Devils & Gods 4/12
Apr. 26th, 2012 05:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
whedonistTitle: Devils & Gods
Fandom: Nikki & Nora
Pairing: Nikki & Nora
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Nikki & Nora are not mine, but it kinda feels like they are. The characters from the pilot aren't either. BUT - there's a whole lot of original ones that are in this little story so...*yay* for me.
Author’s Note: Nada.
Ch. 4 – Fall Short
Wearily, I look around the conference room. We lost a third of the team just after seven p.m. The rest of us were left with cold take out from a Thai place down the street and waning energy. Nikki reached her limit on cups of coffee two trips ago. Mine happened right after the take out.
Dr. Malone still isn’t back from the labs and no doubt Charlie and Benton cornered her into helping them run tests. The other Dr. Malone is sitting opposite her father trying to get the particulars on those pads they think are being used.
The remainder of us, me, Nikki, John, Ann, Travis, Luce and Benny are looking through faxed copies of Addison’s military past. The file they included in the report was the basics. The report John got through a contact over at the D.O.D. is a damn novel.
Now it’s just a matter of seeing if there are any repeated names that pop up.
I rub my eyes and stifle a yawn. Three a.m. is way too early to be up and moving on only two hours sleep.
A nap’d be kinda nice right now.
It’d also be nice to know whatever Ann and John are thinking. They haven’t said anything really…
They just keep exchanging these looks. Ann’s given a pointed ‘fuck you’ look twice now and John’s blatantly goaded her. Like right now, Ann looks like she’s ready to strangle him. He looks unconcerned as he hunches over the table and folds his arms in front of him to lean on.
She sucks her teeth and glares.
He stares back blankly.
I almost want to start drawing little thought bubbles over their head to fill in the silent conversation.
I grab the cap to my pen and decide to get in on this. I launch the small piece of plastic her way. It bounces off her forehead with a solid thwap, startling her out of her stare down with John.
I cock an eyebrow at her and she gives a small shake of her head.
Does she really think that’s going to work?
Granted, on most, it may. Ann’s strong features, set jaw and steady blue gaze would usually do the trick on most.
I’ve known her way too long.
I do know enough to understand that I’m walking a fine line with her right now. A little too much and she’ll clam up and stay pissed. A little soft and she’ll take it as a joke.
Whatever they’re pointedly not talking about over there doesn’t look to be worthy of jokes.
I look at John. He raises his arms in the classic ‘what are you gonna do’ gesture. I narrow my eyes.
“Okay,” Nikki interrupts the three of us. “I’m not sure what ya’all are doing, but I’ve seen enough. One of you start talking.”
I wince at the tone.
I hate that tone.
It’s worse than the ‘go pick a switch’ tone my mom uses.
It’s Nikki’s ‘I’m withholding sex until you do as I ask’ tone.
Ann rolls her eyes and grumbles at John, “I hate you sometimes, ass.” She then looks at me and snips, “You couldn’t keep out of it?”
I shake my head.
“What gives?” Nikki prods again and rests back on the chair.
Ann glances to the other members of her team and gives a brief tilt of her head before explaining, “There were a few pieces of information purposefully left out of the file Spencer put together.”
My mouth falls open and Ann holds up a finger. “Now, wait a minute,” her eyes skirt from me, to Nikki and then to Benny, “It’s not a matter of trust, it was a matter of who was on the plane with us when those packets were put together.”
My mouth snaps shut.
Why would it matter who…
“What are you hiding from Jill?” Nikki asks before I can.
A weary sigh passes through lips covered by the hand running down Ann’s face. The hand drops to the table and begins to fidget with her pen. “I didn’t want her seeing the letter and the personal message left for me at the Seevers’ crime scene.”
Ann leans down and comes back up with a few photocopied papers. She slides the stack my way. Passing a copy each to Benny then Nikki, I keep the last one for myself and scan the document.
Dear Special Agent Flemming,
Given the obtuse nature of those that pepper your profession, Mrs. Barbara Seevers graciously extended her willingness to help, by allowing me to leave you this gift. I hope you find in her death the answers she sacrificed herself for.
--“All great things must first wear terrifying and monstrous masks in order to inscribe themselves on the hearts of humanity.”
May your travels treat you and your loved ones well.
A chill started creeping up my spine as I read Ann’s name, the feeling turns to ice as I finish the note.
The fucker’s threatening her…and by extension, Jill as well.
“We found out about Seevers from an anonymous tip that came through an old eight-hundred line we had set up for Lullaby in New York. It’s actually how we traced it back to Jefferson City. It,” she groans out, “appears our unsub has a mild fixation directed my way.”
I drop the paper and stare back at Ann. She has the good sense to find the table top interesting while informing us, “Jill doesn’t know and right now, I’d like to keep it that way.”
“And just how long do you think that’s going to keep up?” Nikki snips. There’s a little too much bite in her tone and I snap my gaze her way.
I trample down the vocal warning. Opting instead to slide my hand underneath the table and run it up her thigh.
“As long as necessary,” Ann snaps back equally.
“Are you brain dead?” I calmly ask her. “Look where you’re at, Ann. You’re here, in New Orleans, where, I don’t know Ann, you started your career?”
“Or,” Nikki gets in on my rant, “that Nora’s here? ‘Cause if anyone’s paid half attention to you or are doing what we know they’re doing, stalking you. They’d know that you still have ties here and that we were with you and Jill in L.A. at the premiere. You think Addison ending up here is a coincidence?”
Ann licks her lips and slumps back in her chair. “No,” she finally says. “I’m not brain dead. Yes, it did occur to me and yes, I’m aware that Nora…” She looks at Nikki pointedly, “and you are here. I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”
“Well,” Benny interrupts the glaring being directed Ann’s way. “I think that gives us all additional food for thought.” I turn my head and see that he’s resting his hands on top of his head. His fingers over lap and tap against the tops of his hands as he speaks, “I also think that, and pardon my French, this mother fucker’s got another thing coming if he’s gonna try and lay a hand on my lesbians.” He winks at me or Nikki. I can’t be sure which. “As the lesbro to these two, and in the words of another dear lesbian friend, I’ll cut a mother fucker that tries or y’know, just shoot him ‘cause I can.”
The federal agents, Ann included, stare mouth agape at Benny.
And I totally get it. I would too if I didn’t work with him regularly.
“Gabby’s been a bad influence on you and you need to quit hanging out with her and Casey,” Nikki warns, smacking our friend on the back of his shiny baled head.
It does have the effect Ben intended as the once shocked agents erupt into a fit of giggles. I watch amused as Benny and Nikki start ‘girl-fighting’ with each other.
I roll my eyes.
I swear they’re worse than children sometimes.
There’s a catalogue somewhere in the universe that provides every cheap, roadside motel with a wide and varied selection of similarly colored, patterned and materialed necessities one of these dives would ever need to operate and function. The carpet’s a dull brown, thinning and a little grimy. The bed spread matches the prison color orange of the drapes. The small table in front of the window is, I swear, the same one that my dad tossed when he bought mama the solid oak piece that still takes up residence in her dining room.
I’m half tempted to look underneath and see if my crayon marks are on its underside.
I don’t, but if they were, it wouldn’t shock me.
The king bed is slumped in the center, but made. The pine scented cleanser cannot mask the years people have spent smoking, screwing and getting wasted in this room.
“Why didn’t we wait until morning?” Nikki grumbles from the other side of the bed rummaging through Addison’s lone suitcase.
“’Cause Det. Barrett couldn’t leave his wife and it makes no sense to call the entire team in when Spencer and Bamby are really the only ones that need to process the scene,” Ann answers going through the dresser in front of the bed. “John needed the rest and I was too antsy to sleep,” she follows up.
“Right,” Nikki deadpans and huffs, tossing one soiled shirt after another on the bed. “Well, next time, do like the rest of us do, and take a bath or have sex or masturbate.”
I snicker. Ann gives a low chuckle.
“I’ll keep that in mind, Beaumont,” she laughs Nikki’s jibe off.
I do catch Nikki’s eyes and frown down at her. She needs to lay off Ann. I know she’s less than thrilled with being kept in the dark about how this case’s turned personal. She’s worried just as much as me.
She’s not near as worried as Annie. I can see it in her. She looked tired coming off the plane. Weary and rumpled. Tonight, she looks older than she needs too.
Sighing, I drop to my knees and shine my flashlight under the bed. I sweep left to right and bottom to top. I stop as my light hits where the box spring and headboard meet. I frown at the edge of a manila orange envelope hanging down.
I right myself and say, “Ann, help me.”
She spins on one sneakered foot and raises an eyebrow.
“There’s something between the bed and the headboard. We need to get to it. Grab the camera and markers please?”
Nikki shuffles the clothes she was putting on the bed on to the floor and takes the markers to hold in place as Ann snaps a few pictures of the bed’s placement in the room. Once she’s finished, I take the mattress and slide it down to reveal the top edge of a letter-sized envelope.
“Nik, give me a marker or two and then we’ll move the box spring,” Ann directs and snaps a few pictures once Nikki has the markers in place. My partner holds on to the top edge of the envelope as I slide the box spring down to free the package.
Pinched between two latex covered fingers, Ann snaps off a few more pictures of the envelope’s placement for records.
We all hiss, “Fuck,” when Ann’s name is revealed to be neatly printed along the front. A few more pictures are snapped before Nikki and Ann move away so I can right the bed, sliding the box spring and mattress back into place with a few hard thrusts from my thighs.
“Where do you want to open that?” I ask and plant my tongue in my cheek.
Ann swallows and sets the camera down next to the evidence collection box she brought with her. She pulls out a folded plastic sheet and a few evidence bags. Unfolding the sheet, she lays it across the table and Nikki sets it down. I pick up the camera, grab the L-shaped ruler to place along the items edge for reference and snap one pic of the front and one of the back.
Producing a knife from the inside pocket of her navy flight jacket. She carefully slits the top edge open. Holding the edges between her flat palms, Ann over turns the package, dumping the items inside straight down on to the sheet.
The insides cause a sharp thud to sound against the plastic as they fall. The envelop is placed in a bag, labeled, initialed and sealed to start the chain of evidence. Placing it at the top edge of the sheet, Ann goes back to the pile and says, “Nora, start snapping.”
I oblige and look through the viewer on the camera, snapping pictures as she separates out the contents. I notice some glossy pictures and a single sheet of paper. The pictures are five-by-sevens, some black and white, mostly colored though. My friend takes great care in laying them out. The slight tremble in her hand does not go unnoticed.
I bite back the instinct to try and calm her. We have a job to focus on and working with Nikki, I’ve gotten used to shoving down those instant urges.
Once the items are all laid bare, I move to the front center of the table to snap a clear lay out with markers in place.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I remove the camera from eye level and look down. The knot and nausea are instantaneous. Varied images of Ann and Jill, one of them out in front of their home in Virginia, one of them at the premiere of Jill’s movie is next to each other. There are two of Nikki and me, one at the same premiere and another walking Mister around our neighborhood on a day off not too long ago by the looks of it. There’s one of the four of us and Lee at the premiere and another only of Ann, a little younger looking, walking towards her old Acura Integra, J.D, laughing on her cell phone with her sunglasses pushing her hair back away from her face.
My jaw clenches and the plastic case of the camera squeaks underneath my grip.
The letter is at the bottom right hand corner. The same neat script as the photocopied one Ann gave us earlier tonight stares back at me.
“Can…” Ann’s voice falters behind me. I look over my shoulder and see her sitting on the edge of the bed, her head lowered between her knees.
She doesn’t need to ask. I read the letter to her and Nikki:
Dear Special Agent Flemming,
I hope this letter finds it in to your very capable hands. I was compelled to share with you some of my favorite images of you and your dearest loved ones. You have quite the aesthetically pleasing group to call your own. Many of us are not that lucky. If you find yourself a religious person, although I have evidence to suggest the contrary, give thanks that you are blessed in such a way.
I will say I was most taken with the performance your wife gave in her debut. I have to wonder if she screams just as well in real life as she does on the silver screen.
At any rate, I leave you with this…
---“Devils and Gods now that’s an idea, but if we believe that it’s they who decide, that’s the ultimate detractor of crimes. ’Cause Devils and Gods, they are You and I…”
Be seeing you.
We hover.
Outside the entrance to the room is where we started.
The twins put a stop to that. Bamby saying that we were making her nervous. Spencer just grunted something about not being incompetent lay-women.
We moved the hovering to the edge of the walkway. It lasted five minutes when Spencer poked her head outside the door and informed us that we were still sending “vibes” inside and it was throwing their “mojo” off.
Currently, Ann and I are leaning against Frankie and trying to think of our next steps. Nikki went to rouse the night manager and get the full folio on Addison. I think she just wanted to leave the two of us to fret together.
I am thankful. I need to see where my friend’s head is at.
Inching over, I snake my hand around Ann’s waist, bypassing her gun, cuffs and extra clips to settle on her far hip and offer a squeeze. She slumps against me, leaning her head on my shoulder and I rest my cheek on top of her head.
The night sky is once again clear. The storm from a few days ago has past. For mid-September, we’re having some pretty nice weather. I wonder where else it would be pretty right now?
Southern California? Texas, maybe? The Florida Keys?
Some place tropical and warm where the sun shines and at night, the evenings are still warm enough to not need a jacket.
“Let’s send them away,” I think out loud. “We don’t need to tell them, just shove the tickets, a packed bag and some sun screen in their hands when we drop them off at the airport.”
Ann snickers. “Who?”
“Jill, Nikki, my mom, brothers, Lee, Jill’s parents. You pick…”
“We could send all of them,” she sighs and wraps her arms around my waist, burrowing into my side and burying her face in the crook of my neck.
“Hmm,” I hum. “Good idea.”
Her laugh is bitter, hollow. It’s a sound I’m not used to hearing come from her. It causes my chest to tighten in ways I don’t like to think about.
“Nikki’d kill me if I send her away,” I admit. “She’ll kill me, bring me back, kick my ass and then kill me again for even suggesting it.”
Ann just nods her reply against me and I sigh.
“I can’t send Jill away,” Ann mumbles against the skin of my neck. Her lips causing a slight tremor to course down my spine. Her warm breath causes goose bumps. “I was thinking about it before you called us down here. Send her and her family away. I can’t.”
“’Cause she wouldn’t go?” I try to figure out.
Ann finally picks her head up to look at me. The tears that she’s preventing from falling magnify her pretty blue eyes and she shakes her head then shrugs. “Well, probably, she’d kill me too if she knew.” My friend runs a hand through her disheveled hair and pushes it back off her face. “What I mean,” she clenches her eyes shut and tightens the hold on her brown locks, “is that I can’t. I need to see her. I need to be able to touch her. It’ll drive me crazy. What if he chases after her instead? What if she’s too far away from me to get to in time?” Ann shakes her head and drops her hand to her side.
I reach out and catch the tear that leaked from the corner of her left eye and wipe it on my jeans.
“Having her by me keeps me grounded,” she whimpers and I take hold of her hand. “So,” she breathes and shudders before opening her eyes, “I’m a selfish bitch, and it’s not a horrible idea, but I can’t.”
I only nod.
There’s really not much else to say to that.
I feel the same about Nikki.
I may joke, but it’d kill me to think that he went after her and I couldn’t get to her.
“Then we need to tell her, Annie,” I say gently. “She needs to be in the loop so she can keep an eye out for anything funny.”
She nods and agrees, “I’ll tell her when we get home.”
I’m about to tell her that we should go home when Nikki comes sauntering back, paperwork in hand.
Ann sees her approach and excuses herself, “I’m going to go check on the girls. I’ll be back in a few and then we can head home once they’ve wrapped the scene up?”
I nod and watch her retreat, only feeling Nikki slide in next to me and tuck me into her side.
“You okay?” she asks kissing the top of my head.
I shrug.
“I’m not sure,” I admit. “I’m worried.”
“For who?” she asks gently, smoothing my hair down and running her nails along my scalp.
“Her. You. Jill. Hell, babe, take your pick,” I admit a little bitterly. “We’ve seen this guy’s work.”
“I’ll be more at ease once we close this case too, sug,” she agrees with me.
I right myself a little; just enough to crane my neck back and look her over. Her brown eyes shine a deep shade of black and her mouth is turned down ever so slightly. I press a firm, closed mouth kiss to her lips, soaking in the warmth, reassurance and love she offers as her hands take hold of my hips to press harder against her.
Eventually, the kiss dissolves into a few light pecks and I end up resting my head against her chest, listening to the steady beat of her heart.
“Love you, Nik,” I say quietly as I see Ann approach.
She kisses the top of my head and nods. “Me too.”
“So, the Bobbsey Twins are wrapping it up and told us to go. You two ready to get home or should you just go rent a room?” Ann finally manages a smile. It’s fake and completely forced.
I’ll give her credit for effort though.
“Please,” Nikki hisses. “I’d be caught dead naked at the D.A.R. before I rented a room here.”
“Too low-class?” Ann teases her.
“Hell no,” Nikki doesn’t let it get to her. “Nora’s allergic to shag carpeting. Her ass’d get a rash and I’d never hear the end of it!”
I push off her and roll my eyes.
“You’ve spoilt the working-class girl I met ages ago,” Ann says letting Nikki wrap her arm across her shoulders.
“You know she’s caving on the maid?” Nikki’s conspiratorial whisper does not go unheard of by me.
Ann cuts me a look and winks. “Next thing you know, Nik, she’ll be wanting a chauffeur.”
They giggle together like a couple of school girls at my expense. I glare and decide on the best way to give as good as I’m getting, but when Ann looks up at me, the smile she has is genuine. I let their teasing go and decide that my annoyance isn’t much of a price to see that smile.
Next>>>
Fandom: Nikki & Nora
Pairing: Nikki & Nora
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Nikki & Nora are not mine, but it kinda feels like they are. The characters from the pilot aren't either. BUT - there's a whole lot of original ones that are in this little story so...*yay* for me.
Author’s Note: Nada.
Wearily, I look around the conference room. We lost a third of the team just after seven p.m. The rest of us were left with cold take out from a Thai place down the street and waning energy. Nikki reached her limit on cups of coffee two trips ago. Mine happened right after the take out.
Dr. Malone still isn’t back from the labs and no doubt Charlie and Benton cornered her into helping them run tests. The other Dr. Malone is sitting opposite her father trying to get the particulars on those pads they think are being used.
The remainder of us, me, Nikki, John, Ann, Travis, Luce and Benny are looking through faxed copies of Addison’s military past. The file they included in the report was the basics. The report John got through a contact over at the D.O.D. is a damn novel.
Now it’s just a matter of seeing if there are any repeated names that pop up.
I rub my eyes and stifle a yawn. Three a.m. is way too early to be up and moving on only two hours sleep.
A nap’d be kinda nice right now.
It’d also be nice to know whatever Ann and John are thinking. They haven’t said anything really…
They just keep exchanging these looks. Ann’s given a pointed ‘fuck you’ look twice now and John’s blatantly goaded her. Like right now, Ann looks like she’s ready to strangle him. He looks unconcerned as he hunches over the table and folds his arms in front of him to lean on.
She sucks her teeth and glares.
He stares back blankly.
I almost want to start drawing little thought bubbles over their head to fill in the silent conversation.
I grab the cap to my pen and decide to get in on this. I launch the small piece of plastic her way. It bounces off her forehead with a solid thwap, startling her out of her stare down with John.
I cock an eyebrow at her and she gives a small shake of her head.
Does she really think that’s going to work?
Granted, on most, it may. Ann’s strong features, set jaw and steady blue gaze would usually do the trick on most.
I’ve known her way too long.
I do know enough to understand that I’m walking a fine line with her right now. A little too much and she’ll clam up and stay pissed. A little soft and she’ll take it as a joke.
Whatever they’re pointedly not talking about over there doesn’t look to be worthy of jokes.
I look at John. He raises his arms in the classic ‘what are you gonna do’ gesture. I narrow my eyes.
“Okay,” Nikki interrupts the three of us. “I’m not sure what ya’all are doing, but I’ve seen enough. One of you start talking.”
I wince at the tone.
I hate that tone.
It’s worse than the ‘go pick a switch’ tone my mom uses.
It’s Nikki’s ‘I’m withholding sex until you do as I ask’ tone.
Ann rolls her eyes and grumbles at John, “I hate you sometimes, ass.” She then looks at me and snips, “You couldn’t keep out of it?”
I shake my head.
“What gives?” Nikki prods again and rests back on the chair.
Ann glances to the other members of her team and gives a brief tilt of her head before explaining, “There were a few pieces of information purposefully left out of the file Spencer put together.”
My mouth falls open and Ann holds up a finger. “Now, wait a minute,” her eyes skirt from me, to Nikki and then to Benny, “It’s not a matter of trust, it was a matter of who was on the plane with us when those packets were put together.”
My mouth snaps shut.
Why would it matter who…
“What are you hiding from Jill?” Nikki asks before I can.
A weary sigh passes through lips covered by the hand running down Ann’s face. The hand drops to the table and begins to fidget with her pen. “I didn’t want her seeing the letter and the personal message left for me at the Seevers’ crime scene.”
Ann leans down and comes back up with a few photocopied papers. She slides the stack my way. Passing a copy each to Benny then Nikki, I keep the last one for myself and scan the document.
Given the obtuse nature of those that pepper your profession, Mrs. Barbara Seevers graciously extended her willingness to help, by allowing me to leave you this gift. I hope you find in her death the answers she sacrificed herself for.
--“All great things must first wear terrifying and monstrous masks in order to inscribe themselves on the hearts of humanity.”
May your travels treat you and your loved ones well.
A chill started creeping up my spine as I read Ann’s name, the feeling turns to ice as I finish the note.
The fucker’s threatening her…and by extension, Jill as well.
“We found out about Seevers from an anonymous tip that came through an old eight-hundred line we had set up for Lullaby in New York. It’s actually how we traced it back to Jefferson City. It,” she groans out, “appears our unsub has a mild fixation directed my way.”
I drop the paper and stare back at Ann. She has the good sense to find the table top interesting while informing us, “Jill doesn’t know and right now, I’d like to keep it that way.”
“And just how long do you think that’s going to keep up?” Nikki snips. There’s a little too much bite in her tone and I snap my gaze her way.
I trample down the vocal warning. Opting instead to slide my hand underneath the table and run it up her thigh.
“As long as necessary,” Ann snaps back equally.
“Are you brain dead?” I calmly ask her. “Look where you’re at, Ann. You’re here, in New Orleans, where, I don’t know Ann, you started your career?”
“Or,” Nikki gets in on my rant, “that Nora’s here? ‘Cause if anyone’s paid half attention to you or are doing what we know they’re doing, stalking you. They’d know that you still have ties here and that we were with you and Jill in L.A. at the premiere. You think Addison ending up here is a coincidence?”
Ann licks her lips and slumps back in her chair. “No,” she finally says. “I’m not brain dead. Yes, it did occur to me and yes, I’m aware that Nora…” She looks at Nikki pointedly, “and you are here. I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”
“Well,” Benny interrupts the glaring being directed Ann’s way. “I think that gives us all additional food for thought.” I turn my head and see that he’s resting his hands on top of his head. His fingers over lap and tap against the tops of his hands as he speaks, “I also think that, and pardon my French, this mother fucker’s got another thing coming if he’s gonna try and lay a hand on my lesbians.” He winks at me or Nikki. I can’t be sure which. “As the lesbro to these two, and in the words of another dear lesbian friend, I’ll cut a mother fucker that tries or y’know, just shoot him ‘cause I can.”
The federal agents, Ann included, stare mouth agape at Benny.
And I totally get it. I would too if I didn’t work with him regularly.
“Gabby’s been a bad influence on you and you need to quit hanging out with her and Casey,” Nikki warns, smacking our friend on the back of his shiny baled head.
It does have the effect Ben intended as the once shocked agents erupt into a fit of giggles. I watch amused as Benny and Nikki start ‘girl-fighting’ with each other.
I roll my eyes.
I swear they’re worse than children sometimes.
There’s a catalogue somewhere in the universe that provides every cheap, roadside motel with a wide and varied selection of similarly colored, patterned and materialed necessities one of these dives would ever need to operate and function. The carpet’s a dull brown, thinning and a little grimy. The bed spread matches the prison color orange of the drapes. The small table in front of the window is, I swear, the same one that my dad tossed when he bought mama the solid oak piece that still takes up residence in her dining room.
I’m half tempted to look underneath and see if my crayon marks are on its underside.
I don’t, but if they were, it wouldn’t shock me.
The king bed is slumped in the center, but made. The pine scented cleanser cannot mask the years people have spent smoking, screwing and getting wasted in this room.
“Why didn’t we wait until morning?” Nikki grumbles from the other side of the bed rummaging through Addison’s lone suitcase.
“’Cause Det. Barrett couldn’t leave his wife and it makes no sense to call the entire team in when Spencer and Bamby are really the only ones that need to process the scene,” Ann answers going through the dresser in front of the bed. “John needed the rest and I was too antsy to sleep,” she follows up.
“Right,” Nikki deadpans and huffs, tossing one soiled shirt after another on the bed. “Well, next time, do like the rest of us do, and take a bath or have sex or masturbate.”
I snicker. Ann gives a low chuckle.
“I’ll keep that in mind, Beaumont,” she laughs Nikki’s jibe off.
I do catch Nikki’s eyes and frown down at her. She needs to lay off Ann. I know she’s less than thrilled with being kept in the dark about how this case’s turned personal. She’s worried just as much as me.
She’s not near as worried as Annie. I can see it in her. She looked tired coming off the plane. Weary and rumpled. Tonight, she looks older than she needs too.
Sighing, I drop to my knees and shine my flashlight under the bed. I sweep left to right and bottom to top. I stop as my light hits where the box spring and headboard meet. I frown at the edge of a manila orange envelope hanging down.
I right myself and say, “Ann, help me.”
She spins on one sneakered foot and raises an eyebrow.
“There’s something between the bed and the headboard. We need to get to it. Grab the camera and markers please?”
Nikki shuffles the clothes she was putting on the bed on to the floor and takes the markers to hold in place as Ann snaps a few pictures of the bed’s placement in the room. Once she’s finished, I take the mattress and slide it down to reveal the top edge of a letter-sized envelope.
“Nik, give me a marker or two and then we’ll move the box spring,” Ann directs and snaps a few pictures once Nikki has the markers in place. My partner holds on to the top edge of the envelope as I slide the box spring down to free the package.
Pinched between two latex covered fingers, Ann snaps off a few more pictures of the envelope’s placement for records.
We all hiss, “Fuck,” when Ann’s name is revealed to be neatly printed along the front. A few more pictures are snapped before Nikki and Ann move away so I can right the bed, sliding the box spring and mattress back into place with a few hard thrusts from my thighs.
“Where do you want to open that?” I ask and plant my tongue in my cheek.
Ann swallows and sets the camera down next to the evidence collection box she brought with her. She pulls out a folded plastic sheet and a few evidence bags. Unfolding the sheet, she lays it across the table and Nikki sets it down. I pick up the camera, grab the L-shaped ruler to place along the items edge for reference and snap one pic of the front and one of the back.
Producing a knife from the inside pocket of her navy flight jacket. She carefully slits the top edge open. Holding the edges between her flat palms, Ann over turns the package, dumping the items inside straight down on to the sheet.
The insides cause a sharp thud to sound against the plastic as they fall. The envelop is placed in a bag, labeled, initialed and sealed to start the chain of evidence. Placing it at the top edge of the sheet, Ann goes back to the pile and says, “Nora, start snapping.”
I oblige and look through the viewer on the camera, snapping pictures as she separates out the contents. I notice some glossy pictures and a single sheet of paper. The pictures are five-by-sevens, some black and white, mostly colored though. My friend takes great care in laying them out. The slight tremble in her hand does not go unnoticed.
I bite back the instinct to try and calm her. We have a job to focus on and working with Nikki, I’ve gotten used to shoving down those instant urges.
Once the items are all laid bare, I move to the front center of the table to snap a clear lay out with markers in place.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I remove the camera from eye level and look down. The knot and nausea are instantaneous. Varied images of Ann and Jill, one of them out in front of their home in Virginia, one of them at the premiere of Jill’s movie is next to each other. There are two of Nikki and me, one at the same premiere and another walking Mister around our neighborhood on a day off not too long ago by the looks of it. There’s one of the four of us and Lee at the premiere and another only of Ann, a little younger looking, walking towards her old Acura Integra, J.D, laughing on her cell phone with her sunglasses pushing her hair back away from her face.
My jaw clenches and the plastic case of the camera squeaks underneath my grip.
The letter is at the bottom right hand corner. The same neat script as the photocopied one Ann gave us earlier tonight stares back at me.
“Can…” Ann’s voice falters behind me. I look over my shoulder and see her sitting on the edge of the bed, her head lowered between her knees.
She doesn’t need to ask. I read the letter to her and Nikki:
I hope this letter finds it in to your very capable hands. I was compelled to share with you some of my favorite images of you and your dearest loved ones. You have quite the aesthetically pleasing group to call your own. Many of us are not that lucky. If you find yourself a religious person, although I have evidence to suggest the contrary, give thanks that you are blessed in such a way.
I will say I was most taken with the performance your wife gave in her debut. I have to wonder if she screams just as well in real life as she does on the silver screen.
At any rate, I leave you with this…
---“Devils and Gods now that’s an idea, but if we believe that it’s they who decide, that’s the ultimate detractor of crimes. ’Cause Devils and Gods, they are You and I…”
Be seeing you.
We hover.
Outside the entrance to the room is where we started.
The twins put a stop to that. Bamby saying that we were making her nervous. Spencer just grunted something about not being incompetent lay-women.
We moved the hovering to the edge of the walkway. It lasted five minutes when Spencer poked her head outside the door and informed us that we were still sending “vibes” inside and it was throwing their “mojo” off.
Currently, Ann and I are leaning against Frankie and trying to think of our next steps. Nikki went to rouse the night manager and get the full folio on Addison. I think she just wanted to leave the two of us to fret together.
I am thankful. I need to see where my friend’s head is at.
Inching over, I snake my hand around Ann’s waist, bypassing her gun, cuffs and extra clips to settle on her far hip and offer a squeeze. She slumps against me, leaning her head on my shoulder and I rest my cheek on top of her head.
The night sky is once again clear. The storm from a few days ago has past. For mid-September, we’re having some pretty nice weather. I wonder where else it would be pretty right now?
Southern California? Texas, maybe? The Florida Keys?
Some place tropical and warm where the sun shines and at night, the evenings are still warm enough to not need a jacket.
“Let’s send them away,” I think out loud. “We don’t need to tell them, just shove the tickets, a packed bag and some sun screen in their hands when we drop them off at the airport.”
Ann snickers. “Who?”
“Jill, Nikki, my mom, brothers, Lee, Jill’s parents. You pick…”
“We could send all of them,” she sighs and wraps her arms around my waist, burrowing into my side and burying her face in the crook of my neck.
“Hmm,” I hum. “Good idea.”
Her laugh is bitter, hollow. It’s a sound I’m not used to hearing come from her. It causes my chest to tighten in ways I don’t like to think about.
“Nikki’d kill me if I send her away,” I admit. “She’ll kill me, bring me back, kick my ass and then kill me again for even suggesting it.”
Ann just nods her reply against me and I sigh.
“I can’t send Jill away,” Ann mumbles against the skin of my neck. Her lips causing a slight tremor to course down my spine. Her warm breath causes goose bumps. “I was thinking about it before you called us down here. Send her and her family away. I can’t.”
“’Cause she wouldn’t go?” I try to figure out.
Ann finally picks her head up to look at me. The tears that she’s preventing from falling magnify her pretty blue eyes and she shakes her head then shrugs. “Well, probably, she’d kill me too if she knew.” My friend runs a hand through her disheveled hair and pushes it back off her face. “What I mean,” she clenches her eyes shut and tightens the hold on her brown locks, “is that I can’t. I need to see her. I need to be able to touch her. It’ll drive me crazy. What if he chases after her instead? What if she’s too far away from me to get to in time?” Ann shakes her head and drops her hand to her side.
I reach out and catch the tear that leaked from the corner of her left eye and wipe it on my jeans.
“Having her by me keeps me grounded,” she whimpers and I take hold of her hand. “So,” she breathes and shudders before opening her eyes, “I’m a selfish bitch, and it’s not a horrible idea, but I can’t.”
I only nod.
There’s really not much else to say to that.
I feel the same about Nikki.
I may joke, but it’d kill me to think that he went after her and I couldn’t get to her.
“Then we need to tell her, Annie,” I say gently. “She needs to be in the loop so she can keep an eye out for anything funny.”
She nods and agrees, “I’ll tell her when we get home.”
I’m about to tell her that we should go home when Nikki comes sauntering back, paperwork in hand.
Ann sees her approach and excuses herself, “I’m going to go check on the girls. I’ll be back in a few and then we can head home once they’ve wrapped the scene up?”
I nod and watch her retreat, only feeling Nikki slide in next to me and tuck me into her side.
“You okay?” she asks kissing the top of my head.
I shrug.
“I’m not sure,” I admit. “I’m worried.”
“For who?” she asks gently, smoothing my hair down and running her nails along my scalp.
“Her. You. Jill. Hell, babe, take your pick,” I admit a little bitterly. “We’ve seen this guy’s work.”
“I’ll be more at ease once we close this case too, sug,” she agrees with me.
I right myself a little; just enough to crane my neck back and look her over. Her brown eyes shine a deep shade of black and her mouth is turned down ever so slightly. I press a firm, closed mouth kiss to her lips, soaking in the warmth, reassurance and love she offers as her hands take hold of my hips to press harder against her.
Eventually, the kiss dissolves into a few light pecks and I end up resting my head against her chest, listening to the steady beat of her heart.
“Love you, Nik,” I say quietly as I see Ann approach.
She kisses the top of my head and nods. “Me too.”
“So, the Bobbsey Twins are wrapping it up and told us to go. You two ready to get home or should you just go rent a room?” Ann finally manages a smile. It’s fake and completely forced.
I’ll give her credit for effort though.
“Please,” Nikki hisses. “I’d be caught dead naked at the D.A.R. before I rented a room here.”
“Too low-class?” Ann teases her.
“Hell no,” Nikki doesn’t let it get to her. “Nora’s allergic to shag carpeting. Her ass’d get a rash and I’d never hear the end of it!”
I push off her and roll my eyes.
“You’ve spoilt the working-class girl I met ages ago,” Ann says letting Nikki wrap her arm across her shoulders.
“You know she’s caving on the maid?” Nikki’s conspiratorial whisper does not go unheard of by me.
Ann cuts me a look and winks. “Next thing you know, Nik, she’ll be wanting a chauffeur.”
They giggle together like a couple of school girls at my expense. I glare and decide on the best way to give as good as I’m getting, but when Ann looks up at me, the smile she has is genuine. I let their teasing go and decide that my annoyance isn’t much of a price to see that smile.
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