===
October 15, 2009……7:15 a.m.
===
As his eyes opened to consciousness, he started to realize the pain that hit him. His back ached, his neck ached and his entire body ached. Sitting up from the leather sofa, the room was spinning slowly around him. Because he’s been lying in an awkward position the whole night, the first thing he had to deal with this morning is a horrible pain. He rubbed his head and then his eyes, yawning and stretching as the morning sun hit his exotic face.
“My back,” Ron complained, rubbing it as he got up from the couch.
On the other side of the room, he could see the light of his computer flashed on in the midst of the sunrise darkness. Ron scratched his head and walked over. He stopped a few feet from the table, folding his arms and smiling at the simply innocent sight. What he saw was so simple and so ordinary, but to him, simple and ordinary things like that could easily cheer him up. He leaned back on the wall quietly, taking in the sight in case he suddenly lost it.
Nancy was sleeping soundly, her head titled back comfortably as she hugged her legs, sitting and sleeping quietly on the chair. She must’ve been working the whole night, judging by the fact that the computer is still on. Ron loved watching her sleep. He couldn’t explain why, but Nancy’s face when she slept, was in a very different way as beautiful as she was when she’s awake. He loved watching this calmer, quieter side of her. She looked so small and innocent when she slept. She melted his heart every time he saw. He smiled, laughing quietly at himself for being so old-fashioned, but he couldn’t help it.
He walked over, taking soft steps over by her side. Ron bent over and placed his arms gently around her, wrapping her, embracing her as she slept peacefully in the chair. He kissed her forehead as softly as he could careful not to wake her up, knowing she must’ve gotten home late last night, just like any other. He could see the files that she had pulled up on the screen and couldn’t help but curiously look over them. Surprised, he moved slightly closer to see the screen better. The files that Nancy had pulled up weren’t just any files. They were very significant information to the case. He looked through them, the set of pictures from months ago that his love had dug up. Ron then noticed that Alice Chan, the victim of this triad murder case was in a couple of them. All the photographs they had of her were her being with Raymond Lam. Ron finally understood why Alice Chan was linked with the triads. The idea that hit him was so obvious, he felt stupid not realizing it sooner. She was linked to the triads not simply because she had possession of a large load of drugs, but because she was Raymond Lam’s girlfriend, or at least one of his girlfriends.
“Nancy, you are my lucky star,” he mumbled, smiling and dragging the folders to a USB drive.
Nancy’s head turned slightly in his arms, catching his attention. He turned to her, caressing her cheeks as she woke up, her face still sleepy and tired. She still looked innocent, but he knew that this phase would only last for another five or ten minutes, and then she’d be back to being loud and aggressive like every day, but it was just another part of her that he loved so much. He kissed her gently as she woke up, hugging her and tightening his hold ever so slightly. Nancy placed the palm of her hand on his cheeks, smiling up at him. Her palms were so warm.
“I thought you’d still be mad at me,” she sighed.
“You know I can’t stay mad at you over night,” he replied, rubbing his nose against hers.
“Liar,” she joked. “Do I really have to go to work today?” she whined.
“Of course you do, after the information you’ve given me,” Ron smiled.
Nancy didn’t seem surprised, but she played with him anyways. “What did I give you?”
“This,” Ron replied, showing her the pictures on the screen. “Alice is Raymond’s girlfriend.”
Nancy nodded her head. “I guess that’s good information.” She let out another sigh, this one soft and sounding a bit childish. “Look at them, hand in hand and laughing. They’re so romantic.”
“There’s nothing romantic about triads, honey,” Ron smiled.
“Look at you, ruining the moment.”
“Triads aren’t romantic, but police investigators are,” Ron countered as he hugged her tighter, gently pulling her face closer to his, so close they were kissing as he spoke. “We can solve crimes together, see each other at work and be together at home.”
She sighed, her sigh sounding disappointed. “Yes but we always fight, it’s inevitable.”
“True we always fight, but we could hold it back for one night can’t we? Romance…”
Nancy continued to tease him, snuggling closer in. “You don’t know romance sweetie.”
“Yes I do. How did I get this ring on your finger if I knew nothing about romance?” he replied, holding up her hand and playing around with the beautiful engagement ring on her finger.
“You’re the most unromantic man in the world, Ron,” Nancy teased, kissing him continuously.
“Am I? Let’s have a good night tonight,” he smiled, winking at her seductively.
Nancy let out a childish, high pitched yet charming giggle. “I think I will enjoy tonight.”
“Silly girl,” Ron smiled, kissing her lips. He pressed his lips against hers as they began coming closer and closer. He could feel her warmth through the softness of her skin as they kissed. Her lips were so soft and so irresistible, he felt like he never could let go.
===
October 15, 2009……9:30 a.m.
===
The only expression that could be seen on Ron’s face was pure boredom. Bosco’s expression was no different, but with Ron’s cool aura surrounding him, his emotions seemed sharper than the friendlier friend of his. Bosco seemed entranced in his own world, thinking hard about something.
“Haven’t you realized something odd?” Bosco asked as he looked forward. “Every major discovery we make in most of the cases, all have something to do with Nancy.”
“What do you mean?” Ron asked him, walking casually.
“I mean that the big clues that we get which usually has a strong lead, either Nancy pried it out, or she found it in older files of ours, or because of Nancy doing things her way, we find it. Doesn’t it make you wonder? Maybe Nancy’s way of doing things has a good side.”
“Yeah, it’s weird how she gets leads and finds information so easily, too easily. But Nancy is too reckless, and I worry for her. Especially during cases like these where we split up. She’s always off somewhere, prying out clues and getting herself in dangerous situations.” Ron didn’t look bored anymore. Instead he seemed headstrong and serious, as if in his mind he was thinking deeper into something else.
Bosco only nodded, knowing the look on Ron’s face so well. Whenever they got into the difference between Ron and Nancy’s beliefs, Ron would immediately become serious. They continued to walk on quietly. Bosco knew Ron quite well, and he knew Nancy quite well. Nancy would rather mix herself in with the criminalist crowd in order to solve a case, while Ron was headstrong on keeping his lines clearly drawn and never mixing in with them. They were both so different, but yet they were together, soon to be wedded. It was something Bosco couldn’t understand, but yet when in his life has he ever seen through either Ron or Nancy, until the last minute when they finally clarify everything?
Ron stopped suddenly, surprising Bosco. They saw a sleek, shiny black Porsche parked crookedly on the street, barely fitting in between the tight parking space. Immediately they recognized this car, knowing who the owner was clear and well. Bosco could hear Ron let out a soft sigh as he shook his head and headed over to the alley the direction of the car’s front was pointed at. Bosco was left following behind Ron.
“These guys never take a break do they?” Ron sighed.
“They’re triads,” Bosco replied. “I think they consider this fun.”
As they got into the alley, the two investigators could hear a thunderous voice, screaming and echoing down the way. Then they saw him, standing between two other of his men, wearing a sleeveless vest, revealing the tribal tattoo that lined half of his left arm. His hair was highlighted blonde in the middle, and piercings could be clearly seen, one on each of his earlobe. Ron ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head as he picked up speed and ran down to the little crowd. He could see the man clearly now, his hands around a smaller man’s neck, holding him up a couple inches from the ground with an angry face.
“Stop,” Bosco commanded. “Raymond Lam, put him down!”
Raymond turned around with an arrogant expression, throwing the smaller man back against the wall. His attention was now on Ron and Bosco. “Officers, can I help you?”
“We could arrest you for violating the peace and injuring this man,” Ron spoke sharply.
Raymond laughed it off, obviously not intimidated by the police. “I didn’t think I’d run into you today, Inspector Ng,” he scoffed. “Too bad you can’t arrest me today, I’m not doing anything wrong,” Raymond spoke, getting closer to Ron with waiting eyes. “I was only teaching my subordinate here that he should inform me of everything that he hears, even if he finds it useless. Is that so wrong, inspector?” He placed emphasis on nearly all of his words, standing tall against Ron. Both men were side by side with each other in terms of authority and reputation.
From his tone, Ron knew that something was angering Raymond. “Mr. Lam,” Ron suddenly began to speak. This time, he sounded more professional and less like he wanted to beat Raymond into a pulp. “Even if you did nothing wrong, I’d still like to take you back to the station.”
“Ron,” Bosco spoke, thinking that they have no right to request Raymond’s visit to the station.
“And why is that?” Raymond asked.
Ron kept a cool face against the high ranking triad in front of him. “I’m sure by now you’d know that Miss Alice Chan had been murdered. From what we know, she is your girlfriend. From what we believe, one of your men could’ve murdered her. If you’d cooperate, this case would go much faster, and maybe this time around you won’t be held a suspect.”
The look in Ron’s eyes was chilling to the bone. Raymond pulled a simple smile and nodded. With only a short moment of consideration, Raymond agreed to come back. Neither Ron nor Bosco knew what he was thinking, but as long as he was willing to give them some information, it should be fine.
“Alright,” Raymond nodded. “I’d like to see how you treat me, when I’m not being held a suspect.” Raymond’s excuse seemed far too easy for Ron, but he was in no position to question a willing party’s intention right this moment.
===
October 15, 2009……10:00 a.m.
===
Fala was busy typing up a set of documents on her computer, her eyes glued to the screen. Her office was quiet. So quiet she could hear the loud clicking of her keyboard as she typed, and her older sister’s heals clicking against the metal of the high stool as Nancy spun around in her chair. Sometimes it seemed as if they were twins instead of sisters three years apart since Nancy was far from the quiet and mature type. After a while, Fala glanced up at the clock and finally fell back from her concentration to her screen. She let out a sigh of relief.
“Finished!” she announced, throwing her arms in the air.
“Good, now help me with my case,” Nancy spoke immediately, growing impatient from her long wait. “I need what you forensics have gotten.”
Fala stood up from her chair to stretch her legs. She took gentle strides over to her counter and pulled out a set of folders. “All the information was put together in here. I made copies so you can easily hand them out to your team.”
“Thank you,” Nancy grinned, flipping through the pages. “Oh you and Ron have OCD, look how organized this is!” Nancy spoke.
“Speaking of Ron, how have your relationship with my future brother-in-law been?”
“It’s been alright, same old stuff every day I guess.”
“Alright?” Fala replied in surprise. “You and Ron have the oddest relationship ever. You two get in fights like cat and dog, and then the fight magically resolves itself within a day or two, and then you two are all cuddly and sweet again. You and future brother-in-law are so weird.”
Nancy laughed as she closed the folders. “Hey, at least I have someone. I think it’s about time you started dating again don’t you?” Nancy asked. “I really want to have a younger brother-in-law too you know.”
Fala pushed her playfully. “Very funny, stop acting like mom.” Right after those words came out of her mouth, Fala’s playfulness was suddenly gone. She then wished that she had never mentioned the word “mom”, knowing that it would no doubt upset Nancy.
Nancy’s expression changed immediately after she heard that word. She turned and looked down to the folders as she opened them up again, searching for something to change the conversation. “So, what theories do you have for this case?” she asked, her tone hard and strained.
Her younger sister stood there, playing with her pen as she searched for an answer. Fala was about to slap herself at how stupid she was. She knew that whenever she just so mentioned the word mom around Nancy that the carefree and childish sister she had would immediately become quiet, sad and thoughtful. It wasn’t exactly a good thing. Fala never knew who their mother was, what she did that made Nancy so mad and saddened at the same time, or even what their mother looked like. She was too young to remember, but Nancy’s childhood memory had appeared to be scarred by the presence of this woman, and so they never spoke of her, not even once. Fala never dared question about her, and now as she grew older, she knew well enough not to press Nancy’s button, but today was unexpected and a total accident.
“I think that it was planned,” Fala spoke in a low voice. “Our pathologist has confirmed that Alice Chan’s main cause of death was being cut off from air and she died from lack of air. Around her neck you can see the bruising caused by the rope used to choke her. If this was an accidental thing or a robbery, the killer wouldn’t have choked her to death. Besides, triads don’t usually pick strangling and choking as their first method of killing. It usually falls down to guns and knives, not ropes.”
Nancy nodded as her phone suddenly rang. “Excuse me,” she sighed as she picked it up.
Fala stood quietly, listening for a second to hear the clock tick. When Nancy was finally done, she again closed the folder and stood up. “Was it Ron?”
Nancy nodded. “They have Raymond Lam in for questioning. Ron’s going to question him right now. The weird thing is…Raymond Lam came in voluntarily.”
“That is odd. It’s not like him to do that,” Fala replied. “You better go back to check it out.”
===
October 15, 2009……12:00 a.m.
===
“Raymond, answer the question,” Ron spoke with a louder voice as he placed his fist down.
Raymond leaned back and laughed. “You’re so funny,” he sighed, seeming to not care about this questioning. “Ron Ng, I’ve heard a lot about you. So many of us know you, don’t you ever worry that we’ll try to hurt you and your family?”
“Stick to the point Raymond, please,” Ron spoke, retaining a stern and hard voice. He stopped for a moment to think, and realized that if he continued to pressure Raymond, he won’t ever say anything useful. Ron took a breath, thinking back to the set of information he found off of Nancy’s files this morning. Then he suddenly remembered something, a note that Nancy had left just as a thought. Ron wondered if it was true and decided to ask. “Is it true that Alice Chan was suspected of working for another gang and was only using you?”
Raymond’s cocky smile dropped and his expression suddenly changed. “How did you know?”
Ron too wondered how he knew or how Nancy knew. But that was the least of his worries right now. He was going to continue on with this lead now that he’s gotten Raymond to stop his stupid act. “We’ve been tracking you and everyone around you for a while, but I’m sure you already knew that,” Ron replied, finding a proper excuse.
“I only suspect her, but everyone else in my gang is convinced that she is.”
Finally, something he could use. “Do you have any other suspicions? Like, do you think that anyone in your gang could’ve killed her without telling you? I saw you beat up that guy this morning because he didn’t tell you something. Was it because of that?”
“Officer Ng, ask one question at a time so I can answer you properly,” Raymond laughed. This time his laughed lacked the arrogance that he boasted. “Yes I have other suspicions. I think that in my gang the only people who dared to kill her are my two other girlfriends. And the guy I beat up this morning, yes I beat him up because of that and because he heard someone say that there was a plan to kill Alice and make it look just like a drug robbing accident.”
“Who are your two other girlfriends?”
“Yoyo Chen and Macy Chan. Macy and Alice are sisters, so I don’t think her suspicion is really high. But Yoyo is a different story. She’s always been aggressive. Though don’t lower your guard on any of them. I’ve been with them long enough to at least know that.”
===
October 15, 2009……01:00 p.m.
===
As she came closer to the set of glass doors to their floor office, she paused for a short moment. She shook herself loose of all the thoughts she’s gotten in her mind after her long drive and took a deep breath. Nancy closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, all the sorrows she had earlier seemed to have vanished, or at least bottled up somewhere deep within her. She placed a wide smile on her face as she walked into the office with a carefree act.
“Nancy you’re back. What took you so long?” Bosco asked.
“I figured it’ll take a while for the questioning to finish so I took my time,” she replied casually. “Here are the files that the forensic lab gathered for us,” she spoke, handing out the packets.
“So Fala thinks that this is a planned murder too,” Bosco spoke.
“Yeah,” Nancy replied. When she looked up, she realized that Kate was also standing there in front of her. To Nancy, Kate looked revealing as usual. “Shouldn’t you be in there monitoring the interrogation?”
Kate shook her head with a slightly disappointed look. “I was, but Ron asked me to leave.”
Nancy only nodded as she placed the papers down at her desk.
“Oh, here they come!” Kate exclaimed. Everyone in the office, including Nancy, could see how happy Kate was just from the sight of Ron.
She ignored the revealing girl that stood a couple feet from her. Instead, Nancy’s eyes were on the young man that had walked out of the interrogation room, right after Ron. She knew he was Raymond Lam, a supposedly notorious gangster who would do anything only if he felt like it. Everyone said he was unpredictable and calculatingly despicable, but from the looks of his face she could think otherwise. Nancy couldn’t help but admit that Raymond had a pretty face. He looked stunning in his sleeveless vest and his arrogant smile was something else. Nancy then met his eyes. He must’ve seen her because they held eye contact for more than three seconds probably. As he turned, she shook herself free of the sudden trance she was bounded in. She turned back to her desk and placed the papers in a pile, a way of organizing that only she would understand.
===
October 15, 2009……10:00 p.m.
===
She snuck out quietly into the hallway right before Ron called the team meeting to an end. After finding out that Ron intends to track down Raymond’s two other girlfriends, Nancy suddenly had a thought come to mind and she knew it would help. She stood in the far corner of the hall, facing the window out into the busy streets and colorful city lights.
“Ruco,” she greeted over the phone in a hushed voice.
“Oh no, not you again. What do you want?” Ruco asked with a sigh.
Nancy couldn’t help but let out a little smile. “I’ll pay you double if you get good feeds to me about Yoyo Chen and Macy Chan.”
“What?!” he asked in shock. “Macy Chan is alright, but you want me to get you information about Yoyo Chen?! She’ll have me killed in a million different ways if she found out!”
“Then it’s your job to find a way out of that,” Nancy countered. “If you don’t get feeds on her for me, I’ll make sure that everyone in the 14K finds out that you’ve been exchanging information with me.”
“Hey, it’s not really an exchange, come on!”
“Ruco,” she spoke with a waiting tone.
“Oh fine,” he sighed with no other options. “If I get killed for this, you owe me so much.”
Nancy smiled as she hung up the call. She kept her phone out though, dialing in a different number. “Tavia!” she greeted with excitement.
“Why do I have a feeling that you’re going to bring me trouble?” Tavia replied.
“It’s not much of trouble,” Nancy laughed. “Consider it a favor.”
“Alright fine, what is it?”
“I have a plan. Can you take care of Raymond Lam’s current lawyer so that you can safely become his new lawyer? I heard he takes advice from his lawyers and especially during times when he is being watched by us. Right now he’ll definitely take advice from you.”
“I’ll do that for you, seems kind of interesting. But why can’t you take care of his lawyer?”
“Because I’m a cop and I’m aggressive, I don’t know what I’ll do to the guy,” Nancy replied. “Please? You said it yourself you find this case interesting, so help me out.”
“Fine I will. But you still have to stop doing things your own way, despite how fun it is your way,” Tavia answered over the phone. “Oh look, now you’ve got me contradicting myself. I’ll talk to you later. I still have a case to finish.”
“Nancy,” Ron’s sweet sounding voice suddenly surprised her as she scrambled to hang up her call. He wrapped his arms around her and placed his head gently on her shoulder. “Are you ready to go?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she replied. “Why can’t you be like this during the work day?”
“I don’t know,” he laughed. “As leader of this team, I thought I should put up a good example.”
“Liar,” she replied as they turned around.
They both could see Kate standing there, lingering as she was about to leave. Nancy found something weird in Kate, something she couldn’t explain. Whenever Kate looked at Ron, Nancy didn’t know what the weird aura is around Kate. But Nancy could see that whenever Kate saw Ron and Nancy together, there was jealousy in the air. She tried to ignore this, looking down as she and Ron left for the elevator. It seemed that Nancy was the only one who noticed, since Ron’s smile to relief was still strong and he didn’t seem to notice anything besides her, the girl in his arms. She was glad.
===
October 15, 2009……11:00 p.m.
===
The alluring scent of lit candles melted her heart. She sat comfortably on the massage chair in their room as Ron set up their bed. He then turned to her with a large grin on his face. When Nancy looked into his eyes, she knew exactly what he wanted. He bent down beside her, wrapping his strong arms around her tiny body.
“Tonight?” she asked with a gentle and playful smile.
“Yes tonight,” he replied. “Don’t you bail on me,” he laughed and kissed her on the cheek.
“Lately, all we do is fight. I guess tonight then,” she sighed, wrapping her slender arms around his neck and pulling him closer.
He placed his lips on hers, kissing hers. Being gentle at first, he continued to push forward, deeper and deeper as she followed his lead like always. Nancy would occasionally trail off and do her own thing with him, but he never mind, instead he preferred their inconsistency. He held her tighter, kissing her on her lips, and then down to her neck and shoulders. He could feel her smile as kissed her. She wrapped her legs around his body as he picked her up with ease. They were kissing still as she clung onto him and he held onto her.
The bed was right beside them. Ron placed her down gently on the bed as she slid up to where the pillows were and he followed her. She took his shirt off so easily and quickly he didn’t even feel it. Next was her turn. Ron pulled their blanket to the side as he took her top off, sliding it off gently with comfort and care. They’ve done this so many times before, but yet it never gets boring. He was in shorts as he began to unbutton her black jeans. Nancy suddenly smiled, her smirk warning him that she was growing aggressive. She turned him over as they began to pull the blanket over themselves. She kissed him on the cheeks, then his neck, and then his lips. She has never felt so warm and in love than that moment right there.
Suddenly, a soft ring caught both of their ears. The ringing kept going and going, and they didn’t intend to stop what they were doing. It was until the tenth minute that the ringing kept going that they finally stopped. Nancy reached over to grab her cell phone, only intending to check who had called her. When she saw the number, she let out a disappointed whine and face. “Oh you have got to be kidding me!” she sighed and dropped her head in the nape of Ron’s neck.
Nancy stood up, pulling her pants up all the way as she grabbed her shirt and bra to cover her chest area. “Sweetie, this is important, I’m sorry,” she apologized.
Ron laid back and laughed. “Alright,” he sighed.
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