Thursday, September 13, 2007

murder and lyrics chapters 1-15
chapter one: get busy living or get busy...

the scene is backstage at a concert hall. people are bustling behind the stage and no one is standing still. a young girl about twenty three is rushing along beside a boy who is younger then her about twenty one is looking nervous and holding a guitar at his side. "daniel listen, after this show it's directly off to the airport. there's no time for a meet and greet tonight" the girl told him. he nodded signifying that he heard her. "that's my favorite part though" he said as he peeked through a thick red curtain. at a brightly lit stage and a sea of screaming fans.

"i know, but the life of a superstar is a demanding one" she told him as she dusted him off and handed him his signature hat. he took the hat and placed it on his head before flashing a grin at her. "i almost forgot. your a great assistant." he told her before placing the guitar over his shoulder and heading out on stage with his four band mates. "i know" she told him when he was too far away to hear.

the girl tried to watch the performance on stage inbetween taking phone calls and talking to very important people. during the third song the band performed a buxom dark haired girl struted up to the assistant as she took a rare moment of peace to enjoy the music. "cassie, where is he?" the woman demanded to know. "duh, he's on stage lexi" cassie told the angry looking woman. "already?" the woman huffed "yeah, you should try getting her earlier" cassie told lexi. the woman named lexi sat down in a chair in the corner next to the water bottles looking so very out of place in her sparkling red party dress.

"i had important business to attend to" lexi pouted and looked bored. cassie rolled her eyes as she watched the girl. "getting plastered at a party with paris hilton doesn't count as important business" she told lexi. lexi shot her a dirty look but didn't have time to think of a comeback before cassie's cell phone rang. "daniel H's manager" she anwsered already knowing the call was for him.

that was her job after all. being his assistant/manager. she had been for the last three years of her life. cassie didn't complain her life wasn't so bad. hectic but not bad. the call was to set up a interview with a magazine for the following week. cassie set the date as she pushed past person after person trying to find a quite place backstage to talk to the man. she was unsuccsessful as roadies came up to her wanting to know something about the equipment and another person ran up to her to tell her that the tour bus driver was missing.

cassie let out a sigh and hung up the phone to go and take care of the mini crisises. by the time she got backstage again the band was playing the last song of the set. cassie frowned as she leaned against a wall that gave her a good view of the stage. she watched her long time friend out on stage playing the guitar and she thought about the days when she was actually able to see a show.

the band finished playing and began to exit the stage to the sound of screaming fans. cassie made her way over to where the band would be. the roar of the crowd deafining her. as she walked one of the other band members assistants was carrying the cooler full of water bottles. cassie grabbed one knowing that daniel would be thirsty after the show.

"great show" daniel told his fellow band mates as cassie approached him. "here's your water danny" she told him as she pressed the water bottle into his hand. he gave her an odd look as he unscrewed the top "no one's called me danny since i got famous" he told her. she blamed it on a slip of the tounge as daniel gulped down half of the water. cassie leaned into daniel "your girlfriend is here" she whispered as she pointed to the dark haired girl named lexi.

daniel or danny clapped cassie on the back as he went over to his girlfriend and kissed her. cassie sighed again, she hated when he performed public displays of affection. it meant more rumors for her to squash and more interviews to set up. someone was bound to see the two lovebirds and report to a magazine.

a high pitched beeping noise emitted from cassie's jeans as she pulled out her beeping blackberry. "crap" she muttered before going over to the still kissing danny and pulling him off of his girlfriend. he gave her a what the fuck? sort of look "your late" she told him as she held up her blackberry. "your leaving?" lexi asked obviously getting upset once again.

"gotta fly out tonight babe" danny tried reasoning with her.

"again?" lexi scoffed "you've only been in town for two days" she whined

"a rockstar's work is never done. besides where were you all day? we could've been hanging during rehersal" daniel argued.

"i was busy" lexi said folding her arms upsetly.

"well now i'm busy so i guess i'll call you later" daniel said

cassie looked from danny to lexi unsure of what to say. she hated when they argued in front of her. it was too awkward.

finally danny broke the silence "come on cassie, you said we were running late right?" cassie nodded and dialed up the other assistants on her blackberry "were going to the bus" she said into the device. the band and their gaggles of entourage followed to the vechicals. cassie walked briskly to keep up with daniel. who she noticed looked paler then usual. "are you alright?" she asked her friend. "i've got a headache" he told her as he pulled on a jacket. "i would too if i had to listen to her" cassie said. "i've been thinking of breaking up with her" daniel muttered as they walked through the parking lot. "oh? got a new girl in mind?" she asked. "yeah, i do" he said as he looked at her.

suddenly daniel stopped in his tracks. "danny?" she asked wondering what he was trying to pull. danny was now breathing heavily his one hand clutched his chest and his other hand gripped cassie's shoulder. "danny, are you alright?" cassie asked now worried that her friend wasn't just kidding around. daniel said nothing but collasped to the concret parking lot.

"oh god danny!" cassie said as she knelt down to where he was laying. "danny? can you hear me?" she asked her friend. by now the others had begun to notice that this wasn't one of daniel's famous pranks and that something was seriously wrong. cassie grabbed her cell phone with one hand as she tried to keep danny awake with the other. "hold on danny i'm getting help" she said as she called 911. they said they were sending a ambulance and all anyone could do was wait. "danny don't die" cassie pleaded with her friend as they waited for the ambulance. the sound of the screaming fans still audible to everyone's ears.


chapter two: enter the detective

it was all over the news the next day. the guitar player for the insanely popular band "as he rises" died yesterday...

"danielle i have an assignment for you" one woman said to another as they stood in a police station. "what is it jessica?" the shorter younger female name danielle adressed the older taller girl name jessica.

"homicide. the victim is daniel hicks-" jessica began before being cut off by danielle.

"wait, that rockstar that just died?" she asked

jessica nodded "the one and the same"

danielle let out a sigh as she pushed her dark framed glasses up her nose. "you know i don't like these celebrity cases" danielle complained. "yeah, but your one of the best detectives we have. i'm sure you can handle it" jessica told her as she handed the folder over to danielle. danielle sighed and opened the folder.

inside was a photo and all the information about the victim. "twenty one eh?" danielle said as she looked over his info. "creepy considering that i'm the same age" danielle muttered to herself as she stared at the victim's photo.

he certainly looked like a rockstar. his dark hair long over his eyes but short in the back. he wore thick dark framed square glasses and a small lip piercing adorned the right side of his bottom lip. danielle wasn't sure if she had ever seen the man before she had heard about his death on the television and in the paper and anywhere else that had a form of media.

danielle didn't think she had ever heard his music except for maybe times it had played without her thinking. the young rockstar's death was everywhere and she was sure that by now everyone knew of it. the young man was handsome, talented, and on top of the world. it was a shame that he was dead.

danielle took the folder and headed out of the police station she waved at a few of the other agents as she made her way to her car. she had decided to go and visit the morgue where the body was being held. then maybe she could anwser the questioned that loomed on everyone's lips. what killed daniel hicks?

danielle arrived at the morgue not really looking forward to going inside even though her job brought her here many a times. the only sounds heard as she strode through the building was the tapping of her footsteps against the cold marble floor. she hated the morgue it was all too cold and steely and it left her feeling the same way inside.

she found the appropriate door and went inside finding the corenor sitting at her desk. the woman stood and flashed a smile too happy for someone who dealt with corpses all day. the short woman walked up to danielle and shook her hand a million or so bracelets jingled as she did so. "your here for mr. hicks right?" the woman asked. danielle nodded "yeah he's my latest case" she said as she followed the corenor to where the body was kept.

danielle eyed the woman skeptically for a moment. the woman didn't fit one's view of someone who dealt with death. she was young probably around the same age as danielle herself and she certainly didn't look like a morgue worker. she on the other hand did look like someone who would've listened to the fallen rockstar's music. considering she had perfect scene kid hair she was also wearing a plaid school girl skirt over dark pants and boots and a t-shirt that didn't match anything else that she wore under her open white medical coat.

the woman walked over to the large wall of corpses and pulled one of the squares open revealing the body. the two women looked down at the now cold blue body of daniel hicks. "megan do you know what killed him?" she asked as she looked across the body to the corener named megan. megan looked up but remained quiet as if she were choosing her words carefully.

"well to put it bluntly he was poisoned" megan said as she walked over to her desk and grabbed a file before walking back to the body and handing it over to danielle

"posioned?" danielle said surprised that this had killed the young man.

"yes, he it was located in his stomach so i'm guessing that he drank it." megan told her

"suicide?" danielle asked as she looked over the autopsy report

"with his life? i doubt it. no, i'm ruling this one a homicide" megan said

"anything else i should know about?" danielle asked.

megan nodded "yeah, he had a bad wound on the back of the head from when he fell to the ground and that he was poisoned twice."

"twice? how?" danielle asked as she closed the file and paid all her attention to megan

"like i said earlier one he drank and the other was in some sort of capsule form" megan annouced

danielle made a noise as she took in the information that megan had given her.

"well i guess i should go and see the last person to see him alive" danielle said looking up at megan.

"that would be one miss cassandra smith. she's still at the crime scene" megan told her

danielle knew that there was no more information to be collected here with megan and the corpse of the young man whose killer she was tracking. she said her goodbyes and thank you's to megan before heading off to find this cassandra.

chapter three: new partners and old friends

danielle pulled up to the crime scene no more then an hour later. the scene was a large concert hall. the hall was nothing to be impressed with by day at night was when it came alive with it's music and people that could be seen and heard miles away.

there was yellow police tape around the parking lot signifying that a crime had taken place there. blocked out by that very same tape was a large group of what danielle guessed must have been nearly a thousand people. most teenagers, danielle guessed that they were the fallen star's fans. most of them screaming and crying and holding up signs with prayers and his picture. if one didn't know better they'd think that the fans were hear to see their now dead idol instead of mourning for him in the very same parking lot where he spent his final minutes.

danielle flashed her badge at the security guard who had been stationed outside the back door of the arena. he nodded and let her pass. to get inside danielle would have to pass the large group of seemingly unconsolable fans. she sighed a bit and walked pass them.

some of the fans didn't notice her or if they did they paid her no mind in their grief ridden states. though some did yell to her begging her for anwsers as to what happened to their beloved musician. she couldn't tell them anything and part of her felt bad for it. she knew she had to ignore them as she made her way into the concert area.

danielle saw a small bustle of other agents. the crime scene workers who took and tested things. as soon as she walked in she saw a tall man walking towards her. he looked semi friendly if not intimidating because of his size. he wore a black fedora atop his head and a long brown jacket. he smiled as he approached her making him seem a bit more friendly.

"you must be detective danielle" he stated as he put out his hand for her to take.

"yes, i am. and who might you be?" danielle asked saving the handshake for after she knew his identidy.

the man grinned and reached into his pocket before pulling out and flashing his badge at her.

"the name is detective timothy fisher" he said again offering his one hand while his other tucked the badge back into his pocket.

this time danielle took his hand and they had a proper shake.

"i'm going to be your partner on this case." timothy told her.

danielle's mouth dropped open a bit

"partner?" she asked "sorry but no one informed me that i was getting a partner" she told him.

timothy shrugged. "well, your boss jessica rang me up and assigned me to work with you" timothy told her.

there was really nothing danielle could say to argue with the detective. besides he didn't seem so bad. the two of them stood there for a moment in complete awkward silence. the silence was mostly timothy letting out a slow drawn out whistle while danielle thought of the best way to deal with her new temporary partner.

"have you talked to cassandra smith yet?" danielle asked as she looked at the notepad in which she had written down the girl's name.

"no, i was waiting for you" timothy said as he smiled at danielle,who smiled uneasily back at the large man.

"well let's go talk to her now" danielle told him still holding the uneasy smile on her face. timothy nodded.

"this way" he said as he began walking towards the stage of the arena.

they reached the stage and timothy pulled back the velvety red curtain for danielle and himself to walk through. upon going through the curtain danielle saw the large stage black and shiny and almost glowing under the hot lights. there sitting at the edge of the stage was the form of a woman her back to the detectives and her long wavy brown hair falling down her back.

"miss smith" timothy called to the girl. she made no movement at first but slowly she turned to look at the two detectives. "miss smith, this is detective danielle kerley" timothy said gesturing towards danielle. the girl stood and walked over slowly to the them

"nice to meet you" danielle said putting her hand out for cassandra to take. cassandra didn't say anything just smiled not a real smile not by a longshot but a small sad smile and took danielle's hand.

danielle could see that the girl had been crying her eyes a bit bloodshot and parts of her face still held a hue of red. danielle figured that the girl was a few years older then she herself. her dark hair fell in curls over her shoulders and her bangs were clipped back. she was wearing a dark shirt with the band's logo on it and a pair of jeans under an open band jacket.

"now that we're all here we can begin the questioning" timothy said as he placed his hand on cassandra's shoulder. cassandra just gave another of those injured smiles and nodded and danielle was beginning to wonder if the girl was going to say anything at all. the two detectives lead her back to a makeshift interrogating room. on the way to the room they had passed the dressing rooms still labeled from last night's perfromance. cassandra kept her head down staring at the floor not looking at the names of the band as they passed the doors.

the detectives sat the girl down in the interrogation room. mearly to ask her questions danielle thought. as she couldn't really bring herself to believe that this young girl with the sad smiles and bloodshot eyes could be the killer. it was a bad way for a detective to think and maybe that's why jessica had assigned detective fisher onto the case.

cassandra sat at the table looking down at her now wringing hands. silence filled the room as they waited to see who would talk first.

"did-did you find out what killed him?" she asked her voice soft and sad just like the rest of her.

"i'm going to be recording our session for future reference" timothy told her as he held up and showed her the tape recorder. she nodded obviously not caring about anything but learning the anwser to her question. danielle glanced from the girl to detective fisher and back to the girl again.

"he was poisoned" she said finally when no one else spoke.

"poisoned?" cassandra said her face obviously shocked. danielle thought that if this girl was acting she was doing a mighty fine job of it.


chapter four: the unusual suspects

the news of learning how daniel hicks had died was a bit too much for cassandra and shortly after learning the news she burst into tears. danielle and timothy tried their best to comfort the girl but nothing seemed to calm her enough to actually get any information from her.

danielle left the interrogation room to take a breather and try to decide what course of action she and detective fisher should take. danielle leaned against the wall hand fisted in her pocket and she craved a cigarette something she hadn't had in nearly a year. detective fisher also exitied the room a mere moment later seeming a bit frazzled and frustrated.

timothy took off his hat and for the first time danielle saw his short light brown hair.

"this girl sure is emotional" he told her as he ran a large hand through his hair before placing the hat back on his head. " but i guess that's girls for ya" timothy said as he too leaned against the wall. he seemed to realize his mistake with his words as he glanced at danielle. "sorry about that" he said giving her a crooked smile. danielle shook her head

"don't worry about it" she said knowing full well that the guy didn't mean to insult her.

"we should check on her" danielle told detective fisher. timothy nodded in agreement and opened the interogation room for danielle before following her inside. when the two detective's entered the room they saw that the girl had calmed down a great deal and now she sat sniffling staring at the cold surface of the table. she looked up at the two detectives upon their entry into the room.

"i-i'm sorry" she said through small sad breaths. "it's just i still can't believe it" she managed out before tearing up again. cassandra was still semi calm though and the detectives knew that this is the best they would get.

danielle and timothy took seats infront of the girl. danielle with her notepad in her hand and timothy setting up the tape recorder.

"alright miss smith, we're going to begin now" timothy told her. cassandra nodded and looked down at her hands. before timothy could ask the first question she interrupted him.

"wait, you said danny was poisoned right?" the two detective's nodded at her question.

"what about it?" danielle asked.

"how was he poisoned? i mean how did it happen?" she asked them.

"he drank it" timothy said more bluntly then danielle would have liked. after all she wanted to keep the girl calm. cassie gasped and brought her hands to her mouth. danielle was confused by the girl's actions.

"what's wrong miss smith?" danielle asked determined to get to the bottom of her puzzling actions.

"the water bottles!" she blurted out her eyes wide and fearful

"water bottles?" timothy and danielle both said at the same time

"yes." cassie began, her eyes far away as if she were lost her thoughts "last night after the show, danny drank one of the water bottles before he collasped" cassie told the detectives her eyes now once again focused on the pair.

"that's very helpful miss smith, do you happen to know who gave daniel the water bottle?" danielle asked. cassie nodded the color draining from her soft sad face.

"i did" was all she whispered as her face took on something of a blank stare. danielle and timothy looked at one another wondering how to best proceed with the given information. was this some sort of confession? was cassie admitting to killing daniel?

cassandra saw the look on the two detective's faces

"i didn't kill him!" she said suddenly a new look of fear took over her features. "i gave him the water bottle yes, but i swear i didn't know it was poisoned" cassie cried at the detectives in an almost desperate manner. silence took hold of the room before timothy cleared his throat

"did you see anyone else near the water at all that day?" he asked. cassie's breathing slowed and she seemed to calm down a bit as she realized that the detective's weren't going to arrest her. cassie again took on that far away look that she was near perfect at as her thoughts went to yesterday, to when danny was on stage to when lexi showed up and took a seat right next to the water cooler.

"lexi hartford" cassie said surprised as if lexi herself had suddenly appeared out of thin air.

"that hotel heiress?" timothy asked and cassie nodded

"yeah, she was danny's girlfriend" cassie said her voice losing it's surprise and settling back into it's monotone of sadness. danielle was glad that there was another potentional suspect because she was still having trouble seeing this girl as a killer. "lexi was sitting near the water cooler at the show" cassie muttered.

"did you see her touch the water?" danielle asked cassie shook her head.

"no, i got a call and went to find a quiet place to talk"

"did you see anyone else cassie? anyone else who came in contact with daniel or the water?" timothy asked cassie again took a moment to think before anwsering the detectives.

"well danny's old friend jake walker was hanging around before the concert but i didn't see him during or after it and the musician josiah hardwick he was around too, other then that just all the normal crew and assistants"

danielle wrote down the names cassie had given them and could think of no other info they could get from the girl as finding and interviewing the new potential suspects seemed a higher prioriety then bagering the girl. timothy seemed to agree as he collected his tape recorder and turned it off.

"thank you miss smith, you've been extreamly helpful, we'll be in touch" timothy told her as he stood and picked up his briefcase. danielle too stood and smiled at cassie, cassie took the hint and stood as well walking over to shake hands with the two detectives before timothy pulled open the door for her. cassie made her way out the door but before exiting completely she turned to look at them.

"danny...was a really amazing guy. i know we had our differences and stuff but he was a good friend...he didn't deserve to die that way." cassandra said and danielle could see the tears forming in her eyes.

"i know" danielle said as that was the best thing she could think of to say at the moment. cassie gave something resembling a real smile and turned to leave again. the detectives nodded at her and watched as she walked away.

timothy waited until cassie was gone before looking to danielle and asking her what had been on his mind.

"so, what do you think?" he asked danielle.

"she didn't do it." was all she replied.


chapter five: love was the reason

"she didn't do it" danielle told timothy after cassandra had left.

"what? how do you know that?" timothy asked sounding slightly amused.

"come on, i'll explain in the car" danielle told detective fisher who still looked puzzled.

"so i'm riding with you then?" he asked and danielle nodded as she headed out of the venue.

as they walked to her car she saw that the throng of fans were still there and still crying out for anwsers. none of this would've caught danielle's eye if not for one girl in paticular. she was a young girl probably nineteen, she stood pressed against the metal guard rails that were put up, but that wasn't what made her interesting. what made her interesting was the fact that unlike all the other people this girl wasn't crying nearly as much as the rest and she held a laptop in her hands. detective fisher saw danielle staring out at the sea of fans and he too turned to look out at them.

"what are you looking at?" he asked as he turned back to danielle.

"there's a girl with a laptop, see her?" danielle asked, timothy nodded

"yeah, but there's nothing important about her" timothy said. danielle remained quiet for a moment before nodding and getting into her car along with detective fisher.

they drove in silence out of the parking lot and onto the main street.

"so who are we going to see first?" timothy asked danielle.

"you'll see" danielle told timothy as she drove around the busy streets of L.A.

"want to tell me the reason you think cassandra's innocent?" timothy asked as he pulled his briefcase into his lap.

"it was the way she talked about daniel, you could tell he meant a lot to her." danielle said as she made a right turn.

"he was her old friend of course he meant a lot to her" timothy argued as he undid the locks on his case.

"no, the way her eyes looked it wasn't just a friendship...i believe she was in love with him." danielle said as she looked over at detective fisher who was now rifiling through his briefcase.

"that's it? love? you don't think she killed him because she was in love with him?" timothy said obviously not agreeing with danielle's opinion.

"well why do you think she's guilty?" danielle asked timothy her annoyance heavy in her voice. timothy didn't anwser but he did pull out a series of papers.

"these are part of my suspicions" he said as he waved the papers a bit.

"and just what are those?" danielle asked looking at the many papers.

"each and every paper is a signed testimony from people who have witnessed arguments and violence between cassandra and daniel." timothy said as he pulled one paper out and proceeded to read it outloud.

"here's an incident two months ago. daniel and cassandra were seen yelling at each other outside his dressing room, and another from a few weeks ago, daniel pushed cassandra as she was walking down the hall. one more were she was reported with a bruise on her leg."
timothy said as he rifiled through the papers and read each one outloud.

danielle had to admit that she was surprised. cassandra didn't seem like she had any anger towards daniel, but if these reports were true it was a lot harder to think of her as a hundered percent innocent.

"what i'm trying to say is that perhaps miss smith couldn't take anymore of daniel's harrassment so she wanted to get rid of him." timothy said as he put the papers away.

"then why not quit instead of killing him?" danielle asked

"maybe she was afraid of what he'd do to her if she did?" timothy said

"sounds like a lot of speculation to me" danielle said as she pulled into a parking lot.

"well what else have we got?" timothy asked

"this." danielle said as she turned off the car and pointed at the building they were parked at.

"the hartford hotel? what are we doing here?" timothy asked

"looking for one miss lexi hartford." danielle said as she stepped out of the car.


chapter six: the heartless heiress

timothy and danielle made their way into the harford hotel's lobby. the hartford hotel was only the rizitiest place around and almost always housed a celebrity or two. even the doors surrounding the hotel's enterance were busy with the constant attendance of the paparazzi. the paparazzi didn't bother snapping any photo's of danielle and timothy seeing as how they weren't famous.

the hartford hotel was what a person would expect a fancy hotel to look like. with it's high arched and intriquetly painted and designed celingings and walls. marble fixtures adorned the walls and the color gold was splashed almost everywhere, while men in tuxedo's stood around looking proper and not doing much else. from inside the lobby of the hotel one could see outside from the large glass windows that surrounded the enterance. the paparazzi stood watch from these windows perpaired for the first drugged up starlet or raging actor they could find and take a photo of.

danielle and timothy made their way over to the large front desk where a woman who looked botoxed to death was standing.

"can i help you?" the woman asked though her mouth barely moved.

"yes, we need to see miss lexi hartford" timothy said smiling at the woman.

they were sure that if the woman could frown she would've but her face stayed frozen as she adressed the two detectives.

"i'm very sorry but you can't see her, even if you are her fans." the woman said in a sympathetic way. danielle and timothy stood in shock wondering what on earth made this woman think they were lexi's fans.

"no, we're not fans" danielle said as she opened her jacket and pulled out her badge showing it to the woman.

"i'm detective danielle kerley." she told the woman.

timothy followed suit and he too pulled out his badge and flashed it to the woman "and i'm detective timothy fisher."

almost instantly a huge brilliant flash of light surrounded the lobby and danielle looked to her left to see the paparazzi taking pictures of them holding out their badges. danielle and timothy quickly put their badges away and asked to see lexi hartford once again. this time the woman didn't put up a fight she picked up the phone and dialed up lexi's room.

they stood in silence as the phone rang until after what seemed to be half a minute someone picked up. timothy and danielle could only hear one side of the conversation but by the tone of the woman's voice and the way she spoke to lexi they already knew that she was upset.

so it was no surprise when a very disgruntled looking lexi hartford came stomping into the room with all the anger of a three year old throwing a temper tantrum. lexi came up to the front desk completely blowing past the two detectives.

"what is this about?" lexi screamed at the front desk workers as the flash of photographers consumed them all again.

"Ms. hartford, we need to have a word with you" timothy called out to the woman. lexi turned around perpaired to unleash her anger on timothy.

"and just who the hell are you?" lexi shouted at the detectives. timothy grinned at the woman. before pulling out his badge and flashing it at her. instantly the paparazzi went crazy again, photographing lexi and timothy. timothy tucked away his badge before grinning at the woman again.

"i am detective fisher and this" he said motoning to danielle "is detective kerley." timothy told the girl. lexi looked less then impressed or thrilled at the prospect of the detectives presence in her hotel.

"detectives? what is this about?" lexi asked now finally starting to sound a little scared. danielle stepped up and cleared her throat.

"it's about the daniel hicks murder." danielle said. lexi looked surprised for a moment as if she hadn't expected anyone to come and see her regarding his death.

"oh, well why me? i didn't have anything to do with it!" lexi shouted. if danielle wasn't so sure she'd think that maybe lexi was bipolar or had awful mood swings because in the matter of a minute she had gone from angry to scared to paranoid.

"we never said you had anything to do with it ms. hartford." danielle said as she tried to calm the woman. danielle herself was getting annoyed with the paparazzi outside the window with their constant picture taking. "can we move to a more private location ms. hartford?" danielle asked. lexi nodded and motioned for the two detectives to follow her.

the detectives followed lexi around a corner to a private room in the back of the hotel. lexi flopped down in a large gold chair and looked at the detectives wide eyed and too naive looking. timothy and danielle settled across from her in two small wooden chairs, danielle pulled out her notepad while timothy turned on his recorder.

"now about daniel's death" timothy began before lexi cut him off.

"i wasn't even there that night!" lexi proclaimed. timothy's cleared his throat and danielle rolled her eyes

"that's the thing lexi, we have a witness who saw you backstage last night" timothy told her. lexi's face faltered and danielle's suspicsion grew.

"who was it? who said i was there?" lexi asked in a i don't believe a word you're saying voice.

"we can't tell you that" danielle cut in, lexi gave her a surveying look apparently lexi wasn't used to people telling her she couldn't get what she wanted. lexi remained silent for a moment choosing to look down at her tied closed white robe. timothy and danielle exchanged looks and danielle could see that timothy was about to start talking again. before he could begin lexi once again cut him off.

"it was cassie wasn't it?" lexi asked as she raised her head up and looked at the detectives.

"we still can't tell you who it was lexi" danielle flatly told the girl. lexi grimaced and looked at her nails.

"it doesn't matter i know it was cassie! that bitch has had it out for me from the very second i started dating daniel!" lexi yelled danielle was now confused. cassie seemed to be the farthest thing from a bitch when they had met with her.

"why would cassie have it out for you lexi?" danielle asked.

"she's jealous! she was gaga for daniel and she was pissed that he choose me and that he was going to marry me!" lexi told them in her overexagerated way. danielle was suprised lexi had just confirmed the hypothesis that danielle had thought of, that cassie was in love with daniel. timothy glanced over at danielle he too realized that she thought the same about cassie.

"daniel said he was going to marry you?" timothy asked

lexi thought for a moment "well...no, but i know he was going to! a woman knows these kinds of things!" lexi insisted and cassie, well there is no way that cassie could handle that so i bet she killed daniel! you know like that if i can't have him no one will thing!" lexi said as though her simply saying it was enough to make the detectives believe it.

"hmmm lexi how long were you with daniel?" timothy asked

lexi put her finger to her mouth and turned her head in that classic kind of dumb blonde thinking pose.

"about a month" lexi said finally. timothy nodded and danielle watched "do you guys have any suspects?" lexi asked as she looked down at her feet before looking back up to the detectives.

"no, not yet ms. hartford" timothy said.

"well i think cassie did it personally. i mean daniel told me that he went and had his will changed just a few days before his death and that it was cassie's suggestion." lexi said her voice a whisper and danielle wondered if timothy's recorder picked it up. danielle was surprised again at the info that lexi had given them. it definitly made it harder to see who was the prime suspect here.

before danielle and timothy could ask lexi anymore questions suddenly danielle's cell phone rang. danielle surprised at the call quickly picked it up. timothy watched danielle as she talked on the cell phone. danielle was talking quickly and ended the call with a "we'll be right there."

danielle hung up her phone and stood before looking at timothy.

"there's been an arrest at the crime scene" danielle told him timothy nodded and stood as well.

"well ms. hartford we must be going but trust me we'll be in touch" timothy said lexi nodded and stood shaking timothy's hand and blowing right past danielle. danielle didn't mind as she perferred not touching strange people anyway. danielle and timothy climbed back into danielle's car and proceeded to drive to the crime scene. on the way timothy dialed up a number and requested a record of daniel's will.

the two detectives made it back to the concert venue to see a few cop cars, a news van with a reporter standing outside of it and a horde of screaming angry fans.


chapter seven: number one fan

"what the hell is going on here?" danielle said as she stepped out of the car. somehow between the mere hour the two detectives had left and came back pandimonium had broken out. danielle and timothy attempted to enter the building when the blonde reporter caught up with them.

"detectives! do you think what's happening here is right?" the reporter asked as she ran alongside the two detectives.

"we don't even know what's happened yet." timothy said to the reporter who was more then happy to fill them in.

"a young fan was arrested just moments ago for crossing the baracaid" the reporter told them "now what do you think about that?" she asked them once again.

danielle took the chance to anwser the woman.

"no comment" she told her and finally the woman let up, and proceeded to try and interview the angry crowd. danielle and timothy had made there way back inside the venue where they had just been that morning. upon entering they saw a large burly police officer standing just outside the room they had talked to cassie in earlier.

"officer what's going on?" danielle asked as they approached the man. by now danielle and timothy had enough common sense to clip their badges on their jackets so they wouldn't have to flash them continually.

"well one of mr. hick's fans tried to cross the line and we had to subdue her" the man said proudly as he put his hands on his hips.

"subduing her would be removing her from the lot not arresting her!" danielle argued with the man. the last thing they needed would be a fan riot on there hands and though danielle didn't agree with what the girl did she still didn't think it deserved an arresting.

"can we speak with her?" timothy asked and the policeman looked wary for a moment before he nodded and motioned for the two to follow him. the three people entered the room. it was exactly the same as it had been this morning except for the person at the table with the sad eyes had changed from cassie to a helpless fan.

"belinda, this is detectives fisher and kerley, they've come to speak to you" the policeman said in a tone as if he were talking to a five year old opposed to the tall lanky teenager that sat at the table. the teenaged fan danielle noticed was the same girl with the laptop that she had seen earlier that day out in the parking lot.

the girl named belinda looked up and nodded but said nothing. her hands gripped on to the side of her beloved lap top as it lay on the table. just by looking at the girl one could tell that she was a big fan of the band. she was wearing a black band shirt quite similar to the same one cassie had been wearing that morning. she was tall and skinny and had to be around nineteen years old. her dark brown hair was marred with streaks of blonde and she looked up at the detectives her grayish green eyes almost shining in the light.

"hello belinda, i'm detective kerley" danielle said as she put out her hand for the girl to take. belinda took danielle's hand and smiled a bit.

"hey" was all she said. timothy said nothing but again pulled out his recorder to record their conversation. "i didn't do anything wrong!" belinda said as she pulled her lap top up to her chest.

"well you did trespass on a crime scene." timothy said and danielle noticed how he chose the most random times to talk.

"i had to! it was my duty to the other fans! they deserve to know where daniel spent his last minutes!" belinda said and danielle was slightly surprised that belinda wasn't crying as she spoke the words.

"what do you mean? how would you show the other fans?" danielle asked. belinda's chest seemed to puff up a bit as she ran her long fingers along her lap top.

"with this" she said as she held it up.

"i'm afraid i don't follow" danielle said as she watched the girl. belinda sighed and muttered something about adults before opening up her lap top and turning it on. belinda motioned for danielle and timothy to come over so they did choosing to stand behind the girl. danielle noticed that when the lap top loaded up a picture of daniel and belinda together was shown on the screen.

"hold on, you know daniel?" timothy asked the girl. belinda let out a dreamy sigh as she stared at the photo.

"know him? i'm only his biggest fan!" belinda said as she turned to look back at danielle and timothy.

"then you were in contact with him a lot?" timothy asked. belinda shook her head and grimaced.

"no, i mean i only met him this time but i was in contact with him and cassie through emails!" belinda said proudly.

"you know cassie?" danielle asked surprised at the whealth of information the girl had.

"of course i know cassie! she's like a mini celebrity on my site." belinda said as she logged on to the internet.

"show us this site" danielle said. belinda nodded and in seconds had pulled up a website adorned with the bands picture.

"i created this site a few years ago, before the band was famous and it's just taken off from there" belinda said as she scrolled down and revealed a photo of daniel with the words 'rest in peace' under the picture.

"well how'd you first come into contact with cassie?" timothy asked as he peered at the site.

"well, she found my site and sent me an email and i don't know she just started contributing"

"like how?" timothy asked again as belinda pulled up a recent post that cassie had done.

"she would post information and show us pictures and sometimes daniel would chat, it was like she was one with the fans you know?" belinda said

"band tracker? what is that?" danielle asked as she noticed a link on the site.

"oh," belinda began as she clicked on it. "it's where we track the members of the band, like get photo's of them and put them on the site" belinda said as she went down to the most recent photo's. danielle surveyed the photo's seeing none that were too interesting.

"wait" danielle said suddenly. "click on that one" she said as she pointed to one of the photo's on the screen. belinda did as danielle told and enlarged one of the photo's. the photo itself was of daniel he was standing outside of a large gray building. the name on the building read 'o'reily's life insurance'. danielle looked over at timothy who was staring at her, there was no doubt that the same thought passed through both of their minds.

"when was that photo taken?" timothy asked belinda as she too surveyed the picture not yet grasping the irony of it all.

"um" belinda said as she leaned in to take a closer look at the photo "just a few days before his death." she said as she closed the photo.

"it fits with what lexi told us." danielle said to herself. timothy nodded but said nothing. there was a still silence in the room as no one said anything. belinda glanced at her watch before looking to the detectives.

"um..am i in real trouble? or can i go home now?" she asked. timothy and danielle having no real reason to keep the girl besides to see what else she knew.

"no you can go, but please write down the address for the website." danielle said as she handed belinda a note pad. belinda again did as danielle asked and quickly packed up her things and was escorted out of the venue.

after belinda had left timothy turned to danielle.

"things are beginning to add up." he said and it sounded too much to danielle that he was suspecting cassie.

"don't pronounce her guilty just yet." danielle said, there was still pleanty of things that didn't add up and they still had two suspects to speak to.

there was a knock on the door and a police man entered the room.

"detective fisher?" he asked and timothy nodded "the copy of mr. hick's will was just faxed over" he said as he held out a paper for timothy to take. timothy grinned at the man and took the paper from him. the police man nodded at danielle and timothy before leaving the room.

timothy read the paper in silence as danielle waited for him to finish. after he finished reading his face had the mild hint of surprise.

"what?, what is it?" she asked curious as to what timothy had found out.

"when daniel changed his will. he left half of everything to cassie" timothy said as he handed over the will.


chapter eight: suspicions and the funeral at dawn

danielle reread the paper several times but it didn't matter. no matter how many times she read it didn't change what was written. the paper did state that upon daniel's death that half of everything he owned would go to cassie. the other things that weren't left to her were given to charity or to other friends and family.

danielle didn't like this at all. it definitly made cassie look guilty but for some reason she just couldn't believe it. but why would cassie suggest he get a will done? and why would daniel listen to her?

"so what should we do?" timothy asked danielle. to be honest danielle didn't know, she glanced at the clock and saw that it was well after eight at night and that they had been working the case since six that morning.

"i say we call it a night" danielle said as she handed the will back over to timothy. timothy nodded and took the will before putting it into his briefcase.

"daniel's funeral is tomorrow at seven in the morning" timothy told danielle as they headed out of the room.

"how do you know that?" danielle asked as again they passed through the halls and into the parking lot where thankfully things had settled down.

"cassie told me before you showed up today" he said as he walked towards his car which danielle noticed was parked close to her's. "so i think we should meet cassie after the funeral is over" timothy told her as he opened his door. danielle nodded as she too got into her car.

timothy nodded at her as he closed his door and started his car before pulling out of the parking lot. danielle too left to head home for the night as she drove she tried her best to fit together the pieces of this case.

danielle didn't go to sleep that night. instead she got on the website that belinda ran. danielle was searching for anything that might be helpful, she was once again searching the photo sections. she had tracked some photo's down from before daniel started dating lexi and she noticed that cassie was often see out in public with him and they both looked relatively happy. but then she checked the photo's from after daniel started dating lexi and she noticed that cassie was basically nowhere to be seen.

danielle went to bed that night still at square one, still not knowing who to blame.
************************************************************
as danielle woke that morning at six-thirty she wondered why in the hell anyone would want to have a funeral so early. she peeked out the window as she dressed to see the sky was still stuck in twilight. the sun just a faint glow to the east.

danielle pulled on her dark clothes a normaly bad idea for the unpredictable L.A weather but fitting for the funeral. danielle rushed around her solem apartment collecting the things she needed for the hicks case. she was a bit nervous to leave too soon and arrive too early to the funeral. she didn't know daniel and she wasn't the type of person to show up at social events; even if the event was a funeral.

danielle decided to stall in the form of logging onto her computer and checking her email. she tapped her fingers monotonly until the page loaded and she noticed that she infact had a new email. half thinking it was some spam about enlarging the penis she didn't have or getting a credit card danielle clicked on the email anyway. she was surprised to find that it was from belinda, the young fan she met yesterday.

"detective kerley, i recieved this photo from a fellow fan yesterday thought it was important so here it is-belinda"

the photo belinda was speaking of was one of one miss lexi hartford strolling the streets
hand-in-hand with a young blonde male. danielle was surprised at the photo ecspecially the date marked on it. it was taken while lexi was suppose to be dating daniel.

danielle called the station she worked at she needed the help of her assistant jenny.

"jenny?" danielle asked when she heard someone pick up

"yes?" jenny said as if she weren't sure who she was speaking to.

"it's me danielle. i need you to print me something" danielle said to jenny over the phone as she stared at the photo currently on her computer.
***************************************************************
cassie stood outside on the still dewy grass of the creekwood cementary a few minutes before seven. she stood dressed in the best black dress that she could afford and she regretted that her new shiny black shoes were probably being ruined by the wet grass. cassie stood before the black shiny coffin the one that oddly enough matched her shoes.

cassie would've smiled had the thought of who it was lying in that casket not destroyed her. she wrung her hands and looked around at the others in attendance. she saw danny's mother and his many siblings all of whom had flown out for the funeral. she watched his family odd how she knew danny so well yet she knew very little of his family. it didn't matter now though and as his mother caught her gaze cassie nodded a sympathetic nod that she knew could never help her heal.

she continued to survey the crowd and her mouth dropped into a deep frown as she noticed the distinct lack of a overdramatic diva named lexi. it was common knowledge that cassie didn't care for lexi but she still expected lexi to show up at the funeral and cassie swore that if lexi dared show up late or intoxicated or even demanding attention she would kick her out as fast as her fifteen minutes were fading.

cassie let out a deep sigh that clearly let out the feelings in her heart. cassie felt like she too was dying and she didn't think she could make it through the funeral. she stood in the front row along with danny's family and fellow bandmates. part of her felt like she didn't belong their but the other part of her wanted to be.

the funeral goers saw the preist come and stand behind daniel's coffin and they knew it was time to begin. cassie sat in the small brown wooden chairs that pressed down into the grass and cassie looked towards the sky just peering at it wanting to look at anything except the procession because ever since his death she still thought that maybe danny would walk through the door, any door it didn't matter.

she didn't listen as the preist talked she really didn't want too. it all made it real as if watching your bestfriend die didn't make it real enough. the look in danny's eyes as he died was a sight that cassie knew would never leave her. she had rarely seen him afraid and in that moment when he was shaking and clutching and gasping she could see the rawest of fear in his eyes.

cassie listened later when people began remenicising about daniel. his friends and people he had know for a long time talked and shared memories about danny. cassie listened but never looked she instead chose to look at her again wringing hands and how the dark black of her dress contrasted so sharply with the white of her skin. the person currently talking at the small podium was the guitar player in the band. one mr. mike steven's. mike was talking about the first time he and danny played together and he laughed that sad sort of laugh as he remembered. mike finished talking moments later and the preist once again took the command.

"our next speaker has known daniel a great deal of time and has shared countless memories. please welcome miss. cassandra smith" cassie's head shot up and this time she did look at the coffin and the preist. she honestly had no idea that she was meant to speak today, she had nothing perpaired and she could've sworn that someone was suppose to tell you beforehand that you were going to talk. cassie still undecided stood and somewhat awkwardly took to the podium. there she stood out before a sea of danny's friends and family herself counted as one. her heart thumped widly for a varying reasons. one being at the complete lack of what to say and the other being that she was extrememly too close to the casket.

cassie took a deep breath and begged herself to speak knowing that she stayed silent too long.

"i've know danny for six years" cassie began flinching on the inside at the fact that she used his nickname and refered to him in the present tense.

"ever since high school" she rambled on still not knowing where she was going.

"i swear he was one of the most unique people i ever met." this time cassie let out one of those sad laughs that mike had previously done.

she looked down at the podium her eyes full of empty sadness. "we had our up's and downs in the friendship but i wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, except maybe to have him back here with us. back when we were young he used to tell me he'd be famous one day and i-i always believed him. he also used to tell me that i could be his assistant, i was never so sure about that but here i am." cassie said with a small smile.

cassie felt as if she was choking on her words and they were laying dead in her mouth stumbling her words. in this instant every memory she possed of him good and bad came flooding back to her. every word ever spoken, every touch ever passed, and each and every argument, bet, or song. it all came back and she was overwhelmed and she couldn't hold it back anymore.

cassie cried at the alter of the funeral that day and was quickly helped off the podium by mike and a few of the other assistants. she was lead back to her seat as the funeral proceeded. a good ten minutes later it was time to go and view the body for the last time. the people all lined up and cassie really didn't care where she stood in line as it all felt the same. it felt to her like back in those high school days when you had to line up for something embarressing or something you didn't want to do. ever so slowly the line moved up each person taking their last look at dear daniel before permently cementing him to the lost part of their brains.

finally it was cassie's turn and as she walked it felt like slow motion. like nothing was moving fast enough. it sounded to her like each step was heard a loud clacking despite herself being on grass. she stepped up to the casket that was now open and she rested her hands on the sleek edges as she peered inside. now fully seeing the cold dead body of her bestfriend.

seeing daniel like this all odd looking and dressed up all cold and stiff. it was unnerving at best. cassie pressed a shaking hand to danny's face and brushed his now lackluster hair out away from his face just for a moment because she always liked his hair and she knew how much he himself liked it. it was strange because she felt that any moment now danny's eyes would open and he'd tell her to stop touching him. but he didn't he remained still forever dressed in his suit and tie.

"goodbye danny" was all cassie whispered to him before she felt tears prick in her eyes and she fled from the casket. cassie ran from the casket but she didn't leave the funeral. she couldn't bring herself to do it. it was something of an old habit that she had been by his side for six years she wanted to make sure he got where he was suppose to be. cassie leaned against a large tree just a few feet away from where they were going to burry danny.

she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned quickly her heart reacting before her mind thinking it was danny she turned quickly to see detective kerley and fisher standing there. her face fallen she greeted the detectives with a handshake.

"you've missed the funeral" she said as she turned away from them to again face the event.

"we felt it was better that way" timothy said soft and sympathetic. cassie nodded agreeing with the detectives. cassie sighed and walked slowly out of the shade of the large tree and stepped out into the orange morning light.

"do you know why the funeral was so early?" cassie asked expecting no real anwser from the two people. "it was because he always liked the sunrise. he used to say it looked like the sky was on fire during the early morning." cassie said as she stared at the orange ever brighting sky.

cassie said nothing else after that but continued to stare forward and danielle herself was unsure of what exactly they were doing. how could they ask cassie about the will situation at the actual funeral? timothy and danielle noticed people had begun to leave the funeral and make the semi-long walk to their vechicle's.

"everyone's leaving?" danielle asked, cassie nodded

"their going to the will reading at his lawyers office." cassie said and danielle sensed that she didn't sound at all like she knew she was suppose to inheriate a small fortune.

the three people noticed a slightly older man probably in his late twenties early thirties walking towards them. it was someone who looked like a part of danny's crowd. with the same black punk hair and the notable apperance of eyeliner. the man smiled as he approached them and he stopped in front of cassie.

"good morning cassandra" the man said as he smiled softly at the younger girl, danielle also noted that this man was very handsome.

"good morning josiah" cassie said in a somber tone and although danielle could only see the back of her head she knew that the girl wasn't returning that soft smile.

the man named josiah looked a bit nervous as he shifted his weight from foot to foot.

"you know cassandra, i had hoped that our next meeting would be under better circumstances." josiah said as he placed a hand on cassie's shoulder.

"yeah, same here." cassie said and danielle heard her voice break. josiah opened his arms to the girl and in an instant she was in his embrace and he was holding her as she cried.

danielle wondered who this man was? he had showed up out of no where and was now holding a crying cassandra; when it suddenly hit her. the name josiah, she remembered it as one of the names cassie had given as one of the people who had seen daniel in his last day alive.

after a few moments cassie had once again calmed down and josiah let her go. but he still held onto her hand.

"are you going to the will reading dear?" josiah asked cassie and cassie nodded.

"in a few minutes, i-i want to say goodbye to him first." cassie said and they noticed that nearly everyone had cleared out and daniel's casket was being lowered into the ground. cassie let go of josiah's hand and walked over to the plot in the ground. danielle and timothy nor josiah ever followed.

cassie now stood just over his grave. and she looked down at the flower covered coffin.

"after three years of taking care of you danny, what am i supposed to do now?" cassie asked sadly and again with the desperate laugh. cassie nearly began crying again and she wasn't sure what to say. none of the words in her head felt great enough to be the final words she ever said to him.

"thank you danny, for all the opportunities and fun we had. thank you for all the things you gave me." she said to him before smiling softly and sadly and walking back away to the detectives and josiah.


chapter nine: mr. hardwick and the revealation

while cassie was saying her final goodbye's to daniel, danielle took the opportunity to talk to josiah. she approached him slowly only mildly intimidated by his good looks.

"mr. hardwick?" danielle said as she looked at the man. josiah nodded and put his hand out towards danielle that handsome grin spread across his face.

"i perfer josiah." he said as he took danielle's hand.

"alright josiah." danielle said as she avoided josiah's eyes afraid of being mesmerized by them.

"my name is detective danielle kerley." she began as she slid her hand from josiah's. josiah's face turned puzzled and he turned back to glance at cassandra.

"detective eh? well what can i do for ya?" josiah asked as he rubbed his slightly stubble covered chin.

"well it's about the daniel hicks murder." timothy interjected. josiah raised his eyebrows as he pulled a pack of smokes from his black shirt pocket before pulling out a single cigarette and placing it between his lips.

"what does that have to do with me?" he asked the cigarette still dangling in his lips.

"well didn't you meet with him the day of his death?" danielle asked and josiah appeared to think it over for a moment before he nodded.

"yeah, we did meet. we were going do a song together." josiah said his hands stuck deep in the pockets of his dark pants searching for a lighter for his dry cigarette.

"did you two talk about anything besides music?" danielle asked, josiah who had finally found his lighter and had now striked it lighting his cigarette.

"well-" he began as he took a long drag. "there were a few things but i don't think now is such an appropreit time to discuss these things." josiah finished as he exhaled blowing fine grey smoke out into the warm air.

"then can we set up a meeting sometime today?" danielle asked now horribly curious about what josiah knew.

"not today, no." he replied as the lingering smoke accompanied each word. "i'm afraid my scheduel is extreamly full. "so maybe tomorrow then?" josiah asked the detectives and danielle nodded dumbly finding herself stupified when it came to him.

josiah smiled and pulled a card from the inside of his jacket pocket.

"here, my card." he said as he handed over the card to danielle who promptly tucked it away.

before any more conversation could be had cassandra showed back up at josiah's side. he turned and looked at her with a kind smile that had the power to melt teenagers hearts.

"are you alright?" josiah asked and cassie nodded but didn't speak. "right then, we best be off to the will reading. cassie i would like you to ride with me." josiah told her. cassie looked surprised and pointed to a silver car parked along the path in the cementary lot.

"but my car is here." she told him. josiah nodded and without skipping a beat replied to the girl.

"that's no matter. i'll have my driver bring you back here." he said as he once again took cassie's hand and proceeded to lead her away. he turned back to look at the detectives as they left.

"do make sure to call me detectives." josiah said as he stepped up to a long black limo. he opened the door for cassie and helped her inside and he proceeded to climb in as well. danielle and timothy watched as the limo took off and left the cementary making it's way down the roads.

danielle exhaled finding it odd that she hadn't realized that she was holding her breath. she and timothy exchanged looks.

"don't happen to know where the will reading is do you?" danielle asked timothy praying that he did know and that she wouldn't have to call the number on the card josiah had just given her. timothy nodded and turned to walk towards his car parked not too far from danielle's own.

"just follow me" was all he said. danielle did as he asked and followed him her mind working out any clues that she may have overlooked. there was josiah hardwick. he was something of an enigma himself. it appeared that he knew cassie before hand, in fact it was fairly obvious that she knew him well. then there was his eagerness to meet with the detectives. that which could be taken a few ways. one being that he knew something big or that he just wanted to clear his name.

there was also the fact that lexi wasn't at the funeral, it seemed odd because she had mentioned that daniel had intended on proposing to her, so what reason would she have not to show up?

around ten minutes later danielle and timothy showed up at the lawyers office where daniel's will would be read. danielle and timothy met up and went inside, though part of danielle wondered if the two of them should be there. they flashed their badges at the man who was guarding the door. they were promptly let into the surprisingly small and crowded room.

danielle spotted cassandra up near the front right side of the room, josiah to her left. the man who was daniel's lawyer was stationed in the front of the room behind a wooden desk. rows of seats had been placed in the room and nearly all of them were full. directly behind cassandra and josiah was a blonde man who had to be around daniel and cassie's age. danielle thought the man looked familar but as of the moment she couldn't place his face.

timothy gave danielle a small nudge and she turned quickly to face him.

"look who i found." timothy said as he nodded his head towards the left side of the room. danielle scanned the people and noticed to the far left of the room stood lexi hartford surrounded by a goup of what looked like her handlers. danielle was appauled that lexi wouldn't show up at the funeral but to the reading of the will.

timothy and danielle now realizing that they were the only ones standing quickly took a pair of seats; the only ones being available directly behind the blonde man and two rows away from cassie and josiah.

everyone sat in near silence. the only sound being the quiet muttering of the seated people. danielle herself strained her ears trying to hear as she noticed josiah lean over to say something to cassie. she could just barely make it out.

"i don't think you should be alone tonight." josiah told her. danielle thought that was a horrible pick up line.

"i'll be fine." she whispered back to him. he shook his head.

"don't lie cassandra. you know i went through something like this and i know how easy it is to become suicidal." he argued with the girl. danielle noticed that the blonde man in front of her turned his head to look at cassie and josiah.

"i'm not suicidal" she began to argue again. before their argument could get any further the short laywer cleared his throat and picked up a stack of papers.

"it is now nine o' clock, we will begin the reading of the will." he said his voice smooth and calm. a silence took the room as everyone waited for the handing out of the late mr. hick's posessions. the man picked up the stack of papers and once again cleared his throat.

"upon my death, i daniel hicks wish that the following take place." the man began. danielle kept her eyes open as she surveyed the room eager to see what certain people's reactions would be.

"to my mother and siblings i leave all my homes except the summer one which will go to someone named later, and vechicles and a undisclosed amount of money." upon hearing this the woman who had to be daniel's mother burst into tears, crying for her deceased son.

"to my fellow bandmates i leave any awards we won as a band and our platnium record wall hanging along with the autographed guitars in my basement." his band members nodded and smiled obviously remembering the good times they had all shared.

"to lexi, my lovely girlfriend i leave my party jet and the painting in my room." the man read and instantly all eyes were on lexi, who was obviously shocked and dissapointed. she realized she was being watched and quickly smiled and dabbed her eyes with a kleenex.

"to chris my oldest friend, i leave my collection of guitars, except the autographed ones which will go to my bandmates." chris who danielle noticed was the blonde man seated in front of her smiled and nodded.

danielle noticed that daniel had left very little money to anyone else and it was no suprise since she knew who was getting a great deal of it.

"to cassie my extremly loyal friend and assistant i leave half of my fortune and leave her all my companies and investments and the summer home in london. as well as all my lyrical notebooks because i know she'll take care of them." danielle watched cassie whose eyes had gone wide and mouth slightly slacked. she quickly buried her face in her hands and josiah wrapped an arm around her.

the remaining assests were handed out, things from his past and plans furinture and vacations. a good amount of money also was left to a few charities. and josiah had been left with daniel's cd collection. the will reading was over and people none who would admit that they didn't like their leavings exitied the room.

danielle and timothy waited outside for cassie to come out. lexi had long since stormed out with a gaggle of people accompanying her. cassie took a while to come out; so long in fact that danielle peeked her head back into the room to see what she was doing. danielle saw that cassie was talking very animatedly to the lawyer a blank look on her face. josiah too was lingering as if waiting for cassie to come with him. the lawyer who was speaking with cassie nodded and pointed to one of the papers on his desk, cassie then nodded and headed towards the exit with josiah in tow.

danielle and timothy caught her on the way out. she turned to face them a warm smile on her face. "hello detectives." she said her voice a now much happier tone. danielle did like that cassie was happy but she didn't like that the thought of the money made her happy.

timothy and danielle nodded at cassie but remained silent. cassie seemed to not know what exactly to say to the detectives so she too stood silent.

"cassie what were you talking to the lawyer about?" danielle asked. cassie looked surprised and seemed to think for a moment before she awnsered them.

"i was making sure that he didn't screw up." she said danielle must've looked confused because cassie continued. "i mean, i was making sure that there wasn't a mistake that danny really left me that stuff." she said and danielle noticed that she was now the calmer then ever.

"so you were surprised at being left the money?" timothy asked as though he thought otherwise. cassie looked taken aback.

"of course, i was! who wouldn't be?" she asked but seemed to expect no anwser, yet timothy gave her one anyway.

"someone who knew of the will beforehand." timothy said. cassie made an odd face as if she didn't understand what he was implying.

"well that someone wouldn't be me." cassie said curtly as if she were offended at their line of questioning.

"oh really? because we have someone who says differently. they say you told danny to change his will mere days before his death." timothy said his voice sounding a bit angry. while cassie and timothy were going back and forth danielle and josiah stood silent at each of their sides.

"what? i didn't know anything about the will being changed!" cassie yelled now obviously getting upset, a few people who lingered turned to look back at the scene. "and i never told danny to do anything!" she added. her face quickly turning red and her hands held at her hips.

danielle wasn't sure why timothy was being so rough on the girl. why he was making such accusations when they didn't have enough proof. timothy sighed obviously not believing a word cassie was saying.

"oh really? because i called the o'reiley life insurance company last night." timothy began as if him saying those words would envoke some sort of confession from cassandra. on the other hand cassie looked at them blankly and shrugged.

"so what?" she asked, obviously not seeing the threat that came with timothy's words. timothy sighed as if she were lying and he knew it.

"so, the man i talked to said daniel came in with a young woman to change his will." timothy told the small group. danielle wasn't sure what timothy was expecting but again cassie did or said nothing just gave a appauled face.

"that doesn't mean it was me!" cassie yelled. danielle didn't know what to think, she and timothy were working on the case together, yet he hadn't told her that he called the life insurance company. danielle wasn't sure if timothy was bluffing or not.

"i'm afraid his description matched you cassandra." timothy said as he slid his hand into his brown trench coat. "so you're going to have to come with us." he said as he pulled out a pair of silver cuffs. danielle and cassie both gasped and danielle thought that now timothy was taking things too far. cassie turned back to look at josiah who had rested a hand on her shoulder.

"now just hold on a second. don't you think you're taking this a bit far?" josiah asked timothy. timothy looked upset and shook his head.

"no, i think i'm solving a damn murder here!" he yelled and looked to danielle for obvious reinforcement. danielle sighed.

"he's right i'm afraid." she began as she looked at the know livid yet obviously frightened cassie. "this is a murder investigation, and right now cassie is the main suspect." danielle said. timothy nodded and in seconds cassie was being handcuffed by timothy. a slilent fear was eched on the girls face as she was led out of the lawyers office by the two detectives. josiah following close behind, giving her words of encouragement.

"don't worry cassandra! i'll get the best lawyer for you!" josiah yelled as they took cassie outside and placed her in the back of an awaiting police car. one that timothy most likely summoned while the reading had taken place.


chapter ten: a picture...or confession is worth a thousand words.

cassie sat in the back of the police car completely silent. it appeared that she knew her rights well and was choosing to remain silent. danielle and timothy couldn't ride with her seeing as how they had their own vechicle's. as timothy and danielle walked to their respective cars, danielle felt slight annoyance at her temporary partner.

"you upset with me?" timothy asked as he made his way to his driver door. danielle didn't look at him instead choosing to inspect her set of keys.

"no, but i do think you're acting very rash." danielle told him in a slightly stern voice.

"rash?" timothy began as if he couldn't believe what she was saying. "i acted on the leads! i arrested her because she seems most guilty not because i wanted to!" timothy said as he defended his actions.

danielle was not fully convinced. "then why didn't you tell me about your meeting with the lawyer?" she asked. timothy sighed and fingered his own set of keys.

"i didn't tell you because it wasn't a meeting. i talked to the man over the phone." timothy said, as if that solved everything. danielle was stunned.

"so you didn't even meet him? you didn't even show him a picture of cassie?" danielle asked astonished at timothy's decision. timothy shook his head.

"well no, but she fit his description!" he argued.

"do you know how many people in this city fit her description?" danielle scoffed. suddenly she felt as if a grave mistake had been made and she knew what the two of them must do. "come on." she told her partner as she climbed into her car.

"where are we going?" timothy asked as he climbed into danielle's car.

"we're going to see the man you spoke to." danielle said.

less then ten minutes later the duo had arrived at o'reiley life insurance. they parked quickly and made their way to the building danielle was holding a black case at her side. the two detectives entered the shabby building and danielle demanded that timothy find the man he had spoken to last night. timothy promptly found the man and brought him over to meet danielle.

danielle saw the man, he was older and graying and wearing a bright red sweater despite the intense heat of L.A.

"mr. stevens this is detective kerley." timothy said as he motioned to danielle. the man named mr. steven's gave danielle a surevying look before offering his hand for danielle to take. danielle who was in too much of a rush to bother with formalities skipped straight to opening the black case and pulling out a medium sized photo almost like a head shot.

the photo was of cassie one that she had jenny pull from cassie's file. danielle handed the photo over to the man who was still waiting for his hand shake. the man took the photo and stared down at the girl.

"mr. steven's is this the woman who came in with mr. daniel hicks when he changed his will?" she asked. mr. steven's continued to stare at the photo, before he looked up at danielle and shook his head.

"no, this isn't the girl. the girl that came in with mr. hicks was taller and thinner and more made up." he told them and danielle saw timothy's face drop.

"are you sure?" timothy asked the man, obviously not ready to face that he made a mistake.

"oh yes, i am sure that this isn't her. the other girl was quite the snob and she looked a bit like she was one of those celebrities." mr steven's told them and despite herself danielle couldn't help but turn to look at timothy. a slightly smug look on her face.

"was it this woman?" danielle asked as she pulled a second photo from her case and handed it to the man. this second photo was of lexi and instantly the man's eyebrows raised and he looked back to danielle.

"yes." he told them "it was her."

"you sure." timothy asked his voice low and subdued.

"without a doubt. it was her."

timothy and danielle thanked the man and left in a hurry danielle desperate to repair the mistake that timothy had made. they climbed into danielle's car and danielle noticed that timothy wasn't speaking.

"it was one mistake. don't be so hard on yourself." danielle told him and timothy sighed.

"at the time i thought i was right. i thought it was her." timothy said.

"never mind that right now. you know what this means right?" danielle began. "lexi lied to us. she went with daniel to change his will, but she must not've went inside to change it with him or else she would've known that cassie was getting the money."

"so maybe she thought she was getting the money?" timothy suggested.

"seems likely, though it's not like lexi is strapped for cash so why would she need the money anyway?" danielle asked.

"just because you have money doesn't make you stop wanting more." timothy said, danielle nodded.

"looks like we're going to see lexi." danielle said. timothy called the number that lexi had given them and they found out that lexi was, danielle who was eager to go and get cassie released she left the task of bringing in lexi to timothy because it was his mistake that got them in this mess in the first place. danielle dropped timothy off back at the reading before driving to the local police station.

danielle parked her car and flew into the building as quick as she could. she knew if she didn't get cassie out of there soon and apologize that chances were very slim that she would cooperate with them again. danielle rushed through the crowded station ignoring the other officers and her assistant jenny who was running at her.

"danielle, they brought in miss smith!" jenny said as she walked along briskly after danielle.

"where'd they take her jenny?" danielle asked. jenny looked as if she wasn't sure she should be revealing such information but she sighed and anwsered.

"they took her to interigation room number two!" she told her. danielle thanked jenny and left the girl to stand in the hall as she proceeded to room number two. danielle burst through the door without knocking to see cassie still handcuffed sitting at the table and two cops in the room one sitting across from her and the other standing nearby.

"detective kerley what are you doing in here?" the officer closest to the door asked. danielle stepped into the room and cassie looked up at her, an expression mixed with hope and anger.

"i have reason to believe that this girl was falsely imprisoned." danielle told them and cassie's mouth dropped open.

"bu-but detective fisher said-" the one sitting officer said

"detective fisher made a mistake." danielle cut the man off "now release her. we have no real reason to hold her here." she added. the officer did as he was told and released the handcuffs from cassie's wrists. they also uttered words of apologies to the girl. danielle nodded and spoke again. "i need a few moments alone with the girl." she told them. they nodded and headed out the door.

danielle watched them leave before turning back to cassie, her arms were folded and she still looked pissed off.

"i need to speak to you for a moment" danielle said to the girl.

"why so you can call me a murderer again?" cassandra shot back

"i'm sorry about that. i didn't know detective fisher was going to do that." danielle told the girl. cassandra still look unconvinced to stick around and danielle knew it was probably impossible to continue talking to her today.

"why am i being released?" cassie asked after a few moments of silence.

"because we know that you didn't go with daniel to change his will." danielle told her as she moved over to the table and leaned against it.

"it was lexi wasn't it?" cassie asked

"i can't tell you that." danielle told her even though she wanted to.

"it doesn't matter. i know it was her. i always knew she was a gold digger, from the very moment danny started dating her." cassie said a emotion unclassifiable in her voice. before danielle could dig any deeper there was a knock at the door.

"come in." danielle called and in stepped danielle's assistant jenny. jenny was a young girl and this job happened to be her first since getting out of school. it showed sometimes in her nervousness but overall jenny was a good and hard worker. jenny had dark black hair that fell a little above her shoulders and she was a pretty girl.

"um detective fisher is back with the suspect." she informed the two women. danielle nodded and got off the table.

"come on cassie." danielle said as she looked back at the girl and headed towards the door. cassie followed danielle out of the room and down the hallway until they were in the main foyer of the station. the duo noticed detective fisher walking up the hallway his hand on the shoulder of a young woman who looked none too pleased to be in the situation. a young woman named lexi hartford.

"lexi?" cassie said as she came to stand beside danielle. lexi must've heard cassie because she looked up to see her and in that moment the two women where face to face for the first time since daniel's death.


chapter eleven: the showdown

lexi and cassie, two women who had large roles in daniel's life now stood a mere few feet from each other.

"lexi?" cassie said now seeing lexi being hauled into the police station. lexi looked up and spotted cassie the angry look on her face deepened.

"you told them lies about me didn't you?!" lexi yelled across the room at cassie. cassie looked shocked.

"me? what about you lexi? tellling them that i was the one who went with danny to change his will!" cassie yelled. lexi made a face.

"you told her i told you that?" she asked detective fisher who was still pushing her along.

"no, i believe you just told her." he said and lexi fumed at the fact that cassie had just outsmarted her.

"still cassie! what'd you tell them i killed daniel? god were you that jealous of our relationship?" lexi yelled. danielle glanced at cassie and noticed she was shaking slightly and getting red in the face.

"HA your relationship? all he wanted you for was a quick fuck lexi! he told me he was ready to break up with you!" she hollered back. it was now lexi's turn to be visibly shaken.

"oh yeah well are you were to him was an annoying fat girl who couldn't take a hint!" lexi screamed at cassie. danielle thought that maybe that was the last straw.

"you listen to me you no talent poor excuse for a human being. he didn't love you! and you didn't care about him either. you're just a dirty gold digging whore! the kind that doesn't even show up to her late boyfriend's funeral!"

both girl's were breathing heavy and clearly pissed. danielle figured if looks could kill both girls would be dead many times over.

"all you were was jealous. jealous that you could never be what he wanted. that you were never good enough for him. ha i bet he felt sorry for you!" lexi yelled attempting to claim victory and destroy cassie. danielle watched cassie careful and was confused when a slight grin broke on her lips. in an instant cassie had sprinted across the room and aimed a punch square at lexi's face. cassie connected her punch and lexi howled in a mixture of fear and pain.

with lexi being handcuffed there wasn't alot she could do to defend herself except for to thrash around a lot. by the time two officers went to pull cassie away from lexi, cassie had her hand dug deep in lexi's hair and the other attempting to scratch out her eyes. cassie was taken to a adjacent room to calm down while lexi was taken to an interrogation room.

"he taught me how to punch!" she screamed at lexi as they dragged the two girls away.

danielle felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to see jenny standing there. "danielle did you ever get that picture you wanted me to print you?" she asked and it jogged danielle's memory. the photo of lexi and the blonde mystery man how could she have forgotten? danielle went back to her car and retrieved the case and photograph before heading back inside to talk with lexi.

lexi was now even less cooperatve and was demanding to get her laywer on the phone. danielle sat down anyway and waited for lexi to calm down.

"what do you want?" lexi snapped at danielle. danielle ignored the rude tone and pulled the photo out of the case.

"i found this picture of you lexi, taken a nearly a week before daniel's death." danielle began. lexi looked unimpressed.

"so? i'm famous detective! lot's of people take pictures of me!" she annouced.

"yes, but what's interesting about this picture is that you aren't alone in it." danielle said, lexi looked confused and danielle flipped the photo so lexi could see it. "mind telling me who this young man is that you're holding hands with?" danielle asked.

she watched lexi's eyes widen a bit as if she were surprised such a photo exisited. she quickly shook off that surprise and gave danielle an anwser.

"he's a hairstylist. one of the best." lexi said.

"do you always hold hands with hair stylists?" danielle asked. lexi sighed.

"he's quite a good friend as well." lexi said. danielle nodded and thanked lexi for her time before leaving the room. danielle then went over to the room where cassie was seated. cassie had calmed down as well and was sitting quietly.

"can i ask you a question miss smith?" danielle asked as she entered the room. cassie nodded "sure, i guess but if it's why i attacked lexi, it's because she was asking for it!" cassie annouced. danielle nodded.

"i agree but that's not what i want to ask. i want to know if you know who the man in this photo is?" she asked as she handed the photo over to cassie. cassie surveyed the photo for about half a minute before she nodded.

"yeah, that's jake." cassie said as she handed the photo back to danielle. "he's one of danny's oldest friends. um...he was at the will reading as well." cassie said and as if the words had opened a window danielle finally recongized the man sitting in the row in front of them at the reading that was the same man from the photo. "what he's doing with lexi i have no idea." cassie said.

"is he a hair stylist?" danielle asked and cassie gave her a look.

"no, he doesn't have a job actually." cassie said. danielle rubbed her temple and was growing angrier at lexi. what made her think she could constantly lie all the time and expect to get away with it? it was aggrivating at best and made lexi's creditbility less then none.

"when was the last time you saw jake?" danielle asked. cassie thought for a moment.

"well it would have to be the day danny died." she said as she searched her memories.

"wait, i thought he met with josiah that day?" danielle asked and cassie nodded.

"yeah, he met with josiah for lunch and took jake along with him." cassie told her. danielle thought it over.

"did jake know lexi?" danielle asked and cassie shook her head.

"not as far as i know. they've never met. cassie said. both women were silent for a moment before cassie spoke again slow and easy. "do-do you think that lexi was cheating on danny with jake?" she asked.

to be honest danielle was coming to that conclusion because if jake didn't work for lexi and if cassie had thought they never met, then someone was doing something in secret and she intended to find out what.

"i want to go home now." cassie said and it woke danielle from her train of thoughts. of course cassie had every right to want to leave since she was taken to the station unwillingly.

"yeah, i'll have an officer escort you back to the cementary so you can pick up your car." danielle told her. cassie stood and nodded before pulling her cell phone out of her pocket.

"i'd better call josiah so he doesn't worry." cassie said as she headed out of the room. danielle watched her go and was half tempted to stop her and ask how she knew josiah, but she figured she had exhausted her questions for cassie and decided to leave her alone.

danielle instead went out to the hall to find jenny and asked her to take cassie back to get her car. so cassie and jenny left and danielle had to will herself to even want to go over to the room and interrogate lexi.


chapter twelve: confessions of the twenty something dramaqueen

danielle headed to the room that held lexi and timothy. timothy was leaning against the wall looking frustrated and lexi was pouting as best she could with the fat lip that cassie had given her.

"get any info?" danielle asked as she closed the door behind herself. timothy shook his head.

"no, she's refusing to talk." he told her. danielle made a noise of annoyance before looking at lexi full on.

"well lexi, at least you'll be interested in knowing that cassie told us that the man in the photograph is not your hair stylist but in fact an old friend of daniel's named jake!" danielle annouced and timothy raised his eyebrows at hearing the news for the first time. lexi made a face.

"what? your going to take the word of that tramp over me?" lexi asked astonished.

"no-" danielle began "i'm going to take the word of the girl who didn't lie to us five times already!" she said cooly back. lexi huffed and turned away from the detectives. "so why were you holding hands with a friend of daniel's?" danielle asked. lexi looked at her with those sharp eyes.

"i already told you! we're good friends." lexi said through gritted teeth.

"oh really? because cassandra told us that she thought you two had never met." danielle said as she rested her hands on the table.

"well, i guess that's one thing cassie didn't know." lexi said. as though she had won the argument.

"well cassie was with daniel a good amount of the time and if she never saw you two together does that mean daniel didn't know either?" danielle asked and lexi looked upset that the matter was not yet resolved.

"i-i well she wasn't with him 24-7!" lexi shouted and went back to huffing and pouting.

"and neither were you. that left you pleanty of time to be with jake alone." timothy interjected, speaking for the first time since danielle had entered the room. lexi shot him a glare but he blew it off and continued. "and i recall that you arrived late at daniel's show on the night of his death."

"so?" lexi commanded as if it meant nothing.

"so, he was only in town for two days and cassie told us you barely saw him." timothy said

"i still don't see your point." lexi said as she looked at timothy.

"my point is, why would a loving and loyal girlfriend not bother to see her busy boyfriend when he was in town for such a short time?" timothy asked now sounding as if he were dealing with a child.

lexi said nothing and danielle was become more frustrated with the girl. she wasn't giving real anwsers she was lying almost constantly. she knew celebrities were difficult but this was getting down right impossible. before danielle or timothy could start again lexi looked up eyes wide and for the first time they looked real.

"she was right." lexi said quietly

"what?" danielle asked

"cassie, she was right before. i didn't mean anything to daniel, you know i was the 'it was fun while it lasted' girl. that's why i didn't come around. do you even for one second know what that feels like?" lexi asked but as if she didn't expect an anwser.

"so you were feeling like daniel didn't love you so you found someone who would?" timothy asked and danielle was sastisfied that he was back to his usual self. again lexi offered no anwser and it seemed her moment of being a real person was long gone.

"why didn't you go to the funeral lexi?" danielle asked the question that had been on her mind for some time. she didn't expect an anwser from lexi so it was mildly surprising when she got one.

"i-i didn't want to take the focus away from him. i wanted it to just be about him." lexi said and danielle noticed that the real side of her seemed to come back but due to lexi's lack of honesty she couldn't help but wonder if this was something she could turn on and off.

"then why show up at the reading?" timothy asked as he moved from his spot against the wall.

"the same reason any one goes to those things. to see what they were left." she told them simply.

"and what were you expecting to get?" danielle asked

"i wasn't expecting anything!" lexi proclaimed.

"really? cause you looked awfully upset after you heard cassie got the money." timothy said as he pulled up a seat across from lexi.

"which doesn't really make sense because it's not like you're in dire need of cash." danielle added as she paced the room. lexi huffed upset that she would have to explain herself again.

"i thought that maybe him leaving me the money meant that he really did care about me, but it was fairly obvious i was worthy of nothing but a party jet." lexi said as the real human lexi once again made an apperance.

the two detectives spent the next hour and a half trying to pry information out of lexi but were unable to get anything useful. danielle sat frustrated against the cold wall of the room while timothy was pacing around lexi still attempting to get info, but lexi was less then forthcoming. eventually timothy turned around to face danielle.

"hey, we missed lunch. why don't you go and get some if you want. i'll handle things with her." he told her. danielle thought it was a great idea seeing as her body was growling with hunger and her mind felt tired. danielle nodded as she stood from her place on the floor and glanced at the clock. indeed it was now one thirty in the afternoon the duo had worked through their lunch.

"you want me to get you something?" she asked. timothy shook his head.

"nah, not too hungry." danielle shrugged and left the room. she wondered as she left if timothy would actually get anything from lexi. as danielle walked towards the exit she saw jenny sat at her desk taping away on the key board infront of her.

"jenny you take ms. smith back to her car?" danielle asked as she stopped infront of jenny's desk. jenny looked up surprised and danielle knew that she was most likely playing on the internet again.

"oh yeah," she began as she looked from danielle to her computer screen and back again. "we got to talking. she's really nice! i like her." jenny said as she grinned. danielle nodded and agreed. she knew full well that cassie had that way about her, she was a likeable person, she seemed to have few if no eniemies besides lexi, but maybe that's what made danielle slightly suspicious. that cassie was too nice and too good. it was something that people said that the good ones always snapped. she hoped that wasn't the case and continued on to get her lunch.


chapter thirtheen: living under a rock isn't such a bad life

danielle had driven to the local dinner located not too far away from the station. she had gotten her lunch and was heading back to her car when a passing newstand caught her eye. it wasn't so much the newstand but two of the magazines on the newstand. danielle stopped in her tracks as she stared at the familar faces looking back up at her.

one of the magazines had the photo of timothy, lexi and danielle herself adorning it's cover. the photo had been one of many taken at the hotel the day they first met lexi. the headline read in big black letters "lexi harftord arrested for murder of boyfriend!" danielle gawked at the magazine not liking the: one false information had been leaked and two: that she was on the cover of some low grade gossip magazine.

the second magazine wasn't of herself or timothy, or even lexi but it did have a large photo of josiah on the cover. danielle had only just remembered that josiah was a musician as well but beyond that she knew very little of the man. the headline to that magazine was smaller but read "tell all interview with josiah hardwick!" danielle feeling suddeny uneasy purchased both magazines and threw them down in her passenger seat as she ate her small lunch.

as danielle ate she flipped through the magazine and as she spotted one photo of josiah surrounded by a legion of teenaged girls an idea struck her, hard as if it had been trying to get her attention all along. danielle hastily put down her sandwhich and grabbed her cell phone calling the number that belonged to the business card in her pocket. the person on the other end picked up after two rings.

"helllllo?" the semi cheery voice asked.

"belinda? this is detective danielle kerley." danielle said.

"oh! detective! what can i do for you?...wait i'm not in trouble again am i?" belinda asked.

"no, belinda. i was just wondering if you know who josiah hardwick is?" danielle asked and the line was silent for a moment before belinda anwsered.

" JO-JO HARDWICK! of course i know who he is! he's only the hottest thing out there, besides daniel of course!" belinda shouted out of excitment into the phone.

"i see." danielle said and she wondered where the hell she had been that she knew nothing of today's hottest stars.

"why do you ask? OH MY GOD HE'S NOT DEAD TOO IS HE?" belinda asked an obvious and real fear in her voice.

"no, no. it's nothing really, but can you tell me a bit about him?" danielle asked as she once again picked up the magazine and flipped through it's pages.

"duh, of course i can!" belinda said. "let's see, he was born april 5th 1983, his favorite color is dark purple, he likes his pizza with no sauce, he was in five bands before he hit it big with his current band "black stars in your eyes.", he's had twenty number one songs, he-" belinda most likely would've continued to ramble off facts about josiah until danielle knew his entire life story but danielle cut her off before she could continue.

"was he friends with daniel hicks?" danielle asked and belinda made a noise like danielle should've already known that fact.

"yeah, well they weren't at first but after a while daniel started hanging with him and then of course after he introduced cassie to him they all hung out a lot. geeze don't you ever get on the internet?" belinda asked, and danielle rolled her eyes.

"so daniel introduced cassie to josiah?" danielle asked as she glanced at her dashboard clock.

"yup, i guess cassie was always a really big fan of josiah's and daniel promised if he ever got famous he'd introduce them." belinda said and danielle was honestly both impressed and astonished that belinda knew such personal details in these people's lives.

"so the two of them never had any problems? no fights or arguments?" danielle asked, belinda sighed as if she were somewhat annoyed at having to explain so much to danielle. like trying to teach simple math to a three year old.

"no, at least not that i'm aware of." belinda said and danielle knew that if belinda wasn't aware of it then it most likely didn't happen.

"well belinda, thank you. you've been very helpful." danielle said as she jotted down the simple information into her small notepad.

"yeah, well your welcome." belinda said "and may i suggest that you google josiah and daniel sometime?" belinda told her. danielle laughed a bit before saying goodbye to belinda and hanging up the phone.

danielle was about to head back to the station when her cell phone rang. for a moment danielle thought that it might be belinda calling back to school danielle on more facts about josiah and daniel, but it was detective fisher.

"hello?" danielle asked as she anwsered the phone.

"danielle, it's me timothy." detective fisher said.

"i know, what's up i was just getting ready to head back to the station." danielle told him and timothy groaned a bit.

"right well don't bother." timothy told her.

"why not?" danielle asked worried that maybe she was thrown off the case.

"we had to let lexi go..." timothy told her as if the saying it hurt him.

"what! why?" danielle asked astonished that one of the main murder suspects was now on the loose.

"because, we didn't have enough evidence to keep her overnight. her laywer showed up and demanded we let her go." timothy said. danielle fumed in the front seat of her car. lexi had once again managed to slip out of their fingers and it felt like nothing was being acomplished.

"but i called her cell phone provider and we now have clearence to her cell phone records." timothy told danielle and her feelings of nothing being accomplished eased.

"so what are you gonna do?" danielle asked timothy.

"i'm going to go and get the records from the last month and a half. to see who lexi's been talking to." timothy said.

"that sounds like a good idea." danielle told him as she stared out the window, checking to see if lexi hartford was suddenly strolling down the streets of L.A.

"maybe you should take this time to go and see josiah?" timothy suggested and danielle stopped him.

"no can do. josiah wants to meet tomorrow." she told him.

"well what about that other guy. jake? the guy that was in the photo with lexi?" timothy asked and danielle agreed that it sounded like a good idea. danielle hung up with timothy and called jenny asking her to pull the most recent records of jake walker. danielle got jake's adress and phone number and left immedently to meet with the mysterious jake.


chapter fourteen: best friends till the end

danielle drove through the upperclass sections of L.A and through the suburban and middle class neighborhoods. she then drove down through one of the many shady ghetto's that marked the city's lower side. all in search of jake walker, the man in the photo with lexi and the man who was old friends with daniel. danielle knew it wasn't exactly the safest thing riding around in a marked police car without a partner in the dangerous part of town.

she read the adress to jake's apartment from her notepad which she had written down after her call with jenny. danielle glanced around the adresses at the tall brick apartment buildings and slowed as she neared her desired location. she stopped infront of a seedy apartment building tall and broke down. the outside adorned with people sitting and chatting animatedly on the stoop. she double checked the adress before getting out of the car not taking chances on being at the wrong place.

she also felt behind her to make sure she had her gun safely in it's holster. danielle approached the stoop and the group of people looked up at her approaching. she prayed that they remained civil and she wouldn't have to flash a badge or pull a gun. danielle stopped infront of the stoop and one of the many men sitting there looked up at her.

"what do you want bitch?" he asked and danielle sighed as her hope of civility flew out the window. danielle sighed and pointed to her badge that was pinned to her jacket.

"i'm looking for jake walker." she said. the men seemed to know who she was talking about as an instant chorus of laughs filled the air.

"ooooohhhh you looking for white boy!" one of the men who appeared to be the leader of this gang said as he stood from the stoop. "yeah, yeah, white boy! he lives in one of those down apartments." the man said as he laughed and pointed to a set of stairs to the left of the stoop.

danielle unsure wheter or not to believe the men went over to the stairs and peered down at the steps that lead down to a heavily bolted door. she glanced back at the group before heading down the stairs her hand ghosting over her holster.

danielle knocked on the door and it rattled as though it might fall off it's hinges. it took a few moments before anyone came to the door as danielle saw a curtain over the inside of the door was pulled aside and a blonde man peered out at her. danielle lifted her coat up showing him the badge pinned there. the man looked at her badge then back at her before she heard the clicking of locks being undone and the door swung open a bit.

"can i help you?" he asked as he peered out the doorway.

"are you jake walker?" she asked and the man nodded. "yeah, why? did something happen?" jake asked and danielle shook her head.

"no, well i mean this is about your friend daniel." she told him and for just a split second his eyes flickered and his face went blank, he recovered instantly but said nothing. "um do you mind if i come in and have a word with you?" she asked when he said nothing. jake seemed to finally come out of it and nodded.

"of course, of course." he said as he opened the door all the way allowing her to come into the small apartment. jake's appartment was shabby and run down but danielle had already suspected that by the neighborhood that jake lived in. the kitchen was straight ahead from the door and to the right was the small living room, to the back of that lie to doors. one danielle could see was the bathroom so she only assumed that the other was a bedroom.

jake himself was heading towards the kitchen.

"do you want something to drink?" he asked danielle who shook her head.

"no, i'm fine." she said as she waited for him to come out of the kitchen.

"oh please have a seat in the living room." jake said and danielle appluaded his manners as she went into the living room and chose a seat on the sofa. danielle noticed that the furniture in the room was a shade of horrid yellow plaid with dark blue lining and looked more like it belong in the home of a old woman opposed to that of a twenty something man.

moments later jake came out carrying two chipped tea cups and setting them down on the marred coffee table that sat infront of the couch. jake sat across from danielle in a plaid sitting chair whose stuffing was spilling from the arm rest.

"so detective what can i do for you?" jake asked as he took his cup and sipped from it.

"well, i wanted to talk to you about daniel." danielle said, she remembered that cassie had said that jake was one of daniel's oldest and closest friends but he didn't seem nearly as sad as cassie had.

"ah yes, i still can't believe it." jake said as he brushed his blonde bangs out of his face. he too looked like he listened to daniel's music seeing as his hair was almost the same as daniel's except shorter and blonder. he wasn't horrible looking with his pale skin and crooked smile.

"yes, but i wanted to know if you had been around daniel the day he died?" danielle asked.

"yeah, i had seen him. he was only in town for a few days so i made sure i saw him." jake said in a tone that wasn't quite happy or sad.

"so did you hang around his friends as well?" danielle asked as she began to approach the topic of lexi. jake nodded.

"yeah, well i mean i was introduced to them if i was around." jake said as he took another sip from his cup.

"so you know cassie?" danielle began as casual as she could be. jake also seemed to be keeping things casual and was increasingly calm. the calmest suspect danielle had seen so far.

"mmmm yeah, i know cassie. why is something wrong with her now too?" he asked as he set his cup down and studied danielle's face.

"no, no i was just wondering." danielle told him. jake nodded but remained quiet as if waiting for her to continue. "what about josiah hardwick? you know him?" she asked as she decided to save lexi for last. again jake nodded.

"yeah, i met him once or twice. i dunno i was never a big fan of his music or him, neither was daniel." jake said and this time his tone was a little colder.

"wait? daniel didn't like josiah? but i was told the two were friends." danielle said.

"well, daniel hated him all throughout high school. he used to bash him all the time. even after he got famous he didn't really like him. he only met him because he wanted to introduce cassie to him. then i guess after that they really hit it off." jake said though his tone was no longer pleasant nor casual and danielle wondered if something had happened between josiah and jake.

"so you don't like josiah then?" danielle asked wondering if jake would anwser.

"oh no i mean i don't love him and i don't hate him. i'm just neutral you know?" he said and danielle nodded. she decided to leave the josiah topic behind and focus on what she really wanted to ask him all along.

"so do you know daniel's girlfriend lexi?" she asked. upon hearing this question jake remained still as if suddenly frozen and danielle was half tempted to wave her hand in front of his face.

"mmmm yeah, i've met her as well." jake said simply. danielle nodded once again.

"are you...close with her?" danielle asked and jake made a odd half cough half snort type of noise.

"excuse me?" he began "what do you mean 'close'?" he asked.

"well-" danielle began as she tried to think of the best way to choose her words. "i mean did you two hang out a lot? get along? see a lot of each other?" she asked. jake seemed significantly less casual then he had moments ago and danielle noticed that his eyes seemed to narrow a bit.

"yes, we got a long. she's a nice girl." he said as if he wanted nothing more then to get off the subject of lexi hartford.

"oh yes, she seemed like a real joy when we met her." danielle said as she grinned and reached into her pocket. "so she was nice. was she nice to you? maybe a little too nice? maybe you accidently fall for your best friend's girl?" danielle asked jake.

jake prickled in his chair and crossed his legs uncomfortably.

"i would never do that to daniel." jake said as he now crossed his arms.

"are you sure about that?" danielle asked as she pulled the folded up picture out of her pocket and slapped it down in front of jake on the coffee table. jake looked skeptically at the photo before cautiously leaning forward as if the photo might strike out at him. jake's eyes widened at the photo and he looked up into the face of danielle.

"how? where'd you get this?" he asked his face holding slack astonishment.

"a friend." danielle told him as she took the photo back. "so you gonna start telling me the truth?" danielle asked and jake flopped back in his seat and sighed.

"fine, yeah it was more then friendship but it was all lexi!" she was the one who started it!" jake said as she sat up straight once again.

"lexi started the affair? but why?" danielle asked. jake shot her a look as if he had been insulted.

"she was lonely. daniel was never around. she was convinced that he was cheating on her with groupies and other artist and cassie." jake said and danielle nodded as she wanted to hear more from the man. "she came to me one night. said she wanted to be with someone...and i guess that someone was me." jake said and it sounded as if he might laugh. but he never did.

"daniel never knew? no one ever said anything?" danielle asked and jake shook his head.

"no, i know now i should've told him...it-it might've saved his life." jake said and danielle's eyes widened.

"what do you mean jake?" danielle demanded, her own casual tone gone replaced by a harder voice.

"well, i mean lexi when we used to be together she'd complain about daniel all the time. about how he was a bad boyfriend, and how he never paid her enough attention or bought her enough gifts. she said she was getting sick of him. i told her to break up with him but she said no, she said that he'd be back with another bimbo within a week. detective, she told me she wanted to hurt him!" jake revealed and danielle's mouth dropped open and her heart stopped a bit. for some reason it all seemed likely it all seemed so possible.

"i stopped seeing her after that...or at least i tried. i mean i stopped calling her but she kept calling me...i had to get my cell number changed." jake went on. "then after i began ignoring her daniel winds up dead. i-i knew i should've said something but i couldn't be sure it was lexi who did it and i was afraid that i'd be next!" jake practically pleaded and it was as if danielle could see pieces falling into place.

cassie had said that lexi was seated next to the water bottles that night, and she had left to take the phone call. with all that commotion it would've been easy to slip the poison. but even if danielle had gained a piece there were still many that didn't fit.

"you wouldn't happen to have any phone messages or letters, emails anything saved from when you and lexi talked?" danielle asked and jake shook his head.

"no nothing like that. i'm afraid i deleted all my things when i switched phones." jake told her. danielle felt her heart beating out of excitiment and the new information. it seemed all signs pointed to lexi, after all jake seemed trust-worthy and what reason would he have to lie? danielle knew that she had to tell timothy about this new break in the case so she stood with jake qucikly following suit.

"jake, thank you so much. you've been a tremendous help." danielle told him as she shook his hand. jake nodded.

"anything to help find who killed my best friend." jake said with a warm smile. danielle returned the smile and headed towards the door.

"i'll be keeping in touch for sure." she told him and he nodded in agreement. danielle left rushing to her car to call timothy. jake watched her leave from the window in his living room. as she rounded the corner he fished his cell phone out of his pocket. he hit a button and a number was instantly dialed. it was only seconds before someone picked up.

"hey, it's jake. i need to meet with you." jake said as he stared out the window.


chapter fifteen: liar (takes one to know one)

danielle drove down the streets of downtown quicker then a officer should have but her excitment was getting the better of her and as she stopped at a red light she grabbed her cell and called detective fisher. it rang three times before he anwsered.

"detective kerley what is it?" he asked thinking that something had happened.

"i met with jake walker." danielle began.

"well that's good to hear i-" timothy began but danielle cut him off.

"and he gave me some great info." she finished. timothy remained silent as if making sure she was finished before he spoke.

"really? what kind of stuff?" he asked.

"stuff against lexi! they were having an affair she and him, and she'd often complain about him to jake and she said she wanted to hurt him! and jake began avoiding her." danielle rushed out.

"wow, that would be amazingly helpful but i mean can you believe him?" timothy asked and danielle nodded even though he couldn't see her.

"i believe we can. his story and reasons fit so well together." danielle told him and timothy made a noise of acceptance.

"well that's good then." he said and now that danielle was finished telling what she had found she was eager to know what he had uncovered.

"did you get her phone records?" she asked.

"yeah, i got em right here in my hand as we speak." he said "we should meet up so we can go over it together." timothy told her and danielle agreed. the duo set a place and in ten minutes had once again reunited.

they had parked out in front of a local kinko's to make copies of the phone records. danielle waited outside while timothy made them. she was preoccupied with the information that jake had given her. they seemed to be close now, close to solving daniel's case and danielle wondered what cassie would do if lexi was the killer.

timothy exitied the building a mere minute and a half later and handed a copy of the records to danielle. the two of them leaned against timothy's car as they scanned the numbers listed. the numbers began from about half a month before she started dating daniel and went through all the way up until about an hour after lexi was released from the station.

the duo marked down all the numbers that called lexi and that she called. since no names were attatched to the records they would have to call each one themselves. danielle noticed that two numbers in paticular were spread about the page quite a bit. one she was assuming was daniel's and the other she was guessing was jake's.

danielle and timothy halved the numbers and went to their respective cars which were parked beside one another. they decided to call all the numbers on the list and write down whose number was whose.

danielle started with her list of numbers and in five minutes time she had called three agents, four movie producers, one tanning salon, and one professional basket ball star. she jotted down their names and moved on. her curiousity too much to handle danielle decided to call up the first most called number on the list. it rang three times before someone anwsered.

"hello?" a young soft female voice asked.

"uh hello?" danielle said surprised by the girl voice. if she was right and it had been daniel's phone wouldn't it have been turned off or gone to voicemail?

"who is this?" the girl asked she sounded neither upset nor happy just curious.

"this is detective kerley. i'm calling about lexi hartford." danielle said.

"detective? detective this is cassandra smith." the girl on the other end said.

"wha?" danielle said without thinking. it was cassandra? it seemed to her very unlikely that lexi would be calling cassie many times a day.

"this is your phone cassie?" danielle asked.

"oh no, this is danny's phone." she told her and danielle nodded because her intial hunch had been correct. "why are you calling about lexi detective?" she asked.

"going through some of lexi's phone number's and this one was on the list." danielle told her.

"i see." was all she said and danielle wondered if maybe cassie was still upset about being arrested earlier.

"wait, cassie why do you have daniel's phone?" danielle asked. she was silent for a moment before she anwsered.

"some people...some people still don't know about...about him yet. i've been taking calls all day." she told her. danielle wondered how people couldn't have known about daniel's death considering that his funeral had been that morning. neither she nor danielle had much else to say so they ended the call, danielle had decided not to let cassie know that lexi had been cheating on daniel.

she then called the second most used number. it rang and rang and she wondered if anyone would anwser, a voicemail clicked on so she knew no one would.

"hey, this is jake walker. obviously i can't get to my phone, but leave me a message and if i like you i'll call you back." danielle hung up the phone not leaving a voicemail, she was a little put off because back when she had spoken with jake he had told her that he changed his phone number so she couldn't call him anymore.

yet the number she just called was the same one that showed up through out the list, even showing up on the day before daniel died and three times the day of. danielle's trust of jake collaspsed suddenly and it seemed that no one in this town told the truth anymore.

jake obviously hadn't stopped contacting lexi and the two of them did in fact speak. danielle wondered why jake would lie, if he was just afraid of being connected to lexi? or if it was something more? what if he too had bad mouthed daniel? what if he tried to turn her against him? danielle wasn't sure but jake seemed a whole lot less reliable.

she finished up the list in silence because she was upset that she had believed jake. though she had no solid proof that he had done anything wrong, just that he was a liar. the list held no more secrets just other business people and a few celebrities here and there. timothy appeared to be faring no better as he crossed off number after number.

eventually the two were finished and timothy set his phone down before turning to face her.

"so what do we have?" he asked as he took off his hat.

"a whole bunch of liars and fakes." danielle told him as she crumpled the list.
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