Kracken
Disclaimer:I don't own them and I don't make any money off of this
Warning:Male/Male sex, graphic, violence, language
Ghosts
Ryo turned the plastic covered letter over and over in his hands and looked at the report that had come along with it. J.J. stood by his chair, hands in pockets and a serious expression on his face. Dee was staring intently at his partner from where he sat across from him at his own desk.
"Well?" Dee prompted sharply. "What's it say, Ryo?"
Ryo frowned and sat back in his chair as he dropped the letter and the report onto his desk top. "Nothing, really. They say that the letter doesn't match any of the handwriting samples that I gave them of the people that I know, or have a passing acquaintance with, and it doesn't match any of the samples of the criminals that I have dealt with."
Dee relaxed. "Well, then it's just a random kook. Might as well file it and forget it. Are you going to finish that danish?"
Dee leaned forward to reach for the danish on a napkin by Ryo's elbow. Ryo slapped his offending hand without looking up from the plastic covered letter, saying irritably, "Leave my breakfast alone! I haven't even started eating it yet."
"Nice," J.J. said, surprisingly critical of Dee. "He gets a death threat and all you are worried about is stealing his danish. Must be love."
Dee gave J.J. a black look as he nursed his hand. "Of course it worries me," he shot back, "but we get that a lot. Besides, Ryo can take care of himself. He's an armed sharpshooter, J.J., and pretty damned skilled in self defense. I think he can kick the ass of any-"
"Let's get back to work," Ryo cut in abruptly and both J.J. and Dee stared at him.
"Okay," J.J. replied nervously, gave Dee a look, and then went back to his desk.
"Don't let him get to you," Dee said softly to Ryo. "J.J. just never misses a chance to try and prove that we don't belong together. Why he thinks he's a better match is beyond me." When Ryo said nothing, deep in thought, Dee had a suspicion. "Ryo, if you know something, you should have told the investigators."
Ryo picked up the letter and the report and said dismissively as he placed them into a folder, "Just... the letter... it has a perfume smell. Sharon Wu used to wear the same perfume."
Dee started and then searched for something to say, "I know she's a bad memory for you, Ryo. She drugged you and.... well..." He ran a hand through his dark hair, realizing that it was a very difficult subject to talk about. "She's dead now and she can't write threatening letters to you. Maybe this nut case wears the same perfume, but you can't think for a moment-"
"I know," Ryo replied impatiently, "I don't think that at all, Dee, but... I can't help remembering what she did to me. She stole my virginity by slipping me drugs. She would have molested me again, if you hadn't stopped her. She's dead, but that memory is going to last a lifetime."
Dee leaned forward and took the file. "Let's get this out of the way and clear the air, okay? I'll take it, you stay and eat your danish." Dee stood up and said over his shoulder as he walked away from a grateful Ryo, "and I have dibs on whatever you don't finish!"
Ryo found a smile, watching his partner weave through the crowded hubbub of the station. He loved Dee so much. When Dee took the time to do things like that for him, he loved him even more. The tall, rakish, dark haired man could be crude, rude, and clueless most times, but when it came down to it, when Ryo really needed him, he was always there for him with his comfort and love. Ryo put his danish onto Dee's desk, a gift for his lover's attentiveness, and then went to get himself more tea.
Ryo was stopped by the Chief on his way back to his desk and asked a question about a case. He was also detained by one of the desk clerks wanting to discuss paperwork and then forced to spend several minutes waiting for the ancient elevator to unstick and take him back to the proper floor. By that time, Ryo had almost finished his tea and was eager to start working again. When he saw the paramedics working over a man by his desk, and Dee standing nearby in confusion, he rushed over.
"What happened?" Ryo demanded.
The paramedics lifted the unconscious man quickly onto a stretcher, strapped him down, and then began carrying him out with concerned people trailing behind. The room was filled with talking people. Dee had to raise his voice to be heard, but he leaned close to Ryo and gripped his arm hard as he said, "He was being questioned by Peters when he decided he was hungry. He snagged your danish and started eating it, telling Peters he was owed some breakfast considering how early he'd been dragged down to the station. He doubled over with stomach pains right after." Dee's hand tightened on Ryo painfully and his face was pale as he added, "Ryo... that danish... something's wrong with it, I think."
"Oh, my God!" Ryo exclaimed and was suddenly sitting down hard in his chair, legs having gone weak. He put a hand to his mouth to stifle a horrified sob.
"Ryo?" Dee asked in fear, leaning down to look in Ryo's face. "Did you eat any of that danish?"
Ryo shook his head, knowing that he was going as white as a ghost. "I-I
was saving it for you," he admitted.
_________________
"Nothing much to go on," the Chief growled as he puffed on the cigarette hanging from the side of his mouth.
"But the surveillance cameras...," Ryo protested incredulously. "They must have recorded something!"
The Chief waved at the report on his desk. "Read it yourself. The experts, after careful review, found nothing out of the ordinary. We can follow the boy all through the building and not once was he tampered with while he sold his food. We can clearly see you, Ryo, buying your danish."
"So, 'who's the kid?' is the next question, right?" Dee interjected as he paced the office with a scowl on his face. Ryo was seated near the Chief's desk and Dee kept reaching out and squeezing his shoulder in comfort, knowing that Ryo was still upset at coming so close to feeding his lover, what had turned out to be, rat poison.
The Chief ground out his cigarette in his ashtray and shrugged. "He's nobody and he doesn't have a motive. He works part time in the morning, before he goes to school, to help out his single mother. Heartwarming, isn't it? It's not the profile of a cop killer. Kid hasn't even come within spitting distance of a cop before selling his food here. His record is clean."
Dee ran a distracted hand through his dark, unruly bangs. "He still should be checked out, his friends and his mother questioned. No one could have predicted that Ryo would take that particular danish, so it wasn't an outside job."
"The camera shows lots of people passing by the boy, but no one reaching for that basket of food that he was carrying," the Chief said. "People passed Ryo's desk, but no one touched a thing. I think questioning that kid is going to be a big nothing. He had wider eyes than a baby seal when I talked to him."
"I want to see the surveillance tape," Dee growled, unconvinced.
"Suit yourself," The Chief grumbled back, "but if you think you're going to see something that all their computer hardware and trained personnel didn't, you have a lot of ego Latener."
"I want to see it as well," Ryo spoke up. He looked apologetic. "I don't think that I will see anything new, sir, but I think a close observation of the boy might give me some clue as to his personality and his attitude towards the officers around him."
"Now that's thinking!" the Chief exclaimed, pleased, and then gave Dee an angry look. "Why don't you learn anything from him?"
Dee smirked. "I do Chief, don't you worry."
Ryo blushed and stood up quickly. Grabbing Dee's elbow, he steered the man towards the door, saying quickly to the spluttering, uncomfortable chief, "Please have the tape sent to my desk, sir, and I'll review it."
Once outside the office, Ryo rounded on Dee, furious, "What was THAT in there? Why did you say something so stupid? Don't you think this is serious?"
Dee pulled his arm away, almost responded in kind, and then slumped against a wall, shoving hands into his pockets. "Sorry. I guess I'm just... off balance and trying to relieve some pressure. I keep thinking, what if you had eaten that danish? Knowing that we don't have a damned clue about who did it, isn't doing much to make me feel better."
Ryo sighed. He looked up and down the hall, saw that it was empty for the moment, and then leaned in to give Dee a small kiss. Blushing a little at his own boldness, Ryo said, "I'm scared too. It could have been you, Dee. Knowing that I would have been the one to give it to you..."
"Don't think that!" Dee said strongly. "It didn't happen!"
"No, it didn't," Ryo agreed. "I'll remember that, if you do."
Dee stared and then relaxed, smiling gently. "Okay, baby. Let's both get
over it and concentrate on nabbing who ever did this. They are going to learn,
that nobody messes with New York's best!"
------------------------------------
"Nothing!" Dee grumbled as he finished his beer and hit the remote button that rewound the tape. Crumpling the can, he tossed it towards a waste basket and missed. The sound of aluminum skittering on the floor was followed by the soft tread and tired sigh of Ryo as he bent, picked up the can, and finished its journey into the receptacle.
"You've watched that tape a dozen times, Dee," Ryo said. "Enough is enough. "Experts have gone over it and not seen anything. Accept that you are not going to find anything either and come to bed."
"There should be something!" Dee exploded as he hit the off button and stood up. His back cracked and he couldn't help stretching and yawning.
"Shhh!" Ryo admonished in a harsh whisper, a finger going to his lips. "You'll wake Bicky!"
Dee popped out the video and placed it in its evidence folder. "Yeah, yeah," he groused and trudged wearily into the bedroom. He put the video in a small safe that also held their guns and then went to flop backwards onto the bed. Lying there bonelessly, he draped an arm over his eyes.
Ryo slipped off his shoes and climbed onto the bed to sit next to Dee. He gently ran a finger along the arm that Dee had over his eyes. Dee lowered it and looked at Ryo in defeat.
"The kid walked in and out without anyone messing with that basket of food he was carrying," Dee told him. "He handed them out, took money, and not a damned person interfered with him. You're on video paying for your danish, picking it out, and sending him on his way. He sold two more danish before he left the building so the possibility that he poisoned all the danish, knowing that you would choose danish, is out. People trooped past your desk and didn't touch a thing. Nobody touched the danish except for the stupid guy who ate it."
"And he's recovering," Ryo pointed out. "The hospital report stated that he had been given a very small dose of rat poison. That raises the possibility that whoever did this wasn't out to kill me, just make me very ill."
"Or they just didn't know enough to use more rat poison," Dee retorted harshly.
"I have to consider all possibilities, Dee," Ryo pointed out. "Those different possibilities change my likely suspects. I'm going to concentrate on different individuals if I know for certain that they weren't out to kill me."
Dee glared. "It does say 'detective' on my badge, too," he growled.
"Then you should know that we are too close to this case and that we should let someone else handle it," Ryo told him seriously. "I can give suspects and look at evidence in case it tips me off as to who may have done this, but as far as the leg work is concerned, I think we should step back from this case from this point forward."
Dee drew breath to argue, but then he let it out in a gusting sigh and nodded as he raked his dark hair out of his eyes. "You're right," he said, "but I don't have to like it. I want you safe. I won't feel that way until-"
Ryo bent and kissed Dee gently, stopping his words. "You need to rest," he said. Dee had spent the entire day going over the tape and interviewing everyone he saw on it. Ryo could see Dee's frustration and worry and he knew that he didn't have a cure for it. Ryo was just as worried about Dee. They were partners and they lived together. If someone was targeting him, then Dee was in danger, too... and so was Bicky.
Ryo shivered.
Dee saw it and asked in concern. "What's wrong, baby?"
"I just thought about Bicky," Ryo admitted. "We'll have to talk to him in the morning. He's street smart enough to always have an eye out for danger, but he should be extra careful now."
Dee nodded as his arms reached up and pulled Ryo down to him. His lover was gentle in his concern for others, but his muscled body was tense and Dee knew that his lover was ready to take on anyone who threatened his family. When Ryo spooned up against his side, Dee held him there tightly, kissing the top of Ryo's honey brown hair. "Don't worry," he reassured Ryo, "Together, we can kick anyone's ass. Whoever it is, isn't getting to Bicky through us."
It was tough talk. Dee was good at that. He had lived on the streets when he was young and talking tough always bolstered his confidence. He hoped that it was doing the same for Ryo now. The man might worry himself to death if he wasn't distracted.
Dee wrinkled his nose. "You smell like moldy file folders. Why don't you go shower and try and relax?"
Ryo blinked up at him from where he had pillowed his head on Dee's chest. "I was looking for that damned Jameson file all afternoon, but... I thought..." Ryo's wide, dark eyes were confused and a red blush played over his cheeks.
"Thought what?" Dee wondered, forcing himself to look innocent.
"Well, usually you...," Ryo stopped and then decided to let whatever he had been going to say unsaid. "A shower sounds good. You go ahead and go to bed. Don't wait for me to finish."
Ryo rolled from the bed, grabbed his slippers and bathrobe, and headed into their bathroom. Dee sat up and began pulling off his shirt as he heard the water start to run in the shower. He needed a distraction as much as Ryo. He needed to get his mind off of the fact that he had failed to find a suspect. The mental image of Ryo under a hot spray of water, lathering his naked body with soap, was just the distraction that he needed.
Dee said, almost purring, as he stood up and walked with an assured saunter into the bathroom, "Don't worry, Ryo. I have NO intention of waiting for you to finish without me."
Dropping his pants at the door, Dee leaned against the door jam, his erection already standing proudly at attention as he eyed Ryo in the shower appreciatively. The man was already letting the hot water spray over him, his hands full of soap and traveling over his beautiful body. His back was turned to Dee and he seemed unaware of his presence. Dee stayed quiet, his small smirk warming as Ryo's hands smoothed over his rounded hips and then down his front, obviously taking hold of his own erection there. He was playing with himself. Dee's erection twitched hard and he grabbed a hold of it and gave it a squeeze of admonishment. Wait, he told it sternly. just wait...
Ryo leaned forward, one hand against the tile of the shower stall, and he took a few deep breaths as his teased himself . Dee's shy, inhibited lover very rarely initiated sex or showed this erotic side of him. Dee indulged himself as long as he could stand it, enjoying every moment, his body quivering with anticipation and his heart beating hard enough that he thought that Ryo must hear it over the hiss of the shower.
Enough, Dee thought, and he stepped into the shower, letting the hot water wash over him as he ran a calloused hand along Ryo's soap slicked hip. Dee ignored Ryo's startled yelp as he squeezed that hip suggestively and leaned against his lover's back. He grinned and said with a purr, " I can help you with that, you know?"
Ryo was blushing furiously, but he was beginning to smile through that embarrassment as he replied, "Can you?"
"Oh, yeah!" Dee assured him. "Just leave it all up to me, baby!"
Ryo was so smooth, hardly any hair at all, and his skin was soft. Dee, in contrast, was hard and lean. Ryo always made him feel strong and very masculine when they were together. Not that Ryo was any less so, but his gentleness was a contrast to Dee's brash hard headedness and Dee always felt himself taking the lead, wanting to be protective and to claim Ryo with an instinct that was both primal and possessive. Ryo surrendered willingly to Dee's need, became supple and even gentler, while still managing to exude a hot, male sexuality that always made Dee burn inside and out.
Dee rubbed his erection between Ryo's hips, making him feel its hot length, and Ryo moaned and put both hands on the tile wall, his lids drooping down over his dark eyes as he bent and pushed back enticingly. Dee's hands squeezed Ryo's hips, taking hold firmly and making Ryo bounce several times against his pelvis in a suggestive manner. Ryo gasped and moved his legs apart, inviting Dee to continue.
"Aren't we easy this evening? " Dee chuckled, low and sensual. Ryo blushed and ducked his head, his wet hair hiding his sudden embarrassment.
Dee slowly kneeled behind Ryo and admired the view for a moment before leaning forward and nuzzling the hot flesh hanging before his face. There was hot water, soap, and a taste that was very much Ryo as Dee's tongue lapped and teased. Ryo shivered and he bent to rest his cheek against the tile as if he needed its support and didn't trust himself to be able to keep standing.
Ryo's erection was rock hard and out of reach. Dee massaged Ryo's balls unmercifully and then reversed himself so that he was sitting between Ryo's legs and in front of him. Looking up into his lover's water drenched face, he could see Ryo's eyes looking back through his dark lashes. Dee winked with a randy leer and then pulled Ryo's erection down towards his mouth. He made Ryo ache, rubbing a thumb over the head and watching it weep precum, and waited for Ryo to inch his hips forward, shyly begging.
"Tell me," Dee purred. "Tell me want you want, baby."
Ryo had come a long way in their relationship and he wasn't so inhibited anymore, but talking dirty always made him squirm and that last unconquerable shyness never ceased to arouse Dee.
Dee licked his lips and opened his mouth as if he were going to take in Ryo's erection, but he didn't. He hovered, waiting. Ryo inched forward again, but Dee snorted.
"Nope! You have to ask, Ryo. Tell me what you want me to do."
Ryo panted, moved uncomfortably, and then he said softly, "Dee... take me in your mouth."
"You mean, suck it?" Dee prompted with a chuckle, green eyes sparkling wickedly. "Come on! Say it!"
Ryo suddenly smiled, as if he were seeing the ridiculousness of his own shyness. All at once, he decided not to be shy any longer. It caught Dee off guard when Ryo brushed the head of his erection against his lips and commanded, "Suck it." Dee blinked, shocked. His lover WAS getting bolder and bolder and he wryly thought that it could add it's own kind of spice to their relationship.
"Yes, sir!" Dee snorted and he made a warm, wet sheathe of his mouth and took Ryo in whole.
Dee worked Ryo, making his lover grunt and gasp with every stroke of his lips and swirl of his rasping tongue. When Ryo's knees began to tremble and Dee felt hands clutch into his hair, he knew Ryo was on the verge.
"Oh, you're not having all the fun," Dee laughed and stood up, letting Ryo's erection bob forlornly as he stood up. Ryo looked confused, and he groaned as his hands tried to push Dee back down to finish. "Selfish," Dee teased and that got Ryo's attention.
Ryo's strongest quality was his giving nature. He wasn't any different now as he relented and kissed Dee hungrily. Dee plundered Ryo's mouth as he pressed his body against Ryo's and let their erections slide against each other. Ryo turned, then, offering, and Dee kissed his shoulders and then his back as he took hold of Ryo's hips and brought them into position.
Ryo's hands splayed on the tile and he braced himself there as Dee draped himself on his back and sought for his entrance with the head of his erection. When he found it, Dee took a gentle hold of Ryo's ear lobe with his teeth and felt a strong sense of dominance as he carefully pushed into his lover.
Ryo gasped and his hips moved, trying to help Dee enter, and groaned as Dee sucked on his earlobe. When Dee slipped a tongue into Ryo's ear, Ryo's entire body flushed hotly. Dee had found that Ryo's ears were his major erogenous zones and he never ceased using them to advantage. Ryo turned into absolute putty whenever Dee tormented them and Dee never ceased loving the moment when that torment made Ryo lose all inhibition.
"Mnnnn!" Ryo groaned and his hips shoved back against Dee, taking his erection in deep. "Dee!"
"Want it?" Dee teased.
"Deeee!" Ryo moaned and he shuddered and pushed back again.
When Dee reached underneath Ryo and took Ryo's hard erection into his big hand, Ryo bucked and fisted his hands on the tile. When Dee stroked him roughly and then cupped his balls, Ryo shouted and began moaning in Japanese, losing all sense. Dee caressed him and then stroked Ryo's erection again, the water steaming over them both and their panting moans a sharp counterpoint to the steady white noise of the shower.
"In English, Ryo," Dee urged. "Tell me..."
Ryo's shoulders gave a twitch and his legs parted even more as he raised his hips and let Dee push in as far as he could. "Fuck me, Dee!" Ryo growled, masculine and deep.
"You got it!" Dee moaned back and began pumping, tentatively at first, testing to be sure that Ryo was ready for him, and then with strong slapping strokes, when he was able to plunge in and out freely. The feel of his pelvis connecting with Ryo's rounded hips, the sight of their water drenched bodies entering and receiving in a sizzling hot display of frenzied motions, and the tight, scratching, warmth of the band of muscles at Ryo's entrance, made Dee begin to cry out with each thrust. When Ryo suddenly reached back past Dee's hand pumping on his erection and began touching Dee's balls, Dee couldn't keep from coming.
Dee jerked and thrust madly, pumping hot gouts of come inside of his lover. Ryo reacted to that twitching, pulsing member, and Dee's rapidly stroking hand, by coming as well. His hips thrust in uncontrollable spasms and his cry resounded off the tile as his come splattered the wall in front of him.
Panting and exhausted, they stayed in position for long moments, wrapped around each other and Dee holding Ryo tight, then Dee was straightening and sliding out of his lover. He let the hot water wash him off and then he gave Ryo's ass a slap as he left the shower completely and grabbed a towel.
Ryo turned and scowled, leaning back against the shower wall and reaching to turn off the water. "Oh, the romance!" he said sarcastically, still breathing hard.
Dee laughed and turned to give Ryo a wink before leaving the bathroom. "You know I love you, Ryo, right?"
Ryo couldn't hold onto his anger. His scowl fractured into an unwilling smile.
"Yes," he admitted softly. "I do."
-------------------------
"Who's that?"
Dee scowled as he ran the tape through the player one more time. J.J. was an unwanted annoyance. "What?"
"That person there," J.J. elaborated and leaned to point at the small monitor perched on Dee's desk. A nondescript person in a trench coat, lapel pulled up high and dark sunglasses firmly in place, breezed past Ryo's desk.
"Who cares?" Dee grunted sourly and turned a shoulder to J.J. as he hunched closer to the monitor. It was a clear sign that Dee wanted the man to go away. As usual, J.J. was immune to tact and he jabbed the screen again even thought the person had passed out of sight of the monitor.
"You don't find that the least bit suspicious?" J.J. wondered, incredulous.
"What?!" Dee exploded, looking at the young man at last.
"The fact that this person shook his arm as he passed by Ryo's desk," J.J. explained, and then in exasperation as Dee looked at him blankly, "and the fact that he's wearing a coat when the heat was on full blast in the station.... Dee, are you just pretending to be a detective?"
"Hey! Enough with the smart mouth! Just because I don't notice people's lack of fashion sense..." Dee rewound the tape and then watched closely as the mysterious person passed by the monitor again. Everyone in the shot was wearing shirt sleeves and loosened ties. The station had been hot that day. Dee kicked himself for not noticing the oddity of that one man. Though he allowed himself some excuse. The man had passed Ryo's desk very quickly, too quickly, Dee thought, for him to tamper with anything. Still, as Dee froze the frame and looked even closer, it was obvious that the person was trying very hard not to show their face. As Dee allowed the film to progress a frame at a time, he also saw the clear shake of one arm. He froze the tape. The shake had happened right above Ryo's danish.
Dee popped the tape out of the player and stood up, "Thanks, J.J. ," he said briskly. "I owe you one."
"Don't mention it," J.J. beamed as Dee put the tape in its evidence folder. "Though you could repay me by going out on a date..." J.J. trailed off in frustration. Dee was already striding away, not listening.
"Something up?" Ryo asked as he passed Dee in the hallway.
Dee jiggled the folder at Ryo, not smiling, but clearly relieved. "Found something. I'm taking it down to have it examined closer. I don't want to get your hopes up, but I think I've at least found out how your danish was poisoned."
"I'm coming too," Ryo said eagerly and he fell into step with Dee. "You didn't see who did it?" He asked, puzzled.
Dee frowned. That was the part that was bothering him, why he wasn't ready to pat himself, or J.J., on the back yet for a job well done. He didn't want to admit it to Ryo, knowing how on edge his lover was, but he wasn't one to pull any punches either. "The guy was covered up, coat and sunglasses, maybe they can analyze him and figure out something, but.... he was moving quick and he's almost a blur on the video. "
Ryo's jaw tightened. "I hate it, watching everything I eat... what if this PERSON puts something poisonous on my desk, on my clothes, in places where I'm sure to touch it and become contaminated?"
"Don't panic!" Dee snapped. "You can't think that way, Ryo. You'll be jumping at shadows next. If this person didn't mean to kill you, then you're doing, probably, exactly what they want, getting scared.
Ryo looked angry. "I am NOT scared!" He protested.
Dee raised a dark eyebrow. "No? You are one step away from wearing gloves and picking things up with tongs, Ryo. All you have to do is not leave your food where someone can mess with it. You should be used to that anyway in a place like this. We have criminals and suspects everywhere."
Ryo looked away and crossed his arms over his chest tightly. "It's just... of all places, the station house should be safe."
"In a better world...," Dee sighed.
_____________________________
"Look, Ryo," Dee suggested in exasperation. "Why don't you go on home and I'll finish up here?"
"No," Ryo snapped back and continued to stare at a report on his computer screen.
Dee scowled. "You haven't typed a damn thing in over twenty minutes, Ryo! You are only human. Admit that the report scared you, go home, have some tea, and watch a soap opera. You aren't doing anything here except looking like a damned good paperweight."
"Why shouldn't I be concerned?" Ryo shot back and gave his partner a level look. "The report said that it was definitely a woman under that coat. She dropped the poison on my danish and security cameras tailed her to the front door, outside, and into a double parked red sports car."
"How do you know it was red?" Dee grunted. "The outside video is in black and white."
"Because..," Ryo did look scared then and dropped his eyes.
"Because?" Dee prompted when his lover didn't seem willing to go on, then he sighed when Ryo turned away from him, hands clenched. "Because Sharon drove a red car? Because Sharon wore the same perfume that was on your threatening letter? Because they think that the person who poisoned your danish was a woman and you think it was Sharon? Tell me when I'm hot, okay, lover?"
Ryo's eyes flicked at his computer screen. "The body was never identified," he said in a small voice.
Dee came around their desks and looked over Ryo's shoulder at his computer screen. "This is Sharon Wu's accident file, not the Peterson case you are supposed to be working on," Dee accused.
"The car was a rental," Ryo pointed out doggedly, "The rental papers have Sharon's name on them. It wasn't her red sports car. I remember how she loved that car."
Dee glared. "Ryo. The car was totaled. Maybe the body wasn't identified, but Sharon hasn't been seen since. Her credit cards haven't been used. Her checking and saving accounts have been completely inactive. None of her accounts have shown withdrawals, not even through third parties or family members. If she faked her own death, she left a sizable income in accounts behind. Wouldn't that be stupid?" Dee ran a hand through his unruly bangs and continued harshly, "Wouldn't it be stupid to go through all of this anyway? She did her time, got off on good behavior, and started over. Why would she toss all of that, all of her funds, her home, her whole life, just to get you?" Dee walked back to his desk and sat down heavily. "Hell, she had enough money to pay someone to get rid of you. She didn't even have to chip a nail."
"You've been working in homicide too long," Ryo replied, but he looked pale too, thinking about how easy it was to do just as Dee had said. Easy enough to make these seeming extraordinary efforts for revenge extremely unlikely. Ryo relaxed, but only marginally. There was still someone out there who was poisoning his food.
"Sometimes, you need to get some perspective," Dee replied. "I don't want to upset you, or act like you don't have to worry, but this kind of thing, thinking some dead woman is after you, is just not like you at all. That tells me you're rattled and you need to go have some off duty time."
Ryo looked at the screen, at the pictures of Sharon's accident. He made a decision and reached out to turn off his computer. He stood up and said apologetically, "You're right. I'm being unprofessional and ridiculous. I need to go home and pull myself together."
"Good," Dee said, but then he looked very serious. "Ryo?" When Ryo met his eyes, Dee said anxiously, "be careful, okay? Call me when you get to the apartment."
Ryo found a smile, but it was warring with his embarrassment. "I will, Dee. I'm- I'm sorry I've been acting so... frantic."
"S'okay," Dee replied. He reached out and took Ryo's hand, caressing it gently between his own, ignoring the other officers as if they were the only two in the room. "That woman scared the shit out of me, too, if you wanna know."
Ryo felt grateful. He squeezed Dee's hand, letting his love for the man show in his eyes, and then he turned and headed for home.
Dee couldn't help thinking about Ryo for most of the day. When he realized that he wasn't getting anywhere with his work, he decided to call it a day. First, though, he stacked his file folders, as if he were still hard at work on them, and propped a pack of cigarettes and a lighter on top. Lastly, he positioned a cup of coffee as if he had been called away from his desk momentarily and would return at any moment. He hoped that it was good enough to fool the Chief. He really didn't want to sit through another of the Chief's blistering tirades about his performance when he returned to work in the morning.
Shrugging into his thick coat, Dee pulled up the collar and went outside into the cold. His breath frosted as he made his way to the parking garage and his car. He should have been thinking about his case, but he couldn't help going over Ryo's case in his head one more time, his detective mind mentally fingering every bit of evidence that he had. It was stupid, he thought. Two capable detectives were on the case now and they would find something if anything was to be found.
As Dee slid into the driver's seat of his car, he said aloud. "Me and Ryo have got to get our heads out of this mess. We can't let this kook keep us from being able to do our jobs."
"I think your job is the last thing that you need to worry about right now," a voice said from the back seat as the cold barrel of a gun was pressed against Dee's neck. Dee jerked in surprise and then froze as that barrel dug in harshly. "Don't be stupid," the feminine voice continued. "Hand over your weapon... nice and slow."
Dee hesitated. If someone saw them... There were other officers in the parking garage. If he could get their attention...
"Make a scene, and I'll kill you and anyone who tries to help you," the voice said chillingly, as if reading Dee's mind. "I've got nothing to lose."
Dee gritted his teeth and handed back his gun. "Okay, now what?" Dee wondered. He didn't recognize the voice at all. It wasn't Sharon Wu, he was certain of it. When he tried to look in the rear view mirror, he only saw the top of a black haired head. The woman was ducking low so as not to be seen by anyone else in the parking garage. "What's the plan, honey?"
The barrel of the gun dug so hard into Dee's neck that he was sure it left a bruise. "DON'T call me honey!" the woman snarled. "Start the car and get us out of here. I'll give you directions, once we get out on the road."
Dee swallowed hard. "Yes, ma'am."
When they were out of the garage and driving East, the woman directed Dee to take a road towards the wharfs. It wasn't unexpected, but Dee still felt a chill. The wharfs used to house some booming businesses, but now half of it consisted of a maze of falling down, abandoned warehouses. It wasn't unusual to find more than one kind of rat there and the occasional dead body as well.
"So, you must be the one who tried adding the extra seasoning to my Ryo's danish?" Dee asked carefully.
"No, I'm a completely DIFFERENT homicidal maniac," the voice replied sarcastically.
Dee sidestepped that and persisted, "Did you mean to kill him?"
"No, that would have been too easy," the voice replied. "I want him to suffer before I take him out."
"Oh." Dee thought about that as he drove slowly through the city, his foot lighter on the gas pedal than it had ever been before. He needed all the time he could get to figure out his enemy and attempt an escape. "Is that why you kidnapped me," he asked, "because you knew we were lovers?"
"What?!" The gun twitched in reaction to the woman's surprise. There was a very long silence. "Ryo McLain is gay?" She breathed at last.
Dee almost kicked himself, but he wasn't sure whether he had said something good or bad. "Yes, we've been together for a couple of years. You didn't figure that out from watching us?"
"No," the woman replied. "You seemed to make him angry most of the time. I only chose to eliminate you from his life because my plan is to destroy every one dear to him, starting from the people that are least important to him and working up to his most cherished friends and family."
"Then you need to throw me back, because I'm the most loved person in his life!" Dee retorted, hands fisting on the steering wheel angrily.
"Are you?" the voice sounded skeptical. "I would have thought that it was those two children, that are always with him, that he holds most dear. You're a fool if you think that a man's children are less important than a stupid lover."
"Hey!" Dee exclaimed. "Enough with the insults! Those aren't HIS kids, okay? He just helps them out because he's a good guy. That's the way Ryo is, he helps everyone and he cares about everyone, so I don't know what beef you have with him, but it ain't because Ryo McLain has done anything wrong."
"Oh, but you're wrong!" the woman contradicted Dee. "He destroyed my life!"
Dee felt a chill, hearing the dripping hate in her tone now. "Why don't you tell me about it," he asked then, "so I know why I'm being killed?"
"What good will it do you?" The woman mocked.
Dee didn't point out the obvious, that, if he was going to die anyway, doing something drastic wasn't out of the question. The woman was a definite amateur to let him know her plans for him ahead of the fact.
"It'll pass the time and give you a chance to gloat before you kill me," Dee told her.
"Gloat?" The woman's voice was furious now and Dee new that he had hit the right button. "This isn't ABOUT gloating. This about Ryo McLain ruining MY life!" Dee glanced at his rear view mirror as the gun jammed into his neck again and saw that the woman had come out of hiding to glare at him.
Japanese. Dark, long hair. Eyes that reminded Dee sharply of Ryo. A small , round face with lips colored blood red. She was dressed in an overcoat with the collar pulled up. Dee didn't recognize her.
"I'm Christine Yokona," The woman hissed. "I was with Sharon Wu for ten years."
Dee raised eyebrows in surprise. "Lovers?"
"Partners," Christine bit back. "We worked together in a fashion design business, but it all went bad one year and we needed money, fast. She told me that she would fly to New York and borrow money from a good friend, Ryo McLain. Instead, she was accused of attempted rape and put in jail. The business went bankrupt after I spent all of my money trying to save it. When Sharon finally left jail, I thought that we would start fresh with the money that she had gained in an inheritance. I made deals to start a new business and I even put my home up for collateral, fully expecting Sharon to back me up with her funds. Instead, she continued to obsess about Ryo McLain. She had a bizarre plot to get her revenge when their school had it's reunion. I tried, again and again, to change her mind, but she refused. She died in an accident before she could carry out any of her plans, and left me with a half formed business that quickly caved, unpaid accounts, frozen assets, and the loss of my home. I've lost everything in my life, twice, wouldn't that piss you off, pretty boy? Wouldn't that make you want to kill someone? All of this started with her trip to Ryo McLain and his false accusations against her. I intend to make him pay for his lies. He's going to lose everything he loves too."
"He didn't lie," Dee protested.
Christine sneered. "Am I supposed to believe that little Sharon Wu raped a police detective?"
"She drugged him," Dee told her. "She had planned to seduce him and then take all of his money."
Christine frowned and then looked appreciative. "She always was a smart girl," she said, but then she growled, "but she failed and ruined me. She paid for that. Time for Ryo to pay too."
Dee felt the hairs on the nape of his neck stand up at her cold attitude. She was a killer. Dee had met enough to know one when he saw one. She wasn't bluffing. Madness glittered in her black eyes. She was beyond reasoning with.
They pulled into the wharf area, leaving the pavement and driving into a sandy, dilapidated parking lot in front of a line of rusted and sagging metal warehouses.
"Stop right here," Christine ordered, "If you're religious, you should start praying now."
"Actually," Dee said, feeling adrenaline starting to pump. "You should." Dee slammed his foot down on the gas pedal.
"Wh-What are you doing?" Christine screeched, automatically squeezing the trigger on the gun even as she was flying backwards against the backseat as the car raced forward. Her aim spoiled, the bullet splattered through the windshield, barely missing Dee's throat.
"SHIT!!!" Dee shouted as the car plowed into a warehouse wall and went through it with the loud sound of metal shredding.
Dee ducked down as the windshield shattered completely. The car hit several large objects and then was through the other side of the building. There was a brief glimpse of sunlight and then the car was crashing through an old wharf and going nose down towards the water. Dee slammed against the steering wheel and a half submerged piling thrust into the car straight for him. He tried to dodge, but his seat belt held him fast. Before it could smash into him, though, the car hit several other pilings and came to a halt just shy of the water. Dee's glimpsed a body flying past him out of a corner of his panicked eye and then he saw Christine falling through the windshield and hitting the water. She went beneath the surface with hardly a ripple, her coat weighing her down.
"Just great!" Dee snarled as he unhooked his seat belt, climbed through the windshield, and jumped in after her.
The water was freezing. Dee shuddered and tried not to take a shocked swallow of the filthy water as his hands blindly swept the darkness around him. When he hooked fingers into Christine's coat, he thought, 'Looks like your luck's changed, lady!' and then hauled her to the surface. Breaking through the water, Dee gasped for air and pulled Christine up so that he could have her in a head lock. Finding her unconscious, he groped for her gun and was relieved to discover that she had dropped it into the water.
Dee made it to a rusted series of rungs on a crumbling sea wall and climbed, hauling Christine up after him. One rung broke under their weight and they almost went tumbling back into the water, but Dee caught his balance on the next rung and was able to get them both back onto the remnants of the dock. Sitting on the dock next to the unconscious Christine, Dee fished his cell phone out of his pocket, watched the salt water drip from it dubiously, shook it, and then began pushing buttons.
"Hello?" The sound of Ryo's voice was like a warm, comforting hug. Dee sighed, tension draining out of him.
"Hey, baby," Dee replied, not giving anything away in his tone. "I'm going to be a little late. Send Bicky to the movies or something and make sure there's something wonderful and hot when I get home."
"Dee? What happened?" Ryo asked anxiously. "You sound strange, like you're talking in a tunnel."
"Phone's on the fritz, I guess" Dee replied. "I just called to tell you that you don't have to worry about anything any more, Ryo. Your stalker was nabbed not a couple of minutes ago."
"Really?!" Ryo sounded over joyed. "That's fantastic! The detectives on the case worked so fast. I'll have to find a good way to thank them."
"Oh, I have a good idea," Dee replied and couldn't help a grin. "I'll give you the details later. I'm not sure how much longer this phone is going to work, so I have to be going. I just thought that you should know right away. I hate when you're upset."
"Dee...," Ryo sounded suddenly emotional. "You know I love you?"
"Do you?" Dee joked. "Want to prove it?"
Ryo laughed, "I'll prove it by doing as you asked, making sure there's something hot and wonderful when you get home. What would you like?"
Dee smirked. "You, baby. You're all the hot and wonderful I need. Make sure you're ready when I get home."
Ryo laughed. "You deserve it. Don't worry about a thing. Get done with your work and I'll be waiting. Bye, love."
"Bye," Dee replied and hung up the phone. The comfort of his Ryo gone, Dee suddenly felt every bump and bruise, every cut and ache. He was freezing, wet through, and smelling like garbage and dead fish. He glared down at Christine and dialed again.
"Detective Dee Latener here," he said when a police officer answered. "I have some garbage for you to pick up at the old wharf.... Send an ambulance."
The End
On to chapter 31