Top of Your Ambitions

Rian rubbed his eyes in exhaustion as Iverson walked back to the break room. The detective looked beyond crestfallen and tired, having next to no sleep in the last three days. He rubbed at the dark circles under his eyes and took a seat right next to Rian.

“I’m a failure.” James muttered.

The drummer sighed and turned to his best friend’s partner.

“What if they are already dead?” Rian asked.

Iverson shook his head and dropped a file on top of the desk. He did not want to think that he’s saved many lives throughout his career but failed to save his own partner’s life. Zack’s life is valuable too, but if he lost Ace, he would never be able to live this down.

“I won’t allow this to happen.”

The detective opened the file and snatched at several pieces of paper inside it, spreading them throughout the large table.

“Okay, so Hall locked Zack and Ace inside the storage room because he needed to remove all the evidence from his factory. We can prove that the two had been in the storage space because CSU found their fingerprints all over the walls, floor, and even the queen sized bed in there.” James muttered to himself.

Rian sighed.

“If they’re going to die, might as well with each other right?”

Iverson nodded along with the musician.

“We know that they won’t shoot them directly with a gun unless their bodies are hidden in a very secure area. So they are already dead, bodies are hidden in a place where it would take us a very long time to find them, or they are locked elsewhere. My guess is that they might be buried alive underground. A slow, quiet death is what I would do if I was Hall.”

A few knocks on the door interrupted the detective’s train of thoughts. Rian and Iverson looked up to Detective Jacobson with hopeful expressions on their faces.

“Anything?” Rian asked, desperate.

“Not quite, but look who I found hiding in his mother’s old apartment in Brooklyn.” Jacobson lightly shoved a handcuffed man into the break room.

The tall, blonde man staggered into the chair across from Rian. He groaned tiredly as he looked up at the two men in front of him. Rian took the time to study the man; bright hazel eyes and extremely thin lips. He almost looks like a carbon copy of one of the Lockheart men.

“This is Dan Potter.”

Rian exchanged gaze with the said man in astonishment.

“Is he going to help us find them?” Iverson asked.

“I will but under one condition.” Potter said tentatively.

Iverson rubbed his eyes one more time before turning to look at his fellow detective by the door. Jacobson flashed a small smile as he held a hand up.

“I have several more good news. We have Ryland Lockheart in custody right now. He’ll be in the interrogation room later because border patrol caught Steven Hall and David Harper trying to flee the country under false identification. Jacobs is bringing them in as we speak.”

Both Rian and James’s faces lit up at the good news, hands clasped together in anticipation. Meanwhile, the blonde man across from them stared at Jacobson in shock.

“David Harper was in on this?” Dan asked in disbelief.

“Why do you sound so surprised?” Rian growled.

“I-I-I loved David like a brother. Detective, I want to see Layla, no—Wallace or whatever the hell I should be calling her.”

Iverson opened his mouth in protest but not before Jacobson interrupted again.

“Ms. Wallace Poulsen is coming down here as we speak and I alerted Loki Lockheart about our capture of Ryland. I also called Dale Levine.”

“Why Dale Levine?”

“I’ll get to that later. We need to find Mr. Merrick and Kovacs first.”

When Jacobs brought Steven Hall and David Harper into the precinct, uniforms appeared from their offices and separated the two criminals immediately. Jacobs escorted David Harper into the interrogation room adjacent to the break room. All of the spectators in the break room watched as the handcuffed young man is forcefully pushed down onto the chair in front of the table.

“I can’t believe he would do this…” Dan muttered to himself.

Rian rolled his eyes at the man. Iverson excused himself as he got up from his seat and made his way to the interrogation room. Jacobson immediately followed his colleague into David Harper’s interrogation space, leaving the two men seated across from each other.

It got a bit uncomfortable for the two of them until they were interrupted.

“Where’s Zack?” A new voice shouted from outside of the break room.

Both Rian and Dan turned abruptly to see a redhead storm into the room, followed by Dale and Kaya. When the redhead turned around from the doorframe, Dan got up from his seat quickly.

“Za—oh my god…” Wallace stopped just after she entered the room and stared at the blonde man in front of her.

As a result, both Dale and Kaya nearly ran into her.

“Layla…” Dan breathed out with a small smile on his face.

“Layla?” Kaya’s eyebrows crinkled in confusion.

“Long story.” Rian called out from behind them.

“Dan…” Wallace made a beeline toward the man and quickly pulled him into a hug.

The handcuffs on his hands complicated the hug, but it did not bother the redhead. As they pulled away, the blonde pulled Wallace towards him and planted his lips right on hers smoothly and aggressively. The kiss lasted for a few seconds before she forcefully pushed him away.

“No, Dan… you can’t just do that.” She shook her head.

“Rian, what the hell is going on?” Dale asked as she took a seat next to the drummer.

“Well, Wallace is not Wallace, she’s actually Layla Harper and Dan Potter, this man in front of me is or was her husband. Yeah, shit is complicated.” Rian mumbled.

“How are you holding up?” Kaya asked as she sat down on the drummer’s other side.

“As well as a person can be with both best friends missing.”

“Any leads?” Dale asked.

“No, but hopefully, Wallace’s diabolical brother over there can contribute.” He gestured toward the interrogation room where the two detectives are currently drilling the said man.

Wallace pushed herself away from Dan and turned to the window in shock.

“David…” She whispered.

“He is an accomplice in possibly killing both Zack and Acacia. We’re not too sure if he has a hand in bombing Admiral Jones’s house.” Alex emerged from outside the door.

Kaya tensed up while Rian gestured toward an empty seat for the singer to take.

Alex seems to be extremely involved in the process, spending most of his time outside with other detectives to help and learn about what is happening for the case. It is strange to see the singer so involved since crime shows always bore him to death.

“Wait, why am I here?” Dale asked curiously.

“It may have something to do with Ryland and with uh… Raphael Lockheart.”

Dale’s face froze.

“What about Raphie?” Loki’s voice asked from behind.

Everyone turned and watched in shock as Loki and Liezel walked into the room, holding hands. Just about every single pair of eyes in the break room widened at the intertwined hands. At the realization, Liezel quickly dropped their hands and proceeded to stare at the floor.

“Loki, what is she doing here?” Kaya asked unkindly as she shot up from her seat.

Alex shifted uncomfortably but watched on in curiosity. He is surprised to find the love of his life with not the Czech tennis player, but the CEO of Lockheart Empire. Loki Lockheart is the last person Liezel would involve herself with.

“It’s a long story but we are kind of dating?” Loki sounded uncertain.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Kaya…” Dale placed a hand on her best friend’s shoulder.

Liezel finally looked up from the floor and stepped up toward the heiress.

“What do you have to complain about? You are the one who stole Alex from me.” She snarled impolitely.

Kaya scoffed, shaking her head.

“So you are dating my brother to get back at me for what mistake I’ve made?”

“Do you think I would really stoop so low to your level?” Liezel fired back.

“Oh, I think you will. You’re insecure and afraid that I’ll steal your next boyfriend away from you so you resort to moving in on my brother. You know I can’t have an affair with my own brother. You think you can just use my brother like that?”

“Kaya…” Loki started but was interrupted.

“I thought you were in love with Dale, brother! What the hell is going on?”

Alex and Rian shared annoyed looks at the scene going on in front of them right now. The latter is pissed off that this is the issue they are resorting to going over when more pressing matters are going on.

“Look, can we not talk about this now?” Loki asked, distressed.

“Loki, you should’ve heard all the mean things she said to me. It hurts so much and you are willing to date someone who said hurtful things to me. Why would you do that?” Kaya continued on.

Liezel opened her mouth in protest when a loud bang from the other side of the break room scared all the arguing parties. Both Kaya and Liezel stopped their fighting to turn to the source of the noise.

Alex is shot up from his seat with an angry expression on his face.

“I AM SICK AND TIRED OF YOUR WHINING AND ARGUING! ACE AND ZACK ARE OUT THERE, POSSIBLY ALREADY DEAD AND YOU ARE HERE SNAPPING AT EACH OTHER LIKE A BUNCH OF TEENAGERS!”

Everyone stared in disbelief as Alex berated his ex-girlfriend and Kaya. His eyes hardened.

The two women immediately backed away from the front entrance of the break room and resorted to sitting down on the floor against the wall. They sat away from each other but remained quiet.

“Dale, Kaya, and Loki, you guys are here because the detectives found something. They would tell you now but they have more pressing matters.” Alex’s voice calmed down immediately.

The room is still quiet.

“Iverson got a warrant to search Ryland’s home and they found old receipts to an old mechanic shop sometime in 2010 and we all know what happened that year…” Alex trailed off.

Dale’s eyes widened as she grabbed at Wallace’s hand. The redhead looked away from Dan and shot her fellow model a sympathetic but knowing look.

“Jacobson investigated and found out that he hired a mechanic to take out parts of the engine from Dale’s old yellow beetle, the one that Dale and Raphael was driving when the accident happened.”

The brunette model shook her head profusely.

“No…”

“Raphael didn’t die from a car accident…”

Kaya and Loki stared at each other as tears started forming in their eyes.

“... He was killed by Ryland Lockheart.”

Dale broke down completely as Rian got up from his seat to wrap the model up in a hug. He whispered apologies and comforting words to her as she cried into his chest. The revelation left the room quiet and in dismay. Both Lockhearts continued to stare at each other, unsure of what to do or how to react.

“Why would he keep the receipt though?” Dan Potter asked from his spot on the chair.

Rian turned to the man, irritation apparent as he continued to comfort Dale. At this point, Loki already got up from his spot and on his way over to Dale. When he approached them, Rian handed the model over to the CEO. It gave Rian the opportunity to get up and confront the handcuffed man.

“Obviously he likes to preserve his token of accomplishment. The receipt proves that he had succeeded in killing Raphael Lockheart.”

Alex made a loud sound of realization, grabbing everyone’s attention once again.

“Preservation! That’s it! I think I know where they are.”

“What?”

“Dan, Steven Hall has a meat factory right?” Alex asked the blonde.

“Yeah.”

Alex glanced through the window at the interrogation. It seems like neither Jacobson nor Iverson have been successful in getting Harper to crack.

“There are freezer rooms in meat factories to preserve all the meat in order to keep them fresh. Locking them inside the freezer room is the cleanest and easiest way to get rid of them. It’ll ensure a slow, but quiet death.” The singer explained intelligently.

Wallace and Rian shared triumphant looks as they both leaned over to give Alex a tight hug.

“I could kiss you right now, Gaskarth!”

“What are you waiting for? Get the damn detectives! Let’s go!”



“ZACK!” Ace wiped at her eyes as she shook the frozen figure beside her.

The man did not move, eyes closed as if he is resting peacefully. She was just in the midst of talking to him when he slowly closed his eyes and stopped breathing. The rise and fall of his chest stopped gradually while she told a story of one of the recent criminals she caught.

“Zack, please wake up.” She murmured desperately.

Zack did not move.

“Please don’t die, Zack.” She whispered as she let out a shaky breath.

Pulling Zack’s coat closer against her body, Ace rested her head against his unmoving chest. It is her fault if he is to die; she took his coat just to save her own ass. She continued to shiver as she had been for the last several hours. Hours inside the freezer and without food have weakened her to no end. She can hardly feel her entire body and her growling stomach.

It is a surprise that she has made it this far. She expected to die at this point. But unfortunately, Zack is to die before her.

“Zack… I’m so sorry I did this to you. I-I love you.” Ace sobbed into his chest.

If Zack had his coat on, he would have survived a lot longer.

“Maybe he’s not dead.” She tried at convincing herself.

Letting out a squeak in her sob, Ace placed her frozen and shaking hand on his face slowly. His skin is nearly covered in frost but mainly a faint purple color.

“Wake up, Zack. You are not dead. If you are not going to wake up for me, at least do it for Wallace, and do it for your band mates who need you.”

Her words did not work on him.

“GOD DAMN IT ZACK, OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES!” She shouted, voice cracking as her weak voice reverberated throughout the freezer room.

A loud banging outside the door, followed by loud footsteps disrupted the reverberation.

“Kovacs?” A familiar voice yelled from the other side of the door.

Ace cried out in relief and slight joy as the realization hit her.

Within a few seconds, the door is knocked down aggressively. As soon as the door went down, uniforms stormed into the freezer with Iverson ahead of the group. He saw Acacia and sighed in relief as he ran over to her.

He leaned down to pick her up and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Ace…”

“James, p-please help him.” She gestured toward Zack as Iverson proceeded to carry her out of the room.

The male detective wiped at his partner’s teary face as they stepped outside of the freezer. Ace internally embraced the warmer atmosphere outside but resumed to shiver in her condition.

“Let me hold her!”

Ace felt a weight shift from below her and realized that she is being handed over to another pair of arms. She blinked slowly as her eyes landed on a pleasant face.

“RiRi…”

“Hey!” Rian pressed his forehead against hers and let her wrap both arms around his neck.

His grip on her whole body remained firm as he leaned closer to her to give her a quick kiss on the lips.

“I thought I’d never see you again.”

“Z-Zack. Help him, make sure he’s okay.” She murmured as her eyes threatened to flutter shut.

“Ace, stay with me okay?” Rian mumbled to her.

Ace tried to fight her eyelids but her whole body is so weak that she cannot bring herself to fight against anything. Never in her life has she felt so disadvantaged in her life. She is not strong enough to stay awake.

Rian’s face was the last thing she saw before she was sucked into complete darkness.

Notes

BAM! 19! Well, Alex is pretty kick ass in this chapter, don't ya think?

Four more to go then it's all over!