Retribution

[Oxidizer]

I'll post the next chapter tonight.

Bounce! Bounce! Bounce! YAY!

[swfc]

Chapter 3:

They arrived at the room to find Murphy talking to the respective family members. From what they could hear, he was telling them about the accident. They entered the room and waited to one side for Murphy to finish so as not to interrupt anything important. There were three other people in the room apart from themselves, Murphy and the two patients. There was not much that Peter could do but fidget around. Clare gave him a look and he stopped, not wanting to seem rude.

His action didn’t go unnoticed, however. From the moment he entered the room, he had caught the eye of a young, red head with glasses. He saw the red head looking at him and vice versa. There was something about her that seemed so familiar to him yet he could not place a finger as to how and where. He figured that he’d eventually have to talk to her anyway so he decided to occupy his thoughts and himself with something else.

As soon as Murphy finished with his explanation as to what happened, he introduced the occupants of the room to the newly arrived detectives.

“Dr. Robert Armstrong, Mr. Brad Armstrong and Ms. Trood, let me introduce to you the detectives who will be on this case, Detective Peter Baker and his partner, Detective Clare Brody.”

They were greeted with a “Hello” and “Thank you very much” by the two men. The red head’s only response was to nod.

“Detectives, Robert Armstrong is Rachel Armstrong’s father and Brad is her brother. Ms. Trood, however, is Tracey’s cousin.”

‘Cousin?’ Peter thought to himself. Tracey never told him that she had a cousin with the name “Trood”. Maybe he just didn’t ask. Then again, he didn’t know much about Tracey’s family. All he knew was that she had been overshadowed by her brother and she had never fully spoken to them from the moment she left home. This intrigued Peter a lot.

He had expected that Tracey’s parents would at least be here. This only fuelled his curiosity.

‘No parent in their right mind would send their niece on their behalf'. He was so deep in thought that he did not hear Clare call his name.

“Pete?”

That jerked him out of his thoughts.

“Pardon?”

“How about I interview the Armstrongs and you take Ms. Trood?” she asked.

“Yeah, sure.” He replied absent mindedly. Yet, a part of him was glad that he could finally talk to this intriguing cousin of Tracey’s. He made a mental note to ask Tracey about her later on, when she woke up. ‘If she woke up,’ he corrected himself.

He walked towards where the red head was standing, near Tracey’s bed side. It was then that he realised that she was no red head after all. The lighting in the room made her hair look read when she was actually a brunette. ‘And a stunning one at that,’ Peter thought to himself.

“Ms. Trood?”

“Yes?”

“Are you and your cousin close?”

“Well, I’m here, aren’t I? Doesn’t that say something about our closeness?”

“I didn’t mean to say anything to offend you, it’s just that, I work with Tracey and for as long as I’ve known her, she’s never mentioned anything about a cousin.”

“Tracey doesn’t talk about me much. She doesn’t talk much about her family either. I’m sure you, being a detective and her good friend would know. And, considering your history with each other, you would know,” she replied.

There was something in that tone of voice that seemed all too familiar to him. He couldn’t quite pin-point the exact reason why but he felt as though he had met her before. It was as though just standing next to her was rendering his mind useless. He couldn’t think straight. All he could think of was why was she so familiar to him?

“Have we met before?” he blurted out suddenly.

“I thought you were supposed to be asking me questions about my cousin and if I’d seen her at all today or something like that. You know, police stuff?”

He was taken aback by her reply.

“Well, since you’re not going to ask me, I’ll tell you anyway. My cousin was supposed to be at Lake Garden for a memorial service for her best friend. All I know is that it was only her and Dr. Armstrong that attended the ceremony. So, I didn’t worry too much when she didn’t come home for dinner. I assumed that she was with Rachel. Then, when I got the phone call from the cops, I was stunned. And, in answer to your question, detective, the answer is no, we haven’t met before. If we did, I would remember. Especially when that person can’t seem to do his job properly.”

“What?”

“What I mean is that, you made a very bad first impression of yourself, Detective Baker when you walked in, got bored and started fidgeting around.”

Peter was stunned into silence. He had never had anyone, apart from Clare and Tracey speak to him like that.

“So, let me get this right, Ms. Trood. Your cousin was at a memorial service for her friend. Why is it that you are here instead of Detective Thompson’s parents?” he asked soberly.

“If you look at Tracey’s medical files and her wallet, you will see that I’m the person she put down to call in cases of emergency, detective. And besides, you of all people would know that Tracey doesn’t get along well with her family.”

“Right, of course. Thank you very much for answering my questions, Ms. Trood.” he replied dryly.

“Oh, you’re most welcome, Detective Baker,” she replied evenly.

He was about to walk away when she asked,

“Please find the person that did this to my cousin and Rachel. Whoever did this deserves to rot in jail.”

“You have my assurances that I will do whatever it takes to find out who did this, Ms. Trood.”

‘Indeed you will, sucker,’ she thought to herself with a smirk upon her face.

He shot her an inquiring look just in case she had any more questions for him before he left with Clare to compare notes. She had none. So he turned and started to head towards Clare when she suddenly said,

“Why did you ask me if I looked familiar?”

“Uhm, you just reminded me of someone I knew, that’s all.”

“Knew?”

“Yeah, she’s dead.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear about that.”

“Don’t be. It was for the best.”

And with that, Peter Baker gave her a nod and left the room with his partner and his superior.

‘If you only knew....’ the brunette smirked as she headed towards Tracey’s bed and stroked her face.

“I’m sorry, Trace,” she said quietly. “You and Rachel left me no choice.”

Preview: Will Tracey and Rachel wake up to tell Peter and Clare what happened? Will Peter realise that his nemesis is still alive and that he had been in the same room with her?

[Oxidizer]

‘Indeed you will, sucker,’ she thought to herself

I love Zoe! She's so mean.

That was definitely worth the wait, that was awesome!

I seriously can't wait for more!

[swfc]

‘Indeed you will, sucker,’ she thought to herself

I love Zoe! She's so mean.

Lol.... I'm glad. I wasn't quite sure if their interaction was like the Zoe/Peter interaction that they usually have. And I don't think it is.... I'm just happy that you thought it was okay coz I personally thought it wasn't that good.

Thanks heaps, Andy.

More ZoZo next time.

[Oxidizer]

It was fine! I loved it. I like the friction that's already between them - I can't wait to see where this is going.

More ZoZo next time.

Sweet!

[swfc]

Aw, thanks Andy. I can finally breathe a sigh of relief now.

Pete's such a dumb dumb... Couldn't even tell it was Zozo...

[Oxidizer]

Poor crap cop.

He'll kick himself if he ever finds out who she is!

[swfc]

Poor crap cop.

He'll kick himself if he ever finds out who she is!

He is indeed. He's so bad. Oh you bet he will. It'll be a classic moment when that happens.

[Oxidizer]

Hee! I'm so excited over it, I can't wait!

[Traceve]

omfg Zoe

Great 2 updates. Peter crying.. sweet!

Peter she looks familer to you because she is your best -cough- friend