The Heart Collector (Under Editing)

Chapter Thirty-One: Enigma

Fare watched as Novus talked on the phone in his kitchen. He thought it best that they leave the scene and go somewhere neutral to recompose themselves. Fare sat on the couch in his living room. He had a quaint little cottage right outside the city limits. Much like his office back at the Thirteenth, there were little decorations. When Fare squinted, she could see the outlines of items that no longer hung on the walls. Judging by the size and shapes, Fare concluded that they must have been picture frames. Why they were taken down? Fare guessed that whatever memories they held were too painful to be constantly be reminded of. She glanced at him. His conversation must have taken a turn in the wrong direction because his body language was tense and his facial expression screamed frustration. It was that moment that he angrily hung up and almost threw his phone across the room, but decided against it at the last second. He sighed and plopped down in the recliner on the other side of the coffee table.

"What happened?"

Fare did not realize until then that her voice was hoarse.

Novus took notice of the full glass of water and two painkillers he left on the coffee table for her when they arrived, "You should take those."

She crossed her arms over her chest, "Don't redirect the question. What happened?"

He ran his hands over his face, "That was Hughes. He informed me that there were bodies in the shaft, but because of the flames he could not get an accurate count."

"What about the guest registry?"

"That can only help us so much. There was no guarantee that everyone on that list was even there. Some of the squad leaders are dispatching their teams to look into it."

"What about the blood splatter?"

"He said it was odd, but not impossible. Without any bodies to examine, it's hard to say what caused it to splatter that way."

Fare sighed. She picked up the painkillers when she felt the start of a headache and knocked back the glass of water in three hard gulps.

"What about you?"

"Hmm?"

"Come on Fare."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

That was a lie and they both knew it.

"Really Fare. I'm talking about your episode back at the ambulance. I've never seen you cry, but I have a feeling that it takes a lot for you to. So, I'll ask again, what happened?"

She nervously bit her thumbnail, "To be honest, I don't know if I want to talk about it. I'm having a tough time mentally and emotionally processing it."

"Okay, I understand. Do you think that it relates to the murders?"

Fare thought back to the image of her mother with a hole in her chest. She shuttered. As much as she did not want to think about it, her connection was much deeper than they originally thought.

"Fare?"

The more that she thought about it, the more nauseous she became.

"Fare?"

She bolted for the bathroom and managed to empty her stomach in the toilet. Novus was not far behind her and watched from the doorway. After a few dry heaves, she slumped against the tub.

"Better?" He sat down against the opposite wall.

She gave him an expression that read 'really?'.

He chuckled, "Sorry. I suppose this answers my question though."

Fare may have looked green around the gills, but she still managed to give him a warning glare.

"Come on. You and I both know that everything matters at this point or have you forgotten that we're on a deadline."

She was shocked by his unusual harshness for a moment then once it wore off, her blood began to boil.

"Trust me, I haven't forgotten. The question is however is what has you so on edge. I know how tiring it is to constantly wear a mask and I've restrained myself long enough from ripping it off. You hoped that I wouldn't notice how you've kept your life out of our conversations and you expect me to be forthcoming about mine? Relevance to the case be damned!"

"Fare." Novus knew that he fucked up.

"No. I'm not giving you anything until you answer me. You say that I have a hard time trusting people, but what about you?! What have you told me about yourself? If you want me to continue to trust you, I need you to give me something. I'm tired of walking in the dark!"

Novus was a bit shaken. Silence engulfed the bathroom as Fare cooled down. She began to think that she may have gotten carried away, but then she realized that she really knew nothing about the Truthfall captain and that unnerved her. He knew a lot about her. He even knew about her most precious secret. So why was he such an enigma?

"You're right."

Fare was startled.

"Wait here." He got up.

A few moments later, he brought a medium black frame and handed it to her. The photo was of a younger Novus, twenty at the most, and a girl that looked to be a few years younger than him. She was beautiful. She had long black hair and chestnut eyes. She was on Novus' back and she had her arms wrapped around his neck so that her cheek was pressed into his. She was smiling. They both were. Wherever this was taken, it had a beautiful and large oak tree.

"Her name was Claire."

She turned to face him. Multiple questions burned in her eyes.

"You remind me a lot of her. She had a strong desire to protect the ones that she loved. She was also stubborn as all hell. No matter how many times I pulled her out of trouble, she would always find herself knee deep in it again. We first met when I arrested her for stealing a Truth-Fall's cruiser. Later I learned that she did it so that we wouldn't find two runaway human kids. It was my first day after I was promoted to Lieutenant."

Fare saw a ghost of a smile as he talked and for some reason that made her heart ache. That was the first time since Kila died that she felt that. Not even when Michael died.

"The way that you talk about her, was she-."

"My wife? Yes, she was."

"What happened to her?" Fare handed the frame back to him.

He took a deep breath, "She was killed. Three years ago, she came to visit me at the Thirteenth division and a group of human anti-Fae activists came charging in with weapons and opened fire. We managed to subdue them without anyone getting injured. At least that was what I thought. One of them slipped free at got off shot towards me. Claire managed to stop the bullet with her telekinesis, but she didn't have great control of her gift because she couldn't stop it completely. Before I could react, she turned the bullet on herself and well, I'm sure you can guess what happened next."

Fare reached across and took his hands into hers. She was never good at comforting people with words, so she hoped that that was enough. He moved one of his hands and reached into his shirt. He pulled out a long metal chain with two rune engraved wedding bands hanging from it.

"When I first saw you that day, I thought at first that I must have been dreaming. You looked so much like her. Even your comebacks are similar."

She retracted her hand. She felt more of her soul split at the comment. Emotions that she could not understand played on her heart. Many thoughts swirled around inside her, but there was only one that she was concerned with now.

"Novus, did you agree to help me because I remind you of your late wife?"