Unexplored Territory

Christian had always been a curious individual, even as a child. If it was a mystery, he had to solve it. If he didn’t understand it, he found someone who could explain it to him. He loved to hunt for clues, and to try and put himself in the minds of other people. Which is why he had grown up to become a homicide detective. There was nothing more intriguing or mysterious than trying to solve the mystery of why people killed other people, or why they did it how they did. Shooting, stabbing, drowning, asphyxiation, any myriad of possibilities.

He had seen some horrible things over the past three years: mutilated bodies, insane predators, husbands killing wives, and wives killing their husbands and children. It was rather surprising to have dealt with so many murders in just the three years since he had first joined the 39th precinct, but then again, his superiors often shipped him out to other precincts when they requested help in solving a murder.

So when a neighboring precinct had called his Commissioner and requested help, he had been sent to provide whatever aid he could. Apparently, he would be assigned to a partner for this case. He wondered idly what his partner would be like. Normally, he’d work with an entire team, rather than with an individual partner, but this case had stumped the police force of an entire city, and they needed all their manpower to keep up with current cases. So they’d leave Christian and his partner to deal with this unsolved series of murders.

Christian smiled to himself; that was perfect. Having only one partner meant that he wouldn’t have so many restrictions placed on how and when he did his investigating. After all, while a team could always spare somebody to tag along with him, a single partner couldn’t keep track of him constantly, and Christian had learned that he often worked better when he went solo.

Pulling into the employee parking lot at the 39th precinct, Christian shut off his car and stepped out into the summer heat, tilting his head back and enjoying the warm breeze that ruffled through his dark hair. Opening eyes as deep and pure as sapphires, he smiled at nothing in particular before making his way across the parking lot, whistling to himself.

He was greeted by name at the reception desk by Lily. She had been at the front desk for as long as Christian had been coming here. “Hey, Chris. They called you again, huh?” she asked cheerfully, smiling at him as she signed him in to the station.

Christian nodded. “Yeah, got a call for an ongoing, unsolved murder case. Don’t know the details yet, but I hear I’m getting a partner.” That last sentence was more question than statement, and Lily laughed at him.

“Ah, then if they’re giving you a partner, they’ll probably give you Yuki. He doesn’t have a partner, and this is his pet case. He’s not happy that they called you in to help with it. You’d better watch it. That man is cold as ice, and he doesn’t take crap from anybody,” she warned playfully.

Christian just smiled back at her. “Yeah? Well, then this ought to be fun. If I’m lucky, maybe he won’t like me and will leave me alone.” Lily just shook her head – it was well known among the employees at the 39th precinct that Christian Nichols preferred to work alone.

Turning around, Christian walked to the stairs, heading for the third floor, where his new partner’s office should be located. He didn’t bother to hurry; since it was likely that his partner wasn’t going to like him anyhow, he didn’t feel the need to be more than punctual.

Once on the third floor, Christian turned to his left and strolled down the hallway. Hmm…308, 310, so the next one should be…ah, 312. Perfect. Knocking quietly on the door, Christian reached down and opened the door, walking into the room to greet his new partner. Who was nowhere to be found.

Frowning, Christian looked around the room. Two desks with swivel chairs, three file cabinets, and a single leather couch were all that decorated the room. He’d have to see about a bookcase or some plants if this case was going to take a while. If he was lucky, though, he’d find what the other investigators hadn’t and would be going home within a week.

Walking forwards, his shoes silent on the linoleum floor, Christian walked up to the couch, which faced away from the doorway, turned instead towards the two large windows that took up most of the far wall, giving a rather pretty view outside. Across the alley was a window with a plant box in it, and the flowers there were vibrant and colorful, a startling contrast to the normal dinginess that was inevitable in most cities.

Looking down, Christian found himself staring at what was quite possibly the prettiest man he had ever seen. Hair so pale it was nearly platinum fell over long lashes. A gentle, heart-shaped face was relaxed in sleep. Pale skin rose and fell with the breaths of the stunning creature napping on the couch, his top two buttons undone, one slender hand resting on top of his stomach. The other one was bent over the side of couch, fingers touching the floor.

Christian found himself leaning closer to the man, his curiosity aroused. What was this man – presumably his partner for this case – doing? Why was he sleeping in his office? Surely there was work to be done during actual working hours. And really, the man didn’t look as bad as Lily had made him seem. Then again, he was asleep, and therefore it would follow that he was more unguarded while asleep.

Well, there was only one way to find out. Moving backwards, still treading silently across the linoleum, he quickly located the empty desk and set his briefcase on it before shrugging out of his jacket and laying it over the back of his swivel chair. Quickly and efficiently, he put his few items away in the desk drawers, and then moved over to Yuki’s desk.

Three minutes later, he had found what he was looking for, and settled himself at his desk, content to go through the casework until Yuki woke up. Hmm…this one looked like it might take more than a week. At first, it looked like a simple case of kidnapping and homicide, but the more he read, the less things added up. For example, in none of the kidnappings was breaking and entering involved, although all of the victims were removed from their homes.

None of the families or neighbors had reported the victims missing until at least two days after their deaths, and then they had acted as if they had disappeared only two days earlier. But records from schools or places of employment showed that they had all been absent for at least a week, if not longer. Somewhere, there was a gap in the time between when the victims actually disappeared, and when the families and neighbors actually noticed the disappearance. And it was the same with every victim, so they couldn’t accuse those close to the victims without making it into a mass conspiracy.

And the methods of death were wide and varied, too. Christian stared at pictures of victims who had been stabbed, shot, hung, drowned, electrocuted, crushed, eviscerated, and impaled. The only link that this might be the work of a serial killer was the lack of breaking and entering involved in the disappearances, and the reactions of family and friends. In addition, a single slice of hair was removed from each victim.

Even the victims had nothing in common. They ranged anywhere from a twelve-year-old girl with green eyes and dark hair, to a seventy-four-year old man with white hair and watery blue eyes. Men, women, children, the elderly, there was no visible discrimination. The victims came from a variety of nationalities and backgrounds, and Christian found himself grinning, despite the severity of the situation. Finally, a case worth working on!

“You find something amusing about this case?” a cold voice interrupted his perusal. “And more importantly, is it typical of you to just go through case files whenever you feel like it?” Christian looked up, straight into eyes so blue and cold that he felt something inside of him shiver with the icy glare. His brain screamed out that this man was dangerous, but Christian, having never bothered to listen to his logic, unless it dealt with a case, just grinned up at him.

“Well, you were sleeping so peacefully that I just didn’t have the heart to wake you,” he retorted cheerfully, and Yuki’s glare grew even icier. As Christian watched, thought, those eyes grew distant and indifferent, and now it was his turn to frown. “Anyhow, I hadn’t realized that my partner would not only be sleeping on the job, but that he would be stupid enough to leave both the office door and file cabinet unlocked. So I just helped myself. This case is quite…fascinating,” he admitted wryly, watching Yuki from under his lashes.

Yuki just turned and moved over to his own desk, seating himself in his own chair and staring steadily at Christian, who stared back, refusing to back down. “I can see that you’re going to be a…challenge to work with.” Yuki spoke deliberately, condescendingly, and Christian barely restrained the urge to bare his teeth in a snarl at the other man. “So I’m going to lay down some very simple rules that even you should be able to follow.”

That was it. There was no way he’d be able to work with this man, Christian decided, allowing his lip to curl up just slightly, enough to let Yuki know that neither his tone nor his words were appreciated. Yuki went on as if nothing was amiss. “We are partners, regardless of what we prefer. Therefore, you are not to go haring off on your own. I’ve heard of your solo escapades, and I refuse to allow the culprit to slip away because you can’t follow orders.”

“Secondly, you are to do just that: follow orders. If I say jump, you had better jump, and just hope it’s high enough. During work hours, we will have no choice but to be in close proximity while working on the case. However, outside of working hours, I don’t want to see you, or hear you, or even catch a rumor about you,” he continued coldly, ignoring Christian’s narrowed eyes and furious glare. “If you can manage to follow those rules, we’ll wrap up this case, and then we can both go back to business as usual. Do I make myself clear?”

Christian stood up, tossing the case file onto Yuki’s desk. Gruesome pictures slid across the desk, painting the wood with visions of blood and death and insanity. Yuki didn’t react outwardly, and Christian seethed, fighting to not just strike the other man and be done with it. Why had he ever thought the man to be pretty? Even worse that the cold eyes and impassive expression on that slender face, his personality was absolutely horrible.

“You have made yourself quite clear,” he acknowledged, allowing one hand to bang hard against the top of his desk. “However, here are my rules: I follow nobody’s orders but my own. I have yet to lose a culprit, and I have yet to fail a case, regardless of how much my team screws up on their part. And unless we have no other option, I don’t want to see or hear you, either.” With that, he whirled around and stalked out the door, grabbing his jacket as an afterthought.

Walking down three flights of stairs did very little to alleviate his anger, and he was aware of Lily’s sympathetic stare as he walked out the door. That arrogant, conceited, ice-cold bastard! Why did Christian ever think it would be a piece of cake with just one partner? Naturally, the 39th gave him the worst possible working partner he could have. He wondered if they did it on purpose, because if they had, then he was going to tear into the chief the next time he saw him.

Still fuming, Christian got back into his car and drove to his apartment, stomping up the stairs, still too angry to bother with an elevator, preferring to pound out his anger on the steps. By the time he made it to his seventh floor apartment, he was much calmer. He could do this. There was no way that he was going to let Yuki get to him more than he already had. He knew what he was up against now, and he could deal with it. Yuki seemed content to ignore him, and he could the same. That damn porcelain doll wasn’t the only one who could give the cold shoulder.

Flipping on the switch, Christian moved to the kitchen to see what was stocked in his fridge and cupboards. Pulling out some leftover sandwich meat and bread, Christian fixed himself a quick sandwich and munched on it as he moved to the living area, flipping on the television. It was on the News station as usual, because Christian was hardly interested in reality shows, or in fictional movies. Murders, crime, and disaster were far more intriguing.

Following news about the construction crews that were about to start working on a long series of dilapidated stories, and the business offices that had fallen into a sink hole and had to be knocked down, the news that Christian was most interested in came on. “Now for breaking news. Approximately thirty minutes ago, a new body was found. While details have not yet been confirmed, the victim is believed to have been killed by the same mysterious murderer that has killed over thirty-six people in a six month period. The victim’s identity has not been released, pending notice to their family.”

Christian cursed under his breath. The fact that the entire New York police force couldn’t capture this psychopath was slowly ruining their reputation. And now, the police had all but given up, assigning just himself and that bastard Yuki to the case. Muttering under his breath, Christian stood back up and left the apartment, climbing into his car and heading for the murder scene. It wasn’t like they could keep him out, especially if there was any chance that this case was linked to the others that he was investigating.

Christian smiled grimly to himself; he’d catch this bastard, with or without the help of his partner. There was no way in hell that he was going to let there be any more victims. Six people a month, and no leading clues was simply unacceptable. Clenching his fist on the steering wheel, Christian resigned himself to using talents that he had hoped to never have to use again. A fresh murder scene was just too impossible to pass up. He’d do anything he had to in order to see that this bastard was taken down.

Turning down the next block and heading for the flashing police lights, Christian made a vow to himself. He would throw everything he had at this case, and if Yuki didn’t like it, then that bastard could just leave him the hell alone. Christian Nichols was on the case, and nobody was going to get in his way.