Top of Your Ambitions

“I hope you enjoy prison, jackass!” Acacia called after the retreating figure of the cheeky man in the trench coat.

After throwing evidence in his face that connected him to the murder of a store clerk, he threw vile comments on her and commented at her sexuality, being extremely disrespectful at that. It is hard enough being a female cop in this male-dominated job, being talked to as a sexual object is not something she appreciated at all.

His disrespectfulness towards her is precisely the reason why Ace is more than thrilled to see the officials escort the criminal to the exit of the precinct.

“If I had it my way, something would happen to him in prison.” Iverson muttered beside her.

Chuckling at him, Detective Kovacs gave him a few thankful pats on his shoulder before walking over to the murder board. Her partner followed right after her. They both stared at the various pictures of persons of interest, diagrams, details written around the photos, and the picture of the store clerk. Letting out a sigh, Ace started yanking the pictures off the white board. Iverson followed suit, helping her rid the board of its pictures.

Just as they started erasing the words in marker on the white board, a throat cleared impatiently behind the detectives. Ace pursed her lips and shot her partner a look before turning to see the owner of the voice. Her eyebrow perked upwards and an impatient snarl left her lips.

“What are you doing here, Wallace?” She asked.

The redhead does not look happy to see her either; ever since last night, Ace expected the model to hate her for what she had to go through after the countdown to New Years ended. In all honestly, it is the least of her concerns right now. She is a busy woman with plenty of cases to solve, including two personal investigations.

“You know why I’m here.” Wallace said sternly.

Iverson finished cleaning the murder board and awkwardly excused himself from the conversation by making a beeline for his desk. Ace smirked at her partner before returning her attention to the redhead with an equally arrogant look.

“You’re pissed at the fact that the first thing your boyfriend did in 2013 is make out with me.” Ace pointed out nonchalantly.

Wallace’s jaw tightened, whole body shaking from the anger she is trying to suppress. Ace can also sense hurt in the model’s eyes but she could not find it in her to care. Wallace was the one who stole Zack from her without even taking a second to consider her thoughts and feelings on it.

“I see,” Ace nodded, “But do you think scolding me for macking on your man is worth the trip down here? There’s a snowstorm outside, definitely unsafe road condition. You are honestly willing to risk your life to give me a piece of your mind.”

Wallace readjusted the fur coat around her body before taking several more confident strides toward the detective. Her eyes narrowed, but it did nothing to intimidate the blonde. She stared back at Wallace, completely unfazed by her anger.

“Do not kiss him again, Ace. It’s not fair on me, do you understand?”

This bitch is too soft, Ace scoffed to herself. She actually preferred the bitchy claws to come out since Wallace is a model and all. But she knows that Wallace is a kind woman who fights fair and who actually values morality.

It makes her actions of rebuffing any considerations for the redhead just a little harder.

“Is there anything else you want from me?” Ace diverted the topic, unwilling to speak of personal matters in her professional vicinity.

The redhead nodded quickly, the expression on her face softening from its previous fury. A look of worry took over her features, which helped the detective indicate what the other woman wanted from her. Wallace didn’t even have to say anything, Ace already knows.

“The case…”

“I’m on it, Wallace. I have Detective Jacobson over at the shop now; we should get the camera footage in the coming days. Other than that, I’ve done some of my background research on Daniel Potter. He served in the navy for five years and the victim was his old admiral. I can find plenty of motives for Dan to want to bomb his admiral’s home; but I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt. Consider it a favor.”

Wallace managed a small smile.

“Thanks, Ace. Really, you have no idea what this means to me. Please do whatever you can to see to it that he is given the justice he deserve.” Wallace breathed out, almost in relief.

Ace just returned with a curt nod.

“Is that all, Poulsen?”

The redhead nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, but one more thing…” She trailed off.

The blonde’s eyebrows perked up expectantly.

“Please see to it that you don’t kiss Zack again as long as we are together. I know you have feelings for him, I saw the picture of you guys at your desk.”

Ace did not say or do anything, just stared the model down until she finally turned to leave. Just as the model is about to make it to the precinct door, Ace decided to spite her.

“By the way, Wallace, your boyfriend was the one who kissed me!” She called out.

The redhead did not turn back to acknowledge her but the detective can sense the uneasiness in her steps. I got to her, good, She chuckled to herself. Just as she made her way to her desk, the door reopened again, followed by the entrance of Maxwell Radford, the freelance photographer she met at the party.

When the photographer spotted Ace, he waved at her and quickly jogged his way past some detectives to get to her desk. He pulled out a blue flash drive from his coat pocket and flicking snow pieces from his shoulder as he did that.

“Didn’t expect to see you today.” Ace said quietly.

Maxwell grinned, placing the drive into the cop’s open hand. She smiled at him graciously and plugged the object into the USB port of her office computer.

“You did tell me to show up today…”

“But it’s unsafe to be driving outside, this snowstorm is going to get worse in a few hours. I’d rather you not risk your life for me.” Ace flashed him a crooked smile before turning back to her computer screen.

The photographer chuckled.

“Yeah, this is a pressing matter. The faster you find out what is up with that little Lockheart punk, the safer Loki will be.”

Ace still wants to ask him why he cared about Loki so much, but she did not want to pry just yet. She wants to make sure that it is worth digging into this Ryland Lockheart because if he is just a bratty little nineteen year old with daddy issues, then she is just wasting her already precious time.

She clicked on the picture file in the flash drive and a picture instantaneously showed up. Her eyes widened in awe when she paid attention to the image in front of her. This picture was taken in one of Ryland Lockheart’s old properties, but a brunette version of Ryland is lying directly on top of Lily Segat, or Lily Phantom atop the queen-sized bed. Their lips are connected, seemingly in an affair.

“Holy shit.” She whispered.

“Yeah, holy shit, this took place before the murder of Conrad. I didn’t think it was important until after his death and after Lily Phantom was imprisoned for murdering him. Something wicked is going on.”

Ace pursed her lips.

“Why would Lily kill the father of her fling…? Unless… he wants her to kill him, it’s a paid job, that’s why she told me it was nothing personal when I dumped her in the interrogation room last August.” She murmured to herself.

“He’s going for Loki now, right?” Maxwell asked, extremely worried.

“Obviously, this room is Ryland’s old property in Baltimore…”

Maxwell looked down at the detective in surprise.

“How did you…”

“My best friend used to babysit him, his mother hired him to babysit Ryland.” Ace replied casually.

“So I can be assured that you’ll pursue this?”

Ace pursed her lips, deep in thoughts. She tried to scan everything that is in view inside the house from the left side window. It is usually detective work to scan the vicinity of the space and look for anything helpful, anything suspicious. The trick is not to look for anything conspicuous because people with something to hide often hide.

Her eyes widened when she found a box of hair dye on the bedside table. Gasping, she zoomed in to that spot several times and internally groaned when the picture got blurrier. But from the distance, she can see some words and a code from the box. Dropping her hands in realization, she snatched her phone.

“What’s wrong?” Maxwell asked.

Ace ignored the photographer peeking over her shoulder and quickly speed dialing her friend’s phone number. Right after she clicked on the name, she held the device against her ears, mumbling and cursing to herself while she waited.

After a few rings, the recipient picked up.

“Ace?”

“Jack! Does #FAF0BE mean anything to you?” Ace asked, voice still in daze.

The guitarist scoffed.

“No, but it just sounds like twitter hashtag gone wrong.”

“Jack, be serious for once, please. Do you usually use the Lockheart professional hair dye for the blonde streaks of your hair?”

Ace is a bit impatient at this point, there are a million thoughts running through her mind now.

“Why? Thinking about getting me a late Christmas present?” Jack said teasingly.

“NO, Jack, give me a second… I need to search up the color code for that #FAF0BE…” Ace pulled up the search engine on her computer, typing in the code followed by the dye’s brand name.

She clicked on the first web link and sighed in frustration when the product came out to be a professional blonde hair dye. It is the exact copy of the box by Ryland’s bedside table.

“Ace? Now, you’re kind of worrying me.” Jack did sound worried.

“Fuck, Jack…”

“Ace!”

“Ryland Lockheart has your hair dye, he was the one who impersonated you at the gun shop. If I am following my instincts, I am going to assume that Ryland Lockheart was the one who shot his father.”



Ace stared at her laptop screen, stuffing her mouth with rice while she concentrated on the images in front of her. She printed the pictures Maxwell took at the precinct and brought them home with her. They now lay all around her dining table, sharing space with her Chinese takeout.

While she is doing her work, Breck is in the living room watching TV. The sound from the television is remotely in the background and it did not bother her at all.

What bothers her is the fact that she now has to right a wrong; she has wrongfully imprisoned someone for a murder she did not commit. She held Lily Segat responsible for shooting Conrad Lockheart when Ryland might have done it. It is the biggest mistake she’s ever made in her entire career, and she is frustrated at herself. Segat did confess to the crime, but if Ryland did it, why did she cover for him?

The problem is; she cannot go around telling everyone that unless she is certainly sure. Loki Lockheart treated her very well, inviting her to all of the Lockheart events, and this whole time, she is letting the real killer of his father run loose. It is not right at all; it is not justice.

She decided not to tell Loki until she is absolutely sure. The only person she can depend on is her partner in crime, Iverson—not even Jacobson can be trusted on this task. She decided to gain the immediate counsel of the only person she knows could bring her comfort. Without hesitation, she picked up her phone and speed dialed the number.

Rian picked up on the first ring.

“Okay, before you say anything, Ace, what’s with the thing between you and Zack? Wallace is going on about it and has been at it all day.”

“Zack and I kissed after the countdown and Wallace caught us. Now, to the important stuff.” Ace dismissed.

Her best friend chuckled.

“Acacia, what could possibly be more important than Zack?”

“My failure to capture the actual killer of Conrad Lockheart.” Ace said bitterly.

There was a gasp from his end of the line, just as expected.

“That case was months ago, what’s going on?” Rian sounds concerned.

He is always concerned over things that bother her; a true friend he is.

“I have a very strong lead that can possibly prove that Ryland Lockheart is the one who shot his father, not Lily Segat.”

Rian’s line was quiet for a brief moment.

“Rian?”

“I babysat that kid when he was like nine.”

“I know, Ri. But all the evidence points to him. There’s a series of pictures I received from a freelance photographer and Ryland had an affair with Lily Segat, he’s a brunette in the photo, and he has the same hair dye as Jack—the one for his blonde streaks. When we had Jack as a primary suspect for the murder, we spotted him at the gun shop purchasing the murder weapon because the owner described the man to resemble Jack in hairstyle.” Ace explained.

“Shit, Ace.”

Rian is still trying to process the information.

“It makes sense; Ryland hates his father and has been stealing money from him with his savvy money-extracting skills. He wants the company’s money and figuring that Loki is a pushover, it’ll be easier for him to embezzle the empire’s stocks and trusts as well as the revenue.”

“But Acacia…”

“I need your help on this one, would you be willing to help me, Ri?”

The drummer made a sound that indicated his shock.

“You need my help on a murder investiga…”

All of a sudden, all the light in the room shut off completely. She pushed her seat back on instinct and checked her surroundings quickly. Her scan was for naught; the whole apartment is dark and out of power.

“Ace?” Breck’s voice emerged from the living room.

“Fucking snowstorm…” Ace cursed.

“Ace? Did you guys lose power?” Rian asked, concerned.

Ace turned her laptop screen around to face the kitchen, giving the space enough light for her to see.

“Yes, I think so. Can we come over to your place?”

“Um…” Rian pretended to ponder.

“You bastard!”

“Haha, mi casa, su casa, Ace. You know you can crash here anytime. You and Breck pack your shit and get your asses over here ASAP.”

“Yes, Rian.”

She hung up and walked over to the kitchen.

“Get the damn flashlights, Acacia!” Breck yelled from the living room.

After snatching both flashlights from the kitchen, she turned them on and spotted Breck standing beside the couch. She handed a flashlight to her younger sister and pushed her toward the direction of the bedrooms.

“Go pack everything you need for the next couple of days, we’re going to Rian’s.”

Notes

BAM! Anyone curious about Jack being framed and Ryland being the actual killer of his own father? Well, now, there is a lot of history between Maxwell the photographer and Loki... actually thought of writing an original slash between them... not sure if I should but its a thought.

And well Ace and Breck are off to Rian and Zack's!