It was silent in the car for a moment, trying to weave through the traffic that was just starting to make itself apparent. New York had bad traffic all the time, but the night time was no where near as bad as the day time. Once someone was stuck in traffic they might as well set up camp, and get their mailed delivered to them there.
"So, you met a girl last night?" Jerry asked, his voice was serious.
Lucas nodded, "Yeah, a bit strange. But I don't know, something about her."
Jerry grinned, "Well, lets hope she had nothing to do with this murder."
"Lets."
"She pretty?" He asked after a few moments.
"Sexy, exotic…"
Jerry laughed, "Exotic means ugly but strangely attractive."
"No it doesn't."
"Yes it does."
Lucas folded his arms, "It means that she's not the same kind of attractive as most women, but still as beautiful as them if not more."
"Alright, you're the boss."
He knew that Jerry was just humoring him, but he let it go.
"She got a name?"
"Kailin." Her name made him smile.
"Man, you got it bad."
"I hardly know her." Lucas threw his hands in the air. "She is an interesting person, kind of girl who makes you think. She talked and I wanted hear everything she had to say. You can tell she's had an interesting life, but she isn't willing to tell all."
"And you like that sort of thing?" Even though it was a question, he could sense it was just sarcasm.
"Yeah, what kind of woman do you like?"
Jerry laughed, "Not one that uses her mouth to talk."
He shook his head, "You can be a real pig sometimes, Jerry."
"Please, Lucas, please. Don't even act like you were all interested in her for her mind, you know damn well you wanted to go home with her."
Lucas frowned and then blushed, "She was really sexy."
Jerry laughed again.
"But only because she had a great mind."
"Yeah, and I married my wife cause she makes a killer pot roast, not because she's a freak in bed."
Lucas rolled his eyes, "I don't know about you sometimes."
There was silence for a moment, "What does she do?"
"She's a history fact checker, I guess is the right title."
"A what?" Jerry's voice became a high pitch.
"She checks history facts for books and movies."
"They pay people to do that?" Jerry chuckled, as he turned into the parking lot.
"Yeah, they hire people to do that. She's one of the best in the business."
"A business is a mob or a mom and pop shop, not a fact checker." Jerry parked the car, and opened his door. He waited for Lucas to open his door, and then locked the doors.
"You actually think someone is going to steal your car in front of a police station?" Lucas shut the door, and asked over the top of the car.
"Hey you haven't lived here long enough, they can and they will." He said shutting his own door. "You can't trust anybody here, not even your own wife. Hell, you can't trust a wife anywhere, she'll take everything you own for any reason."
"You really are sour against women, Jerry." He said as they walked towards the large double glass doors.
"Sour against women, what the hell are you talking about? You sound like you are from the nineteen fifties."
Lucas sighed, and opened the door for Jerry and as he stepped inside, he chuckled, "Ladies first."
"Oh no you didn't." Jerry was walking backwards pointing his finger at him.
Lucas continued to laugh for a moment as he walked in. The first floor of the office was nothing more then desks, and desk jockeys. Cops that either once were street, but got injured, or cops that never were. The ones with degrees that for some god awful reason, decided to use their criminal justice degrees to become a nothing, nobody run of the mill cop instead of an FBI agent.
The sound of keyboards keys being pounded in filled the room, along with phones ringing, and the occasional cough. The captain loved silence, and talking was near next to forbidden. That never stopped Jerry though.
They made their way towards the basement stairs, and waved to Lisa , the officer who ran the front desk, along the way. She smiled at Lucas, and did a little giddy jump to gain his attention longer. Her brown curls bounces along with her, and she waved frantically.
"How are you, Lucas?" She asked.
"Fine, ma'am, and you?" He responded, but continued to walk towards the stairs.
"I'm good, I wanted to ask you…" She stopped, as he went down the stairs. With a frown she turned back to the man she was helping, he never noticed her.
"She would give it up to you in a second." Jerry said.
Lucas looked at him confused, "Who? Lisa?"
"Yeah, right there on the desk with everyone watching. She may not be the best looking woman, but she's got the right goods if you know what I mean."
"Jerry, does your fanaticism know no bounds?
"Fanaticism, oh, big word. I'm hurt, I'm dying." He grabbed his chest and the railing.
"You don't know what that means, do you?" Lucas stopped and turned to look at him.
"Probably, but I had sex last night and you didn't." He stopped for a breath, "So, really what is more important that word or pu…"
"Penn! Stark!" The voice of their captain ringed down the stair well.
"Yes, sir?" They both said at once.
"Are you two actually doing something or are you just chatting like school girls in the stairway?"
"We were going to see if they had the pictures developed from…" Lucas began.
"I don't need the details, do it, and stop wasting my air." He snapped.
He reminded Lucas of short, chunky Mr. Reach from the old toothbrush commercials. He was bald, white as paper, and could open his mouth to unbelievable proportions. Sometimes, he imagined him lifting the brand new Reach toothbrush into the air, and brushing his back molars with it.
"Do I need to spell it out for you, ladies?" He asked.
Both Lucas and Jerry nodded and headed down the stairs.
"Isn't the way he treats us illegal? Kind of abusive, isn't it?" Lucas asked Jerry.
He shook his head, "Just let it go man, and be glad you don't work inside the office. This woman a couple years ago brought up a case against him, and no one here knows what happen to her." He told him, as they walked down the hall.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean his brother is the commissioner, and he has practically every judge eating out of his hand. Unless you can get some major publicity, and never again want to work as a cop, just drop it."
They reached the photo development lab, and Jerry opened the door, allow Lucas to walk in first.
Carina, the lab assistant, greeted them with a smile, "Hey boys, got more bloody hand pictures?"
"No, Officer Paul um, what was his name?" Lucas asked Jerry.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his writing pad. "Marcin."
"Marcin, should have had sent some film to be developed."
Carina looked at the paper work and frowned, "Sorry, those just got in, you'll have to come back tomorrow. It might not even be then, we are swamped with bloody hand pictures." She swallowed.
"Come on, Carina." Jerry whimpered, "We would really like to close this case, but can't without those pictures."
She stared at him for a moment, "Alright, I'll bump it up, but don't you tell anyone I did this for you. It could get me fired." She wrote something down, " Have you heard about the Cruorcareo cases?" She asked as they were heading towards the door.
"The what?" Lucas asked.
"Cruorcareo it the new epidemic, well not new, it's been around for along time. They say it's a rival to AIDS, but we just didn't notice it until now." She told him, and leaned forward, "It's Latin for 'to be deprived of blood'."
Lucas rose his eyebrow.
"There have been people dropping everywhere, you don't even know you have it until it's too late. They are starting to blame it on big cities, saying it has to spawn there. Most of the victims are found throughout the world in large cities like New York."
"What does it do?" Lucas asked, Jerry seemed to know.
"It's more commonly called Blood Cell Deprivation. The body just stops making blood cells, and within days of getting the disease you die. No warnings, nothing. They are wondering why people don't feel tired or weak, and they are beginning to wonder if it happens within hours."
"Yeah, I've heard of BCD, what a way to go." Lucas swallowed.
Carina nodded, "Makes me want to move from this damnable city everyday I wake up."
Alex, her boss, walked out of the red room. "Hello." He said to Lucas and Jerry, and then looked at Carina. "What's next?"
"This was sent in by Paul Marcin." She handed it to him.
Taking it, he walked away.
Carina grinned at the two of them, "You two owe me big."
They both nodded, and walked out the door.
"She talks to much." Jerry mumbled before the door was even closed.
"Jerry, damn, at least, wait until she can't hear you."
He shrugged, "At least then she would know. Damn that girls got a set of lungs. And she gossips, my wife and her would be best friends, I am telling you. Well, if my wife was a racist bitch, who thinks everyone is against her cause she's black."
"A racist and a sexist, what a beautiful duo you must be."
Jerry laughed, "As long as she takes all her aggression on the white man out on me pleasurably, we don't have any problems."
They started up the stairs and Lucas shook his head, "Do you think about anything else but sex?"
"Not even when I'm looking at a mutilated corpse."
Lucas laughed, "Lets go grab some breakfast, and head back to the scene. It was getting light out when we arrived."
"You haven't been to sleep yet, have you?" Jerry asked.
He shook his head, "There was a BCD case at the party I was at last night, and instead of walking that girl home, I went and checked it out."
"You checked out a BCD case, instead of going home with a girl?" Jerry lifted the right corner of his lip, "You disgust me, man."
"Believe me, she's ice cold. She wouldn't of let me come in her house if I was dying on the street."
"Then why do you like her?" He asked, shoving the coffee filter into the coffee machine and shuffling out six mounds of coffee grounds.
"That's going to be strong coffee."
"You need it, now answer my question."
He shrugged and took a bite of his donut, "Don't know. You know I didn't even get her number."
Jerry looked at him from the corner of his eyes, "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he started the coffee pot and turned to look at him, "You've been sweating this girl all day, and you don't even have her phone number? Man, you need to get a phone, an address, a beeper number, or something before you start talking about her to your friends."
Lucas laughed, "I'll see her again."
"You are in New York City, odds of that happening are slim to none."
"If it's her friend in the pictures, then I'll call Phillip and get her number from him."
"And if it isn't?" Jerry asked, then stuff an entire donut in his mouth.
He shrugged, "Phillip purposely put her next to me at dinner, I think he'll give it to me."
"What is this an office water cooler?" Captain Madison's voice rang out. "You two girls talking about your soap operas?"
Both Jerry and Lucas looked over at him, not sure what to say.
"Does does Jenny get Todd, or does he cheat on her again?"
They both raised their eyebrows, "We are just waiting…" Lucas began.
"I don't care, you two need to start looking at the Bloody Hands evidence. I want a report by the end of the day on my desk."
"But sir, we are working on another case." Lucas told him, "A mutilated body went missing on…"
"It was wolves, now get to my assignment." He barked.
"Captain, the corpses clothing was found on a roof of a locked building. There is no way a wolf could of done that."
The captain had been leaning on the door, and then stepped forward. Jerry sighed, "You are in for it now."
"What is your name?"
"Stark."
The captain stood face to face with Lucas, "Listen to me, very clearly, I am not getting phone calls every half hour about a fucking missing corpse. It was chewed up by wolves, you write that down and you close the case, got me? I need Bloody Hands culprits in my cells! Because if I don't, then you are just a worthless piece of skin that can go back to Florida and rot." He turned to leave.
"California." Lucas mumbled.
"What?" Madison jerked around.
"I said yes, sir." Lucas swallowed.
He nodded and then disappeared around the corner.
Jerry chuckled, "Man, oh, man. He likes you."
"What?"
"That was him being nice. Anyway lets get that report done."
"No, someone died out there, and it wasn't by wolves. We owe it to them to solve it."
Jerry stared at him, "Tell you what, we do Bloody Hands today, and then tomorrow if you still feel that way, we'll get the pictures and see what we can do."
Lucas gave a nod, "I suppose, we have no other choice."
Walking into the kitchen, she got a drink of water, when she heard a knock at the door. Opening it, she saw Lucas and large dark man standing before her. Gabrielle smiled at them, she realized she was in nothing but a shirt. One that barely covered her backside, but it was too late now to run and change.
"Why, Mister Stark, what a pleasant surprise." She said.
"I'm sorry, I don't remember your name."
Gabrielle crossed her arms, and stared at him for a moment. "Gabrielle." She said, noticing the large man pulled a pad of paper from his over coat's inner pocket.
"Gabrielle what?" Jerry asked her.
"Montre." She responded, "What is this about?"
Lucas thought it would be best if he explained it to her. "The night before last, a body was found eight blocks away from your apartment. During our routine investigation, the body was stolen."
"Well, I don't know anything about that." Gabrielle said, keeping her hand on the door.
"Miss Montre, is your roommate alright? Have you seen her?"
She nodded at Lucas, "Yes, she just left this morning. I'm surprised you didn't see her on your way up."
"May we come in?" Jerry asked, not wanting to talk to her in the hallway.
"What ever for?"
Lucas sighed for a moment, "Just to talk to you, it won't take long."
"I work nights, gentlemen, I was just about to head to bed. I don't know why you are speaking to me about this."
Lucas dug through a file, and offered it to her. "This gentlemen looks an awful lot like the man you were with at Phillip's party the other day." It was a picture of Kristian laying on the side walk. His arms and legs broken and tossed about over each other, blood made a puddle around the body. His face was partially pulled off from his skull, and sadly it was the least gruesome picture that they had.
She looked at the photo, "Kristian is just fine, if that is who you mean."
Jerry stood for a moment staring at her, surprised that she wasn't bothered by the ghastly image.
Lucas looked over at his partner, and then back to Gabrielle. "If we could only come in for a moment…"
"Fine, but lets be quick about this. I can't be late for work." She told them, stepping aside, and pointing to the couch.
Both men looked around the room, as they stepped in. They sat down on the couch, and watch Gabrielle come to stand beside the couch.
"Let me put some jeans on, I'll be right back." She said disappearing into her bedroom.
When her door shut, Lucas stood up and walked over to Kailin's bedroom door. He opened it slowly so it wouldn't make a noise and peered in. His eyes first landed on the fish bowl filled with bullets, but the crosses soon caught his eyes.
"Lucas." Jerry mumbled low as he watched Gabrielle's door. "Get away from there."
Looking the room over once more, he sat back down as Gabrielle stepped out. Her eyes went immediately to Kailin's door.
"You didn't shut it all the way." She told him, and walked over to the door and closed it. "You could at least cover your tracks a bit better, when you snoop around people's houses."
Lucas looked down in shame, but Jerry continued on. "You are sure that this isn't your friend?"
"Well, he's not my friend. He is working with Kailin on his new novel, she would have his phone number." Gabrielle told them, as she stuffed the pockets of her jeans in.
"And where is Kailin?" Jerry asked.
"At her office, I can find you the address if you want." She watched them both nod, and then walked behind the couch. Pulling the drawer from the light stand, she search for a moment, and then pulled out a piece of paper. "Here we are. Let me write this down for you." She said and then disappeared into the kitchen.
"Nice place." Jerry said looking around, "Pretty nice building, rent must be a bitch."
"It's not too bad." Gabrielle yelled from the kitchen.
Jerry had been mumbling his words, and looked at Lucas with surprise.
Gabrielle walked out with two piece of paper in her hand, "I work at a nice place and Kailin makes a bundle with her job. There is plenty to go around."
"You have good hearing, Miss Montre." Jerry said, and watched her smile, "What exactly is it that you do?"
"I'm a stripper." She told them, "Now, if that's all you need, I really must get to bed."
Both men nodded and stopped up, "Thank you for your time." Lucas said as he headed to the door.
"Anytime." She responded, "And try to remember my name."
Jerry stopped at the door, a devilish grin played across his lips, "I have two questions for you, Miss Montre. Does your roommate like Lucas?"
Lucas grabbed his face, and headed down the hall.
Gabrielle just shrugged, "You never know with Kailin." Crossing her arms, she waited for the second question.
"What club do you work at?"
She chuckled, "One that you couldn't afford."
His smile faded as he stepped outside into the hallway. Shutting the door behind him, he looked at Lucas near the elevator.
"Why would you ask that?" Lucas snapped, when he saw the apartment door was closed.
Jerry smiled, and shrugged, "Just to see if all your anxiety has been worth the hype."
The elevator dinged, and the doors opened. Mrs. Kraig looked at them from inside, and saw the badge on Lucas's belt. She was wearing a hair net, a dark blue dress that fell to her ankles, and white nurses shoes.
"You are the police?" She asked, standing in the elevator's way so they couldn't pass.
"Yes, ma'am, we are." Jerry answered.
She gave Jerry a dirty look, and then turned to Lucas. "You going to arrest that whore?"
Lucas rose an eyebrow, "What prostitute ma'am?"
"That whore, that lives in apartment eight twelve." She said and pointed at the apartment they just walked out of.
"You mean the Drake and Montre residence?"
Mrs. Kraig nodded, "That Montre girl, is nothing but a whore."
Lucas was getting a little tired of hearing her repeat the same word for Gabrielle's description.
"She's always bring men home off the streets, nothing but a dirty woman."
"Miss Montre is a stripper, that's not illegal, Misses…."
"Kraig, I live there." She pointed at the door down the hall, neither men knew exactly which door she meant. "She brings men home, that's a whore!" She snapped, after a few moments of replaying what Lucas had told her.
"She may be promiscuous, but that's not illegal. Unless you have proof that she takes money for her time, then I'm afraid we have to let her go." Lucas told her.
"You police are worthless, you can't stop them homeless from being in the alley and you won't arrest a wh…" She stopped and looked at them, "Wait, you are her clients, ain't cha? That's why she's been getting away with it for so long, she's been…"
"Ma'am, I can assure you that we are not Miss Montre's clients. Now, please step aside, we have matter to attend to."
Mrs. Kraig did as she was asked and wobbled down the hall to her apartment door. Both men watched her as they stepped inside the elevator and the doors closed.
"What a mean old bitch." Jerry said, "You see that look she gave me?" he asked, and looked at Lucas, who nodded. "Old racist, mean, dirty, nasty…"
"I get the point, Jerry."
He cleared his throat, and folded his hands together behind his back. "World will be a better place when old bitches like that are finally gone."
"Let it go, man, let it go. We have work to do." Lucas told him, as the elevator dinged and the doors slide open.
Chapter 7: http://rkphunt.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=186
"So, you met a girl last night?" Jerry asked, his voice was serious.
Lucas nodded, "Yeah, a bit strange. But I don't know, something about her."
Jerry grinned, "Well, lets hope she had nothing to do with this murder."
"Lets."
"She pretty?" He asked after a few moments.
"Sexy, exotic…"
Jerry laughed, "Exotic means ugly but strangely attractive."
"No it doesn't."
"Yes it does."
Lucas folded his arms, "It means that she's not the same kind of attractive as most women, but still as beautiful as them if not more."
"Alright, you're the boss."
He knew that Jerry was just humoring him, but he let it go.
"She got a name?"
"Kailin." Her name made him smile.
"Man, you got it bad."
"I hardly know her." Lucas threw his hands in the air. "She is an interesting person, kind of girl who makes you think. She talked and I wanted hear everything she had to say. You can tell she's had an interesting life, but she isn't willing to tell all."
"And you like that sort of thing?" Even though it was a question, he could sense it was just sarcasm.
"Yeah, what kind of woman do you like?"
Jerry laughed, "Not one that uses her mouth to talk."
He shook his head, "You can be a real pig sometimes, Jerry."
"Please, Lucas, please. Don't even act like you were all interested in her for her mind, you know damn well you wanted to go home with her."
Lucas frowned and then blushed, "She was really sexy."
Jerry laughed again.
"But only because she had a great mind."
"Yeah, and I married my wife cause she makes a killer pot roast, not because she's a freak in bed."
Lucas rolled his eyes, "I don't know about you sometimes."
There was silence for a moment, "What does she do?"
"She's a history fact checker, I guess is the right title."
"A what?" Jerry's voice became a high pitch.
"She checks history facts for books and movies."
"They pay people to do that?" Jerry chuckled, as he turned into the parking lot.
"Yeah, they hire people to do that. She's one of the best in the business."
"A business is a mob or a mom and pop shop, not a fact checker." Jerry parked the car, and opened his door. He waited for Lucas to open his door, and then locked the doors.
"You actually think someone is going to steal your car in front of a police station?" Lucas shut the door, and asked over the top of the car.
"Hey you haven't lived here long enough, they can and they will." He said shutting his own door. "You can't trust anybody here, not even your own wife. Hell, you can't trust a wife anywhere, she'll take everything you own for any reason."
"You really are sour against women, Jerry." He said as they walked towards the large double glass doors.
"Sour against women, what the hell are you talking about? You sound like you are from the nineteen fifties."
Lucas sighed, and opened the door for Jerry and as he stepped inside, he chuckled, "Ladies first."
"Oh no you didn't." Jerry was walking backwards pointing his finger at him.
Lucas continued to laugh for a moment as he walked in. The first floor of the office was nothing more then desks, and desk jockeys. Cops that either once were street, but got injured, or cops that never were. The ones with degrees that for some god awful reason, decided to use their criminal justice degrees to become a nothing, nobody run of the mill cop instead of an FBI agent.
The sound of keyboards keys being pounded in filled the room, along with phones ringing, and the occasional cough. The captain loved silence, and talking was near next to forbidden. That never stopped Jerry though.
They made their way towards the basement stairs, and waved to Lisa , the officer who ran the front desk, along the way. She smiled at Lucas, and did a little giddy jump to gain his attention longer. Her brown curls bounces along with her, and she waved frantically.
"How are you, Lucas?" She asked.
"Fine, ma'am, and you?" He responded, but continued to walk towards the stairs.
"I'm good, I wanted to ask you…" She stopped, as he went down the stairs. With a frown she turned back to the man she was helping, he never noticed her.
"She would give it up to you in a second." Jerry said.
Lucas looked at him confused, "Who? Lisa?"
"Yeah, right there on the desk with everyone watching. She may not be the best looking woman, but she's got the right goods if you know what I mean."
"Jerry, does your fanaticism know no bounds?
"Fanaticism, oh, big word. I'm hurt, I'm dying." He grabbed his chest and the railing.
"You don't know what that means, do you?" Lucas stopped and turned to look at him.
"Probably, but I had sex last night and you didn't." He stopped for a breath, "So, really what is more important that word or pu…"
"Penn! Stark!" The voice of their captain ringed down the stair well.
"Yes, sir?" They both said at once.
"Are you two actually doing something or are you just chatting like school girls in the stairway?"
"We were going to see if they had the pictures developed from…" Lucas began.
"I don't need the details, do it, and stop wasting my air." He snapped.
He reminded Lucas of short, chunky Mr. Reach from the old toothbrush commercials. He was bald, white as paper, and could open his mouth to unbelievable proportions. Sometimes, he imagined him lifting the brand new Reach toothbrush into the air, and brushing his back molars with it.
"Do I need to spell it out for you, ladies?" He asked.
Both Lucas and Jerry nodded and headed down the stairs.
"Isn't the way he treats us illegal? Kind of abusive, isn't it?" Lucas asked Jerry.
He shook his head, "Just let it go man, and be glad you don't work inside the office. This woman a couple years ago brought up a case against him, and no one here knows what happen to her." He told him, as they walked down the hall.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean his brother is the commissioner, and he has practically every judge eating out of his hand. Unless you can get some major publicity, and never again want to work as a cop, just drop it."
They reached the photo development lab, and Jerry opened the door, allow Lucas to walk in first.
Carina, the lab assistant, greeted them with a smile, "Hey boys, got more bloody hand pictures?"
"No, Officer Paul um, what was his name?" Lucas asked Jerry.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his writing pad. "Marcin."
"Marcin, should have had sent some film to be developed."
Carina looked at the paper work and frowned, "Sorry, those just got in, you'll have to come back tomorrow. It might not even be then, we are swamped with bloody hand pictures." She swallowed.
"Come on, Carina." Jerry whimpered, "We would really like to close this case, but can't without those pictures."
She stared at him for a moment, "Alright, I'll bump it up, but don't you tell anyone I did this for you. It could get me fired." She wrote something down, " Have you heard about the Cruorcareo cases?" She asked as they were heading towards the door.
"The what?" Lucas asked.
"Cruorcareo it the new epidemic, well not new, it's been around for along time. They say it's a rival to AIDS, but we just didn't notice it until now." She told him, and leaned forward, "It's Latin for 'to be deprived of blood'."
Lucas rose his eyebrow.
"There have been people dropping everywhere, you don't even know you have it until it's too late. They are starting to blame it on big cities, saying it has to spawn there. Most of the victims are found throughout the world in large cities like New York."
"What does it do?" Lucas asked, Jerry seemed to know.
"It's more commonly called Blood Cell Deprivation. The body just stops making blood cells, and within days of getting the disease you die. No warnings, nothing. They are wondering why people don't feel tired or weak, and they are beginning to wonder if it happens within hours."
"Yeah, I've heard of BCD, what a way to go." Lucas swallowed.
Carina nodded, "Makes me want to move from this damnable city everyday I wake up."
Alex, her boss, walked out of the red room. "Hello." He said to Lucas and Jerry, and then looked at Carina. "What's next?"
"This was sent in by Paul Marcin." She handed it to him.
Taking it, he walked away.
Carina grinned at the two of them, "You two owe me big."
They both nodded, and walked out the door.
"She talks to much." Jerry mumbled before the door was even closed.
"Jerry, damn, at least, wait until she can't hear you."
He shrugged, "At least then she would know. Damn that girls got a set of lungs. And she gossips, my wife and her would be best friends, I am telling you. Well, if my wife was a racist bitch, who thinks everyone is against her cause she's black."
"A racist and a sexist, what a beautiful duo you must be."
Jerry laughed, "As long as she takes all her aggression on the white man out on me pleasurably, we don't have any problems."
They started up the stairs and Lucas shook his head, "Do you think about anything else but sex?"
"Not even when I'm looking at a mutilated corpse."
Lucas laughed, "Lets go grab some breakfast, and head back to the scene. It was getting light out when we arrived."
---***---
It wasn't really the breakfast that Lucas had in mind, standing in the break room in front of the coffee maker. Donut in one hand and old coffee in the other, but Jerry didn't seem to understand that there were restaurants out there. He chewed on the stale donut, while Jerry made another pot of coffee for everyone."You haven't been to sleep yet, have you?" Jerry asked.
He shook his head, "There was a BCD case at the party I was at last night, and instead of walking that girl home, I went and checked it out."
"You checked out a BCD case, instead of going home with a girl?" Jerry lifted the right corner of his lip, "You disgust me, man."
"Believe me, she's ice cold. She wouldn't of let me come in her house if I was dying on the street."
"Then why do you like her?" He asked, shoving the coffee filter into the coffee machine and shuffling out six mounds of coffee grounds.
"That's going to be strong coffee."
"You need it, now answer my question."
He shrugged and took a bite of his donut, "Don't know. You know I didn't even get her number."
Jerry looked at him from the corner of his eyes, "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he started the coffee pot and turned to look at him, "You've been sweating this girl all day, and you don't even have her phone number? Man, you need to get a phone, an address, a beeper number, or something before you start talking about her to your friends."
Lucas laughed, "I'll see her again."
"You are in New York City, odds of that happening are slim to none."
"If it's her friend in the pictures, then I'll call Phillip and get her number from him."
"And if it isn't?" Jerry asked, then stuff an entire donut in his mouth.
He shrugged, "Phillip purposely put her next to me at dinner, I think he'll give it to me."
"What is this an office water cooler?" Captain Madison's voice rang out. "You two girls talking about your soap operas?"
Both Jerry and Lucas looked over at him, not sure what to say.
"Does does Jenny get Todd, or does he cheat on her again?"
They both raised their eyebrows, "We are just waiting…" Lucas began.
"I don't care, you two need to start looking at the Bloody Hands evidence. I want a report by the end of the day on my desk."
"But sir, we are working on another case." Lucas told him, "A mutilated body went missing on…"
"It was wolves, now get to my assignment." He barked.
"Captain, the corpses clothing was found on a roof of a locked building. There is no way a wolf could of done that."
The captain had been leaning on the door, and then stepped forward. Jerry sighed, "You are in for it now."
"What is your name?"
"Stark."
The captain stood face to face with Lucas, "Listen to me, very clearly, I am not getting phone calls every half hour about a fucking missing corpse. It was chewed up by wolves, you write that down and you close the case, got me? I need Bloody Hands culprits in my cells! Because if I don't, then you are just a worthless piece of skin that can go back to Florida and rot." He turned to leave.
"California." Lucas mumbled.
"What?" Madison jerked around.
"I said yes, sir." Lucas swallowed.
He nodded and then disappeared around the corner.
Jerry chuckled, "Man, oh, man. He likes you."
"What?"
"That was him being nice. Anyway lets get that report done."
"No, someone died out there, and it wasn't by wolves. We owe it to them to solve it."
Jerry stared at him, "Tell you what, we do Bloody Hands today, and then tomorrow if you still feel that way, we'll get the pictures and see what we can do."
Lucas gave a nod, "I suppose, we have no other choice."
---***---
Gabrielle said her farewell to Kailin, and pulled the blinds down to shut out the sun. The power of the sun wouldn't kill any species of vampire, it would cause them a great deal of damage. She could walk in the noon sun, but it was very uncomfortable. Her flesh felt like it was boiling, even though it was not.Walking into the kitchen, she got a drink of water, when she heard a knock at the door. Opening it, she saw Lucas and large dark man standing before her. Gabrielle smiled at them, she realized she was in nothing but a shirt. One that barely covered her backside, but it was too late now to run and change.
"Why, Mister Stark, what a pleasant surprise." She said.
"I'm sorry, I don't remember your name."
Gabrielle crossed her arms, and stared at him for a moment. "Gabrielle." She said, noticing the large man pulled a pad of paper from his over coat's inner pocket.
"Gabrielle what?" Jerry asked her.
"Montre." She responded, "What is this about?"
Lucas thought it would be best if he explained it to her. "The night before last, a body was found eight blocks away from your apartment. During our routine investigation, the body was stolen."
"Well, I don't know anything about that." Gabrielle said, keeping her hand on the door.
"Miss Montre, is your roommate alright? Have you seen her?"
She nodded at Lucas, "Yes, she just left this morning. I'm surprised you didn't see her on your way up."
"May we come in?" Jerry asked, not wanting to talk to her in the hallway.
"What ever for?"
Lucas sighed for a moment, "Just to talk to you, it won't take long."
"I work nights, gentlemen, I was just about to head to bed. I don't know why you are speaking to me about this."
Lucas dug through a file, and offered it to her. "This gentlemen looks an awful lot like the man you were with at Phillip's party the other day." It was a picture of Kristian laying on the side walk. His arms and legs broken and tossed about over each other, blood made a puddle around the body. His face was partially pulled off from his skull, and sadly it was the least gruesome picture that they had.
She looked at the photo, "Kristian is just fine, if that is who you mean."
Jerry stood for a moment staring at her, surprised that she wasn't bothered by the ghastly image.
Lucas looked over at his partner, and then back to Gabrielle. "If we could only come in for a moment…"
"Fine, but lets be quick about this. I can't be late for work." She told them, stepping aside, and pointing to the couch.
Both men looked around the room, as they stepped in. They sat down on the couch, and watch Gabrielle come to stand beside the couch.
"Let me put some jeans on, I'll be right back." She said disappearing into her bedroom.
When her door shut, Lucas stood up and walked over to Kailin's bedroom door. He opened it slowly so it wouldn't make a noise and peered in. His eyes first landed on the fish bowl filled with bullets, but the crosses soon caught his eyes.
"Lucas." Jerry mumbled low as he watched Gabrielle's door. "Get away from there."
Looking the room over once more, he sat back down as Gabrielle stepped out. Her eyes went immediately to Kailin's door.
"You didn't shut it all the way." She told him, and walked over to the door and closed it. "You could at least cover your tracks a bit better, when you snoop around people's houses."
Lucas looked down in shame, but Jerry continued on. "You are sure that this isn't your friend?"
"Well, he's not my friend. He is working with Kailin on his new novel, she would have his phone number." Gabrielle told them, as she stuffed the pockets of her jeans in.
"And where is Kailin?" Jerry asked.
"At her office, I can find you the address if you want." She watched them both nod, and then walked behind the couch. Pulling the drawer from the light stand, she search for a moment, and then pulled out a piece of paper. "Here we are. Let me write this down for you." She said and then disappeared into the kitchen.
"Nice place." Jerry said looking around, "Pretty nice building, rent must be a bitch."
"It's not too bad." Gabrielle yelled from the kitchen.
Jerry had been mumbling his words, and looked at Lucas with surprise.
Gabrielle walked out with two piece of paper in her hand, "I work at a nice place and Kailin makes a bundle with her job. There is plenty to go around."
"You have good hearing, Miss Montre." Jerry said, and watched her smile, "What exactly is it that you do?"
"I'm a stripper." She told them, "Now, if that's all you need, I really must get to bed."
Both men nodded and stopped up, "Thank you for your time." Lucas said as he headed to the door.
"Anytime." She responded, "And try to remember my name."
Jerry stopped at the door, a devilish grin played across his lips, "I have two questions for you, Miss Montre. Does your roommate like Lucas?"
Lucas grabbed his face, and headed down the hall.
Gabrielle just shrugged, "You never know with Kailin." Crossing her arms, she waited for the second question.
"What club do you work at?"
She chuckled, "One that you couldn't afford."
His smile faded as he stepped outside into the hallway. Shutting the door behind him, he looked at Lucas near the elevator.
"Why would you ask that?" Lucas snapped, when he saw the apartment door was closed.
Jerry smiled, and shrugged, "Just to see if all your anxiety has been worth the hype."
The elevator dinged, and the doors opened. Mrs. Kraig looked at them from inside, and saw the badge on Lucas's belt. She was wearing a hair net, a dark blue dress that fell to her ankles, and white nurses shoes.
"You are the police?" She asked, standing in the elevator's way so they couldn't pass.
"Yes, ma'am, we are." Jerry answered.
She gave Jerry a dirty look, and then turned to Lucas. "You going to arrest that whore?"
Lucas rose an eyebrow, "What prostitute ma'am?"
"That whore, that lives in apartment eight twelve." She said and pointed at the apartment they just walked out of.
"You mean the Drake and Montre residence?"
Mrs. Kraig nodded, "That Montre girl, is nothing but a whore."
Lucas was getting a little tired of hearing her repeat the same word for Gabrielle's description.
"She's always bring men home off the streets, nothing but a dirty woman."
"Miss Montre is a stripper, that's not illegal, Misses…."
"Kraig, I live there." She pointed at the door down the hall, neither men knew exactly which door she meant. "She brings men home, that's a whore!" She snapped, after a few moments of replaying what Lucas had told her.
"She may be promiscuous, but that's not illegal. Unless you have proof that she takes money for her time, then I'm afraid we have to let her go." Lucas told her.
"You police are worthless, you can't stop them homeless from being in the alley and you won't arrest a wh…" She stopped and looked at them, "Wait, you are her clients, ain't cha? That's why she's been getting away with it for so long, she's been…"
"Ma'am, I can assure you that we are not Miss Montre's clients. Now, please step aside, we have matter to attend to."
Mrs. Kraig did as she was asked and wobbled down the hall to her apartment door. Both men watched her as they stepped inside the elevator and the doors closed.
"What a mean old bitch." Jerry said, "You see that look she gave me?" he asked, and looked at Lucas, who nodded. "Old racist, mean, dirty, nasty…"
"I get the point, Jerry."
He cleared his throat, and folded his hands together behind his back. "World will be a better place when old bitches like that are finally gone."
"Let it go, man, let it go. We have work to do." Lucas told him, as the elevator dinged and the doors slide open.
Chapter 7: http://rkphunt.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=186