Chapter
41: Clash of the Titans
“We’re here!” Van called as he, Sara, Deaq, and Vicky entered the
Candy Store an hour later. They made their way to the office where Billie, Ian,
and some other man neither of them had ever seen were seated. “So, what
happened that you couldn’t tell us over the phone?” Van started his
questioning as he stood in front of Billie’s desk, staring down at her.
“Guys, I’d like you to meet Michael Savidge,” Billie said, gesturing
to the dark haired man sitting down beside Ian, the nervousness and fear present
in his chocolate brown eyes. Van was surprised to see the bulky man cowering
before him like a little boy. He knew something horrible had happened that
afternoon to make Billie bring him here. Now was probably the best time for her
to explain everything. “He was nearly shot and killed today if Ian hadn’t
stepped in and saved his life,” she continued, looking at her crew and
noticing the new face among them. “Who are you?”
“I’m Vicky,” the dark haired girl replied from beside Deaq in almost
a chipper voice that was beginning to annoy the hell out of Billie, but she had
to be polite since this was one of Sara’s friends.
“You’re early,” Billie observed. “You a cop?”
“No, a medical examiner,” Vicky answered.
Billie merely nodded. She didn’t know what else to do. Her mind was in
too many places at once, especially now that another case had landed in their
laps that definitely needed solving. She rubbed her temples, a sign that there
was an impending headache coming her way, and sat back in her chair.
“Billie?” Van’s voice broke her concentration, or lack of. She
looked up at him, her blue eyes on fire from frustration. He backed off slightly
as he added, “What’s the case?”
“The case?” she asked, trying to remember where she was exactly. He
gave her a strange look and she finally realized what was going on. “Oh,
sorry, I spaced out for a second there…”
“It’s okay. You look like you need some sleep or something,” Van
replied as he sat down on her desk and waited for her to continue.
Billie nodded then said, “Michael is the CEO of X-Sports Gear, the
company that supplies most of the equipment for the X-Games. He also has a
little gambling problem. A month ago, he made a large bet on one of the extreme
sport competitions down in
“Whoa, Trent Weaver, why does that name ring a bell?” Van asked as he
gave Billie that “I think I know, but I really don’t” look.
“Trent Weaver is probably the only bookie in the entire country that
takes bets on extreme sports. He’s also got a rap sheet a mile long and a
reputation for being a bad ass on the extreme sport circuit. You’d probably
remember him from last year’s X-Games where he nearly beat the shit out of his
competitor for cutting him off on the motor cross track and knocking him out of
the race,” Billie explained.
“Ah, that Trent Weaver,” Van replied, everything finally clicking.
“So, what’s our cover?”
“Seeing that the last hit man who tried to take out Michael didn’t
succeed,
“Wait, wait, wait!” Van cut in. “I think we’re capable of getting
this case together ourselves.”
“Yeah right!” she nearly laughed in his face. “Not after what
happened last time with Sophia! You nearly killed our informant then she nearly
killed Deaq!” She slapped him in the back of the head and yelled, “That’s
one bone head play I’m NOT allowing you to make again!”
From his chair, Ian snickered. This was the first time he was seeing
Billie in action, and it was pretty funny, especially the way she treated her
underlings.
“I think I can learn from my mistakes!” Van was on the verge of
yelling as he rubbed the back of his head when Sara came up beside him and put a
hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently. They looked at each other for a
moment, unspoken words passing between them as they came to a silent agreement.
She had managed to calm him down significantly, allowing Billie to sigh in
relief that she wouldn’t have to duke it out with him that afternoon. She
silently thanked Sara as Van replied in a defeated tone, “Alright, Ian can
help us get our act together.”
“What about the other case?” Sara spoke up, reminding everyone about
the murders at the strip club.
“It’s called multi tasking,” Billie retorted, glaring at her.
“Are you nuts?” Deaq finally broke in. This definitely was going
beyond the norm. They had never done double duty of this caliber; two cases that
needed an equal amount of attention that neither would ever get with only three
police officers working them.
“Don’t worry,” Billie chided. “You’ll have help.”
“What do you mean, help?” Deaq questioned, eyeing her suspiciously.
The last time they had gotten help, it was in the form of a stupid rookie that
almost blew the case when he decided he needed more input than he was getting.
It had ended with Van getting kidnapped and the rookie saving his life, but that
didn’t mean this case would go just as “smoothly,” if that was even the
word to use for the last case.
“Me,” Billie finally answered with a smile on her face.
“You?” Van, Deaq, and Sara all asked in unison as they gave her that
“you’ve got to be kidding me” look.
“No, one of my four other personalities!” she angrily retorted,
rolling her eyes. Ian snickered again.
“How about that personality that worked with Gavin? That was a party
one, I hear!” Van yelled back, striking the deep chord that was still
sensitive to Billie. Gavin had been the heroine supplier she was sent to capture
when she had been working undercover three years ago. He was the one that hooked
her onto the lethal drug and nearly cost her the career she had worked so hard
for.
“What did you say?” she asked in a harsh, low voice, standing up from
her chair so that she was eye level with Van. Her breathing was so even, it
started to scare him. Whatever the hell she was planning, it was going to be
swift and painful. He was expecting a tongue lashing, but got a right hook to
the jaw instead, knocking him off the desk and onto the floor at Sara’s feet.
Billie pulled out her gun, aiming it straight at his head, prompting the
Witchblade to swirl on Sara’s wrist. Ian shot her a warning glance, feeling it
as well. She was ready to let it loose when Billie said, “Don’t you ever say
that name again, understand? Because next time, I will shoot you.” She made
her way back to her seat and put the gun on the desk in front of her showing
just how irritated she was.
Sara helped Van to his feet and pulled a tissue out of her pocket to wipe
the blood off his lip. She led him away from the others and said, “Calm down,
okay? Quit trying to push Billie’s buttons. It’s only gonna cause you more
problems, and we already have enough as it is. The last thing Billie needs to do
is split everyone up.” Her hands went to his shoulders, gently working the
kinks out as she added, “Loosen up a bit, you’re too tense.”
“I’m sorry, it’s just that when Billie decides to yell at me in
front of everyone, I kinda start feeling a bit belittled, and my only way of
dealing with it is to find a way to hurt her back,” Van replied, trying to
keep calm even though he had a tendency to overreact. Sara continued to massage
his shoulders as she leaned forward and pressed her lips up against his for a
soft, delicate kiss. Van sighed deeply as he whispered, “What would I do
without you?”
“I don’t know,” Sara quietly answered as they pressed their
foreheads together. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in for
one more kiss before they finally let go.
“I love you,” he whispered, softly running his hand down her cheek.
“I love you, too,” she replied, giving him a reassuring smile.
“What’s with those two?” Michael asked as he pointed to Van and
Sara, his nerves being eased as the tension of the situation finally began to
dissipate.
“They’re whipped,” Deaq snidely answered. Vicky snorted as she tried
to hide her laughter while Billie did the same. He turned to her and Ian and
added, “Just about as whipped as you two.” Billie gave him the death glare
and everyone stopped laughing. It was about time that they all quit pissing her
off.
Van and Sara made their way back to the group as Deaq asked, “So, how
are we gonna make this work?”
With Billie’s mind a little more at ease, she began to think of all her
options, weighing them out until she finally came up with a good idea. “
“And just exactly where does sleep fit into this plan?” Van asked even
though Sara tried to hold him back.
“Wherever you find time,” Billie shot back, eyeing him closely.
“Excuse me,” Michael cut in before the two of them ended up in another
fist fight. They all looked at him. “What club are you talking about? Is it
Club 49?”
“How do you know about Club 49?” Billie asked.
“Because my best friend was one of the guys murdered,” he solemnly
answered, his head dropping down as his eyes focusing on his shoes.
“I’m sorry,” she quickly put up her sympathy act hoping to get the
information she needed from him before they left her office. “Who was your
friend?”
“Vincent Domingo,” Michael said, his voice cracking. “The last guy
murdered. He was only 21. I don’t understand. Why would anyone want to kill
him? He was a great guy. He loved his family and his girlfriend.”
“Were you at the club with him the night he died?” Billie started her
questioning, hoping that Michael wouldn’t clam up before she got any good
answers.
“No, but he had called me to tell me about this girl he had met there.
He didn’t give me her name, but he told me she had dark hair and really pretty
blue/green eyes. That was the last time I talked to him,” he signed heavily.
‘Pretty girl with dark hair and blue/green eyes,’ Billie thought as
her eyes began to wander. She filed that little tidbit of information in the
back of her mind just in case it ever came in handy. “Did he have any
connection to
“I don’t know,” Michael answered. “Maybe… We usually put in bets
together, but that was the time before last, when we both won a couple million
dollars betting on the Super Bowl. I don’t know what he’s bet on since
then.” That’s when he stopped and almost broke down.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Michael,” she said, her mind beginning to
churn with how this new little piece of information tied in with their two
cases. ‘What if all these guys are somehow connected to
“Alright,” Michael agreed softly.
“Once they’ve established contact, we’ll come up with a sting, swoop
in, and bag him,” she explained. Billie picked up the phone started making
phone calls as Van, Deaq, Sara, Vicky, and Ian all waited for her to kick them
out. When she realized they were still there, she paused her conversation and
yelled, “Get out! You’re dismissed!”
“Yes, sir,” Van happily replied as he walked past her and into the
lounge where Sara sat down beside him on the couch, her head immediately laying
on his shoulder and her arm wrapping around his waist.
“I guess tonight really is our last night together,” Sara said as his
fingers began to play with the long strands of her curled golden hair.
“We’ll make it a good one, I promise,” Van replied as he kissed her
forehead. “Until then, we have a lot of work to do.”
“What do you mean work?” she asked, sitting up and looking at him with
confused green eyes.
“If this has something to do about the rookie who almost totally fucked
up that extortion case…” Sara trailed off as Van cut in.
“I know, you’re not a rookie, but that’s not what I was talking
about. We’ve got a few more rules here than the ‘never break cover’
rule,” he said. Van pulled his gun and pointed it at her head. Sara was
startled, giving the Witchblade another run for its money as it swirled on her
wrist, begging to be set free. She kept it at bay, knowing that Van had a reason
for what he was doing. She quickly glanced over at Ian, seeing that his reaction
was much the same, except he had a scowl on his face that indicated if Van did
anything to hurt her, he’d be dead within seconds.
“Okay, please point that thing away from me,” Sara ordered as she
looked him straight in the eye.
“Uh-uh,” Van retorted. “How would you get yourself out of this
situation without using the
Witchblade?”
“You love me, you wouldn’t shoot me,” she replied.
“Wrong answer,” he said. “I’ll give you until the count of ten,
then I’m pulling the trigger. One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Six…”
“We’re not having sex tonight,” Sara nearly yelled.
Van pulled the gun away, his face going slack for a second before he
answered, “Good, you used something you had against me.” He now pointed the
gun at Ian, whose scowl grew, ready to jump out of his seat and strangle him.
Van swallowed hard, knowing what he was doing was dangerous, but hoping that Ian
understood. “Now convince me not to kill him.”
“What?” Sara cried, unable to comprehend why he was doing this.
“Convince me not to kill Ian,” Van restated. He silently prayed that
this would go well, or he’d be a dead man in just a few minutes.
Sara began to think. She knew she couldn’t use the Witchblade, which
continued to swirl on her wrist even as she came up with ideas left and right on
how to get Ian out of this little bind. She knew Van wouldn’t shoot at him or
try to hurt him, but there was always that possibility he might, on accident or
something. She finally folded her arms across her chest and replied, “Fine,
kill him. See if I care.”
Van gave her that “huh” look as he lowered the gun while Ian shot her
an angry glance filled with pain and malice. “Oh, you’re good,” Van said.
“You didn’t show fear, need, loyalty, or love, and you made it seem like you
didn’t give a shit. And Ian, I’m so sorry about that. Please don’t kill
me.”
“Yeah, and don’t take what I said at face value,” Sara replied. “I
was only doing it to protect you.”
Ian slowly nodded, the idea finally filtering its way through his head.
They both had a point; besides, it didn’t mean anything, did it?
“Alright,” he finally said. “Just don’t ever pull a gun on me again,
because I won’t hesitate to hurt you.”
“Point taken,” Van replied, slipping his gun beneath his shirt as he
stood up and grabbed Sara’s hand to pull her up along with him. “Now, the
fun stuff.”
“Ooh, what fun stuff?” she asked, her eyes gleaming.
Van pulled two sets of keys out of his pockets and threw one to Sara.
“Take the Aston Martin, I’ll be right behind you with the BMW,” he called
to her, getting into tiny Z4 Alpine Roadster.
Sara looked down at the keys in her hand. She couldn’t believe she was
about to drive the car dreams were made of. ‘Oh, my God! I’m driving a Bond
car!’ her mind screamed as she opened the door and got into the driver’s
seat. It felt so much more different being behind the wheel of such a powerful
car than being in the passenger’s seat. Turning the key in the ignition, the
engine roared to life, sending Sara’s heart throbbing in her chest. This was
almost as exhilarating as being on a motorcycle for the first time. She had to
be careful, or she’d get hooked like she was hooked on her bike. She sped out
of the Candy Store, following Van to wherever he was taking her.
Hearing the two engines roar out of the warehouse, Deaq immediately
motioned for Vicky to follow him to his car. “What’s going on?” she asked,
hopping into the passenger’s seat as he started the engine. “Where are we
going?”
“I have a good
feeling it’s the racetrack,” Deaq replied as he followed the two high
powered cars down the road.
“Why the
hell would they wanna go there?” Vicky continued her questioning.
“When it
comes to cars, Van’s the best of the best. If my suspicions are correct, he
probably wants to teach Sara a little bit about racing, but that’s just what I
think. I don’t really know what the hell he’s doing. He’s never pulled
anything like this before,” he answered.
Vicky sat
back in her seat. “This should be interesting,” she said, watching the two
cars in front of her as they sped down the street, both neck and neck.
Sara was
really enjoying the drive, especially when she shifted into a higher gear to
give Van a run for his money. The sheer adrenaline rush was more than enough to
get her blood to the boiling point. She could only guess why he had told her to
take the Aston Martin and what he was planning to do with her that afternoon.
They stopped at a red light, and she rolled her window down, getting his
attention. “Wanna race?” she asked mischievously.
The smile
on Van’s face was wider than she expected. Sara knew almost immediately what
this meant. He revved the engine, confirming her suspicions. The whole reason he
had taken her out that afternoon was to teach her the art of street racing.
“You’re goin’ down!” Sara yelled over the boom of her engine as Van
continued to smile at her snidely. He merely nodded, giving her that “yeah,
right! In your dreams!” look that totally pissed her off.
Sara knew
she had to show him what she was made of. She might not have driven a stick
shift in a while, but that didn’t mean she didn’t know what she was doing.
After all, she did this with her bike all the time through traffic. It
shouldn’t be anymore different driving a car. Her eyes immediately went to the
stoplight as she heard Van rev his engine once more to intimidate her. If there
had ever been a clash of the titans, this was it. Two competitive personalities
by nature going up against each other wasn’t a good combination. Carnage
ensured if they hit a snag out on the road. Thankfully it was smooth sailing
from then on; no stoplight, no cars, and no pedestrians.
Finally
after what seemed like forever, the light turned green, and Sara slammed her
foot down on the accelerator. She sped away from the intersection, Van following
close behind, so close in fact, she had to turn her head to gauge the distance
they had between each other. With her heart still pounding in her chest, Sara
continued to speed down the road, racing like mad to beat Van at his own game.
She knew he was good, but there was always a chance that he’d screw up
somewhere, giving her the lead she so desperately needed.
As the
race continued, Van kept pushing his car to the limit. He knew he never should
have taken Sara on. He thought this would be a piece of cake, considering that
she had no racing experience, but then again, she did have a bike, so maybe he
had made a really big mistake. She was giving him a run for his money, staying
so close, yet leading by only a little. If she knew anything about that car, she
probably would have been a mile ahead of him by now.
Sara,
finally realizing there was one more gear she could shift into, slammed her foot
down on the accelerator once more, her entire body jolting with the sudden burst
of speed her car had given her. She flew past Van as he stared at her, wide eyed
and amazed that she had actually beaten him at his own game.
From
behind, Deaq burst into laughter. “Did you see that? DID YOU SEE THAT!” he
was yelling to no one in particular.
“Oh, I
saw it alright. Go Sara!” Vicky joined in the excitement.
“I knew
Van should have backed off at that light, but sometimes, he can be really
stupid. I just can’t wait to see how Sara rubs this in his face.”
Van
finally sped up to Sara when she backed off on the accelerator, getting ahead of
her as they pulled into the speedway. They stopped, side by side, still panting
from the excitement. “Good race,” she called to Van as he looked at her, a
slight glare in his eyes. “I told you, you were going down.”
“Ah,
shut up!” he yelled back, rolling up his window and pulling off the track into
one of the pits. Sara followed, parking right behind him as one more car pulled
up to them. Deaq and Vicky got out, walking over to them, smiling.
“Sara,
you are my new hero! I bow down at your feet,” Deaq said as he actually bowed
down to her. “You managed to beat Van at his own game. I don’t think I’ve
ever seen anyone do that, let alone a girl. This is what, the second time
you’ve done this to him?”
“Third;
I beat him up twice, remember?” Sara replied as she leaned against the car,
her arms folded across her chest and a wide, cocky smile across her face.
“Rub it
in my face, why don’t ya?” Van asked as he came up behind them, pissy faced
and all.
“Sorry,
man, but this is history in the making,” Deaq answered.
Van folded
his arms across his chest and looked away from them. “Sara, we’re NOT having
sex tonight,” he declared.
But Sara
remained undeterred. She walked over to him, her hand gently moving his head so
that they were looked each other in the eye. “I know you don’t mean that,”
she whispered, her fingers brushing down his chest and finding their way to the
rim of his pants. He sucked in a ragged breath, but continued to remain
composed. But Sara knew how to wear him down. Her hand went lower until she
literally had him by the balls. She stroked him gently as he completely lost his
composure. “Now do you mean it?” Sara asked again.
“No,”
Van moaned as his eyes almost rolled to the back of his head in sheer pleasure.
Sara stopped, smiled, then went back to her car, leaving him as he stood there,
a puddle of mush.
“Now
that’s what I call control,” Vicky whispered to Deaq.
“No,
that’s what I called whipped cream,” he replied as Sara made her way towards
them after pulling her keys out of the ignition. “I’ve never seen Van so
wrapped up in someone other than himself.”
“I think
he really does love Sara. Why else would either of them wanna go through this
trouble?” Vicky made a good point.
Sara
finally made her way to them and jokingly asked, “So, what do you think of my
little puppy dog over there?”
“Well,
he’s house trained, that’s for sure,” Deaq observed as Van finally came
out of his trance and realized that they were all staring at him. He began to
walk off, turning beet red in the process.
“He’s
really wrapped around my finger tight,” she snidely added.
“Sara, I
know it’s not my place to say this, but whatever you do, please don’t hurt
him,” Deaq seriously replied.
“What do
you mean?”
“I mean
you have him in the palm of your hand and it seems like you’re taking it too
lightly. Do you love him or do you like having this kind of control over him?”
“Yeah,”
Vicky cut in, wanting to know as well. She had been wondering what Sara really
felt for Van, and now was the perfect time to hear it. “What exactly are your
feelings here?”
Sara was
taken aback by the question. “Excuse me?” she vehemently replied.
Deaq
backed away from her immediately. He knew he was treading in dangerous
territory, but this was something he had to know, especially after seeing how
Van had been acting lately with wanting to marry her and all. He needed to know
if Sara just wasn’t on some power trip and that she actually had the same
strong feelings towards Van that he had towards her. “Do you really love him,
like you couldn’t live without him, like he was your world?”
She
scowled. “Why is it that you’re always the one questioning my love for
him?” she nearly shouted, gaining Van’s attention in the process. His ears
perked up as his eyes wandered towards them. This was definitely one
conversation he didn’t mind overhearing.
“I love
him, okay?” Sara continued, her voice cracking as tears formed behind her
eyes. “I love him so much it hurts! I can’t stand being away from him. And I
can’t bear the thought of having to leave for
Sara
pulled out her keys and started the car. This day had been destined to go south
all the way through, and all she wanted to do was go home and sleep it off. But
before she could pull out of the speedway, she heard a knock on the
passenger’s side door. Looking up, she discovered Van standing outside, the
look on his face soft and comforting. Sara let him in, turning back to the
steering wheel when she heard the door shut.
“Half of
LA probably heard what I said out there,” Sara mumbled as she wiped her eyes
with her hand.
“Is that
what you were gonna talk to me about earlier?” Van asked, gently cupping her
face with his hand and moving her head so that they made eye contact.
Sara
nodded. “Can we please not discuss this now, though? My mind has already been
rattled several times today; I really don’t need another stressful
encounter.”
“Alright,
let’s go back to the Candy Store and we can take it from there,” he
suggested, getting out of the car and heading back to his. “I’ll meet you
there in a little while. I have a few errands to run beforehand, but I promise
I’ll be back in time to pick you up so we can go out to dinner and finish what
we started this morning.”
“Okay,” Sara called to him. “I’ll see you then."