morning, Inspector," Richardson finally supplied an answer back with smug arrogance. He still kept his trademark smirk and focus on Billie the entire time.
Billie couldn't help her reaction. She remained silent and her eyes widened at the sight of the picture that had been practically shoved in her face. There lying on the table in front of her, was a picture showing both her and Christy, or rather her and Lana, leaving the hotel together. It had been taken that awful day that both of them had walked into the hotel room only to discover the dead bodies of her parents. She had been so upset and distracted that Lana had to escort her out. They had parted ways that day, Billie heading back to campus like Lana had instructed while Lana was supposed to go and take care of the problem. With a little help from her projection power, they had managed to avoid being caught on camera, only because Lana had brought it to her attention when she wanted to know what they were. However, Billie never stopped to consider that somebody could have been taking their picture that horrible day.
Had they been followed?
"Who's the girl?" Richardson demanded to know when she didn't speak. "The other girl? Who is she?" his voice hitched.
Billie felt panic seize her and she began to stutter. "I, uh, uh ... a friend," she lied.
"A friend?" Richardson's voice hitched in amusement.
"Yes, a friend. From school." Crap, he so knows I'm lying, she thought to herself.
Andy stared at her and tried to come up with a quick rescue. "I don't see any name in here, Inspector." He quickly grabbed for the picture while pushing the file over to the side. "The photo isn't dated? Do we even know when this was taken? Is this new information legit?"
"It's legit," Richardson answered back. "What's this friend's name so I can track her down?"
"I don't remember. She graduated last year," came Billie's next lie.
Richardson laughed. "She graduated, huh?" he mocked her. "You wanna' know what I think, Miss Jenkins?" his voice suddenly turning sinister. He folded his hands on the table and leaned in on her. "I think this girl is the reason your parents were out here so much. I also think," he stressed, "they believed this girl could be your missing sister. Christy? How am I doing so far?"
"Uh, Inspector, can we step out into the hall for a minute please?" Andy interjected, addressing his partner. He felt his own blood beginning to boil at the fact that Richardson had deliberately kept him out of the loop but his request went ignored.
Billie just stared and remained silent. She glanced towards Andy who was pretty powerless to do anything at the moment and she knew it. Inspector Richardson was taking a rather heavy and nasty approach but he hadn't crossed any legal lines yet. When she didn't respond back, Richardson interpreted her silence as admission.
"Right. Why don't we cut the crap here?" Richardson continued. "This Christy? Where is she and how was she found? I wanna' talk to her."
Billie swallowed. "I don't know."
"You don't know?" he mocked. "What are you hiding?" he accused.
"Inspector?" Andy interjected a second time. He was very aware of the agitated state that his daughter was now embroiled in and how it was increasing with all the talk centered around her parents and her abducted sister.
"Nothing," Billie's voice hitched in response to the former question.
Andy went ignored again.
"Wrong. You're hiding something," Richardson sneered. "I wanna' know if what happened to your parents is in anyway connected to your sister being found?"
"I have no idea," Billie swallowed.
"You better tell me what you know," Richardson threatened. "Otherwise you might be the one who winds up facing an obstruction of justice charge, get me? Unless the two of you did the deed yourselves?"
Andy jumped back in immediately. He held up his hand to halt Billie from answering. "Billie, wait. It's part of my job to inform you that you don't have to answer that!" he instructed very strongly. "Not without a lawyer present."
"How did you do it?" Richardson continued to push.
"Inspector, are we still questioning her as a witness or are we questioning her as a suspect now?" Andy demanded to know.
Richardson ignored him yet again. "Who's idea was it?"
"I don't know," Billie's breathing picked up.
"Why did you do it?" Richardson accused. "Did mommy and daddy spend a little too much time on her to ever notice you? There wasn't anything left to give to you?"
"Stop!" Billie shut her eyes tightly and used her hands to cover her ears.
"Inspector?" Andy shouted this time and rose to his feet. He glared down at his partner. Richardson turned to him with a smug expression. Quickly, Andy thought about how he'd like the lay one right into his face. "Can I see you outside? Right now," he seethed through clenched teeth.
"Certainly," Richardson answered calmly. He stood up from the chair and headed for the door behind Andy.
Billie tried to fight the tears. She fought against the resurfacing guilt and pain that had been buried from the last year over the cause of their deaths. She thought she was ready and that she could handle the tough questions but it looked like she had been wrong - again. She sat with her hands now covering her face.
The last thing that was heard was the click of the door.
X
Phoebe received the surprise of her life as she stepped into the Manor. The same sight that had greeted both Prue and Piper now stood in her way.
"What the hell ... " she muttered as her voice drifted off.
She looked around.
"Uh, hello?" she shouted out, hoping that someone would heed her call. "Sister here that can use some help? I'd take a few steps myself but I'm afraid of drowning on my way in," she cracked. Piles of stuff rose half-way up into the air; however, suddenly, Phoebe could make out Paige's form scurrying down the stairs.
"Oh, hold on, Pheebs," Paige announced. She made it halfway down the stairs, stopped, and pulled a piece of paper out in front of her that was visible before Phoebe. "Problem will be solved in one second. Phew. Okay, here we go," she told herself. Paige took a deep breath and then began reciting.
"I reverse this spell and end this blight, take everything not ours from out of sight; Correct right now this mistaken lender, so right here and right now please Return to Sender."
Then, both Phoebe and Paige watched as a swirl of glittery lights appeared removing all the unwanted clutter from every area in the house.
After everything was finally gone, Paige closed her eyes and sighed with relief. "Wow. Thank god that one worked," she commented. "And I know she was only kidding but I threw in Prue's little suggestion too. There, hope you're happy, Prue," she made a face.
Phoebe gave Paige a look and took cautious steps forward. "Okay," she stammered out with a laugh. "I would ask but I'm afraid to jinx it."
Paige trudged down the rest of the stairs. "No," she responded back, heading in her sister's direction. "I tried casting a spell hoping the incantation would show up. But it didn't work," she added with disappointment laced in her tone.
"Oh," came Phoebe's one worded reply.
Phoebe went to remove her jacket. The change to that particular topic reminded her again exactly why it was she came here. However, at the same moment, they were greeted by the sight of Piper and Prue coming out of the dining room and into the foyer to join them. They were both in the middle of brushing themselves off while Henry trailed from behind, doing the same thing.
"Hey, what happened to you guys?" Phoebe immediately inquired, stepping forward.
"Just wanted you to know that we heard you and that we weren't ignoring you on purpose," Piper informed her, referring to her sister's call for help after she had first stepped inside. She continued to brush her clothes off. "But let me just say that wading through that amount of clothing in one day gives me a new appreciation for my own laundry day."
"I think I was wedged in between a pair of skies and a coat rack," Prue cracked, straightening out her own clothes that were disheveled.
Phoebe smirked, feeling some of the tension brought on from earlier in the day leave her. She glanced over at Henry, who retorted with a crack of his own.
"Uh me? Yeah, I was just happy to make it out alive."
Everyone shared a laugh. However, the light hearted moment they were sharing together was interrupted with the sudden appearance of the orbs that had flashed inside the living room beside them. Everybody turned to found out who it could be appearing there and then there stood three men dressed in white and gold robes.
The Elders.
X
"Want to tell me what the hell that was all about in there?" Andy gritted his declaration through clenched teeth.
They stood just outside the door leading into the interrogation room and Richardson returned Andy's hard glare with a cool and collective look of his own.
"Doing my job," Richardson answered calmly.
"Doing your job?" Andy mocked, crossing his arms. "You were badgering a potential witness and making unfounded accusations."
"That girl's hiding something," Richardson dropped the calm demeanor, pointing over his shoulder back towards the door. "I'm going to find out what it is."
"Yeah, I'm not following," Andy shook his head.
"Follow this. I think she could be a potential suspect," Richardson countered back. "We're not in a court of law here, Inspector," he raised his voice before remembering to lower it again. "My job is to get to the truth, that's it, and if I have to put a little pressure on to do that, then I will," he stressed. "There's nothing on the books that says I can't. Besides, I'm not a judge or a lawyer. Neither are you."
Andy smirked. "Well, partner," he spat, "we may not be in a court of law but if you pull an arrest based on that in there, a judge would have it thrown out in a heartbeat," he laughed. "And I think you know it."
"Not necessarily," Richardson denied.
"One random photograph of an unidentified girl walking out of a building with the witness? Really? It does not establish any motive nor does it link them directly to the scene of the crime."
"Let me remind you, that's the same building the victims were actually found dead in, Inspector," Richardson persisted.
"Even so, you better have something better than sibling rivalry to go with," Andy challenged. "Not to mention, the absence of a murder weapon? Neither is hardly sufficient enough to substantiate a first degree murder charge."
"Maybe not," retorted the other Inspector. "But I got enough to bust her with obstruction if she's hiding anything relevant to this case. Or any knowledge in the kidnapping of Christy Jenkins," he asserted back. "So, you might want to advise your client of that, Inspector," he cracked while winking back mockingly.
Richardson turned around and started to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Andy demanded.
"We're done questioning her," he threw over his back. "For now."
Andy just shook his head in disgust. While grabbing for the door knob in a rough manner, his lingering thoughts were on how much he despised the other man he worked with. He would give just about anything to have Morris back by his side. Andy just couldn't shake his initial impression that something was definitely off about his new partner. He just couldn't figure out what. He slammed the door behind him.
X
The sisters stood there with each one casting the other a look before making their move into the living room.
"What do you want?" Piper demanded, stepping inside first. Her tone was icy, extremely cold and unwelcoming. "You have no right to be here after everything."
Phalmis, Ramar, and Xenus glanced towards each other before turning back to address the sisters. They were met with the same harsh stares coming from the other sisters as well but there was no turning back now. They needed to be here.
"Please, it's important that we speak with you," Phalmis opened up. "We need to know what you might know about Gideon being alive."
Phoebe spoke up. "Even if we did know something, what makes you think we'd tell you?" she retorted.
Paige stood with her arms crossed, staring between the three men. Henry remained in the background, merely observing the encounter before him.
Ramar huffed. "Please, this is no time to be drawing battle lines. This is serious. It involves Emeritus," he reported to them.
"I'd say it's a little too late for that," Prue crossed her arms. "Wasn't it you who drew them first?"
Phoebe laughed at the Elder's declaration. After the missing Elder's name had been mentioned and then noting for the first time that Emeritus was seemingly absent, she made another crack. "Yeah, and speaking of your ring leader, where is Gideon's little protege?"
"He's dead!" Xenus hollered, clearly frustrated by the whole situation.
The sisters momentarily froze at that sudden and unexpected revelation. Looking to each other, all smiles and smirks faded almost instantly and they took a moment to absorb the news. The three Elders watched for their reactions.
"He was shot and killed. By a darklighter's arrow," Phalmis finished explaining.
Paige dropped her arms back down by her sides. "What?" she inquired.
"A darklighter's arrow," Xenus repeated. "It worked hard and very fast. The poison got to him before he had the chance to get back to us. We were unable to heal him."
Piper stared hard before responding to that news. "Well," she began slowly. "Really wish we could say we were sorry but then we'd be lying."
Paige cast her a look. "Piper!" she hissed.
"What?" Piper retorted. "They're the reason we're all in this mess to begin with," she defended. "C'mon. Messing around with magical destinies and with peoples lives? I say they only got what was coming to them."
"Gotta' love that law of Karma," Prue added on. "It's a bitch."
"But it's gotta' be that same darklighter?" Paige protested. "The one that shot Prue and kidnapped Billie? And the one that's been tracking down all those whitelighters?"
"Paige, we don't know that for sure," argued Phoebe.
"Don't we?" she countered. "We were wondering before why he had powers he shouldn't have. Well now it makes sense. We know he's been working with the Triad because of Billie. Gideon must have given him more power through those stones," she argued back.
"Gideon?" Phalmis interjected, shooting his eyes between all the sisters.
The sisters shot their attention back towards the Elders. The three men had stood to the side listening to the exchange between the sisters.
Then Prue turned her attention back to Paige, asking the question that was on her mind. "Wait. So you think Gideon sent this darklighter after another Elder? Why would he do that, it doesn't make sense."
"He's evil now. Duh," Paige rolled her eyes like it should be the most obvious thing in the world. "I don't think it needs to make sense, do you?"
"It might make more sense than we know," Phoebe suddenly interjected.
Her mind had been reeling with possible scenarios to piece together what all this could mean and she thought back to some of the details Leo had shared with them regarding how Gideon and this group of Elders had been responsible for tampering with the Book of Shadows and the Ultimate Power incantation. Suddenly, she didn't like what this could be implying.
Prue threw her sister a questioning look. "Pheebs, what are you talking about?"
"Think about it," Phoebe addressed all three of her sisters. "Remember what Leo was telling us about the prophecy and it being stolen from the Book? What if Emeritus got his hands on it somehow? From here, in the Manor? That could be exactly why Gideon had that darklighter take him out," she stressed. "To get to the incantation."
"What?" Paige questioned unbelievingly. "How?"
"Paige, I don't know how but that incantation is gone. And you know that yourself, you've been trying for days and it can't be found anywhere," Phoebe shot back. She was clearly frustrated because this wasn't good. Nope, this wasn't good at all.
"But then that would mean that evil has its hands on it right now?" Piper drew out slowly. "In which case, we're totally and completely screwed."
"Not screwed, dead," Prue corrected, closing her eyes and shaking her head in disbelief. Could things possibly get any worse for them?
"Oh, believe me, I know," Phoebe responded.
The three Elders glanced at each other nervously and then swallowed.
"There may be another way?" Phalmis announced, catching the attention of all four sisters.
"Another way for what?" Prue inquired.
"To constitute the power," the Elder expanded upon his revelation. "The prophecy was revealed in secret to Melinda Warren, through a dream, because of her power of premonition. She and she alone would retain the memory to the Ultimate Power incantation."
Phoebe took steps forward. "What? Are you serious?"
"Yes," Ramar reaffirmed. "If you summon her from the afterlife, a ritual can be performed through her," he finished.
The reaction of the sisters was one of absolute surprise. They looked to each other once again, wide-eyed, with expressions that matched their feelings. Was it possible they wouldn't need the incantation after all?
"Well, then, what are we waiting for?" Phoebe addressed her sisters.
Immediately, she took quick strides to depart for the attic. However, she stopped when she received protest from the Elders who were still present but she still kept her back turned to them.
"Wait!" Phalmis' voice carried to them. "Please," he pleaded. "Now that we've shared what we know with you, we need you to share with us what you know about Gideon?"
"Emeritus muttered something about Gideon and the Triad before dying," Xenus elaborated. "Do you know what any of that could mean?"
The sisters stared back as Phoebe turned around slowly and opted to answer. "Yeah. We know what it means," she answered despondently. "It means that Gideon is now a member of the Triad. He's one of them." Then she turned to her sisters. "Let's go," she readdressed them for a second time.
The sisters exited the living room in a single file, followed by Henry, as the Elders were left to digest that particular shocking news.
One of their own had betrayed them.
X
It was dark and way past dusk.
The headlights reflected off of the abandoned lot as the car was pulling into it. Abandoned buildings were set off in the background and as the car came to a complete stop, the driver could definitely make out the shadowy figure that appeared in the distance.
Inspector Richardson stepped out of his police model and slammed the door shut.
"Well?" the other figure addressed him as he approached.
"Well what? Why haven't you been responding to my calls?" the Inspector demanded in an irritated fashion. He wasn't one who liked to be ignored.
"Because I've had work to do," the other figure answered. "Important work."
"But you're the one who came to me, remember?" Richardson roared. "The least you can do is return my calls. How much longer do we need to wait around before we can just take all of them out?" the man's temper flared. "I'm sick of waiting!"
"Not until I get what I came for!" the other figure instructed in a higher-pitch, with a touch of impatience mixed in. "I promised you your revenge. And you'll get your revenge," he answered back to the unstable man who was now pacing before him.
Richardson stopped pacing and addressed the man with him. "Who are you anyway?" he asked.
"That's not important," the figure responded. "Just keep calling me Richard," he instructed. "What is important is that you don't screw this up."
"I'm not," Richardson sneered. "But I did show the photo to the girl today. The same one that you gave me?"
"And?" the figure inquired.
"And it did no good. She wouldn't give up the location on the other girl," Richardson informed the other man with him.
"That doesn't matter anymore. I have a location. I already found her myself," the figure disclosed, making it a point to inform the Inspector. "I just need you to cause distraction long enough for me to make my move with the girl."
"And then we'll be ready?" Richardson inquired, his eyes gleaming with the prospect.
"Yes, we'll be ready. Now go. I'll contact you again when I need to," the figure instructed of the Inspector.
The figure, calling himself Richard, watched as the Inspector entered his car and left. Then, disappearing into the shadows, he acknowledged he would have to make a move soon, before the Charmed Ones became too powerful to defend against and the Triad made their own moves.
He needed to be able to convince Lana soon.
To Be Continued: Okay, that ends this chapter. Hope you liked it and please don't forget to review.
Coming Up: The sisters finally come face to face with the Ultimate Power but seek to stop Gideon and the rest of the Triad from infusing it themselves. The others find out the truth regarding Lana. Lana poses a risk and a move is made against the next generation and a further divide is created between Coop and Phoebe after she's forced to make a drastic decision.
Stayed Tuned for the upcoming chapters.