Part 42 (1/2)

She only shook her head and declined. ”I wouldn't win anyway.”

”How can you be so sure of that?”

”Well what are the odds anyway?”

Vladimir let out a breath and mumbled, ”With thoughts like that you would be a shoe in.”

”What?”

”Nothing,” he sighed again.

”No, what's the matter?”

He withheld his opinions and told her they should be on their way.

”No,” she stopped him. ”Listen, if it really is that big of a deal to you I'll do it.” She wrote her name, email, phone number, and address on the card and slipped it into the box next to the stand. ”Is that better?”

”This has nothing to do with the contest Rachel.”

”Then what's this about? Why're you acting strangely?”

”I am not comfortable with the way things are right now.”

She blinked. ”What are you talking about?”

Vladimir looked away from her and asked why she never told Jordan about the trip. ”If you told him I was going to join you today, he would have said something to either withhold you from going or he would have accompanied us. You never wanted him to join us though.”

”I did.”

Vladimir shook his head and whispered, ”You are lying.”

”No I'm not!” she shouted. ”d.a.m.n it Vladimir, who cares if it's just you and me? Who cares about what Jordan thinks? He's never showed any interest in what I like unless its drugs or partying and this falls well outside of those relatively small areas.”

”Rachel”

”This isn't about him at all.”

Vladimir looked her in the eye and told her that it was. ”I cannot be a part of a life where you want to go behind your boyfriend's back to be with me.”

Rachel glared at him and said she wasn't. ”We're not doing anything”

”But it will become something if this persists.” He took a breath and apologized and told her he needed to leave. ”I cannot come between you and him. I won't.”

”Vladimir.”

He told her to stop. ”Rachel, please, just leave this alone.” He started to walk away and apologized again. ”I'll see you in cla.s.s on Monday.”

Rachel watched him leave and bitterly told herself that he was wrong. She didn't move though, as his words and their conversation echoed through her head. As much as she hated the allegations Vladimir placed upon her, she knew he was right. Jordan hadn't ever been the greatest boyfriend but Rachel knew he didn't deserve to be cheated on or lied to. She wouldn't want him to sneak around behind her back either. Rachel cursed under her breath and slowly headed for the exit while she contemplated what to do about the two boys she felt so strongly about.

7:45 PM.

Baltimore, Maryland Officer Maguire struggled to endure his workday without calling Mia to update her about the investigation. His thoughts raced from point to point in the investigation and finally after his s.h.i.+ft ended he quickly found himself at her door. Bryce took a breath to compose himself (as well as catch his breath, since he walked to and from work on a daily basis and as such ran to her home), and knocked.

She answered after a few seconds and was surprised to see him. ”What do you want Maguire?”

Bryce smiled and said, ”I just wanted to drop by and tell you that there's been a development in the case.”

Mia looked very cautiously at him and asked what it was.

”We think a guy named Joaquin Hernandez is the fourteenth victim,” he started to say, but quickly corrected himself, ”Er...we think it's him. We're not entirely sure, since we weren't the first ones on the case. I mean, we haven't even seen the body or confirmed the scar, but, well, we're pretty sure it's him.”

Mia let out a breath and told him it was Joaquin Hernandez. ”I drove out to the site and spoke with the detectives as soon as I'd heard about it. They didn't want to say anything about their case, but I managed to find out that he does have the crescent scar on his arm.”

Bryce blinked. ”Um...Well, I guess you really didn't need me to drop by.” He wasn't sure what to do or say next, but asked, ”Why'd you go out of your way to figure out whether it was him or not? Especially on your day off.”

Mia shrugged. ”Probably the same reason you went out of your way to drop by and tell me about him.”

Bryce nodded and searched for the words he should say next. ”I guess I'll see you tomorrow then.”

Mia said the same and shut the door.

He didn't move for a moment. Crows flew behind him and sirens wailed off in the distance, but Bryce wasn't sure what to do. He hadn't expected her to welcome him into her home with open arms and a warm beverage, but their meeting felt terse. Bryce turned around and head back toward the streets, but stopped when he saw a homeless man next to a payphone.

”Spare some change mister?” he asked Bryce.

He would have said no, but the payphone caught his eye. It was covered with a message that read in red paint, 'MIA STOP CLADIS.' Bryce looked closer at the message and noticed that the paint was relatively fresh, and that the words were painted over a poorly painted coat of gray.

Bryce asked the man how long he'd been out there. The man scratched his bearded chin and said the whole day. ”Did you see someone paint this message here?”

”What message?”

”This one,” he said while he showed the booth off to the beggar. ”Did anyone use it and leave this message behind?”

He scratched his ratty hair and said, ”Most people just walk by me and don't use the phone. There was this one guy who looked as bad off as me who used it for a moment.”

”What'd he look like?” Bryce asked.

”He was in tatters and rags,” he said, ”Just like me.”

”Yes, but what did he look like?”

The man only shrugged and admitted that he didn't get a good look at his face.

Bryce thanked him, gave him a few bucks for his help, and raced back to Mia's apartment. He dashed up the stairs, pounded on her door, and tried his best to catch his breath before Mia answered.

”What?”