6 years ago

As the garage door opens, a brisk air hits me and like a domino effect I pull my jacket tightly around me. Nothing less than arctic cold describes the winters where I live. It may sound dramatic but only a little.

I close the door to my car as I sit in the driver's seat and start it up, waiting a few minutes for the air to heat up. Heading off toward work, I make eye contact with a stranger in the morning light. It was only for a split second but enough to make me uneasy. She looked strangely familiar. It shouldn't bother me, considering I make eye contact with plenty of people, but something about the way this woman looked at me made me shudder.

As I parked, the thought of the stranger still whirled around in my head making me feel dizzy. Suddenly feeling the need to toss some cookies; I opened the car door to the cold air and attempted to warm up a section of pavement. Nervous stomach since I was five. It happens. Slipping in a piece of gum I head to the door and enter my prison for the next 6 hours.

"Well, look who is 8 minutes late. Anything you need to explain, Noah?" I huff, shaking my head. If I knew working here would be this painful I would have never chosen this place.

"Um lets see I did some dope drugs, drank some really good tequila and then partied all night. All that to say, I am super faded so keep your distance Dylan." Not a chance.

"The truth if you will. I know you better than you think Noah." Again. Painful. I sigh deciding what to say and what not to say. Here goes nothing.

"Fine Dylan. I felt sick this morning out of nowhere and retched. Satisfied? Because I have shit to do." Yea I didn't tell him. I should have but I bailed. He smiles in his sarcastic way and walks off. I roll my eyes, put my bag up in the break room and get to work.

I make it through to the end of my shift at 5.30pm without a single incident. Course the same could be said about the last 8 months. As I pack up my things, Jen walks into the break room. I won't exaggerate when I say my body becomes stiff and my breath catches for a few seconds.

"Hey Noah…"

"You okay?" Instinctively I try to determine if that was the best choice of words. Overthinking it as usual. Maybe I should have just said hi back. My thoughts are cut short as she breathes out heavily.

"Yea. I just don't want to be here at the moment." I chuckle.

"When do you ever want to be here?" I get a smile out of her with that comment.

"You have a point there." She smiles at me and then takes off her jacket, but her shirt gets caught, lifting it up a few inches exposing her belly button. Wow I'm pathetic if that turns me on. I quickly try and talk the moment away as she continues to get ready for her night shift. I cleared my throat.

"You know, your shirt got caught for a second there? If you keep pulling stunts like that I might have to tell Dylan that your shirt isn't tucked into your jeans. This is a professional work environment." She laughs looking at me with her head tilted.

"When did you become the uniform police? I thought I could trust you to not snitch on me."

"Jen, it's out of my hands. Rules are rules." I put my hands up in the air shrugging. Jen cocks her head again looking me in the eyes. My hands fall to my sides as immediately I feel like she can read my thoughts. I haven't felt that way around someone since… I stop myself before her name pops into my mind. Saying goodbye to Jen I walk out to my car. I stop as I get outside taking a deep breath, allowing all the fresh air to clear my head.

…

I'm shaken out of my thoughts as Misty waves her hand in front of my face. "Earth to Noah!"

"Sorry. I was just thinking…"

"No kidding. You said her name, you know." I ignored her and then took a look at the scene in front of me. Sensing my shift of focus, Misty moves her attention back to the case at hand. "So how did the guy drown?"
"Well, by the looks of it he couldn't breathe underwater." Misty turned and gave me a look as if to say 'really? You're gonna make a joke now?'
I raise my hands in surrender. "Don't look at me like that when you asked the dumb question."
She rolls her eyes. "I meant this obviously isn't a suicide, Noah. So who was trying to kill him?"
"Trying? I think they succeeded in killing him Mist. Otherwise we wouldn't be here trying to solve who killed him." She doesn't respond or look at me but I know she smiled at that. Misty may say she doesn't like me because I make too many jokes, but I know deep down she enjoys working with me. Working as a private investigator is tough. Not a lot of happy people in this business and there is no end to the amount of death. Misty and I have been working together for a little over 5 years helping people with cases police fail to solve. Our newest case was pretty blue—not sad—I mean his body was literally blue. While Misty looked over the victim's left overs for anything helpful, I took my shift of going over to where he was found. Unfortunately he was discovered at a public beach. Didn't take long for someone to call it in. That was months ago however. Police called us in when they didn't get anywhere significant. I hope we can get new information.

I pulled up to the beach. No one in sight. Not that I'm surprised. November wouldn't be a great month for a swim—Not unless you wanted to be a human popsicle.
Misty said that he was washed up near the wooden dock built just a few miles out from where most people swim. I head towards 'the pulling'. We call it 'the pulling' because if you get caught in those waves under the wooden dock, you will get pulled down and out to sea.
Well here I am, standing in wet sand with my favorite sneakers. Great. While loathing my current situation, I notice something on top of the sand by one of the wooden posts. Normally anything dropped through the dock doesn't stick around. Like people, it will get pulled out to sea if the waves get high enough. Looks as if someone lost his or her wallet. I open up the sandy leather and immediately have to steady myself on the post. Holy shit.
Tripping through the sand, I sprint to my car. No way, no fucking way this is real. You know in movies when a character drives away so fast it takes their car a moment to actually gain any traction? Almost positive I just had that happen.
Misty looks shocked as I come in out of breath and white as a ghost.
"Whoa! What the hell happened Noah?"
"I... beach... pulling... wallet... brother... ran... need... oxygen. Oh god." I breathe heavily for another 43 seconds and finally gain enough oxygen to talk. "As I was trying to say. I went out to the place you said this guy was found. The pulling. Anyway I found something." With shaking hands and a dry mouth, I searched my jacket for the wallet. I take it out, and some sand falls to the floor as I pass it to Misty. She gives me a strange look and then opens the wallet. I hear her breath catch and the leather land on the floor. Looking up, I see her cheeks are already wet and her arms are wrapped around her body.
"Zachary..."

Half an hour earlier
As I'm driving back to my and Misty's office, I pull over. A sudden surge of rage and sadness takes over me as I start pounding on my steering wheel. Once the anger is gone, I sit there as the tears roll down my face. Pure hysteria. Feels like my lungs are on fire as I try to breathe through the crying. Before I know it, my shirt has a giant wet spot from my tears and sweat. Slowly my breathing goes back to normal. Wiping away the wetness of my face, I gain control of myself again. Taking a deep breath, I pull back onto the road.

Present
I envelop Mist in a hug. She clings to my shirt as her knees give out. We fall to the floor and she soaks my shirt in her tears and snot. Didn't bother me though. She's not just my coworker. She is my best friend. "I. I don't understand Noah. How could this have happened? I thought Zachary was on a trip to Washington. There has to be some mistake." Damn. I put together all the information we've been given about the case thus far.
"We know the guy was found on July 14th around 1:33pm—which would have been when the beach was the most crowded. The police were called and by 2:30pm the area was closed off to the public. But even after all those months of digging around, the only thing police knew for certain was that the guy didn't commit suicide." While I was busy listing off all we know, I had started pacing. I take a deep breath and just let the quiet of the office calm me down. I turn to Misty who is still red eyed and puffy. Sighing, I walk over. "I'm really sorry about Zach, Misty. My brother was a good guy. An idiot. But a good guy. Unfortunately we can't let personal feelings get in the way of the case." She takes a deep breath and I can see in her face she is trying to sort out my words.
"All right, Noah. Let's do this." Seeing the resolve in her eyes I smile and we get to work.

It was nearly midnight when Misty and I were both slumped on the couch. Despite my best efforts, rubbing my temples has done very little to null the current headache I have. My eyes feel like they've just been open in chlorine water for several days. Turning to Misty my heartaches, I see the physical toll this whole mess has taken on her in only a few hours. Her hair looks like it hasn't been washed in weeks due to her constantly messing with it. Her eyes are no longer the gorgeous forest green they normally are. Sadness, worry and ache cloud her eyes. There is enough red and puffiness to make it seem she dumped salt in both eyes. Her hands are shaking like a small dog as she tries to type on the computer. I put a hand over hers. She turns to me faster than I've ever seen. I can see a jumble of emotions when she looks at me.
"Noah I'm trying to work."
"We've been at this for hours. Let's take a bre—"
"You can take a break. I'm fine." I sigh, shaking my head. She's lying.
"No Misty, put the laptop down before I take it away." Immediately she moves away from me.
"Don't even think about it Noah!"
"Misty you're exhausted! Stop before you kill yourself trying—"
"Trying to solve my boyfriends murder Noah! I want to catch this bastard! This is your older brother! Or do you even care what happened to him?!" The minute while her words hang in the air is the quietest minute of my life. I stand up and head for the door. "Wait Noah I'm sorry I didn't—..." While she is at a loss for words I turn to look at her.
"Didn't what? Didn't mean to say I don't care about my brother?" She sighs, "Misty just because you were dating my brother doesn't mean you were the only one who cared about him. We had our differences but he was my family…" The door slammed behind me dispersing all the dust off of the walls.

…

"You're quitting?!" I take a deep breath. Figures she would get upset at me for leaving her in this dump. "Noah you can't quit! Please I'll die without you here!" I chuckle shaking my head.

"Jen, you knew this job was temporary. I found something that I am actually interested in. A job that will provide a much larger yearly salary. Besides, I'd rather not be stuck here for the rest of my work career."

"What could possibly be more interesting than working with me? I thought," she reaches out and touches my hand, "we had a connection." I freeze. Slowly I move my hand away.

"I thought so too, but I just...can't. Not right now."

…

Knocking on the door I know instinctively this is a mistake. I'm way too stressed and angry to do this. She opens the door and I breathe out allowing myself to relax slightly.

"It's been a while since I've seen that face. Come on, stranger." I smile.

"Nice to see you again Jenna."

Jenna walks into the living room with two coffee cups and hands one to me as she sits down. "So let me see if I understand, after you quit, you become a private detective like Sherlock Holmes?" Almost spitting my hot chocolate all over her couch I try and not choke to death.

"Aha I am not nearly the detective Sherlock was. Or is. Whether or not people still talk about him like he is still a relevant fictional character is another question entirely—"

"Noah! Focus." Clearing my throat I get back to the point.

"Right so when I quit at Dick's Sporting Goods all those years ago, I had discovered that there was a job opening at Oceanside's police station for private investigators. So I went to try and apply but they told me that I couldn't unless I trained extensively beforehand. Which from what I was told takes a year to two at most. They assigned me someone to train with which ended up being-"

"Melissa Garcia. Or Misty as you call her."

"Right. I hadn't seen her for nearly 2 years. While she trained me, we caught up."

….…..

"Misty, you're still dating my older brother Zach yea?" I ask as we make our way through the building.

"Yea after high school we moved in together. We decided since things were really serious we would strike the iron while it's hot." Gross. It takes everything within me to not roll my eyes or vomit in my mouth. She starts picking up pieces of possible evidence. "What about you Noah? What have you been up to?"

"Just working. My life hasn't moved along at the same pace evidently. I'm still coasting. No relationship. How is Zach by the way? You are more involved with him than me." She sighs.

"He's been doing good. Just busy."

"Yea busy fu—"

"Alright I get it so you become friends again. So why are you here exactly? What happened?" I grimace really not wanting to talk about what happened earlier.

"Misty and I got into a fight. About a case. Just needed to get away, I didn't want to deal with it." She snorts.

"What?" Managing to catch a breath to talk, Jenna looks at me seriously.

"Noah. If you got into a fight with her you need to talk to her. I'm not here to be your median. Or distraction. Go fix this." I sigh in exasperation.

"How?" Jen smiles knowingly.

"You'll figure it out, detective." I nod, getting up from the couch. "I see how you light up when you talk about her. I know because you used to do that with me." Hearing that from Jenna made me freeze. I turn to see her staring into her cup.

"Jenna-"

"It's alright." She sighs looking up at smiles and me. "Go." I smile. I run towards the door then remember...

"Thanks for the hot chocolate and advice Jenna!" I hear her laugh in the other room.

In the early morning light as I walk from my car to my apartment door, my mind wanders back to the start of Misty's friendship and mine. She moved in next door and her family came over to introduce themselves. It didn't take me long to notice her, with the dark brown hair that was naturally wavy and bangs just above her eyebrows with beautiful emerald green eyes that lit up any room. Which fit the nerdy look I also had going with my brown hair and brown eyes with my black-rimmed glasses. Misty and I immediately clicked, running off to do everything we could imagine. We would play in my parents' backyard, among the spider-infested playground set. As 6 year olds, that place seemed like another world. I can still hear the wood creak and shake as we jumped up and down after defeating the three-headed dragon. Or the feel of all the static we would conduct coming down the cracked yellow slide; pretending we had just saved a family of dwarves from a burning mushroom. The memory makes me hum in amusement. I picture all the words and names we etched into the wood with sharp rocks because neither of us wanted to forget each adventure. Or how Misty would lose track of time and her mom would have to call her to come home from their back porch. I remember when she got braces before the start of 7th grade and was so scared I would tease her, she didn't talk to me for five days. Only then ringing my doorbell one afternoon with tears streaming down her face apologizing for being a bad friend. To her amusement I had thought she got really sick and went to the hospital. However I was much relieved to find out she was only embarrassed about her braces. Throughout high school Misty and I were often confused for brother and sister because of how much we messed with each other. Although I am almost positive some people did think we were involved with each other in other more graphic ways. Misty had started dating my older brother soon after starting sophomore year of high school, so all the dating rumors about her and me were quickly squashed. Admittedly, we remained similar in height through the years. About 5'5 to 5'8.

Seeing my older brother and Misty date had always made me happy. My brother practically raised me because my parents were never fully present so he had to grow up really fast. Of course that meant he missed out on being a kid. Both my mom and my dad were alcoholics and abusers. I use "were" since my parents have been in jail for a long time now. I was 17 when they finally got put in jail. Because I was about to turn 18, and my brother was old enough to be my legal guardian, CPS didn't put me in foster care. From the moment Zach took the role of raising me, I looked up to him. How could I not? In my eyes the guy was a superhero. Until we had a falling out. I can still see the disappointment and anger in his face as clear as day.

"Don't be stupid Noah!"

"I am not a kid anymore Zach I can take care of myself."

…..

"You don't seem to grasp that I am only doing this because I don't want you to end up dead in a ditch because you let some low-life prick piss you off!"

…..

"I know what he did Noah! But that doesn't mean you have to go fight him!"

….

"You think you're my dad but you're not! Stop acting like it!"

Sleep isn't on the agenda as I toss and turn in bed thinking back on the reason Zach had been so distant over the last few years. Deciding to stand up out of bed, I head over to the window close to my bed. Opening the window, I watch the nightlife and breathe in the fresh cool air as I continue to contemplate. All Zach ever wanted to do was protect me. I don't blame him. Being the stupid kid I was, I needed that. He was the only family I could count on. When I finally moved out and started living on my own I realized how nice it was to have him around. Somewhere between my fight with Zach and moving out, I lost contact with Misty for a while. It wasn't until I found this job and she became my partner that we rekindled an almost forgotten friendship. Ever since, we have been really good friends. Best friends one might say. Taking one last deep breath of the nice cool air I close the window and flop back onto my bed, thoughts still reeling in my head.

I wake with a jump as my alarm screams that it's time to get up. I check the clock. 8:46am. How I managed to fall asleep is beyond me. Still have some time before I need to go to Misty's. I scrape together an outfit and gather my things, heading out the door. While walking to my car I dig through my pockets trying to locate where I put my keys. I look up for scarcely a few moments when I see something move quickly behind one of my neighbors' houses. That's a little suspicious. Deciding to make a detour, I threw my bag in my car and walked toward where I saw movement.

It's always a risky move doing something straight out of a horror movie. Being the dumb character to walk straight toward possible danger has kind of become my hobby with this job. What can I say, when the chips are down on a case sometimes it pays off to be a little stupid. I make my way around the house corner and find a rabbit tending to itself. Well it's close to absolutely nothing. Not sure why I expected to find someone watching me, maybe I just hoped it would be someone involved with the murder. Walking away I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I shake off the feeling, stepping into my car. I pull away from my apartment hoping to simply forget the strange feeling. Need to focus on someone else for a while.

I park, walking into the precinct. Maybe I shouldn't visit them today. A lot has been going on. It would just worry them. I enter the building thoughts of doubt still going through my head as officer Davidson approaches.

"Hey Noah. Paying the old birds a visit?" I scarcely think for a second before responding.

"Yea. How's David doing? I know he was having a hard time breathing a few weeks ago." Dave simply shakes his head. "That bad huh?"

"Unfortunately."

"Well what about Liz?"

"She's having a hard time being separated from her husband. But doing well other than that. Old age suits her I think." Shocked by the statement I raised my eyebrows at officer Dave. He just shrugs his shoulders. Shaking my head I walk away toward the men's prison. I can hear him way before I see him. Figures David is making a ruckus. I walk in and see three police officers trying to hold him back. Other prisoners are blocking the view of whomever he was trying to fight. I managed to grab the attention of one of the officers. He nods. I walk over standing in front of my dad. He stops resisting the officers.

"You look good Noah. Old. But, good."

"Gee thanks David. I'm only 26 but I guess my job causes a lot of gray hairs." He laughs.

"When did you start calling me David?"

"When you stopped being a father figure. You are my dad but that doesn't mean I am going to call you 'dad'. I figure you have enough brain cells to understand that." I can see a change in his demeanor as my words hang in the air. He can't seriously think I still see him as a father can he?

Most of the rest of the conversation is me trying to avoid talking about my job, even when he asks about it. I always avoid and bring up another topic. The last thing I needed was David trying to intervene in my business.

I'm outside the building trying to clear my head but it's no use. I pull out a cigarette and my lighter. I had a temporary period of time that I smoked. With everything that was going on, it was good stress relief, and when I quit I knew I might need that relief again. So I keep an extra cigarette and lighter with me. Then Misty's face pops into my mind. She would kill me if I started smoking again. I tear the cigarette in two, drop it on the sidewalk and walk away.

Several times through the long car ride to Misty's apartment I see a car that appears to be following me, but it always disappears somehow.

As I lock my car and walk up to Misty's apartment door, I gain that same sense that there are eyes on me. I turn around and see the empty street with the occasional car passing by, probably parents heading to work. Deciding my mind is playing tricks on me, I enter the apartment and close the door, heading up to work. I open the door to Misty's room and immediately she starts spraying words at me.

"About last night I know I said a lot that I shouldn't have and I was up all night thinking back on how awful I was to you and I just want to-"

"You don't have to finish. I know you are sorry for snapping. I snapped and I'm sorry too. It happens. You got anything new on the case?" Misty sighs in relief, smiling at me as I sit down next to her while she taps away at her computer.

"I've quickly gone through some photos of the dead body-"

"Of course."

"And I've found a few key things that definitely determine this is someone made to look like Zach." I take a minute trying to figure out if Misty has said that to trick me.

"What? But I found his wallet right where the body was found!" She ignores my comment and I watch as Misty works her magic. I think back to the precinct. My parents don't know Zach is missing. Maybe he will actually show up and I won't have to tell them anything that happened. Focus Noah. "Is that a tattoo?" Misty catches my eye and smiles. I'm about to be schooled.

"I'm glad you noticed it. At first I thought it was a tattoo too but then discovered that it is a marking. But when I looked it up, I realized that it is no ordinary marking."

"Great! What does that mean?" Misty scoffs at my obliviousness and types something into her computer. My eyes widen.

"Gang marks. Holy shit. So what does it mean?" She opens a new tab on her computer and makes a quick search of two what I assume are words that I am not familiar with. "Circurlous Ignis?"

"It's Latin." I have to take a moment to stop laughing.

"Latin is a dead language Melissa. Seriously what is it?" Misty shakes her head.
"I'm being serious, Noah. And Latin isn't completely dead. Some people still write and speak it. 'Circulous ignis' is the Latin phrase for 'fire circle'. There's only one group in all of Oceanside that uses that phrase." After a couple minutes of silence I snap my fingers in realization.

"Red Hot Chilli Peppers." Misty punches my arm. Geez what the hell is this girl made of? "Ow! What was that for? I was being serious!" Misty rolls her eyes.

"Noah do you honestly think a world famous music band killed this guy?" She stares straight into my eyes for a solid minute. Realizing I'm being dead serious she looks away sighing. "You're an idiot." I scoff crossing my arms.

"Appreciate the thought, but if I was really that stupid I wouldn't be your partner." I smile to myself.

"Ya sweetie, you were made my partner because of how dumb you are. The agency figured if you didn't have someone by your side constantly, you'd end up dead." My smile disappears. She ruffles my hair and I push her hand away acting petulant. "Aw it's alright big guy. You still make me laugh a lot even if you have dumb moments."

"Better to be dumb than to be a smartass." I know she heard me but chose to ignore it. Classic.

"Hey how are your parents doing? I know you visited them this morning."

"How'd you know?" Misty just shrugs.

"You had that face when you came in." Only Misty would recognize what I've been doing by what my face looks like.

"David is still struggling. I think all those years of drinking and doing drugs is catching up to him. Liz is doing all right. She said to say hi to you."

"Really?"

"No. But a strange fact. I think Davidson is attracted to Liz." Misty makes a face that can only be described as nauseous.

"Your mom is like 50. Davidson is your age. Mid-twenties."

"I know it's weird." Shrugging off the bomb I dropped on her, Misty gets back to her photos. Despite Misty flipping through them rather fast, I see something and leap from my seat.

"Whoa whoa wait go back a couple photos." Looking both impressed and curious Misty goes back. "There. The watch on his wrist." I touch the screen with my finger. Misty shakes her head not understanding what I am getting at. "Remember back when I got into some trouble with some guys back in high school? When Zach and I...had that huge fight?" Misty's eyes widen a fraction as she connects the dots.

"You mean you made enemies with these guys as kids? Noah you realize that means you made enemies with the worst kind of people. Everyone knows you don't screw with Solis." I throw my hands up in the air, falling back into my chair.

"What is up with these guys and Latin?! Do they love anything to do with death?" Misty tries to hide the smile creeping onto her face. I flip her off.

"Ok ok moving on. What's the significance of the watch? I don't get how you knew from just a piece of jewelry." I take a deep breath hoping to control the emotions I'm feeling.

"It's not just any watch Misty. Back in high school while you were busy fucking my brother-"

"Hey!"

"I had been going through my parents' stuff. Even though I should hate my parents for the way they treated my brother and me, and for the situation, I didn't. Don't. Ended up trying to find something to remember them by. They were my parents, after all. While going through my mom's jewelry I found the watch. It was my dad's. My mom had given it to him back in the day. Even had an inscription on the back. It had been stolen back in high school by this guy and from what he told me, he had destroyed it. I was so mad at him, I was out for blood. I wanted to hurt him just like he had hurt me. He didn't understand how important it was. That night when I went out to get revenge, Zach and I had that argument." I close my eyes and take a deep breath. "I never thought I'd see it again. Can't believe he kept it. That bastard." I am not looking at Misty, afraid that if I do look at her, I'll start crying. Staring intently at my shoes, I feel a hand on my shoulder. Digging my nails deep into my palms I try to keep the salty tears from falling. Not here.

"Noah. Look at me." I inhale and exhale loudly turning to face Misty. She had a look on her face I recognized from the previous night. When she thought Zach was dead. "I know I wasn't there for you at the time, but I'm here now. Please don't hold back from me." I smile half-heartedly. Not that I don't appreciate what she is saying, but it's the kind of thing people always say. I shake off the emotions of the situation. I can be emotional later.

November came and went. Misty and I discovered it more than likely that my brother isn't dead, but it's been a while since we have worked on the case. After deciding there was a possibility that a gang of murderers could be after me next, we told our director and she wanted Misty and I to lay low. Low profile kind of fits my lifestyle, so I don't mind not having to work. It actually gives me more of a chance to have a social life. Not that I had much of one to begin with, but I have gotten to talk to Jenna a lot more. I haven't heard from Misty in a while so I head to her apartment to try and catch up. But also to tell her some big news. Better now than later. I walk up to her apartment as some snow starts to fall. Yes that is exactly the kind of atmosphere I want to have. Romantic. Not sure why, but suddenly I am feeling very nervous. I shouldn't, this is my best friend. She'd be happy for me no matter what. I'm pulled out of my thoughts as the door opens and I see her standing there.

"Hey."

"Hi." We stood there like a couple of awkward teens for a couple minutes, but it felt like ages. Finally breaking the silence, I speak up.

"What have you been up to? Anything interesting or weird?" She raises an eyebrow at me but decides to answer my awkward question anyway.

"No, not really." Another awkward silence that feels like hours.

"Have you heard from Zach?"

"No." More silence. I just need to tell her.

"I have something to tell you!"

"You have news too?"

"Stop doing that!" We both break out into laughter. "Ok you go first Noah." Misty says while still trying to catch her breath from laughing so hard.

"Well I wanted to tell you that I am officially dating someone." The seconds that follow my words are dangerously quiet. "Misty? Did you hear me? I have a-"

"Who?"

"What?"

"Who is it?!" Misty questions rather aggressively. I see in her face that this isn't what she was expecting to hear. In fact from the looks she is giving me, she is furious with me.

"It's Jenna. We've been hanging out a lot and I finally got the courage to ask her out. It's been about a month now and she even moved in with me." Suddenly Misty's face changes.

"Congrats Noah… I'm.. I'm happy for you." She smiles, but there's something behind the smile. Something I can't quite figure out. Women are confusing as hell.

"What did you want to tell me?" She instantly changes her expression from happiness to something of horror.

"No..Nothing. I'm just glad to be your friend."

Suddenly with the door in my face, I'm standing on her doorstep wondering what went wrong.

I get out of my car heading toward my apartment, head still reeling. Not reeling enough to not notice the figure walking behind me. I feel their hand grabbing my shoulder. On instinct I use it against them, flipping them onto their back in front of me. I'm mortified to see my girlfriend.

"Woops, sorry Jenna. You shouldn't sneak up on me like that. It's not safe." I help her up and hope this doesn't come back to bite my ass.

"Where the hell did you learn to do that?" She gives me a quick kiss and then dusts herself off.

"Aha Jenna you know that I have to be careful. My job requires it. If I am not careful I could end up on the wrong end of a gun or knife." She rolls her eyes.

"Oh yeah? How often has that actually ended up happening?" I cringe realizing that she totally just saw right through that. "Noah this job is affecting you and making you do crazy ass things. Maybe you should consider quitting." I stop in my tracks at her words. Is she right? No. I love my job. People adjust to their situation. I'm just adjusting. "Not even a month and I've already got you wrapped around my finger." I look over and see her smiling at me.

"Not funny." I say unlocking the front door. Jenna follows behind me giggling to herself.

"Oh come on it was a little funny." She wraps her arms around me. My mind and body react to the gesture as my anger dissipates and my muscles relax.

I spend the next few days trying to find the courage to go back to Misty's place to work. She said she was happy for me so why do I get the feeling she doesn't want to see me? I'm startled out of my thoughts when I feel someone's hand on my arm. I turn to see Jenna. God she has to stop scaring me shitless.

"Noah you've been staring at the same photo for 20 minutes. Are you ok?" It's in that moment I realize I could ask Jenna about Misty. Jenna is a girl and would understand whatever Misty is thinking.

"I think Misty is mad at me." Jenna looks at me like I've suddenly grown a second head. "What?"

"Why would Misty be mad at you?" I sigh rubbing my eyes with my hands.

"I told her that you and I are dating and she got all weird on me. First she was aggressively asking who I was dating and then she switched. Said she was happy only to slam the door in my face. Not to mention I haven't heard from her in days." I am confused when Jenna starts laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Isn't it obvious? She is jealous, Noah." Now it's my turn to laugh.

"No way. Misty is dating my brother."

"But your brother is not here at the moment is he?" I hesitate. "Don't strain yourself thinking Noah." She ruffles my hair and walks off. After an hour I realize I'm not going to get anywhere. Noticing it's dark outside; I head up to my room.

"Wake up lazy bones! There are a couple weeks before Christmas and we need to start decorating..." I groan as Jenna continues to list off things. "Also I scheduled a time for some people to come over to put lights up around the house and I won't be around to pay them so please don't leave the house until after 3pm."

"Where are you going?" I ask sleepily with my eyes still shut.

"I am going to go gift shopping. My family is in town, and I want to make sure I have something for everyone, but before that…" Her words trail off. Not wanting to open my eyes, I called out to her to see where she went.

"Jen-" I am silenced by a pair of lips crashing onto mine. Takes me a minute to gather what just happened but I feel around noticing the familiar curves of Jenna. She pulled away and I opened my eyes to see her staring down at me. "Why did you do that?"

"Because you are such an amazing boyfriend having only been my boyfriend for such a short amount of time," she pauses and I see her contemplating her next words and then I am hit with a truck. "I love you Noah." I must have taken too long to respond, because her face slowly changes from something of love and excitement to disappointment. She gets up and starts walking away. I jump out of bed and start to chase after her.

"Jenna, wait! You didn't give me a chance to respond!" I catch her before she gets to the front door. "Jenna." I reach out to touch her shoulder but before I can, she turns to face me. She has tears threatening to run down her cheeks but won't look at me. Her gaze is locked on the floor.

"I knew it. You still have feelings for her. Don't you?" Her question needs no explanation. I sigh heavily feeling guilt rack my body.

"I didn't mean to hurt you like that. Honest. I was trying to get over the feelings because I really did want to be with you. I mean she has someone she loves already. But I just can't say the L word to you when I don't feel that way." I watch as she slowly looks up at me, anger radiating off her.

"Then why are you still pining for her?! You said it yourself she is with someone else! She isn't worth your time Noah! She's a worthless-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence Jenna!" I yell, cutting her off. Jenna makes a sneering face at me narrowing her eyes. Suddenly her face changes and she smiles to herself.

"Here's the deal lover boy. As long as you continue to date me I won't do anything...rash."

"If you touch her-"

"You'll do what?" She gets in my face challenging me to threaten her. I back down. "That's what I thought. Not so tough now, are you?" Jenna walks away triumphantly. I let her walk out the door slamming it loudly.

I'm at Misty's place every day for the next week working, but I'm not able to focus. My mind always wanders back to Jenna's words. 'As long as you continue to date me I won't do anything...rash.' Misty didn't seem to care that my head wasn't in the game. My guess is that she is still mad at me for who knows why.

During a particularly boring day, I am feeling uneasy so I stand up from the couch I've been sitting on for the past half hour and start to walk around. The hell could Jenna do? I mean she is talking about messing with me. Who does she think she is? She shouldn't mess with-

"NOAH!" Someone screaming my name pulls me out of my thoughts. I turn and see Misty standing there with confusion written all over her face. "Did you hear anything I just said?" My hands fly to my face. Genius Noah. Real genius.

"Sorry Misty. Guess I should-"

"Don't bother explaining. This is about your girlfriend, isn't it? Little miss Jenna causing you issues?" The way Misty emphasizes the word 'girlfriend' makes me cock my head to the side. Misty is jealous.

"Misty. You know Jenna could never be more important than you. I've known you so much longer. Besides, me and Jenna aren't super serious anyway." Misty laughs.

"I'm not stupid Noah. I see the way you talk about her." I know I've heard that before from Jenna. Talk about deja vu. "Do you have any idea how it felt to hear you say you are going out with that… I don't even have the words!" I narrow my eyes smiling at Misty.

"You're jealous." That gets her angry.

"Don't be absurd. Why would I be jealous?" I shrug my shoulders stepping closer to her.

"Why else would you care so much that I am dating her?"

"Maybe because she doesn't deserve you."

"Oh really?" I step closer.

"Yes she doesn't deserve you or your love because she doesn't know and love you."

"... And you do?" There is barely an inch between us now. "You love me?" I whisper, putting my hands on either side of her face. She looks up into my eyes, tears threatening to spill.

"...I didn't know what love was until I met you." I let a smile creep onto my face. Before I know it, Misty and I are having a full-fledged make out session. Suddenly I pull away. "Noah? What's wrong?" Making eye contact with Misty I shake my head.

"We can't do this Misty. Not now."

"What? But I thought-"

"Just trust me. I don't want you to get hurt." As soon as the words leave my mouth I regret them.

"Why would I get hurt?" I grit my teeth.

"I can't tell you. I'll explain everything when this is all over. I promise." I say holding out my pinky. She looked me in the eyes and I know she can see the sincerity. Smiling, she takes my hand making the pinky promise official. Making the most of the opportunity, I take her face in my hands again allowing myself to indulge in kissing her while I can. She pulls away, breathing heavier than a few minutes ago.

"When it's over."

"When it's over…" I repeat hoping I am not signing her death sentence.

It's Christmas day and instead of being happy that Misty and I are on good terms again, I'm terrified that something might happen to her. Ever since she admitted to having feelings for me and the kiss, I haven't been able to stop thinking about her. Jenna still has no clue what happened between Misty and I. We've been best friends for so long and I never thought that our friendship developing into something more could actually be life threatening; all thanks to Jenna.

I'm watching Misty talk to Jenna to make sure Jenna doesn't do anything. I asked Jenna a few days ago if we could have Misty over for Christmas. Mostly because being alone with Jenna would be worse than being alone with the devil himself. She wasn't too pleased and made sure to make it very clear that she is my girlfriend whenever Misty gets too close to me. To make matters worse, I haven't been able to explain anything to Misty, in fear of Jenna following through on her threats. I know that being left in the dark is killing her, because Misty is always the first to know things with our cases. However she is doing her best to not show it.

When someone pulls my focus away from Misty for a few minutes, I turn back and notice both girls are gone.

Running down the stairs of the apartment I look everywhere to see where they went off to. I'm almost to the front door when I see both girls walking out of the bathroom. Sighing in relief, I jog toward them. Misty immediately notices that I am still slightly frantic.

"Noah what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." I see Jenna smiling in the corner of my eye. "I just had to go to the bathroom. The one upstairs has a line so I walked down here with Jenna. I didn't think it would be a problem." Jenna cocks her head, smiling knowingly.

"Yea babe. That's not a problem...right?" I shake my head staring Jenna down.

"No. Of course not." I say with some venom dripping off my words.

I continue to glare at Jenna as Misty walks past me toward the stairs. Jenna starts to walk past me but I stop her by grabbing her forearm.

"What are you doing?" She hisses.

"Making sure you know that if anything happens to her while I'm around, you'll regret the day you threatened us… babe." I whisper, releasing my hold on her arm. I turn and walk back up stairs fully aware Jenna isn't following.

Jenna kept a certain distance watching me, for a really long time that day. Finally, when all was said and done, she got up and walked out. I didn't see or hear her come back to the apartment either. By the time January rolls around I'm aware of the fact that Jenna has become scarcely absent from… everywhere. Not that I mind that she is gone. It has given me more time to spend with Misty without so much anxiety.

I'm currently at Misty's talking about the case when she asks a question that totally catches me by surprise.

"How come I don't see much of Jenna anymore?" I hesitate. What the hell am I supposed to say to that? 'She threatened you behind your back before Christmas and so on Christmas I threatened her because I care too much to see you hurt or killed.'

"Oh um. She went away on a trip for... work." Without missing a beat Misty asks another question.

"Are you guys still together?" Why does she care so much about Jenna all of the sudden?

"I could ask the same about you and Zach..." She just shrinks in her chair. Great job genius, you brought up the fact that Misty basically cheated on her missing boyfriend with her boyfriend's brother. Which is you. "So what do we do from here you think? These guys are after me clearly." Misty is caught off guard by the sudden change of topic but doesn't question it.

"Well if they are after you, why did they fake Zach's death?" I actually laugh at Misty's question. She gives me a look as if to say 'where's the joke?'

"You seriously don't see it? I thought it was as clear as day." Misty shrugs. Wow I feel really good right now. I smile devilishly.

"Hey don't get cocky on my ass now, just explain." I raise my hands in surrender.

"It's not often I get the chance to know something you don't know," she shakes her head, "anyway, Zach is the only blood relation I choose to associate with nowadays, and they wanted to hit where it hurts-just like with the watch. Going after Zach would make me emotional, and if you got an emotional target, you don't have to work to get them to come to you. Think about it. Back when I thought that guy had destroyed the one thing that meant the most to me, I was so furious I was ready to track him down at whatever cost. Killing off Zach would be like destroying the watch. The only issue is now I know they pretended to kill Zach."

Having had a realization, Misty gets up from her seat and starts rummaging around. I watch as papers, cups and clothing are tossed in various directions. I have to dodge a few almost perfectly aimed pencils. It's as if she is trying to kill me inconspicuously. "Ok maybe I am new to this idea of redecorating, but this is much worse than before. I'd suggest getting rid of-"

"Noah this isn't Project Runway, and I am not redecorating. I am looking for that necklace you gave me after you broke my arm. Now you know that pushing people out of trees isn't safe." Utterly confused, hurt and completely shocked by her lack of TV show knowledge, I interject.

"First of all, Project Runway is a fashion and modeling show. Has nothing to do with house decor. Second, why the hell are you now deciding to find that old thing? I thought you expressed no intention of keeping it to begin with." I hear her mumble to herself something along the lines of 'no intention of keeping you either,' but I decided to ignore it.

After about fifteen minutes, I wonder if Misty will explain why she is creating the illusion that a group of 5 year olds have raided her house for candy. I will never understand this woman fully.

"FOUND IT!" Tumbling off my chair, I wonder if it's possible for me to have experienced anything closer to cardiac arrest mixed with a potential concussion.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm Mist but you should cut down on the coffee." She appears from behind a corner with a questioning look on her face.

"I don't drink coffee." Attempting to stand up, I put my hands on the desk in front of me, knocking over some papers as I got to my feet.

"I know. But the caffeinated tea isn't helping. So why did you destroy your apartment for some metal on a string?" Misty makes a face, jiggling the necklace in front of her. "Over my dead body. No fucking way. Not happening."

"Noah-"

"No, I refuse! I am not going to let you walk right into their game! I already thought for a second I lost my brother! There is no way-"

"Noah we don't have another option!"

"Oh don't play that card! Why on earth would you become their chess piece to do with what they please?!" Frustrated by the situation I turn to violence. Grabbing a glass from the desk, I throw it against the wall closer to Misty. Startled by the act of aggression and the shattered glass less than a foot from her, Misty screams putting her hands to heart. I take a minute to breathe, turning away to look out the window as if to distract myself.

With the familiar sound of sneakers on wood, I suck in a deep breath trying to steel myself for what comes next. I know Misty is behind me when all noise stops, except an occasional car speeding past. I feel her arms wrapped tightly around my waist and the familiar weight of her leaning on my back as she hugs me. Every breath is in sync as we stand together in the quiet. I break the eerie silence with a question I didn't expect to ask. "So what's the plan?"

'Stupid. This is so stupid.' Those are the only words going through my mind as we drive.

"Misty normally I'm all for doing stupid things, but-"

"Noah don't be such a wuss. We are finally going to end this once and for all. Ah! Turn left up here!" Turning onto a dirt road, I know instinctively nothing good can be waiting. When the building comes into view my hand moves to grab the gun I keep hidden in the car. As I reach for it, my hand is blocked. "You won't need it." Misty.

"How do you know that? What if-"

"Trust me Noah." When I park the car, Misty meets my eyes and no words aren't needed as we look at each other. Misty nods encouragingly and then smiles. She exits the car and starts to walk toward the door of the building, closing it slowly behind her. A few minutes pass when suddenly I hear gunshots. Before I know it, I am inside with a scene in front of me I didn't plan for.

3 Hours Earlier

"Fun fact about the Solis gang is that they actually have a website. We are going to use it to track their location. Typically a signal of any website can be tracked to one specific location where it is used most often. We may be able to find these guys." I shake my head. Gangs these days are trying to stay updated. Watching as she taps away, a window pops up with some kind of code. Firewall. Cracking her knuckles, Misty very expertly and easily gets past it.

"Firstly, how do you know about this website and where did you learn to crack a firewall? Second, what do these guys do with a website anyway? I didn't think people like them would have a use for it."

"Well to answer your first question, you didn't keep up with me in college. I got around and learned a few things." Misty turns with a cheeky smile on her face. I roll my eyes. "But gangs like Solis are always looking for new members to make their numbers bigger and stronger. Surprising as it might be, they also use it for customers." That can't be good.

"Drugs? Weapons? Information?"

"All of the above. Anything and everything to expand their empire. Money and power are big parts of gang life and the farther you can reach the more dough you can make. And if people get in the way…" Not finishing her sentence her gaze turns to the photos and information we have been compiling for months. Goosebumps appear all up and down my arms. Shaking it off, Misty and my focus returns to the computer. Suddenly she stops. I watch as her computer glitches over and over again. Her breathing becomes labored as the computer continues to freak out. Then it turns black with three words. We see you… Slowly Misty stands up putting the necklace around her neck.

"Noah. Go hide. Now."
"Wh-"

"No time." Reluctantly I ran to the bathroom. Just as I lock the door, I hear another door break open. Several different heavy footsteps walk inside. Then one of them breaks off from the group and walks closer to me. I back away from the door. Misty's voice stops them midstep. "Do you have a search warrant or are you just invading my privacy for kicks?" I imagine her with arms crossed. His laugh is deep and cold.
"Melissa Garcia is it? Miss Garcia, you should know that the Solis don't ever do anything for 'kicks'. I am here because you have hacked our firewall. And I don't like intruders." Silence. Then the snap of fingers. A shuffle of feet and a struggle. I hear the click of a gun cocking. No.

"How do you know my name?" A cold chuckle.

"You didn't actually think we wouldn't trace the hack back to you, did you? This isn't my first day on the job Miss Garcia. I know my way around." The shadow under the door in front of me slowly becomes smaller as he walks away. I step closer to the door to listen in. "You are friends with some interesting people Miss Garcia. One in particular that piques my and my partners interest." Silence. "Does the name Noah Oliver ring a bell?" I hear a deep shaky breath.

"I know him. What's it to you?" Understanding what's going on, I can imagine the toothy and devil-like grin spreading across his mouth as he laughs, already knowing what to say.

"We can forget this little incident if you bring him to us." Footsteps and then the snapping of thread. The necklace. "What a beautiful piece of jewelry. Did he give it to you?" Silence. "How sweet. If you don't mind I'll take this as insurance. You bring me Noah Oliver, and you can have your necklace back. You tell anyone, or don't bring us what I want; I'll track you down again Miss Garcia. I am not afraid to hurt a woman. Nor is my partner." Footsteps and then the sound of people walking down stairs. "I don't want to resort to drastic measures. Family is so important, Miss Garcia. Don't you agree?" I hear a car start up. "I'll see you soon Miss Garcia." A door slams shut. I unlock the door, running into the room to find Misty still standing, staring at the door.

"What the hell was that?! I wasn't aware that having a gun pointed at you was part of the plan!"

"I know. But it worked, didn't it?" I watch as Misty paces back and forth trying to convince herself that this won't end poorly.

"When are they-" Before I can fully ask, I hear the ping of a phone. Misty's eyes widen and she starts tossing papers looking for her phone. When she opens it, I watch as she reads whatever it says. Looking up she shows me. "An address?"

"Yea but this isn't anywhere near here. It's outside the city." Misty starts typing on her phone and pulls up the address on Google.

"Looks like it's an abandoned factory." Wow, talk about clichés.

"Well they certainly know how to convince you they aren't gonna kill you. Nothing about abandoned factories screams 'death'."

Present

I watch as he holds Misty in a headlock with one arm and a gun to her head with the other hand. Her hands gripping his arm, probably to allow some oxygen. Three bodies lay around the room, pools of blood forming around each. Gotta kill the other witnesses I suppose. Misty is holding back tears.

"If it isn't the man of the hour. Noah Oliver. So glad you could join us. Your partner and I were just talking about you." His deep voice gives away he was the one who broke into Misty's apartment. It's obvious he has altered his hair and eyes to try and fool me. I could see the hair dye still tinged on his hands. As he stared me down, the contact lenses reflected in the little light left outside. I walk a couple half steps closer with my hands raised slightly hoping he won't shoot.

"You definitely planned this surprise party well. I was expecting a different scenario. Mainly being one where you weren't pointing a gun at my partner." His cold laugh echoes through the building, vibrating off the walls.

"You think I want to give you the upper hand? Oh no no, this isn't child's play Noah. I found out about your little plan back at the apartment. Hacking the firewall to get my attention. Misty wearing the necklace as bait. Hiding in the bathroom. All that dialogue was just for show. We know you know everything. No matter how dumb you play." I smile slightly. He notices. "You are a lot smarter than people give you credit for, little brother." I see tears start to travel slowly down Misty's cheeks; now thinking she has been dating my sociopath of a brother. Then I see a shadow start walking out from behind Zach.

"Jenna." I say, venom dripping from my mouth. "So glad the psychopaths have found love." Watching, I see Jenna kiss the side of Zach's face. She has a nasty glow in her eyes.

"I prefer… Highly functioning sociopath. And if it wasn't already clear Noah… You and I are no more. Too bad that you and your secret love here won't live to be together. Such a pity."

"Noah what is going on?!" Misty yells tears falling down her face.

"Jenna has been working with Zach to get revenge on me. Jenna is mad that I had feelings for someone else back when we worked together and then again while we were 'dating'. She was supposed to be faking as part of the plan with Zach, but ended up with real feelings for me. She got in too deep. She got herself hurt. And now it seems that things have become intimate between the two of them. Talk about a rebound." I would have told Misty earlier when I put two and two together back at her apartment, but I knew better than that. "You were sloppy Jenna. I never told you that Zach was missing back in December when I thought Misty was mad at me. I never told you about the case at all. That was your first mistake." Zach turns to her with anger flaring in his eyes.

"At least I didn't fail at faking my own death." She throws in Zach's face making him roll his eyes.

"Zach-" I am interrupted by Zach scoffing.

"Oh please go on and show off for everyone! Detective Noah!" He spits. I take a deep breath.

"You hired Jenna 7 years ago and made her take the job at Dick's Sporting Goods to watch me after I moved out. She reported that I had quit a year later and so you asked her to continue keeping watch. When you found out I had taken a job as a detective, you decided to have some fun. You both killed an innocent man. Jeremy Watson, 28, single and the only person in our town who people confused for Zach on July 10th. Jeremy and Zach could have been twins. It was easy to get you guys mixed up. Only problem was that Jeremy got involved with the wrong crowd. Your crowd. Zach, you joined Solis and came to power when we became distant. But not so distant that I didn't check up on you. You enlisted Jeremy as part of the plan. So he had a Solis marking that was distinctive. But you destroyed and mangled any part of him besides the marking that would tell police or even us who he was. "

"Ohhhh how clever of me."

"You killed Jeremy because you wanted to get revenge on me. Both of you. Who better to gain revenge with than a stunt double? Jenna dumped his body on the 14th, near 'the pulling' leaving no clues except evidence of a possible horrific suicide. You knew people would go swimming on that hot summer day and placed him so people would find him. When someone found his body and then the police couldn't solve it after months, you knew that they would call me and Misty since Jenna had told you Misty and I were working together. Once we were on the case you asked Jenna to start watching and following me more, knowing the first place I would go after being assigned the case. Deciding to have your fun, you drop your wallet, which wasn't at the original crime scene, through the wooden dock. You wanted me to become the reckless teen again so you left clues of our past. Reminders. Including my old feelings for Jenna. Too bad she started having real feelings and turned to threatening me, completely giving away her position." He chuckles adjusting the gun slightly.

"Jenna followed me to Misty's apartment, again and again. Heard our conversations and she helped you plan accordingly. Knowing we would find out you weren't dead, you changed your appearance. Unlucky however that you got sloppy and the hair dye got on your hands." Zach throws Misty to the ground and starts clapping. It's a slow sort of sarcastic clap. The kind of clap used when someone states the obvious. I look at Misty and she mouths 'I'm okay'. I look back at Zach and Jenna, then see the gun Zach holding is now pointed at me. I have a hard time noticing much else around me staring down the dark abyss. Then I hear Misty's voice.

"Zach please think about what you are doing! Noah is your family!"

"But he never was Misty. You see, after our parents were put away, Noah and me never really got along. I tried to be there for him, but I was never enough. He wanted so badly to have a normal life. Be somewhere other than here, constantly reminded of our family's issues. He didn't even hate our parents like I did. Then one day, he comes home from school fuming about a kid who stole our fathers' watch. When I asked how it happened, Noah said he went through our parents' things. To find a memento and then wear it everywhere. He wanted to remember those horrible people. The people who abused us for alcohol and drugs. So we argued. I told him it wasn't worth getting killed over. But he refused to listen. I let him go. I wanted him to get killed after that."

"If I wasn't enough of a family and he couldn't see our parents for who they truly are, then I wouldn't continue to be there for him. I decided to create a different family when I realized how good we were together Misty. After high school, I got lucky when you two lost contact. Being in charge of Solis I had ways to keep tabs. I thought we could live happily away from him. But then you got that job. The same job that 2 months later, Noah applied for..."

"Then you decided to 'disappear' for a while. Going off to Washington on a 'business' trip. When you were actually here with Jenna, pulling all the strings." Zach smiles at Jenna as she kisses him. There is darkness in his eyes as he looks back at me.

"When I found out you were working together and becoming friends again I started to plan. But I knew I had limited time. I knew Misty would fall in love with you just like when we were kids." Surprised that Misty loved me when we were kids, I looked over to see her staring at the ground like a child who has just got in trouble for coloring on the wall. "I was kind of glad Misty fell for you. Meant I could get away from her constantly talking about you. Not to mention Jenna is more of a woman, if you catch my drift. Of course, I wanted you to understand how I felt. I wanted you to feel how I feel. Nothing but anger. But then I realized, you won't ever understand. So you have to disappear-"

"What about Jenna?" Zach stops.

"What about me?" She asks, walking toward me.

"Why… Why did you help me with everything?" She laughs, grabbing my chin with her fingers.

"You had to trust me for a while. As the old saying goes, keep your friends close and your enemies closer." She steps back smiling. "Thanks for the fun Noah. I'll be sure to visit your grave every once in a while."

"Promise?" I ask, raising my eyebrow. Jenna just smiles, shaking her head. Slowly the barrel of the gun becomes much bigger as Zach takes a step forward.

It happens in slow motion, as he pulls the trigger releasing the blazing metal. I close my eyes on instinct and the boom of the gun echoes through the building. When I opened my eyes again, the gun was smoking. Then I notice Misty is no longer to my left, but standing directly in front of me. I watch in horror as she looks down at the blood bubbling from her stomach. I step forward instinctively.

"Oh shit. Shit shit shit shit! Wha- You're ok, right? You're not hurt?"

"No. no, no, I'm fine! Totally fine, no, no, I'm fine."

"Really? Because you're repeating your words, you look pale and like you're about to topple over."

"Yea, you might want to catch me." As soon as the words leave her mouth, she falls to the floor. I crash to my knees, picking her up slightly to lay her head in my lap. A drop of water lands on her forehead. It's then I notice... I'm crying. Uncontrollable tears, pouring down my face.

"Misty why would you- what- what were you thinking?" I sob as Misty puts her hand on my cheek.

"I was thinking…... I love you Noah... I've always loved you…" My eyes burn as I feel more tears spill, a mixture of anger, sadness, and happiness. I grit my teeth looking up to see Zach and Jenna are nowhere within my line of vision. Probably long gone by now. I see the gun not too far away lying on the ground. Returning my focus to the important matter, I look back down at Misty. I choke on my sobs as I try to hold them back.

"Dammit Mist! I love you too." Grabbing her hand and then my phone with the other hand I dial 911, watching in terror as Misty's hand goes limp in my hand.

The wait in the hospital is the longest of my life. My knee doesn't stop bouncing. Every once in a while I have to get up and pace. As time ticks by, I think there's no way it should take this long. I imagine Misty showing up next to me saying 'it's surgery' in that way to go, captain obvious voice. 3 hours go by. Then 4… 5… 6... Just before the clock reaches the 7th hour I hear my name.

"Noah Oliver? The one who brought the gun shot victim in?" I jumped up meeting the nurse more than half way.

"Yea, that's me. What happened? Is she going to be alright? Can I see her?" I step forward and the nurse puts both hands on my chest stopping me from going past her. I look at her waiting for an explanation.

"She just got out of surgery. We had to revive her a couple times during surgery but managed to successfully get her back. However we had to put her in a medically induced coma. Thankfully she is remaining steady. But her body needs time to rest. It was a close call. Had she gotten here any later and she might not be in recovery. For now you should go home and rest. She won't be going anywhere for awhile." With her part finished the nurse turns and walks away. I don't want to move. I can't move. I am overjoyed Misty is out of surgery but the words of the nurse replay in my head, '... had to put her in a medically induced coma… close call… revive her a couple times… '

Entering my apartment something feels different. Well, if he wants to play, then let the games begin. I set my keys down and head for the kitchen. With all the excitement of the day I forgot to eat and my stomach is not pleased. Looking through the fridge I can't find anything appealing. I grab a carton of orange juice as a replacement and start to drink it straight from the carton. Setting down the nearly empty carton, my senses are set on high alert as I hear what sounds like the wood creak. Not to say that I am surprised in the slightest. I look out of the corner of my eye and see his figure leaning against the wall.

"She's recovering in the hospital. You're lucky you got away, otherwise you would be buried six feet underground." I hear a slight chuckle.

"Yet you haven't even tried to kill me and I've been here for 2 minutes." Slowly he comes into the dim light of the kitchen. "You knew I was behind everything. You had it put together before she did. I thought you would be smarter than to put her life in danger." My hands immediately make tight fists turning my knuckles white.

"You must be really fucking stupid to show up here just to taunt me like that. I have the training to kill you, yet unlike you, I have some restraint."

"Oh but you didn't have any restraint all those years ago."
"I was a kid!"

"Yea an angry kid. A kid with an eye for vengeance. Just. Like. Me." I can feel every muscle in my body twitching as he steps towards me. Pushing him away I start to pace.

"Yea I'm the one who told her to meet you at an abandoned building and then made you hold a gun to her head."

"I was-" I cut him off not wanting to hear his excuse.

"Why are you here Zach?" He turns his back to me grimacing and he takes in his surroundings. He notices the family picture I have framed. He picks it up and if I am not mistaken I see a smirk on his face, then he gently puts it back.

"I've realized...I need you to help me." I actually laughed out loud for the first time in a long time.

"Yea and I've realized I want you to marry Melissa." He turns toward me with a confused look on his face. "I thought we were naming things we would never want." He rolls his eyes. Coming back, he sets his arms on the island; he puts his head in his hands.

"You have to help me... as your family." I am not sure if this is a parallel universe but it certainly feels like it.

"After everything. Why should I help you? For one thing I was under the impression I meant nothing to you. You tried to kill me. And then you nearly killed my-"

"Lover?" If looks could kill, Zach would be dead on the ground. "Or was it best friend? If I'm not mistaken, you never liked her until she was mine." With that comment, my fist makes contact with his face. He laughs, wiping off the blood from his bottom lip.

"No one. Talks like that and gets away with it-"

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do?" He gets right in my face, daring me to do something. I decide that he isn't worth it. I pull out the gun from the holster on my pants and cock it, pointing it straight at his head.

"Get out... before I do something I regret." He scoffs, shaking his head and taking a couple steps backward.

"Shit Noah, I didn't even realize you were armed. Thank god you don't have the balls to shoot me. Otherwise the game would be over." 'He's trying to get on your nerves don't be stupid.'

He starts to walk away. I opened my mouth and started speaking the first words that came to mind.

"It's too bad what happened between us," he pauses as if to hear me out. "You were a great older brother, Zach. I didn't appreciate you always looking out for me and for that… I'm sorry." He doesn't move for a few seconds then turns to me opening his mouth to say something but closes it. I hear the door open and slam shut. Grabbing my phone I dial the only number I can rely on.

"Hey… Yea he was just here… Yes you were right, don't rub it in my face… Really? Just don't hurt him… Well he's still my brother… Samantha please, as my friend… Who said you can't be both a director and friend to your agents? Thank you… Yea I'll lay low.. Bye."

By the time Misty is signing out of the hospital to go home, reports of Zach and Jenna's arrest is all over the news. Not able to help myself, I stand in front of the TV in dismay. While Misty was recovering, my guess is somehow word of our investigation reached the public's ears.

'...Police officers are still finding more clues to an apparent cold case having been solved by Noah Oliver and Melissa Garcia. Both had stopped chasing a couple of murders when Melissa Garcia was shot and nearly killed by one of the suspects now in custody…'

They say that as life goes on you forget the horrors of the past. That time heals all wounds. Misty and I could never forget. It had been a while since everything went down and after a few months of required time off, I was ready to get back into work. I was also ready to finally settle things with Misty. She and I had been jumping around each other during the trial since we were giving instructions to lay low and have minimal contact. Now that's all over and I won't let another opportunity slip past me.

Walking up to her apartment I raise my hand to knock on the door when it opens. My heart stops for a second as I see her. It has been about a week since we got a new case and Misty wanted to get started as soon as possible. I could tell she missed working.

"How did you know I wa-mmphf!" Misty grabs my shirt pulling me into a kiss. After a minute I pull away slightly, raising my eyebrow.

"I missed you. Don't get used to it. C'mon, I just found some more clues." She turns around heading toward her workspace expecting me to follow. I chuckle, shaking my head. Pulling out the small black velvet box from my pocket, I take a deep breath. "Noah! Are you coming?"

"Yea!" I yell, slipping the box behind my back. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

The End