Chapter Three

Déjà vu

"Nothing compares to a DOA right after lunch," Harper said sarcastically as she got into the car.

Lopez made a face as she began to roll down the street. "I hope it's nothing too gross."

Harper smirked. "16th street and Franklin," she checked the address. "It's a clean water facility."

Ten minutes later the car pulled up in front of a large gate. They flashed their badges and was let in on the premises.

"Oh God-," Nyla muttered sarcastically and air quoted, "-It's officer commercial."

Angela snorted somewhat amusedly as a fairly attractive, dark-haired, officer with Latino looks and bright white teeth was coming to greet them.

"Have you got something against Officer Mendoza, Detective Harper," Lopez drawled slyly.

"He's a poster boy. It's kind of hard to take him seriously."

"What? You mean you can't be a pretty boy and a tough police officer at the same time?" Angela asked and found she was enjoying herself as she parked the car.

"He's a coward. He runs whenever there is a possibility of dirtying the uniform," Nyla replied. "Bradford on the other hand-,"

Lopez chuckled with delight.

"Huh," Nyla pointed a finger at her colleague, "Don't ever tell Tim I said that, especially not when James can overhear."

"Scouts honor," Lopez replied with her fingers crossed. "I just didn't think he was your type."

"He is not but I have eyes and let us not forget the incident where he was mistaken for a stripper," she pointed out.

Angela laughed and dabbed under eyes as the mascara threatened to start trickling down her cheeks from having too much fun. "I wish you had been there," she replied. "Because I'll certainly never forget it."

"God afternoon ladies," Mendoza said jovially. "The supervisor found a woman in one of the clean water tanks at the shift change earlier today. I will happily leave the detective work to you."

An older man stepped forward and introduced himself as the man in charge and shook their hands.

"We were all quite shocked at finding this poor woman this morning," he said sadly as he walked them over to a large water tank. "I am still not sure how she came to be in there but I suppose that is your job to find out."

Harper and Lopez shared a questionable look as they stepped out on a platform to stare into a large tank filled with water.

A diver from the LAFD rescue team surfaced with the body of a deceased woman in his arms.

Angela pursed her lips into a thin line of displeasure as the woman almost looked like an exact copy of Bailey. A petite body figure, long brown hair.

"I don't know," Harper mumbled. "I kind of get this déjà vu feeling."

"You don't say," Lopez replied darkly. "A water tank, a woman looking exactly like Nolan's fiancée."

The diver gently placed the woman on the platform next to them. Her cargo pants and t-shirt were plastered against her body due to the water and her makeup was long gone.

Harper knelt next to the woman and frowned as she spotted a tattoo on the left side of her torso, just below the last rib. "No," she whispered in disbelief.

"What?" Lopez demanded as she knelt next to her colleague.

Harper gently pulled up the sweater to reveal an angry looking tattoo with yesterday's date. "Day of death."

"Damn, I thought that bitch had taken her evil deeds with her to the grave," Lopez muttered sourly.

"The trademark of Rosalind Dyer and her followers," Harper added unnecessarily.

"I think Caleb just turned in his grave. He told Lucy that Rosalind was his equal," Angela pointed out.

OOOOOO

"Did you hear that?" Celina asked, her voice no more than a whisper, as she glanced at the house.

"Hear what?" Tim asked in a no-nonsense tone of voice.

"Sounded like someone was calling for help," she added with a frown as she glanced up at the upper floor.

"Actually, I heard it too," Lucy said. "What if she's holding some poor woman in there?"

"She is dead," Tim replied seriously.

Nolan swallowed at Lucy's stricken face. "It's a trap," he reasoned.

"Most definitely," Tim added.

"Who owns this place?" Celina asked curiously. "I mean, why would anyone want to move from this idyllic neighborhood?"

"Dispatch, this is 7-adam-15. I need to find the registered owner of Lakeview 1503."

"7-adam-15. Copy, please hold," came the reply.

John looked at his rookie, Sergeant Bradford and Officer Chen with a sheepish smile.

"7-adam-15. Lakeview 1503 is registered to a real estate firm. Before that it was owned by Lucy Watson. She was found dead three months ago, no next of kin."

Officer Chen felt her knees go weak. "Lucy, dead three months ago," she managed, her voice subdued. "Another victim is going to lose his or her life today or tomorrow or maybe it has already happened."

"Hey, Chen," Bradford couldn't help himself. By using her last name, he was hoping to bring her out of her own head and focus on the present. "Don't go back there."

She let out a shaky breath, feeling angry for being so riled up. It brought back so many bad memories; took her back to a place in life where she had no desire to return.

"Look," Nolan said brightly. "The bomb squad is here."

OOOOOO

"So," Thorsen asked curiously as they got back into the shop. "What are you going to do with it?"

Grey cast a glance at the iPad. "I'm going to hand it in to our IT geeks and see what they can get out of it."

The younger man pursed his lips into a thin line of displeasure as the seconds seemed to rush by on the digital display. He sat up a little straighter as the countdown suddenly stopped. "Huh, Sarge?" he called worriedly.

Grey followed his gaze and frowned.

The clock shifted to 6 hours 10 minutes and 34 seconds.

"We have a new deadline," Thorsen said.

OOOOOO

Lopez thanked the supervisor for his time as the body was being wheeled into the coroner's car.

"So, when can you have something for us?" Harper asked the ME.

Doctor Stone ran a hand through his thick brown hair and sighed. "It's quite a lineup at the office but if I put a rush on it, I'd say four days. Looks like a simple drowning."

"Actually, there is more to it than that," Harper let on. "Remember Rosalind Dyer?"

"Of course, how could anyone forget," he replied.

"That woman has the same mark tattooed into her side – the day of her death."

"Do you think another copycat is active?" he asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," she replied darkly.

Doctor Stone nodded thoughtfully as the doors closed behind the body of the deceased. "I hear you and I promise to get back to you as soon as I can."

Lopez walked up to her friend and colleague and made a face, both of them watching the coroner's car drive away from the scene.

Nyla frowned and squinted against the sun. "Is that Bradford's clown?" she said curiously.

Angela followed her gaze and spotted a medium built man in a red wig with a big red nose. He smiled as he looked down at them from the platform they'd recently vacated and gave them a lazy wave before turning to leave.

"Today feels like one big joke. No pun intended," Harper said wearily.

Angela felt a chill down her spine as her friend's words sunk in. "A clown nearly t-boned Tim and Lucy then a clown dropped a package at the mall addressed to Grey, now there is a clown here, waving at us. It can't be a coincidence."

"2331, your presence is requested at the station."

Lopez keyed the microphone. "2331 copy. Heading back to Mid-Wilshire station."

Unbeknownst to the two detectives a package waited for them at the water facility.

OOOOOO

Bailey sighed as she shrugged out of her heavy firefighter gear and walked across the hall and into the kitchen at the fire station. She opened the refrigerator and selected a cold coke, rolled it over her forehead and sighed as she let the coolness of the can temporarily give her some relief from the warmth outside.

"Hey Bails," one of her colleagues called. "There's some clown here waiting to see you."

She rolled her eyes as she opened the can and took a sip of its contents. "Funny," she replied.

"Actually, I am serious," Barry said.

Nune frowned, thinking it had been a nickname for her fiancé, as she walked outside.

A smiling clown with a large red nose and a yellow wig and the biggest black shoes she'd ever seen nodded at her with a package in hand.

She reached for it and noted it was addressed to her.

He gave a her a mock salute, turned on his heels and headed away from the station as Bailey glanced around the room. "Okay, I didn't realize it was my turn to get pranked," she said sourly.

Barry held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "It's not us, I swear," he promised.

She pursed her lips and went over to a chair and sat down, package in hand. She unwrapped it and was even more confused as she stared at a birthday card. She picked it up and unfolded it. A handwritten single line greeted her. 'Take care of John. With love, Rosalind'.

OOOOOO

To be continued