9 Chapter Nine: A Ray Of Hope
NATE'S P.O.V.
The usual morning songs of the birds that flew by brought me out of slumber world and back into the real world. When I woke up I noticed two things. The first I was tucked In and properly covered in bed and the second thing, I was in my underwear. How?
I jumped out of bed in my dark blue briefs, well rested and somewhat confused, but the smell of sizzling bacon and eggs coming from the kitchen made sense of the whole situation. "Marina"
I walked out from the bedroom to the kitchen to see Marina in front of the stove making breakfast wearing her favorite white 'Kiss the chef, apron over a red shirt and black skirt
"Good morning sleepy head" She said without turning around
"How did you know that I was behind you?" I asked wondering if she had suddenly developed a Spidey sense
"You're not the stealthiest person" She chuckled as she dished the eggs into a plate
"I'm pretty stealthy if I want to be" I said taking a seat at the dinning table
"Sure you are" She smiled then walked towards me with a plate full of bacon and eggs "You were completely out of it when I came in last night"
"You took my clothes off when I was asleep?" I asked serving myself from the pan and taking a spoon full in my mouth
"Yeah I did and I had a little fun with you while you were out" She winked at me before walking to the fridge
Wait what?
I chocked a bit on the eggs that was in my mouth. She turned around to see the shocked expression on my face then laughed out loud.
"You should see your face right now babe" She said clutching her stomach and laughing "Don't mind me though I’m just joking. Or am I?"
The smile on her face looked so mischievous and at the same time so adorable
"Well then I'll have to do the same thing to you when you're asleep so we'll be even" I said flashing a dirty smile
"You definitely have a dirty mind babe" She said pouring a glass of orange juice for herself
"What do you mean?" I asked
"Don't worry about it. Your mind is purr-fect" She said as she poured me a glass of orange juice and set it on the table. "I'm heading out, don't want to be late"
She walked over to me and gave me a little kiss on the lips before grabbing her bag from the couch. "I'll see you later whiskers"
And with that she was out the door and I was left behind with a plate full of eggs and a mind filled with confusion. I pondered on what she meant by purr-fect and whiskers as I finished my breakfast and set the dirty plates in the sink. Maybe she's hinting me about getting a cat or maybe-
"Wait hold up" I ran from the kitchen straight to the bathroom to look at myself in the mirror.
She had drawn whiskers on my face and painted my nose black with black marker. Oh its on now Marina
I took off my briefs and hopped into the shower to wash off my face off. I pray that she wasn't evil enough to use permanent marker to draw this cat features on me. A few scrubs later I went back to look at the mirror and thankfully I can recognize the face staring back at me. I'm definitely going to get her back for this
I went back under the shower to finish my bath before I left for work. A few minutes later I was clean and clothed and off to the station.
I pulled into the station parking lot, only to receive a text from Marina just as I turned the car ignition off.
"Have a great day today captain whiskers"
And attached to the text were pictures of Marina and I with the whiskers and dark nose on my face while I was asleep.
Revenge!!!!!!!
I got out of my car, locked the door and walked inside to see Officer Mark and Officer Peterson talking by the reception area.
"Good morning Detective Ross" Officer Mark said as I walked in "The captain and the Agent from Central are In the conference room with Detective Blake"
"Okay thank you" I said and proceeded to the conference room.
I opened the door and I saw Blake and Captain Adam talking
"Hey good morning sorry I'm late" I said walking towards them
"Ah glad you're here detective" Captain Adam said
"So where's the agent from Central?" I asked shaking Blake's hand
"Stepped out for a minute take call" He said as he let go of my hand
"Oh okay"
The door behind me opened up and I could hear footsteps approaching
"Here she is." The captain said pointing to the agent behind me
I turned around and I was surprised to see Heather standing behind me with an even more shocked expression on her face.
"Nate?" She called my name surprised
"Heather?" I called her back "You're the agent from Central?"
"Uhn yeah" She said with a smile followed by a hair flip "Cool huh?"
"Do you two know each other?" The captain asked as he watched the both of us looking confused and surprised
"Yeah we do" Heather said placing a hand on my shoulder
"Glad to hear. So co-operation wouldn't be a problem" Captain Adam said as he adjusted his coat collar
"Definitely not" Heather said as she flashed a smile to the captain
When and why Heather decided to join the force is completely unknown to me and why she didn't tell me when we saw each other and talked at the coffee shop are the questions running through my mind right now but one matter at a time
"Okay so Blake has already briefed you on everything we have so far now I’ll let you all get back to work" Captain Adam said before excusing himself from the conference room
"Two victims. One male and one female. One murder for pleasure and the other one, revenge" She said as she looked at the pictures on the table
"Two unrelated murder's" Blake said folding his arms
"Did you speak to the family of the first victim?" She asked turning to look at Blake
"Yeah. I spoke to her mom at the hospital yesterday. Nothing came up about a stalker or anything to link back to ghost" Blake said running his hands through his hair
"She must have just been unlucky to have been captured and killed" I said walking closer to the table
"Can I take a look at the notes you took when you spoke to her mother?" Heather asked
"Uhn sure thing" Blake said
He reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a small brown notebook and then handed it to Heather
"Thanks" She said taking it from him
She opened the small book and flipped through the yellows pages reading through the lines. Her eyes moved so fast, if there was a competition for fast readers she would definitely claim the prize
"It says here according to her mom that the victim usually took a jog through the park at night and that was where she was probably taken" She said looking at Blake
"You're saying maybe she had someone that was watching her that knew her route and when she would be out?" Blake said
"Its very possible" Heather said looking back at the pictures "Watching her secretly from the shadows knowing what was doing and when she'd be doing it"
She's smart
"There isn't any video of her getting taken from the park and down to the abandoned docks" I said
"Which makes me think about the girl you said was found at the motel close to the park" She said as she pulled up the picture we took of Anna when her body was found
Anna, seeing her face in this picture just broke my heart again and I could feel my blood boil
"The camera's were down for maintenance that day" Blake said pointing at the picture of the motel
"Can we go down to the motel?" She said putting down the pictures
"Sure thing" Blake said as he gathered all of the evidences into a file before setting them aside on the table.
Blake and Heather walked out of the room and I followed behind them like a third wheel in their relationship. We got out of the station and into Blake's car as we began our drive down to the motel. The motel wasn't as occupied as it would normally and that was completely understandable.
"What room was Anna found?" She asked after taking a look around the motel
"Up there" I said pointing to the room upstairs
We walked towards the motel manager to grab the keys to her room before we headed upstairs into the room. You could still see the blood marks on the ground even after it has been cleaned
"This is where she was found" I said pointing to the ground
She looked around and noticed the camera that was mounted on the roof facing the hallway and one pointing to the entrance of the motel.
"If only the camera's were active that day maybe we could have caught a glimpse of him or even seen his face" Heather said looking at the camera
"Yeah" I said in a weak voice
"He would have had a mask on" Blake said looking at the room
"Gloves yes but definitely not a mask" Heather said looking at Blake
"What do you mean?" I asked turning to face her
"Well think of it this way, Anna was feeling down and there's no way she would have felt comfortable talking to a masked man" She said closing the door
"That's true though. She would have definitely been scared if he had his mask on the whole time" Blake said as he ran his fingers through his hair
"So she definitely saw his face and if she was alive she would have been able to ID him anywhere" She said turning around to look at the entrance "Hey, what about that store?"
She pointed at a small convenience store on the other side of the street. How have I never noticed that store there before?
We walked down the stairs and waited for Blake to return the keys before going across the street. Blake walked around the store to see if there was anything useful while I checked out the exterior of the store. The blue painting on the walls of the store seemed to match the weather at the moment so from a certain angle it blended into the sky. The glass display window carried the name of the store as it was written in dark italics writing 'Barney's Shop'.
"Hey guys" I heard Heather call out
Blake and I walked towards her to see her staring at the pole with the name of the store at the top of the sign.
"Whatsup?" I said when we got to where she was standing.
"Look up" She said pointing to the sign
I put my hand over my eyes to protect it from the vicious solar rays "Barney's shop" I said reading out the name of the store written on the sign
"No, look closely" She said
I squinted my eyes harder focusing on the sign "Is that-
"A camera" Blake said with a smile on his face
"Facing the outside of the store" Heather said
"Let's hope its not a dud" Blake said before we walked closer to the entrance of the store
A young lady in her early twenties, probably twenty one sat down at the other side of the counter as she stared down into the cell phone that was in her hand. Fair skinned, black hair that almost reached her shoulders
"Oh hello, Welcome to Barney's" She said with a smile on her face
Seems she has a chipped tooth. Easy to spot when she smiles
"I'm detective Blake Hunter, my partner Nate Ross and Heather Davis" Blake said as he flashed his badge to her which prompted us to do the same
"We'd like to ask you a few questions, Miss-
"Vanessa" The lady said
"Okay Miss Vanessa, how long have you been working here?" Heather asked as she tucked away her badge
"A few months" Vanessa said setting her phone aside
"What time did you close up on Monday evening?" Blake asked
"I close by 10pm everyday" She said
"Did you by any chance notice anyone strange outside the store on Monday evening?" Heather asked
"Not really. I don't really pay attention to the outside of the store that much" She said
"And were you here on Tuesday morning?" Heather asked
"Oh no. I actually had a dentist appointment so I couldn't come into work that day" She said "I've also been down for a while. I just opened up the store today"
That would explain why they weren't able to get any information up until now
"Okay are you by any chance aware if there are any camera's inside or outside the store?" Heather asked
"Yes. There's one inside" She said pointing to one on the edge of the wall behind the counter "And there's one outside"
"And who has access to the camera's?" Blake asked
"Its normally the owner but he's out of town right now so I have access to it" She said
"We would like to review the footage from a few days ago. From Monday evening into early Tuesday morning to be precise" Heather said
"Uhn okay" She said before stepping down from the stool she was sitting on
She led us through a door behind the to the entrance of a locked office. After sorting through the bundle of keys in her hand she found the right key and unlocked the door revealing a small office with a few monitors that were turned off. She flipped the switch on the power outlet on the wall and the two monitors powered on. The images from the counter front and outside of the store displayed on the monitors as they came on
"These are the tapes from earlier in the week" She said handing me the tapes
"Thank you"
"I have to get back to my post but let me know if you need any help" She said before walking away and closing the door behind her
"Now lets have a look at this" Heather said as I handed her the tapes
She looked at the tapes and noticed they weren't labelled according to the days This is gonna take a while."
She popped open the disk tray and put in the first disc "What day is that?" She asked Blake
He took a closer look at the time and date on the bottom of the screen "Its 8:30pm Monday"
Wow! Talk about a first try, first succeed kind of luck
"That was lucky" She said to me with a smile on her face
At 8:30pm, Vanessa sat down behind the counter as she listened to music and attended to a customer who got a pack of cigarettes and a pack of beer and on the other monitor it shows the motel and the darkness outside
"Forward it a bit" Heather said to Blake
"Yes ma'am" He responded which made her smile a bit
He forwarded the frame and the image sped up until he stopped at 10:15pm which showed Vanessa as she gathered her things and got up from behind the counter, walking towards the entrance and switched off the lights inside the store and on the outside it showed her leaving the store premises and out of the camera range.
"Okay forward again" She said
Blake forwarded the frame and the images around sped up as the time on the bottom changed from 10:30 to 11:00pm. The cars that drove past looked so fast you barely saw them coming if not for their shining headlights. So far all the people that walked outside at the time didn’t walk into the motel but rather walked past it
"What's the time now?" Heather asked Blake as his eyes were fixed on the screen
"A few minutes past midnight and no one has entered the motel" He said not looking away
We all watched the screen as the images moved fast until 12:59am when Blake hit play and everything went back to moving at a normal speed
"Look at that" Heather said pointing at two people walking into the motel.
We all leaned in to get a closer look at the people that walked into the motel and there was no mistaking that shiny white hair. That was Anna and the other person was GHOST
"Jackpot" Heather said
They came in from the side and so his face wasn't seen on the camera, but from the side it clearly showed that he didn't have a mask on.
"Your theory was right. He showed her his face then probably came back to kill her when he realized it" Blake said looking at the screen
"I don’t think so" Heather said as she watched the footage
It showed Ghost going to the vending machine at the side of the building while Anna spoke to the motel manager. He came back and they both walked up to the room where she was found dead but he never went in. He came back down when the Manager left his post at his small office and walked out of the motel but he now had a mask on his face, he turned to look at her room as the lights went off
"We finally have something" Blake said as he paused the footage "All thanks to your quick thinking"
She definitely spread this case wide open.
"It was a team effort" She said trying to not let Blake’s praises fill her head even though it already has
"Lets take this back to the chief" She said walking out of the office with the CCTV footage in her hand
We all left the office to meet Vanessa behind the counter listening to music.
"Thank you for your co-operation" Heather said to her as we got close to the counter "We'll be taking this footage as evidence
"Not a problem detective" She said with a smile on her face "I hope you find who or what you are looking for"
"We hope so too" Blake said before we turned to leave the store
We got into Blake's car and drove back to the station to speak to Captain Adam and show him the footage we found
"This is great!" He exclaimed "Slowly but surely we would definitely put this murderous scum behind bars"
"Definitely" Heather said
"Send this to the I.T department to see if they can clean up the video for better image
"Right away sir" I said taking the footage from the captain
After dropping off the footage, I went out to look for Heather but ran into Blake instead
"Hey" I said
"What’s good with you?" He asked looking rather excited
"What's gotten you so excited?" I asked with a raised eyebrow
"Well for one we're a little closer to catching Ghost so it's definitely something to be happy about" He said smiling
"Yeah that would be really great" I said
"Everything alright with you? You were rather quiet for the most part of today" He said to me looking serious
"Nothing really. I just feel weak whenever I think about what happened to Anna" I sighed
"I understand. Nothing a little fresh air can't fix" He said patting my shoulders
"Yeah. I know right" I said with a smile
"Take it easy, captain whiskers" He said as he walked away laughing
I turned to look at him and I knew that Marina sent him the pictures as well, which means Chris probably knows too "Oh no"
I walked outside and met Heather standing out and staring at the sky as she stood still with her hands folded behind her. Her hair flowed as the cool afternoon breeze blew through.
"I have a bottle of sunscreen in my glove compartment if you're going to keep standing there" I said as I walked towards her
She chuckled "A little vitamin D never killed anyone"
She opened her eyes, turned to look at me and then smiled before returning to her initial position. I stood there with her while she baked under the sun and for some reason she looked perfect.
I slapped my cheeks with my hand "Focus" I mumbled
She turned to look at me and laughed seeing my now red cheeks "Are you okay?"
"Uhn yeah. There were uhm... mosquitoes on my face. So I slapped myself" I said trying to save what’s left of my pride "I didn't kill anyone though"
I'm stupid
"I can tell you didn't" She laughed
We went back inside the station and did some more work till about 5pm and it was now time to head home. Today was eventful and sooner or later it would all be over
I was just about to finish gathering my things. I looked up to see Heather pouting at me "Hey, do you mind dropping me off at my hotel?"
"What happened to wanting to not be a bother?" I teased as I slid my phone into my pocket
"Well you obviously like to be bothered" She said rolling her eyes
"Attitude... coming from someone who needs a ride" I said
"Pleaaassssseeee" She was back to pouting
"Okay" I exhaled
We got to the parking lot after I said my goodbyes to Blake and Christina, I should really look for a shorter name to refer to those two. We got into the car drove into the road, through the busy and underdeveloped road that took our time yesterday. I actually forgot about this road.
Just like yesterday we took longer to get here.
"Why don't you come up for a bit before you have to drive back home" She said as we arrived at the hotel
"I don't think that's necessary" I said unlocking the car doors
"Seriously I don't bite" She said looking at me with her puppy dog pouting eyes
"You still don't take no for an answer" I laughed
She said nothing. Just kept looking at me with pleading eyes
"Fine" I agreed knowing she wont let me leave
I drove into the parking lot and parked my car while she stood at the entrance and waited for me. I walked back to her and we walked into the hotel, up the elevator to the 5th floor and outside the door to room 54 where she stayed
She turned her key in the key hole as the locks opened. We stepped in and the strawberry air freshener blasted my nostril
Her hotel room looked like your average room but smelt like her. Making a house your home I guess. The cream curtains covered the windows which had a really nice view of the ocean. Her brown bed which didn’t look big but could actually contain two grown adults was surprisingly soft as I sat down on it
She had a small kitchen and bathroom built to fit one person at a time. It was the perfect fit for someone as small as she is.
"Well this is me" She said spreading her hands
"It definitely suits you" I said laying down on the bed
"Yeah Yeah whatever" She said tossing her brown handbag on the nightstand by her bed
I sat up on the bed, picked up a picture frame that her bag knocked over. It was picture of her and her dad
"When was this taken?" I asked showing her the photo
"Oh that was on my dad's birthday" She said with a smile on her face
"How's your dad anyways?" I asked setting the picture down
"He uhm... He's dead. He was stationed at Iraq. Killed in action" She said, her smile slowing fading
"I'm sorry to hear that" I said
"Its fine" She said her smile back on her face "I want to take a shower so turn or you want to watch me undress"
I said nothing. I turned around on the bed and closed my eyes. I could hear her laugh as she began to take her clothes off. The room got so quiet that I could hear the buttons on her shirt come off, and as she pulled the zip on her skirt down. This was torture
I opened my eyes when she screamed from inside the bathroom that she needed my help getting her towel. Did I sleep off?
"Where is it? I screamed back at her
"Wardrobe" She said
I walked to her wardrobe and opened the double doors wide. Her red lacy lingerie sat there neatly folded as it stared back at me.
"I hope you're not out there jerking off to my underwear" She said from the bathroom
I grabbed the towel and closed the doors before walking to the bathroom door
"Here" I said knocking on the door
She opened the door slightly and grabbed the towel from my hand "Thank you" and then she shut the door back
I walked back to the bed and laid back down with my eyes closed. I heard her bathroom open, her footsteps as she walked around and then the sound of her bathroom closing again. She finally came back to the room and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Stop staring" I said
I could feel her eyes on me
"Why?" You look cute when your eyes are closed" I heard her say
I opened my eyes and sat at the other side of the bed so now we were facing each other a feet away from each other. She had on a pink bra top and white shorts
"And now he's ugly again" She laughed
"Anyways why did you decide to join the force anyways?" I asked crossing my legs
She replicated my actions but grabbed a teddy bear and clutched it to her chest "So that I could come arrest you for breaking my heart" She stuck out her tongue
I chuckled "seriously though"
She hugged the pillow tight "I joined the force to be closer to my dad. Even though he was in the army, I still felt like we would be connected"
"I'm sorry" I said trying to console her
"It's fine. It's not like you were the one that shot him in the chest so you don't need to apologize. It was about a year after we broke up" She said looking down "I was completely broken when it happened and I didn't have anyone to run to"
I could see the tears gathering under her eyes as she looked up at me
"I was in a really bad place that period and It was just my mom and my younger brother" She stopped to wipe the tears from her face "A year later, I told my mom that I was going to apply to the force, she tried to stop me but she couldn't. She and my brother left the county because they wanted to start over someplace else" She said
"But you didn't want to leave?"
"Nope" She laughed as she wiped the tears from her eyes "I'm a badass, tough cat"
"Yeah you are" I said
"So what's been happening with you?" She asked releasing her tough clutch on her teddy bear
"Well... nothing much really. Just being surviving each day with the challenges that come with it. Uhn what else oh I'm getting married in a few days so yeah there's that" I said
"Wait you're getting married? Oh my Gooood" She squealed
If she was any closer to my ear I'm sure I would have gone deaf
"Who's the lucky girl?" She asked
"Her name's Marina and she's the best" I said trying not to smile like a child
"Well I am happy for you and I definitely would be at the wedding" She clapped her hands together
"Thank you" I said
We ended up talking about my marriage plans and everything in the middle. She had always been the curious one. She asked me so many questions and all of her questions had follow up questions
"Okay, I need to head out now" I said getting up from her bed
"I'll walk you to your car" She said walking to her wardrobe.
She grabbed a white t-shirt that looked a little too big for her and then it dawned on me
"Is that mine?" I asked looking at the shirt
She looked at the shirt and then back at me and she smiled "Yeah. I couldn't get rid of it"
I Smiled back at her and shook my head before I walked towards the door. She walked behind me and locked the door behind her. We got into the elevator and went down to the lobby before stepping out of the hotel
While we walked to my car we ended up revisiting old moments and memories that we'll both share together for a lifetime. Like when we jumped down a really high cliff into the really cold water during winter and when we snuck into a live concert because she couldn't secure the tickets until they were sold out. Those were the good days
"This shirt brings back a lot of memories though" She said looking at the white jersey she had on
"Yeah. It was from the night we met after the baseball game. I remember it rained so bad that day that you get drenched. You stood outside the entrance of my building hiding from the rain" I said as we got to my car
"Then you invited me in and asked me to take off my clothes and you gave me this shirt and one of your shorts to wear after preparing a hot bath for me" She giggled
"And I remember asking you to return it" I said looking at her
She looked up at me and pouted and I couldn't hold back the laugh. When I stopped laughing she looked at me before throwing her hands around me and burying her face in my chest
"Thank you for being in my life" She said into my chest
I wrapped my hands around her and hugged her back "You're welcome"
She lifted her head and looked at me while I looked back at her. She stepped on her toes and planted a kiss on my lips
"Hey stop" I said pushing her off and taking a step back
"I'm sorry" She said taking a step back
"It's fine. Just don't do it again"
"Okay" She said in a quiet voice
"So much for you not biting" I said
She looked at me and let out a little laugh before she stretched out her hand. I took her hand and shook it. That used to be our code for 'Can we forget it happened'. I got into my car and drove out of the parking lot as she waved me goodbye.
I stepped into the shower as soon as I got home before I crawled into bed and slept the night away.
