"Picture Perfect"

Based on

FAKE by Sanami Matoh

The sound of the buzzing alarm clock awoke Dee from his peaceful slumber. He glanced over at the clock. . .7 am. "Ugh, it's way too damn early," he groaned, not wanting to get out of the nice warm bed. Dee glanced over at his partner, who was still fast asleep. "Lucky bastard, you don't have to be in work until later this afternoon so you can sleep in." He finally managed to crawl out of the bed, and after grabbing a towel from the laundry basket, Dee hopped into the nice hot shower, hoping that it would wake him up a little. After he finished in the shower, he wrapped the towel around his waist and stood in front of the bathroom mirror. Opening the cabinet over the sink, Dee grabbed his hair gel, mousse and the hair dryer to do his hair. Ryo always made fun of him, telling him that he spent more time on his hair than a typical woman did. Once his hair was done to perfection, Dee went over to his massive closet to look for something to wear. Ryo always told him that he had too many clothes, but Dee always shrugged it off. A lot of what he owned was for work, however, there was one item he owned that was just way too nice to wear to work. It was an expensive blue silk shirt, which Dee was a huge FAN of. Ryo had bought it for him for Christmas last year, saying that it brought out the vivid green in Dee's eyes. As he shuffled through the myriad of clothing before him, Dee finally settled for a pair of black trousers and his favorite work shirt, a white cotton button-down shirt with navy pinstripes. He took the shirt to his nose and could smell the faint aroma of the cologne he always wore. Ryo was particularly fond of the scent and had bought Dee a bottle of it when he ran out. It seemed that everything, in some way, reminded him of his partner. When he looked closer at his shirt, he noticed that it was a little bit wrinkled. "Shit, now I have to iron the damn thing," Dee growled. He reluctantly took out the iron and started to press his shirt, using some spray starch to give it that fresh from the department store look. Dee knew it was a wasted effort since no one aside from Ryo would notice but he gave himself credit for trying. Once it was neatly ironed, Dee hung the shirt on a hanger so it would not get wrinkled again. Since he wanted to keep the shirt as neat as possible, Dee figured it should be the last thing he put on. He took off the towel that had been wrapped around his waist, which was now damp, and tossed it into the hamper with all of the other dirty laundry. Walking over to his dresser, he fished around for a clean pair of boxer shorts and a white undershirt. After all of the running around, Dee finally started to get himself ready for work. He pulled his boxers up onto his waist, which were made of black Italian silk. He absolutely loved the way the silk felt against his skin. He put on his trousers next and when Dee zipped them up, he noticed that they were a little loose. "Hmm, must be losing a little weight," Dee said to himself. He walked back to his closet and opened the sliding wooden doors. Reaching in the back, Dee grabbed one of his many black leather belts. That would be the last thing he put on, of course. After putting on the undershirt, Dee went back over to his dresser and retrieved a pair of black trouser socks from the top drawer of his dresser. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he put them onto his feet. His black leather shoes, which had been shined last night, were sitting at the base of his closet and still smelled faintly of shoe polish. After putting them on, Dee started a pot of coffee, hoping that the strong aroma would arouse Ryo. Finally deciding to put his shirt on, Dee took it off of the hanger and slipped his arms into the sleeves. The shirt was still a little bit stiff from the spray starch he had used on it. One by one, he buttoned the buttons and once it was tucked into his pants, Dee slid his belt through the loops on his trousers and fastened it closed. Dee walked to the bathroom mirror to make sure he looked good, which of course he did. He could hear Ryo's soft breathing in the background, and this only made him want to skip out of work and stay in with his lover. He walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge, looking down lovingly at Ryo. Dee brushed the hair away from Ryo's face and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. Ryo's eyes fluttered open and he smiled up at Dee. "Good morning, sleeping beauty."

Ryo chuckled, "Good morning Dee. You getting ready to leave for work already?"

"Yep unfortunately. You're lucky you don't have to be in until this afternoon." He gave Ryo another kiss, this one a bit more passionate. Dee didn't want to break away, but reluctantly did so. "Well I guess I'd better get going now. I'll see you in a little while, okay baby?"
"Okay Dee I'll see you soon." After one last kiss, Dee grabbed his jacket, gun and holster and headed down to the precinct. On the way there, he stopped at Barnes & Noble to pick up something for Ryo. It was a fairly recent release that Ryo had been talking about, and apparently it had ranked high on the New York Times bestseller list in the FICTION category. After purchasing the book, Dee headed to the station, where things were chaotic and hectic as usual. He saw Drake and the rest of the guys huddled around something and made his way over to them. "Yo guys what's going on? What are you all looking at?" Drake looked up at Dee with a pained expression on his face. "Oh hey Dee, what's up? These are pictures that were mailed to the precinct from an anonymous source. They're pretty graphic so I hope you haven't eaten yet.

"Nah I'll be okay, lemme see them Drake." Dee took the pictures from Drake's hand and glanced through them. What he saw made his stomach turn. The pictures were of six girls who had been so badly mutilated that identification was almost impossible. "Holy shit what the hell is this? Did we find the bodies yet? Were there any prints on the photos?" Ted looked up at Dee with a solemn expression on his face. "Well the police are canvassing the surrounding areas to try and find the bodies but we don't have many leads. As for prints, the pictures were clean. Not a single mark on them. We're hoping that the pictures will give us some clues to finding the bodies; we just haven't gotten anywhere with it. When Ryo gets here, have him look at the pictures and see if he can get anything. Oh, and the chief told me to tell you that he wants you and Ryo to help canvas the area when Ryo gets here."

"All right, I'll let him know when he gets here." Dee went over to his desk, his head still spinning after seeing the gruesome pictures. A little after 1:00 pm, Ryo arrived at work. Sensing that something wasn't right, he went over to Dee to find out what was wrong. "Hey Dee, what's going on? Why does everyone look so on edge?"
"Oh hey Ryo. Take a look at these. Someone left them at the station for us to find." He handed the pictures to Ryo and from the look on his face; Dee could tell that Ryo was very disturbed by the images he was looking at. "Ryo, the chief wants us to go help canvas the area for any leads. We need to find some clues as to where the bodies are located. C'mon partner, let's go."

"All right Dee. The sooner we find some good solid leads, the sooner we can end this sicko's twisted little game." Dee and Ryo exited the precinct with the pictures and hopped into Dee's police car. Ryo was studying the pictures more intently, and as if lighting had struck, he figured something out about the pictures. "Hey Dee, I have a feeling that these are not isolated incidents. Judging from the area surrounding all six of these corpses, all of the pictures were taken at the same location. As to whether or not the bodies are still there remains to be seen. It's probably a run down building or warehouse. We need to find out if these are the first incidents of this nature. It's possible we're dealing with a serial killer. The big question is why the pictures were dropped off at our precinct in particular. That has to be the link; we're just missing something." Dee pulled the car over and was intently staring at his partner. Ryo looked at Dee quizzically. "What is it Dee? Did I say something wrong?
"No you didn't say anything wrong. I'm just amazed at how brilliant you are at figuring out this kind of stuff. I love watching you put the pieces together in your head." Dee leaned in close, pressing his lips to Ryo's. A trail of mmm's was the only thing to escape from Ryo's mouth. He felt Dee's hands wandering down his body, and although he knew they were on the job and shouldn't be fooling around now, Ryo didn't do a thing to stop Dee's advances. Surprisingly, it was Dee who pulled away and after seeing the disappointed look on Ryo's face, promised Ryo that they'd continue where they left off later. Starting the car back up again, Dee continued to drive, although he had no idea where he was driving. "Hey Ryo, do you know of any abandoned buildings in the area? If what you said is true, then we shouldn't be too far from where the murders took place."
"Hmm I can't think of any off the top of my head. I'll give Drake a call and see what he can dig up for us." Ryo took the police radio and got Drake on the other end. "Hey Drake it's Ryo. Can you do me a huge favor and find out if there are any abandoned buildings or warehouses in the area surrounding the precinct? Dee and I have a hunch that the killings didn't take place too far from there since we were the ones to receive the pictures."

"Sure Ryo give me a few minutes to dig around. I'll get back to you as soon as I find something."

"Thanks Drake, we'll be waiting to hear from you." Ryo placed the radio back and leaned back in his seat. There had to be a connection that they were missing. Why our precinct? Ryo was pondering this over and over in his head and didn't even hear the radio beep. Dee picked it up; it was Drake again. "Hey guys it's me. Seems like you hit the nail on the head. There is an abandoned canning factory about ten blocks from the precinct. Why don't you two head over there now and I'll have backup sent there as well."

"Excellent work, Drake. We're on our way there now, thanks for the information." Dee hung up the radio and started the car up again. When they arrived at the factory, Dee parked his car and they both got out, guns at the ready. "Hey Dee, don't you think we should split up? We can cover more ground that way." Dee didn't like the idea of leaving his partner alone and Ryo saw the pained expression on Dee's face. "I'd rather have us stick together Ryo, at least until the backup arrives. We don't know who, or what is in this place. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to you."

"Oh Dee, you're such a worrywart. But I know it's only because you care so much. All right, we'll stick together until the backup arrives." They headed towards the entrance to the factory, and when Dee kicked the door down, the stench of death hung in the air. Something had definitely gone down here; it was just a matter of finding out exactly what happened. Ryo just didn't understand what was going on; is the killer playing some kind of game with us? It was almost as if they were playing right into the killer's hands. Ryo started to walk around, getting familiar with his surroundings. "This is just way too easy," he thought to himself as he searched for the smallest bit of evidence. He decided to get Dee's opinion on the matter, "Hey Dee, don't you think this is just a little bit too easy? It's almost as if the killer wanted us to come here. What do you think?" When Ryo didn't hear any response, he turned around and noticed that Dee was nowhere in sight. "Oh shit, I lost him," Ryo thought to himself as he started looking around frantically for his partner, which wasn't an easy task in the massive warehouse. Ryo was searching so feverishly that he didn't even see the rusted out assembly lines in his way. He banged into it with enough force to throw him onto the ground. "Damnit that hurt." When he got up, he looked around some more to see if he could spot Dee. It was hard to do, however, since it was pretty dark in the warehouse. Only a few light bulbs were lit, dangling precariously from the ceiling. He didn't want to shout out to him, just in case the killer was lurking in the shadows. Ryo knew that Dee was probably panicking right now, and he knew he'd never hear the end of it later. All of a sudden, Ryo heard footsteps coming in his direction. "Oh God, please let that be Dee," Ryo said to himself. He had his gun in his hands and ready to fire just in case it was the killer and not Dee coming towards him. As the footsteps came closer, Ryo held his breath, his gun at the ready. All of a sudden, Ryo felt something strike him on the back of the head and he slipped into unconsciousness. When he awoke, he had a throbbing headache from where he was hit and also noticed that he couldn't more his arms or legs. He was tied to a chair, and saw a man standing not too far from him. As he tried to loosen the bindings, the man walked over and took out his gun. "Don't even think about trying to escape, pretty boy. So you figured out where my little slaughterhouse was? And here I always thought that the NYPD was full of brainless oafs. Don't bother screaming because you'll be dead in an instant."

"This is not happening. I'm going to wake up and this will all be a horrible nightmare," Dee muttered to himself as he frantically searched for his partner. The last thing Dee knew, Ryo was right by his side. He must have been taken hostage by the killer. He was probably being held somewhere in the back of the warehouse because as far as Dee could see, Ryo was nowhere in sight. "Shit he's in trouble," Dee thought to himself. The best thing to do was to continue to search the premises and hope that Ryo would turn up alive.

As Ryo sat tied to the chair, he started to think about how he could get in contact with Dee and not be noticed. The killer had his back to Ryo, and in this time Ryo made his move. He loosened the ropes enough so he could reach into his jacket pocket. He pressed his cell phone on and speed dialed Dee's number. He heard Dee pick up on the other end so he started to speak to his kidnapper. "What do you plan on doing with me? Are you going to kill me just like you killed those girls? The man turned around and looked Ryo dead in the eyes. "You're an annoying one, aren't you? Are you that eager to die?"

Dee couldn't believe what he was hearing, clutching his cell phone to his ear. There was no doubt about it; that was Ryo's voice. The other was obviously the killer's and this made Dee even more panicked. Not wanting the killer to hear him, Dee muffled the receiver on his phone and radioed the precinct. He explained the situation to Drake and was told to hold his position until J.J. arrived with his sniper rifle. The minutes seemed to crawl by so slowly as Dee waited. Ryo was still talking to the killer, obviously trying to keep him preoccupied. All of a sudden, Dee's walkie-talkie beeped; it was J.J. on the other end. He was all ready to go and told Dee he had a clear view of the killer and Ryo. His view was blocked, however, and wouldn't be able to get a clean shot without hitting Ryo as well. They had to wait until he moved away from Ryo to take the shot. Dee's patience was wearing thin fast, as he feared for Ryo's safety. "If anything happens to him, I'll never be able to move on," Dee thought to himself. "God J.J., please don't miss." Dee sat with bated breath waiting for this nightmare to end. All of a sudden a shot rang out and Dee's blood ran cold. "Shit, shit, shit I hope that shot was at the killer." Dee's walkie-talkie beeped again. "Hey Dee, it's J.J. Look I got him. A clean shot right through the heart. Ryo's fine, but now we won't find out where the other bodies are located."

"At this point I don't care about that J.J. Thank you for making sure that Ryo wasn't hurt." Dee ran to find Ryo, screaming out for him. He heard Ryo's voice in the distance and ran towards him. Before untying Ryo from the chair, Dee walked over to the man on the floor to make sure that he was dead. He checked for a pulse, and breathed a sigh of relief when he couldn't feel one. The man was definitely dead. J.J. had done a good job. After Dee untied the ropes, he pulled Ryo into his arms, thanking God he was all right. "Oh shit Ryo, I was so scared I was going to lose you. I'm so glad you're alright."

"Me too Dee. The whole time I was thinking about you and how worried you must have been."

"You know, if it weren't for the fact that you were able to contact me via phone, I don't know what would have happened."

"Let's not dwell on what ifs Dee. I'm alive thanks to you and J.J. Let's go okay? I'm beat."

"Okay Ryo let's head back over to the precinct to fill out the police report." As the headed back to the precinct, Dee's head was still spinning from everything that had happened today. As soon as they entered the precinct, all of the guys came running up to them. "Thank God you're both okay," Drake said with a sigh. "We were all very worried."

"Well we owe a lot to you Drake. By the way, where is J.J.?"

"Aww Dee, you actually want to know where he is?"

"Ugh. I just wanted to thank him again for a job well done."

"He's actually putting his equipment away. Me, Ted and him are going to the local bar. Apparently there is a drinking contest there every Friday night and the winner receives $100. J.J. bet he'd win, so naturally Ted and I had to challenge him to that bet. You're more than welcome to come."

"As tempting as that sounds, I'll have to pass Drake. I'm exhausted."

"It's cool, don't worry about it Dee. Go get some rest okay? And make sure that Ryo does the same."

"Yup will do. Thanks Drake." Dee looked over at Ryo, who was talking to Ted about the whole incident. All he wanted now was to be with Ryo. The two headed back to Ryo's apartment and while Dee took another shower, Ryo made dinner for the two of them. After dinner, they got ready for bed and crawled underneath the covers. "God what a day," Dee exclaimed. "I'm so glad it's over, aren't you Ryo?"

"Oh yeah. . . I'm completely and utterly spent. So glad that nightmare is over and done with." He leaned in close to Dee and gave him a deep passionate kiss. "Say Dee, would you mind terribly if we just called it a night? I'm still a little shaken up from everything that happened today plus my head still hurts a little." Dee let out a sigh, looking a little disappointed. "Yeah it's okay. We did have one hell of a day after all. I'm just so glad that nothing happened to you. I don't know what I would have done if I had lost you."

"I know Dee, I know. I was scared too. Don't worry, I'll make it up to you a hundred fold tomorrow night."

"Mmm, I'm going to hold you to that promise Ryo." Dee got up to turn off the light and crawled back into bed. He pulled Ryo into his arms and they drifted into a peaceful sleep…