Chapter 4: Cold Blooded

Lia stared at the suds washing down her drain, mind racing with everything that had happened over the last 8 hours. Her night definitely had not gone as she'd expected it to.

She hadn't exactly been thinking clearly when she'd rushed over to Micah's apartment after they'd arrested Lola for her husband's murder.

She'd been thinking with Javier's brain, which was basically an extension of his lower appendage. It was no wonder that she was practically purring by the time Micah welcomed her inside.

But the evening had quickly taken a turn. Instead of presenting her with a meal that would have been visually appealing, but not physically satisfying to a human-turned-zombie, Micah had left half of a brain on a plate for her.

The human part of her had panicked, unsure of how he'd discovered her secret, and even worse, what he would do with it. The zombie side of her was, well, hungry, and she almost salivated at the sight of it.

She shook her head as she remembered Micah's too-calm response to her.

"What's the problem, detective? Don't you like your brain a little raw?"

She'd turned in her chair, as still as if she was made of stone, and looked him squarely in the eyes.

"What do you want, Micah? Is this a threat? A bribe? Are you going to expose me?"

Micah's face fell, and he looked down at the floor in what appeared to be shame.

"I'm hurt that you'd jump to that conclusion first, Lia. I assumed that a detective like you would have figured it out sooner."

She wrinkled her brow in confusion before staring at his face more closely. Suddenly, she realized that the hair at his roots was pale, a striking contrast to the dark locks that covered the rest of his head. His skin was looking paler than it had looked before, too.

"Oh my god. You're…"

She trailed off, holding one hand to her mouth in surprise.

"Yup. I'm dead. And so are you. Now, shall we continue this conversation over dinner? I really am quite hungry."

Lia was numb, watching him sit and begin to cut into his own slice of brain with a fork and knife.

It all seemed so civilized, except for the grey matter on the fork. Lia looked at her own plate, half of her appetite gone.

Oh, god. If Micah was a zombie, how many others were there? Including herself, that made four that she knew of. And if there were more zombies out and about, how long before one of them killed someone or exposed them?

Micah paused from eating to shake his head at her.

"Don't overthink it. I can see the gears turning in your head. Possibly even a little steam coming out of your ears."

Lia couldn't help but be annoyed at him. He was so calm about everything, and he expected her to be the same.

"You'll have to forgive me. It's not every day that you get invited over to someone's house and they serve you human brain for dinner. Speaking of which…?"

She trailed off before finishing her sentence. Part of her didn't want to know the answer.

"He died of natural causes, I assure you. I get my brains the old fashioned way. My brother is an undertaker."

Lia blinked several times while processing the information he'd given her. She had no reason to doubt his story, considering that she herself relied on a sister who had easy access to brains, but she still wasn't sold on the idea of Micah being a zombie.

"Are you alone? Have you met any others?"

"Besides you? No. You can imagine my surprise when we met and I realized that we had more in common than being Marines and early morning jogs."

"How did it happen, if you don't mind my asking?"

"There was a party."

"Wait! You were at the lake party?! I don't remember seeing you there."

"I was in the back. I've never really been one for crowds. I got dragged there by a friend. When all hell broke loose, someone clawed my back, and I bolted."

Lia wondered if Blaine had been the one to infect Micah as well. Although considering the amount of people at the party who were doing the same drug as Blaine, it was anyone's guess who scratched him.

"So, I managed to make it to dry land, and I found my car and I got out of there before the cops showed up. I guess I didn't realize there was one already there."

He paused to wink at her, a strangely lighthearted gesture in the midst of a gut wrenching tale of gruesome murder and chaos.

"I made it home, but I felt god-awful. I started noticing my hair turning white, and my skin turning pale. It wasn't until I turned my nose up at a steak that I began to wonder what was wrong with me. I went to see my brother, and I practically tore apart the skull 90-year-old woman who was lying in her coffin."

Lia, who had been listening intently, carefully reached out and grabbed Micah's hand. She couldn't even imagine what he had been through. He'd been all alone, with no one to help him figure out what had happened.

He took her hand, and gently stroked circles on it.

"Ever since then, my brother has been keeping me in fresh supply. He's the only person besides you who knows about me."

Lia felt even more drawn to him, longing to comfort him with her body. She shook off the wave of lust, cursing Javier's insatiable appetite, and cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry about what happened. It must have been hard. I can't imagine what it must have been like to go through it alone."

"You weren't alone?"

"No, my sister and I were both at that party. She works at the morgue. She and I use our visions to help solve murders."

Micah's mouth opened slightly before he closed it and smiled smugly.

"Isn't that cheating, detective? You have an unfair advantage over the other officers."

"Well, I consider it payback for having a few disadvantages as a woman. Besides, not every vision is helpful."

Considering the sex visions that had plagued her since consuming Javier's brain, she had spoken truthfully. Micah nodded and continued eating his food. He motioned for Lia to do the same. She hesitated, unsure of what to do next.

"Micah, tell me truthfully. Did you ask me out because you knew I was a zombie?"

He wrinkled his nose at her, resentful of her question.

"I asked you out because I liked you. You aren't afraid to tell me off when I deserve it. You're smart, and beautiful. The zombie thing is just a bonus."

She could feel the warmth again, and this time she relished it. He was certainly the nicest man she'd ever gone on a date with. She'd never have to lie to him about what she ate, and she wouldn't have to give up being intimate with him, because she couldn't infect someone who already had the disease.

She shook her head at her racing thoughts. She'd barely met the man! She was not going to sleep with him on the first date. No matter how much Javier's brain was commenting on his "political chin" or "ocean eyes."

"So...where do we go from here? I must confess that I don't usually go on dates. Even when I was alive, I was more of a loner."

"Well, why don't we take it one date at a time? We have all eternity to be dead, so we might as well enjoy it."

He raised a glass of champagne, which, up until that point, Lia hadn't noticed was in front of her the whole time, and motioned for her to do the same.

"To death, and all the dates that come after it."

Try as she might to stop it, she couldn't help but grin. She clinked her glass against his and took a sip. It was refreshing, but she definitely wasn't used to drinking alcohol. She'd never really been one to partake, and after the boat party, she couldn't stand to look at it.

She looked at the grey matter sitting on her plate, pondering what she should do with it. On the one hand, it was acquired in a perfectly legal, if not morally ambiguous manner.

On the other, she wasn't entirely certain of Micah's story. He'd given her no reason to lie, but it was almost too convenient for him to have a ready supply. Lia's supply only came from Liv purposefully switching careers to something that utilized her medical knowledge, and also provided her with sustenance.

He seemed to notice her hesitation, but didn't seem offended.

"Look, you don't have to eat it. I'm sure you're used to a...fresher supply."

"Well, usually we get the bodies as soon as they're discovered. Then my sister and her boss measure and weigh the brains, and Liv serves me something delicious. I don't want this to go to waste, though. Let me find something."

He nodded in understanding, continuing to chew his food. Lia stood up and walked into the kitchen, looking through the cupboards for a container to put the brain in.

Micah was behind her before she even realized he had gotten up from the table. He opened the pantry in front of her and grabbed a container. Instead of handing it to her, he placed it on the counter and leaned in to kiss her. He didn't need to ask, as Lia eagerly took him up on the offer.

He ran his hands along her back, and she buried her hands in his hair. Common sense be damned, she was going to enjoy herself. He tugged at the bottom of her dress, and she pulled it up over her head. He paused for a moment to admire her body before pressing himself against her once more.

He had just started to fiddle with her bra clasp when it hit her. This wasn't her. This was Javier. She needed a new brain, and fast. Before she ended up sleeping with Micah and then regretting it. He'd already talked about the time they had. They didn't need to start off with flames, and then burn out quickly.

Micah seemed to sense the shift in her enthusiasm, and he pulled away, staring deeply into her eyes. Lia took a few ragged breaths and tried to calm herself down. She grabbed her dress from the floor and pulled it back over herself.

"I'm sorry, Micah. You must think I'm a tease. It's this brain I have. He was a total horn-dog."

Micah surprised her by laughing. She'd figured he would be angry.

"Don't worry about it. I'd rather wait until you're absolutely ready, not just rush in while you're under the influence of a sex-crazed brain. Not that I'm complaining about any of this. You are insanely appealing, in case you didn't realize."

Lia knew she needed to leave, and quickly. If he kept saying sweet things like that, she wouldn't be able to control herself for too long. And Javier's brain wouldn't be the only reason.

So, she'd gone home and attempted to sleep. Mostly she just tossed and turned and kicked herself for leaving. Deep down she knew she made the right decision, but it was hard to convince herself otherwise.

By the time she finished her shower in the morning, she had to scramble to make it to work on time. Clive was waiting, coffee cup in hand, taking small and deliberate sips as she slid into her chair.

"Morning."

He spoke slowly and purposely, eyeing Lia with a smirk.

"Okay, I'm sorry I'm late. I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Oh, I'd imagine not. You were too dressed up for the party, and that could only mean one thing. You had a date afterwards. You sure seemed in a hurry to get out of here last night."

Lia, if she had the ability to, would have blanched at his comment. The good thing about being dead was the poker face.

"Well, not that it's any of your business, but yes. I had a date. I went to his house to eat dinner, and then I went home. I didn't sleep well because I have insomnia. Get your mind out of the gutter, Clive."

Clive hid his smile behind his coffee cup, clearly not buying her story. At her steely glare, he cleared his throat and slid a case file across to her.

"Well, here's something to wake you up. There was a hit and run last night. Your sister and Ravi are already working on the autopsy, if you wanted to head down there and check on their progress."

Shit. Liv. Lia had been so preoccupied with her own problems that she hadn't gotten a chance to call Liv back. She'd gotten far too many texts and phone calls for everything to be okay. Something was bothering her, and Lia didn't need another excuse to find out why.

"I'll check on them, then. Thanks, Clive."

Without another word, Lia rushed down the stairs to the morgue. She was pleased to see Liv with Ravi, going about their usual routine of weighing and measuring body parts. But their conversation made her pause on the stairs.

"For him, I just dumped him and then I hit on him like the world's cruelest tease. So I texted him an apology and he hasn't responded."

"That's awful."

"Yeah."

"You texted your apology."

Lia had heard enough to figure out that they were talking about Major, but she figured that if she wanted the whole story and not just part of it, she needed to interrupt them.

"Wait, what happened with Major?"

Liv crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Lia's sudden interjection and appearance at the bottom of the staircase.

"Javier's brain caused me to throw myself at Major last night. Which, if you had answered any of my messages or phone calls, you would already know."

Lia knew that Liv had a right to be angry with her, especially since her reason for not being available was a date. She'd never flaked on Liv before, though, so perhaps Liv could cut her some slack.

"I'm sorry, Liv. I was...busy."

"Since when are you busy?"

Liv and Ravi continued their examinations, Liv's causally stated comment getting under Lia's skin. Okay, so maybe she had a point about Lia being too readily available, but it stung a little to hear it from someone else. She noticed that both Ravi and Liv had paused to look at her, and she took a deep breath before explaining.

"I had a date, okay?"

Liv and Ravi stared at her with blank expressions. She glared at the two of them. Sure, she hadn't been on many dates before she died, but it wasn't like she'd been a nun. Although that possibility was looking better all the time.

"You had...a date."

Liv spoke in a monotone, still wrinkling her brow in confusion. Ravi looked stunned, the words finally beginning to sink in. Then, a worried expression crossed his face.

"Detective, far be it from me to discourage the pursuit of your own happiness, but…"

He trailed off, but Liv finished the thought for him.

"Lia, are you out of your mind? I messed things up with Major because of what we are, and now you're going on dates with someone?"

Lia felt her left eye begin to twitch, a sure sign that their statements were beginning to get to her. She straightened her back and glared at the two of them with a look she rarely used on people other than suspects and men who didn't take no for an answer. Though she'd never seen it, it must have been terrifying, because it worked every time. Even Liv and Ravi shrunk down when she aimed the look at them.

"In case the two of you forgot, I am a grown woman who is capable of making her own decisions. What I do in my personal life is not really any of your business. Yes, Liv, I'm including you, too."

Liv pursed her lips, but nodded slowly at her sister's words. Ravi gathered his courage before speaking again. He spoke slowly, as if the quickness of his statement might invoke Lia's ire once more.

"You are more than capable of making your own decision, Detective. However...We don't know how the virus is transmitted. If you decided to become...intimate...you could spread the virus."

He paused several times, watching Lia's face carefully before continuing each time. Lia's eyes widened at his insinuation, but was gladdened that she couldn't blush. She was certain that her face would have been flaming by this point. Ravi's certainly was.

"I appreciate the concern, Ravi, and I haven't forgotten the reason that Liv broke up with Major. Rest assured, I am incapable of spreading the virus to my date."

Ravi and Liv looked at her in confusion, trying to grasp what Lia was alluding to.

"Micah was at the party. He's one of us."

Ravi's grim expression changed into a smile.

"As much as I hate to hear of another case, if we gather his data, we'll be that much closer to discovering a cure. Especially since I wasn't able to gather a complete set of data from Blaine."

Liv's expression was still stony. Lia looked at her, ignoring Ravi for the moment, and attempted to decipher what her sister was thinking. After what felt like centuries, Liv took a deep breath and spoke to her sister.

"I have to ask...how is he getting his supply?"

Lia had been prepared to answer this question since she announced that Micah was a zombie.

"Same way I do. He's got a sibling with easy access to brains. Granted, his brother is an undertaker and you're a medical examiner, but same difference."

Liv seemed mollified by her response, and Lia felt better.

"In that case, Lia, I guess I'm happy for you. If he goes crazy, though, we may have to kill him."

Liv's face was completely serious, and Lia's stomach fell. She hadn't thought of that. Before she could speak, Liv burst out laughing, her volume only increasing when she spotting the expression on her sister's face.

"Sorry, Lia. I was only kidding."

Lia shrugged, attempting to play it cool. Perhaps they needed to change the subject from her love life and get back to the case.

"So, what can you tell me about the victim? He's the only man I need to think about right now."

"Alrighty then, let's see…"

Ravi trailed off as he picked up a case file on the victim.

"Marvin Webster here. Family man, two kids, suburbs, owner-operator of Sea-Tac Bug Whack until someone ran him over in the Whole Lotta Lotta car park. Should be a pretty safe brain to eat."

Ravi looked at both Liv and Lia with a smile on his face. He spoke with ease, as though he was referring to ground beef that was a day past its expiration date rather than the brain of a dead man.

But as Lia glanced at Liv, who had smirked at Ravi's remarks, she felt a sudden sense of unease. Were they really going to get "used to" eating brains rather than real food? The thought of being a zombie forever made her stomach sink, though she knew she was hungry after refusing Micah's meal the night before.

"A safe brain to eat? Said nobody ever."

Liv's sarcasm broke Lia out of her reverie, and the sound of the bone saw made her hungry again. She sat down on a stool and looked at the case file that Ravi had been reading from.

From the basic information on the case, the man didn't seem the type to have had a lot of enemies. Yet, it seemed to Lia that the people who seemed the most normal on the outside were quite good at hiding something sinister on the inside.

She looked over the notes a few times just to be sure she hadn't missed anything relevant, and watched as Liv, who had carefully recorded the weight of the man's brain, placed it into a tupperware container and walked toward the break room.

She winked at Ravi, who was busying himself with measuring other body parts, before joining Liv.

"What's for lunch today, little sis?"

Liv cracked a smile and handed her sister a box of crackers.

"Sorry, Lia. It's a plain and simple kind of day today. I'm way too hungry to wait and make something fancy."

As Lia's stomach growled in response, she smiled at her sister and took the box willingly. In a way, it was almost as though they were kids again, making a snack for themselves after school, before their mother had gotten home. At the time, they'd made Ritz sandwiches with ham and cheese, but now? Now, they had to make do with cerebellum and hot sauce.

Lia had a few bites, enough to calm the grumbling in her stomach, and stood up from the table.

"Sorry, sis. I'd better get back to Clive before he wonders if I've joined the cadaver. Joke's on him, though, I'm already dead."

At Lia's wink, Liv nodded and kept snacking on her food. Lia waved to Ravi before leaving and heading back upstairs.

Lia stretched and yawned, a sure sign that she needed to go home. She'd been in the office researching for most of the afternoon, while Clive had been gathering witness statements and evidence. Clive had long since gone home, reminding her to do the same before he'd left.

Lia gathered her belongings before heading toward the front of the precinct. The officers at the front desk were talking, both watching the story on the news. The text on the bottom of the screen read "Walker Trial Begins Tomorrow."

Lia rolled her eyes at the news, thinking about the officer who was in charge of the case. Fleischmann wasn't a bad cop, but he certainly wasn't as thorough as she and Clive would have been.

She glanced at the tv once more, but this time there was a photograph of Wally Walker, the tech innovator who'd been murdered. She felt a pulling sensation rip through her and she was sucked into a vision.

She was staring at a photo, which looked as though it had been taken as part of surveillance. A disembodied voice spoke.

"That's the target. You know the drill. Eliminate him, and quickly."

"You've got it. Just remember what my price is."

"It'll be there. Just make sure you are, too."

The source of the voice stopped talking, as the phone call was ended. Lia saw the photo get placed on a desk, and saw her hand reaching for a gun before checking it for rounds. She knew the type of pistol that it was, and it was exceptionally good at noise reduction. The silencer on the front of it didn't hurt, either.

She felt herself being pulled back out of the vision, and she noticed the two officers staring at her. They both had looks of concern on their faces, and Lia felt embarrassed as she thought about why they were looking at her.

"Are you alright, Detective? Do you need medical assistance?"

When Lia had first started with the Seattle PD, when her visions struck, she had concerned many people by staring blankly until the vision was over. One of the other officers had taken her aside and asked if she suffered from epilepsy, and in particular petit mal seizures.

Lia could hardly explain what was really happening, so she'd used that explanation. She felt guilty about pretending to have a disease that many other people actually suffered from, but she figured that, though she herself didn't suffer from the disease, she could at least educate her coworkers about it. She'd certainly noticed an increased awareness of what to do in the event that someone had a seizure.

"I'm fine, thank you for your concern."

The officers looked at each other and shrugged before returning their attention to the television. Lia shook her head and walked back into the office.

She knew she was going to have a long night ahead of her, but she couldn't go home without digging into Marvin Webster's history a little more. And, though she knew she would probably get herself into trouble for it, the Wally Walker case.

She was looking into whether or not Marvin had a license for his weapon when she heard her phone ding. She looked at the number, surprised to see something from him so late at night.

Hey beautiful, I know
It's late, but are you
Interested in a drink?

Lia stared at the message, waiting to feel some sort of emotion about it. Javier's brain would've told her to text him back and get the drink...and something else from him while she was at it. Instead, she felt nothing. Blank. Marvin certainly was a cold fish, that was for certain.

She ignored the message, focusing on her work. There were no listings for a gun license for Marvin, but that only confirmed Lia's suspicion. There was more to the bug man than met the eye. Unfortunately, this meant that Lia never left the office. She'd gotten so wrapped up in what she was doing that she'd fallen asleep at her desk. Clive's gentle shaking was the only thing that woke her up in the morning.

"Hey, I thought I told you to go home last night."

Lia blinked, trying to focus on what he was saying, and yawned before rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, I was looking into a few things on Marvin."

Clive held out a cup of coffee and Lia graciously took it from him.

"I got you a dark roast. Figured you could use the extra caffiene today."

"Did you know that, strictly speaking, there is little variance of caffeine amounts in different roasts of coffee? When the beans are roasted they lose up to 90% of their water content. So, if you measure the coffee by scoops, light roasts will have more caffeine, but if you measure by weight, the dark roast will have more caffeine. But, since the amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee is so little, the difference will not even be noticed."

Clive blinked a few times in confusion before shaking his head at her.

"What, did you work at a coffee shop when you were in college?"

Lia didn't know how she'd known that, but her brain seemed to be full of factoids that hadn't been there before. Marvin might've been cold-blooded, but he seemed to have a knack for trivia. Clive was staring at her again, and she realized that he was waiting for an answer.

"Yeah, something like that."

She stood up from her desk and stretched like a cat before grabbing her bag of emergency clothes. She told Clive where she was going and headed for the showers. It was just what she needed to do to start her day.

As she showered, she thought about Micah. She'd blown him off last night, and she hadn't gotten a response. She knew it should bother her...but it didn't.

She felt nothing. No remorse for being so rude to someone that she knew deep down she was starting to catch feelings for. But even thinking about Micah didn't bring on the feelings that had been floating around her head the past few days.

As she headed back to Clive and her desk, Lia was surprised to see Liv already there, sitting next to Clive. He had an incredulous look on his face, and Lia wondered what Liv could have possibly said to garner such an expression.

"I'm not screwing around, Clive."

"I'm just wondering if this vision also contained winged horses and a dancing pizza. I'm not saying you didn't see it, but no psychic bats 1,000."

"You're going after the wrong guy. And from what I could gather, he's done it before, like, a lot."

"How is this guy even connected to Walker?"

"Something to do with debts."

Clive laughed, and Lia walked to her desk to put her things away, waiting with baited breath for Clive's next words.

"You want me to go to my boss, your sister's boss I might add, and tell him to stop a high-profile murder trial because the morgue medium said so?"

Liv looked at Lia, but she didn't seem concerned for either her sister's job or Clive's. Instead, she stood straight and stared Clive down.

"The victim was shot downward in the head from point blank range while on his knees. That's not a mugging, that's an execution."

"The drifter had Walker's DNA all over him. He was wearing his frickin' shoes."

"A homeless drifter who needs to steal shoes doesn't usually pack a Glock. I saw the murder weapon. He used a suppressor, more commonly known as a silencer, invented by Hiram Percy Maxim in 1902."

Clive gave Liv a strange look before turning to look at his partner. Lia glanced at Liv, and she nodded once. Liv returned the nod and began walking back toward the morgue. Clive tilted his head in confusion at the sister's nonverbal communication.

Now that Lia knew Liv had seen a vision of Marvin actually using the weapon on Wally Walker, Lia had to push Clive to investigate further.

"I believe her, Clive. She's never steered us wrong before. Besides, I've been doing a little digging into Marvin Webster. He is registered as a gun owner, but that particular gun was not listed. He frequents one of the local gun ranges and is known to use a Glock while he's there."

"Lia, we can't go to Suzuki empty-handed. Besides, we don't even know who killed Marvin! We need to focus on this case, and let the courts worry about Wally Walker."

Lia stood, glaring at Clive, who shrunk back slightly at her ferocity.

"You'd rather let an innocent man rot in jail than piss off Suzuki? You're not the man I thought you were. But don't worry, Liv and I will keep digging and find the person who killed Marvin AND prove that Marvin killed Wally Walker."

She turned on her heel, leaving Clive open-mouthed in surprise. As she strode toward the evidence room, she almost ran into Henry Percevill, the lead detective on the Wally Walker case. Luckily for Lia, he was also an incorrigible flirt who'd continually asked Lia out when she'd first arrived.

"Excuse me, detective. I almost didn't see you there."

Henry glanced at Lia, taking in her body from top to bottom. She smiled seductively, a much harder feat now that she had a sociopath's brains instead of a horn-dog's.

"It's all right, Lia. Did you need something from evidence? Perhaps something I could help you find?"

It was almost too easy, really. She hardly had to do more than pout her lips a little and he was putty in her hands.

"Well, actually, now that you mention it. I was wondering if I could look at your files on the Walker case. I think he might have a connection with my hit-and-run."

"Oh, really? Well, we've pretty much wrapped this one up with a bow, but you're welcome to look through my files. I can go over them with you, if you like."

Lia batted her eyelashes at Henry, who blushed slightly at the gesture.

"I'm sure you must be terribly busy, Henry. I'd hate to take up so much of your time. I'll just borrow your files for a little bit and when I return them maybe we can meet up? To discuss the case, of course."

Henry seemed stunned, like she'd hit him over the head. He nodded numbly before waving toward his desk.

"Yeah, um. The files. Let me get those for you."

He dug around his desk, his face turning more pink as he did so, and pulled out a large file with the name Wally Walker written on the top. He handed it to Lia, who flashed a kilowatt smile before taking the case file back to her own desk.

Clive glanced at her when she returned, but she ignored him and dug into the files. She pulled out a notebook and jotted down a few interesting things.

Walker, who'd been an industry pioneer, had been looking to sell his company. Lia would have been surprised that a wealthy man would need to sell off his crowning achievement, but she'd been listening when Liv had spoken of debts.

The more she read, the more interested she became. Wally had a few serious gambling debts, which was certainly motive for someone to kill him, but what really caught Lia's attention was the name of Wally's bookie.

It was a name Lia knew all too well. Frank Smith, the former Seattle cop, was infamous at the station. And not necessarily in a good way.

Putting pressure on Smith was not going to be easy. He knew every trick in the book, considering he'd pioneered many of them himself. Not to mention, he was bookmaker to half of the cops on the force. He could easily get her and Clive fired, especially since Suzuki had already decided to put a target on her head.

By the time Lia finished with the files, both Clive and Henry had gone home for the night. Lia carefully returned the file to Henry's desk, leaving him a note thanking him for letting her borrow it.

Hopefully Henry wouldn't be taking her up on her offer of meeting up anytime soon. She knew she should feel bad for manipulating the man, but she couldn't bring herself to feel sorry.

After all, she'd never hid her real feelings before. Henry would be a fool to believe she'd changed her mind so quickly. Her phone rang, bringing her thoughts back to the present. She answered without looking, opting for a formal greeting.

"Detective Moore."

"Good evening, Detective Lia. I was wondering if you're free tonight. I would have sent you a text, but you didn't seem to respond to my last one."

"Been busy. This new case I'm working on is pretty important."

"I see."

She could hear the hurt in Micah's tone. She had been harsh with her words, not only in choice but in delivery. She hadn't meant to make him feel less important than her case, but...in a way, he was. Right now all Lia wanted to do was end the call and go home, not talk to Micah or deal with the feelings she might be developing for him.

"Look, I'm sorry to cut you off, but I pulled an all-nighter last night and I just want to go home and rest."

"Ah. Okay. I guess I'll talk to you later then."

Lia hung up the phone, staring at it for a moment before rolling her eyes and throwing it in her purse. It wouldn't accomplish anything to dwell on it. If she'd hurt him enough that he was done talking to her, then that was one less distraction for her.

With a final look at her notepad, she took a deep breath and headed home for the night, already eager to come back the next morning.

Lia was up long before her alarms went off. Normally she'd snooze the first two and only leave the comfort of her bed for the third. Today, however, she was dressed and headed out the door long before her normal departure time.

She stopped to grab a chai latte before heading to the station and while she waited for the barista to prepare her beverage, heard her name being softly called.

She knew exactly who was calling her long before she turned around to face him. She momentarily forgot to listen for her order as he stood up and walked toward her.

"You know something, detective? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were avoiding me."

Lia turned around to grab her chai and moved toward the door, finding herself being led to a small table in the corner. She narrowed her eyes at him, but sat down and took a careful sip of her drink.

Micah had a drink of his own, clearly a cappuccino by the amount of foam and overall lack of steamed milk at the bottom. He took a sip, mirroring her movements, and arched an eyebrow at her.

"You don't have anything to say, Lia? Be honest. Did I come on too strong? Are you afraid of being with me now that you know what I am?"

Lia resisted the urge to place her hand over his mouth. What was he thinking, speaking of their condition out in public?

"On the contrary, Micah. That doesn't bother me. I'd be a hypocrite if it did. I told you before, I'm very busy working on a case."

"You've been busy before, yet you made time to see me."

She frowned, unable to fully explain what was holding her back. She herself hadn't quite figured it out. Was she truly attracted to Micah, or was that a result of Javier's general inability to keep his hands to himself? She'd tried thinking about it with Marvin's brain, but his cold and calculating nature had her convinced that she was only using him for pleasure, and that she didn't truly have any feelings apart from those of a base nature.

"I'm deeply sorry if I have given you any sort of false impression, Micah. I haven't quite decided what to make of anything. You know what my situation was before, and now that it's changed…"

She trailed off, hoping he would understand what she was trying to say. The pained glint in his eyes certainly confirmed that he understood, at least to some extent.

"Ah. Well, forgive me for taking up so much of your valuable time. If you do finally figure out what it is that you want or feel, let me know. Or...don't, I guess. Goodbye, Detective."

He stood quickly, and before Lia felt the tiniest twinge of remorse, was gone from the coffee shop. A few patrons glanced in her direction, with curious stares dissecting her reaction. Marvin's brain being good for something, Lia kept a stony exterior that showed none of the inner turmoil she knew, on some level, she felt.

She waited until her beverage was completely finished before heading to the office. Clive was already waiting for her, along with her sister. Clive and Liv were staring each other down, almost like they were waiting for the other to blink.

Lia headed for her desk, but was interrupted by Henry.

"Oh, Lia! Thanks for returning my file. Suzuki would have my head if I'd lost it. Do you have time to talk about the case right now? I'd be happy to go over a few things with you, if you'd like."

His over-eagerness might have been endearing if she were not in such a hurry to prevent a fight from happening on or around her desk.

"I'm sorry, Henry. It seems I have a matter to deal with this morning."

She nodded her head at Clive and Liv, and Henry smiled lopsidedly in empathy as he turned back to his desk. She'd have to deal with his unwelcome attention at another time. For now, she needed to deal with her sister and her partner.

"Good morning, Clive. Good morning, Livvy."

The two broke their stare down long enough to acknowledge her greetings with a glance, and immediately went back to the match. Lia interrupted them once more by sitting on Clive's desk, breaking their line of sight.

"So, is one of you going to tell me what's going on? Or do I need to use the interrogation room?"

Clive furrowed his brow, clearly irritated about something, but was the first to speak up.

"I'm not sure which is crazier to me right now. The fact that you used Henry's obvious attraction to you in order to dig through a case that's currently being prosecuted, or that your sister suggested we get ourselves fired by pressing Frank Smith for information."

"Lia, I know that Frank was Wally's bookie. If Marvin was a hit-man, this could be how we connect the two."

Lia stood, surprising both Clive and Liv, and crossed her arms as she faced them again.

"Clive, Liv's information is sound. While I looked at Henry's files last night, I came to the same conclusion. Someone could have easily paid Marvin to kill Wally because of the high amount of debt he had. And then killed Marvin just to cover his or her tracks."

Clive shook his head and sighed, placing a hand over his eyes as if it hurt to look at either of them.

"You do realize that we can get fired, right?"

With a Cheshire grin, Lia turned to Clive once more.

"Where's your sense of adventure, Clive?"

Smitty's Bar & Grill was exactly like Lia had imagined it. The regulars had long ignored the grime and the lack of proper lighting, but the atmosphere for a newcomer was enough to make someone turn heel and find another bar to haunt.

Lia glanced around as she stepped inside, seeing many familiar faces drinking and talking to one another. Clive and Liv were close behind her, with Clive sighing in annoyance at the scene before him.

"Welcome to Whitey Whitesville. How do you think we're blending so far?"

Lia knew what he was thinking. The trio certainly stood out in the bar full of old, white men. But Liv certainly wasn't discouraged by what she saw. Instead, she was almost enthusuastic as she ventured further inside.

"I remember this place. We had our Mu Theta Zeta 'Night in Ibiza Electric Wonderland' with the Omega Sigs here. You should see this place when the foam drops."

Clive glanced a Lia in confusion at the gibberish coming from her sister's mouth, but Liv continued, patting an older gentleman on the back.

"This guy knows what I'm talking about."

The man looked at Liv in abject horror, but didn't say anything. Clive gently pulled her away from the table.

"Uh, low profile. Let's go find Smitty."

They walked over to the bar, where a tall man was wiping the rim of a beer stein. He raised an eyebrow in surprise, waiting to see what the three of them would do. Clive spoke first, breaking the tension.

"Uh, is Smitty around?"

"Who wants to know?"

Lia recognized the tone. It was laced with a warning, and was meant to scare them off. Thankfully she didn't scare easily.

"I'm detective Lia Moore, Homicide, and this is my partner Clive Babineaux."

The flash of badges was enough to make the man smirk and raise his eyebrows once more, this time in amusement.

"I'll see if Smitty feels like chatting."

In a flash, the man was gone, only the hand towel still sitting on the bar as a sign that he was there. Lia watched him leave, but a swell of cheering behind her made her pause.

A young blonde woman was dressed up as Jeannie from the classic television series "I Dream of Jeannie." Lia and Liv had watched it as children, but Lia hadn't seen it in a long time.

"Welcome, Masters! Trivia Masters, that is. Get out your pens, it's TRIVIA TUESDAY!"

The woman seemed perfectly happy addressing the room full of men as "masters" while scantily clad. Lia shrugged, thinking of how uncomfortable she would be in the same position, To each their own, she supposed.

"I Dream of Jeannie. Can you believe she was the idealized female for these guys? When she got uppity, just shove her back in the bottle."

"Clive, I never knew you were a feminist."

Clive looked at his partner slowly, watching as the teasing grin grew wider.

"Call it what you will, but there's nothing wrong with thinking that women should be treated equally."

Lia's response was interrupted by the trivia woman reading from a card.

"What was the first Western to win best picture at the Oscars?"

The name formed in Lia's brain before the woman had even finished the question.

"Cimarron, 1931."

She heard Clive mutter something in her ear, but she turned to the bar to find a piece of paper, noticing Liv already had one in her hand. She glanced at the writing, verifying that Liv had come to the same conclusion and nodding in approval at her sister, who looked back at Lia and Clive with a grin.

"Are you guys cool with me naming our trivia team Piggies and the Brain?"

Lia nodded, smiling to herself at the reference to "Pinky and the Brain" from the Animaniacs. The two of them had rushed home from school to watch the show, and had learned the states and their capitals by singing one of the nonsense songs from it.

The tall bartender had returned from finding Smitty, and leaned close to Lia.

"Smitty'll be down in a few."

"Oh, thanks."

Lia muttered at the man, but wasn't paying too close of attention to him anymore. She was waiting for the next trivia question.

"Male Dayak fruit bats are unusual in what regard?"

"Lactation."

Lia looked at their answer sheet, but Liv had already written the answer down. Between the two of them, they had this trivia game in the bag. Lia had almost forgotten that Clive was with them when he leaned close and whispered something to her.

"I'll be right back."

Lia nodded, but didn't truly process what he was saying. Marvin certainly didn't pay attention to anything else when there was trivia involved.

"The bullet ant gets its name from what unique characteristic?"

Liv looked at her sister, clearly at a loss for this particular question, and Lia took the pencil from her and hastily wrote it down.

"Their bite causes as much pain as a bullet."

Liv formed an "o" with her mouth, as if the answer should have been obvious to her, and the two sisters continued to write the answers down until the last trivia question had been asked. Lia handed the answers to "Jeannie" and looked up to find Frank Smith glaring at her.

"Lia Moore. I thought I told you not to come here and harass me anymore."

"Hello, Frank. How are you?"

"Well, I was having a pretty decent day. Had a good day at the races, won a few games, and then Jeff came into my office to tell me that you were here. So tell me why I shouldn't throw you and your nosy partner out on the street?"

"Where's your sense of hospitality, Frank? You know I wouldn't be here if it wasn't important."

"My time is important, honey. Make it quick."

"I'm sure you've heard of what happened to Wally Walker. You were his bookkeeper, after all."

Liv, who'd been silently observing the brewing animosity between her sister and Smitty, finally spoke up.

"Didn't he owe you a lot of money?'

"Yeah, Wally Walker owed me money, a lot of it. He died owing me money. Now you mind explaining me why this is your frickin' business?"

Clive, who'd reappeared from wherever he'd gone, suddenly cut into the conversation.

"Sorry about this. You must be Smitty."

"Well, let me guess, you're Babineaux. You sure know how to pick 'em, Lia."

Clive appeared surprised by Smitty's comment, but "Jeannie" spoke up over the microphone, and caught everyone's attention.

"And the winner, with a perfect score, is Piggies and the Brain!"

Liv and Lia both threw a fist in the air, imitating Judd Nelson from the Breakfast Club. Clive and Smitty looked at them in bafflement, and the girls just smiled at each other in victory.

"We were hoping you could tell us when you last saw Wally Walker."

Ever the detective, Clive brought the subject back to where it needed to be.

"June 8th, the night he died. He came in here and asked for more time to pay. Cash flow issues, he said."

"Was that unusual?"

"It wasn't the first time he'd been in deep. But I knew he was good for it. He was going to sell his company for fast cash, told me that if I gave him two months, he'd double my vig."

"So, the man owed you a lot of money and ended up dead later that night?"

Liv's interjection was met with an exasperated scoff from Smitty, who was pushed out of the way by "Jeannie, who wanted to take a picture of the trio for winning the contest. After getting her photo, she walked away, still as cheerful as when she'd been reciting trivia. Smitty's expression was thunderous.

"Don't they have this guy? Didn't he go to trial today?"

"We're just going over it one more time."

Clive's response was careful, but Liv's comment had angered Smitty. The baleful glare told Lia all she needed to know.

"Suzuki's your lieutenant, huh? He likes to get a few bucks on the Seahawks from time to time. I should check in with him. Let him know how thorough a job you're doing."

Clive grabbed Liv's arm and began to push her to the exit. Lia turned back to Smitty with an apologetic frown.

"I meant what I said before, Lia. Stay the hell away from my bar."

Lia nodded, glancing once more at the barman, who was watching her curiously. She returned the stare, nodding at him before she left.

Liv and Clive had stopped by one of the posts near the center of the bar. It was covered in photos of other teams or people who had one the trivia contest. Liv was holding up a photo, showing it to Clive.

"Look who won on June 8th."

"Marvin Webster. He was here the same night Wally came to ask Smitty for more time."

"And he followed him out when he left and then murdered him. Where do we go from here?"

Liv and Clive jumped as Lia spoke up from behind them.

"Let's pay our respects to the Mrs. Shall we?"

Marvin Webster's neighborhood was as cookie-cutter as they came, with a white picket fence included.

Mrs. Webster seemed suspicious when she opened the door and saw three people standing in front of her, two of them with badges and guns. But as soon as they explained that they were there to investigate the hit and run that had killed her husband, she seemed relieved.

After leading them into the basement, where Marvin's "office" had been, she quickly went back upstairs, giving them full reign over the space.

"If this were my home office, my thoughts might turn to murder as well."

Liv's remark had a ring of truth to it. The dank, musty basement had a chill in the air, and a sense of claustrophobia. Lia started when she saw the desk from her vision, and she soon began opening some of the drawers, sorting through the contents.

"6012 Unusual Facts. You and Marvin would've had a couple things in common, then."

Clive read the name of a book title from Marvin's shelf. The rest of the shelf was filled with other trivia books that Marvin had collected. Clearly, the man had a love of trivia and murder.

"Mrs. Webster was sure cool with us poking around down here."

"Mrs. Webster doesn't mind us going through his stuff because she feels like he has nothing to hide. She has no idea what he was. Or, he was just a mild-mannered pest control expert and we're wasting our time. Nothing here."

Liv clearly wasn't impressed with Clive's response, as she rolled her eyes at him and ventured further into the back part of the office where Lia was still digging. She gestured to a lamp that was on a table near Clive.

"See if that lamp has a three way bulb. Maybe it gets brighter."

As Clive went to adjust the light, the bulb broke and plunged the three of them into darkness. Lia could make out Liv and Clive's shapes, but the room was too dim to see anything else.

She was pulled into a vision of darkness. Marvin was in his basement, sitting at the desk. He was finishing a phone call, and the same voice that had spoken in her last vision spoke again. This time, the voice was angry with Marvin.

"The job is done. I shouldn't be hearing from you again."

Marvin didn't miss a beat, feeling nothing in response to the anger.

"We need to talk. You know the place."

"Fine. We meet in 45."

Marvin didn't respond, but hung up the phone. As soon as he was done, he snapped the phone in half and placed it in his pocket. He grabbed his car keys as Lia was pulled out of the vision.

A light was shining on her now, from Clive's flashlight. She blinked, regaining her senses, and glanced at her sister, who was holding her arms in front of her face, almost as if protecting herself from something. She stopped what she was doing, gasping slightly, and quickly wrote three letters in the dust on Marvin's desk.

"Liv?"

Clive walked back to where the two of them were, concern in his voice. Liv turned to Clive, excitement in her voice.

"I saw the hit and run. It was definitely intentional. It hit him once and then back over him to finish the job. The car that ran over Marvin was orange. I caught the first few letters of the plate."

Clive glanced at Lia, who was still sitting in Marvin's chair.

"I've got something, too."

The girls followed Clive back into the other part of the basement and watched as he carefully pulled a gun out of a case that was tucked behind the staircase.

"Look what Marvin keeps in his tool chest. It's a Glock, with a suppressor."

"The gun that killed Wally Walker. How do you feel about telling your lieutenant now?"

Clive glanced back at Lia, who was still processing what she'd seen in her vision. She couldn't use it as evidence, since she had no way of tracking the disposable phone, and she had no way of knowing who he'd made the phone call to.

She shook her head, promising herself to follow up on the vision if she had more to go on. She supposed that every vision she got couldn't be useful. Some were duds.

Clive, who had been watching Lia carefully, took the initiative and called Suzuki, taking the crap from Suzuki off of Lia's shoulders. Lia would've hoped that Suzuki would've been grateful for two of his detectives making a breakthrough in a case like this, but Lia knew better.

The fallout from the discovery of Marvin's weapon was immediately apparent. Lia knew that Liv was going to get hell from Peyton about destroying her case, but she had more pressing concerns of her own.

Henry was downright hostile when Clive and Lia returned to the station. Not that Lia could blame him. She'd personally destroyed his case, and made him look like a fool. Not to mention that she'd used his attraction to her in order to dig through his case file. She knew, deep down, that she should apologize to him for potentially putting a damper on his career, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

If he'd done his job in the first place, and made absolutely sure that the gambling angle had been fully explored, perhaps she wouldn't have needed to clean up his mess.

At least, that's what she told herself.

It didn't make it any easier to dig through the DMV records to find the car that Liv had described while Henry shot daggers her way every time she looked at him.

She walked away from her desk to call her sister, grateful to be out of Henry's line of sight. When Liv picked up, Lia could tell that she was frustrated.

"Hi. I hope you've had better luck. The car had one long taillight, but I'm starting to think that there isn't such a thing."

"Well, I've got some bad news for you. I've found at least 79 cars that could match the description you gave me."

"I'm looking at pictures of cars, but I can't find any that look like the one that hit him."

Lia thought for a moment, and hoped that Liv still had some of Javier's artistic ability left over.

"What if you made a sketch of the taillight and we'll go from there?"

Liv grunted in annoyance and Lia heard the click of Liv's laptop shutting.

"Kind of annoyed that we didn't come up with that an hour ago, but I'm on it. I'll bring it by when I'm done."

"Thanks, Liv. Bye."

With the phone disconnected, there was nothing else for Lia to do except return to the office. She forced herself to turn around and head back, but she was surprised to find Henry standing in her way.

"Can we talk?"

Lia wasn't sure how to answer him, but she nodded a response. Henry headed for the interrogation room, and he sat down in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the table from Lia.

"I want you to be frank with me, Lia. Are you attracted to me at all?"

Lia was momentarily stunned by his question. She'd never expected him to ask her that. If she was being honest, while Henry was attractive and kind, she didn't feel any sort of spark with him. Even if she'd met him before she'd been turned, she would've considered him a friend, not a potential romantic interest.

"Henry, I think this question is rather inappropriate, don't you? We work together. Fraternization is prohibited in the SPD."

Henry took a deep breath and stared intensely at Lia.

"I asked you a question, rules be damned. Are you attracted to me?"

"No. I'm not."

The contempt in his eyes was more evident this time he looked at her.

"So, you used my attraction for you to screw up my case? That's low, even for you."

"I didn't screw up your case. I did my job, Henry. I am trying to find the person who killed Marvin Webster. I discovered that he killed Wally Walker. If you had investigated the way you should have, then you might have been the one to figure that out."

"Don't turn this around on me. I had an open and shut case. There was no reason to investigate the gambling angle."

"What did you think was going to happen, Henry? I asked for your files, which you kindly lent to me, and I returned them. Were you expecting something from me in return? A date? A one night stand? And you think I used you? You sit there and pretend to be a 'nice guy' who was taken advantage of, but you were expecting me to repay your kindness with something that you wanted."

Henry blinked rapidly, clearly taken aback by her words. He probably didn't deserve everything she'd thrown at him, but too many of her fellow cops had tried using favors she'd done them as ways to get her to go on a date.

She pushed herself up from the table and left the room, ignoring Henry as he called out to her. Maybe her words struck a chord in him, but she wasn't about to stick around and find out.

Not long after she'd returned to her desk, Liv walked in with her drawing.

"Here's the taillight. If you compare it with the cars at the DMV, you should be able to find it."

The look on Liv's face made Lia pause, reaching out to grab her sister's arm.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just had a fight with Peyton. I'll be okay, though. These brains are the worst."

Lia didn't respond to her sister, but watched as Henry returned to his desk, avoiding her stare.

"You said it, Liv."

"I gotta get to work. If you find anything, let me know."

Lia immediately dug into the stack of records, comparing the cars on the list to the sketch Liv had given her. Clive was busy sorting through other records within the case file, now that Suzuki had given them access to the Wally Walker case.

It didn't take her long to find a match, and she contacted the man who'd originally owned the car, a Patrick Edward. He told he that he would be stopping by later in the evening. While Lia waited for the owner to show up, she glanced up and noticed Liv, Major, and a young kid standing in the doorway of the department.

She motioned for Clive to follow her, and walked over to the doorway.

"Hi, Major. What's going on? Who's this?"

"Lia. This is Jerome, one of my kids at the home. We haven't gotten any help from your friends who deal with missing persons. I thought you and your partner could help us."

"Of course. Why don't we take a seat in the hallway?"

Liv, who'd become the unofficial spokesperson for Jerome and Major, tried to explain the situation to Clive, who already had his notebook out.

"Major is a counselor at Helton Shelter, a halfway house for teen runaways, delinquents, addicts…"

"Yeah, addicts are the key to a good party."

Liv ignored Jerome's interjection and continued.

"Jerome's roommate at Helton, Eddie Cisco, disappeared four days ago. He reported it to Major and now they're here."

"No, we're not just here. We've been riding the police for the last three days, who've done absolutely nothing."

He looked at Lia apologetically, as though speaking ill of her colleagues would negatively impact her feelings for him, and she nodded in understanding.

"Did you file a missing persons report?"

"Yes. There have been no follow-ups. They didn't even call the hospitals."

Lia felt a surge of annoyance at the cops who were in charge of the investigation. Clearly, there was a lack of action because of a lack of empathy.

"I've got to ask. Are you sure Eddie didn't just take off? He wouldn't be the first shelter kid to jet."

"He was doing really well."

"His iPod is still in its dock, okay? If you knew Eddie, you'd know he didn't plan on leaving."

Major and Jerome's concern about Eddie was genuine, and Lia knew that she and Clive needed to help them in any way that they could.

"Is there anything else about him to help me out? Like, places he'd hang?"

Jerome looked at Major, who nodded in encouragement.

"Eddie's a skater. He'd go to Nine Trolls, this skate park near Helton. He started going less, though. Some scary dude was hanging around. Eddie said people called him the Candyman 'cause he was passing out Utopium like they was jelly beans. If you were willing to follow him back to his child molester van or whatever."

Lia's ears perked up at the mention of this "Candyman" figure. It was likely that he was the cause of Eddie's disappearance. Once this case was over, she'd have to personally look into it. She looked at Clive for affirmation of this idea, but his eyes were darting back to the offices, where a man was waiting at her desk.

"All right. I'm gonna walk this over to Missing Persons right now, get Eddie to the top of the pile. Nice kicks."

Clive motioned to Jerome's shoes, which had the American flag emblazoned on them.

"Section 8 of the Flag Code states that the American Flag should never be used as apparel, although enforcement of the code conflicts with your first Amendment right to freedom of speech, as laid out in the 1990 Supreme Court case United States v. Eichman."

Liv's random burst of trivia resulted in more than a few strange looks from Major, Clive, and Jerome, but Lia merely nodded along in understanding.

"You didn't tell me you were marrying Siri."

"We should get going. Thanks Lia...Liv."

"You really think you can do better than my boy here?"

"Jerome."

Major's tone was harsh, but Jerome acquiesced.

"I'll see you around."

"Yeah."

Liv watched Major leave with an oddly blank expression. Lia knew that, with Marvin's brain, she wouldn't be torn apart inside. But what was going to happen when it wore off?

"Hey, Liv, let's go."

At her sister's words, Liv jerked back to the present and followed Lia back into the office. Lia explained that the person waiting at her desk was the owner of the car that had run over Marvin, and had sold it the day before Marvin was murdered.

As the three of them explained the situation to the man, he seemed stunned.

"Are you sure it was my car? I can't believe the guy I sold it to killed someone."

"Any information you could give us about him would be helpful."

"Well, that's the thing, he was very specific about not wanting to give his name. He wore sunglasses, a hat. He paid well over what I was asking."

"That's a red flag. You didn't think to be suspicious?"

"Hey, I couldn't have known what he was going to do. But, the funny thing is, I already recognized the guy. The guy's been all over the news lately. There was another picture of him in the paper a couple of days ago. I brought it with me."

He unfurled the paper and held it out to Lia. The front page had a picture from the press conference where they announced that Wally Walker's murderer had been caught. Clive pointed at one of the men in the photo.

"This man? The guy who collected the reward for turning in Gus Williams?"

"No, not him. Him."

"Don Watts? That's Wally Walker's angel investor. He offered the reward."

"The car is probably at the bottom of a lake by now."

"The car still has LoJack on it. Does that help?"

Lia beamed at Patrick, who smiled in return.

"Yes. Yes it does."

With Patrick's help, they were able to locate the car, which had been taken by a teenager who had found it with the keys still inside. The DNA evidence in the car pointed to Don Watts, and Marvin Webster's DNA was on the bumper.

The evidence was clear: Don Watts was the killer. But proving he killed Marvin was going to be a challenge.

As soon as he was ushered into the interrogation room, Lia felt the smugness rolling off of him. He was wealthy, and he looked around the room in contempt. Clearly, he wasn't impressed with any of them.

"Seattle Suit Factory, am I right?"

Don pointed at Clive's outfit, attempting to make a mockery of it.

"Ever been to Luly Yang in the Fairmont Olympic? She does women's high fashion, but she'll make an exception as a favor. I could make a call."

His attitude was pissing Lia off. She needed to keep her disdain for him hidden, so she needed to change the subject.

"Forget fashion. What about cars? Yours, in fact."

"I have lots of cars. Which one do you want to talk about? If there's one you like, you and I can go for a ride later."

He winked at her, but she maintained her composure. Clive cleared his throat and dropped a photo onto the table.

"Let's talk about the 1978 Landau."

"'78 Landau? Doesn't sound like me."

"We caught a teenager joyriding in it. He claimed that he found it with the windows down and the keys in the ignition. It had Marvin Webster's blood and hair on the bumper."

"Who's Marvin Webster?"

"A contract killer. We believe he murdered your business partner, Wally Walker. We know that this was the car that ran Marvin Webster over, and we know that you paid cash for this car the day before the murder. The man who sold it to you, one Patrick Edward, saw your picture in the newspaper. And your DNA is in the car."

"Hair follicles. You gotta watch those."

Liv's smug retort almost mirrored Don's attitude, and Lia was impressed that her sister was giving back as much as they were getting.

"Oh, that '78 Landau."

"My client appeared here as a courtesy. If you had anything to charge him with, you'd do it. Let's go, Don."

Don's lawyer, who'd been quiet up until this point, made a move to leave when Don stopped him.

"I don't know. I kind of wanna hear how this story ends."

Clive looked at Lia, who picked up the conversation again.

"Wally was a genius programmer, there's no denying that. But, he had a problem. His gambling was going to sink the company. He needed fast cash to pay off his debts, so he planned on selling out to Redmond rather than wait and go public like you wanted to do."

Lia nodded to Clive, who continued.

"You took care of the problem, and made tens of millions of dollars in the process."

"I do remember the tens of millions."

Lia ignored him, fighting back the urge to punch the smug expression off of his face.

"After Marvin did your dirty work, you decided to tie up the loose ends. Cell phone records show you were called from a disposable cell phone 45 minutes before Marvin Webster was run over. What was that call about?"

"How would I know? I'm sorry, did you say you found this disposable phone on this hit man?"

As Lia and Clive glanced at each other, Don continued.

"No, I guess not. But let's say I did hit someone. I bought that Landau to restore. It's a classic, you know. But maybe I did hit something that night. Maybe I thought it was a deer, but I wasn't sure. Maybe I wasn't thinking clearly and just walked away from the car. But this Marvin Webster business? Never met the man. Good luck proving that."

"We'll be placing you under arrest for vehicular manslaughter."

"You said he was a murderer, right? Did you know that I'm on the cover of Rainier Magazine?"

"I have a copy of it on my desk. I was hoping to get you to sign it before we send you down to Walla Walla."

Don didn't seem fazed by Clive's threats. He seemed to take a disgusting amount of joy in them. He knew that he was wealthy enough to get away with anything, and Lia knew enough about the law to know that he was probably right.

"If I did run over this Marvin Webster, it's just another example of my tireless work on behalf of the good people of Seattle. This arrest may get me elected mayor."

Clive scoffed and shook his head at Don.

"How many days do you really think I'll spend behind bars? Be honest. I'll give you a hint. It's a round number."

He made a zero with his hand, and his attorney reassured him.

"I'll have you out within the hour, Don."

Lia looked at Clive, and she knew they were out of options. They were going to have to let him walk, unless they could make a connection between the two.

They left the interrogation room, Liv hot on their heels.

"What are we going to do?"

Lia closed her eyes and thought about all the pieces they had so far. They had the DNA evidence, the motive, and the connection between Wally Walker and Marvin Webster. Now they needed to connect Marvin and Don Watts.

Lia's eyes snapped open as she thought about her last vision. She'd heard the last phone conversation between Don and Marvin in the vision. Marvin had reached for his car keys. The model vehicle he drove had a standard built-in GPS. If Marvin had entered the destination in the GPS, they might be able to find witnesses to the meeting.

"I've got an idea, guys. But we're going to piss off Mrs. Webster."

The yelling and screaming about her husband being a good man was all made worth it when Marvin's second to last GPS entry led them straight to 976 Ringroad Crescent. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the meeting spot.

There was a small dog park surrounded by a chain link fence. Lia and Clive were showing pictures of Marvin and Don to the people in the park, without much success. Lia walked back to the car, cursing to herself. Maybe the whole thing had been a stupid Hail Mary, and Don would walk anyway.

She sat down in the driver's seat, admiring the soft leather. Marvin might have been a cold blooded killer, but he had good taste in cars. Glancing over at her sister, who'd just taken a bite of Marvin's brain, Lia felt her mouth water. She hadn't eaten in a few days, but she wasn't certain that she wanted another dose of sociopath.

Clive walked over to Liv's window and shook his head.

"Lots of dog owners, but no one who saw Don, Marvin, or his Bug-Whack mobile. How's it going here, any good vibrations?"

"Not yet."

"Um, keep at it. I'm gonna keep asking around. Somebody might have seen these guys."

Lia groaned, unwilling to get out of the car again, but opened the door to step out. As she took a step out of the car, she heard the familiar sound of an ice cream truck. Lia laughed to herself as she remembered when their little brother chased the ice cream man down the street, thinking that he'd skipped their house on purpose. Only their grandmother had been able to keep up with him.

She turned to ask Liv if she'd remembered the same thing, but found her sister staring off into space. She crossed her fingers and waited for Liv to snap out of the vision. Liv began to gasp, and Lia knew she'd seen something.

Lia called Clive over, and the two of them waiting eagerly to hear what Liv had to say.

"There was a witness. A garbage man. I couldn't see his face, but if we can find him, we can prove that Watts met with the exterminator."

"All right, Lia and I will track down the sanitation crew that worked this street that day. You're coming, right?"

"I can't, actually. I promised Ravi that I'd help him with some research."

Lia glanced at her sister curiously. Neither Liv nor Ravi had included her in whatever project they were working on. She felt a twinge of hurt at being excluded from whatever they were doing. She'd thought that, by now, Ravi considered her a friend. Apparently she was the only one who felt that way.

After dropping Liv off, Lia and Clive went back to the office, eager to track down the garbage man. They identified the men who were part of the crew, and had called them in for questioning. There was nothing else to do but wait, when Lia noticed her phone ringing.

"Hi, Liv."

"Lia? Um. Ravi and I need your help."

"With what?"

"You know, helping you dispose of a corpse is technically a felony. As a detective, I feel obligated to tell you that."

Lia carefully grabbed one end of the body bag they'd placed Marcy in, and helped Ravi carry it to the car. She carefully removed the gloves, careful not to get any of the blood on her clothing.

"We appreciate the help, detective. Hopefully we won't have too many bodies for you to help us dispose of."

Lia handed Liv the spare set of clothing she had asked for, and Liv walked away to find a place to change.

Ravi rubbed his leg, wincing slightly as he did. Lia wrinkled her brow and crossed her arms.

"So, are you going to tell me what the hell happened here? I feel like you'd crack under interrogation before Liv would."

Ravi sighed and ran a hand through his thick, black hair, mussing it slightly.

"There was a video. Some kids took it, claiming it was a zombie. We came to investigate a few days ago and Liv realized it was Marcy. She was completely gone, no trace of humanity left. I fed her in the attempt to improve her condition. It...didn't work."

Ravi paused, an embarrassed flush creeping up his neck. Lia nodded encouragingly and he continued.

"Liv wanted to kill her, and I wanted some samples. I...fell into the pit while attempting to fill a syringe. Liv killed Marcy to protect me."

Lia, who'd been emotionless throughout most of the story, uncrossed her arms and walked over to where Ravi was standing. She enveloped him in a hug, which he returned. She pulled back slightly and looked up into his eyes.

"If you're doing something dangerous, please include me. I would never want you to get hurt."

"Okay, Lia. We didn't mean to keep it from you. It wouldn't be the worst idea to have police backup next time."

Lia hugged him once more, breathing in a scent that made her mouth water. She'd never noticed how good Ravi smelled, but, in fairness, she'd never gotten this close to him before.

She abruptly ended the hug, and noticed a pink flush forming on Ravi's cheeks.

Liv returned, holding her blood soaked clothing out to Lia.

"We'll have to burn it all. The blood could be a contaminant."

Liv stared blankly at Ravi, tears filling her eyes.

"I almost let you die."

"Yeah, but you didn't."

Lia and Ravi watched Liv, who was staring at Marcy's corpse coldly.

"Liv! I'm fine. You saved me. All that sociopath swimming through your system, and you still found your way through. This brain...it's not who you are."

Liv looked as though she was going to hug Ravi as well, when Lia's cell phone began to ring.

"Hi, Clive."

"Hey, Lia. I have an update. I'm going to need you, Liv, and Ravi ASAP."

"Okay?"

"Trust me."

Lia hung up the phone and turned to Liv and Ravi.

"It's Clive. And he needs all three of us."

The overwhelming smugness irritated Lia before, but now that they had what they needed, it was almost welcome. Don and his lawyer sat in the same chairs that they'd been in before, but this time, they had no idea what was waiting for them.

"Okay, I'm back. I'm recording this. I wanna have a record of your ridiculous allegations when I sue you for harassment."

"Fair enough. You wanted to get rid of Wally Walker so you hired Marvin Webster to kill him."

"And defamation."

"Wally's death made you a fortune. Marvin likely figured out how much you were worth, got greedy, demanded more money, so you killed him and tied up the loose end."

Clive was concise, and to the point, but Don still played stupid.

"Who is this Marvin Webster you keep talking about?"

Lia calmly replied, her words dripping with affected sweetness.

"The dead man who called you on two separate occasions just before you ran him over in your newly purchased 1978 Landau."

"From a disposable phone that you don't have. That's some weak tea, detectives."

"Sure. In order to prove it, we'd need things like the address where you and Marvin met."

Liv, who was walking around the room with a folder, rattled off the name of the dog park before Lia continued.

"Stone Trail Dog Park."

"I guess it would also help if we knew the kind of car you were driving at that meeting."

"Silver, luxury, electric."

"Might even help if I knew you were wearing a blue-button down shirt."

Clive smiled at Don, who had begun to sweat.

"Seems pretty specific, doesn't it? But probably the most helpful bit of information is the conversation our witness overheard."

Don seemed puzzled, as if trying to figure out who could've been present that day.

"What witness?"

"The witness who picked both you and Marvin out of a photo lineup."

Don's eyes had widened in fear, but he still kept the mask of arrogance on display.

"From the witness' statement. 'You gave me a price, I met it. We're paid up.'"

The door opened, and Peyton walked inside. She nodded at Clive before whispering to no one in particular.

"He's here."

Don's nervousness had boiled over, and he turned to his lawyer.

"Do something, Harry."

"Let's walk out, Don."

"Wait! Don't you wanna stay and hear how this story ends, Don? It was garbage day, remember?"

Clive motioned to the glass windows behind them, which had been raised slightly to look out into the precinct. A tall man in an orange vest stood, talking to an officer and holding a cup of coffee.

Lia almost laughed at the terrified expression on Don's face. Gone was the arrogance and the invincibility from earlier. This man was vulnerable, and he knew it.

Peyton walked closer to the table, a file in her hand.

"Peyton Charles, Assistant District Attorney. I'm authorized to offer you this one-time only plea deal. Thirty years for each homicide, but you'll serve them concurrently."

"Get up and walk out, Don."

"One-time only. With good behavior, you could still have some quality years on the outside. But if you walk out of this room right now, I promise that you will never draw another free breath."

Lia had to hand it to Peyton. She was great at her job. She glowered at Don, making sure he knew she'd follow up on her threat. Clive turned the confession toward Don, and handed him a pen.

"The story ends, Don, with you signing that confession."

Don sighed, knowing that his time as a free man was coming to an end. He reluctantly took the pen, and signed his name at the bottom. Clive read him his Miranda rights, and Lia placed the handcuffs on him.

As Don was led out of the room, Lia and Liv walked over to the garbage man.

"I have to say, this is surprising. I never knew orange safety gear would be so flattering. I look positively rugged."

Lia laughed, the tension gone now that Don would be behind bars.

"I have to agree, Ravi. You're the handsomest garbage man I've ever seen."

"You were totally convincing. You held that coffee cup with real blue-collar machismo."

"Now, that was thrilling. I'm almost glad the sanitation officer couldn't remember anything. So, how are you feeling?"

Ravi's obvious care for Liv warmed Lia's heart. It was nice to know that someone else was looking out for her little sister.

"Brains are wearing off. I'm starting to feel like my old self."

"That's good."

Liv paused, clearly thinking of something in particular.

"I'm not so sure."

Lia wanted to stay and listen to the conversation further, but Clive was calling her over.

Suzuki held out his hand to both her and Clive, a gesture that utterly shocked Lia.

"Even I have to admit it. You did good. Both of you. Thank you for your hard work."

"Thank you, sir."

Lia didn't need lavish praise, didn't want it, truly, but she felt a swell of pride as Suzuki thanked her. She knew at the end of the day, that she could go home and rest easy knowing that the real killer was behind bars.

But a small voice in the back of her mind reminded her of something that she'd forgotten. She had nothing to go home to.

Lia stood on the doorstep, hesitating as she held her arm up to knock on the door. It was a big step, and she hadn't taken it in a long time. She was just about to turn heel and leave when the door opened.

"Lia?"

Micah stared at her in surprise, clearly not expecting her to show up on his doorstep. He had his coat on, clearly ready to leave. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to speak first.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come. I didn't know you were leaving."

She felt an arm gently grab onto hers, pulling her back as she tried to leave.

"You came all this way to say something. I have time enough to listen."

She took a deep breath to steady herself, avoiding his deep blue gaze, knowing that it would undo her.

"I know that I hurt you. I hurt a lot of people this week. I tried to tell myself that it was easier to not feel anything, because if you never let yourself get involved, you never feel pain when it ends."

Micah's blank expression gave no emotion away. She gulped, trying to find the words she needed to say.

"But I was lying to myself when I said I didn't feel something for you, that it was just the brains. I haven't felt this way about anyone in a long time. And it scares me."

Micah uncrossed his arms and put his hand up to his mouth, a nervous tick he probably didn't even realize he'd done. It gave her the confidence to keep going.

"But I'm willing to risk the pain. I don't know what's going to happen with us, but I want to know what could. If, you still want me, that is."

Micah looked down at the floor, and Lia felt her throat tighten in fear. Perhaps he'd already moved on to someone else. Was she too late?

His head popped up suddenly, and in one swift move, he had pressed her up against the doorframe and pressed his lips up against hers. She eagerly responded, running her hand through his hair, pulling him even closer to her.

He began to pull away, and she tried to hide her disappointment. He tilted her face up to his and winked at her frown.

"Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?"

"I ordered Chinese. I was on my way to pick it up."

She pulled him into the apartment, closing the door behind them and wrapping her arms around him.

"Let's eat at home tonight."

Author's Note:

First of all, a HUGE thank you to January Lily for being my beta for this chapter and pushing me to get it finished. Much love you to, best friend!

Second of all, I've been overwhelmed by the amount of love for Lia and her story. I will do my best to update more frequently, but, unfortunately life often gets in the way. Thank you for all your love and support! It means the world to me!