PART 6
John Trilby was the newest addition to the tiny sheriff's department therefore he was stuck with the night shifts. Not that he minded; he actually liked the quiet time. Being fresh out of the local community college, John knew he needed a lot of seasoning to get half as much experience as Clyde. Clyde had been a deputy almost as long as the Sheriff had been sheriff. He parked his cruiser in his spot next to Clyde's and gathered his gear needed for the shift. Walking in the front door, he could tell something was wrong. Lights were off, papers were strewn on the floor and a peculiar smell tickled his nose. A voice behind him made him jump and he pulled his weapon as a reflex.
"Whoa there, calm down!" Xena held a hand out and pushed Gabrielle behind her with the other.
"Xe, what are you doing?" Gabrielle squawked as she was held against Xena's back.
"Deputy, lower your weapon, slowly," Xena said in a low authoritative voice. He blinked at the two women in front of him. "I'm Agent Hausmann, this is my partner Agent Petros. I've got id in my back pocket. Ally, pull out my id and show the deputy."
Gabrielle poked her head out and looked at the deputy. She caught the name Xena had used for her and saw the need for the identity change. She pulled out the bi-fold and slowly held it out for the deputy to see. He had his weapon pointed at Xena's chest and his grip wasn't very steady.
"Lower your weapon, we are here to talk to the Sheriff," Xena continued to use the low and slow authoritative voice from earlier. It seemed to calm the deputy down and he slowly lowered his weapon. "Why don't you holster that for now? What ever has you spooked won't be needing that." He secured his weapon but was on autopilot.
"Deputy Trilby? Let us take a look inside," Gabrielle stepped in front of her shield and tossed an elbow at the torso behind her. A muffled grunt told her she scored a direct hit. The deputy stepped aside to let the women look in.
"I had just opened the door and saw the mess. There's a smell I've only smelled when hunting, blood. Lots of blood," he said quietly. Xena scanned the lobby, taking in the congealed blood on the countertop. Standing in the center of the lobby she could feel the vibrations of terror some victim had felt.
"Deputy Trilby, do you have any latex gloves. We need to preserve any evidence we come across," Gabrielle asked as she looked down the hallway. He nodded his head and went back out to his cruiser. "Xena, Callisto was here, I can feel it."
"Yeah me too; she's not here now but she was. I'll bet we find more in the back offices," she said with a nod of her head at the hallway. Gabrielle felt a shudder run through her body. Trilby came back in with gloves and evidence bags.
"I can't raise the Sheriff or Clyde on the radio," he reported pulling on some gloves.
"Well until we can find the Sheriff, you'll need to call the State police office to get some backup here. Do you have a local coroner? No? Ok, well let's hold off on that for now. Hopefully we won't have a need," Xena suggested. "What's the layout down the hallway?"
"Um, an interview room on the right, then the kitchen, then the office Clyde and I use. The holding cells are in the back behind a locked door, there's two of them. The Sheriff's office is around the corner on the left."
"Ok, we'll take it nice and slow. Don't touch anything unless you have to, watch where you step."
She examined the counter and disarray before leading the others down the hallway. The interview room was open and empty as was the kitchen. The office door was closed and lights off. Trilby drew his weapon and stood to the side as Xena slid the door open. She flipped on the light as Trilby came around the corner with his weapon held high.
"Clear!" he stated after looking around. They shut the door, locked it and continued down the hallway. The door to the holding cells was locked so they headed to the Sheriff's office. The smell of blood was getting thicker as they approached the office. Xena looked at Trilby who had calmed down and nodded him to one side. The door was unlatched so she gently swung it open and switched on the lights.
"Clyde!! Oh my god!!" Trilby shouted and tried to rush into the office. Xena threw an arm across the door jamb preventing him entrance. Gabrielle took his non-gun arm and the two of them pulled him away from the sight of his fellow deputy.
"Stop it, let us take a look," she shouted at him as he tried to pull away. "Agent Hausmann, do we need to call the EMT's?"
Xena had stepped into the room once they had gotten Trilby back from the door. She looked at the deputy searching for any sign of life. The man's chest had x's carved into the skin; the slashes didn't look deep enough to do anything other than bleed. She thought she saw some fresh blood flow but wasn't sure.
"Allison, come in here. You can tell better than I," she called over her shoulder. Gabrielle looked at Trilby and he nodded that he would stay put. She stood next to Xena and felt for a carotid pulse. A faint flutter against her finger tip, a small motion of his chest and a slow flow of fresh blood told her he was alive.
"Trilby, call the EMT's! He's alive. Xe, I need some heavy pads, compression pads would be great. Find their first aid kit and any other towels or sheets." Trilby and Xena rushed off to make the call and find the supplies the doctor needed.
"Come on Clyde, don't give up on me. We'll get you through this." She muttered to her patient as she went into surgeon mode.
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Gabrielle made due with the towels and sheets that Trilby and Xena scrounged up from the storage closet. By the time the ambulance arrived, Clyde was fairly lucid but very weak due to blood loss. He was able to give an accurate description which definitely pinned Callisto to the torture. Trilby was sent off with Clyde to the clinic while Xena and Gabrielle pondered the information Clyde gave them.
"I wonder if Callisto was spooked enough by Clyde recognizing her or if she was just being Callisto?" Gabrielle thought out loud while washing up; Xena was leaning against the door jamb thinking.
"Yeah, well if the Sheriff hadn't told Clyde about Callisto or if he had been able to hide his reaction or if Callisto wasn't feeling in a torturous mood, none of this might have happened. The one thing we know for sure is she's staying in character." she said with a frown. Gabrielle looked at the warrior and saw she wasn't really focusing on the present.
"What's bothering you?" she asked as she stood in front of Xena and slid her arms around her waist. Automatically long arms wrapped themselves around the smaller woman's body and pulled her tight. Laying a cheek on the blonde head, she sighed.
"You did a really nice job with Clyde did I tell you that? You're pretty good at what you do. But then again I shouldn't be surprised after the job you did on me. Clyde must have been a cake walk," Xena softly whispered in Gabrielle's ear. She gently nuzzled the soft skin beneath her ear, trying to draw some comfort from their closeness, hoping for enough to ease the cold dread growing in her belly.
"Ok, now I know something really is bothering you. Fess up." Gabrielle pulled back and tried to get a read on her emotions. What she saw was the Warrior Wall, the old defense Xena always brought up when she was planning on doing something drastic and more importantly, stupid, like sacrificing her self.
"Oh no
, you don't. Don't you start with that! I will not let you do that to me! I didn't like it the first time in Greece and I haven't liked it any time since, whether it was Gaul, Rome, Cairo, Johannesburg, Buenos Aires or now!" Each statement was punctuated with a poke in the chest, harder each time. By the time Gabrielle was done she was in tears and Xena had taken hold of the deadly finger. She kissed the fingers in her grasp and pulled the bard back into her arms.
"Shush love, I'm not going to do that. I didn't like it either. Sacrificing either one of us is not the option right now. We need to find the Sheriff and then deal with Callisto."
She tried to soothe the bard.
Gabrielle didn't believe it and pulled away. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and paced the hallway. The ring of a desk phone cut her pacing short. They looked at each other and then around for the phone. It was on the Sheriff's desk. Gabrielle shrugged and motioned to Xena to answer the phone. She shook her head and knew there was a fence or two to mend before the night was over.
"Sheriff Parker's office, Agent Hausmann speaking," Xena spoke into the phone still watching Gabrielle pace in the hallway. She was concentrating on the problem with her bard and so missed the beginning of the phone conversation.
"Uh, sorry. Want to repeat that for me?"
"Agent Hausmann? You're using that old name again? I thought he was dead and buried years ago…at least he should be. I did slit his throat."
Xena felt the hair on her arms stand up now that she was really listening to the voice on the phone.
"Callisto. Took you long enough, what's the problem this time?"
Gabrielle spun around and was next to Xena by the end of the sentence. Xena held out an arm so she moved closer to listen to the answer. Xena tilted the receiver so she could hear.
"Oh Xena, I'm having so much fun. The Sheriff is very entertaining. He was going on and on about some Agent Hausmann that was asking around about me. I wouldn't have dreamt you would use that name again, unless you have some sentimental reason for that? He did look a lot like you, you did notice that right? That was why blondie was with him wasn't it? Couldn't find you fast enough so she settled for him? How did it feel to know she was giving it up to him? I always knew she was an easy piece of ass."
Gabrielle grabbed at the receiver but Xena pulled it up out of her reach. She slid a hand behind Gabrielle's neck and pulled her into a scorching kiss. She pulled back to look into her soulmate's eyes.
"Words Gabrielle, it's just words. Don't play into her game. I love you."
Gabrielle leaned her head on the warrior's chest. She was shaking with anger at the accusations and half truths Callisto had thrown out. She could hear the maniacal laughter bleed through the phone line.
"Xena…"
"We'll talk later, ok love? I know you and I am not concerned with what might have happened in the past," she whispered to the bard. After a quick squeeze, Gabrielle stepped back and held her hand out for the receiver. With a crook of her eyebrow Xena handed it over.
"Callisto. You're slipping up. You've missed your target again and the deputy you tortured is still alive. How's it feel to be a failure?" she taunted. Xena leaned her head against Gabrielle's to listen in. Silence crackled through the line until a scream forced the women to pull the receiver away.
"Who's the failure now you little slut? You won't be able to save the Sheriff, it'll be just like watching Hausmann bleed his life out in that alley in Buenos Aires. How long did he take to die? Did he whisper something inane about loving you? Oh I forgot, he couldn't; I slit his throat so deeply I heard his last breath before he hit the ground. Don't try to match taunts with me little girl. Xena, I'm waiting. Meet me at the motel at the north end of town, alone."
The phone disconnected with a click but only Xena heard the last. Gabrielle had slid to the floor and was leaning against the desk. Xena put the receiver down, lowered herself to the floor and pulled the bard into her arms.
The alley way echoed with shouts and calls for assistance. Gabrielle rushed to the side of the downed agent. "Michael, I'm so sorry you were involved. I should have waited to start looking. I knew she would have found me," she whispered to the dying man. He looked at his wife, the love and forgiveness shining bright. He couldn't speak; Callisto's blade had severed his vocal chords. A bloody hand reached up to gently stroke Gabrielle's face; she took his fingers and kissed the bloody knuckles. She watched the light die in his eyes even as she sensed the presence of another. Looking up she saw blue eyes blazing at her, the eyes of her soulmate. Xena kneeled down next to the dead man and drew the bard into her arms. Gabrielle felt the night crashing down on her as the emotions washed through her, the lover dead in her arms, the lover holding her tight.
Continued...