Chapter 6: I Break the Rules So I Don't Care

“What do we have?” Kristine asked sitting in her chair looking at us expectantly. Her gaze went from all of us to just Mark.

 

“Nothing new, we’ve checked everything and tapped into every resource we have. We think she’s laying low for awhile.” Mark answered. Kristine’s face hardened and the grip she held on her pen tightened. We learned that when it came to Kristine, showing fear was not an option. She would eat you alive.

 

“Well I’m sure you know then that I’m way less than pleased.” She said with a calm yet deadly tone. I started to become nervous. I knew where Ria was, I was with her no more than an hour ago. I tried to keep my face composed and expressionless. If Kristine saw I was hiding something that could help us, I’d probably end up dead or put in the Detention Center myself. When it came to work I tried to act the same, but not give as much input other than a simple agreement here and there. I wasn’t going to give my team ideas on how to track down my own girlfriend.

 

“I assure you we’ll add to our efforts and once we have something, we’ll let you know immediately.” Mark said completely composed. Kristine studied his expression then looked to Mai who gave a reassuring nod.

 

“Very well, you’re dismissed.” Kristine said leaning back in her chair. We exited the office letting out sighs of relief, surviving another meeting with Kristine. Mark led us back to our station, all of us sitting at our respective desks. Once seated, I leaned back in my seat waiting for my heart to restart.

 

“Alright guys we need a new strategy.” Mark said leaning forward in his seat. Mai scoffed.

 

“Ya think?” She said resting her head on her hand. Mark ignored her comment and looked at the rest of us expectantly. We stood silent for a few minutes ‘till Kathaleen spoke up.

 

“There’s nothing else really left but to try and understand.”"She said fixing her glasses and then looking up at Mark. He gave her a look asking her to elaborate."“Well if we can’t figure out where she is then what if we just get information on her and see if we can guess her moves based off of what she’s done before.”

 

“So you mean psycho-analyze her profile?” Jewelz said. Kathaleen nodded.

 

“Can you pull up her file?” Mark asked Jewlez. She nodded and typed on her computer sending everything she had up on the screen. Mark stood up and went to the white board on the opposite side of the station.

 

“Alright so how do we even start this?” Eddie asked running a hand through his hair. Mark looked straight to Kathaleen.

 

“Didn’t you take up psychology in college or something?” He asked her. Kathaleen nodded and went to join Mark up by the white board. She took the marker away from him and began drawing a chart on the board.

 

“Alright so when it comes to psycho- analyzation, we need to look at the past first and get to know what kind of actions she’s done in order to find a pattern. So Jewelz, first tell me the family stats.” Kathaleen said turning around and looking up at the screen. Jewelz did as she was told and read aloud Ria’s family stats.

 

“Alright, it says Mother: Deceased, Father: Deceased, Step-Mother: Living, Sibling(s): Living.”

 

“Okay so Mai, you said that you knew the family, do you know when her mother and father died?” Kathaleen asked. Mai sat up and took a second to recollect her thoughts.

 

“Um yeah, her mother died while in labor, her father, I think it was a couple years ago.”"She answered"“ Why?”       

 

“Sometimes we can tell why a person acts the way they do or even predict what they will do if we know what their home was like. That’s pretty much where everything starts.”"Kathaleen wrote the information given on the white board."“Alright now Mai, when did Ria and Kristine get their step-mom?”

 

“When Kristine was fifteen, so Ria was around five.” Mai answered again. Kathaleen wrote the information down and then studied it.

 

“Okay so if Ria was five that means she was still young when a mother figure came into the picture. Now Jewelz tell me how the victim was killed.”

Jewelz nodded again and typed on her computer pulling up the crime file up on the screen.

 

“Victim was beaten to death basically.” She summarized. Kathaleen nodded and read the specifics to herself. I stood in my seat watching and trying to figure out what I would do if they really did get close to finding Ria on their own. I couldn’t just lead them in the wrong direction, they’d notice. Then I’d really get in trouble with Kristine. The only smart thing I could do was to tell Ria and try to plead with her to move in with Shannon. At least that would be the last place anyone would ever look. I completely zoned out after that thinking about none other than the girl of topic. I thought about how much fun it was to be around her, how her brown hair always managed to cover her eyes. I always hated when her eyes were covered. Ria had these dark ice blue eyes that should be illegal to cover, Of course other parts I wouldn’t mind either but I learned to appreciate and accept what I had with Ria. She was something special to me.

 

“Aaron…Aaron!”"I heard my name being called."“Aaron were you even paying attention?” Mark asked. I looked around the room to see completely annoyed looks being thrown my way.

 

“I was.” I stated truthfully. Mark let out a frustrated sigh.

 

“I was asking you what you thought about ordering some pizza as we continue to psycho-analyze Ria’s profile.”

 

“Oh yeah, you know I’m always up for pizza.” I answered. Mark looked at me and shook his head letting out a sigh. He told Jewelz to order the pizza and have Eddie go pick it up. I stood at my desk checking emails when Mark came over.

 

“Aaron, can I speak with you privately?” He asked with all seriousness in his voice. I nodded logging of from my computer and following Mark out of our team station. He led me to a vacant office and gestured me to take a seat.

 

“So what’s up Mark?” I asked as I took my seat. Mark studied my expression then took in a deep breath and said;

 

“Aaron I don’t know what to do with you anymore…”"Mark said pinching the bridge of his nose. I was getting nervous about where he was going with this. I mean I had a pretty good idea it had to be about capturing Ria, but did he know that I was with her? Or saw me with her, yet didn’t do anything? I masked my nervousness and gave him a questioning look instead. Mark sighed and continued."“You’ve been very distant lately Aaron. I don’t know if something is going on in your personal life, but you can’t let it interfere with your job.” Mark leaned closer and spoke not just as my boss but as my friend.

“I’ve known you for years Aaron, I know you zoom out a lot but it’s just been happening too often. You know how much power Kristine holds and if we don’t fulfill this mission and make her happy, everything the team has worked for will go down the drain…Our team is one of the best there is, we can’t afford to fail this mission. We need you to focus Aaron. I’ve seen you at the top of your game and right now we need all of us to bust it out and get this mission done and over with. I don’t want to see you lose everything you’ve worked hard for over daydreams.”

 

            I looked down and took in what Mark said. He had a serious point. I did work hard to get to where I was now. Despite that heroic feeling I always wanted, I knew that helping Ria was getting costly and my talk with Mark that day brought me back to the reality of the situation. Ria was a fugitive. Even though I knew her story and believed it, I couldn’t keep this charade up forever. I knew how Kristine was from working for her before. She was very steadfast on what she wanted, stopping at nothing for it. And what she wanted was Ria out of the picture. I sucked in a breath and looked up at Mark.

 

“I know Mark. I guess it’s just all this summer heat. I haven’t really had a day to myself in awhile with everything revolving around the mission and all, but I know that’s no excuse. I’ll work on focusing better for the benefit of the team.” I said giving a smile. Mark smiled back.

 

“Now that’s what I wanna hear. But try not to work yourself too hard Aaron. I want you at the top of your game, not dead.”"Mark said laughing at his joke. I laughed with him and followed his lead on getting up from our seats. Mark playfully punched my arm still smiling."“C’mon lets go get some of that pizza before Eddie eats it all.”

I chuckled following him out of the room. Thinking back on that day, I remember feeling this strange combination of decisive and indecisiveness. I knew for a fact that this job was important and that I wouldn’t give anything up for it. I knew that if I did lose this job, that I’d have nothing, and wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. I mean what if Ria was using me? Something in me didn’t think that was the case but you’d never know. I think it was the look in her eyes and the way she acted around me. She was just herself I guess. I couldn’t really describe it. I couldn’t describe her…And it was with that thought in my head that removed any doubt about her. I was positive at that time that I wanted to still protect Ria, but I just didn’t know to what limit. She meant something to me, that was unmistakable, but was that something enough to make me do anything for her? Like lose my job? My reputation? Everything?...Even Ria? Did I mind losing her? Did I even care that much for her? Did I love her?