From Dawn Till Dusk - 03 - Old Habits Never Die

===
October 17, 2009……12:30 p.m.
===

She sat alone in the far side of the bar counter, uncomfortable, angry and growing impatient by the second. Nancy’s eyes were on the door, waiting for that little mole of hers to show up and explain to her why he must choose the worst time possible to contact her. Her fingers were tapping against the glossy wood of the counter, her nails making little clicking noises. The glass beside her hand was half empty, waiting for her to finish the last of the hard vodka the bartender had given her.
The door finally opened, and instead of false hope, this time he really did show up. His face was lit up by the colorful lights in the mild bar as he shown his smile to her. Ruco walked over casually, perhaps proud of himself for taking the initiative to find her and give her information. When he neared her, his pride suddenly fell. He saw the look on her face, and she didn’t look one bit happy. She was the opposite of what he had expected. He expected her to be happy and eager to know the information he gathered, but the expression on Nancy’s face right now spoke the polar opposite. He then wondered if he had somehow messed up, again.

“Is something wrong?” he asked in a shaky voice as he took a seat in the empty stool.

Nancy was quiet for a moment. She finished her drink and finally looked back up at him. Her stare was cold and eerie to him. Nancy suddenly turned away quickly, taking in a deep breath. Ruco could see her fist tighten then loosen again. After her breath, a neutral smile appeared on her face, as if she had just erased whatever was bothering her.

“What did I do wrong this time?” he asked timidly.

“You couldn’t have chosen a better time?” She mumbled, but he could hear her clearly. “Never mind that, just tell me what you got.”

“I picked a horrible time? I’m sorry, I was just kind of eager to take the initiative here.”

She signaled the female bartender for another drink as she spoke to him. “It’s nothing,” she lied. “Just tell me the information you got. If you decided to take the initiative, it has to be important.”

He put on a timid smile as he straightened himself in the seat, facing her. “Alright, so you asked me to trail Yoyo Chen and Macy Chan for you,” he began. “Well I’m doing that right now, but it may take a while for Yoyo since she isn’t exactly the carefree playgirl. She’s more of the paranoid type. But,” he paused. “Don’t get mad I have good news. I’ve come to know a lot about these two. Macy is Alice Chan’s younger sister. She is more of the carefree and childish nature. I’ve never seen her try to plot anything against anyone. She only clung onto Raymond because of well lustful reasons I guess. No rumors have been spread about her, so she seems alright.”

“What about Yoyo?” Nancy asked.

“Yoyo on the other hand is different. She’s careful and manipulative. I heard people in the gang say that she manipulated Raymond into letting her control part of his territory. She also seems like the jealous and emotional type too. I always see her getting into fights with other girls, and nearly every other sentence she says, they’re something hurtful. She might be the one you’re after.” Ruco finished with a long breath as he waited for Nancy’s reply.

Nancy was quietly sipping her drink for a moment. She set the glass down half empty again and turned her body facing him. “Ruco,” she began coldly. Surprisingly, you’ve outdone yourself this time. Why can’t you be like this all the other times I asked?” she smiled.

Ruco was shocked to hear the words of smooth and truthful compliments coming out from her mouth. He smiled shyly at first, but like any other times Nancy’s sudden change in expression brought fear and surprise to him. He could see that her eyes were on the door and they looked worried. He turned around. Ruco’s body tightened up when he saw the young man and a familiar face walk in. He’s seen this woman before, but being beside this man would be the last place he’d think to find her. Ruco was quiet as Raymond walked in casually. He obviously saw them from the door as he was making his way towards them. Ruco could’ve sworn that Raymond hasn’t ever heard of this bar, but it seems he was wrong.

“Evening Mr. Lam,” Ruco greeted as he gave Raymond a timid smile.

“No need to be formal Ruco. I’m just having a drink with my new lawyer here,” he smiled. His hair was messy, but in a charming way. Raymond had a one of a kind smile, and he had a built figure underneath his blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

The woman acted as if she and they were strangers. She had a lovely and comforting smile on, a contradiction to her formal business attire. “Hello, I’m Tavia Yeung. Pleased to meet you,” she greeted, putting even more distance between them with her tone. “And you are?” she asked, looking over at Nancy who sat with an unreadable expression behind Ruco.

Nancy suddenly smiled calmly, suppressing all her emotions within. “Nancy Wu,” she replied.

With her quick glance around her, Nancy could see that Raymond had just noticed something odd between her and Tavia. They both remained oddly calm as he slipped out a smirk and a little chuckle under his breath. Nancy feared that if he remembered her from their silent meeting at the police station, she and Ruco would be done for. Her heart was racing, worrying that this unpredictable playboy who stood in front of her could possibly blow out her cover and endanger all her friends here. Nancy’s heart was racing so fast, but she used all the will she had in her to control herself from revealing any signs of anxiety.

“I could’ve sworn I saw you somewhere,” Raymond finally spoke. He then stopped to think.

“Uh, maybe you saw her with me Ray,” Ruco interrupted, trying to lower the suspicion. “She’s new in our gang and she works under me. Her name is Nancy,” Ruco rolled out his words as if he’s recited it many times, thinking ahead in case of times when their cover is blown.

Tavia grabbed Raymond’s attention when she quietly passed him a drink. “Maybe you did,” she added. “You can’t even remember all the people who works under you, not to mention new recruits.” Tavia’s voice was calm, but as her close friend Nancy could hear her voice shake and quiver as it came out.

Raymond nodded as he played with the cherry in his drink. “I guess so. But I’m pretty sure if you’re this pretty I’d at least have some recollection of where I saw you,” he smiled, a dashing player’s smile. “Well, if you’re working under me, I’m sure you’d be able to play a game with me.” Raymond’s smile remained as he waited for Nancy’s response.

“What kind of game?” she asked, now a little more relaxed.

“It’s sort of like a bet,” Raymond began. “If you can swallow these five pills without throwing up, I won’t make you do anything odd or troublesome. If you can’t, well then I can have fun embarrassing you as much as I want for the night. Take it as some kind of hazing to become someone in my gang.”

The bag of white pills in his hand was a threatening temptation to most people who lives by the night, but to Nancy it could mean the death of her. She had no idea what kind of pills these were, ecstasy, heroine or some other kind of hallucinogen, but if it came from Raymond, it meant trouble. Yet she had no other options. It was either she save herself the trouble and swallow them, or possibly stir up further suspicion by refusing to. Her gaze on the bag wasn’t noticeable, but it was deep and thoughtful. In her mind she was basically flipping a coin: heads, she takes it while tails, she refuses.

“Heads,” she thought to herself. “Give it to me,” she replied with a lying grin on her lovely face.

Raymond nodded and casually handed her the bag.

Before Nancy placed the pills in her mouth, she took a quick glance over at Tavia and Ruco. Ruco was quiet and for once he had a stern look on his face. Nancy could see his muscles well-defined as he gripped the leather side of his chair. Tavia remained calm physically, but when Nancy looked into her best friend’s eyes she saw an explosion of worry and fear all mixed into one confusing emotion. Nancy closed her eyes for a brief second as she turned her head towards the ceiling lights and tossed all five pills into her mouth. In one quick and painless breath she swallowed them all.

She could hear loud, amused clapping once she looked back at the three. Raymond was laughing as he clapped for her. “Good job, you’re the first to actually not throw up right after you take it!”

Nancy saw both her friends let out the breath they were withholding and gave her a smile. She then felt the churning of her stomach and realized that the pills had kicked in faster than she had hoped. She felt nauseous and her throat became quickly dry. It was kind of hard to breath and her head began to throb. She wondered what kind of pills she took when all of these symptoms suddenly pop up. Nancy tightened her fist as she let out a laugh, hoping to ease down the mood. Her bad symptoms were starting to go away, but too slow for her to feel relieved.

Raymond clapped once again as he hopped off of his stool. “Well, I have to go now. It was fun meeting you Nancy,” he smiled so charmingly. “I’ll see you again soon. Ruco bring her to the gatherings more.”

“Ok,” Ruco replied in a low voice to Raymond.

“Now I have to go settle some stuff with the ladies. Tavia, I’ll see you later,” he smiled. Nancy could see that Tavia’s view on him was mixed very well. “Ruco want to come?”

“Sure,” Ruco nodded as he got off the stool. “Taking care of Macy and Yoyo?” Ruco asked as he threw a quick glance at Nancy.

“Yeah, come on I’m going to need help for these two,” Raymond rushed as they left the bar.

Once they left, the two remaining girls could finally loosen their tension and take a nice, calm breath. Tavia ordered another drink for both of them, slouching in her stool and losing her sense of professionalism only to Nancy. She played with the cherry in her drink just as Raymond did; an old habit of hers.

“How are you feeling?” Tavia asked quickly in a worried voice.

“I feel fine now, they felt more like pain killers with a little of something else,” Nancy mumbled as she tried to recall the feelings of the pills.

“No ecstasy or heroine,” Tavia sighed. “Thank god.”

“That was scary,” Nancy spoke with a loose sound of laughter.

“Are you kidding me? It was dangerous! What were you thinking?” Tavia replied.

“I don’t know,” Nancy shrugged. “I guess old habits never die.”

Tavia looked up at the dim lights in front of them as she sighed. “Yeah, remember when we first met? My first impression of you was that you’re not afraid of anything and that you were too brave or a little psychotic.”

“Of course I remember,” Nancy laughed, spinning her glass in her hand. “You called me insane. That wasn’t a very nice way to thank someone who just saved you.”

They both laughed as they gazed up to the dim blue lights ahead of them, both reminiscing the lovely past that they had shared. It was long ago, but it was an unforgettable day in their mind. After all, who could forget the day when they met a friend who would later mean so much to them?

===
FLASHBACK
===

Not only was her heart broken, she was scared out of her mind. Backed up into a corner, she exchanged glances with three tough, brooding men that surrounded her. The tallest one, the most charming one, the one that she had kissed, hugged and loved, placed his arms around her, preventing her from running. He looked at her with threatening eyes and let out a deep breath. She gripped her bag tightly, holding it between her and him as she shook inside her bones, silently wishing that she had never dated a monster like him.

“Tavia,” he breathed, straining himself from hurting her. “Give me the money.”

She shook her head, trembling. “No, I have no more money because of you.”

“Give it up now.” He placed emphasis on every word, glaring at her with bloodshot eyes.

“No!” she exclaimed. “Before you weren’t like this. Now you got yourself into drugs and are doing horrible things just for money to support your foolish need!”

“You should’ve expected it from me,” he smiled, closing in on her. She could hear the laughter of his two other friends beside her. “Now be a good girl like you are and give me the money.”

She trembled slightly, almost crying as she wished for him to just disappear and leave her life immediately. Tavia opened her eyes when she suddenly heard a loud, ringing sound of glass breaking. To her surprise, he suddenly fell back away from her, his hand covering the back of his head as blood spilled out. He staggered to keep standing, pointing at her and then looking over at his friends. They all then turned away from her, too the short and tiny girl that stood behind them all. In the girl’s hand was another glass bottle, waiting to be thrown.

“You!” he screamed, pointing at the girl.

“You sick animals,” she spoke in an unafraid tone. “You go so low as to ask your ex-girlfriend for money to buy drugs. What a bastard.”

“This is none of your business Nancy Wu!” he screamed, trying to slap her.

She was too quick for him and instead of hitting her, he felt another bottle smacked against the side of his face. Tavia could see the blood that came out from his cuts and hear his scream as the pain came to his senses. He fell to the ground, but quickly with the help of his friends, they scrambled away. Tavia’s limbs were still trembling, but she pulled herself together and stood straight up, looking back at the girl who she now realized was a few inches shorter than her but was obviously braver than her.

“Are you insane?!” Tavia screamed, rushing over to the girl in fear of her getting hurt.

“That’s no way to thank someone who just saved you,” the girl replied in a joking manner.

Tavia was quiet for a moment. “Thank you,” she sighed.

“Don’t mention it. That guy has been bothering me since before he dated you.”

“Why did you help me?”

“I actually only wanted to get back at him for hurting my friend Sharon, and then turned out helping you. I guess it was two birds with one stone, I did a good deed.” The girl smiled as she tossed the part of the broken bottle still in her hand to the ground.

Tavia flinched as the sound of glass broke against the concrete. “Tavia Yeung,” she smiled.

“Nancy Wu,” she replied.

“You’re bleeding,” Tavia pointed out. She knew it was probably because of her aggression earlier. “Let me help you with it.”

===
END OF FLASHBACK
===

Nancy shook her head and smiled, looking down at the half empty glass of martini in front of her. She then turned to look at her long time best friend. It had been twelve years since they met. She was only fourteen then, and now she was soon to be twenty-six. It had been such a long time. Tavia smiled at her, calmly but differently. She didn’t show the arrogance of a lawyer in her smile as she would to everyone else, instead, in Tavia’s smile she was like a sister.

“Things didn’t change much since then,” Tavia sighed.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re still as aggressive as ever,” she pointed out. Nancy nodded to the true statement. “And I’m still attracted to the bad boy types.”

Nancy looked up at her, smiling. “Don’t tell me that you’re attracted to that playboy Raymond.”

“I’m not,” Tavia immediately defended. “I think I’d learn my lesson since then. But I can’t help it. I just find the rebellious types to be interesting. It’s not like I’m going to date any of them, I just find them interesting or attractive.”

“Well as a friend, I don’t mind who you date,” Nancy replied. “Just stay away from that Raymond guy. I shouldn’t have asked you to help me,” she shook her head.

“I’m ok,” Tavia cut in. “Raymond Lam would be the last man I’ll ever date. I’ve only known him for a couple days and his playboy nature is already unbearable.”

“Just whatever you do, keep your heart far away from his reach. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

===
October 20, 2009……01:00 p.m.
===

Half asleep, she tossed and turned in her bed, hoping to somehow fall back into sleep again. Nancy rubbed her tired face with her blanket gently as she turned around once again burying herself in the mountain of soft pillows and sheets she called a bed. Her head throbbed and pained from the on-going headache since last night, perhaps because of too much work and information. She groaned as she wrapped the blanket around her whole body, pulling her legs up and hugging them as she tried to go back to sleep, hoping her headache would go away.

A warm and soft hand pulled the blanket away from her, wrapping her again in a different kind of warmth. She snuggled in closer, her eyes still closed.

“Wake up,” he spoke softly beside her ear. “Don’t you know what day it is?”

“I don’t care what day it is,” she moaned. “I’m so tired Ron, give me ten more minutes.”

“You can have an hour if you want. We’re not going to work today.”

Nancy was suddenly awake, sitting up and looking into her fiancé’s eyes. “Why aren’t we?”

Ron only smiled as he took her hands and placed her in his arms. He picked up her tiny body with ease and brought her out of the room. “Come on, brush your teeth first and I’ll tell.”

“Fine,” she sighed as he placed her down in front of the bathroom sink. Surprisingly, Ron had already had her toothbrush out and ready.

Nancy watched him watching her as she brushed her teeth. She noticed that Ron was being odd today. Why was he watching her doing something so common?
She never knew it, but Ron had always loved watching her do average, little everyday things. It was something about her that amused him in everything she does. He placed his strong arms around her waist as she wiped her face dry. Nancy didn’t need make up, she still looked beautiful naturally. She then leaned on him, placing her arms on his shoulder as she waited for him to answer. He didn’t. Instead her turned her around and pulled her back into his arms fully, picking her up again. She laughed.

“I can walk you know,” she smiled.

“Of course, but I just like to carry you,” he replied.

“So why aren’t we working today?” she asked him as he placed her down in their kitchen. She was still facing him until Ron placed his hands on her waist and gently turned her around.

“Happy birthday!” he yelled once Nancy saw the lovely cake that sat in front of her.

She was speechless. “Oh my god!” she screamed, not knowing what else to say.

“I can’t believe you didn’t even remember your own birthday,” Ron laughed as he hugged her.

“I remembered,” she lied. She had no idea. To be honest with herself, she didn’t even know what the date was, not to mention her birthday.

“Make a wish sweetie,” Ron spoke to her as he leaned his head on her shoulder.

Nancy placed her hands together and closed her eyes as she smiled. In her mind, she thought of the most wonderful thing that she wanted and then wished for it. “I wish Ron and I would never fight again and instead live like this forever,” she thought to herself. When she opened her eyes, she took a deep breath and blew out all the candles in one try.

“Yes!” Ron smiled as he began cutting the cake.

“You’re such a pig,” she laughed as she leaned over and watched him.

Ron reached his head over the table, placing his lips gently on hers. Without a word, they kissed and shared whatever feeling of happiness they had in them. Ron was always gentle, he was aggressive to her but in a way he was also gentle. Nancy’s headache was gone, all the pain and straining she had before just magically disappeared. It seemed as if just being with Ron alone was her cure. He took her hand as they continued to kiss on for another long moment. Slowly they then pulled away, both wanting to push back in for another kiss, but then they would probably end up kissing the whole day away.

“Shall we go get some food after this?” Ron asked in a charming way as he shared the cake with her. Their piece was big, almost three fourths of the beautiful cake alone.

“Yes we shall,” Nancy replied. “Breakfast?”

Ron laughed. “It’s one in the afternoon. I don’t think they serve breakfast at this hour.”

Nancy stuck her tongue out at him.

“It’d be weird to eat breakfast at this time.”

“Come on,” Nancy smiled.

Ron knew that she didn’t care whether it was breakfast or lunch. She just wanted to eat and be with him. “How about lunch instead?”

“Fine,” she replied with a funny little smile. “Be a normal person then.”

He only laughed at her remark and placed her hand in his.

If she remembered right, they haven’t fought at all for the last couple of days. Maybe her wish really was coming true. She never thought that a birthday wish would come true, but it was always worth a try. Ron was being really sweet to her, as usual. He was always caring and close. No matter how mad they get at each other they would always go back to this delicate closeness like usual. She smiled and fell into his arms as he came behind her.

“Get dressed now,” he smiled. “You don’t want me to take you out in your pajamas.”

“Do it,” she laughed. “I’ll go out in these.”

“But I can’t,” he laughed and turned her around. “Look, your dress is up to your thigh! What if someone looks up your dress?”

“Kill joy,” she smiled as she kissed him briefly on the cheek.

“You disagree with me on everything,” he spoke as he hugged her tight. “But yet we don’t really become enemies,” he then smiled. “That’s good.”

“I don’t disagree with you on everything. I just like to tease you.”

“True,” Ron replied. He knew she liked to tease him, but in another person’s eyes, they were always disagreeing yet somehow they’d always end back as a close couple. “I guess old habits never die,” he mumbled so as those words were something private of theirs. “I love you.”

Nancy closed her eyes and hugged him tighter, tighter than normal, tighter than ever before. “I know,” she sighed happily.

Possible New Fan Fiction?

Title: Midnight Sun

Characters: * I'm going to do something different this time. I will use fake names, and then you guys can picture in your own characters!!! That will give you more room to imagine the story, and you can have characters that you like, not just ones that I like =D *

Genre: Supernatural, Romance, Drama

Author's Note: Oh boy, I've never tried supernatural before, this is gonna be interesting xD

From Dawn Till Dusk - 02 - Lately All We Do is Fight

===
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.

From Dawn Till Dusk - 01 - Silence in a City Night

===
October 15, 2009……12:35 a.m.
===

For the first time since so long, the city street seemed to be echoing in silence. The street was in the shadow of sounds from all the others, sitting in the very middle of Hong Kong, China. It was closed off from one end to the other, barricaded by police cruisers with their sirens still on and their engines still hot. The only people there were the men in uniform, and the investigators with proper badges. The entire street was drowned with a heavy, ghastly scent of decay.

“Where’s the heart of the scene?” he asked, shining his badge to a man standing tall in his uniform. The badge read Ron Ng, and contrasted with the deep black of his jacket as he tucked it back inside, unnecessary for the time being. He pulled and ducked under the yellow tape, walking into the busy crime scene with a straight, emotionless face.

The officer nodded at Ron as another inspector walked up from behind him. This man, he was a bit different from Ron. With Ron calm and casual in a striped collar shirt, light jeans and a black jacket, this man was in an uptight suit, formal enough for a ballroom dance. He nodded at the officer and walked with Ron as they headed up to the center of the street, where most of the investigating crew was gathered at. His police badge read Bosco Wong.

“You got here pretty early Bosco, I’m surprised,” Ron commented, glancing at him.

“I happened to be nearby. But I’m not a slacker you know,” he replied.

When they got to the body, Bosco flinched at the surprising sight. Ron on the other hand, dove right into work and bent down to closely examine the corpse. The victim was a girl, and by the look of her face she seemed no more than twenty-five at most.
Her corpse was lying in a black plastic trash bag, ripped open by probably the forensic team or the person who called the cops. The crimson colored blood was still oozing out from the bag, slowly and sickening to the stomach. Her major wounds that possibly caused the death were at her neck where her arteries are. Ron slipped on a pair of white, latex gloves as he tilted her head over, his stomach clenching up as the horrid sight finally got to him. The wounds on her neck looked old, and she couldn’t have been murdered today, but some time before.
After looking around the body for any more information, Ron stood up. He balanced himself, dizzy from the awful scent of decay that was strongest where he stood. He then turned to Bosco. His expression changed immediately from a puzzled look to a straight and brooding complexion. Ron signaled Bosco to walk with him, leaving the area where the sickening scent was at its strongest.

“She possibly died being choked to death, but the killer wasn’t using rope, I’m sure of it.”
“What do you suggest that they used? And why not rope?” Bosco asked in reply.

“The cut is too thin and deep to be a simple rope. It could be a wire or something close,” Ron answered. “What I’m worried about is why the killer would choose to use this method. He or she could’ve just picked up a gun or knife and make it faster.”

“Maybe it was another one of those night life vengeance things,” Bosco suggested. “We’ve seen some of those in the past, when gangs take revenge using the most sickening method possible.”

“Maybe, but why are we called to the scene? It’s a murder case. This should be Team A’s case.”

“I’m not sure yet, but I think she has something to say about it,” Bosco replied with a smirk as he pointed to the girl approaching. She was walking at a fast pace towards them, her attire awfully revealing with a plunging neckline from her blouse, and the expression on her face made her seem more like a model on a catwalk rather than a police investigator.

Ron grinned at the sight. “Hello Kate,” he greeted her.

“I figured you’d be wondering why I called you so late,” Kate spoke with a straight, get down to business, tone. “Well this should bring up some answers.” She held up a large bag of white pills, most likely ecstasy. The bag probably weighed more than a pound with its size and all the pills still in it. “We found this near the body. It was in a black backpack and was probably forgotten by the killer. This might be what the killer was after, so it wasn’t Bosco’s vengeance theory.”

“Ok, so that adds more to why this murder happened, but that still doesn’t answer my question as to why we’re called here,” Ron replied. “We specialize in the triad and underground activity crimes, these types of murders are for Team A to worry about.”

“Alright, then go talk to the forensics. I spoke to Fala earlier and she said this might have something to do with us since it could be triad related. We recognized this girl’s face as being a part of the 14K triad group, but we’re not one-hundred percent on it. She’s trying to run a quick test now. And also, I found this,” Kate explained as she showed Ron an empty bottle of Heineken beer in a large evidence bag.

“I get it,” Bosco announced. “In the 14K, there’s this guy who is always seen with a bottle of Heineken. I think his name is…”

“Raymond Lam,” Kate finished. “We’ve been following his activities, and that’s probably why we’re called to see this. It might have something to do with him.”

“I’m going to talk to Fala, inform me more about this alright?” Ron spoke as he walked away.

He weaved his way to the group of forensic team members, making his way to the petite and gentle looking girl in the white blouse. Ron’s known her well, she may look weak and feminine but she is far from it. When he neared her, she must’ve noticed him. She looked up at him with a bright smile, far too bright for a night like this.
When she smiled he saw the striking resemblance between her and her older sister, the woman of which he’d been stuck with for most of his life. He smiled back, wondering why Fala would have such a big smile on her face. Then he remembered, Fala could care less about who died and who the victim was, she was so carefree and relax that it was kind of scary.

“I didn’t expect you’d come since it’s so late,” Fala greeted him. “I thought you’d be in bed.”

“I’m not that lazy, don’t believe everything your sister says,” Ron sighed. “So Miss Wu what…”

Before he could finish, Fala had already cut him off with her rant of details. “The victim is confirmed to by Alice Chan by DNA testing. She’s a member of the 14K triad group, and that is why your team was called instead of Team A. She works under Raymond Lam, another 14K member. Kate found a beer bottle that could possibly be his, but we can’t confirm that yet,” Fala stopped briefly, taking a breath from talking too fast. “Your team found a bag with at least a pound of drugs in it. There might have been more because of the white powder it left all over the inside of the bag, but we can’t find any of the other drugs so someone must’ve taken it.”

“That’s all?” Ron asked.

“For the moment, yes.”

“Did you tell Nancy yet?” He suddenly asked, remembering that his fiancée hasn’t shown up yet.

“I already told her. She was here way before you were,” Fala smiled. “Why didn’t you two come together?” She asked as Ron let out another sigh.

He shook his head. “Usual stuff, you know. She’s mad at me for getting mad at her when she let that druggie go the other day,” he replied.

Fala only smiled apologetically. “That’s my sister for you, she’s a total softy.”

“Yeah, I know,” Ron sighed, rubbing his forehead with his palm. “I’ll see you later. Now I’ve got to go find her, and drive her home. When I left I noticed her car is still there.”

“Good luck, she’s always on the move. Tell her I said hi.”

Ron walked off of the crime scene, heading for his car parked at least a block over. His hands were in his pockets as he tried to think about this new case, but his thoughts were elsewhere. He can’t help but think about Nancy, why she’s always on the move and where she could possibly be at this late of the night. He shook his head and sighed. Not only did he have to worry about the case, he also had to go find his fiancée before she could get herself into trouble.

===
October 15, 2009……1:30 a.m.
===

She was beginning to run out of breath. As she ran after the man, her legs were growing tired and her heart was racing fast, but she wasn’t going to stop. Instead she managed to let out another yell, screaming at him to stop running. He didn’t, but she noticed that he was growing tired as well. Her eyes lit up when she saw him run into what looked like a tea house. She picked up speed quickly and closed in on him. By the time they got through the door, she was able to put her hand on his shoulder and with a hard squeeze she stopped him from running.

“Nice place, you’re so smart aren’t you?” she asked sarcastically when she realized they were surrounded by triad members and shockingly familiar faces.

“Yeah, damn it,” he breathed, bending over and trying to catch his breath.

“Table for two please,” she smiled at the waitress that led them to a table deeper in.

As she sat down, the man was still breathing hard. He had sweat on his forehead, which was a shock to her since it was rather chilly outside on a late autumn night. She casually poured the two of them tea, luring in no attention from the threatening crowd that surrounded them. The smile on her face struck him hard as he started to fear of what she might do to force him into talking and spilling whatever scoop he had.

“Nancy Wu,” he breathed, trying to catch his breath.

“Ruco Chan,” she replied calmly as she passed him the tea, waiting for him to talk.

“Why do you always have to do this? You’re going to get both of us killed.”

She laughed at his remark. “It was your fault you ran into a triad filled restaurant. Don’t blame me. I was only planning on stopping you in an alley and then kicking the answer out of you.”

“I told you, I don’t know who killed the girl,” he argued, trying to keep his volume low.

“But you know why she was killed, and I need that answer,” Nancy replied with a serious look.

“I don’t know that either!” he exclaimed, stopping himself suddenly and looking around, fearing he might’ve caught some unwanted attention. Luckily, no one was paying any attention.

Nancy reached into her pocket and was about to pull something out. Ruco knew what it was she will take out and suddenly jumped up from his seat. He reached over to cover whatever she was going to pull out. His heart was racing so fast it felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. He had a pale white face as he looked up at her. First he was relieved he caught her in time, worrying she might pull her badge out to lure the inhumane monsters in this restaurant into dealing with him. But then he was scared to death when he realized his hand was ridiculously close to the center of her pants and between her legs. She looked down at him, eyeing him if he moved any closer and threatening him. He swallowed hard.

“Sit back down and I won’t pull it out,” she spoke with a cold hard tone.

He had no choice but to listen. Ruco sat back in his seat, looking at her with waiting eyes in case she decided to pull another crazy stunt that could get both of them killed.

“Now I want answers. Why was that girl, no, why was Alice Chan killed?”

Ruco sighed. “She’s Raymond Lam’s girlfriend, or at least one of his girlfriends, so he couldn’t have killed her. But I heard she was working with another gang and making profit for them, so the members must’ve been eyeing her a long time ago. It could be that the disagreeing members took her out without Raymond knowing. That’s all I know, I swear. Please don’t do anything reckless,” he begged.

“You’re lucky,” Nancy smiled. Her smile was so charming is scared him after how scary and intimidating she looked earlier.

Ruco swallowed hard again. Normally, Nancy’s stunning smile would make him want to pull her into his arms and just kiss the hell out of her, but her status as a police investigator and fiancée of the infamous Inspector Ron Ng just killed all the motivation he had, and besides that those factors could easily get him killed if he came any closer to her publically.
She stood up, acting casually as if they had just finished a normal conversation. Nancy pulled out a small wad of cash and that was when Ruco’s eyes lit up. She dropped it on the table, handing it to him as a small fee for being her little spy, somewhat. Ruco took the money without hesitation, counting it over and over again with greedy eyes.

“You’re paying for the tea,” Nancy added with the money. “And next time, just stop and tell me, you don’t have to run ten blocks knowing I’m going to catch you anyways.”

“You don’t have to rub it in,” Ruco replied. “I’m still feeling bad that a girl caught up to me.”

“Then visit the gym more often. You’re a supposedly a triad and yet you’re so wimpy.”

Ruco stayed in his seat, watching as Nancy blended in nicely with the other crowds of triads around them. She headed out the door without stirring much attention. After he lost sight of her, he could finally let his breath out and actually enjoy the cool tea that had been sitting there for a while.
Nancy was out on the street, swinging her purse around and around with her hands. The expression on her face was relaxed and her full attire blended in perfectly with the rowdy partiers that surrounded her and crowded the streets. In her black skinny jeans and low cut tank underneath her white jacket, she was practically invisible. Her casualness was lost and she panicked when her phone suddenly rang. She searched her bag for the little thing as she kept on walking, trying to get out of this part of town as quickly as possible and hoping no one recognized her. When she finally found her phone, she hesitated to pick up the call.

“Hey sweetie,” she finally spoke over the phone.

“Nancy where are you?” Ron’s voice sounded louder than usual. “Fala said you were at the crime scene earlier but why did you leave?”

“I had something urgent I needed to do,” she scrambled for a suitable reply.

“What did you have to do?”

She froze. Being mad at him, she had forgotten that Ron was the type of person who needed to make everything crystal clear. That explained the reason why his line of justice was so defined, and why she was mad at him in the first place. He was way too strict. After a quick moment of thought, she finally spoke.

“I saw someone I thought looked familiar and thought maybe he had something to do with the case,” she lied.

“And did he?”

“No,” she sighed, trying to sound as disappointed as she could, even after he success in buying the information she needed off Ruco.

“Alright. Well where are you right now? I’ll pick you up.”

“No that’s ok. I’ll be home soon anyways. Talk to you then honey, bye-bye.”

She hung up quickly, relieved that Ron didn’t catch onto the fact that she was lying and was only making up a story to cover it up. Nancy then had to worry about how to tell Ron of the information she bought off of Ruco, without actually telling him she bought the info. If she did, it would only stir up yet another disagreement between them, and another argument was the last thing she would want.

“You’re such a liar,” a feminine voice laughed.

Nancy looked up, confused at first. Standing a couple feet ahead of her was the woman she wanted to see. It was a little unexpected, but Nancy could use a chat with this woman right now. She smiled at her, walking up casually as they exchanged smiles as greetings. Nancy then sighed and placed her hands behind her back, walking beside the woman.
They have known each other since grade school, and were practically like sisters. Perhaps Nancy’s relationship with this woman could be even closer than her relationship with Fala, her little sister, but that was only a quick glance. She’s been in different situations with this young woman, and she’s been in different situations with her younger sister. They were both on different terms, but yet they were so similar.

Nancy smiled and seemed to have relaxed a bit more. “You nosy lawyer, where have you been for the past few days?” Nancy asked.

“I’ve been to the Mainland,” she replied, smiling as she gripped her handbag. “I had a lot of work you know. I can’t keep prying clues out for you every case.”

“Well are you interested in this new one I’ve taken up?” Nancy asked, showing Tavia the small set of papers Nancy had just taken out of her bag. “I know you take cases up based on your level of interest, so how about this one?”

The woman smiled. Her smile was just as gleaming as Nancy’s but in a different tone. While Nancy’s was mischievous and active, hers was calm and collective. “Nancy Wu,” she began. “Once again, you have convinced Tavia Yeung to become a nosy lawyer for you,” she laughed at the end of the statement. “But I think it will be a little harder this time based on the scarcity of the evidence and information.”

Nancy looked at her with a confused and empty expression. “Can you not use big words around me? I’m not smart like you and I find them kind of scary,” she laughed awkwardly.

“Oh I forgot,” Tavia smiled. “I’m book smart, you’re street smart. Alright,” she giggled.

“So what do you say we go get something to eat? After chasing down Ruco I’m starving,” Nancy suggested as she wrapped her arms around Tavia’s shoulders, casually clinging onto her with a giant and wide smile on her face.

Tavia laughed and nodded. “I still don’t think that you as a cop should be buying information from a triad, but that’s your way of doing things. I guess if Ron doesn’t find out about it, it means you’re good.”

“Shh!” Nancy hushed. “If anyone here heard you say that, you’re going to get me killed!”

Tavia laughed apologetically as they kept on walking. She always wondered why she was willing to help Nancy, even though Nancy’s way of doing things are a little different than what a normal investigator would do, and Nancy’s methods could easily get her killed if someone messed up, but yet she still helps her anyways. When she turned to look at Nancy, the carefree and relaxed smile on her face suddenly reminded Tavia something she learned about this woman a long time ago. Tavia knew that her friend was only putting on a mask, and underneath that mask was a clever and calculative investigator with high deductive skills. Tavia smiled, realizing again what the main reason she helped Nancy was. Though her methods are odd and her perceptive is a little different, she does get the case solved quickly and pass the right judgment.

===
October 15, 2009……4:00 a.m.
===

The apartment was dark and it echoed in the night. As Nancy silently closed the door and crept inside, she noticed something on her couch. She took silent, careful steps over to the set of white leather, and finally noticed him. Her fiancé was lying on the couch, one hand behind his head while facing the door and fast asleep. She relaxed herself, knowing that when Ron is asleep he could sleep through a storm.

“You silly goof,” she sighed, knowing that he had waited for her the whole night.

Silently, Nancy crept into their room, leaving the door open when she left in case it suddenly made more noise when she attempted to close it. In her hand was a heavy fleece blanket, warm enough for a chilly autumn night. She unfolded the blanket and placed it gently over Ron, pulling it over and covering him from his neck to his toe. She then knelt down beside him, watching him quietly as he slept. Nancy had a smile on her face as her breathing lowered and softened.
No matter what they argue about, they can’t stay mad at each other for long, and that was a fact. She had already forgotten all the rage and disagreements she had in her when she left the house this morning. Maybe this was the main reason why they’re still together after all this time. She sighed and quietly got up from where she knelt. Walking casually now, she made her way over to their study area on the far side of the room, where all the windows were. She sat down in the chair, a bit surprised at how cold it was.
On their computer she knew where Ron kept all the old files of information. She figured that if the victim, Alice Chan was related to Raymond Lam they would have something about her, since they’ve been following Raymond’s actions for so long. She scrolled through the many folders neatly organized by date and type, trying to look for what she needed. Organization made it so much harder for her since she could never find things quickly, but it was how Ron liked it so it was what she will have to deal with. Her eyes widened when she saw a set of pictures, taken a few months ago. She smiled in realization that maybe she’ll be able to tie the information she had bought off Ruco into this case without having Ron wonder how she got this information. Excited in knowing she could be of some help to her fiancé, she looked through more files, hoping to find more links from the police’s information to her own. Since young she’s been determined to do well as a cop, but with Ron Ng, the infamous investigator as her fiancé, she can’t help but feel at a loss to him. Nancy pierced her eyes closer to the screen, looking carefully through everything, determined to be a big help in cracking the case.

Come Down With Love

I’ve come down with love. I know it’s so true.
I can’t close my eyes. I’m thinking of you.
The way you would smile, and listen to me.
And how you would talk, and be where I see.

I’ve come down with love. I smile alone.
Just thinking of you, my feelings are shown.
I look to your eyes, and melt in your glance.
With silence I’d wish, “just give me a chance”.

I’ve come down with love. I can’t fall asleep.
This feeling so warm, this feeling so deep.
I feel like the sky, so free like a dove.
And thinking of you, I’ve come down with love.