Chapter Text
Reyna was the first to sit down in the briefing room, as usual. She wasn't surprised when Jason walked in right after her, a cup of coffee in each hand, followed by a very eccentric looking Annabeth who was probably doped up on way too much caffeine.
"Long night, Chase?" She asked in amusement as she settled down at the first desk she could reach. Jason sat down next to her and placed one of the mugs on her desk. "Thanks."
Jason nodded in acknowledgment while sipping from his own drink.
"It's going to be an even longer morning, I need a break," she groaned, flopping down very unladylike into one of the chairs leaning against the wall to the side. "I've got this suspect in the interrogation room but he's not giving me anything. And his 48-hours are almost up."
Annabeth looked pretty worried. Her nails were chewed shorter than should have been possible, her hair was tangled up a lot more than usual, and her eyes were stormy. You would have been afraid of her if you didn't know her but those who worked closely with her knew they should actually be concerned about her. She looked beat.
"You'll get him," Jason reassured her. "You always do."
"Thanks, Grace," she replied and smacked her forehead against the tabletop. Reyna was pretty sure Annabeth was about to pass out.
The rest of the team followed in soon after and their Captain, Chiron, rolled in carrying a bunch of folders in his lap.
"Alright, settle down. We've got a big one today."
"Ten dollars says arson," Leo Valdez leaned over his desk and whispered to them.
"Nope," Percy butted in. "Homicide."
"You're both wrong, actually," Nico piped in. "It's a double homicide."
"Why do you sound sure?" Jason scoffed, turning around to look at Nico with a disturbed look on his face.
"He's just morbid," Reyna joked, sending Nico a teasing smirk.
"You're not wrong, but I'm pretty sure I'm right. Just look at Chiron's face," Nico insisted, playing around with his badge. "Also, I call double or nothing."
"You think we have $20 in our wallets?" Percy snorted, sitting back in his seat with his arms crossed over his chest.
"I don't mind being paid in installments."
"If you could all be quiet, that'd be great," Chiron spoke in his booming yet horribly tired voice. Honestly, Reyna doubted that man ever got a good night of sleep. Then again, in this field of work, it was pretty rare to find the time to sleep and when you did, it was even rarer that you got to sleep at all. "Two murders were reported this morning—"
"I knew it!" Nico exclaimed, slamming his palm onto the surface of his desk while everyone else started groaning in disappointment.
"How—"
"Di Angelo, what did I say?"
"Sorry, Captain," Nico muttered, settling back in his chair until he was too small and almost invisible.
"As I was saying— what is it now?"
They all turned around to see Thalia Grace barge into the room, motorcycle helmet under one arm and coffee in the other hand.
"Morning, nerds," she greeted everyone. "Captain," she gave him a small bow of the head respectfully.
Chiron sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. "Just take a seat, Thalia. I'll deal with your tardiness later."
"Cool," she chuckled and went to sit in the nearest empty seat, which happened to be the one right behind Reyna. "Hey, baby bro. Ramírez."
"Hey, Thal," Jason murmured, trying his best not to break into a grin.
Reyna on the other hand chose to ignore her, which was good since Chiron went on to continue his briefing.
"As I was saying, two murders were reported this morning. One was found in the Upper East Side, a Mary Jacobs. The other was in Harlem. Vincent Garcia. From the looks of it, the two murders don't seem to be related, but—"
"They're not related, doesn't count!" Percy exclaimed, pointing a finger at Nico accusingly.
"It definitely counts!" Nico countered.
"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!" Annabeth snapped, letting out a loud groan.
"Right, thank you, Chase. The first victim was found with multiple lacerations and stab wounds. Second victim was shot."
"What's up with Annie?" Thalia leaned over Reyna's shoulder to ask, whispering quietly in her ear. Her breath fanned over Reyna's bare neck and she had to fight the urge to shiver.
"Interrogation problems. Perp's not cooperating," Reyna explained quietly, keep her eyes focused on the whiteboard where Chiron was adding visuals to his briefing.
"We'll do this in two different teams. So, Jackson, take the Harlem case with Jason."
"Awesome," Percy grinned, holding his knuckle out to Jason who leaned over his desk to bump his hand with his own.
"Ramírez, Grace, you've both worked on a similar case before so, you'll team up—"
"Dude, seriously?"
"Grace? Are you kidding me?"
Reyna turned around to look at Thalia in complete and utter disbelief. She knew why she didn't want to work with her. It made sense. But why wouldn't Thalia want to work with her?
"Sir, with all due respect, I don't think we'd make a great team together," Reyna told Chiron, keeping her voice steady and void of emotions.
"With all due respect, I've gotta agree with her," Thalia chuckled, swinging her chair back.
"She's never serious enough—"
"She's too boring—"
"I'd rather work with Valdez."
"I'd honestly rather work with Jackson."
"Gee, thanks!" Percy and Leo said sarcastically in unison.
Chiron looked pretty done with their behavior. He wasn't going to budge, Reyna realized with a little bit of dread.
"This decision is final. You better get onto work. These cases aren't going to solve themselves. Chase—"
"HOLD ON, CHIRON, I THINK I GOT IT!"
"Huh?"
"How to get the perp's confession, I've gotta..." she cut herself off, grabbing all her things and dashing out of the room.
Chiron watched her leave, a little stunned. "Okay, well," he cleared his throat and clapped his hands together. "Dismissed."
Percy was laughing quietly to himself watching his girlfriend run down the hall to the interrogation room. "Amazing, isn't she?"
"Alright, loverboy. Let's get going," Jason chuckled, grabbing Percy by the shoulder and pushing him toward the door.
"You two going to be okay?" Piper asked from her spot between Hazel and Leo, twirling her pen between her fingers.
"No," Thalia and Reyna grumbled in response.
Thalia let out a heavy groan and stomped out of the room. Reyna grimaced as she watched her leave. This was going to be a difficult case. Oddly enough, she had managed to go three entire years without getting a single case partnered up alone with Thalia. If they ever worked together, there were usually other cops on the case with them.
"You want me to tag along?" Piper asked, "I've only got paperwork today which I can totally convince Leo to get done for me."
"As the sergeant of this precinct, I feel like I should say something about this decision of yours, but I'll let it pass," Reyna told her, laughing with her friend. "But I'll be okay."
"Okay, first of all, you don't want me doing your paperwork for you. Second of all, I can tag along if you want!" Leo commented, sending Reyna one of his "flirty" smirks.
"Leo, no one wants you to tag along," Hazel told him.
"Didn't Ramírez just say she'd rather team up with me?" Leo exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger in Reyna's face. He did make a valid point.
"Go back to playing with your weapons, Valdez," Reyna sighed. She grabbed her coffee and left the briefing room, making her way over to her office.
Reyna gathered up all her essentials, stuck her badge into her belt, made sure she had the tiny notepad and pen in her pocket, padded the pocket knife that she always kept stealthily hidden around her ankle under her socks, and of course, the Glock tucked safely into its hip holster. She was pretty much all set.
She walked over to Thalia's desk on the other side of the bullpen only to find her scarfing down a bag of salt and vinegar chips, sitting on her desk with her boots on the chair.
"You do know it works the other way around, right?" Reyna asked, only slightly concerned that no, Thalia didn't know you were supposed to sit on the chair and not use it as a footstool.
Thalia stopped to look at her with her eyebrows furrowed and her hand full of chips already in the air, on its way to her mouth.
"What?"
"Never mind," Reyna muttered, rolling her eyes exasperatedly. "You ready to go?"
"Yeah," Thalia responded with a mouthful. She jumped off her desk and landed with her back turned to Reyna. She wiped her hands on a napkin and grabbed her phone and badge from the desk, placing the chain around her neck and letting the badge fall just above her chest. "You wanna drive?"
"Sure," Reyna replied casually, but really, she was honestly really glad she was the one driving. She knew just how fast Thalia liked to drive, and it wasn't just when she was chasing after some bad guy.
Reyna grabbed her keys and they rode down to the precinct's garage in silence — of course, except for Thalia's loud crunching as she stuffed her face with more chips.
"Dude, it's barely even eight in the morning. How are you eating this stuff?" Reyna exclaimed just as the elevator doors opened. Thank god.
She took long strides over to where her car was parked while Thalia took her sweet time following, tilting her head back to swallow the last crushed bits and crumbs. At least, Reyna could be glad that she wouldn't be eating all of that in her car and getting crumbs everywhere.
"I can eat anything at any time of the day," Thalia explained with a small, sort of arrogant laugh. She walked over to the nearest garbage bin to dispose of the bag and jogged back over to Reyna's car while dusting her hands off. "Breakfast for dinner, dinner for breakfast, it's the best."
When Thalia was seated, Reyna tossed her a packet of baby wipes before she could touch anything. Thalia didn't complain like Reyna thought she would.
As Reyna reared out of the parking space and sped down the road to the crime scene's location, Thalia pushed her sunglasses up the bridge of her nose which Reyna didn't really get. It was raining outside.
"There's literally no sunshine," Reyna felt compelled to comment on it.
"Aw, are you kidding? But you're right here, sunshine!" Thalia replied in fake enthusiasm, the sarcasm dripping like venom from her words.
Reyna tightened her hands around the steering wheel, pressing down just a little bit harder on the gas pedal. She didn't like abusing the law, but no one was going to stop her for driving a little bit past the speed limit. She was the law, after all. And she was currently with her royal pain in the ass.
"It's literally raining."
"It's just a drizzle," Thalia huffed, staring outside her window as small droplets of water slid down the glass.
There was a distant thunder boom, and Thalia laughed quietly to herself, shaking her head.
"Okay, maybe a little more than a drizzle," she admitted. Reyna glanced at her from the corner of her eye. Thalia was still smiling amusedly, having taken off her sunglasses and placed one of the tips between her teeth, chewing on it. "But the glasses make me look cool."
"We're here to find out who killed a rich lady, Grace, not look cool," Reyna muttered, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel impatiently.
"That's where you're wrong, Reyrey," Thalia clicked her tongue and pointed her sunglasses in Reyna's face. "Like sixty percent of our job is looking cool. The other forty is solving crimes and bringing justice or whatever."
Sometimes, Reyna really wondered why Thalia Grace ever chose to become a detective.
Thankfully, she found herself parking on the side of the road behind the series of police cars only a second later. Thalia, of course, put her sunglasses on before leaving the car.
"It's still raining," Reyna muttered, reaching round to the backseat to grab an umbrella.
Thalia didn't seem to mind getting wet, though, she still jogged all the way to the building and up the stairs. Reyna took her leisurely time this time under the safety of her umbrella. There were a couple of officers in the lobby, stopping them from going in any further.
"Sgt. Ramírez and Detective Grace," Reyna introduced themselves as they both held out their badges.
"Right, it's up in the penthouse. Forensic's already up there and the first responders are up there talking to the witness," one of the two cops informed them. "You're gonna need the key to get to the penthouse."
With a quick nod and a thank you, Thalia grabbed the key from the cop and they got into the elevators and rode all the way up to the penthouse. Reyna noticed Thalia finally remove her sunglasses and fidget with them, almost like she was pretty uncomfortable, which she probably was. Reyna knew about her fear of heights and the penthouse was on the fortieth floor. She kept it to herself.
When the elevator doors opened, Thalia was the first to rush out and into the apartment that was filled with uniformed personnel. They noticed a middle-aged lady sitting on one of the couches, holding a handkerchief up to her face. There was an officer standing next to her, notepad in hand but it didn't look like he was having any luck.
Reyna tapped Thalia on the shoulder, pointing subtly at the lady who was clearly the cleaning lady. She had found the body. They walked over to her and the officer standing there looked more relieved than anything.
"You guys investigating this murder?"
"Yeah, I'm Detective Grace, this is Sergeant Ramírez," Thalia replied, her eyes training on the witness. "She found the body?"
"Yeah, cleaning lady. Comes every morning when the house is clear to do her job. She wasn't alone today," the guy explained in his thick New York accent. "She doesn't speak any English, though. I can't get anything out of her except for..." he squinted at his barely legible scribbling. Honestly, his handwriting was so awful Reyna could have mistaken it for a child's. Or Percy's. "Honestly, I don't know. Coulda been Spanish, coulda been gibberish."
Reyna fought the urge to roll her eyes at his incompetence. She had to be professional. "Alright, thank you, officer... Moore," she told him dismissively, though she took the time to read the name on his uniform. "We'll take it from here."
The officer let out a loud sigh and left them alone with the old lady.
"Disculpe, señora," Reyna started in a soft voice, leaning down to her eye level. "Soy inspectora Ramírez, y ella es inspectora Grace. Somos con el NYPD. ¿Podemos hacerle un par de preguntas?"
The old lady wiped her face with the handkerchief and nodded her head slowly.
"What's your name?" Thalia asked, standing over Reyna's shoulder, but she was masking her fear pretty well. In fact, she managed to portray a rather comforting presence, the old lady answered her pretty easily.
"Alba Rodriguez," she answered quietly. Thalia grabbed her own notepad and started scribbling down on it.
"And you clean the house for Mrs. Jacobs?"
Alba Rodriguez nodded her head again. "Si, every morning. I come after Mrs. Jacobs leaves for work. Me dio las llaves."
Thalia looked at Reyna with a small frown.
"Mrs. Jacobs had given her the keys," Reyna translated. "Señora, can you tell us what you saw, por favor?"
Señora Rodriguez let out a small sob, waving her handkerchief in front of her face. "Señora Jacobs, el horror! El horror!"
After all these years, Reyna still got nightmares from seeing all the corpses. She could only imagine how a fragile old lady must have been feeling. She placed her hand comfortingly over Señora Rodriguez's.
"Alba, yo sé que es difícil pero, necesitamos saber." (I know it's hard, but we have to know."
Señora Rodriguez took in a shaky breath, her hand shaking under Reyna's. The young sergeant detective gave it a small squeeze, smiling reassuringly at the old lady. Eventually, she told them everything. It was just another Monday morning. Mary Jacobs' penthouse was the first one she went to, as usual. When she came in, it didn't seem like anything was out of sorts. There were a few papers left on the desk in the study which wasn't unusual, but the apartment was in the same condition as it always was. She went around the place, dusting off shelves and fixing the pillows on the couches, fixing the bed. That was when she noticed something was off because the bed was still made from the previous day. She didn't think much of it until she saw scratch marks on the ensuite's door and when she went inside, she found Mrs. Jacobs in the bathtub, dead.
"Gracias, señora Rodriguez," Reyna told her quietly, solemnly. She gave the old lady's hand a small pat and sent her on her way.
"Poor old lady," Thalia sighed, walking with Reyna toward the crime scene. There were a few men milling around in their white coverall suits, taking evidence and pictures from the scene. One, in particular, was crouched over the tub, taking a closer look at the victim's dead body.
"More like poor Mrs. Jacobs," Reyna murmured once she got a closer look at the body, grimacing at the gruesome imagine before her. That was going to give her nightmares for days.
Thalia turned to look up at the ceiling for a few seconds, her face contorted in discomfort. "Jesus, the suspect must have been really pissed off."
The forensics doctor looked up at them and sent them a toothy grin in greetings, his mop of blond curls flopping down his forehead. "Hey, you two. Horrible, isn't it?"
"Hey, Solace," Thalia replied, patting his shoulder in a friendly manner.
"What do you have for us, Will?" Reyna asked, leaning over his shoulder to get a better look, as much as she didn't want to.
"Mary Jacobs, 34 according to her ID. Pretty accomplished lawyer. I mean, really accomplished. Look at this place!" Will Solace let out a low whistle, shaking his head as he took a quick look around the expensive, but stained with blood bathroom. "She was hit on the back of the head with a blunt and heavy object, it looks like it was used to overpower her. Her wrists and ankles were tied, and she was gagged, to keep her quiet, I think."
"Someone should have heard her scream, though, right?" Thalia pointed out, running her hand over her face in thought. "All these cuts on her arms and abdomen, she was tortured."
"Yep, big time," Will agreed. "But, I doubt anyone would have heard her all the way up on this floor. The apartment itself is soundproofed."
"Huh..." Reyna muttered, her eyebrows furrowing. "What was the cause of death?"
"Her throat was slashed. She bled out pretty fast. My guess is, the suspect came from behind her, hit her on the head. She probably lost consciousness for a few minutes, giving him enough time to undress her and bind her and drag her to the tub. Then, he proceeded to, uh, well, torture her with a knife. By the looks of these cuts, it's your standard pocketknife. He stabbed her twice in the abdomen, but eventually, the cause of death was the throat." Will proceeded to demonstrate by moving his finger linearly over his throat.
"So, we're sure it's a man?" Thalia asked, fumbling with her sunglasses again.
"Yeah, the nature of the wounds indicates it was a right-handed man, probably in his thirties," Will confirmed.
"Alright, thanks, Solace."
With a small pat on his shoulder, Reyna was the first to exit the room. She didn't want to look at any more blood.
****
Thalia and Reyna were back at the precinct, sitting in the briefing room around the whiteboard with all the evidence they had found on it. So far, none of it led to a specific suspect.
"We got no prints, no witnesses, nothing was taken from the apartment... why would anyone want her dead?" Reyna exclaimed in frustration, pulling at her braid until it came undone. She ran her fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp with her nails, but nothing could take that headache away. "Does she have any family we can interview?"
"No, her husband died about two years ago. car crash," Thalia told her, looking at the records in front of her. "No children or living parents. One sister in... England. No luck there."
Reyna groaned, smacking her forehead against the desk. "So, a client? Someone she screwed over?"
"Possibly," Thalia agreed. "It was definitely not a crime of passion. It's clearly a psychopath, someone who wanted to hurt her for a long time. Everything is so... meticulous."
Reyna looked up at Thalia and let out a small chuckle. "That's a big word."
"Shut up,' Thalia grumbled, throwing a crumpled up paper at her face. "I read!"
"No, you don't." Reyna scoffed, tossing the paperback at her. It landed in Thalia's lap, with her legs resting on the desk before her. She grabbed the paper ball, got up to her feet, and walked over to the garbage can.
"No, I don't, but I'm dyslexic, so," Thalia replied with a small laugh, making a show of dunking the paper in the bin. It bounced off the rim and fell to the ground. Reyna couldn't hold back a snort.
"Are you even allowed to use your gun with that aim?" Reyna teased her, grinning widely and chewed on the tip of her pen.
That didn't amuse Thalia. Her glare turned icy.
"Yes, now shut up!" Thalia snapped, bending down to grab the crumpled up piece of paper and throwing it in the garbage can, this time aiming correctly.
Reyna held up her hands defensively, laughing quietly to herself. "We should go check out her office, talk to the coworkers, the assistant or secretary, et cetera. Someone's bound to have noticed something weird going on," she said instead.
"Sure," Thalia huffed, still upset with Reyna. She ruffled through the file and pulled out one of the papers. "I've got the address here and everyone the victim worked with."
Finally having made up a plan for their next move, they headed out toward the elevators when Chiron stopped them. He rolled out of his office in his wheelchair and stopped right before them. He looked pretty solemn.
"They found another body. A Michael Harris. Same MO," Chiron told them.
Reyna exhaled heavily, rubbing her temple at the news. Thalia was tugging at her short hair, sighing in frustration.
Chiron handed them a file with all the information he's had so far, wished them luck, and went back to his work.
In the car, Reyna drove them to the second crime scene while Thalia read from the new file... slowly.
"He's another lawyer, an attorney. Works at a different law firm, though," Thalia informed her.
"So, our perp is targeting lawyers," Reyna deduced, tapping her nails along the steering wheel. "Why?"
"Maybe he's had bad runs with lawyers in his past? Or a lawyer has disappointed him somehow. Bad divorce, or couldn't get him out of jail for a petty crime," Thalia guessed, closing the file and leaning her forehead against the cool window.
"Not likely. He wouldn't go on such a rampage. This... it just seems more personal than that. The victims were bound and tortured." Reyna shrugged her shoulders, biting down on the inside of her cheek. "I think we might find a third body. Maybe more. I think he's on some sort of, I don't know, mission."
Thalia turned around to stare at her, frowning in deep thought. Reyna caught her gaze momentarily before focusing her attention back on the road.
"I think you're right. We need to get into his head. Figure out why he's killing these lawyers in particular."
They made it to the crime scene pretty quick. The body was found tied to a kitchen chair this time. Same exact injuries. The victim's coworker had found him after Michael hadn't shown up to work and hadn't been answering any phone calls since Friday. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything to link him to the first victim except for the job title.
"We should split up," Thalia suggested. "I'll take Jacobs' office. You take Harris'."
Reyna didn't complain. She was actually genuinely surprised at how seriously Thalia was taking this case, though. She had either misjudged her, or Thalia was just really trying to prove her wrong. Either way, Reyna still preferred to work alone.
They each took officers with them to speed up the searching process and took their separate ways.
Reyna tore the first victim's office apart, going through every file and every drawer and every shelf, but there wasn't anything of substance. They would probably have to break into the computer, and one of the tech-savvies was already on it.
Her phone rang after what felt like hours.
Thalia Grace (NYPD)
With a sigh, Reyna slung her suit jacket which she had taken off over her shoulder, and stepped outside into the hall.
"Find anything?" Thalia asked as soon as Reyna had accepted the call. Straight to the point. Reyna appreciated that.
"Nothing important. We're trying the computer. You?"
"Nothing either. We need to find a connection between these two victims. They weren't random."
"I know," Reyna exclaimed in frustration. "It's the only way to catch him before we find a third victim. But— hold on, I'm getting a call from Valdez."
Reyna put Thalia on hold and answered Leo's call.
"Alright, get this, Rey. I've been running both of the vics' names through the system, trying to find any sort of connection and... who's your daddy?"
"You're disgusting and we're on a tight schedule. What did you find?" Reyna snapped, probably snapping Leo's enthusiasm in the process but she didn't feel any remorse about that.
"The two vics went to the same college. There's about three years between them so they never would have been in the same class," Leo explained.
Reyna was almost hopeful. "Where's the but? Give me a good but, Leo, por favor..."
"Llámame papi chulo, Rey..."
"Cállate, coño!"
"Okay, okay. They had the same professor, three years apart," Leo told her and she could practically hear the grin in his voice. "And... they were both guest lecturers last month for the same professor's class."
"Bingo! Gracias, Valdez," she told him, barely listening to his de nada before hanging up. She went back to her call with Thalia, then, feeling much more hopeful.
"So, according to Valdez, the two victims went to the same school and had the same professor. And they were both guest lecturers last month," Reyna explained to her.
"Wait, wait, wait, I think I've seen something about that around here, hold on..."
Reyna paced around the hall, chewing on her chipped nail polish as she waited for Thalia to get back to her. She could hear papers rustling and distant commotion.
"Aha!" Thalia exclaimed. "It's an itinerary. Professor K. Miller's Guest Lecturers. I didn't think much of it earlier, and kind of misread the names but... Mary Jacobs is on there. Michael Harris was second on the schedule."
"You know what this means?" Reyna asked, dropping her hand to her side, ready to run to her car.
"The third name on the list might be the next victim."
"There was two days between the deaths of the first two victims," Reyna started, already slipping her suit jacket back on. "We might have a little bit of time."
"Right," Thalia responded. "Her name's Sarah Jones. I'm gonna have Valdez track her address. I'll text you."
Thalia hung up the phone and Reyna rushed to tell her team of the change in plans before rushing down to her car. Less than a minute later, her phone lit up with an address, just a twenty-minute drive from there.
When she arrived she noticed Thalia's bike was parked there. She had sped here before the rest of the squad. Not a smart move, but Reyna could definitely understand the rush.
She walked up the steps to the front door when she noticed it was already open. With a frown settled on her face, she pulled her gun out of its holster and held it out in front of her. She indicated to the rest of the officers to run around the house and check out the scene.
Reyna kicked the door open with the toe of her shoe as quietly as she could, but she still couldn't see anything in the house's foyer. She could hear murmurs coming from the basement, and one of them was unmistakably Thalia's. Something was wrong.
She ordered the officers behind her to follow her in. She headed straight toward the basement with two other officers while the rest of the squad searched the house. They stood behind the wall, where she could see Thalia's back turned to her, facing two other people. An older man, in his sixties maybe, and a woman in her thirties. She seemed hazy, and a gash from the back of her head was bleeding. The man had to keep his arm around her tightly, keeping her steady, while pointing a gun at Thalia. Reyna also noticed the knife to the victim's abdomen. They had to be extra careful. Any wrong move and they could lose Thalia and the hostage.
"Drop your gun, or she dies. I will not hesitate!" The old man spat through gritted teeth.
"Hey, alright. Alright. I'm putting my gun down..." Thalia told him, keeping her voice steady and calm. She kept eye contact as she slowly set her gun down and kicked it toward him.
"The other one too."
"What other one?" Thalia asked innocently, holding her hands up in front of her in defense.
"Do I look like I was born yesterday? The one in your boots!"
Thalia hesitated for a moment, but Reyna knew it was there. Thalia knew it was there. The man holding her hostage knew it was there. She couldn't do anything but comply. Thalia squared her jaw, a sign that she was getting angrier by the second, but she still crouched down and pulled out the other gun and kicked it ouch of reach.
"There. Now, let her go," Thalia told him, keeping her hands up in the air defensively.
"No!" The man cried out, waving his gun aggressively in the air. "I can't."
Sarah Jones let out a small whimper, shutting her eyes tight in fear. Reyna had to think of a strategy fast. That man did not look like he was ready to back down without adding a number to his body count.
"Professor Miller, right?" Thalia asked, keeping eye contact with the man. It made sense. Reyna didn't know how she hadn't made the connection earlier, but Thalia did. She kept surprising Reyna.
Thalia raised her foot tentatively and placed it just a few inches forward, the floorboards creaking under her.
"Stay back!" The suspect yelled. "Stay back, or I swear I'll stab her."
Thalia retreated instantly. There was no messing around with that man. They had to convince him somehow to surrender. If Reyna announced her presence with the other officers, he would definitely shoot and the hostage would almost certainly die. Reyna had to think fast but watching Thalia, her heart hammered in her chest and her throat constricted in fear for her.
Thalia seemed confident enough, though. It looked like she had it under control, or at least, she made it look like it with her body language. She wasn't scared, and she was pretty calm, her presence still pretty authoritative even if a gun was pointed at her. All the right characteristics for a detective held at gunpoint.
"Alright, alright," Thalia responded, digging her heels into the ground firmly and holding her hands up higher. "Why are you targeting your old students, professor Miller?" She asked him, tilting her head to the side and regarding him interestedly. "Are you... jealous? Of all their achievements, maybe? I've looked into their files. They have almost perfect records. You must have been a great teacher."
She was taunting him... Reyna wasn't sure if that was the smartest move with a psychopath on a killing rampage.
"I am. I'm the best professor the university has ever seen."
Ah, of course. A raving egomaniac and narcissistic serial killer. It added up.
"But they're all so ungrateful. I did this!" He waved his gun around in the air. "I made them! And they're all so ungrateful!"
Reyna's gaze dropped to his arm where it seemed to tighten around Sarah Jones. There was a small drop of blood slowly staining her t-shirt as the knife dug through the material and into her skin. Thalia seemed to have noticed as well.
"So, you're murdering them, these innocent people, because they never sent you a thank you e-mail and a gift basket?" Thalia spat at him. Reyna knew it was getting harder for her to keep it together but she did. She was doing an amazing job.
"No, it's not that stupid," he yelled back, the hand carrying the gun shaking.
"No?" Thalia chuckled. "Tell me, why did you torture them before killing them?"
"You don't understand." Miller shook his head, clicking his tongue. "You'll never understand."
"Oh, no, no. I understand perfectly. It's just, I don't see Mr. D tryna kill me for not thanking him for that C minus he gave me," Thalia told him now. She was using humor but Reyna could tell she was boiling on the inside. "And I doubt my partner's psychology professors want her dead for acing their classes."
She knew Reyna was there. She wasn't sure how Thalia had noticed but blowing her cover seemed too risky. Reyna had to play along now, though.
"Partner?" Miller spat. He was furious. Thalia wasn't supposed to call for backup. But then again, she didn't have to. She couldn't anyway. "Come out. Right now."
Reyna turned around and shared a look with the officers, silently giving them orders. Hopefully, they understood that she meant for them to stay hidden and on guard, ready to shoot if necessary.
She stepped down the stairs until she reached the basement, holding her hands up in front of her. Drawing her gun would be a dumb move right now.
"Your gun."
Reyna did as told, taking her gun out of its holster and kicking it over to his side. Then she stood next to Thalia.
"What the hell are you doing?" She whispered to Thalia, quiet enough only for her to hear the words. She knew Thalia had heard her but she didn't give her an answer. She was still focused on the man.
"You know you're not getting out of here," Thalia told him. "If you shoot us, there are officers waiting outside. They hear a gunshot, you're dead. Either way, you've already lost, professor. Give it up."
Thalia was playing a dangerous game. The man was clearly unstable. He wasn't going to give himself up. He would much rather die and take everyone in this room down with him.
"You were homeschooled, weren't you?" Reyna butted in. Miller's eyes turned to her instantly, his frown more prominent. There was a single bead of sweat trickling down his forehead.
"Your father... he taught you everything. Quite strictly. He was a teacher. Whenever you wanted to play or do anything else, he'd get angry, right? Punish you, beat you, maybe. Told you you were ungrateful, you didn't appreciate all the good he was doing for you? That you'll understand why he was so... mean, and awful, when you grew older. But you never did, did you? It never made sense."
Reyna could sense Thalia's eyes watching her carefully. She didn't look away from the man with the gun. The poor woman was squirming in his grip, trying hard to stay strong.
"Shut up. Shut up. You don't know what you're talking about!" Miller brought his hand up to his forehead, using the back of it to wipe the beads of sweat threatening to fall. He was getting anxious.
"But, I do," she told him, taking a tentative step toward him. "These were all your worst students. And yet, look at them. They're all so accomplished. You think you deserve the credit. But they never appreciated you. Hell, they probably talked shit about you. Maybe, they still do."
She was getting on his nerves and it was clear he was getting more agitated. He was shaking and his mouth had turned into a nasty sneer. "Shut. Up."
"That's why you invited them all to that seminar, right? You wanted to see for yourself, just how accomplished they were. But they still never once gave you credit for all that you've done for them. And... you snapped. Just like your father snapped and gave you that scar."
Reyna pointed at his forehead where an obvious faded scar was shining under the dim basement light.
"I SAID SHUT UP!" He cried out, pointing the gun right at her. Judging by the little whimper Sarah let out, he must have dug the knife in even more. Reyna fought the urge to wince. They had to save her and they had to do it fast. "You have no idea what it's like. Growing up like that."
"I do," Reyna told him, her voice eerily quiet. Thalia's eyes were burning holes in the side of her face and Reyna couldn't believe she was saying all of this out loud but she had to get through to the man and what better way than to humanize yourself as much as possible?
"I've got that same scar. Back of my head. You never really understand why, do you? But you accept it and you move on. Start your own life..."
Professor Miller clenched his jaw. He was quiet, pensive, drinking in everything Reyna was saying.
"Yeah, except you didn't turn into a crazy-ass murderer," Thalia muttered, glaring at the serial killer. He turned to her, his gaze icy.
"I'm not crazy."
"But you are," Thalia told him, taking an arrogant step forward. Reyna knew it was a bad idea but she couldn't stop her.
"Don't come closer," Miller threatened, pointing the gun at her. Thalia kept moving in on him.
"You're a crazy psychopath with a huge narcissistic ego problem, you ungrateful, good for nothing, son of a b—"
"THALIA—"
Reyna launched herself into Thalia, pushing them both to the ground as a cacophony of gunshots deafened the room.
Reyna's vision went absolutely dark as soon as she hit the ground. The first thing she noticed when she came to was the ringing in her ears. Her vision was blurry. And her ribs were burning. She tried to pull herself up but pain shot through her entire body and she slumped back down, biting down hard on her lower lip.
"You idiot!" Thalia's voice, distant, shaky. Reyna blinked a couple of times as her vision cleared just a bit. Thalia was hovering over her, her eyebrows furrowed in worry. She had pulled out a cloth, Reyna had no idea where it came from, but Thalia's hands were on Reyna's side, applying a lot of pressure. It hurt, a lot. But Reyna handled it.
"I had it under control."
"No, you didn't," Reyna coughed, her side stinging even more.
"I did. What the fuck were you thinking, coming down here without your vest?"
Reyna was going to answer when another officer came rushing to their side.
"Everything okay over here?"
"Yeah. Is the victim safe?" Reyna demanded, her voice somehow still came out strong enough.
"Yes, ma'am. She's safe. The perp... doesn't look like he's gonna make it," the officer explained.
Thalia turned around to inspect the room that was now swarming with uniformed officers.
"Alright, thanks, Pace," Thalia told him with a small sigh. "You call an ambulance yet?"
"Yep, should be here in a minute. You sure you gonna be okay, Sarge?"
Reyna nodded, trying to get back up again, but Thalia held her down. For such a tall and lanky woman, she was surprisingly strong.
Officer Pace gave them a quick salute before moving along to get to work.
Reyna huffed out a sigh and turned to glance up at Thalia, still applying a lot of pressure to her wound.
"You feelin' woozy yet?"
"Nope, I'm feeling great!" Reyna exclaimed a little too enthusiastically. Of course, her head was pounding, her heart was beating at a million miles an hour, her chest was on fire in searing pain, and she was bleeding out. The adrenaline coursing through her veins has probably never been higher.
She looked up, meeting Thalia's no-nonsense glare, her blue eyes still watching her with concern.
"You're an idiot, you know that?"
"You're welcome," Reyna muttered, holding her arm up to cover her face as another wave of pain shot through her ribs. "Okay... yeah, I'm gonna pass out now. Don't gloat."
"I'm not gloating," Thalia murmured.
Reyna was vaguely aware of the frown that settled on Thalia's face and her warm and gentle hand, brushing over her face as the blinding pain took over and she started slipping into unconsciousness.
"Stay with me, alright, Ramírez?"
***
When Reyna woke up again, everything was way too bright and white. Her mouth was dry, her body felt both stiff and like jelly, and everything was itchy. The worst part of it all was that she could recognize the awful smell of disinfectants she hated so much. She was in the hospital.
She blinked her eyes open, though she had to squint to see anything due to the bright light. And then, a familiar pair of blue eyes were right in front of her and a mop of blond hair.
"Hey! Look who's finally up!" Jason exclaimed excitedly, placing a gentle hand over hers. "How are you feeling?"
Everything came rushing back to Reyna, from barging into that house to getting shot and passing out. And that was when she felt a little pain stabbing her in the side.
"Like hell."
Jason laughed, his eyes creasing happily. "Yeah! You look like it."
"Shut up," Reyna murmured tiredly, though she couldn't help but share his grin.
"Rest of the squad's waiting to hear about you. They're all pretty worried. I'm gonna go out and call them, and tell the nurse you're up," Jason informed her already pulling out his cellphone from his jeans' front pocket.
"Hey..." Reyna stopped him before he could leave. "Thalia...?" Her voice was rough and it cracked a little. She cleared her throat, ready to ask again more clearly but Jason smiled amusedly at her and pointed at the other side of the room before slipping out the door.
Reyna turned her head to the other side. She hadn't noticed before, but in the armchair by the window, Thalia was curled up with her legs under her, fast asleep and covered only by her leather jacket.
Reyna found herself watching Thalia snoozing quietly for a few moments. She looked pretty peaceful, but the bags under her eyes were still prominent, even when she was fast asleep. They never really go away. Reyna grabbed on to the handles on either side of the hospital bed, attempting to sit up, but she only realized it was a big mistake when it was too late. She flopped back down against the mattress, letting out a grunt, her head sinking into the pillow as blinding pain shot up her side.
"I'm awake— I'm up—" Thalia groggily stumbled out of her seat, her jacket dropping to the ground as she blinked her eyes open. "You're awake..." she pointed her finger at Reyna once she realized it was her pained noises that woke her up. Thalia's face split into a grin. "Hey! You're awake! How are you feeling?"
Reyna let out a frustrated groan, coughing a little to soothe her throat; it was too dry. "Great," she grumbled, her voice coming out scratchy.
Thalia chuckled and bent down to grab her jacket. She slung it on the armchair and walked over to Reyna's side.
It was quiet between them. Reyna couldn't say much without physical discomfort. Thalia looked like she felt incredibly awkward in that moment like she didn't know what to say to someone who literally took a bullet for her. Reyna got that. She wouldn't have known what to say either. Either way, she was only doing her job.
Thankfully, their awkward moment was cut short when the door opened and a doctor walked in, followed by Jason and a nurse.
"Good morning! Well, afternoon. It's around five," the doctor babbled, pulling out her records to take a look at them. "I'm Dr. Yew. This is Gracie. How are we feeling, Sarge?"
He was a pretty short man, with angry eyebrows and a mop of black hair. Even Thalia had a few inches on him. He sounded much more enthusiastic than he looked.
"Pretty awesome," Reyna answered monotonously, the sarcasm dripping heavily from her cracking voice.
"Clearly," Jason said sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. He pushed past the doctor and held out a bottle of water to Reyna. "I know you'd rather have coffee, but you need it."
"Thanks," she muttered and grabbed the bottle from him. Of course, she ran on coffee just like a car ran on petrol and she would much rather start her day off after being shot with a good old cup of hot American coffee. But water would have to do for now.
The nurse made her way around the bed and went to the control buttons that raised the mattress into a sitting position so Reyna was more comfortable.
"You were pretty lucky, you know," doctor Yew said, still reading her chart. "You would have been much luckier wearing your vest, but, anyway, the surgery went smoothly. You did suffer from a fractured rib, besides the bullet wound, but it should only take six to eight weeks of recovery," he explained, slipping the patient chart back in place at the foot of the bed.
"And I mean it," Dr. Yew added, staring Reyna dead in the eyes. "No being a detective or any work that requires getting out of bed. Six to eight weeks, sergeant."
Reyna fought the urge to let out a frustrated groan. What was she supposed to do for six weeks if not work? She had never taken more than a weekend off and that was only once because she had to visit her sister who had just surgery. Six to eight weeks sitting in a bed? God...
"Don't worry, doc," Jason exclaimed, grinning brightly at the surgeon. "We'll make sure she gets enough rest," he said, wrapping his arm around Thalia's shoulders. Thalia, naturally, pushed her brother off.
Satisfied, the doctor and the nurse started examining her to make sure everything was fine.
"Alright, your vitals seem great. There's really no reason to worry. I think you can be discharged in a couple of days. We just need to monitor you a little longer, just in case anything else might arise."
"Sounds great," Reyna sighed, absolutely not looking forward to spending more time in this tiny room that smelled of disinfectants and somehow, nightmares. You wouldn't think the concept of nightmares would have a scent, but hospitals sure did smell like it.
The doctor finally left the room and after making sure Reyna was comfortable and making sure she got her dose of meds and pain killers, the nurse did too.
"Everyone says hi," Jason started, settling down at the foot of the bed and making himself comfortable. If she had the power, Reyna would have definitely kicked his ass.
"Hi back," Reyna murmured, sipping slowly on her water. Jason might have been right about that at least.
Jason was about to respond when Thalia intervened. But it wasn't like she had to say anything. She interrupted him with a single look and the two siblings seemed to be having a silent argument.
Reyna watched them, confused and intrigued by the stark contrast between them.
Thalia was older, but sometimes, it seemed like she was the child. Except now, with her dark hair and striking blue eyes contoured by smudged eye-liner, she was clearly the older sibling winning an argument with her baby brother they both knew he had never even stood a chance at winning.
Finally, after a few very long and very awkward seconds, Jason let out a heavy groan and stormed out of the hospital room. Reyna watched the heavy door close behind him, her bottle of water held still by her face.
Then, she turned to look at Thalia who wasn't really looking smug despite her obvious win.
"What was that about?" Reyna croaked out. She took another sip to soothe her throat.
Thalia chuckled, taking Jason's previous seat like it had her name on it. "Nothing. I just wanted to talk to you."
Reyna frowned. They never talked outside of work. It was most probably her fault, she'd admit to it. Thalia was pretty sociable. Reyna really wasn't. But they weren't friends. Which made the fact that Thalia was still here even after making sure that Reyna was okay. Jason was her best friend and her partner since they were together at the academy. It made sense. But Thalia?
"What about?" She asked, clearing her throat a little.
"I don't know," Thalia murmured, her eyes piercing through Reyna's. She shifted in her hospital bed under Thalia's intense gaze, wincing slightly as pain jabbed through her side. "That was pretty reckless, what you did," she said, her voice pretty quiet and very uncharacteristic of her.
"You were the one who walked in there with no backup," Reyna countered, lacing her fingers together in her lap. She was watching Thalia right back, but she couldn't read her.
"I had to," Thalia defended her. "I heard screaming. I was only doing my job, and I knew you had my back. You, though... What the hell were you thinking? I don't think I've ever seen you forget any gear."
Reyna looked away. She didn't know what she was thinking. The fact of the matter was that she wasn't. She acted fast and didn't take any precautions. The one time she forgot her protective gear.
"Either way, you could've died, egging the bastard on like that," Reyna muttered, shooting Thalia another intense gaze.
"I had it under control. I knew what I was doing," Thalia exclaimed, brushing her unruly hair back.
It made Reyna roll her eyes. "He was pointing the gun at your head. You could've died."
Thalia shook her head. "I had an extra weapon."
When Reyna raised an eyebrow to ask, Thalia rolled up her sleeve and revealed a knife sheath wrapped around her forearm. She pulled out the hunting knife and held it out to Reyna from the leather handle.
Reyna wrapped her fingers around the handle, inspecting the blade and the initials engraved just above the hilt. Z. N.
"An old friend gave it to me. I never go anywhere without it," Thalia explained, accepting the blade back from Reyna before sheathing it and rolling her sleeve back down.
"Either way," Reyna replied, "bullets are faster than knives."
Thalia grinned crookedly at that. "I can duck pretty fast."
"Oh, really?" Reyna asked with a small chuckle, only humoring her.
"For sure. You pick up a few skills when you have three chaotic siblings."
Reyna smiled, letting out a small laugh. She wouldn't know what that was like. She grew up with just a sister who never had time to have fun.
Thalia moved in even closer, sitting by Reyna's waist. "You jumped in front of a bullet for me."
"Just doing my job," Reyna murmured back like it was nothing. She would have done it for any other partner, right?
Thalia shook her head and her hand moved up to Reyna's face, brushing her cheek lightly. Maybe it was the fact that she was pretty drugged right now on the pain meds, but her cheek felt like it weighed a million pounds, and seriously, when did they turn on the heater?
"You could've died."
"You could've died," Reyna countered.
When did Thalia's face get this close? Did she always have those freckles on her nose?
"I could've lost you," Thalia whispered, her eyebrows furrowed in the middle. Her hand was now cupping Reyna's cheek. Why the hell was this making her more nervous than being in the same room as a murderer?
"You mean the squad?"
"Jesus christ," Thalia muttered and then let out a breathy laugh. "You know, for a smart person who managed to figure out the suspect's motive just by taking a look at him, you can be a real idiot sometimes."
"What?" Reyna exclaimed, taking complete offense to that comment. She wasn't the smartest person out there but she was definitely not an idiot—
And then Thalia's lips were on hers and everything stilled. Thalia was holding her face and she was kissing her, softly but with urgency. Reyna was stunned. She couldn't move, she couldn't think, but she was suddenly on high alert. More specifically, she was alert of Thalia. Everything that was Thalia. Her calloused fingertips, brushing over Reyna's cheeks. The smell of coffee and strawberry mist stuck to her clothes. Her warm thigh pressed into Reyna's with only the blanket between them. And her soft lips, pressed against Reyna's and stilling her world for what felt like hours.
She was definitely an idiot because she had not seen that coming. Not for miles. And yet, she found herself reaching up with her hand on her good side and tangling her fingers through Thalia's hair as she pulled her in even closer, kissing her back.
Thalia finally pulled away after a few breathless seconds but she lingered in Reyna's personal space while catching her breath before pulling back completely. She got up to her feet, smiling to herself, and walked all the way to the chair with her jacket.
"Coffee? I know you're dying for some right now."
Reyna was absolutely baffled. She was still trying to wrap her mind around everything that had just happened.
But she could never say no to coffee.
"Yeah, but—"
"Two sugars and cream, right?"
How did she never notice Thalia notice?
"Yeah... Am I even allowed to?" Reyna croaked out.
Thalia was already making her way to the door, slipping on her black leather jacket. "I'm not a doctor, sheesh."
"Thalia," Reyna chuckled.
"Fine, I'll ask the nurse or whatever!"
"Thalia?" Reyna called out, watching Thalia turn around and hold the door open with her foot.
"I'll be back in five minutes," Thalia said, sticking her hands in the jacket's pockets. "Oh, and... three years. The day I transferred here. That's how long I've been wanting to do that."
The day they met.
Reyna watched in shock as Thalia slipped out of the room but not without sending her a subtle wink. Reyna's insides churned.