13: So, It Begins...Pt. 3

Victoria sat beside Mike as he continued staring at the grave. The service had ended over forty minutes ago but he couldn’t pull himself away from his brother’s side. It was a very nice Saturday afternoon. The sun crested high above the clouds tucked safely behind the trees casting just the right amount of shade in the area. If it hadn’t been for the somber occasion the light breeze that blew along the tent would have been more enjoyable.

But as she sat beneath the flimsy curtain, the cool air that rolled over her exposed arms and legs seemed more of an annoyance, prickling her skin in chills. Looking over the rows of gravestones a deep sense of dread rushed through her. There was something off about the look of the place and she didn’t like the idea of sitting around waiting for whatever the ominous feeling was to pop out at her. 

There had been just one other funeral today and it ended shortly after they had arrived. Fifteen minutes after that, the small group that had gathered exited in their cars one after the other leaving Mike and the accompanying officers, friends and families in privacy for Benny’s service. But now it was only her and Mike that remained.

She was there for Mike after all and he needed her. Another gust of wind hit her and the light, misty sound of a woman’s voice trailed with it. Victoria looked up and out near the mausoleum. A faint, wavering glow of blue light shone beside the entrance into the crypt and as she squinted, more details within the radiance emerged. It appeared to be the form of an elderly woman, walking in a state of confusion through the rows of graves beside the old building. She was mumbling to herself as if trying to remember what had brought her to this place but couldn’t seem to figure it out.

Looking up, her eyes locked on Victoria’s and within the blink of an eye, she was gone. “I still can’t believe he’s gone,” Mike finally spoke as he allowed his gaze to leave the dusty gray slab of concrete that sealed his brother’s final resting place. His voice zoned her back to reality and she shook off the hallucination and anxious sensation. “And what hurts the most is knowing that I may never be able to bring his murderer to justice.”

“Have they discovered where Mary was murdered and set on fire?” Victoria asked as she leaned forward continuing to shield herself from the wind.

“Fibers burned into her cheek turned out to be solely manufactured by the Lawson Carpet Factory. They have a warehouse in the same district where Benny worked. Based off of what CSU found inside, they believe ‘The Breeze’, I’m sorry our perp, had plans on taking Benny there as well but decided to just leave him where he was.”

Standing from his seat, Mike gazed out at his truck he’d driven to the Green Pastures cemetery but didn’t make a move toward it. Victoria stood and slid her hand across his back, coming to rest on his shoulders and he draped an arm across her waist. “Thank you for coming, Vik. I know you didn’t know Benny but…”

“I know his brother and if his character is any testament to family, I’m sure Benny was a great guy. You don’t have to thank me for being here, Mike, I’d do anything for you and I’m glad I could be here for you. I’m sorry again about all of this. Maybe someday there will be a break in the case that will help convict the Calabrese gang for what they’ve done.” She paused remembering the strawberry blonde little girl weeping her eyes out at the graves almost an hour ago and sighed. “What’s going to happen with Tina?”

“She’s going to stay upstate with my sister Georgia for a little while so I can get a room made up for her here. She told her Auntie that she didn’t want to live up there with her and demanded I take her in,” he smiled remembering the conversation. “She’s definitely a spirited one.”

“Sounds like it. She’ll keep you on your toes in that case.”

“I’m hoping so. I’m thinking it might be the distraction I need to keep from going crazy and driving my car through Tommy’s front door on a shooting rampage. I’m kidding,” he added eyeing his partner’s shocked expression. As gung-ho as Mike often was when it came to cases, he’d never outwardly expressed senseless carnage in the likes knowing those types of comments would usually land him on a ‘recommended’ vacation and time on the couch with the department shrink. And NO ONE liked having their head poked into by them!

As they neared the mausoleum, Victoria glanced at the row of graves she’d seen the woman standing earlier and took a mental note of each of the names. “So, what are your plans now?” he asked as he kept her hand wrapped in his arm and started toward their vehicles. “I mean, now that you’ve been cleared of any wrongdoing by IAD.”

“I’m not sure really. Mason said my suspension is over in two days but I think what I need to do is take a short vacation from the department and see where my head is. Everything that happened after Martin’s trial really got me thinking, you know?” she sighed and brushed at a loose strand of her hair.

“If a cop, a damn good detective if I say so myself, can be put through the wringer at just one convicted felon’s accusations, what’s really the purpose of the justice system? Any rapist, serial killer or drug dealer out on the street can point the finger at us at any time and we’re the ones made out to be the bad guys. What sucks is I haven’t a single blemish on my jacket and yet IAD tried to crucify me over a bitter criminal’s allegations.”

“It’s a shit reality, Vik, but you can’t let that get to you. Your brothers and sisters in blue knew what was what from the get. We were just waiting on IAD to remove their thumbs from their asses and get with the program. But I understand needing a break. I thought about taking one myself after…” he let the end of his sentence trail off and stopped at the gate to the cemetery. “Just don’t do anything rash. A break is good, leaving ain’t happening,” he replied in a way that made Victoria meet his gaze. “I mean that, Vik. I need my partner.”

“What is this, Mike? You going soft on me?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah whatever. Don’t bust my balls over it, huh? You know what I mean. I may have hated the idea of being your partner at the start, but you kind of grew on me. Besides, I need someone to keep making me look good to our Superiors and who better for the job?” With a parting hug, Victoria waited for Mike to climb into his pick-up, watch him turn up the street toward

s his loft and she slowly started for home. 

When she arrived, there was a box waiting on her front stoop with her name scrawled on top in thick black marker. Unlocking her door, she kicked the box into the foyer of her home and hurried up the stairs to dress in something more casual.

When she came back down, she noticed the box sitting on top of the table in the living room and immediately went for her weapon. “That won’t be necessary, Detective,” she heard his voice before she saw his face. He was helping himself to a drink in her den and smiled casually as she placed her gun on the bookcase and approached him.

“What the hell are you doing in my house?”

“You know, you and I have to come up with different greetings. Something nicer would be a welcomed shock!”

“Or perhaps you should stop popping up in places where you’re not invited and expecting me to be pleased to see you.”

“Oh, come on, Victoria! A smile isn’t the worst thing I’ve asked you for, is it? Besides we’ve already discussed this once, you invited me inside.” Victoria thought for a moment and the instance her mental light bulb went on Derrick raised his glass with a smile and took a sip.

“You tricked me!”

“No. I helped you with your groceries. You, for once, were being a gracious hostess and invited your guest into your home.” He dropped onto the sofa with a self-serving smirk and Victoria started for her gun again making him burst out in laughter. “What are you doing, Detective? You know that won’t kill me.”

“No, but I’m sure it’ll hurt like hell,” she grinned and aimed her weapon at his crotch.

“Whoa ok, and how are you going to explain to your neighbors the sound of gunshots in your home?”

“I’m a cop, they know better than to stick their noses into my business.”

“Fine, you win. Now will you please point that thing somewhere less…important?” Derrick reasoned raising the white flag.

“You mean like your brain?”

“Ouch! That hurts, Victoria. You know I might not use it, but I have a heart too!” He grinned as Victoria rolled her eyes and sipped from his glass again. “You have a WELL stocked bar. I wouldn’t have guessed you for an avid drinker considering you ordered an orange juice at the club.”

“I’m not a drinker. I might have a glass of wine on occasion with dinner or whatever, but I don’t get staggeringly blotto. The bar is there mostly for my guests. I have a lot of friends who drink. And I ordered an orange juice in a vampire bar because I didn’t want to drink something strange and I can always tell when my OJ has been messed with.” Victoria slid the safety in place and smiled as she started for her lockbox again. “Ok seriously, Derrick, what are you doing here?” He leaned forward and motioned toward the box sitting on her table as she reentered the den. “This from you?” Victoria opened the lid to reveal a large number of pictures, albums and books on folklore; monsters, angels, demons and the like. “Um?”

“Information. I figured since you’re slowly finding your footing in the realm of the supernatural it wouldn’t hurt to share a little knowledge with you.”

“With publicized books by overly celebrated authors? Gee, thanks. I could have researched this myself.”

“Quite the contrary, Detective, these books aren’t so well known. These authors wrote about something they’ve either truly encountered or learned about through actual translation of ancient texts. Unlike your normal glamorized fluff, this is the real deal.”

Victoria looked through the stack of books and frowned. “These are all books checked out from the Sunridge Public Library.”

“Aww, Victoria, you give me too much credit. I don’t have a library card, I stole them.” Her eyes opened in shock and he grinned. “Don’t worry I convinced the girl at the desk she didn’t see anything.”

“O…k, so you not only stole public property that could have EASILY been checked out by obeying the law, but you messed with some poor girl’s memory too? What if she’s held accountable, Derrick? She could lose her job!”

He shrugged and calmly sipped from his drink, “I guess I didn’t think of that, oops.”

“‘Oops?’ Yeah, there seems to be a lot of oops with you! First me and my suspension because of this thing with Sketch and now this. Do you get off on destroying people’s lives or is that just a side business you run with the devil?”

“The devil? Do you believe in the devil, Victoria?”

“As a matter of fact. And I have every reason to believe I’m looking right at him. You seem to enjoy making my life a living hell.”

Derrick smiled, pulled up from the couch and slowly approached her. Without blinking an eye, he had her pinned between his body and the bookcase and steadily pressed his face closer and closer to hers until he could feel her breath on his lips. “There’s that fire and wit I admire about you. So happy to see it hasn’t diminished in the face of everything you’ve encountered these last few days. It’s good, that’s good. Considering everything that’s ahead for you, you’re gonna need it.”

Slipping a book into her hands that she hadn’t even seen him pick up, he inched even closer and whispered into her ear, “Start with this one. You already have an inside eye, might as well finish it up.” Derrick backed up and started for the door ignoring the annoyed grimace Victoria shot at him. “I’ll catch you later, Detective. Thanks for the drink and the late-night snack,” he winked.

Victoria gave him a curious stare and stopped him before he made it out the door. “I’m going on vacation.” Derrick turned and leaned against the wall and waited for her to continue. “I needed a break from everything so I’m heading to my family’s cabin in Cedar Grove.”

“And why are you telling me this? I thought we weren’t friends,” he smirked and she grinned at the mischievous glimmer in his eyes.

“I don’t know. I kind of thought you should know so you’re not lurking around my place waiting for me. Although if you do happen to stop by, maybe you can feed Vex?”

“Vex?”

“The Raven; he pops in every now and again. And you were wrong, he does like peanuts!”

“Vex? What kind of name is ‘Vex’ for a Raven?” Derrick frowned and threw his arms into his chest. “You’d be better off calling him something cliché like ‘Poe.’”

“I think Vex is a very nice name for him. I have no idea why he started coming around and he doesn’t seem to have any place else to go. So, while I’m puzzled by his appearance, he seems confused about where he belongs, hence ‘Vex.’” Derrick sighed and the scowl appeared to deepen on his face. “Ok look, I’m not asking you to adopt him. You don’t even have to call him by name. I’m just asking that if you happen to be in the area if you could drop some fruit or nuts in the bowl outside, ok?”

“Fine.” Derrick agreed begrudgingly. “Have yourself a good day, Detective.” He exited out the front and Victoria locked the door behind him.

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