HAL:

I wish we were still on vacation. California beaches, cool waters, and my angel in swimming trunks was preciously memorable. If only it lasted longer!

After the Hangman case, it was if Upside got worse each month. Crimes became more violent and frequent. Daze began to show up more on our radar. It's become unusual for the city's past, notable, low crime rate. Anyone could say, "hell's empty because all the demons have been released here."

I'm not surprised the Uptown Corner Bar got into trouble.

Riley stares down the nervous blonde like if he's going to get answers from pushing someone on the edge already. I place my hand on his shoulder. He glanced up at me and he lets out a sigh. We've been over this before; I question emotional people.

My angel lets out an exasperated huff before I signal him to help me turn over a flipped table. We both set up a table and chairs; I motion Roxanne over. She looks at Mabel unsure but the Hispanic woman nods with an assured smile.

The blonde walks over and takes the chair across from me; Riley takes her previous seat. I lean forward, "Alright, Roxanne. I'm not going to judge whatever you tell me. Tell me your whole story. All of us here want your safety but to do that, I need to know your current problem."

"I...." Roxanne mumbles out. She bites her bottom lip; her focus shifts back and forth from her neatly folded hands to me.

She breathes out slowly, "I... saw s-something. Tonight." Her hands ball into fists and she tights them for a second.

"What did you see?"

"I saw s-someone... get murdered," the blonde replies. This is a normal reaction for someone witnessing a person's death- the chilling fear when the lifeless corpse collapse to the ground. The shock pools inside, drowning a witnesses' rational thought process. "A deer in headlights," is the best saying for that.

I nod then ask her in a calm tone, "Can you explain everything from beginning to end, Roxanne?" Her red nails dig into the worn-down wood of the table.

She asks me, "H-how far back?"

"As far as you want," I tell her. I don't want to force out information that she's unwilling to remember. Later though, she will have to let out more of what she knows. Because this is the "day of the murder" and it's past midnight, I'll let her reveal whatever she can.

After another shaky breath, Roxanne continues, "I was leaving work around 11:30."

"Night or day?" Riley interrupts.

The blonde frowns, "Night."

"And where is this work-"

"Babe," I cut Riley off. "Let her talk." He scowls at me but I give him a wink. My angel grumbles with a tiny blush tinting his cheeks. Despite not wanting to pull my gaze away, I have a job to do- well, because Riley would hate it if I'm wasting time.

"Sorry Roxanne, continue please," I smile lightly at her. She nods, returning the expression.

"I left work through the backdoor, not the entrance. All out of our workers were slowly leaving out one by one. I heard shouting..." She falls silent with her thumbs fiddling together. "There were a few people. I don't remember how many. A man was talking, then some men started chasing after a woman. I couldn't tell who she was. The man who was calling the shots had a gun. He held it up and fired..."

"Do you know what this man looks like?" I ask. If there had been a murder, it's great if Roxanne can an ID the killer, or at least the other people.

She shakes her head, "I didn't see much of it... there were no lights but... uh... The man was smoking. I think he was white?" Her face scrunches up as she tries her best to remember more of the murderer.

"It's okay. Knowing that he's a white male is already a good step forward. Now, what happened after the firing finished?"

"....I ran when they noticed me. I don't know how long I ran but I know I crossed a couple of streets. I was out of breath when I saw Mabel closing her doors," Roxanne glances at the bar owner in the corner of her eyes.

I nod, "And that's who those three guys were. Thank you, Roxanne." I look over to my partner who's tapping his fingers on the wood. His movements stops and he gets up from his seat.

Riley frowns, "I got to call George to come over." I nod in agreement because we had to do something with the dead body. If I remember correctly, he's still working; we switch who works around the clock. Out of all the people we can count on to make this less of big deal, George will help Mabel keep this low key. Besides, the guy's dating her sister.

The blonde freaks out, jumping out of her seat. "You can't call the police!"

My angel shakes his head, "Lady, you're forgetting we are the police." The statement quiets her down and she sinks back into the chair. Her sullen expression grows.

It didn't take long for George to show up with Jamie, the medical examiner's assistant. George has papers ready and Jamie has a gurney rolled in.

I hurry over to the kid to help with the cadaver. After strapping it to the gurney, I ask him, "Where's Vincent? Sleeping during the 'busy hours' and making you do all the work?"

"It's not bad," Jamie adjusts his glasses. "Vincent trusts me to do a decent job."

I shake my head; since the first time I've met the ME, I've never liked him. Vincent is arrogant, narcissistic, and continues to push advances at my angel while I'm around- I'm beginning to think he does that just to tick me off.

I continue to help Jamie with the body while George and Riley do the usual write ups. I wonder if they'll mark this as a suicide? We could have saved the man from the gun wounds because we didn't shoot him anywhere vital.

I wave Jamie off while he drives away in the big white van. I return inside to see Mabel comforting Roxanne and Riley writing something down. George approaches me with his arms crossed.

He whistles, "Jesus Christ, you guys have my thanks for saving Mabel. Lucia would kill me if I let anything happen to her sister while she's away."

"Oh Lucia's out again?"

"Yah, my mom won't tell me anything because it's supposed to be a secret. Even Jenkins doesn't know about it- and he's the guy that knows everything in the department!" George sighs.

He continues after a second, "Enough of that. You guy's should be fine because I have statements that should pass you for self defense, that is... if anyone asks further about this. Jamie would clearly see the cyanide being the cause of death." George bobs his head at the guy Riley knocked out. "Want me to take him in? I'll be heading back so it's no problem."

"Yes please," I let out a sigh of relief. It's been a long day. I can't think of anything but sleep.

George and Riley drag the unconscious man with their arms hooked under his arms and legs. I get the door for them as they shuffle out and accidentally bumping the man on the doorframe in the process. If people were to peer through the window and watch the street, it would look like we just committed murder and we are getting rid of the body.

George handcuffs the guy's wrists behind his back and then slides him further into the back seat in a lying position. He pants lightly; it seems as if I need to drag my friend back to the gym sometime this month.

"Thanks George," says Riley.

"Hah. Drinks are on you next time, Riley," grins George. My partner rolls his eyes and hitting the guys arm playfully.

I look at Mabel who appears next to me. "We should also be heading out."

"Hold up you guys. I have a trashed bar that needs clean up," she calls out to Riley and George.

The black guy looks at my partner, "Well, that's my cue to leave. Have fun with the clean up! I got a suspect to worry about!" He makes his way to the driver seat and leaves with no hesitation.

Riley stands there with his hands out his hips. He looks over to me with jaw hanged open and eyes narrowed. "That son of a bitch," he mouths. I silently laugh to myself and motion him to follow me back inside.

It takes another hour to clean up the Uptown Corner Bar. Riley was irritably grumbling most of the time about coffee or something and Mabel's dictator-like commands. He even scowled me a couple of times for giggling at his silly complaints. I know my poor angel is just as tired as me.

I sweep the last of the pieces of glass and lean against the counter. Riley's upper half is sprawled over the wood. I lean over and twirl a finger in his hair. He turns his head to face me. A warm smile appears, sending my heart soaring.

"Okay you two," Mabel says. Roxanne watches us from at the table she's fixing. " Thank you for all your help. You can stay the night over if you want."

"....We'll take that offer," replied Riley. We will? He continues, "If those men are in some gang, they can come back and strike again."

Mabel goes around the counter, disappears below it for a sec, and then comes up to toss keys to Riley. "This time you can't break the locks. First floor. Door three," she tells us. Riley scowls at the women then he and I make our way to the stairs. The hispanic woman adds, "Don't have sex on the bed now! Miguel would cry if he had to wash cum-stained sheets first thing in the morning, again."

My angel rolls his brown eyes; this place already has people that come in for one night stands after a drink.

We arrive to our room that looks like it's been cleaned recently. I smirk at the single bed; I love it when people already know our relationship and act according to it. I shift my gaze to Riley who's nonchalantly stripping in the dark.

We've been dating for eight months and I can't seem to calm down my feelings for him. I wish we had more time to get away from work and relax. Our jobs have become more busy than usual and we end up sleeping at the office or passing out on the bed. I'm thankful I'm Riley's partner because I bet if I wasn't, I would hardly see my angel.

I want to take this relationship a step further.

I join Riley after getting my clothes off. He sits silently, probably thinking about what happened today- or I guess it's "this early in the morning" to be exact.

He speaks up, "I know Roxanne's a victim here, for being a witness but... I'm wondering about a couple of things."

"Like how she claims she doesn't know how many people were there? Or how she seems to be creating holes in her story?"

"Yes and many more questions that are left unanswered by her vague explanation."

"Come on, Riley. You can't blame the poor girl for briefly explaining a murder at night."

He turns on his side to face me. He frowns, "She didn't mention the victim dying. She didn't mention where she's hiding and how they found her."

"When has a witness ever given all the information in one interview?" I ask him.

"When the person questioning actually asks all the right questions," he smirks. I let my jaw hang open and let out a dramatic gasp. This man... I swear. I lean towards him into a kiss and feel his mouth smile even further. I'll make him regret teasing me later.

Riley breaks away, "Let's get some sleep. We'll be late for work and I want to be rested before getting a earful from the chief." I nod in agreement because, Jesus Christ, that lady adds another thirty minutes to her lecture if she catches anyone sleeping on the job.

Tomorrow is going to be yet another busy day with addition to Roxanne's case. I can see why Riley would be suspicious of her. Who in the right mind attracts shady men like those and tries to play it off like they haven't done something wrong?

It always leads to money, drugs, or some illegal business when we uncover bits and pieces of it. It explains why Roxanne was scared about having police involvement. I don't want to see people in any bad light... though having some suspicion can't hurt.

......[(( _ _ ))..zzzZZ(( _ _ ))..zzzZZ]......
A/N: Sorry for the delay. Got coaxed into playing Subnautica and its damn good.
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