Fleur Di Lis

Chapter Seven

After my encounter with Nathaniel, I returned to the party to see Natasha hurrying towards me in a panic, barging past people as she came towards me.

"Where the hell were you?" She demanded. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

"I got caught up." I frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Bax," she began. "He's here."

Alarm rose within me, and the cop instinct that had been trained in me took over. My hand automatically reached for my gun, hidden under my dress, when I stopped in my tracks. Producing my gun would cause alarm, and ultimately would blow my cover. Hell, I was lucky that I convinced Nathaniel to keep quiet about me being here. If Bax Carey was here, I needed to make sure that he didn't know I was here. I needed him to prove that he was behind Dana's murder. I needed him to confess, without knowing I'm there.

The only person he would ever confide in with that information was Nathaniel.

And, he wasn't my number-one fan right now either.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"I don't know," she admitted. "As soon as I saw him, I came looking for you. What do we do?"

"Stay calm," I advised. "This is a public place, if this is the guy I'm looking for, he won't do anything in a crowded location. Stay with me," I added.

"And what if he finds out I brought a cop here?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Now," I went on. "Where's Carey's office?"

"Down the corridor," she pointed to the corridor I had just exited from. "To the left."

I nodded once, gesturing her to follow me. We strode down the corridor, hoping that Nathaniel had left the corridor already.

Hearing agitated voices emanating from the corridor, I stopped short, holding Natasha back. One voice was familiar -- all too familiar -- and the other? Calm, smooth and cold. I took that as Bax's.

"... No idea the trouble you have caused," Nathaniel snapped.

"Trouble?" Bax chuckled, examining his fingernails like it was a typical discussion. The callous way he acted boiled my blood; my hands clenched into fists. Oh, he was our guy, alright. It was all over his face, his demeanour. He didn't think he'd get caught.

Oh, I can't wait to prove you wrong, pal, I thought.

"More like inconvenience," he went on, smirking at his brother's irritated expression. "Don't worry, brother, I cleaned up after myself. I'm not as stupid as you think I am."

"Obviously you are, because they found her," he snapped. "Why her, Bax? Of all the people in New York City, why her?"

"Because she was getting in the way," Bax growled. "You were focusing too much on her to care about anything else."

"About you, you mean," Nathaniel scoffed derisively. "Everything has to be about you, doesn't it? If not, you throw your toys out the pram and the body count increases. I was lucky enough to get Gregory on board before that detective got too close, but I fear that won't be enough."

"I could..." He trailed off, waving his hand in a meaningful gesture.

"No!" There was a mighty thump that vibrated through the walls, and I risked a glance to see Nathaniel holding his brother against a wall, his face twisted ferociously and teeth bared. I hardly recognized him; he was terrifying. "You lay a finger on her and I swear I'll kill you, brother or not!"

"Like you were going to yesterday when you found out Dana was gone?" Bax snorted. "You don't have the nerve, brother. You never have."

"You don't know what I have," he pushed himself away from his brother, disgusted. "Because you'll never have it."

"Oh, I will. And, I think that's what scares you."

Nathaniel said nothing; he stared at his brother with that same disgusted expression on his face. For someone who hated his brother so much, he was doing a lot to protect him. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of tense silence, he pointed to the mouth of the corridor. "Go. Before I do something I regret."

"Fine," Bax shrugged himself off the wall, which had cracked when Nathaniel threw him into it. I raised my eyebrows. That wasn't normal. Nobody had enough strength to crack a wall, either that or the walls were really poor quality. And, that I doubted very highly. "I'm feeling pretty hungry anyway."

"He's coming," Natasha breathed fearfully.

We hurried as silently as we could away from the wall, clamoring into a store cupboard before he turned the corner to head out. As the footfalls faded, I exchanged a look with Natasha. From what I'd heard, Bax was definitely the killer. And, more importantly, Nathaniel knew about it. Withholding police evidence, aiding and abetting a murderer...

He was already looking at a long jail-term, just by protecting his brother.

"We need to get out of here," I said finally.

"But, Mr. Carey..."

"Is an accomplice," I finished grimly. "He's protecting his brother, which means he's got as much blood on his hands as Bax has. I need to bring him in."

"He didn't kill anyone," Natasha snapped.

"He might as well have," I retorted. "Now I'm gonna go home, call it in, and get him in for questioning. He's got a lot of explaining to do."

I exited the store cupboard and strode out of the club, into a waiting yellow cab. I gave the guy my address and took my mask off, watching as the Fleur Di Lis emblem faded away ...

***

I tipped the cabbie generously before heading up the stairs to my apartment, suddenly weary. The concierge waved me a cheery hello before I headed into the elevator. Tonight had been eventful, yet unexpected. Of course, my hunch had been correct; Bax was the killer. Nathaniel was covering for him because he was his brother, which made him an accomplice and equally as guilty, despite not being the one who physically did the deed.

As I had said to Natasha, he might as well have.

I exited the elevator, and stopped dead.

My front door stood ajar.

Rik would never have left my door open, not in New York City.

I un-holstered my gun and carefully stepped into the apartment, heart pounding the adrenaline throughout my entire body. The place had been completely trashed; broken glass was everywhere, everything from furniture to little ornaments had been upturned and strewn across the length of the apartment or smashed to smithereens. Even my cheap artwork from IKEA hadn't been saved; they had been ripped to shreds and the frame on the floor.

What the hell happened here?

"Shit," I muttered with a sigh, lowering my gun.

THWACK!

Something hard hit my back, making me fly across the room and connect with the wall opposite. My back cracked and I let out a pained yelp before connecting with the floor with a thump. For a moment, I lay there as pain rocketed through my body.  What the fuck? I looked up, ignoring the dull thudding in my head, to see three pairs of designer, shiny black shoes in front of me. Their voices were muffled under the ringing in my ears. I lifted my head further, and let out a small gasp as fear took hold.

One pair of feet belonged to Bax Carey.