In Hot Pursuit (Nydanna & MST3K 4ever)

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

[fieldbox= Cynthia, #367b85, dashed, 10, Georgia] To say Cynthia was pissed would have been an understatement. Fortunately, there was little difference between her pissed off face and the face she usual wore throughout the day. The damage to Max's house wasn't what troubled he. r. Things could be replaced, and the owners of the house were out of the picture for the next few days. What she was pissed off about was the fact that Holsted had sent West in without backup, and knowing full well that the killer would be striking Max's house at some point. It would have been better to let the murderer take out his frustrations on Max and Susan's belongings than risk the chance that someone else would be killed for standing in his way. Did they all think she was stupid enough to leave Max there to handle someone who was out to get at her? Apparently her superior and co-workers mistook her for an idiot.

She didn't say anything to anyone as she surveyed the damage done. All in all, it could have been a lot worse, and Cynthia was slightly grateful that West had managed to put things to an end quickly. 'Still doesn't excuse his stupidity for being here in the first place.' She thought with a huff of annoyance, turning her attention back to the preparations at hand. She was going to have to spend the next few days fixing things up, and replacing everything that was broken. Other than that, she was certain the worst of it was over. At least for her.

West on the other hand looked like he had just spent the past few days in hell. Given what he'd been through, that wasn't much of a stretch from the truth. The detective listened as he began to talk, silently cursing at the man for being stubborn. Her arms folded across her chest as he finished, regarding him with a look that informed him that she was not at all happy about what she was hearing. Was he too stubborn to realize she was pushing him off the case so he could stop worrying about what the killer would do to him next? Apparently everyone just assumed she did everything simply because she liked being alone. 'Because telling him to take himself off the case would have worked like a fucking charm.' That was a laugh and Cynthia knew it. Deep down she was certain everyone else did to; they just enjoyed putting as much blame on her as possible.

"I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Holsted. You're both fucking idiots. Did you think I was going to let Max sit here with a fucking target painted on his head? I knew what was going to happen the minute I was out of the picture, which is why I didn't want anyone here! The whole point of sending them away was to avoid people getting hurt, not so you and Holsted could play around. You're lucky you didn't get yourself killed listening to him! You should have kept your resignation and gotten the hell out of here while you had a chance." Yes, she was pissed because now she had to worry about West again, and because she'd been forced to give a damn about what happened to someone else. She didn't like it at all. In fact, she would have preferred to have preferred spending the rest of her career on desk duty. "Did it ever occur to either one of you that I had things under control? A house and furniture, all that shit can be replaced. Who's going to replace your brains when the killer decides to send them flying out through your ears?"

Cynthia sighed heavily, ending her rant for the time being as Kevin touched a rather sensitive nerve she had hoped not to deal with. Still, she needed to tell him the truth, regardless of how much she didn't want to share the information. "My former headmaster and guardian was a pedophile. I'm pretty sure the killer got the pictures from him, but I have no idea how. The man's been dead for the past few years, and all of the pictures they took from him are stored in evidence. Yale was a dead end completely, which leaves trying to see if I can find anything from the gym I used to go to." That was like looking for a needle in a haystack, and Cynthia knew she'd have a better time tracking down the printer the photos were printed from than the identity of the photographer. "Go home, West. You look like shit. You've got till Thursday to rest up, and I'd suggest you use it."[/fieldbox]

 

[MST3K 4ever]

[fieldbox= Kevin, blue]

Listening to Cynthia rant was something Kevin was starting to get used to. Not enjoy but he was getting to the point of it almost was having no effect on him. Kevin was convinced he could save a bus load of nuns and orphans from going over a cliff and Cynthia would have an issue with it. It's just the way it is, and his mom would point out that maybe the issue isn't with him but with her. He let her finish and Kevin nodded.

He said, "A fucking idiot? Who was the one made sure this clown didn't get any further doing anything in this house? He had a great opportunity to kill me, and didn't Cynthia. He doesn't want me dead. It must be Hell having to deal with the rest of us mortals who don't know a damn thing because we're idiots. I can't believe I jeopardized my career for you." With that he said, "Partners have each other's backs and learn to work as equals not one is more important than the other." Kevin shook his head and said, "But you want to be the one to call the shots and just let me tag along." Kevin nodded again and said, "Fine, but again after this case we'll see about continuing on. See you on Thursday you think of anything to help out call me."

Kevin hobbled out of the house past Holsted and said, "I'm taking a couple of days to recover need anything call and I'll see what I can do."


Holsted replied, "Don't wait by your phone West."

Kevin cut off his phone, hopped on his Harley, and tore off into the night. He was in pain and frustrated, but in the back of his mind Kevin was also feeling guilt about what had happened to Cynthia. She had a rough life and he should've been more understanding towards her. However whenever he tried to show understanding or reach out she pushed him away or played the ice queen. Kevin imagined that if Cynthia ever let her guard down she would be a really nice person to know, but at this point he had exhausted every avenue to earn her trust. From now on for him it was about the job if she wanted to try have a true partnership and be colleagues as opposed to just co-workers it was now up to her.

Kevin thought about going back to his loft and just crashing out, but he would then just sit there and stew.
The events of the last couple of days were starting to take a toll on his psyche more than his body. Kevin drove past his apartment and down to one of his favorite places to take Roxanne running. He stopped his Harley along a rise within the woods and just stared at the lake. The rain was letting up to a fine mist so Kevin was able to see all the way to the lake. If it was daytime this would be the perfect time for Roxanne to just take off into the lake, and she would've loved every second of it. In this place Roxanne would always be alive and running through the woods and into the lake no matter what else happened in his life. Kevin smiled for the first time in almost 24 hours and he said, "Good girl Roxy, good girl." Kevin was beginning to feel at peace with Roxanne's passing, and he knew that there would be peaks and valleys for the rest of his life, but for the moment he enjoyed his peace.

He looked at his watch and saw that it was coming up on 1am. Kevin's frustration was subsiding more and more, but the pain in his ankle wasn't. Kevin knew it was time to give himself a chance to rest, but he promised himself that he would return here one day. Kevin blew a kiss into the night and said, "Bye Roxanne enjoy your run." Kevin then smiled as he crossed himself and drove back to his loft.

Once he was home after setting the alarm Kevin made his way back to his bedroom. This would be the first time he slept in here without Roxanne. He just reminded himself though that she was out for run in the woods. With that Kevin smiled and collapsed onto his bed thoroughly exhausted but satisfied.[/fieldbox]

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

[fieldbox= Cynthia, #367b85, dashed, 10, Georgia] By the time Thursday rolled around, Cynthia was back on her game and ready to return to work with a mind that was a bit more open than it had before. She had been seriously underestimating the killer's fascination with her in the past, and while the new information she had didn't put much of a spin on the case, it did give her another direction to look in. During her days off while she was setting up the new security system for Max's house, and hiring a cleanup crew to take care of everything that had been damaged, she began to dig into her older cases in search of the ones that had gone unsolved. Of the hundreds of cases she'd had over the years, there were only a half dozen that had gone unsolved, and of those six, three she had suspects for but could never get enough evidence to take to the D.A.

There was no common name between the three cases, no similarities in M.O's, no hot shot lawyer that could have gotten them off. The cases were different as well, but Cynthia did not rule them out completely. She added them to a growing pile of cases she needed to look into, along with the lawyers of her solved cases, at least the ones who proclaimed a frame up. There was a list of five names that she had to investigate now, all of whom seemed unlikely suspects. There was one name however that did catch her attention, a name that should have dawned on her earlier on in the investigation. How had she missed it?

Digging around through many of her cases the same name did pop up, and she quickly realized that she had made a grave error in not looking into the connection to herself all along. The lawyer in question was young, narcissistic, and exactly the type of person that she was looking for. His arrogance knew no bounds, and the more Cynthia honed in on him as a possible suspect, the more she grow suspicious of the man.

His name was Gregory Rollands, a thirty five year old attorney who had been practicing for the past five years and had become a partner in his firm within the last year. His numbers were impressive, however, he was on the opposing side which meant the detective had very little respect for his percentages. Of her cases, he'd only managed to get two of his clients off, and those wins were on technicalities that she was no responsible for. The first had been a mistake in one of the lab reports, and the second had been because of 'tainted' evidence. Cynthia had no doubt of the suspects' guilt in either case, and considered both to have gotten off lucky by failure on the CSI team to do a thorough job.

Digging around in Rollands' background she found quite a few warnings that could point to him as the murderer. He was wealthy, even without his law practice he had quite a large inheritance from his parents who had both died shortly after he graduated from law school. He had a number of properties, including his parents' former home, and a shore front property down in the keys, not to mention a few storage units she would love to check out. Those were all listed as properties under his name. Cynthia knew he could have easily paid for others and simply placed them under other names.

Rollands' file was added to the top of the list, and the moment she stepped into MCU Thursday morning she dropped a copy off on West's desk on her way to her own office. She had quite a few phone calls to make before she even thought about questioning the lawyer, most of which pertained to his courthouse appearances, and his schedule during the times of the murder. With a lawyer as her main suspect, Cynthia had to tread carefully, dotting her I's and crossing her T's. The last thing she wanted was to give her suspicions away too early on in the game, and with no other possible connection besides his link to some of her cases, everything she had was completely circumstantial. Before she even thought about approaching the man, she needed something a lot more substantial than an instinct and her own personal dislike for the man. She wondered briefly if perhaps West might be better suited for dealing with Rollands, but after a few moments of consideration decided that they would have to deal with the lawyer as a team rather than individuals. Now all she had to do was wait for her partner's opinion on the matter, then they could begin digging around a bit more for further evidence that might link the man to their murders.[/fieldbox]

 

[MST3K 4ever]

[fieldbox= Kevin, blue]

When Sunday night rolled into Monday morning. Kevin felt like death warmed over. It was a bit of struggle getting used to not having Roxy, but it was nothing compared to the physical pain he was feeling at the time. Not to mention he looked like something the cat wouldn't dream of dragging in, but then again it had been years since he slept into almost 10am. He was under orders to take some time to recover, and if it had come from Cynthia he would've ignored the order. This time though it came from Holsted and when he left Max's house Holsted actually looked and sounded like he felt guilty. It was his blackmailing that got Kevin to stick around and conduct surveillance on the house, but it was those same actions that got Kevin's face and side bashed in and looking like raw hamburger. Not to mention it looked like someone had stuck a bagel inside of Kevin's ankle.

He got out of bed and hobbled to the mirror. Kevin took one look at himself and said, "Okay Captain you win if you insist I'll stay home." Kevin hobbled out to the living room and promptly laid down on the couch. He said, "Wow what a workout. I think I'll stay here for a month." Kevin then promptly fell back to sleep.

Just about three hours later there was a knock at the door. He said, "If it's anything to do with the case I may actually have a nervous breakdown." He made his way to the door and when he opened it standing there was his former partner Larry Montgomery.

Larry was shaking his head and had a case of beer, two huge steaks, and two sizable baking potatoes in a bag as he said, "Someone told me that you were all fucked up? Nice to see it wasn't an exaggeration."

Kevin chuckled and asked, "What the hell brings you by?" He motioned for Larry to come in, and when he did Kevin closed the door.

Larry walked in and said, "I was clearing out what was left of my desk, and then I overheard a couple of the CSI techies talking about what happened to you and the yelling match with your partner." He set the items down and said, "And to Roxy I'm sorry for your loss Kevin. Anyway I heard you were on down town for a few figured I'd come over we'd have some steaks, watch a couple ball games and have some suds. Nice thing about retirement you ain't got to answer to anyone. "

At first Kevin wanted to shoot Larry down, but in the back of his mind he knew he that needed an old friend like him right now. He asked, "Oh really? Not answer to anyone? What did Amy say all about this?"

Larry shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I didn't ask and I don't care what she says."

Kevin chuckled and asked, "She's out of town isn't she?"

Larry just looked at him and then replied, "She's visiting her mom until next Wednesday."

The two men laughed and Kevin said, "All right then let's have at it." Kevin grabbed a beer and Larry grabbed another which they proceeded to drink quickly. During the next few hours Kevin vented to Larry mainly about Cynthia as they each one fixed a part of their feast.

Larry said, "Kid it sounds like she's having a hard time admitting that she'd be upset if something happened to you on her watch. You gotta look at it from her side too. Now I'm not saying that you aren't justified in some of what you're saying and feeling, but face it Kev you're no day at the beach either."

Kevin nodded as he was working on his fifth beer and said, "Guilty as charged there boss man."

Larry replied, "Give it time kid. You gotta remember when you came along I was used to dealing with partners she isn't. Just give her time Kevin."

After they had killed half of the beer, devoured their feast, and watched three College Basketball games Larry called for a cab and went home. He said he'd be back on Tuesday to get his car. Kevin was feeling no pain but even if he was stone cold sober Kevin was starting to come back around. The sense of anger towards Cynthia fading away, and just being himself and not worrying about the case recharged Kevin mentally and physically.
By Thursday Kevin was more than ready to get back to the case. He was clear minded and ready to help anyway he could with Cynthia.

Coming into MCU that morning Kevin was still looking rough around the edges. Wearing dark glasses was a good idea, but the ankle was in better shape and Kevin only needed to wear an athletic brace on it. Kevin stopped off at his office and saw the file on his desk. He sat down and read through it. As he did Kevin was not impressed with the name Gregory Rollands. Kevin was taught by his father not to hate anyone that in everyone there was something good in them. Rollands though would severely test Nathan's belief in that ideal Kevin thought. He had managed to get a client or two off of cases Kevin had worked back in homicide. Where Howard Fultsimmons was a shark at least if he won a case that he knew he had no business winning he never gloated over it in the media. One time the only thing that kept Larry from physically attacking Rollands in the court room was the fact that Kevin moved quick enough to hold him back.

Kevin grabbed a chai-latte and went to Cynthia's office. It should've felt awkward after the last time he and Cynthia parted ways. Kevin though could tell Cynthia was ready to get back to the case. She was reenergized as was Kevin. He knocked on the door frame and walked in.

Sitting down on a corner of the desk Kevin said, "On the whole I wish it was a doctor that we were dealing with. Rollands knows how to use the very system we've sworn to uphold against us." Kevin exhaled and asked, "You think Rollands is tied into all of this?" Kevin nodded and said, "I agree with you. He has a personal connection to you. He knows all about the legal aspects of the cases, and he would know what a CSI tech would look for having been in court enough. He's smart and so he probably has studied the human body at some point either in school, or through his legal briefs."

Kevin took a long gulp of his drink and when he finished he said, "All right where do we start with him? His holdings? His office? House? Or him? Whatever you decide I'm with you."[/fieldbox]

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

[fieldbox= Cynthia, #367b85, dashed, 10, Georgia] Cynthia expected that her partner would take his time turning up in her office. After the last time they saw each other and the rather harsh words that had been exchanged, she assumed that he would have requested a new partner or to be returned to his old unit without another word to her. He didn't understand her; not many people did. It wasn't easy to understand that she did not show emotions the same way everyone else did. She could not shed tears when she was sad, or offer comfort when someone was upset around her. She grew angry when people were emotional around her. Her reaction to Roxanne being shot was to snap at Kevin for allowing the dog to run off without him, actually trying to offer him some sort of condolence had been a struggle for the woman, but she'd managed after wrestling down the urge to yell.

West turning up in her office was as much of a surprise to her as the calm she felt at seeing him again. She thought she might grow annoyed that he insisted on sticking around when he had a clear out. The investigation was far from over and he'd already been emotionally scarred from it. It was going to get a hell of a lot worse before it got any better, and Cynthia knew it, and she was fairly certain that deep down West knew it as well. He was sticking it out, whether for some foolish macho pride or revenge she didn't know. What she did know was that they had something of a suspect to look into, and that took precedence over any problems that may linger between them, at least in Cynthia's opinion.

Their next step was unclear, the detective wanting to go straight to the lawyer and confront him, but she knew that would be a huge mistake. He would know something was up, and if he was their killer, he would certainly lay low until they stopped poking in his direction. They needed to tread carefully, to keep a low profile until they had enough evidence to prove that he was the person they were looking for and could put him away for the rest of his life.

"Properties are easy to track down, if they're all in his name. I've looked at some of the buildings that he inherited from his parents. They could be used to hold his victims, but I'm not entirely sure." They were a long way from securing any search warrants, which meant everything had to be under cover, perhaps a few stake outs. "I thought we could start by looking into his court cases, see if there's any connection between Rollands and our victims. If there is, we can start digging into him a bit more. We're going to have to watch ourselves. This guy has enough money to disappear, and just enough influence to make trouble for both of us. We need to keep out of his radar until we have enough evidence to put him away, and not a moment before." That was the best plan she could come up with on such a short notice, but she knew with time, and with a bit more evidence they would be able to build that plan up. First, they needed a bit more time to look into Rollands and find out how much of a connection he had with their victims.

"Court cases are easy. We can look online for most of them, and what we can't find there, we can look in the courthouse." Cynthia sighed softly, glancing up at West with an arched brow. "We need to keep this under wraps. No one but you, me and the captain need to know we're looking into Rollands. Word gets out and we'll lose him. For now, until we get a little more to point us in his direction I think it should stay between you and me. The longer we can keep him from getting suspicious that we're onto him, the more time we have to get evidence on him."

Cynthia reached up to rub her temples, already feeling the pressure that came along with investigating a lawyer. "Unless you have any other suggestions that is. I'm open to ideas. Personally, looking into lawyers is a major pain in the ass that I would like to avoid, but I don't think we have much of a choice in the matter. If our killer is after me, this guy is the closest connection I could come to."[/fieldbox]

 

[MST3K 4ever]

[fieldbox= Kevin, blue]

When Kevin was in Homicide he and Larry didn't always play the rules when it came to certain situations. It wasn't anything illegal per se, but if they had been caught an I-A hearing would've been convened. However Larry would always tell him that he would do what he could to make sure that Kevin was protected as much as possible. Kevin was a bright detective with a promising future was what Larry would also tell him, and there was a level of trust. Now though there was no Larry to protect Kevin and Cynthia was someone he had just four day earlier was ready to quit on. Not to mention that going after Rollands was almost tantamount to career suicide. All of that being said Kevin was ready to go to the ends of the Earth to solve this case with Cynthia. He looked at her and said, "I agree about keeping the circle small right. Well as much as we can have a circle with only two people being involved. Not only do we have confidentiality covered in that sense but.." Kevin stood up and walked over to the window and said looking out, "Like you noted Rollands has more than enough power and influence to cut us into sushi, but…" looking back at Cynthia he said, "If anyone in MCU knows about this the entire MCU department will take a Godzilla sized hit." Shaking his head Kevin said, "It's all over for everyone, and you and I will be lucky if we end up working security at the mall. I admit I sound very paranoid about all of this, but as part of my orientation into Homicide I had to sit in and observe three I-A investigation Panels." Kevin walked away a few feet shaking his head and said, "Trust me Cynthia they don't miss anything. I saw a twenty-five year veteran reduced to tears in less than five minutes. They could've pinned the Kennedy Assassination on him and I would've believed it." Looking back at Cynthia he said, "Anything having to do with him that can't be found on a public record is not done here at MCU or on MCU property until we know we have enough to start making moves against him. We can do any work on him either at your place or my place after hours. We find ways to make that happen." Closing his eyes and shaking his head Kevin said, "I know that means we're gonna be giving up a lot of our free time and social life and all that, but Cynthia…" Kevin opened his eyes and said, "Rollands is gonna start stepping up his end and that includes the mind games he's playing with us. It's time we see what we can do to try and be proactive instead of reactive."

Kevin sat down in a chair across from Cynthia and said, "Calling in a big wig like Carl Robbins at City Hall on the surface looks like a good idea, because as a former attorney I'll bet he's heard of Rollands maybe even had some dealings with him but Carl's got too many political connections. He sneezes most of City Hall knows about it within two minutes."

Kevin was lost in thought for a moment and then finally said, "Rollands is smart and very charismatic, but his cutting on a body even as smart as he is…" Shaking his head Kevin said, "Those cuts are precise and very neatly done. Do you think he's got someone doing the dirty work for him? A partner in crime? Just a hunch but what if we're dealing with more than just him?" Kevin looked at Cynthia and said, "You said it yourself he's got enough influence that he might know a doctor or two with a penchant for cutting up people."

Kevin stood up and began to pace a bit. He picked up a pencil and began to roll it in-between his fingers and said, "I don't have a bat or your tennis racket so this will have to do for the moment." Kevin stopped pacing and said, "Rollands physical build is pretty close to the guy who beat me. He's also got the cache to get the items he needs to do these crimes. I mean the guy knows the law well enough to get these things without arousing suspicions, or he knows the right kind of people to get them for him." He looked at Cynthia and said, "I think it's safe to say that we have someone who could eventually be termed a person of interest. It won't surprise me."

Kevin put the pencil down and said, "Okay I hate to do this, but we're gonna have to go back where this all started namely your parent's murder. We need to go over that file with a fine tooth comb and then the files of our victims and see what through line there is that links them to your parent's death besides you. There's something more that links all of it together. What is at the heart of his obsession with you?"

Kevin looked to Cynthia and said, "I am not doing any of this to pry or get salacious details about your life Cynthia, but now that we've pretty much established his fixation on you we have to go from there and build up. So when you're ready let's get down to the records room and say good bye to the daylight."[/fieldbox]

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

[fieldbox= Cynthia, #367b85, dashed, 10, Georgia] Cynthia could agree with most of what West said. Investigating Rollands needed to be kept on a need to know basis for as long as possible. She would, when it was necessary, and only after they gathered a bit more evidence, have to let the brass know what was going on. Until then, they were going to have to cover their tracks and keep a close eye on everything that they looked into. Talking to the lawyer himself was going to have to wait quite a while, and that was only going to be when and if they had enough on him to link him to the crimes without a doubt. There was nothing she had a problem with about any of that. No, what Cynthia had a problem with was the idea that West was trying to form a connection between the killer and her parents' murder. That she simply was not going to listen to, no matter how the man spun it.

"West……" Cynthia bit her tongue for a moment, not wanting to piss the guy off within five minutes of his return to the unit. Her partner was extremely sensitive about such things, and she wasn't about to get into a debate this early in the morning. Her parents' murder was a touchy subject on the best of days, but after missing her traditional visit to their gravesite and having to remain in Max's house while the killer was running loose, she wasn't at all happy with the way the discussion was going. "Rollands wasn't old enough to be involved with my parents' death, and the main suspect had no relatives at all. No children. No parents. No siblings. There is no connection between him and the murder, and no other connection between me and Rollands other than a few cases in the past."

Cynthia was not going to go digging into her parents' murder. The case had gone unsolved for twenty years, and would most likely remain that way until the day that she died. She had come to terms with that years ago, and having West suggest they dig into the matter only set her on edge, although she was doing a good job of not showing just how much it bothered her. She was willing to open up her cases that had gone unsolved, and the few where the suspect had gotten off, but her parents' case was off limits to everyone, West included. "Besides, I didn't learn about Rollands until I came on here. My third case as a matter of fact.

"The cases that Rollands won were……high publicity cases. The first was a child murderer and rapist who got off because one of the lab techs failed to test another sample of blood that was found on the scene of the last crime. Rollands argued that the evidence that was gathered was not thoroughly tested, and since the prosecution argued that the crimes had to be committed by the same person, it was possible that the blood found on the last scene could have been present at the others, and the lab failed to omit the results." That had been a tough case in general, but the loss had been the hardest of Cynthia's career. She knew without a doubt that the man had been guilty, but because of the mess up, he had gotten off.

Rising from her seat, Cynthia moved over to her file cabinet and began to dig through her folders. "The second case of mine that he won was an serial arsonist. The guy destroyed five homes, all with families trapped inside. Three people died as a result; a thirty four year old mother of two, an elderly retired lawyer, and a five year old boy with autism." Cynthia pulled out a thick folder and dropped it down onto her desk. "The case was shaky at best. The fire destroyed most of the evidence, but there was a common link between all five houses; they had all used the same electrical contractor."

The detective moved back to her desk, but didn't need to touch the file to name off the suspect. "Earl Daniels was the suspect. There were a few fibers from his uniform found at the crimes, but Rollands argued that they were there because he had done work in each of the homes. There was no other evidence against him…..however, the week after he was found not guilty he was caught trying to burn down the home of one of his competitors. He ended up getting off with a five year sentence when he should have gotten a life sentence."

Looking over at West, Cynthia shrugged with a heavy sigh of frustration. "Those are my connections to Rollands. The first suspect……George Haas……the last I heard, he was pretty much a pariah after the trial. Everyone believed he was guilty regardless of the verdict. He couldn't get a job, couldn't even leave his house without being assaulted. He ended up moving to Sarasota to live with his mother. He's probably still there now. I doubt we'd get any leads by going to talk to him, but I guess it couldn't hurt if you're insisting that we start with my connection to Rollands."[/fieldbox]

 

[MST3K 4ever]

[fieldbox= Kevin, blue]

Every instinct in Kevin's body wanted to scream at Cynthia that what was at the heart of this case was her parent's murder. Everything so far pointed to, what appeared to be, Rollands' obsession with her and one thing that defined Cynthia whether she was willing to admit it or not was her parent's murder. Rollands wasn't the killer but he knew something about it and he was going to hold on to that information, and when she was most vulnerable he would drop it on Cynthia crushing her like an egg on a sidewalk. This was his ace up his sleeve, and Kevin could feel it everything was there right in front of them. The murder made her into who she had become and it was a defining event in her life.

All of that being said he was not about to pry open Pandora's Box especially when they were on thin ice as it were with their partnership, and the face she didn't go ballistic over the prospect of going over the murder. So Kevin felt it best to just leave well enough alone for now, and he felt he should get a medal for not saying "I told you so." It was early on in the case Kevin told Cynthia that she was the lynchpin in all of this, and Cynthia blew him off. Kevin had a feeling he was right on this one too, but saying so right now would lead to the mother of all blow outs between them. For all her great detective skills Cynthia was seriously lacking in her ability to see the big picture, and to think outside the box.

Kevin played it cool as Cynthia gave him the run down on her previous dealings with Rollands. The letter of the law was followed, and that was the problem Rollands was using the law against them like a scalpel. He knew just where to cut and how deep to cut to get his reasonable doubt. It reminded Kevin of his and Larry's dealings with Rollands. Larry came the closest to winning against Rollands that Kevin had ever seen anyone come. It was a slasher case down on the strip and they did everything by the book, and every shred of evidence was rock solid and irrefutable, but just before it went to the jury one typo brought the case to a dead stop. The killer's name John Windam but the name on the arrest warrant was for a "Jon Windam", and there was a "Jon Windam" who lived in the city. Granted he was 14 years old, but it was the letter of the law. Inspite of all the evidence, all the hours of work, and 4 dead bodies that were connected to Windam they had to let him walk. The Judge was furious, Kevin was devastated, and Larry was about to go over the barrier to throttle Rollands. He would've succeeded if Kevin hadn't grabbed at the last second. The judge had no choice but to cite Larry for contempt, and he was fined one dollar payable at his
convenience.

Kevin nodded after Cynthia finished and said, "We may go pay a visit to Mr. Haas assuming he is still going by that name eventually. I wonder though…" He began to pace again and twirling the pencil in between and was once again letting his mind wander for a moment. Kevin stopped for a moment and then said, "What if he is trying to get us to chase down the rabbit hole of the past, when what we should be looking at is how these current cases are connected to your past ones with him." Kevin rolled his eyes for a moment and said, "I know I know that's nothing groundbreaking in terms of our current situation, but remember you cited that our victims were connected somehow to cases that were thrown out technicalities. Just like your dealings with Rollands, and mine as well, we are looking at victims whose cases were thrown out or found not guilty mainly on a technicality of some kind."

Kevin dropped the pencil on Cynthia's desk and said, "Okay we know our current victims and their cases cold inside and out. Now we look at the previous cases, but we look for the through line that connects them to these current cases. That's how Rollands gets tied in all the way Cynthia, but the question is where those connections are for us and not just your cases?" Kevin began to pace for a moment he could feel that they were about to go on the right path, and he was hoping that Cynthia was seeing what he was starting to see. He stopped and said, "Rollands is smart, there is no denying that, and for him it comes down to using something that should be in our favor against us in the end. Just like he uses the law against us. Somehow he is using something that should be helping us here against us. There is something with our current victims and your previous cases that tie everything together Cynthia, and now the question is what? I mean Cynthia how did Rollands know you would be getting our current case? There was no promises on that."

Kevin sat back down and said, "Maybe we should postpone the road trip for now and start going over the files line by line if we have to. Take over one of the computer rooms and just research the hell out of all of it." He looked at Cynthia and said, "For the love of all that is pure sacred and Holy to my sanity tell me that I'm making sense."[/fieldbox]

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

[fieldbox= Cynthia, #367b85, dashed, 10, Georgia] Cynthia knew that what West said was true, that they would need to speak to George Haas, but the detective was not fond of the idea in the slightest. It was one thing to scroll through old cases and interview prior victims, but a completely different story to go digging into previous suspects, especially those she had nearly put away for life. She had never been the type of person to go out and see how a suspect was affected by her success. She heard rumors of some of the culprits being raped and murdered in jail, but she didn't really give a damn about it. The way she saw it, she had done her part to see justice done for the victim, whatever happened to the person who committed the crime once she was finished was their problem. The only time she actually got involved was for parole hearings, and that was only when if the victims asked. Her doctrine in psychology was helpful, as was her expertise with the crime itself. Most of the time, the parole board would make a denial whenever she spoke on the victim's behalf.

Digging into the life of a man Cynthia should be sitting behind bars for the rest of his life was not appealing at all. Not only was there bound to be a great deal of animosity on Haas' part, but that would also put Rollands onto the fact that they were slowly creeping up on him, and if he was their killer that would not work out well. The lawyer had the resources to run, although if West was correct and their suspect had an obsession with her, running would be the last thing on his mind. Cynthia had to agree that she was connected, and that investigating some of her old cases was a way to go, but she certainly would have appreciated it more if they could go about it without involving the criminals themselves, especially George Haas. "If we must go see George Haas, I'd prefer that it be done in a public place. The last encounter I had with him was outside the courthouse when he spat in my face."

West wasn't finished with his ramblings, and Cynthia had to bite her tongue while he continued. She could have pointed out that there were absolutely no connections at all between their current victims and Rollands, but that wasn't completely accurate; she did not know if there was. For all she knew, Rollands could have been the lawyer for the relatives, but she wouldn't know that until she went to the courthouse for more detailed records than they could get online.

The detective sighed heavily, pushing a hand through her hair which she had mistakenly not put up for the day. "He couldn't have known that I would be assigned the case, but he would have known that major case would have picked it up. Homicide's already stretched thin as it is, and serials are instantly handed off to us. The minute there was anything out of the ordinary from a usual homicide we pick it up. The symbol was the reason why we were assigned to it to begin with, along with the staging of the body. It's only logical to assume that the killer did not know I would be assigned to the case, just that the unit would pick it up, and the connection to me would be made further down the road." She lifted a finger up to stop West from interrupting her train of thought. "However, there's no saying that the killer started with me. If he was interested in gaining my attention from the start, there would have been something directly linked to me. His obsession wasn't a part of his original plan, because I'm certain he would have become focused on anyone that was handed the file." Now she was beginning to get confused, her head aching while she tried to figure out if anything was making sense. It sounded logical inside her own mind, but then again she certainly didn't think like most normal people.

"The only thing that we know for sure is that I am at the center of this now. We can't assume that's been the case from the beginning." Cynthia bit down on her lower lip, glancing over the list of case files she'd written out the night before, hoping that some name would stand out, but there was nothing there. "Rollands' beef with me isn't related to a case. It's personal." Cynthia wasn't particularly happy about announcing that, but she needed to keep her partner updated, and that included parts of her history she wasn't exactly happy with. "Before I made detective, back when I was still walking the beat I collared him for a minor possessions charge. He kept pleading with me that he was holding it for a friend, and he'd let me dispose of it if I let him walk. I didn't. Of course he got off with a slap on the wrist. It didn't even go to court, but he never quite let me forget that I smudged his record." There was more to the story, including a physical altercation between herself and Rollands in an alley outside her old apartment building, and a few slashed tires, but those were a bit too personal for her to reveal.

"Anyway." Cynthia concluded, slamming her hands down on her desktop and slowly pushing herself to her feet. "The court will have Rollands' records, and we can dig through them without him noticing." She grabbed up her purse and was ready to exit her office when she paused to glance back over at her partner. "For now it's better to work old school. Internet searches can be traced, and with the person we're looking into, I'd rather not give him advanced warning. Most likely he'll know something's up after we talk to Haas, that's if the bastard still keeps in touch with his lifesaver. I doubt Rollands wants to keep in touch with the kiddy diddler, but who knows. Scumbags stick together."[/fieldbox]

 

[MST3K 4ever]

​

[fieldbox= Kevin, blue]

Cynthia telling Kevin about the altercation with Rollands was the first tangible piece of connection outside of the MCU cases that made a solid connection to Cynthia and Rollands. He was a competitive jerk and God Forbid a beat cop was the one who busted him for something. The randomness of Cynthia getting assigned this case was not something was going to accept. There was something inside him that firmly believed that Rollands' had enough clout and connections to make sure that someone steered this right into Cynthia's lap. Not Holsted, he was by the book and he gave a damn about his detectives no way that he would willing put one of his own in harm's way.
An underling at City Hall with Rollands willing to use some of his political muscle and connections to help them move up the ladder at City Hall? A possibility, but first they had to prove that Rollands was behind all of this. That was going to be easier said than done. Kevin though was certain of one thing the closer that they got to the truth the greater the likelihood that well known bodies would suddenly start showing up.

Kevin stood up slightly shaking on his ankle but not as bad as it was. He knew that at some point today he would probably have to take a couple of Advil for pain. He replied, "Agreed. That's one of the big reasons I suggested anything having to do with Rollands not be done here. Not what we say or do here there's a better than average chance it'll get out to someone who shouldn't know about it." He started to walk over and said, "Haas and Rollands still keeping touch. It wouldn't surprise me Rollands is just a higher class of scum. I suggest we make him our last stop I think we'll find a lot of what we're looking for at the court house in the files."

Going to the court house made Kevin somewhat nervous. If they got spotted it could generate questions that neither one of them could duck and dodge. He said, "We go to the court house we could actually run into Rollands or someone else working with him or someone who might be asking questions to Holsted later on." Kevin shook his head and said, "I know I'm sounding paranoid but face it Cynthia we're dealing with the Devil here, and right now we're getting to march right onto his home turf wearing gasoline soaked clothes." Kevin smirked a bit and said, "All that being said though I do have a couple of aces up my sleeve, and I think I'll play one."

Kevin pulled out his private cell phone and hit two numbers. He looked over at Cynthia and said, "No one here needs to know about this one."

A voice answered on the other end, "Security Robbins."

Kevin smiled at hearing that voice and said, "Mac daddy."

The laughing on the other end could probably be heard by Cynthia as Mac said, "K-Dog! My man! What's up with the Golden Boy of Homicide?"

Kevin replied, "Out of Homicide and into MCU."

Mac said, "Whoa! Little fish in the big pond. What's on your mind Kevin?"

Kevin replied, "Need a favor Mac and it's a biggie."

Mac said, "Lay it out for me and I'll see what I can do."

Kevin replied, "I need access to the records room and I need it kept quiet. I need no record of us ever having been there at all."

Mac said, "Hold on for a sec my man…" Kevin pressed mute and said to Cynthia, "Hold your breath if this works we're aces. If not, it could get ugly."

Mac came back on the line and said, "The records room is clear for the next 24 hours at least, and the back doors are kicked open for you Kevin."

Kevin replied, "Mac you're the best thanks my man. After this we're even."

Mac chuckled and said, "Bullshit Kev. I'll decide when I've paid off my debt to you. You saved my life and my family. Besides friends do because they can."

Kevin replied, "Fair enough my friend. Catch ya later."

Kevin hung up and said, "Okay the court house has several hidden passages. I know them like the back of hand there's one that leads into the records room. The advantage to the records room is that everyone uses databases and so forth which means we'll have the place to ourselves."

Putting his sunglasses on Kevin said, "We just need to park about one block over and I hope you aren't claustrophobic."

Once they arrived about a block away from the court house. Kevin walked over to what appeared to be an unmarked basement door. Kevin looked around and with his back to the door he gave a swift kick. The door popped open and Kevin turned and cut on a light switch. He looked at Cynthia and said, "Let's go."

It was a tunnel that was just wide enough for one person to fit through. He said as he walked on, "We used this in Homicide to hustle in witnesses or high profile suspects in and out without creating a scene."

Kevin stopped at door with a blue "R" spray painted on a hatch. Kevin said, "Our stop." With that Kevin gave a push on the hatch which opened up into a store room in the records room. It was dusty and dank like any other store room but luckily empty of people. Kevin opened up the door leading into the records room.

He said, "Okay they file things away by year so where should we start?"[/fieldbox]

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

[fieldbox= Cynthia, #367b85, dashed, 10, Georgia] West did have a few good points, the main one being that they needed to keep their research a high priority secret. No one should know that she and West were looking into Rollands' records, even if they were public. The fact was any digging would get Rollands' attention, and the last thing that they needed was for the lawyer to figure out that they were looking into him. Would that lead to more bodies though? Or would Rollands make a retreat if he knew that he was a suspect? What if he wasn't their murderer and simply working with the killer? Neither she and West had given that theory much thought, but Cynthia wasn't about to bring that up now. The main thing was to start looking and see what leads they could come up with, and even that was going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Rollands was known for taking high profile cases, and many of his clients were the scum of the Earth. Any of them would be capable of murder, and they wouldn't lose a second of sleep over it.

She let West take control of everything, her own mind going over the cases she knew Rollands had been involved with. There were a number of sick bastards the lawyer had kept out of prison, nearly all of them committing crimes after they were free. What didn't make sense to her was why Rollands would be connected to their victims. She thought there was something that she was missing, but with all the directions the case was going in, it was impossible to keep everything straight. Not to mention the stress of Max's house and her partner being attacked, as well as the tension between the two of them. Kevin hadn't quite forgiven her for her harshness, and she had yet to address the issues between them. The last time they'd spoken he was ready to bail out on her, and now here they were they were still working together.

Cynthia was quiet as she drove to the courthouse, parking where West requested and following him to their destination without making a peep. She needed to clear the air between them, and she needed to do it soon before they continued on. It wasn't going to go well if she and her partner were at each other's throats while working on their case, and the more stress that was between them, the easier it would for the killer to use it against them. Cynthia was never going to get used to working with someone if she remained at odds with West, and as it stood, he was going to be the only partner she had in her career.

When they arrived, Cynthia paid very little attention to the room, knowing that what they were searching for most likely would not be there. She didn't know how she knew that, but she had a feeling that the only thing they would find there was more questions and very few answers. There was a thread that linked all of the cases, both Rollands' and theirs, together, but finding it wasn't going to be as simple as sifting through some old paperwork.

"West…." She started, sucking in a deep breath before she began. Apologizing wasn't one of her strong points, neither was worrying about someone other than herself. Kevin had gotten stuck with an emotionally constipated partner, and no one had warned him about it. Now she needed to explain herself a bit better, and hope like hell he wouldn't press her too much.

"Listen….about what happened at Max's house. I didn't mean to come down on you the way I did. I was freaked out, and I know I shouldn't have taken it out on you, but it didn't help that you were targeted either. I would have felt like shit if you'd been hurt worse than you were, and you should have warned me that you were going to be there. You and Holsted both. I could have watched your back if I'd known." She didn't want to say that they could have caught the killer if they had both been watching the house, that would have been a low blow. Either way, Cynthia didn't want to admit out loud that she had worried about West, not wanting to take things in a personal direction when their working relationship was already shaky.

"Anyway. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel bad. I just don't like having things done behind my back, and I really don't like the idea that you were at risk and I wasn't aware of it." She concluded, finally taking a look around the room before her partner could go and make more out of her apology than she wanted him to. "So uh….this is it, huh? Are you sure no one's going to come down here?'[/fieldbox]

 

[MST3K 4ever]

[fieldbox= Kevin, blue]

As Kevin prepared to launch into full on Detective mode Cynthia's apology brought him back to reality for a moment. He actually listened as Cynthia showed that she was actually concerned for his well-being, and though Kevin didn't show it, he actually appreciated it. This was taking some of the unspoken tension out of the air and it needed to be done. Kevin was impressed that Cynthia made the first move it showed not only growth as a partner to him but that of a person as well.

Kevin looked at Cynthia and replied, "I'll be the first to admit that the issues you and I have had…" he shook his head slowly and said, "I'm not innocent of all charges. I have a tendency to rush in where angels fear to tread and the consequences be damned. Case in point Max's house and that was my mistake. I was also wrong to try and bail out on you Cynthia. You're a damn good Detective and I'm lucky to be working with you." Kevin looked Cynthia in the eyes and said, "For the trouble and issues I have caused you I'm sorry Cynthia. I truly am and I'm glad you didn't request that I be reassigned. We've put in a lot of time together on this case and I want to see it through with you."

Kevin gave a slight nod and a small grin as he said, "All right let's get back to work." He walked toward a set of file cabinets and said, "In terms of someone coming down here. Mac is the head of security in this place. If anyone is coming, he'll warn me which will be a text message that says I got about a five-minutes to clear out." Kevin looked back at Cynthia and said, "True confession time this isn't the first time I've done this. I've done it somewhere around a number between seven and nine other times counting this one." He gave a Cynthia a very confident grin and said, "Mac's got our back on this one Cynthia we're safe."

Bending over and yanking open a drawer Kevin pulled out 2 sizable red binders and set it on top of a table. He said, "Second true confession, Larry and I had more than a few run ins with Rollands along with most of Homicide." Kevin sat down and opened up one of the binders and said, "One of the founding principles of General Sun-Tzu's masterpiece The Art of War is 'Know your enemy and yourself and you need not ever worry about the outcome of a thousand battles'. Well that was something we in Homicide took to heart after he got 5 people off on technicalities in the span of two weeks." He looked up at Cynthia and said, "These were rock solid cases Cynthia and Rollands destroyed them in a matter of seconds with bullshit manipulation of the law and all that crap. He went through us like Sherman through Atlanta." Looking back at the binders he said, "So we in Homicide decided to make our own little archives dedicated to Gregory Rollands. That way we could get inside of his head and make a move before he made it." Kevin looked back up at Cynthia and said, "There's a reason why he tries to avoid dealing with our Homicide Division as much as possible. These two binders are his Kryptonite Cynthia. These binders have mimeographs of his court cases, interviews, you name it. No personal information though we drew the line there. All that being said yes he still gets one or two perps off against us, but more times than not now we can at least hold our own against him. He knows that going against Homicide isn't a slam dunk win anymore."

Kevin pushed one of the binders towards an open space on the table and said, "That's the information on him for the last three years up until about three weeks ago. I have the information for his first four years here we figured that was far enough back to get a character sketch on the guy, and yes I have seen your name in these binders before concerning the court cases. It didn't really register with me because at the time going to MCU was not on my radar." Kevin looked down at the red binder in front of him and said, "I'll go over this one you go over that one. If you get something don't be afraid to speak up. Good news there is a working bathroom down here, but the bad news is the door doesn't close all the way." Kevin looked up and shrugged his shoulders and said, "Hey hardly anyone comes down here so this place is low priority."

Turning his attention back to the binder Kevin said, "Even if Rollands is not our killer he is connected to this somehow someway and we're gonna prove it Cynthia. I promise you that Rollands won't get away with this or if he defends the son of a bitch he will fail." Kevin had studied these binders backwards and forwards, but no matter how many times he did Kevin always learned something new about Rollands and was one more piece to the puzzle for Homicide to use. He leaned forward as he read to himself and said, "His very first case was a low level B & E got the guy's sentence knocked down from robbery to B & E, but here's the interesting thing Cynthia according to the court records the D-A offered to reduce the sentence to probation and time served, but Rollands turned him down. He didn't cut a deal when he had the chance." Kevin shook his head and said, "What kind of a lawyer does that?"[/fieldbox]

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

[fieldbox= Cynthia, #367b85, dashed, 10, Georgia] There was not quite sitting right with Cynthia when West produced his file on Rollands. She was still mulling it over when her partner questioned her, her shoulders jerking upwards in an absent shrug. "An arrogant one that thinks he can beat the system. That's not too uncommon. Lots of lawyers turn down pleas when they think a jury will go in their favor." No, she knew that Rollands thought he was above the law, that every case he touched was a win, and that he was unbeatable inside a courtroom. The man had an ego bigger than the world, and he wasn't above flaunting it whenever he had the chance. That isn't what bothered Cynthia at all, although that was what made her even more suspicious of the man as their prime suspect.

"We're not going to find what we're looking for here, Kevin." The realization struck her hard, and she wondered how she could have strayed as far from what they needed to do. "Look at our victims. They were related to people who claimed to be wrongfully accused but they weren't. That doesn't mean there isn't someone who sided with them and believed they were innocent." She wondered if their victims had thought their relatives were innocent or guilty, and just how loudly they voiced their opinions in either case. "Rollands defended guilty men who were clearly guilty. If it hadn't been for the mistakes, they would be rotting in jail cells right now. What if someone thought they were being set up as well?" Would Haas' mother have rallied for him? Or some long time friend who swore that the man couldn't be guilty of his crime? Cynthia couldn't see it, but then again, she was far too close to the case.

"What if…..and this is a huge stretch. What if Rollands' thought that all those people were innocent, and they were being framed? And what if our victims were the ones who were proclaiming the most that they were guilty? I'm not sure about our last three victims, but one and two it seems likely." They needed to conduct more interviews with the family, but before that they needed to go speak to Haas and see exactly who had sent him Rollands' way, and who was supportive of him. The detective was certain that they would find something there. Although she had to admit, she hadn't quite been on target during this investigation, and she thought that perhaps it was the time of year and all the zigs and zags they were traveling that threw her off. Having a partner was another reason she was struggling, her usual movements now relying on someone else other than just herself.

"I think we need to go back in Rollands' history. Before he became a lawyer. We need to look at his family." There was very little known about Rolland's' personal history, other than the fact that he had inherited quite a bit of money. But why, and from who exactly? They needed to look into the man directly, not his court records or his case files. They needed to track down any relative connected to the lawyer, and they needed to find a cover story that would keep the man from growing suspicious.

"First thing's first." She glanced over at West, almost grimacing at what she was about to say. "We need to talk to Haas. He'll probably respond to you better than he will me. I didn't exactly take it easy on him while I was interrogating him." In fact, she had broken the man down into tears and actually reveled in it. At one point he'd started crying for his mother like a child. Cynthia had clapped and cheered, taunting the man with his actions, asking if his victims had done the same when he'd killed them and inquiring if he'd thought she actually gave a damn for his feelings. In court he'd spent the entire time she was on the stand glaring at her as if she was actually afraid of him. The detective was certain that Haas wouldn't talk to her about anything at all, and if she was honest, she wasn't exactly keen on talking to him either.

"Digging into Rollands' family life is going to be difficult, but I honestly think that's where we'll find out connection. I know I keep saying that, but this entire case….." She shook her head, pushing a hand through her hair with a heavy sigh. "I'm off center here. Having a partner. The awkward selection of victims and the near impossible link between them. This isn't exactly the easiest case, and the fact that we're obviously dealing with someone who knows what they're doing with forensics…." Besides that, Cynthia could not find a direct motive, or any sort of connection at all that would make the killer want to kill. The killer was intelligence, and that was what made him stand out above the others. The motive wasn't jealousy or fame which was the usual, and that only made it a bit more difficult for her to figure him out. "I think I need a few hours tonight to work on my plans, and get back on track before we start digging too much. We're going to have to tread carefully either way, because Rollands cannot know we're on his trail."[/fieldbox]

 

[MST3K 4ever]

[fieldbox= Kevin, blue]

While Kevin was scanning the files that he and the others in Homicide had seen dozens of times, but then he was focused on Cynthia when she started speaking. Hearing her admit that she wasn't on target with this case was something that Kevin wasn't ready to hear. Cynthia had proven to be very gifted at her job, and worthy of her reputation as a Detective who was in the top 2% in the state. This though all the changes that she was going through and the absence of logic throughout the case was taking a toll in her. If Kevin didn't know any better it was beginning to sound like Cynthia was starting to doubt herself, and this was a side to Cynthia Kevin wasn't too sure he was looking forward to seeing much further. It was time for Kevin to have his partner's back.

Kevin closed the binder and said, "Cynthia, right now you know more about what's going on than anyone outside of the killer. Your instincts so far have gotten us further along in this case than if it were left on a pile of folders in Homicide. Yes this case is a challenge for you…" Kevin shook his head and said, "No it's a challenge for us as partners. The important thing right now is that we don't lose the focus on the here and now. Your theory about the connection between the vics is plausible and fits our set of facts as we know it." Kevin nodded and said, "Okay let's continue to follow it. In terms of Haas I'll take lead on it and go down there alone, but you're gonna have to give me the file and any personal notes you have." Kevin nodded and stood up stretching for a bit and said, "We both realize though that if he is connected to Rollands and Rollands is our guy then that's it. We're gonna vulnerable because I will bet my pension that within five minutes of my talking to him Rollands will be contacted. That could start a chain of dominoes falling that neither one of us may be ready for Cynthia."

He hated to admit it, but Cynthia was right. While the files were giving them a good sketch of Rollands in the court room there wasn't much to work with in terms of personal history. That was where they were going to make a lot of their connections. Kevin was slowly starting to regret being the deciding vote against gathering personal information about Rollands. There were seven detectives that made these binders happen, and it came down to a majority rules vote on where to draw the line. Kevin cast the "no" vote on the personal life and felt he was doing the right thing at the time. In the back of his mind Kevin knew eventually that they would have to delve into Rollands' personal life, but Kevin was just hoping to avoid it for a little longer until they had a little more to work on.

Kevin had a thought and it was one that was about as pleasant as watching the Pirates go 0-162. It was something he couldn't see happening realistically but in this case it felt just like it. He walked over to a file cabinet all the way in a corner that looked like it had seen its better day about 30 years earlier. He gave a jerk on the middle drawer twice and it finally came open. Kevin stuck his hand on the underside of the top drawer and pulled out a file that didn't look as dusty or ragged as it should've been being in that file cabinet. Walking back over to the table Kevin dropped it in front of Cynthia and said, "That could be our ticket to getting personal information on Rollands, but in order for it to happen it would require bringing in another player. Bright side Rollands would never know we we're behind it." Kevin looked at Cynthia and said, "The North Star Slasher case I keep talking about. That file contains all the confidential information that the Feds and the Department wanted kept out of the official report. Larry and I saw what was coming in terms of a potential cover-up down the road, and figured we might want to have a safety net for ourselves in case things went wrong and two lowly Homicide Detectives got the blame for other people's screw ups." Kevin closed his eyes and took a long deep breath. He exhaled and looked at Cynthia and said, "For the last few years Alex Craven, our friendly little media parasite, has heard the rumors of this file's existence. He's been wanting to do a book on the case for a long time, and this file would make it a best seller. It would also lead to some very potentially compromising situations for me and he Feds and the Department would be coming after me. Larry and I have stonewalled him all that time. I would be willing to give Craven the file if gives us any information he has on Rollands." Kevin shrugged his shoulders and said, "A guy like him a probably knows more than a few things about Rollands. However once he sees this file my career could potentially take a hit. A massive hit and yours to a lesser degree yours because you would know about this, but they wouldn't say much to you. Larry is retired they can't touch him anymore." Kevin looked back at Cynthia and very stoic said, "It's your call, and if you got a better idea whatever it is I love it." Kevin couldn't believe what he was doing at the moment. A few days ago I didn't give anything close to a damn about Cynthia, and now he was, basically and potentially, preparing to commit career suicide for her. Again though Kevin felt he was doing the right thing for Cynthia's sake.[/fieldbox]

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

[fieldbox= Cynthia, #367b85, dashed, 10, Georgia] "Kevin…." Cynthia knew that she rarely used her partner's name, and that needed to change if they were going to remain together on this case. She was going to have to keep her 'anti-personal' attitude out of their partnership if things were going to work. West was used to having a partner he could talk to, and right now she was making things difficult for him. "I'm not letting you go talk to Haas alone. You might not be his type, but he's still a killer. The jury would have found him guilty if not for the evidence tampering, and he'd be rotting in a jail cell right now." She sighed heavily, not wishing to deal with Haas at all, but there was no choice in the matter. She couldn't let Kevin deal with the man alone, and she wouldn't. He already had one close call, and that was more than enough.

There was one thing that Kevin kept insisting that Cynthia couldn't agree with. "I don't think Haas and Rollands still communicate. Rollands is trying to make it big, and that's going to be difficult with any sort of connection to a child killer. Haas might try to communicate, but I'm willing to bet Rollands won't answer the phone." No, Rollands was trying to build a rep for himself. He wouldn't want it tarnished with Haas, free man or not. Everyone know Haas was a killer, and the worst kind. Rollands wouldn't be able to climb out of the hole his reputation would fall into if anyone ever connected him to Haas after the case was over.

She listened as West continued8, surprised to hear what he was offering up to get the information they needed. Fortunately for both of them, she didn't think that she would need to put his reputation on the risk, especially not now. "Kevin, let's keep Craven out of it. We can find ways to dig up what we need on Rollands. We might have to make a few trips, and we're going to have to sneak around, come up with some cover stories. A lot of information is public record. I have a friend in Homeland who could probably scrounge up some of the stuff we need. I've already put him on alert for the acid, and he knows what we're dealing with. He has no idea who we're talking about, and even if he did, he wouldn't care. He's got bigger fish to fry." She glanced around the room, positive that there was nothing there for them. They needed to work on their next step, and Haas seemed like the best option at the moment.

"We'll go talk to Haas. Good ole' George will probably be happy to see my smiling face again." She smirked, taking a step to straighten up the room and cover any traces that they'd even been there. She paused, moving over toward Kevin to pat him awkwardly on the shoulder. "Don't think about throwing yourself under the bus for a case, Kevin. Right now it might seem impossible, but they all are at the start. We've made more progress in the past few weeks than I have since I was handed the file, and I'm pretty sure it's because of you. I might not give you credit, and8 I know I'm a pain in the ass, but hang in there. This killer isn't worth flushing your career down the toilet for. We'll catch our break."

Haas' residence wasn't public record, but she still had his file and knew exactly where the man lived. It would be another long drive for them, but the last one hadn't gone that bad There was one other thing that she and West needed to do though, and it needed to be off the record.

"Hey West…..how about a dinner date?" She smirked at him wondering how much her question would throw him off. Dating between co-workers was a major no for her, but there were no rules against it on the unit, although she thought there should be. The date wasn't exactly a date, and she was certain Kevin would pick up on that quickly. After all, it wasn't as if the guy was attracted to her in any way. "There's a great little Italian place that Max and I go to sometimes whenever his wife's out of town. Pick me up at seven…and dress nice. Not too nice, but nice." There was one part of the plan, now she just needed to get Holsted to meet them there to explain what they were doing.[/fieldbox]

 

[MST3K 4ever]

[fieldbox= Kevin, blue]

The whole situation had just taken a very strange turn for Kevin. Not only was Cynthia referring to Kevin by his first name, but she touched him. It was strange and awkward but it showed that the walls that Cynthia had built up for so long were showing signs of maybe not coming down, but maybe there was an opening for Kevin to look inside a little more. All of that being said Kevin knew he needed to play it cool and not get all touchy-feely with Cynthia. It was a process for her and Kevin just needed to let things happen along the way.

When Cynthia had mentioned her friend and Homeland Security Kevin felt a huge sense of relief. While he was willing to do anything he could to help solve this case career suicide was the last resort. If nothing else it showed Cynthia how far he was willing to go to help her. Although for Kevin he was starting to realize, even if he didn't want to admit to it, that this wasn't just about solving the case for him so much anymore. Rather this was about two other factors, one to bring Cynthia closure and peace of mind. Whether she wanted to admit it or not this had everything to do with her, and as along as this case was going on she was the endgame for the killer. Secondly Kevin wanted to protect Cynthia from whatever was going on. Granted she was a more than capable Detective and she could take care of herself, but Kevin was able to see blind spots that Cynthia could miss and yes he actually gave a damn about her.

Kevin nodded about Haas and said, "All right we'll look into together as soon as possible, and yeah I agree how can Haas refuse anything that smiling face has to offer." He returned the smirk to Cynthia as he began to put everything back the way it was following her lead in this case. Kevin knew that there wouldn't be anyone down here for some time, and by the time they did come down here the dust would've covered up their tracks. This part of the courthouse was so old the computer in the corner still had an "A" drive and a monitor that wasn't a flat screen.

As Kevin was putting away the last binder he nearly dropped it on his foot when Cynthia asked him out. His back was to her which was a good thing, because he would almost swear that he felt his eyes get so big they were pressed against his lenses. Quickly Kevin gathered himself and replied as he turned around, "Okay sounds seven sounds great." There was no way this was a "date-date" as much as Kevin's first instincts were screaming at him, because while Cynthia was making progress in the social arena there was no way she was ready for a date with Kevin in a social way. This was probably more along the lines of informal give and take on the case and that was fine with him. Although there was a small part wondering how Cynthia looked dressed up to the nines. Kevin was willing to bet a year's pay along with his pension that she looked stunning. Kevin was also reminding himself that Cynthia was a colleague and dating her, if it ever happened, could get very awkward in a lot of ways. Kevin though was willing to do anything to protect and help Cynthia anyway he could, and that was making Kevin wonder about his feelings for Cynthia.

Coming back to his senses Kevin looked around and said, "Okay I think we're about done here." He looked at his watch and Kevin was stunned to see that they had spent a huge chunk of the day in there. He said, "It's almost five now I'll drop you off back at the office, and I'll head home and get dressed." Kevin smirked again and said, "Oh but I'll make sure it's not too nice, per your request."

The ride back to MCU-HQ was quiet, but not awkward although Kevin did feel a twinge of nervous energy in the pit of his stomach. Once back at MCU Kevin told Cynthia he'd see her later on, and made his way to his car. Since he was picking Cynthia up using the Harley tonight was out of the question. Although Kevin wondered how she would look on the back of his Harley. Shaking his head slightly Kevin drove back to his loft and got ready for what he would now call this; a non-date. It was times like this Roxanne would be able to pick up on his signals of nervous energy and she would do what she could to tell him she was happy that he was going to have fun. Still though Kevin couldn't forget how quickly Roxanne trusted Cynthia, and that memory made him smile as a single tear trickled down his face as he looked over to her favorite corner. Kevin said, "Don't worry Roxy I won't embarrass myself."

Kevin hobbled back to his bed room where a quick shower got the smell and dust of the records room off of him. He then slipped into a pair of dark gray slacks, with matching shoes and vest, along with a dark purple silk shirt. He looked at himself in the mirror and said, "Not too shabby West. You clean up pretty good."

Kevin made sure that his Durango was still in a presentable state as he drove onto Cynthia's apartment. The nervous energy was still somewhat there, but it was more of in anticipation of how Cynthia looked. Kevin got out of the car and made his way to the door. Before he knocked he said under his breath, "For God and King Richard." Kevin knocked twice and waited for the door to open.[/fieldbox]

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

[fieldbox= Cynthia, #367b85, dashed, 10, Georgia] Cynthia was surprised that West dropped her back off at the station without even questioning her why she'd asked him out. She hoped he was smart enough to understand that it wasn't a personal date, although after mulling it over, she realized it would probably be better if there was some casualness to it. As she was walking back to her office, she pondered if their killer was watching her and West. If that was the case, it meant he'd be keeping an eye on the two of them while they were out. If he thought that there was something going on between her and West, would he go after her partner, or after her? The detective was certainly curious. The only problem she could think of was that if she happened to set the killer back on Kevin's path, it would be her partner he went after, not anyone he cared for. She was going to have to explain her idea to her partner while they were out, but for now she needed to give her captain a head's up.

On her way back to her office, she popped into Holsted's office not bothering to knock as she entered. The man shifted a brow at her, waiting for her explanation. Cynthia gave it to him, regretting it the minute Holsted's lips curled into a mischievous grin. "A date, Matthers? Really? I didn't think it was possible I'd have to worry about interpersonal relationships with you. Don't tell me you're really interested in the guy."

Cynthia huffed, refusing to answer a single question. Instead she explained the real reason behind the date, and what she wanted from Holsted. His amusement died easily enough, and Cynthia began to relax once he understood that she didn't have those types of feelings for West. Sure, he wasn't a bad guy, and he certainly wasn't ugly. But mixing work with a relationship was never a good thing. She liked West well enough for a partner, but she had a horrible history with relationships, and she wasn't about to mix that with work.

"So you'll come?" She finally asked after she cleared up the reason behind her and West's dinner.

"Yeah, I'll be there around eight or so." He responded with a sigh, giving Cynthia a stern look. "Just be careful. If you're right, you and West aren't going to have a smooth ride home, or a peaceful night's rest."

With her last order of business at the station finished, Cynthia left and returned home to get ready, which took a bit longer than she first anticipated. She was just finished with her hair when West knocked at the door, and not for the first time in her life, she was at a complete loss of what to do. She wasn't dressed too formally, opting for a sleeveless red dress that reached her knees, and a pair of matching red heels that she normally would never wear. Her hair wasn't pinned up the way it usually was for work, but left down with a slight wave. Her appearance wasn't generally a concern for her, but given the unusual circumstances, Cynthia worried about the type of impression she might be making.

She stepped aside to let West step into her apartment, her teeth worrying at her lower lip as she debated whether to warn him about what might happen. She certainly couldn't let him go without realizing the possible danger he was in, and when she shut the door she decided to be completely honest. "Listen Kevin. I've been thinking, and if you want to run back out the door, I understand." Closing the door behind him she sighed softly. "If we do go out and we're being watched, there's a very high possibility that the killer might target you, or me, or both of us. Probably not to kill us, but who knows. I set this up so we could have a place to talk to Holsted without worrying about anyone listening in. I didn't really think it through completely. So if you want to back out, I don't blame you, but I thought I should warn you before we leave."[/fieldbox]

 

[MST3K 4ever]

[fieldbox= Kevin, blue]

Kevin began to casually look around and then the door opened. He had a feeling Cynthia dressed up would be something to see, and Kevin was right. The color red certainly did her justice, and the heels were a nice touch. The nervous energy he felt Kevin could tell that Cynthia was feeling it was well as he saw her reaction when walked into her apartment.
He listened to her explain what was going on, and his "play it cool" instincts were right in that this was a more modified "working date" situation, and that this was not a "date-date." Holsted being brought into the loop already was a bit of surprise, but the more he thought about it Kevin could see the reasoning behind it. If they were about to start poking around the potential hornet's nest that was Gregory Rollands then Holsted needed to know about it much sooner than getting blindsided by a phone call from City Hall. While it was clear that City Hall and the Police Administration had a fear, almost borderline phobia, of Rollands Kevin didn't and he could tell Cynthia wasn't afraid of him. Although as they went further along and if it was revealed he was the killer that attitude would probably change on a lot of levels. For the moment though if this were a boxing match Kevin and Cynthia were merely sizing up Rollands.

Once Cynthia finished speaking Kevin took a moment to take it all in. He nodded once and then looked over it Cynthia and said, "Thanks for being up-front with me Cynthia. All that being said…" Kevin shook his head and said, "I have no designs to walk away from our partnership, this case, or going out with you." Just then Kevin realized what he had said and how it sounded, "I mean going out with you tonight to talk and meet with Holsted. Anyway I don't scare away that easily I'm too dumb to know when to walk away."

Kevin took a step towards Cynthia and said, "I know what may happen if I stay on this case with you or what may happen tonight. I am well aware that our killer could be watching us." Kevin shrugged his shoulders and said, "If he is so what. He takes some pictures of us or sends us a text or two possibly no biggie. I just hope if he takes pictures he chooses to use color film because otherwise the colors of my outfit will blend really badly on black and white film and make me look like I have no fashion sense. I'd hate for that to happen." Kevin smirked for a moment and said, "Besides he won't kill me for two reasons at this time. One he has everything so carefully planned out killing me goes against that. Two he had his chance at Max's to kill me and didn't. Much like he is playing a game with you with the pictures, packages, and the phone call he is doing that in a sense with me." Kevin thought for a moment and said, "The picture of me running, which by the way I looked really goofy only because I was finishing up five miles in 25 minutes. The damage done to my Harley, and killing Roxy. He could've wounded her, but he went for the kill shot."

Letting out an exhale he said, "Now I am not naïve enough to believe that's it for what he has in store for me. I am certain he has other thoughts in mind for me, and that the only reason he hasn't done them yet is because he doesn't know as well as you. Will that change over time?" Kevin nodded and said, "Probably but this isn't the first time I've had to deal with something like this. I had a couple of cases in Homicide that I had to deal with as well where the suspect made threats and crap like that." Shaking his head Kevin said, "Didn't get to me then and it won't get to me now."

Kevin steadied himself and said, "I am your partner Cynthia and something you will learn about having a partner is that they have each other's back in the field. They also give a damn about what happens to the other. This guy won't get the better of you as long as I'm around, and not to mention you know how to take care of yourself. I'm here to help where I can on this case and to be sounding board for you." Kevin smirked and said, "Not to mention maybe get you to take a step or two out of your comfort zone. Now with all of that out of the way it's time we go."

Kevin opened the door for Cynthia and said, "Oh and two things. One I love Italian Food so good call on wherever we are going and secondly…" He looked back at Cynthia and didn't smirk but genuinely smiled as he said, "You look beautiful tonight Cynthia. Hair down the look, you do it very nicely."

Once they were in the Durango Kevin drove them to where Cynthia told him to go.[/fieldbox]

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

[fieldbox= Cynthia, #367b85, dashed, 10, Georgia] Cynthia had to agree with what West was saying. The killer wasn't finished with him yet, not by a long shot. What he seemed to miss was the fact that it could be exponentially worse for him if their suspect thought that the two of them were growing emotionally closer, although assuming Cynthia could grow emotionally close to anyone was a serious overestimate on the killer's part. Her partner was under the assumption that the murderer was obsessed with her, and she could admit that there was a possibility of that being the truth. In that case, that meant by appearing to take things from professional to personal, West was taking a very big chance with his own personal safety, but it was entirely his call. If he thought he could handle it, she wasn't going to contradict him over it.

"If you're sure about it, I won't argue. But you at least need to be prepared." There was nothing left to say on the subject, and Cynthia finished getting ready to go. She grabbed her purse, doubled checked to make sure that her side arm was inside, and put on the jacket she'd pulled out to wear and made her way to the door, pausing with the unexpected compliment Kevin gave her. A normal person's response would have been to thank him, but Cynthia's first thought was whether or not she should correct him. She knew that she wasn't cut out for dating, but she hadn't thought that she was that bad until she almost told that wasn't how partners were supposed to speak to each other. If they were going to be playing the social aspect of a relationship, she was going to have to learn to curb her usual talk and simply go with the flow. It was not going to be easy at all.

Kevin had no idea just how far out of her comfort zone she already was, now struggling to try and come up with a compliment that didn't sound forced. It wasn't that she thought West was an ugly guy, she simply didn't view him as a member of the opposite sex if she could help it. It was much easier to see Kevin as a person with nothing at all distinguishing about him. Not many people could understand her way of thinking, and she was certain her partner would be among them.
"You don't look so bad yourself." Did that sound forced? Cynthia was feeling extremely self-conscious and already questioning if arranging this meeting by date was the best idea for her. She was not set up for this sort of interaction, let alone with someone who she had to deal with on a daily basis. It was one thing to work with him, but a completely other to exchange pleasentries.

She followed him out to his truck, giving him the directions to the restaurant. "Ricardo's is owned by an ex cop….Max's old partner to be exact. He retired about ten years ago and took up the family business instead. Food's pretty good. Plus, I know Jimmy pretty well. Max and I used to go there from time to time to talk about cases whenever I was struggling and needed advice." The woman remained silent for the rest of the drive, only opening her mouth to point out a parking spot closer to their destination.

As they got out to walk to the restaurant, Cynthia slipped her arm into Kevin's, flashing him a tense smile. "Just go with it. Chances are we weren't followed, but who knows." The restaurant was dimly lit, giving the place a more romantic feel than she was comfortable with. There were a few couples scattered within, a handful of men seated at the bar watching some game on the TV, and a family of five off in one corner who were celebrating some special occasion or another. The hostess behind the podium was a tiny red head who was at last ten years younger than Cynthia, with a bubbly air about her that set her on edge. Stiffly she asked for Jimmy, nearly snapping at the young woman when she stalled, then sluggishly stalked away in search of the owner. He appeared moments later, a stick figure of a man with a full head of salt and pepper hair, and a commanding presence that was enough to intimidate anyone who didn't know him. His face instantly lit up with a smile when he spotted Cynthia, and much to her dismay she was swept up in a hug. "Cindy! If I'd have known you were coming I'd have set up the usual for ya."

Cynthia straightened up, managing another tense smile while smoothing her dress. "This isn't the usual visit, Jimmy." She motioned to Kevin, a brow lifting in silent suggestion. "Jimmy, this is Kevin. My partner."

The man glanced at West, an awed expression on his face. "Partner? You mean they finally threw someone in the shark tank? You poor, poor man. This little one will work you to death, ain't that right Cindy?"

Cynthia had the decency to at least blush at the words, and the nickname the man used for her. She'd insisted plenty of times that she didn't need a nickname, but Jimmy simply wouldn't hear it. Shaking her head, she cleared her throat to put an end to all the pleasantries. "He's fine, Jimmy. But we need a table. A bit out of the way, if you know what I mean. And we'll be expecting company too, if you can tell your hostess to show him our way when he gets here. The name's Holsted. He should be here around seven thirty….eightish."

Jimmy nodded, leading the two of them through the main dining area of the restaurant to a small room which was already set up with a table for four. "No problem, Cindy. I'll make sure to let Tanya know, and Mikey will be your waiter for the night. I'll round him up now." He left Cynthia and Kevin to take a seat, and the former to explain what was going on. "Mike is a part time P.I. He happens to like waiting tables better. Jimmy usually has him serving whenever he knows I'm talking shop, keep the riffraff away if any turn up, and he's great at getting rid of the media." Taking a seat, she motioned for Kevin to sit down as well. "He'll bring out the menus soon enough." She left Kevin to digest what was going on, and ask questions if he felt he needed to. They could start talking about the case once they had their food ordered and a moment to settle.[/fieldbox]

 

[MST3K 4ever]

[fieldbox= Kevin, blue]

Kevin gave himself a moment to allow the compliment Cynthia gave him to wash over him. If it wasn't for the fact that they were partners, dealing with a cold calculating psycho, that their Captain was joining them later in the evening, and this was more of a relaxed version of spit-balling about the case Kevin could almost pass this off as a first date. The nervous energy was prevalent and they were dressed not exactly for work, but Kevin reminded himself that the two of them getting together wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Although if it did happen Kevin wasn't going to exactly get upset over it. Cynthia was not only smart, and definitely had to nothing to apologize for in the looks department, but Kevin had a feeling that there was more to Cynthia than the emotionally constipated detective had seen. Quite a change from a few days ago when Kevin all but had booked the moving truck to send him back to Pittsburgh.

Kevin heard Cynthia detail the restaurant they were going to and it didn't really surprise him that somehow someway there was a connection to being a cop. He knew that being a cop was a big part of Cynthia's identity, but there had to be some aspect of her life that wasn't a part of a cop. Kevin looked forward to seeing that part at some point. If nothing else to see that Cynthia wasn't so wrapped up in being a cop, because Larry used to tell him that the cops who could go the distance in this line of work had to have some kind of outlet to leave the job behind if only for a few hours. Kevin was convinced that there was that side to Cynthia somewhere buried deep underneath the badge. All that being said Kevin figured it best to let Cynthia show that side on her terms and in her own time. That was when Cynthia slipped her arm into Kevin's and at first Kevin didn't know how to react, but when Cynthia said to just go with it all Kevin said, "You got it."

The Restaurant itself struck a nice balance between fine dining and family place, and Kevin was actually pretty impressed with how they struck the balance so nicely. It was very nice looking but there was a sense of it being very welcoming to the average person at the same time. Maybe it was because the connection with Cynthia, but also the fact that Kevin was a cop as well helped out. Although when they ran into the red head at the hostess station Kevin thought he was gonna have to hold Cynthia back. The bubbly-perky type was one that Kevin could tolerate, but Cynthia usually didn't deal with that type and Kevin knew it.

Meeting Jimmy was like meeting an old friend just the upbeat and welcoming personality made Kevin feel at ease. Seeing Cynthia get scooped up and referred to as "Cindy" nearly floored Kevin. He could tell that this was not something Cynthia was not ready for Kevin to see, and so Kevin made a note not to make mention of it…for now. When Jimmy made his comment about the "shark tank" Kevin replied, "I know how to swim, and I can give as good as I get. It's got its ups and downs like all things but I enjoy working with Cynthia." Kevin had to fight with every fiver in his body to keep from saying "Cindy." As they walked away Kevin mouthed to himself "Cindy? Wow."

Once they took their seats Cynthia gave him the information about their waiter and Kevin replied, "Oh that's actually pretty interesting." Kevin was seeing a little more into Cynthia's world and it was an interesting place to behold on a lot of levels. He looked around and said, "This is a very nice place Cynthia." He smirked and said, "Don't worry I won't call you Cindy. You're definitely a Cynthia to me" Kevin waited for Mike to show up with menus, and if this was a real Italian place as Kevin expected he could see himself ordering the Chicken Marsala.

Kevin took a bit of deep breath and said, "So in terms of the case right now. We're at an interesting place to say the least. We're waiting for another body to drop, but we've made some good strides, and you can't tell me that some of the progress we've made hasn't been lost on our killer. Which is why I almost expect something to happen sooner than later." He gave a nod and said, "I don't think it'll have a personal connection to you this time. He's already shown you enough to let you know that he knows about you. In terms of me, I'm still the wild card." Then it hit Kevin and he said, "Unless Cynthia what if he hasn't done anything yet because he's trying to find a way to get to me like he got to you. Beyond my bike, the picture, and Roxy. Cynthia he knows I'm from Pittsburgh." He shook his head and said, "I doubt my family is immediate danger, because then the focus is not here anymore. Forget it Cynthia my mind is just kind of ping ponging around for the moment." He leaned in just slightly not enough for it to be intimate but enough to know that this wasn't something Kevin was comfortable saying. He said, "Out of all the cases I've ever worked on this is the first one I've ever seen that has the potential of ending ugly in a lot of ways." Kevin looked Cynthia in the eyes and said, "But I won't fail you. We've put in too much time, blood, sweat, and tears to give up. Whoever is behind all this will pay the price and pay it in full."

Kevin leaned back as he saw not only, who he assumed was, Mike but bubbly-perky was escorting Holsted to their table. Kevin said before Holsted was within ear-shot, "Well bright side I look better dressed than the Captain." He shot Cynthia a quick grin with that.

[/fieldbox]