A/N: OKAY, SO...
I'm seeing that everyone is still having issues with the site! People are trying to read or leave reviews on current chapters but the interface won't let them advance past a certain point. This is getting frustrating, so I was thinking of alternatives.
At first, I considered starting my own website but that could land me into different problems. Firstly, the legal stuff. Just because I put up my stories for NO PROFIT, that doesn't mean I'm safe from copyright lawyers coming after me! Plus, unlikely for people to come across my work unless I pay Google a bundle and screw that.
Then I got a different idea...
How about an email club sort of thing? I can send you the whole chapter in a convenient PDF format straight to your inbox! What's nice is that you can reply with a review or your questions like its a private message. I still want you to read and review here but if the site is making that difficult, maybe we can try this? So far, it's only an idea but it would be a nice way to help distribute my stuff elsewhere.
What do you guys think? Let me know about this in PM but for the story, drop a review!
Tori was bemused by a knock on the door.
"Hello?" she asked, leaning against it.
"It's me!"
She blinked and opened the door to reveal Andre.
"How are you holding up?" he asked with a wince.
The Latina scoffed.
"Just fuckin' dandy!" she stepped aside. "But it's been too quiet so please come in."
He nodded and had a look around as he entered.
"Nice place! I've driven past here so much and never saw inside one of the rooms before."
"Really?" Tori asked, arms folded. "You never had to bust someone out here?"
"Now you know more than anyone that motels near the interstate are the true hotbeds of crime." He sat down on the red couch. "But...I've been to the office once or twice to talk with the manager if they'd seen anybody passing through."
Tori huffed and planted herself beside her partner.
"I'd ask you how the case is going, but I'm sure its confidential."
"Don't worry," the black man sighed. "Didn't exactly get any new developments. We got a new psychologist to shrink Bircham."
She blew out a puff of air.
"That's a big fella; would take a lot of shrinking!"
Andre chuckled.
"Are you done for the day?" Tori asked, noticing it was early evening.
"Pretty much," Andre shrugged. "Was on my to the hospital."
He stood up to a surprised Tori.
"What's going on?"
"They're letting out Traylor." Then his eyes squinted, finally revealing his reason for coming. "Why don't you come with?"
She raised a brow.
"What? Why?"
"She really wants to meet her rescuer." He took Tori's hands and attempted to drag her up. "Come on!"
Tori groaned.
"NO! She can see Sinjin!"
"UH-UH!" he smirked. "Traylor wants to say thanks to BOTH of her rescuers!"
"Andre!" Tori protested. "I said I'm not going!"
The rest of Jade's day was mired by the constant presence of a federal agent. He was given specific orders to shadow the medical examiner as evidence came into light. However, no knew bodies came into the morgue. With nothing better to do, this unwanted companion was giving the blonde a migraine.
"Do you have to stand so close?"
The man roughly her age cleared his throat and stepped back several paces.
"I'm sorry, Dr. West" he sheepishly smiled. "I've just always been fascinated with the science and stuff."
Jade weighed the option of redirecting his energy toward Cat upstairs in the lab, but she wouldn't do that to a friend. So, she would just grin and bear it.
"Hey!"
His eyes fixed on the wall of cadaver drawers, and he almost sprinted toward them. That got Jade's back up and her eyes were on him like a hawk's.
"Is that the Jane Doe in there?" he pointed, indicating the drawer marked for Donna Blakely.
She stood between him and her body protectively.
"What of it?" Jade shot with a scowl. "And how do you know about her?"
He rubbed his arm.
"I didn't mean to come off so zealous," he said apologetically. "We field agents have to memorize a whole list of most wanted and missing persons. I just learned about Donna Blakely the other day."
Jade relaxed her posture, but she didn't move from her post. She cared more about this girl's well-being dead than her family ever did when she was alive.
"How did you ID her?" he asked.
She sighed heavily.
"Listen, Agent...um..."
"Marquardt," he nodded.
The medical examiner shrugged.
"Whatever. Will you take a nice, long break - like the rest of the day - if I tell you?"
Agent Marquardt nodded.
Jade motioned for him to step aside so she could open the drawer, only as far as her shoulders. She removed the protective covering to reveal Donna's face.
"This your first dead body?" she asked him.
The man shook his head.
"No, but I can't say it gets any easier."
"That's fair," Jade told him. "Anyway, I ran her face through some databases, and she was spotted in some photos on social media. I then contacted the boy in the pictures, and he identified her. Of course, I also had her school ID which led me to her records."
Marquardt folded his arms.
"Well, thank God for that nose of yours. It's great that she has a name."
The FBI dork was a bit eager and kind of annoying, but his heart seemed in the right place.
"Did you contact her family?"
"I dunno..." Jade pursed her lips. "Did you guys contact Heather Jacobs' family?"
He froze.
"What?"
"You didn't...did you?"
Agent Marquardt bit his lip. He then leaned in close as if they weren't the only ones in the room.
"Dr. West...uh...you see, the boss is under a lot of stress, and he would rather get a hold of her parents when they have something...concrete."
"Basically, your boss wants to make sure Jacobs is definitely deceased before saying anything," the doctor raised a brow. "That's the reason you're bothering me. To peek at the corpses and be sure Jacobs isn't down here!"
He stared at the floor.
"I'll save you the trouble, buddy...Donna is pretty lonesome down here. Other cadavers had already been identified and shipped off for burial or cremation."
An idea flashed in her eyes.
"You looking for something to do, Marquardt?"
"Huh?" he blinked.
"While the big dick in charge doesn't have a corpse, I do. But I've been having problems contacting Miss Blakely's next of kin. Maybe you can help me with that..." she licked her lips. "And in return I can stay quiet about this little withholding of pertinent information that Heather's family should really know."
Marquardt ran his hands over his head hard as he groaned.
"That's extortion."
Jade covered Donna's face and slid her back into the wall without breaking eye contact.
"You're goddamn right!"
"We're almost there!" he nodded.
Tori just stared out the window, watching the setting sun.
"Thought they let patients out in the morning," she sighed.
"Yeah, but she was tied up for hours with the FBI telling them what she told us," he explained. "From what I heard, she didn't deviate from her statement."
Andre was glad Beck had recorded the confession that evening from Traylor. Had she waited until now to spill her guts, Agent Crowley might have kept the Langley cops in the dark. He anticipated some underhanded tactics to box him and Beck out of the proceedings. They already went after Tori.
The reason Tori didn't wish to go with Andre was she figured word had spread around like it usually does and everyone would be looking at her differently. As far as she was concerned, her reputation was tarnished once more. Even if they gave her the option to be reinstated, would Tori even take it?
(Maybe coming here was a mistake.)
The pair made their way to the second floor where Traylor was finally out of those lousy hospital duds and back in something from home. Andre took the liberty picking up a dark green hoodie, some jeans and a pair of sneakers to wear out. However, this girl was going commando. Traylor knew better than to ask him to also grab some undergarments from her place lest his head would explode.
She smirked how the detective was a gentleman to a fault sometimes. But Traylor admitted a guy who was "too sweet" was better than the alternative.
"Hey, Traylor!" Andre smiled, turning to his partner. "This is Tori..."
Traylor yelped and latched onto the Latina, fighting the urge to cry.
"...Vega," he finished.
(I guess she remembered her face.)
The tall cop felt awkward for a moment but gently hugged her back.
"Thank God you were there!"
"It was...nothing..." Tori said, shaking her head slightly.
Andre looked concerned as her grip tightened and her breathing got sporadic.
"I heard your voice!" Traylor sniffed, her eyes glistening. "The car stopped and I heard sirens but I thought it was my imagination at first."
Tori pursed her lips as the shaking woman went on. The cop found herself holding onto her like she couldn't stand on her own. Traylor had been doing exponentially better in the days that followed but seeing Tori transported her right back to that fateful day when she was freed of that nightmare. Andre knew she had a road ahead and he would give her the patience and understanding she needed.
"Then I heard you, Tori! I heard you...I..." she made a knocking gesture. "I banged and banged and you heard me!" Her grip managed to tighten even further. "THANK YOU! THANK YOU!"
She continued to cry into her shoulder, whispering about how she was almost dead, almost gone. But she prayed and God sent an angel that day. Traylor swore to Tori that she will never forget what she did for her.
Tori was beginning to get emotional too, feeling her own tears forming. Now she really hugged Traylor back, feeling the bond they shared. She looked over to Andre who was standing with his arms folded looking pleased with himself.
(This was your plan all along, huh?)
Traylor finally got the nerve to let go of her savior, apologizing for making her shirt wet with all of the sobbing. Tori said it was fine and she was glad they could meet on better terms than back on the side of the road.
"You know..." Andre mused, getting both of the ladies' attention. "Think they're letting Sinjin out tomorrow morning. Why don't we pay him a visit?"
The threesome came across a pretty packed room.
Sinjin was sitting up in his hospital bed, looking like he was well on the mend. His mother and father were standing close by talking to someone. Turned out to be Dr. Reynolds and his wife, Camille. The good doctor was steadying himself with a cane.
Camille noticed the visitors and nodded, recognizing Andre.
"Hello there!" she smiled, her eyes showing they had cried (presumably) happy tears.
Greg turned to acknowledge the detectives with a friendly grin.
"Look who's here!" the pathologist said with enthusiasm. "My noble knights who came to my assistance!"
The tall blonde eyed Tori and leaned forward.
"I'm sorry, have we met before?"
"No, ma'am" Tori shook her head. "I'm Detective Tori Vega."
Camille's eyes went huge.
"Not the Tori Vega who chased down that car!"
The brown-haired woman shrugged.
"Told you she was a badass," Sinjin whispered to his father.
"That's right, honey" Greg grinned turning to his wife. "She..." pointing to Tori. "...chased down the son of a bitch while Andre stayed with me until the ambulance arrived."
Sinjin cleared his throat.
"And Tori stayed with me until the paramedics came."
"Only because you kept Sasquatch at bay so I could find her," Tori gestured to Traylor who ran over to hold both her and Sinjin's hands.
"Well, well, we've got a bunch of heroes in this room!"
Tori blushed at Dr Reynolds' declaration.
"Yeah, they are!" Traylor added, looking over at Sinjin and his family, who now saw the face of the woman their son helped liberate.
As they said their pleasantries and goodbyes, they left the Van Cleefs alone and continued down the corridor.
"So, Doc...how have you been feeling?" asked Andre.
"Touch and go, but this thing helps," he nodded, indicating his new walking stick. "Have you seen Jade?"
Tori's face immediately fell at the mention of the medical examiner.
"I'm gonna get a drink of water," she sighed wandering over to the fountain.
"Jade?" Andre nodded. "Yeah, we talked a little."
"She said all she could think of was getting home when she heard the news," Camille smiled.
"That Jade's a real one!" Greg agreed.
By this point, Tori returned to the group.
"Tori! Did you meet Jade yet?"
The tan cop frowned and crossed her arms.
"Oh, we've met."
Camille picked up on that tone straight away. Those two ladies definitely didn't get along. She knew Jade well enough and this Tori, what little she had seen and heard, appeared like a nice person. Sometimes personalities just didn't click for whatever reason. That's a shame, she thought.
Andre's phone rang and he saw it was Beck.
"Yeah?"
He looked over at Tori very serious.
"I'll be right there."
"What's up?" she asked her partner.
"Looks like our guy struck again...sort of."
Greg and Camille exchanged looks.
Andre gave an apologetic face and was off with Tori on his heels.
"What the hell is sort of?" she asked.
Flashing lights alerted to them to the crime scene.
Andre pushed his way past the onlookers and came to find an older man with a white mustache. He was covered with a blanket and had a nasty gash on his head, which EMT's were addressing. Beck was crouched beside him, writing down information.
"Sir, what happened?" asked the detective.
The shaken civilian glanced up at the man and coughed.
"I was telling him that...I...I...w-w-was...j-just...ch-ch-changing the t-t-tire and..."
"He says he can't remember the rest," Beck sighed.
The Canadian stood up to stand beside his partner.
"Looking at these prints in the dirt..." he pointed a few feet from them. "And the fact that Mr. Owen was incapacitated with a single blow..."
"Whoever got the surprise on the driver was a large man," Andre finished.
"Right," nodded Beck.
Andre leaned his palm against the squad car beside him.
"What makes you think it's Bircham?"
Beck explained that a passing motorist caught the act right when it happened. They could barely see the victim as he was on one knee but they got a good look at his attacker. Fits Hal's description pretty closely. Obviously, they couldn't stop and intervene but they called police to report what they saw.
"Guess our fugitive is no longer on foot," Andre sighed.
They looked up to see Agent Crowley and his cronies marching to the scene.
"Is it him?" the man in charge asked.
Beck stiffened as he answered, "We've reason to believe Hal Bircham carjacked that man."
Crowley noticed Andre near him.
"Harris! You got here quick, very good." He sneered at the woman leaning against Andre's car. "What is she doing here?"
Andre turned, making eye contact with Tori.
"I was her ride," he answered with a cocked brow. "What was I supposed to do?"
The federal agent huffed and leaned in closer to the detective.
"Don't get cute with me, Harris. Sorry that your...friend is off the case. But however you feel about that, I expect you to stay in line with this investigation."
Andre snickered at the old man and tilted his head.
"You might come in here thinking I'm some dumb cop in a one horse town. But this isn't Mayberry RFD and I am no Barney Fife!"
(Thank you, Nostalgia Channel)
"No need to get nasty...sir. Just be real with me and we'll get along fine."
Beck waved in the distance for him.
"Excuse me, Special Agent..." he smirked. "But I really must speak with my partner right now."
He politely but briskly walked away. Crowley sighed and then locked eyes with Tori, making a silent warning, before walking away.
"What's up?"
"This has gotten...more complicated," Beck replied, looking concerned.
Andre blinked and leaned in.
"What's wrong?"
Beck looked back at the victim.
"He told me he was spooked at first by all of the brass running around but he couldn't sit on this."
"Sit on what?" Beck shrugged.
"The driver had a pistol hidden under the seat."
The senior detective's blood chilled.
"What?" he whispered.
"It's registered to Mr. Owen but...he didn't have a license to conceal so he broke the law having it stowed in his car."
Andre ran his hands over his head.
This changed everything. Now, Hal Bircham was mobile and armed!
A/N: My birthday's coming up this weekend, so I'll take it easy (shoveling snow aside) so drop a review if you would!