Missing... [Aaron & Flynn]

[Aaron]

There was a knock at the door. An officer led Flynn Connors in before pulling the door to again. Flynn introduced himself as Raven’s legal counsel and asked if he could have a moment to speak with her. Aaron got to his feet, shook the man’s hand, for to reasons, and pulled the chair he had occupied in. “I’m happy to give you both a moment, I need to photocopy a couple of things,” he told Flynn. “Mind if I take some identification, a work card or driver’s license?” Aaron requested. He was sure the person on duty at the front desk had checked, but he needed something to slip into the file for later.

Aaron reached for the folder and tucked it under his arm. He pressed a switch on his side of the desk. The lights behind the glass pane on the far side of the room lit up, revealing that the observation room was empty and would stay that way while Aaron went to get the photocopying done for this and another case he had been lumbered with.

Raven spoke up about the reasons why she was so unwilling to talk about her brother Dean and the last time she had seen him. Aaron offered a tight smile and closed his hand against the top of the file tucked under his arm. “I understand it can’t be easy to talk about,” Aaron said. “However, for me to do my job, and being new to this case, I will need some cooperation on your part, Miss Talius, if you want your brother to be found. That is what we are trying to accomplish here.”

He paused, did she want Dean found, were her features telling? “I’ll be back back in ten.” Aaron told Flynn. He took his leave of the room, pulling the door closed behind him before he ventured down the hall towards the photocopying room.

[Flynn]

Come on.

Seriously?

It was a good thing that Flynn was as skilled a poker player as he was, with an uncanny ability to keep any and all emotion from his expression when it suited him. If not for that, he might have glared at the female vampire, then. Daggers aimed right at her forehead. Maybe he had been giving Raven a little too much credit in thinking that she would know better than to refer to him by his first name. That implied familiarity, a knowledge of each other beyond the professional boundaries. A personal connection. Which, thanks to one Azraeth Carpenter, they had exactly that. A common link that kept them, albeit loosely, tethered together. A relationship maintained out of respect, mostly, but a relationship. That didn’t mean she had to exploit that fact before he had even made it two feet into the room. But, he couldn’t get too caught up on that fact, because she was gesturing to a camera in the corner just before word vomiting all over the interrogation room table.

’Dammit, woman. Shut up.’ The thought passed to Raven effortlessly, thanks to some recent practice with some of the nifty vampiric powers he...borrowed...from Azraeth. They were handy things, really, and even if Officer Loch had denied their request for a moment in private, at least they had a means of communication somewhere. Assuming, of course, that Raven had the ability, as she had never demonstrated as much. At the very least, he could talk to her, and that was something. Regardless, the Paladin shook the other man’s hand with a nod. ”Of course, I can provide both if you’d like. I only ask for a moment so that I might touch base with my client.” At the word ‘client,’ he shot Raven a look, as if to remind her of the roles they were meant to have in this little scenario of theirs. Once the officer’s attention returned the woman, as well, Flynn lowered his briefcase to the table to pull free his driver’s license and work identification. Passing both off as the man walked by, he remained quiet and merely watched the retreating form until the door shut behind it.

His eyes shot to Raven as soon as they were alone, but he still didn’t utter a word until he circled around the table to the camera, pausing the recording. Privileged communication and all, there was no way in hell that they were getting any of this brief conversation. ”Raven.” he finally greeted her, dropping down into the seat that Officer Loch had just vacated. ”First things first, cut the ‘Flynn’ ****. It’s Mr. Connors. I’m here as your...counsel, not your friend. Act like it, before you give them a reason to suspect.” It was then that he realized how harsh and demanding he sounded, and so he let out a long breath, eyeing the woman before him in quiet contemplation. He knew she had killed her brother. That she had spread him all across Canada, piece by piece. It should have disgusted him, gave him more than enough reason to want her carted off to...wherever. Not that it would do any good, but that’s exactly why he was here. Plus, when it came to living the sword’s edge of human existence with more than enough vampire influence...crime and violence just came with the territory.

”Second, that was a pretty story you just told…” he frowned, trailing off at the end in a way to suggest he didn’t find it at all ‘pretty.’ That part, actually, was all news to him. Raven hadn’t really gone into the details of her relationship with her brother that night at Dragon Tower. ”And in telling it, you just provided him with motive. A reason that you might have wanted to make your brother disappear. If he didn’t suspect you before, there is a definitely a chance that he might, now. And I don’t care how well you covered your tracks. You gave him an inch, and he could damn well take a mile. ”

They didn’t know each other very well, but in their maintained eye contact, he was sincere. Genuine. There was no practiced mask of indifference in place, for once. ”You can’t get out of this with sarcasm and a bad attitude, Raven. I can only help you if you let me, and the fact is...if they choose to hold you, arrest you...you can’t just disappear on them. You should have known there would come a day that this would come back to haunt you, right? That day is now.”

[Raven Talius]

Raven leaned back into her chair and watched as the officer left the room. There was something about him that she didn’t trust and if anything she couldn’t wait to find out why that lack of trust was present. Although now that she thought about it, she didn’t trust a soul, not really. Azraeth definitely, Flynn? Maybe. She was still on the fence about him and as the man spoke the female shrugged her shoulders. A slow smirk curved her lips as Flynn began to speak and she watched him even more closely from across the table. A sigh parted her lips as Flynn began to become genuine and the woman looked away. She didn’t do well with niceties, she just didn’t know how to handle them and the woman stood to walk around the walls of the box while she dwelled in thought for a moment. ”A pretty story indeed,” the woman murmured softly as she dragged her fingers along the walls of the box.

Finally, once she had walked around the entire box once, she stopped and looked back to Flynn. ”I was always on their radar, they know everything that I’ve told them. It’s a story that I used to tell the police all the time, so what I’ve told them is nothing that they don’t already know. I knew that my parents would point the finger at me, it was bound to happen even if he had disappeared on his own.” Slowly the woman lifted her arms to cross over her chest and she leaned her back against the wall behind her as brown eyes watched her ‘legal counsel.' ”Mr Connors, why are you here? I sent that message to you so then if Az didn’t receive the one that I sent him then you could tell him. I mean I never know when my phone actually works, because most don’t respond. If I’m locked up, then that’s better for you. No bad influence for Azraeth.”

All she could wonder was what it was, that Flynn got out of all of this. Why stick his neck out for her when not even her own family did? Why come here when the Ffordes probably wouldn’t have. What was his end game? I can’t lie, so when Officer Loch asks me about when I last saw my brother, I cannot physically say the last time because I definitely will be locked up and being a vampire, they will throw away the key. I can’t say that I blame them though. I am a monster, that’s all that anyone sees, so why should I care if I am locked up? I’ll probably be experimented on but who cares right? I don’t. I stopped caring about what I don’t or do have because it leads to feelings and I despise them.” Because those feelings made her feel alone and she hated it, so she killed to dispel the feelings.

Why did she say all of this? To get him out. Whether she was locked up or not, she didn’t want Flynn getting locked up beside her for being an accessory. Raven doubted that Azraeth would be pleased about that one. ”The only way that they can nail me is if I confess to killing him. There was a reason of why I waited so long, because while I do have a motive, my brother wasn’t innocent. He was into drugs, even vampire blood. He was bound to die whether by my hands or some other vampire's and they have no evidence to convict me with, unless I confess, that much I am sure of.” The woman looked away from the seated man. If she was locked up, she would probably be an experiment that the government would likely have a field day with, but again, she struggled to find a reason to care. Her end goal of killing her twin was complete and her parents knew it. That was all that really mattered.

Whether she got away with it, that was the game at hand and she was disadvantaged by her lack of ability to lie. "I am a monster and monsters don't get happy endings, so you should leave while you still have a chance, Mr Connors." Raven sighed as she turned her attention back to him.

[Aaron]

Aaron put the two forms of identity face down on the polished glass of the scanner and covered them with a piece of white paper to make sure that they copied well. He closed the lid then and stared into space as the machine lit up and made a perfect copy of Flynn’s ID. The officer pulled the crisp sheet of paper from the tray and slipped it into the file without so much as glancing at the document, before pressing a button to make a second copy, this one digital, one that would be sent straight to the inbox on his computer.

After collecting the cards, Aaron went to the front desk and asked the boot working the late shift to bring up the security footage from outside the station moments before Mr Connors had entered.

“Right, Flynn Connors,” Alice said, the man having introduced himself a few minutes ago when he walked in.

“Flynn…” Aaron turned over the man’s ID card and saw the name there. How had he missed it!

Smile Flynn, you’re on camera.

“He knows,” Aaron mouthed.

“What’s that?” Alice asked.

“Stop the tape right there,” Aaron ordered, and pointed to the moment Flynn had pulled up to the station. “Bingo,” he said. “I want a copy of these two pictures sent to my Dropbox.”

“Right away.”

Aaron walked outside and followed the footpath to stand beside Flynn’s car. He took the small camera from the breast pocket of his shirt and snapped a couple of photos of the plates, wrote down model and make, then returned to the station.

“Run a check on these,” he said to the young officer at reception, and handed her Flynn’s provided identification. “I want a background on the car too,” Aaron added, jotting down the plate number for her.

He watched as Alice did the checks, lording over the poor rookie, offering guidance where he saw fit.

“I’m not finding an address but I do have his place of work,” she told him.

“The car will get you an address.”

“If it’s his.”

“Right,” Aaron said, “you check that first. Print out what you find and bring it to me in the far interview room once you’re done.”

“As soon as it’s done?”

He agreed with a nod and headed down the hall again, ID cards in hand, the folder tucked under his arm.

Aaron remained quiet for a time after re-entering the room. He asked Raven to return to her seat and waited for Flynn to give up his chair. Aaron went to the camera and noticed that the video had been paused. He checked the audio cable hadn’t been pulled and started recording once more. When he sat, he leaned back in his chair, the leather sighing under his weight, thighs apart, fingers stitched together, hands rested in his lap. The folder had been slapped down on the table, the lights in the viewing room turned off.

He had tried good cop. He liked good cop. Aaron was a good cop, but Raven had been toying with him. He had to make a decision. Did Flynn owe her something, a favour perhaps he was willing to break the law for, or was he just a friend, doing what friends did?

The moment he spent studying the man, Aaron was sure would feel like a lifetime to one with something to hide, especially one with a career perhaps to protect. Surely the news would not go down well with his boss.

When Aaron finally spoke, he chose first to lean forward, take up a pen, and flick open his notebook. “Can you state your full job title, Mr Connors, for the record.”