Part Ten
 

Nick's tuxedo jacket was folded in half and lay draped over one of the dining
room's Queen Anne style wooden chairs.  His shiny black dress shoes were under
the chair, and his black bow tie lay on the glass surface of the table.  The
crystal chandelier that hung over the table had been dimmed to near darkness
as he lay on his back, still dressed, on the king sized mattress.  As he lay
there, he listened to each of his breaths and heartbeats while staring at the
ceiling.  Feeling warm, he reached up, unbuttoned the top couple of buttons of
his shirt, and sighed.  His unpacked bag still sat next to him on the bed as
his bent knees hung over the end.  He had not yet pulled down the covers.
When he had come back from the party, he had sat down on the edge of the bed
and fallen back and had not moved from that position since.  Usually the sound
of his heart would lull him to sleep each night, but tonight his head spun not
only from alcohol but also from the effects of being so near to Nat. But now
that he was away from the noise and the people, he was beginning to feel
better.  The tranquility of the room was a solace to him as he closed his
eyes.  Then from across the room, he heard a soft knock on his door, but he
ignored it hoping whoever it was would go away.  The knock came again, but
this time it was accompanied by a voice that whispered his name.  Recognizing
that it was Nat's voice, he sat up rapidly causing the room to spin around
him.  Anchoring himself on the bed with outstretched arms, he waited for his
dizziness to subside before making his way to the door.  Unlatching the door,
he opened it wide into the darkness of his room.  The light from the hall
rushed in from around her figure making her glowing silhouette appear angelic.
Seeing her like that left him speechless and second guessing himself as to
whether or not he had fallen asleep and was still dreaming.  Noticing that he
was not about to respond, she started.

"Detective, Carrie Billingsly said that you must receive this message
immediately."  She held out the envelope to him.  "I'm sorry if I woke you."

Shaking the haze from his mind, he groggily spoke up.  "No, I couldn't sleep."
He turned to look into the room and saw only darkness.  Again, he turned back
towards her.  "Come in, I'll turn on some lights."

"I like the dark, remember?"  She smiled as she stepped in and closed the door
behind her making it almost impossible for him to see.  As his eyes slowly
readjusted to the dimness, he remembered why she could see so well in the
dark, but even though he had caused this problem he could not help but smile
back at her.  After standing face to face for a few moments, Nat spoke up.

"Well, are you going to open it?"

Looking down at the envelope in her hand, he slipped it from her and tore open
the side.  Reaching between the torn edges, he slid out a card that had only
one word on it 'ENJOY!' The thought that Carrie had purposely sent Nat to him
like she was some party souvenir, sickened him.  What was she thinking?  That
it would make up for all her interfering and manipulations?  But worst of all-
she knew.  She knew that he was still in love with Nat. He looked over at her
as she waited for him to finish the message she brought.  "Well, is it very
important?"

"Yes, it is.  Thank you for bringing it."  She smiled at him again now that
she saw that he was pleased, and in her smiling eyes, he saw a memory.  A
memory of the two of them.  The past was close enough for him to touch.  He
thought of her touch, and how it could stop him from shaking.  As he admired
her, she became lost in her own thoughts.  Thoughts that she could not
remember were driving her heart to pound hard in her chest.  They demanded
that she feel the warm embrace of the man that stood before her.  She could
not break what she now felt.  The pain of their separation was now destroying
her.  She knew what she wanted was wrong, but it could not be denied.  It was
as if all of gravity pulled at her to be near him.

He could see the yearning in her eyes, or maybe it was only the reflection of
his own eyes in hers.  The yearning that he saw compelled him as well, and he
wondered if he held her if he would ever let her go.  Then without thinking,
she ran to him and he held her.  They held each other as though the world
would fall apart if they let go.  His pounding heart felt like it would melt
from her sweet warmth.

"Nick."  Her voice trembled as she said his name, and he almost cried when he
heard the name that she had not called him in two years.

"I am here Nat."  His voice quivered too.  Then he pushed her back, but held
her at arms length.  "You called me Nick!"

"It just came out.  I don't know why."  Closing his eyes tightly, he pulled
her close again.

"It's all right.  It's all right."

They clung together for several minutes, and he felt her warm wet tears
against his chest.  She pulled back to look at him.  "I don't understand what
is happening to me.  I need you.  I want you."

Using a hand that held her, he brought it up to softly caress her face and
wipe away her tears.  Smiling, he realized what was happening.  They had never
left each other all the way.  Even LaCroix's miraculous feat of restoring her
could not steal away what was fate.  His smile lingered as he thought of how
close he was to being tangled up with her again.  Slowly, he leaned towards
her, and they kissed.  At first, carefully and gently each letting the other
decide how intense it would be.  With the first brush of her lips, he knew
there existed magic and love and faith all rolled into one.  Not believing
that what was happening was real; he stopped to look at her.  It was not a
fantasy; she was not an illusion.  He moved back to kiss her again, but this
time with more power and more passion.  Running his hands over her bare
shoulders, he tenderly caressed her as she pulled him closer to deepen their
kiss.  Breaking from their kiss, he began to move his lips down her face.
Then his lips found the top of her strapless dress, and she gasped in ecstasy.
She closed her eyes as he moved back up to her lips with soft kisses.  Taking
the lead, she unbuttoned his dress shirt, and let it slide to the floor.  They
kissed again, and in his passion he pushed her hair off to the side to kiss
her neck, then froze.  There, after all this time, still showed the scars from
his bite.  Regret overtook his passion, and he backed away.

"This is not right."

While still trying to catch her breath, Nat looked bewildered.  "You want to
stop?"

"No."  He caught his breath.  "I have to stop, you have to stop.  We are not
thinking about the repercussions.  You are a married woman."

"But a moment ago..."

"A moment ago I forgot who we both were.  You have found a better life then to
be here like this with me.  Mark waits for you and he cares for you."

"Why do I feel this way about us?  You know don't you?  But you won't tell me,
why?"

"I wish it could be different."

Heartbroken, she turned to leave as he moved in the other direction towards
the window.  For a moment she paused, hoping that he would turn back to her if
only to say good-bye.  Without turning again, she spoke her sad words to the
door.

"I may not remember, but there once was something very special between us, and
turning your back on me will not make it go away."

As she closed the door to leave, he whispered to himself.  "The two things
that never go away are the past and love."

Once she was sure that the door was closed behind her, she leaned her back
heavily against the wall outside his room.  Feeling her heart tear from the
pain of leaving him, she began to sob.  For several minutes her soft cries
echoed in the hall.  The more she tried to stop, the more the desperation ate
at her soul.  Knowing how she felt, she wondered how she could ever go back to
Mark.  But she had to; she had to be strong.  She dried her tears and calmed
herself.  Then she moved down the hall and pressed the button for the elevator
that would take her back to the party.  By the time she stepped into the
elevator, her tears had dried.  She took in a deep breath to steel herself for
her re-entrance as the sleek metal doors closed.

With the sound of the doors closing, Mark moved out from around the corner and
stood before the doors that had just closed and taken his wife back to the
celebration.  Then he turned and stared at Nicholas Knight's door, the door
his crying wife had just exited from.  Rising tears stung at his eyes, and
touched off another coughing spell.  Getting himself under control, he wiped
some perspiration from his forehead and pressed the elevator's button so that
he could return to his wife in the banquet hall upstairs.

                                   --------

The telephone's ring pierced through his dream of himself with Nat. Its
relentless chime separating the two of them even during his sleeping images.
He tossed in his bed, his eyes refusing to open.  Maybe the ringing was part
of the dream, but in his semi-sleep, he could not locate the source of the
buzzing.  The sound was real, and the only way to stop it was to answer it.
Reaching over to the nightstand, he groggily fumbled in the dark for the
receiver and placed it near his face.

"Knight."

"Nick, you better wake up.  I need you to come up to the penthouse."

Pulling himself into a sitting position, he tried to focus on the nearby clock
that displayed the time in red glowing symbols.  It was 5:00 am.  He must have
fallen asleep after Nat had left, and after those few precious moments with
her in his arms.  He returned his attention back to the patient caller who was
giving him a few seconds to wake.

"Cap, what is it?"

"You're not going to believe this one Nick, but Kenneth Billingsly just ended
up on the first floor with only one step.  Better get up here, his wife is
beside herself.  I guess I would be too if I just saw my spouse fall 35
floors."

A chill ran down his spine along with the innate feeling that Kenneth
Billingsly's death was an act of evil.  It would be best if he had no part in
this; he was by no means objective.

"Cap, I am still on desk duty."

"Consider yourself officially back on full duty.  Don't take too long Nick."

The Captain's voice abruptly became replaced with the sound of the dial tone.
He was going to be a party to her plot, they all were.  After placing the
telephone back, he hurried to dress and within ten minutes he was on the
elevator headed up towards the penthouse suite.

As the elevator's doors slid open, Nick was greeted by the stares of a roomful
of uniform officers.  Dark dusting powder was being placed on all the walls
and furniture.  Off to the side was a pile of brown forensic bags that were
sealed with yellow evidence tape.  Others were already there taking pictures,
their white popping bulbs lighting up every darkened corner.

Captain Reese signaled for him to join him near the balcony that had a yellow
strip of crime scene tape stretched across its opening.  As he crossed the
room, he saw Carrie Billingsly sitting on the end of the sofa crying into a
tissue.  Her eyes popped open as he tried to pass without her awareness, but
it was as if she possessed a sixth sense, and she intercepted him.  Rushing to
him like a frightened child, she clung to him.  Her act of the hysterical wife
was effective for everyone in the room but him.  He pried her clinging body
from his, then summoned one of the forensic team to their side as he pointed
to her.

"Are these the clothes that she was wearing when this happened?"  The woman
nodded her head as Nick tried to put more distance between himself and Carrie.
"I want her clothes bagged and labeled."  In his most professional voice, he
turned to directly face Carrie.  "You'll have to change now."  Throwing him an
angry glare, that only he saw, she sniffed as she spoke to him.

"I knew you would come to help me."  She moved back towards him, but he held
her at arms length.

"Mrs. Billingsly, please cooperate with forensics and change."  With his
words, she then recommenced with her act of tears before turning to face the
waiting forensic technician.  With frail movements, she walked away with the
female officer to one of the suite's bedrooms.  With her out of his way, he
was finally able to meet up with Captain Reese who had just finished giving
instructions to an officer.  His Captain immediately dispatched the officer
when Nick walked over, and gave him a nervous smile.

"Glad you're here Nick.  Carrie Billingsly is having a hard time.  Don't you
think you were rather rough on her just now?"

"Was anyone else in the room when he fell?"

"No, just the two of them."

"Then she is a suspect.  I won't give her any special consideration Captain."

"I'm not asking you to.  Just try and show a little compassion.  You'll get
everything you want accomplished without upsetting her further."

"I'll try Cap."  Looking over to the area where Kenneth Billingsly spent his
last few moments of life, he moved to the side of Reese and ducked under the
yellow tape.  Reese followed him to stand on the balcony as Nick spoke out
loud to himself.  "He fell from here."

Reese joined Nick to shakily glance over the side and nodded his response to
his detective's statement.  "Thirty-five floors."  He backed away from the
rail.  "You know Nick that we are treating this only as a possible homicide.
It looks like an accident."

Still staring over the edge at the dozens of emergency vehicles that flashed
their red and white lights into the darkness beneath him, he spoke to Reese.

"Yes, it does look like that."  Suddenly he turned to face his Captain.  "Has
the rail been dusted?"

"Yeah, we got that first thing."

"Has Doctor Lambert been notified?"

"Called her right after you.  She should be down with the body right now."

Out of the side of his eyes, Nick caught Carrie's emergence from the bedroom,
and he stepped back into the room.  She was dressed in a black silk skirt and
matching black jacket, and she without hesitation rushed towards Nick and the
Captain as she spoke through her tears.

"Detective, it was so horrible.  It's all my fault.  I should never have let
him go onto the balcony with all he had to drink at the party.  I tried to
stop him from falling, but I couldn't hold on to him.  It was terrible.  If
only I could have been strong enough to pull him up, but he slipped from my
hands.  I'll never forget the look in his eyes."  Bursting into tears, she
buried her face into Nick's chest.  Remembering his Captain's request to be
more sympathetic, he impatiently stood stiffly for a few seconds while she
cried.  Then without looking at Reese, he pulled her over towards one of the
uniformed officers.

"Take her down to the precinct and get her statement."  Looking up at him with
bleary eyes, she choked out a few words.  "You will help me detective."  Then
turning to leave, she weakly leaned against the officer and stumbled from the
room.  Both Reese and Nick watched as she disappeared behind the closed doors
of the elevator, and listened to her fading sobs.  Nick began to walk towards
the elevator to also go down and investigate any evidence from the body, but
Reese grabbed his arm and forced him to face him.

"Give her the benefit of the doubt Nick!"

"I thought her black outfit was fitting.  Interesting that she came prepared."

"You really think that she killed her husband?"

"I know that she did.  I just do not know how I am going to prove it.  I am
going to see if Doctor Lambert is at the scene with the body downstairs."
Reese released his grip, and Nick took one final look around the room before
reaching for the button to summon the elevator.  Reese smiled at his
detective's intensity; detective work was a part of him.  He was back in his
element.  As Nick stepped into the elevator, he called after him.  "Good to
have you back Nick!"  Nodding an acknowledgement, Nick smiled as the doors
slid closed.  But his heart quickened with excitement as the elevator made its
way to the ground floor.  'It was good to be back.'

Walking out of the hotel into the murky light of dawn, he moved to the taped
off area that was bathed in the police cars pulsing red lights.  As he
approached, he saw Nat standing over the body and taking notes.  Suddenly she
felt his presence and looked up.  Moving towards her, he held her fast in his
gaze.  Now as he drew near, he could smell the victim's blood.  The scent that
would intoxicate him as a vampire now sickened him as a mortal.  He moved
carefully to stand near Nat, trying to keep from stepping in the glossy and
syrupy blood.  His gaze fell on the dead man's face and on the expression of
terror in his sightless eyes.  Last night death had come, and now it was his
job to at least have the world know why he died and whose fault it was.  Nat
tried not to make direct eye contact as she spoke.

"Captain Reese told me that you would be leading this investigation, so I will
be reporting to you.  Here is what I have so far."  Stooping over the body
that was picking up the police lights, she motioned to several places, one
after the other.  "Death as I'm sure you are already suspect was
instantaneous.  I doubt that there is a single bone that is not in fragments
now.  There is some bruising and abrasions around the wrists which did occur
before the time of death, and which is also consistent with her account of how
she tried to save him from falling."

"Or he was dragged to his death."  Nat looked up with Nick's statement.

"Should I be handling this as a homicide?"

"We're not ready to rule anything out."

She sighed, "Okay, I'll PERK his body."

"PERK?"

"That's right, you have been away from all the buzz words for a while.  It's
the same thing that we have always done when homicide is suspected.  I'll be
using the physical evidence recovery kit.  Lately, I have been using it at the
scene, before things get moved too much."  She opened a case that lay next to
her, and removed some small plastic evidence bags.  He watched as she swabbed
at all the orifices, then clipped nails, and plucked hairs from several areas
on the body.  Then she sealed, labeled, and dated each bag.  After that she
placed a gloved finger into the pool of blood that surrounded the body, and
Nick watched feeling repulsed as she raised the blood-covered finger towards
her mouth.  A panicked feeling washed over him, and he rushed to stop her from
tasting the blood.  Catching her hand only centimeters from her face, he
stared at her in horror.  However, she returned an angry glare as she cringed
in pain from his tight grasp on her wrist.  Her voice was a mixture of shock
and anger.

"What are you doing?"

"You were going to taste his blood.  You didn't even know you were bringing it
towards your mouth to sample it."

With her anger growing, she stared at her captive hand until he released it.
Then she turned her frustration back to him.  "That's because I wasn't going
to taste it.  I was bringing it towards my face to smell it for chemical
toxicity.  What is wrong with you?"

Relieved, he shook his head apologetically.  "I'm sorry.  I just saw you reach
into the blood and..."

"And you thought that I was going to put it into my mouth?"

"I'm really sorry.  I overreacted.  It has been a while since I have been back
on active duty."  He looked around them in silence for a moment.  "I have to
get back to the precinct.  If anything turns up..."

"You'll be the first to know."

"Thanks."  Keeping a respectable distance away from the body, he left Nat to
return to the hotel and check out.

Nat watched him as he moved like a gliding shadow in the dawn's light.  She
would have to leave soon as well.  The sun looked as if it would be strong
today.  She lingered several minutes over the body before feeling the urge of
her awakening instincts.  Unconsciously, she again dipped her finger into the
pooled blood.  Then hungrily placed it in her mouth, sucking every bit of
flavor from her finger.
 

End Part Ten

Back to Part Nine! / Onto Part Eleven!