The sounds of two voices, loud and angry, slipped through an open third floor window. The echo drifted above and below the apartment where the combatants squared off against each other; their yells blending together, neither person taking any time to actually let the other speak. It seemed unlikely to anyone who heard the argument that either one of them would even be able to hear what the other one was saying.

 The brunette exited the building and grinned. Everything was going perfectly according to plan.

 They’d fallen for the trap and now it was only a matter of time before everything fell into place.

 Joe Minor, who lived in the apartment directly below the fighting couple, walked from his car towards the building and glanced up just as something flew out of the third-floor window, apparently thrown in anger.

 He exchanged a grimace of understanding with his neighbor as they approached each other on the sidewalk. “Are they winding up or winding down?” Joe asked. “Sounds like they’ve been going at it for a while.”

 “They actually just started, scarily enough. They sure built up really quickly, though.”

 “Great,” Joe sighed. “Think it would be too rude if I go pound on their door and tell them to shut the hell up?”

 “Just be careful,” the brunette replied with a small smile. “You don’t want them to turn things around and start yelling at you instead of each other.”

 “True,” Joe admitted with a nod. “Well, have a good night. I just got home from work, but maybe I should follow your lead and just head out again.”

 “You have a good night, too. And good luck avoiding the racket.”

 With a last friendly wave to each other, they went their separate ways.

 The shouting started to escalate, and the brunette’s grin only widened at the sound of a plate shattering. It had certainly come in handy that they both had quite a temper.

 Now, it was only a matter of waiting a bit longer.

 Then, it would be time to strike.

****

 

 Act I:

 Claire smiled as she looked around the dinner table, her two boys engaged in a debate with Ed over the pros and cons of the Warriors’ current point guard, Ellis Vanderholt, and their new rookie sensation, Max Freeman. Claire chimed in with a vote for Vanderholt, surprising the men of the family with the fact that she even knew who he was.

 Her recent vacation had been good for all of them, Claire mused. A chance for herself to regroup a bit after all the myriad of recent traumas; a chance for Ed, Nate, and Derek to spend quality time with each other, just the three of them, without the stress that Claire sometimes couldn’t help but bring home from her job.

 She was just about to ask if they were ready for dessert when she was interrupted by the ringing of their phone. She thought about simply not answering, but as much as she might like to pretend otherwise at the moment, she couldn’t just ignore things when work came calling. Maybe, if she were lucky, her first instinct would be wrong, anyway, and it wasn’t even related to work.

 “Hello?”

In any case, Claire’s option of ignoring the call disappeared as she noticed that Nate had already run to answer the phone.

 “Mom, it’s for you!” he called out.

 “Claire, hi, it’s Tom,” came the expected greeting. “Sorry to pull you away from your family this evening, but we need you downtown. A woman’s been found dead in her apartment.”

 With a sigh, Claire asked for the location and jotted it down on a notepad that was lying near the phone. “Okay, I’ll be down there soon as I can.”

 So much for the relaxing evening Claire had been looking forward to.

 ****

 

“We’re talking to the neighbors now,” Jacobi explained as Lindsay walked into Maya Castillo’s apartment. “We’re trying to find out if any of them saw or heard anything. So far, the most we’ve got is that she and her boyfriend tended to fight a lot.”

 “A suspect already, how nice. So where is he?” Lindsay asked, nodding to Claire as she entered Maya’s bedroom and got her first look at the body, sprawled across the carpet, several gunshot wounds to the chest.

 “We’re not sure, but we’re trying to track him down. They seemed to be at least partially cohabitating, so reason says that he’ll be back before too long, unless he has a particular reason to stay away.”

 “Sounds good. Claire, what have you got for us?” Lindsay placed her hand on Claire’s shoulder and squatted down to get a closer look at the body.

 “Looks pretty straightforward, to be honest,” Claire responded. “Two gunshot wounds, fired at close range. I’ll need to bring her back to the morgue before I can say anything decisively, but it’s looking like your basic shoot-and-run. Killer fired off two rounds point blank and then hightailed it out of here. I’d be surprised if this was premeditated. Those usually involve some kind of attempt to clean things up a bit more.”

 Lindsay nodded as she stood back up, taking her time as she walked around the body, looking for anything that might stand out.

 Jacobi opened his mouth to ask a question, but before he got the chance, another voice called out squeamishly. “Eww. I hate blood. Remind me again why I chose a career that involves looking at lots of blood?”

 Everyone in the room turned to see that D.D.A. Jill Bernhardt had joined the group.

 Claire smirked. “Because how else would you get to become friends with such cool people as all of us?”

 Jill merely grimaced in response. “Who found her? Can I go talk to that person, who presumably isn’t in this room?”

 Jacobi looked down at his notes before responding, “Brittany Devine, lives two floors down. Apparently she feeds the fish when Maya’s out of town, and there was a mix-up over some dates.”

 “Great,” Jill responded, her eyes shifting away from the body. “I’ll go find Brittany, then.”

 The blonde exhaled as she left the room. It wasn’t only to avoid the gruesome scene that she’d wanted to escape as quickly as possible. She hated to admit it, but things were still occasionally a little bit awkward with Lindsay since Jill had accidentally mistaken the inspector’s girlfriend for her own. They’d both pretended that the awkwardness wasn’t there, but...

 Jill sighed. As if she didn’t already have enough women connected to her mess of a love life; Maggie and Denise were plenty, she certainly didn’t need to add Cindy to the mix.

 She and Lindsay had gotten through plenty of tricky situations before, though, and she knew they’d be fine after this one as well.

 It didn’t take her long to locate the girl who’d found the body. Brittany Devine was a pretty, young woman, all long legs and wide, shell-shocked eyes. Probably living on her own for the first time, Jill guessed. What an introduction to independent living, coming across your dead neighbor.

 “Brittany? Hi, I’m with the district attorney’s office. I know it’s been a rough night, but could you tell me what happened?” Jill smiled sympathetically, hoping that at least the girl wouldn’t be too distressed to talk.

 Big green eyes blinked slowly, before focusing on Jill. “Maya...” she began, and then lapsed into silence again. Jill simply waited, allowing Brittany to continue at her own pace. “Maya’s dead, isn’t she? She looked dead... I didn’t look long, and it’s not like I know what dead people look like, but... she really looked dead.”

 “I’m sorry you had to see her like that. Did you know her well?” Jill asked.

 “Not really.” Brittany took a deep breath, a bit of color returning to her cheeks. “We were friendly enough, but not really friends, if you know what I mean.”

 “And you fed her fish?” prompted Jill.

“Yeah, she’s really particular about them. They’re just fish, if you ask me, what do they care whether they get fed right on time or not, you know? But still, Maya hates – well, ‘hated,’ I guess I should say, huh?”

 The ‘lost’ look returned to Brittany’s features for a moment before she took a deep breath and continued, “Maya hated the thought of them going hungry for even a little while. So I don’t know why, but somehow I had in mind that she was going to be out of town this weekend, and I was about to be late to feed them, so instead of double-checking my calendar, I just went up there. And that’s when... That’s when...”

 “I only need to bother you for a little while longer,” Jill interrupted, hoping to keep the girl on track. “What can you tell me about Maya’s social life?”

 “I got the impression that she worked a lot, but sometimes I’d see the same group of friends coming to stop by every once in a while. I never actually met any of them, though. You’re really asking about Jeremy, though, I assume.”

 “Jeremy?”

 The frown that crossed Brittany’s face before she continued was only a preview of what was coming. “Yeah, Jeremy Grayson. He’s Maya’s boyfriend. I don’t really know him personally or anything, but he and Maya have a tendency to fight. A lot. And they’re the kind of fights where everyone in the building knows about it because the two of them will scream at the top of their lungs at each other. Just a few days ago, they were going at it again.”

 “Do you know what they were fighting about this time?” the attorney asked.

 “Sometimes I can’t tell at all what they’re saying, but other times I can’t help but hear it all. This time, I think one of them thought the other was cheating on them or something like that, but I was trying not to listen in and don’t really know any details, so don’t quote me on that. I wasn’t here the whole time anyway.”

 “Great, thank you for your help, Brittany. Let me know if you think of anything else,” Jill finished, handing over her business card.

 Unknowingly copying Lindsay’s line of thought, Jill smiled inwardly at the possibility of a suspect so early on.

 Maybe they’d actually catch a break with an easy case, for once. They could certainly use a few of those, given what still lay ahead.

 Jill’s thoughts darkened as her mind turned to Pete Raynor and the nightmare that his upcoming trial was sure to be. Part of her wanted to simply let him rot in his jail cell forever, where neither she nor any of her friends would have to see or think about him ever again. The other part of her wanted to let him rot in hell instead.

 ****

 

Lindsay turned the key to Cindy’s apartment and was greeted with two of her favorite sounds: Martha barking happily and Cindy laughing.

 Taking off her coat, Lindsay rounded the corner into the living room as the Border collie wagged her tail and hurried over as soon as she caught sight of the inspector.

 Lindsay felt a brief flash of something – it felt suspiciously like jealousy, but she didn’t like to call it that – when she looked up from petting Martha to see that Cindy’s laughter was a result of talking with someone on the phone. It instantly disappeared, though, when the redhead turned and Cindy’s smile immediately widened at the sight of her lover. It was the smile that Cindy gave only to Lindsay, and the inspector knew for a fact that she would never tire of seeing it.

 “Hey babe,” Lindsay whispered as Cindy crossed the room and brought their lips together, holding the phone away from her ear for a moment.

 “Lindsay just got home. You want to talk to her?” Cindy spoke into the receiver. “Okay then, see you tomorrow, Jill.”

 The flash of something reappeared for a second. Keep cool, Lindsay told herself. It’s not Jill or Cindy’s fault that Jill had to go and hit her damn head. And hey, for once Jill actually showed some good taste.

 Lindsay knew that any feelings of jealousy were completely irrational, but sometimes she simply couldn’t stop herself. Having a visual image of Jill wrapped up in Cindy’s arms certainly didn’t help either. Still, she resolved to let the issue go.

 “That was Jill,” Cindy explained unnecessarily. “Apparently you left your cell phone at the scene, so she was just calling to say that she has it.”

 Lindsay reached into her pocket, finding an emptiness that confirmed Jill’s story. “I must have put it down after Tom called for an update. I should get a new one, anyway. Whenever I use it now, I keep thinking I smell peanut butter.”

 Cindy laughed, bringing a bright smile to Lindsay’s lips. “So I don’t see your computer out,” the inspector continued. “Does that mean you finished your article on time?”

 “Got it in just under the wire,” confirmed Cindy. “I was going to follow after you, but then Jill called, so I knew I was too late for that. But now you’re back, so you can tell me details of what I missed!”

 Cindy sounded a bit too excited about the prospect of details from a crime scene, in Lindsay’s opinion. Besides, she had a different activity for them in mind, and a much more pleasurable one at that.

 “Details can wait, don’t you think? We’re not going to solve any murders tonight, and this one’s all pretty boring at this point anyway.”

 “You know I never think the details are boring, Linz,” Cindy protested. “And come on, I hate it when I have to miss crime scenes. Especially when the only reason is because my editor decided to move up a deadline at the last minute.”

 “How can you say ‘especially’ when this is the first time you’ve missed a crime scene for that reason?” Lindsay wondered aloud, still trying to keep her mind focused away from the details that Cindy wanted, in order to preserve her mood.

 “Whatever, technicalities,” Cindy countered with a wave of her hand. “Why are you refusing me details? The only reason I’m dating you is for the inside scoop; you should know that by now.” The reporter smirked teasingly, the adoration in her eyes betraying her true motive for being with the inspector.

 Lindsay merely stared at her girlfriend, a slow smile gracing her lips. “It’s getting late,” she muttered softly, reaching up to smooth a hand down Cindy’s cheek. “Details can wait, don’t you think?”

 Cindy swallowed audibly as Lindsay’s gaze shifted from amused to smoldering.

 “Right,” she finally agreed. “Who cares about details anyway?”

 Without another word, Lindsay grabbed her lover’s hand and gently but quickly led her down the hall and into the bedroom.

 Martha followed along behind, only to come up short when the door was summarily shut in front of her. Apparently her people needed to be alone for a little while.

 ****

 

“Enjoy your vacation, Bernhardt?”

 Jill looked up from her desk, surprised to see Denise at the door to her office. Maybe the idea that her boss had been avoiding her lately had simply been her imagination. Especially considering the fact that she’d actually asked a nice question, instead of throwing out her usual biting comment.

 “Um, yes, I did. Thank you,” Jill managed, after taking too long to respond and earning a raise in Denise’s left eyebrow as a result.

 “How nice for you. You may not have noticed, but you’re not on vacation anymore.” So much for a softer side of Denise, Jill thought to herself, as her boss glared at her. “I need to see more progress coming out of this office.”

 “Well, with all due respect, everything seems to be on track, so I’m not sure where you think I’m falling behind,” Jill commented in confusion.

 “This newest case from last night. I hear there’s a suspect, but you haven’t been able to find him yet. Why aren’t you doing more about that?” asked Denise, arms crossed in front of her chest.

 Jill merely frowned. “Well, because locating suspects isn’t my job?”

 “Don’t get smart with me, Bernhardt,” Denise practically growled.

 Sighing, Jill continued, “We’re giving him a bit more time to show up on his own, as well as continuing to try to find anyone who knows where he is. If nothing comes up, we’ll secure a search warrant for his apartment. At the same time, detectives are looking for any other leads or suspects.”

 “Your girlfriend on this one?” The second word was practically spit out.

 “Lindsay, my friend who happens to be a girl, is. Not my girlfriend, though,” Jill replied calmly.

 “Fine,” Denise huffed. “Make sure you stay professional at all times, especially when you do end up working with Detective Snow.” With that, the Acting District Attorney turned to leave the office.

 Jill couldn’t stop the look of puzzlement she shot towards Denise. “Have I ever-” Jill’s sentence was interrupted by Denise shutting the door behind her. “Not been?” she finished with a sigh to the empty room. “Right. How crazy to think that a few kisses might change some things,” the attorney muttered to herself. “Everything’s back to normal.”

 A part of her realized that she was disappointed, but Jill refused to think any further on the confusing subject.

 ****

 

A few hours later, the club convened down at the morgue for Claire’s report.

 “Well, nothing strange has come up at this point. As I suspected, cause of death is certainly the two shots to the chest,” Claire explained.

 Unconsciously, Lindsay reached out for Cindy’s hand, holding on tight. Jill and Claire made eye contact with the redhead as well and smiled affectionately. They shared a quiet moment, no need for words, all extremely grateful that the club’s personal experience with gunshot wounds hadn’t ended as tragically as Maya Castillo’s.

 With a deep breath, Claire continued, “One bullet lodged in her stomach, while the other went straight through, creating some bone fragments along the way, which nicked at her heart, causing a relatively quick death. I believe that a single bullet was found on the scene?”

 Lindsay nodded. “From a .357 Magnum revolver, yeah. We haven’t found the actual gun yet, though.”

 “Well that caliber matches the bullet that I recovered, so no mystery there,” added Claire.

 “Time of death?” Jill asked. “How long had she been there before she was found?”

 “She was most likely found within two hours, so I’m putting time of death around 6pm, or a little before that,” the medical examiner reported.

 “And no one heard any gunshots going off?” Jill’s forehead creased in confusion. “At that time of day, and especially considering there were two of them, you’d think that someone would have heard something.”

 “Unless there happened to be some kind of siren, like from an ambulance or a police car, outside the building right at that time,” Cindy suggested, causing all three of her friends to turn and look at her, questioning looks all around.

 “And where’d you get that idea?” Lindsay inquired.

 “Police scanner,” was Cindy’s sole explanation, as if that was enough to clue everyone else in. When it became obvious that it wasn’t, Cindy continued. “Well, I’m hopelessly addicted to that thing, as you all know, and I also remember everything I hear, as you also all know, so... Around 5:30, yesterday, a call came in requesting an ambulance. Maya lived right by the hospital, right? So maybe, as luck would have it, she got shot right as the ambulance drove by.”

 Lindsay could only shake her head in amazement. “You’re a handy girl to have around, you know that?”

 Cindy beamed. “About time you finally admitted it.”

 ****

 

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