For Things Lost Standard Disclaimer By the way, please don't kill me. This is my first real effort. Email responses would be absolutely lovely. For Things Lost by Jaelyn Wanderer Ray Vecchio, or, as his birth certificate had originally proclaimed him, Stanley Kowaski, drummed his fingers on his desk impatiently. As his ex-wife Stella had often informed him, patience wasn't one of his virtues. Then again, Stella seemed to have had a list of all the virtues he lacked, and he'd long ago stopped listening when she would recite them. His brain usually tuned out about around the time she got to slob, several items before impatience, so he was still oblivious to this deficiency in himself. He stood abruptly, sparing a second to run his fingers through his short spiky hair before wending his way through the police station. His hazel eyes narrowed at the sight of his prey calmly doing her nails at the computer desk. Ray smoothly half-sat on the desk, a carefully friendly smile pasted on his lips. "Frannie?" "Yeah, Ray?" The shade of red was perfect, and she turned her attention to a second coat. "Where the hell is my information on Alford!" Ray demanded, leaning forward sharply, face inches from hers. Frannie jumped and looked up venomously. "God, Ray! Will you just cool it?" She stood and hurried back to her own desk, the polish remover and cotton balls she hadn't thought she'd need in her purse there. Ray was right on her heels. "Well, you know I would except that a murder case sort of rides on finding out if this scum ball is in town." "Look, Ray. I can't make the computer go any faster or make a fax magically appear! Toccoa said they would send the info when they got it. So just stop breathing down my neck!" By this time Frannie had applied the cotton ball to her finger and was repairing the damage. Grumbling under his breath about idiot fax machines and nail polish wearing women named Frannie, Ray stalked off. Benton Fraser of the R.C.M.P entered the station just in time to see Ray start shuffling papers on his desk with what seemed to be excessive violence and carelessness. Fraser paused. "Francesca, do you know what is wrong with Ray?" "Oh, dropped on his head as a child, I think." Frannie said loudly as she stood. "Ha ha." Ray's voice snapped back. "So, Frase," she continued without missing a beat, "Ma was just saying the other day about how much she missed you coming over. How about you and I..." "No no no Frannie, you see, while some people around here are doing their nails and harassing people, some of us are trying to do our jobs. Understand?" Ray closed the distance between his desk and the two quickly. "Go away," he added to the annoyed Vecchio, just to make things perfectly clear. "Fine. Fine. I can tell when you are stuck in a snit and..." "Yeah, yeah, leave." Ray ignored the glare she gave him as well as the smile she made sure to give Fraser before she walked away. "You know, Ray. Francesca does have a point. You seem to be in a particularly bad mood," Fraser commented. Ray took him by the elbow and quickly led him out of the major bustle of the squad room. "You don' understand. If Prudence finds out that Alford might be involved in this, she is gonna, well, she will be all..." he shook his head as words momentarily failed him. "That is why I need your help." "Perhaps if you tell me who this Alford is and who this Prudence is, I might be able to contribute more," Fraser said, carefully pointing out the obvious. Ray stepped in front of the coffee machine and dug in his jeans for some change. "Alright there. You see, a few years back I was visiting Toccoa, Georgia. I got these cousins down there. It's a real hell hole, you wouldn't believe it." He punched the button for coffee and bent to retrieve it. "Thing is, the town's not so big. But it's like this great stop off place for drugs coming in from Florida. Gets pretty hairy." "I see," Fraser commented. "Well, when I was there, here was this bunch of murders. Real gruesome ones involving some freaky mutilations. Hearts taken out, brains fried. Nasty. The only suspect Sabe and I.." "Sabe?" "Sable. My cousin. She's a cop down there. We came up with Lloyd Alford as the guy to grab. When we got a warrant for the house we had tons of fingerprints and stuff proving the victims had been there, but he had already skipped town. So we never got him." Blue eyes widened in understanding. "The Brady case." "Right. Who ever killed Gina Brady has the same MO as Alford. Right down to the missing hearts and electrical burns on her temples." Ray tossed the coffee cup into the trash after only a few sips, eyes darting around in a manner Fraser was tempted to call paranoid. "Well, Ray, I can see where this might be upsetting. If it truly is Alford, and he has indeed returned to his heinous..." Ray's eyes flickered. "Why do you do that to me?" Fraser was taken aback. "Excuse me?" "Do that. You always do that. The...ahh, never mind." Fraser's expression was blank, and Ray sighed in exasperation before elaborating. "Heinous?" "Ahh. Right. It means hideous or awful." "'kay." Fraser found himself following Ray back into the squad room. "I can see why you would be upset," he continued, "but your reaction seems a bit extreme. Are you worried Alford is going to target you next?" Ray shook his head. "Alford is wacko, a sleeze who deserves life. But he is smarter than to mess with a cop. No. What scares me is..." "Ray!" the voice was sharp, filled with reproach as well as anger, and female. Ray winced. "Prudence," he finished and smiled sickly at the woman who had fixed her gaze on him. "Prudence?" Fraser blinked, taking in the uniformed police officer with her light brown hair and pale skin. "Sable's old roommate, now a cop. And a major pain in the..." "Love you too, Ray," the woman said sweetly, still several feet away. In his years of enforcing the law Fraser had gained a knack of reading people. He had found that if one looked deep enough, and had the sense to realize what he was seeing, someone could tell a person's whole world view from his or her eyes. Of course, the details about appearance and manner helped, but... The woman before him was short, neat, and held a humor about her. There was a calmness in her expression, even though she was clearly not pleased, and a look in her eyes as if she felt everything in the world needed to be taken with a measure of amusement, wry or otherwise. She froze for a moment at the sight of Fraser, his interrogative blue eyes sheathed in politeness, meeting her hazel ones directly. The curve of a smile on her lips didn't fade, but she did inexplicably blush. Then she shook the slight mezmoration off and returned to Ray. "You know about Gina Brady," she accused. "Yeah. Uh, look Prudence, we got this thing under control here and I'll let you know, okay?" "No deal, Vecchio," she stressed the false last name. "I am in this. Nothing is changing that now." Ray groaned and protested. "Pru, you are a beat cop! A rookie that doesn't know the first thing about..." Prudence merely smiled and extended a hand to the mildly intrigued Benton Fraser. "Prudence Miloy, at your service." "Benton Fraser of the R.C.M.P at yours, Ma'am." Her smile turned into a grin. "Is nobody listening to me?" "Not really Ray." The grin turned wicked. Ray groaned. ***** "Is your dog always so friendly?" Prudence managed, grinning widely at the half-wolf which was doing his best to catch her scent and express his general approval by licking her ears. "He is a wolf actually and you may have to forgive him Miss. Miloy, Diefenbaker sometimes has the most deplorable manners. He is deaf so he will have to be able to see your lips of course but if you tell him to get off of you he should obey," Fraser said matter-of-factly from his seat. He glanced over to Ray. The sun glasses hid his eyes, but Fraser could tell by the set of his jaw and the way he was gripping the wheel he was not pleased. "Oh no," Prudence said quickly, "I used to have a couple dogs and I loved them." She gently reached around to scratch behind Diefenbaker's ears, her expression warm. Then she did a double take. "He reads lips?" "Yeah, Pru, the wolf reads lips," Ray interrupted curtly, "Now look. When we get to Gina Brady's you just stay in the car, alright? Fraser and I will take care of looking around." "Because you have those eagle eyes that will catch what my twenty-twenty vision might miss, Ray?" The sarcasm was said lightly, her eyes narrowed. "Because I know what I am doing, that's why. That last thing we need is you going in there poking your nose in all the wrong things and messing everything up." "Ray," her tone was very calm and simple. "I have graduated the Academy. In fact, I have been a cop for two years now. I do know a little about the job." "She does have a point you know," Fraser said and ignored the look Ray shot him. "Well, I mean she is a police officer. She has some insight into the case. I think Miss. Miloy could be a help." "Prudence," she corrected. Fraser half-turned to look at her. "Benton." Prudence smiled. "Great. That is just great. Fine. You just stay out of the way though and let us handle things." As Ray pulled the car into the parking spot, Prudence leaned forward from the back seat. "As you wish, oh fearless leader." She murmured, amused. Fraser was a bit upset to notice that the glares Ray was giving him had doubled in intensity. Gina Brady had lived alone in a small apartment on the not-so-good but not-out-right-horrible section in town. In fact, the neighborhood had been rapidly become a favorite place for college students out on their own to find apartments. The building itself was five floors high, and fairly well maintained. There was a sparse lawn with only a little trash on it, and the inner walls of the lobby had been painted within the last ten years. "Where did she live?" Prudence asked trailing behind the other two. "Second floor," Ray said, reading the 'out-of-order' sign on the elevator. He opened the door to the stairwell and started up. Fraser caught the door and looked at Prudence, nodding toward the stairs. "After you." Again, her smile widened, this time slightly startled. "And they say chivalry is dead." The mountie looked at Diefenbaker as he followed. "Watch out for her," he said softly. The wolf tilted his head curiously and made a slight interrogative growl. "Well yes, I know. But just in case. Now come on." He continued up the stairs, then. Ray was busily picking the lock on the door of apartment thirteen and Prudence was watching curiously. The door swung open and Ray cautiously entered, eyes scanning. "Not a bad place," he said, walking in. Fraser had to agree. From what he could tell, it was clean, if not spacious. The kitchen was open to the living room and the bedroom, the master one by the look of things, was directly off to the right. A short hallway led to what could be assumed to be a guest bedroom and a bathroom. Fraser bent down by the couch, as if inspecting it for anything suspicious. Ray instantly went to the antique writing desk in the corner. "Nothing much here but letters and bills," he remarked over his shoulder. Silently, Prudence walked through the open door of the master bedroom, followed by the watchful wolf. "A few from mom, bills from a furniture store..." "For the couch?" Fraser rose to his feet smoothly. "It does appear to be very new. If you will notice Ray, so does the microwave and the television." "Yeah...and she is a college student. Third year. Gotta wonder where she got the money for it all." Ray put the bills down and walked the perimeter of the room, curiously. "There is no need to jump to conclusions, Ray. Her parents might have..." "No, no. They aren't that rich, you see. I already talked to them a little bit, and she was going to school all on scholarships. They were scraping by to get her though. So she had to get the money from elsewhere." Fraser regarded the living room for a long moment, trying to glean the personality of this dead girl from her home. The walls were painted a neutral off white. Standard apartment fare, but they were covered with pictures of beautiful places and reproductions of art. The couch was a tasteful cream and hunter green, the television placed on a oak entertainment center. Gina appeared to have loved candles. There were several of them all around the room, and they were obviously well used. The room was very clean, showing an appreciation for the quality of things. And, she had apparently liked to cook. Fruit scented the air from inside woven baskets and there was a brand new food processor on the counter. "Hmmmm." "So," Ray began opening drawers in the desk, still searching. "Where does a college girl get this kind of money? Drugs or something?" "Possibly." Fraser didn't believe so, though. Drug users did not usually show such care for things. He started to head to the second bedroom, but turned, able to see Prudence through the master bedroom door. It was the way she was standing perfectly still that had caught Fraser's attention. She stood by a dresser, its surface covered with makeup and jewelry that just never had gotten put away. And for once her face was completely sober. The bright excitement which had been a part of her demeanor since Fraser had first met her was missing. His attention focused as he watched her gingerly, almost reverently, pick up a mask from the dresser. It was a porcelain representation of a woman's face, with a small rose etched on the cheek. "Then again," he continued, not moving his gaze as he spoke, "from what you have said about Alford drugs don't seem a part of his normal mode of operation." Ray walked past Fraser into the bedroom and stopped. "Pru, put that down," he said quietly. "It is her face," one finger trailed the edge of it. "Gina's I mean. At Renaissance Festivals you pay a huge amount but you can get a mask of your face..." "I know." He covered her hand with his own and pushed it down to the dresser. "Put it down." Prudence never moved her eyes until the mask was set back down and the empty sockets in the inanimate porcelain revealed only painted wood again. Then she took a breath and pulled her hand from Ray's, straightening. "The desk calendar in here," she said, voice strained and her lips twitched in an attempt at a smile to lighten things. "wouldn't you know it? This month is missing on it." Ray and Fraser walked over to the desk, Ray sparing a backward glance for Prudence. She rolled her eyes at his concern and smirked. He shook his head and turned his attention back to the matter at hand. "Looks like someone tore it off," Ray commented. "Quickly too." Fraser briefly examined it. "It is too early to be changing the month on your calendar, and it looks like she was pretty thorough about writing out her appointments. You thinking what I am thinking, Fraser?" "That Gina must have written down where she was going the night she was murdered and that information somehow incriminated the murderer who then broke in here and stole the evidence?" Ray gestured widely. "Boom! There you go. Come on, Gina had a best friend named Tracy Watkins who might know who she was supposed to meet. The two were real close." Fraser nodded and the two began to stride out of the room, moving quickly on the trail. They had made it almost the whole way to the apartment door without realizing that Prudence hadn't followed. She had started to. In fact, Diefenbaker, a bit edgy but feeling relieved that they were moving again, had started out the door with her, right after the men. But for some reason, she paused and turned to the closet door. Head tilted and eyes narrowed as if she was trying to catch an elusive melody, she took a step toward it, and then another quicker this time. Chewing her lip thoughtfully she stood in front of it and reached her hand to the knob. Diefenbaker's ears twitched and he trotted back to the room to try and hurry her along; the others were leaving. As the knob on the closet door turned, he stiffened, growling a low warning in his throat. The door flew open, kicked from the inside. Prudence cried out, the impact slamming her against the wall. Diefenbaker barked and lunged for the intruder, even as the man threw himself through the window. "Prudence!" She groaned and pointed. "There!" Fraser brushed by her, launching himself out the window without a moment's hesitation. Ray darted back out the door to try and head the chase off. Fraser landed, legs flexing to take the impact, and ran after the suspect. The ally way was narrow and the stench of rotting things splashed up as the tall blonde man heedlessly ran through a puddle. Diefenbaker was almost on him, and as he looked back over his shoulder, Fraser could see the fear in his eyes. More importantly, he could see the edge of tattered paper peeking from the pocket of the man's jeans. Fraser ran faster. A frantic movement sent a teetering garbage can into the path of the chase, a desperate attempt. Diefenbaker was caught too close to it to do anything but leap, which he did easily, and Fraser simply swerved. But the second gained was used to rush through a door into the building on the right. Without hesitation, Fraser followed after. The four men convening in secret were not exactly pleased by their guests. The suspect raced past them into the dark interior of the building too quickly for them to react or do more than begin to draw their weapons. But, then there was Fraser, unfortunately, on the receiving end of those weapons. "It is a set up!" A dark haired man with a bad mustache screamed, firing his gun at Fraser with reckless enthusiasm. The Mountie dove for the dubious cover of what used to be the bar before the club went out of business. Bullets whined and thudded into the wood. "Freeze! Chicago PD!" Ray yelled from the doorway gun poised. He didn't even have the time to mouth the obscenity he thought before he threw himself to the side to avoid the bullets. "Bigsby! Let's go! Come on!" "Get to the car!" The sound of retreating footsteps met Fraser's ears, and he gathered himself to race after them. Through the darkness of the building he pursued them, Ray right behind him. They cleared the front door just in time to see an anonymously black car speed away. Unaimed bullets fired awkwardly out the rear window. Ray sidestepped toward the building for a bit of cover, took aim, but growled and lowered the gun. "I don't suppose the wolf followed the guy?" he asked sharply. A whine from behind them was the answer. "Aw, great." He re-holstered his gun, frustrated. "Look at it this way, Ray. We know that something on that calendar was worth going back for. This Tracy you were speaking of, did she...?" "Are you guys alright?" Prudence charged up to them from the street, panting slightly, her gun drawn. Ray's eyes flickered as he turned to her. She raised her chin in an instinctive defensive move, tensing in expectation. "Yeah, fine. You?" he asked. "Fine." She blinked, startled. He nodded curtly. "Yeah, okay then. You just be more careful when you open closets, okay?" he pointed at her. "You never know what might be there." She smiled slowly, relaxing. "And if I don't, next time I'll find you there with a squirt gun, right?" Ray laughed briefly, taking a few steps down the street towards where the car had disappeared. "Me hanging out in closets? Naw. You must be joking." He hesitated, unsure of what sounded wrong with that statement, but pretty sure that something about it hadn't sounded right. "You don't know how glad I am to hear you say that, Ray." Prudence said dryly. He frowned. "Ray?" Fraser asked, "You were speaking of Tracy Watkins?" "Ahh, right. Come on," he jerked his head in the direction of his car. "We can still probably get a hold of her if we hurry." Prudence was doing her best not to laugh. ***** Tracy Watkins was a striking woman. Perhaps not pretty, but there was an aura about her. Her long dark hair waved to the middle of her back, and her brown eyes were thickly lashed. Her nose was a bit too large, and her mouth a bit too thin, but in her manner there was a captivating mixture of signals. A wall of capability and harshness tightened her hands while shimmering in the grief on her face was the promise of vulnerability. "Miss. Watkins, you were friends with the deceased, Gina Brady, were you not?" Fraser asked, hat in his hands. Miss Watkins had been found leaving her last class of the day and they had asked if she would answer a few questions for them. The empty classroom was dead, but the sounds of campus through the open window provided a active backdrop. Tracy nodded, a bare trace of movement. "Yes, Gina and I were friends." "Do you know if she was supposed to meet anyone on the night she died?" Ray sat on a desk top, feet resting on the seat. "What do you mean? You mean like a boyfriend?" She sounded confused. "Possibly." Fraser encouraged. "She didn't have a boyfriend. Not for a few months or so anyway." Tracy thought a moment. "She was going to come over to my apartment later on and we were going to watch some movies." A faint smile twisted her lips and she glanced down. "Pixie sticks and Ben & Jerry's. She had to meet with Professor Anderson first, though." "Professor Anderson? And he would teach what, exactly?" Ray asked. "He teaches the Psych courses, when he teaches at all." She continued without having to be coaxed. "Gina and I, and a few others at the school, did some part time work for the department. You know sort of as test subjects for the grad students or the Professors working on papers." "Like, uh, guinea pigs or something?" Ray stared at her. Tracy shook her head. "No, it isn't like that at all. They don't dare do anything harmful, it is all safe and it is all legal. They pay great and you had to do hardly anything. I mean, you weren't assured of a job all the time. You might get called on once in a month, or a bit more if you were lucky and had a profile or something they could really grab. That was why I was a bit surprised when Dr. Anderson said he needed Gina for another experiment that night. She had just finished one up with them last week." "I see. Do you know where Miss. Brady and Dr. Anderson were supposed to meet?" Fraser's expression was still neutral, but a certain glimmer showed his interest. "Usually the requests go out through student employment and you have to pick up your card from them. Then you just go to the lab you were assigned to," she spoke slowly, "But, Dr. Anderson sent one of his assistants to stop Gina just as she was leaving campus. I guess he was afraid that she would be gone before she could get the request in the mail. Gina didn't mention where they were supposed to meet. But I would assume the lab." "Did Gina happen to tell you who this assistant was? Or what he looked like?" Ray's foot tapped a staccato beat on the seat of the desk and he leaned forward just a little bit. "She said his name was Carl. But she didn't need to tell me what he looked like. I was walking with her when he came and pulled her aside to talk to her. I don't know who he was, if that is what you are asking. I haven't seen him on campus before. He was taller than six feet, maybe two or three inches above it. Blonde hair, didn't really notice eye color..." "Sounds like twinkle toes from the apartment." Ray glanced at Fraser. "Indeed it does." He stood and placed his hat back on his head. "Thank you for your time, Miss Watkins." She nodded, hesitating as the three officers stood and moved to the door. Before she could think about it, the words tumbled from her lips. "Don't...let him get away, okay?" her voice was abrupt. She swallowed, the edge of anger openly mingled with grief on her face. "Whoever did this...don't let him get away and...make sure he pays for it." "We will. I promise." The voice was calm and even. But from the intensity buried in it, and the darkness that had somehow attached itself to the words, Fraser would have thought Ray was the one answering that call for vengeance. But it was Prudence's eyes that locked with the younger woman in a strange sort of understanding and exchange. And it was to her that Tracy nodded acknowledgement. ***** "I do not like this." Ray asserted. "It makes perfect sense, Ray. Lloyd Alford arrives in Chicago under the false name of Dr. Peter Anderson and takes up a job with the college. With this job he is able to find victims that match his criteria, whatever that criteria may be, and contact them with relative anonyminity. I don't believe that he meant for anyone to be around when Gina Brady was contacted. Now, granted there are a few questions that remain unanswered, like why Alford is killing these people as well as the..." "Not that Fraser," Ray interrupted sharply. "I meant Prudence." "Oh." Ray released his rather tight grip on the steering wheel of his car and sighed into the thoughtful silence. "I don't mean to be rude, but you seem to have quite a problem with Prudence. I don't quite understand why. Granted she is not a detective and is relatively inexperienced, but she hasn't gotten in the way of the investigation in any way shape or form. In fact, if you recall, she was the one who noticed the calendar page was missing." "I know that. I know that." Ray stared out to Dr. Anderson's dark house. The stake-out had been going on for a six hours now, ever since they had talked to Anderson's secretary and discovered that Anderson had planned to be out of town until later on that evening. There was another car stationed several hundred feet down the road, and Ray was starting to get very impatient. "Look, Pru is a good kid. And," he shrugged to concede the point, "I think she's a good cop too." "Then I don't understand." Ray glanced at Fraser, uncomfortable. "It is just that, in Toccoa, when things went down with Alford the first time..." "Hey, I got the food. Hope you approve." The door to the car opened and Prudence slipped inside, handing several bags over the back seat. "Subs?" She grinned, her teeth a flash of white in the darkness. "And chocolate covered cream filled donuts, just in case." Diefenbaker whined and nosed at the bag Prudence held. "Oh dear," Fraser muttered. "Now, Dief, chocolate is not good for canines," Prudence chided. The wolf gave her a skeptical look. "Yes, I know that seems a bit impossible that chocolate could be bad, but..." "Fraser, she is talking to the wolf." "I noticed that." "...it would be like pouring salt into an engine, or allowing a painting to be ruined by mold or something. You are entirely too beautiful to allow sweets to ruin." Prudence either didn't hear the men or ignored them. Diefenbaker whined, and exhaled breath in a sigh. Prudence smiled. "So..I got you these instead. Hope you like." Fraser didn't see what Prudence gave the wolf, but the sound of contented chomping was rather loud. Fraser unwrapped his meal as Prudence leaned forward. "Nothing interesting happen while I was gone, I take it?" "Not a thing. Quiet as a mouse. Nothing," Ray said with his mouth full. "I don't like this." "What's not to like? Anderson is Alford and he's been grabbing students to kill. Simple as that." Ray retorted. "It is too easy. I will bet you a million dollars that Alford has already skipped town. He is too smart to come back to the house." "Why shouldn't he return?" Fraser asked. "There is no reason to believe that he knows we have connected Anderson to the murders. His man got away with the calendar page." Prudence couldn't find any words to express what she was thinking. "Canada is so close," she muttered, "we should have alerted the boarder guards or something. Then they could have grabbed him." "Prudence, he did not run to Canada," Ray asserted, "He isn't that crazy. Besides, the Canadians wouldn't have just picked up a guy on a description and the little evidence we got." "Actually, Ray, I would imagine..." "What do you mean little evidence?" Prudence spoke over Fraser, "Gina Brady is dead. Not coming back, okay? And Tracy said Anderson was the one who saw her last. We have plenty of evidence." "You cannot just pick someone up like that." Ray stated, getting a bit angry. "Of course you can!" "You can't!" "Look, Stanley, you can too! If I want to go and arrest someone I can do that, that is what a badge means! I can slip in and just pick..." her voice trailed off, and the hand which had been absently resting on Diefenbaker's side froze. Ray was already speaking. "No, you can't! You never got this, Dense, even back in Toccoa. You can't just rush in, you get people killed! And the DA just won't go when you have no evidence, got it?" Fraser saw Prudence stiffen as if she had been slapped, breath caught sharply in her throat. "Theresa has nothing to do with this," she said, sudden warning and hardness in her voice. "Doesn't she?" he snapped back then shut his eyes briefly, wincing. "I mean, I didn't mean that. I just mean that if you or anyone else..." "No." She smiled tightly, shaking her head. "I am not dense, despite that ugly nickname. And if you had half a brain you would stop treating me like a child or some sort of bomb waiting to explode. I have spent years, Kowalski, learning to be a cop and what to do and when to do it and to learn how to deal with that bastard still on the loose. I do not rush into situations anymore, I've grown up. Unlike you. And unlike you, I can see things that are right in front of me. I know what to look for with Alford. And I have the right to look for it! More than you, more than anyone. And I won't let you shut me out of it." She ignored the way that Fraser was looking from her to Ray and back again. She ignored the way Ray was trying to find something to say. There was nothing to say, and she didn't want to hear it anyway. She threw open the door to the car and left, slamming it shut. The black trench coat, which Ray had rolled his eyes at conspired with the shadows to take her from sight quickly. Ray let his head fall back against the head rest. "Damn." "Who was Theresa?" Fraser asked quietly. "Her younger sister." Ray rubbed his temple. "And Alford's fourth victim." "Oh." "She...Prudence thought that it was her fault. Sabe and I had been working on the case for a while, Prudence sort of hanging along, helping out a bit. She and Theresa looked a lot a like, they were only a year and a half apart in age. She was taken from outside a movie theater where she and Prudence were supposed to meet." Fraser was silent. Diefenbaker growled after a moment, pacing the back seat. He had meant to follow Theresa, to watch as he was told. But she had shut the door and trapped him inside. "Do you think she will be alright?" Ray asked, then backtracked. "Uhh, walking home I mean." "I am sure she will be fine." Fraser said, "Walking home that is. It is a good neighborhood, and there was a pay phone just down the road for a taxi," he paused, noting that the words had no reassuring effect and letting them rest in the air for a minute anyway, "Unless, you think that she might not be okay emotionally, and that one of us should go after her. As a friend." he added. Ray smiled briefly. "Is that what you think? That I meant should one of us should go make sure she is okay?" "I don't know, Ray. Is it?" "...yeah. It is," he reached out for the handle to the car door. Just as a red car pulled up into Anderson's driveway. ***** Ray grabbed the radio, "This is it, get ready." he told the others over the line. Without further word he and Fraser exited the car, Diefenbaker jumping out as they walked to the driveway. In the dim light cast by the house's porch bulbs, they saw a grey haired man exit from the car and walk around to the passenger side. He opened the door, and a young woman stepped out. Ray's expression grew fierce. "Freeze! Chicago PD!" he shouted, gun drawn. Dr. Anderson looked up, startled, and the woman he was with yelped and moved closer to him. "On the ground, now!" Ray strode over to them. "Now!" "Peter!" the girl whimpered. "It's okay, Lola! Look, I was just tutoring her on Freud, I swear it!" Dr. Anderson babbled as he got to his knees slowly. "Now! Hands behind your back!" With swift motions Ray cuffed the man. "Freud eh? Like how you tutored Gina Brady?" "I never tutored Miss. Brady!" "Yeah right!" Ray dragged him to his feet. "And like you never sent your assistant Carl to tell Gina to meet you on the night she died!" "My assistant's name is Joe!" the terrified man yelped, "I have no idea what you are talking about!" "Shut up. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used..." Ray's words died as the light finally hit Dr. Anderson full in the face. "Against you in a court of law." Fraser supplied. He was holding the girl away gently but firmly as she cried. "Who the hell are you?" Ray demanded, shaking the man a little. "Dr. Peter Anderson," the man supplied quickly, "Look, I was at a convention in Toronto when they said Miss. Brady died, I didn't do anything I..." Ray cursed and looked over to Fraser, frustrated. With harsh motions he unlocked the handcuffs. "It isn't him. He's not Alford." ***** "Well that was just great." Ray muttered, striding back to the car. The whole thing had taken some time to sort out. The other police had left, annoyed and grumbling about the useless stakeout and Anderson had retreated inside. "At least he isn't going to press charges against us for police harassment." Fraser offered. "Yeah. Great. Damn it." Ray slid into his seat. "We're back to square one." "Not really. We do have a description of this Carl. We know that he worked for Alford and if we put out an APB on him." Ray started the car and pulled away from the curb. "We know what Carl looks like, " he repeated slowly. "Right. Miss. Watkins can give us a positive ID. We should probably get her to a police sketch artist." Fraser added. "A positive ID. Because she saw him right close." He looked at Fraser. Fraser looked back, blue eyes widening. "That's right. And Carl saw her too. And if he knows that she can ID him, Alford knows that she can ID him." Ray reached for police radio. "Dispatch, I need a telephone number for Tracy Watkins at 345 Peach Avenue, right away!" He turned the wheel fiercely, headed for the apartment even as he waited for the phone number. "The number is 555-7383." "Right, thanks." "You think Alford will try to silence Miss. Watkins?" Fraser asked as they sped. "Yeah. He is a very tight guy." He dialed the number on his cell phone quickly. "He wouldn't let a loose end hang. She's all we got." The phone rung and was picked up. "Hello?" "Tracy? This is detective Vecchio, look. You need to listen very carefully, okay?" "Alright. What is going on?" "You need to stay in the apartment. Lock the doors and the windows, and don't come out for anybody. You might be in danger. Fraser and I will be right over to take you to the police station." "I thought that a couple uniforms were going to take me there?" She was confused. "What?" "I have been trying to get through to you for a while now, but I guess you had the phone turned off or Officer Miloy got the number wrong. She called and told me to stay in the house until two uniformed police came to my door. Then I was to check out the badge numbers and go with them to the station. I was also supposed to call you and tell you that Carl had asked me to meet up with Dr. Anderson this evening. Has something gone wrong?" "When did she tell you this?" Ray demanded. "About twenty minutes ago. I was just walking out the door to go meet with Dr. Anderson." She waited for Detective Vecchio to say something, anything, but he didn't. "Officer Miloy said she would take care of things and tell Dr. Anderson why I couldn't be there." Ray stiffened. "Where? Tracy, where were you going to meet him?" "Outside the library at school. But, I was supposed to be there about ten minutes ago. I don't know if Officer Miloy was able to get there in time." Ray hung up the phone and slammed on the brakes, pulling the car into a tight turn. "Ray?" Fraser asked, catching his breath and very thankful for his seatbelt. "Prudence. She went after Alford on her own." ***** She pulled the trench coat a little closer as she shut the door on the taxi cab and bolted for the library on campus. She dared a look at her watch. It was two minutes past the time Carl had told Tracy to meet him in front of the library. Prudence could only hope that Carl would wait a few minutes, and that Tracy had gotten through to Fraser and Ray. All thoughts of vengeance aside, Prudence really wanted Ray to be there backing her up when she faced Alford. Fraser and the wolf would be wonderful as well. It was just, as they were fighting, it had occurred to her that Alford had no need to assume a false identity. He could just pick up whatever girls he wanted by invoking someone elses name. Borrowing authority, so to speak. Just like a police officer used the authority of their rank to pick up suspects. But she hadn't been in the mood to defend the sudden insight to Ray and, fired by anger as other irrational emotions, she had left. Without thinking things through. Well, now she was thinking. And she hoped Ray showed up in time. Enough. She pushed the fear down and sucked in a breath at the sight of a dark car waiting by the library steps. Wait. She ruthlessly pulled the rubber band holding her hair back in its french braid out and combed through the long dark hair, fluffing it. She didn't think it would fool Carl for long, but Tracy had long dark hair too, and the moment's advantage might be useful. As she approached the car, a tall man walked out from the shadows. Blond hair caught the light and in a glimpse she recognized him. It was the man from the closet. It was Carl. "Hey, I was afraid that you would have left," she said cheerfully as she quickly closed the distance between herself and the car, her right hand casually going underneath her coat to her gun. "Carl, right?" He paused, as if uncertain. Frowning and unsure about who this woman before him was, he licked his lips. Tracy or...? "Yeah. I am Carl. Tracy?" Her grin was easy but tinged with sharpness as she pulled her gun in one smooth motion. "Chicago PD, put your hands where I can see them." He stared at her. "Now," her body calmly shifted into Weaver stance, her readiness to fire apparent. "You must forgive Carl. He never has been too quick on the uptake." A apologetic voice spoke from the darkness. Prudence stiffened. "But I think you might be a little more adept about realizing your situation. Put the gun down." She turned slowly, bending to place the gun on the ground as she did. "Lloyd Alford I presume?" The drawn face of the elderly man broke into a faint smile but the gun he held didn't falter. "I would say you have me at an advantage, Miss. But you don't. Not really. Carl." he nodded to Prudence and Carl stepped forward with a pair of hand cuffs. "I don't suppose Miss. Watkins is around here anywhere?" "Not a chance. She is at the precinct giving them a description of wonder-boy there. And back-up is on the way." She threw at him, still smiling serenely. "Then we should probably leave then." He met her smile with equal serenity. "Pity. I thought Chicago would last us longer. Well, at least we should be able to have time enough for one experiment before having to pack up and move on." Prudence stifled a gasp as the handcuffs were squeezed very tight. A wave of foreboding swept her. "Experiments?" "Oh, you are going to find out all about them. In fact, if things go well, you will be the conduit for a break through in our understanding of existence. Carl, put her in the car." "Watch the leg," she said sharply. Carl shoved her in the vehicle and it pulled away from the curb. ***** Ray barely waited for the car to stop before throwing it into park and turning off the ignition. Wordlessly he and Fraser ran down the short path that led to the library. Diefenbaker raced ahead. The front of the library was conspicuously empty. Ray swore, jaw tightening. "Fraser, where did they go?" he demanded. Fraser was already kneeling to examine the tracks. "It appears a newer model of Ford...perhaps a 97 or a ...." "Fraser!" "There are no distinguishing marks on the tires, Ray." Fraser said, voice getting a bit louder in response. He was worried too. "No dripping fluid, no scraping muffler. I could conceivable follow this back to the main road, but once there.." He glanced beyond the tire track for just a moment, double checking that there was nothing coming from what would have been the rear of the car. "Wait." "What?" Ray shifted his weight and took a single half-aborted step forward. "Cloth. Like something got caught in the car door and got dragged on the ground as it moved away." He knelt even closer and gingerly sniffed at the earth. "You see that? I don't see that..." Ray was muttering. "It's Prudence's trench coat." Fraser said with abrupt certainty as he stood. "Diefenbaker?" "Good. Good. Her trench coat." Ray nodded. The wolf caught the scent Fraser was indicating and whined low in his throat. "Follow this scent, Dief, but wait until we get in the car so we can follow you." Fraser instructed. The Wolf patiently settled back on his haunches to wait until the Mountie and Cop were in car. "How did you know that?" Ray asked as they shut the car doors and he started the ignition. Hazel eyes focused on the wolf as he began to track the scent down the road on to the main street. "Know what?" "That it was Prudence's trench coat? I mean.." "Oh, that." Fraser shrugged. "It was obvious from placement of the material at the back right seat of the car, and there was the faintest scent of rose, chocolate and the laundry detergent most often used by dry cleaners. The rose, obviously from the sachets she probably has hanging in her closet, the chocolate from the donuts of earlier and a trench coat like hers can't be machine washed so it seemed a logical conclusion." Ray had been nodding absently as Fraser spoke. "Back seat?" he interrupted. Fraser paused. "Yes. Back seat. Indicating that there were two other people in the car and judging from her foot prints, she did not go into the car completely willing." "Great." They both fell silent. ***** "So you promised me an explanation?" Prudence asked, chin raised a little as Carl tightened the last fastener holding her wrist to the arm of the chair. The fact that the chair was made entirely out of stainless steel and had numerous cords and other things attached to it from a computer console was not reassuring. Neither were the other strange and unidentifiable instruments and equipment surrounding her. The warehouse was filled with crates and boxes, but Alford had carved out a space in the center of it all for his strange contraption and computer hook ups. A small room had also been put there, looking as if it had been randomly dropped on the site. Prudence hadn't seen the inside of it, but she bet it had been an office of some sort at some time. The fear was boiling up in her gut, but sheer will kept it down, channeled it through defiance. Alford's fingers clicked on a keyboard as he made adjustments to a control panel. "Have you ever killed anyone, Officer?" "Not yet," she said, managing to keep her voice even. He smiled. "It is very simple. First off, the cutting out of hearts is a ruse. A decoy so to speak. It tends to make those of a judicial mind think of cults instead of the pure pursuit of science. You have to accept the principle that Death releases a great deal of power--especially violent death and the death of the young. Those in their prime, so to speak. Now normally, that power is untappable by conventional means. That is what I have been working on. And..." He moved to tamper with another connection. "that is what you are going to help me with. You are young. Your death will be sufficiently traumatic. And this time, this time it will all work." Prudence merely stared at Alford as Carl pulled down a metal ring from the back side of the chair. It encircled her head and grazed her temples. Electrical burns on the temples... "You killed my sister. Killed Gina for some hocus pocus power that you haven't even gotten to work or..?" "It will work." Alford snapped. "It is just a matter of time." "And you'll what?" she demanded, eyes wide and voice high pitched with the edge of hysteria and skepticism. "Get all this power and what? Light up a city or something? Take over the world?" "Nothing so pedestrian, I assure you." Alford walked over to her and smiled again, his voice filled with pride and calmly matter of fact. So neat. So clean. "Dimensional portals, dear. Other worlds and other realms. If I can harness the power of your death, with these new configurations, I will have brought forth a new era." He turned some dials on the chair and made sure some lines were connected. Then he glanced at her and caught her wide eyed stare. He gently patted her cheek. "Just remember that television show 'Sliders', Officer. A bit like that. I'll worry about the rest." "This isn't a television show, Alford," she whispered fiercely, pronouncing each word sharply. He shrugged and walked over to the computer console again. "So much the better. That way the heros don't have to win, now do they?" "Well, no one ever said they had too, although it does make for a better show, don't ya think?" Prudence's breath was sharp, as if she had been holding it and just now felt it was safe to breath again. "About time!" Ray shrugged, his glasses balanced precariously on his nose as he kept his gun trained on Alford. "If you will please step away from the console, sir. I think you will find you are out numbered." Fraser said politely. The unconscious body of Carl a few feet away from him proved his point, although Prudence had no idea how Fraser had knocked the man out without her or Alford noticing. For a moment, Alford looked stunned. Then his eyes narrowed. "I don't think so. I have my hand on the button that will send a current more than enough to kill her through the chair. You are interfering with something you don't understand, gentlemen. Put your gun down." "I don't think so." "Fine! Then you can shoot me. But either way, she dies and I prove my point. I will be hailed as a genius." Alford tensed the muscles in his hand and started to push down. "Wait!" Ray shouted, turning the gun away from Alford. Raising his other hand in the air, he slowly bent to put the gun down. "Shoot him!" Prudence would have surged to her feet, had she been able. "Ray...he is going to kill her anyway." Fraser said anxiously. "I know that." There was no warning. A tight grin twisted Ray's lips and the gun swung around to the surge protector through which all the electrical chords were run. He fired, and the plastic shattering seemed much louder than it actually was. "NO!" Alford screamed. Smoke poured from the ruined device and the computer screens blanked all in a row. Alford ran from the room. Fraser was on his heels in an instant, and Ray was not far behind. The warehouse and its labrythine convolutions of boxes and packing crates took the three from sight almost immediately. Prudence pulled at the restraints holding her to the chair frantically. She groaned and then gritted her teeth. Fine. The tears that she would have rather died than let Alford see slipped from her eyes. Pulling didn't work? She would pull harder! There wasn't much reason or logic left, she wanted out and she wanted out NOW. ***** Lloyd Alford was not a stupid man, by any set of the mind. By the same token, he wasn't exactly brilliant. What he was, was stubborn and obsessive. He would prove his theories to the world and he would gain the acclaim he had been seeking all his life. And an idiot in a red suit, an imbecilic cop were not going to stop him. The two following him had the advantage of youth. He had the advantage of knowing the territory. The gun he had only used once before in his life was fired into the darkness behind him, hopefully enough to make them duck and cover. The return fire came no where near him, since he had immediately taken an unobtrusive opening in the crates that would lead him back towards that cleared center of the warehouse. The chances that the Mountie or the Cop, in the unlit tangle, could tell which way he went were almost laughable. He would prove his theories. He had too. ***** A strangled gasp escaped her lips and she sagged back. There was no way. She could have cut her wrist to the bone and still not slid it out of the restraints. "Ray!" she shouted, beginning to panic. "Ray? Fraser!" A cold nose nudged her hand, and then licked the blood and sweat from it as if to comfort. "Dief!" a moment's elation, and then she shut her eyes and half laughed, half sobbed. "Y-you don't have any hands though.." The wolf tilted his head to the side, as if this abrupt subject change and obvious statement were quite absurd of her. Fraser had told him to stay by Prudence, and he was going to this time. She opened one eye and just looked at him. "Don't suppose you know where Carl put the key to these? Dief?" She stared. "Dief, where are you going? Don't leave. Stay, Dief..sta..." It was almost impossible, but her eyes got wider. Dief sauntered back to her and the keys clanked as they were dropped into her hand. "...my God..." she muttered. Diefenbaker sat down and growled as if to hurry her up as she tried to manipulate the key into the lock. But of course the keys had been in Carl's pocket. And they had half fallen out when Fraser knocked him unconscious. Anyone could have seen that. The woman shouldn't have been so surprised that Diefenbaker had noticed. Diefenbaker's tongue lolled out in a canine laugh at Prudence's awe. "No." The words were hissed, and Prudence whirled. Alford gripped the gun harder. "Get back in that chair!" "No," she retorted, half crouched. "Do it!" he demanded again. Diefenbaker growled, ears flattening. A sharp bark erupted from lips curled over teeth. Fraser would hear it. "The computer is ruined! You can't..." "I can do it. There are back up protocols!" She couldn't help it. Prudence laughed. Alford was so desperate, like a child striving for a toy denied. Alford's eyes narrowed. Ray inhaled slowly, rounding a tall packing crate with his gun trained on Alford. "Drop it!" he said firmly. Alford shook his head. "Oh no. I'll shoot her," he grinned. "You know how it ends. There are no secondary targets now, boy. Back off." "Didn't we just do this?" Prudence snapped, swallowing. "Yes we did," Fraser agreed, voice deliberate as he stepped out directly to the left of Alford, "Only last time, they weren't here." Instinctively, Alford turned his head to the empty space Fraser had nodded to. And in that split second, everything happened. Diefenbaker launched at Alford's arm, the one with the weapon. Clothing ripped and Alford stumbled backward, refusing to drop the gun at first, then reflexively releasing it. Fraser surged forward, but Prudence was already there. As smoothly as if she had practiced it all her life and as emotionlessly as if she were merely going through the motions, she closed on Alford, slammed her knee up into his groin and punched him neatly in the face. Alford fell, and Prudence followed him down quickly. She grabbed the reeling man by the collar and the sudden glint of silver marked the start of time again. "No." Ray said sharply, lowering his gun and taking a few steps closer. "Pru, don't." "My sister..." she said quietly, her flat passionless tone giving her words an eerie distance. It was like she was speaking of a dream, as if she weren't holding the knife at Alford's throat so tightly that the slightest push would thrust it up and it. A child reciting a rout formula. "My sister. She wasn't like me, you know...she was practical. I would dream up these schemes...we were always in some sort of plot...but she was the one who made them work." "He isn't worth it, Pru.." Ray's voice was filled with warning and an undercurrent of fear for her. "Listen to me." "I told her everything, you know. And she would listen with that serious grave look on her face...I-I," she faltered for a moment, grief catching up and tainting her voice. "I sit in the dark sometimes...always have. Ever since I was little. I used to be able to go to her when things got too bad. W-when the world pressed in to tight. She would listen with that look and tell me about how life was going to be filled with adventure and I was going to meet this knight in shiny armor...How there was more to things. And I wouldn't feel so alone. So lost anymore." The words lingered ever so briefly, leaving the air somehow fragile in their wake. Then Life flared back, and fury slid into the place of grief. Every muscle tensed with the passion and Prudence thrust the knife up a centimeter. "Do you know?" She grated, and blood trickled from around the knife. "Do you KNOW how many nights I have spent in darkness begging to just hear her tell me it would be alright again? Just once! Do you have ANY idea?" "S-someone.." Alford barely whispered, pinned beneath the sheer will of her eyes. "..don't let her..." Prudence's lips twisted and she pulled her arm back and then struck in a flurry of motion. The hilt of the knife thudded into Alford's temple and he slid unconscious to the floor. She just looked at him. "No. You wouldn't would you?" Prudence stood and walked away without another word. ***** Ray tore the sheet of paper from his note pad and, scowling, crumpled it and threw it into the trash can. "What was that Ray? Yet another draft? That makes your fifth one, right?" Frannie asked innocently as she walked by. He threw a dirty look after her. "I hate writing reports. I hate it," he grumbled and took up his pen again. He tapped the paper with it for a moment, but didn't find the necessary inspiration. Or the focus. Luckily, Fraser's entrance gave him an easy out. "Hey. What's going on?" he asked, standing and meeting Fraser half way from the desk. "Nothing much lately," Fraser said, "Doing reports?" "Yeah. You are sure there isn't some dire situation out there that needs to be investigated? Girl scouts get some cookies stolen or anything?" "No, not a thing, Ray," he looked over Ray's head and smiled, "Prudence. Hello." She smiled. "Hello Benton. Holla-hey Ray." He twisted to watch her walk around to the two. Somewhat to his surprise, he noted that she wasn't in uniform. Well, she hadn't been the night of the stake out either, but she had had that huge trench coat on. For some reason, this put Ray off a little. She also had a travel bag with her. "You headed somewhere?" Ray asked. "New York, actually. My boss told me to take a week off, so I figured that the Adirondacks are as good a place to go as any. When I get back we are going to...discuss...the status of my job," she breathed a laugh at Fraser's quizzical look, "Meaning, am I fired or not." "Nah. He won't fire you. He is just trying to scare you most likely. You were just doing what was necessary to bring the guy in." Ray argued. Prudence gave him the official skeptical look. "Yeah?" "Yeah." Ray looked at Fraser expectantly and Prudence turned her amused gaze on the Mountie as well. Fraser looked from one to the other. "Oh!" he said, catching on, "Yes. I mean, yeah." Prudence laughed openly, and Ray smiled in response. It as good to hear her laugh again. The last few days had been unnaturally devoid of that sound. "That is what my report is going to say, at any rate," he added. "Thanks, Ray. But there is no need to perjure yourself for me," she teased, "By the way, did they get anything useful from Alford?" "Basically, it amounts to a full confession," Fraser offered, "He was all too eager to talk about his experiments and theories. I believe he has an appointment to go into a psychiatric evaluation." Her eyes were darkened, but her expression was very carefully neutral. "I see." Ray shifted his weight and looked down. "Uhh...Prudence, look. I'm sorry that I, um, didn't exactly give you an easy time helping us out here. You know, I just didn't want you to get involved or hurt or..." "I know," she said expression warm, "You were just trying to help. You would have done the same for any annoying kid sister, right?" She grinned. Ray looked up, a smile on his lips. He shrugged. "Yeah, well." "But you really need to remember something, Ray," she chided softly, " I am not your kid sister." "I know," he shrugged and might have said more, but she didn't let him. Hand reaching out to cup the back of his neck and, if necessary to prevent him from pulling away, she leaned forward and kissed him. Perhaps, for a moment, it might have been possible to write the gesture off as a sisterly one. But she stopped smiling and quickly made the nature of the thing unmistakable. Fraser tactfully glanced away. "Good. That means you can be taught," she disengaged herself easily and smiled sweetly at Fraser, "I'm running late. Hope to see you later, Fraser." He nodded. "Enjoy your trip, Prudence. We will look after things until you get back." "Goodbye, Ray," she said, eyes glinting mischief. She patted his cheek lightly as she walked away. He just stared at her, noting for perhaps the first time that her well worn jeans were very nicely fitted. And as she half turned at the door way to let an officer through, he noticed that the tee-shirt fit admirably too. And that her hair looked very soft framing her face like that, and her lips were full and shining with just a hint of lip gloss and... "Fraser." "Yes, Ray?" Prudence disappeared from view. Ray shook himself, like a man trying to wake from a dream or dispel an image. "Nothing. Never mind. Not a thing. Just...forget it." "Understood."