Lost in the Night

[Tati]

A/N: Here’s the last one! I guess it doesn’t hurt to say one more time: in this fic Christina has never come to Philadelphia recently, even though I’m playing with the info we learned through her.

One more big thanks to my beta-reader, AndreaB.

***

“Lost in the Night”

Chapter 6 – “The truth”

***

Lilly glances at her watch as she finished eating her toast. She swallows the piece she has left, which is definitely bigger than she can fit into her mouth. She fights with it as she puts on her coat. She takes one last sip of her orange juice, making a disgusted face and a mental note not to drink things that have been on her fridge longer than a week. As she passes through the living room, she checks her cats, who are lying on the couch. Then she grabs her gun, puts it into the holster and opened the front door to leave.
As she leans down to pick up the newspaper she hears a familiar voice saying, “Aren’t you forgetting your suitcase?”

Lilly jumps up, completely caught off guard. “What the hell are you doing here? It’s 7 a.m.” Her blue eyes are glaring with anger.

“I figured you wouldn’t go back to that restaurant for lunch so soon.” Patrick says, hands in his coat pockets, and every now and then taking a step closer to Lilly. “And we never agreed we had finished talking.”

Lilly laughs. “You’re not stupid, Patrick. Some things don’t need to be said.” She takes a step inside to drop the newspaper on the couch and grab her suitcase. Patrick motions to follow her inside, but he’s stopped by Olivia, who jumps to the front door and meows loudly and angrily.

“With a cat like this, you definitely don’t need a watchdog.” Patrick says, taking a step back, while Olivia turns around to hop back into her spot on the couch, but not before she purrs around her owner’s leg.

Lilly pets the orange cat, with a smile on her face. “I hope she didn’t scare you.” She says seriously, but it’s clear she’s having fun. Lilly locks the door and says to Patrick. “Now I need to go to work.”

“I’ll walk you,” Patrick says, offering his charming smile.

“No, thanks.” Lilly says, beginning to walk away. “And don’t you dare follow me.”

“What, you don’t want to be seen with me?” He asks, angrily, grabbing Lilly tightly by her arm. Lilly makes an effort to get loose from his grip, but she can’t. “You don’t want that detective to see us together? How often does he drop you off at home?” Lilly can feel Patrick’s eyes on her more than she can feel his hand on her forearm.

“Take your hands off me, now.” Lilly commands, not afraid to look at him into his eyes. Patrick seems to regain control of himself and lets her go. Lilly’s arm is sore from the grasp and she makes a move to touch it with her other hand, but refrains herself. She doesn’t want Patrick to see that he can be stronger than her. Then, Patrick’s last words settle in her head, and she asks, shocked, “You were here last night?”

“I was here all night,” Patrick answers, breathing heavily. “I saw you arrive with him. How you two talked in the car.”

“Scotty is my friend, Patrick.” Lilly didn’t feel like she owned him any explanations, but it was better leaving things straight.

“The other day you introduced him as your partner.” Patrick insists.

Lilly sighs. “He’s my partner and my friend.” She sees Patrick’s incredulous look and goes on, “You know, a man and a woman can be friends.” She pauses, then laughs, “But I know this is beyond your understanding.”

“OK.” He says. A quick silence takes place, after what Patrick says, “Forgive me, Lil.” Lilly rolls her eyes and gives him an annoyed look. She’s about to say something, but he goes first, “I know I hurt you. I know I screwed up. But I’m a new man now. And I still love you.” He lifts his hand to touch her face, and there’s truth in his eyes.

“No, Patrick.” Lilly says, backing away from him, her anger now replaced with a mix of sadness and bitterness. “Please, you don’t really expect me to fall for this one.”

“You said it yourself. The important things never change.” Patrick says, with a faint smile.

“Exactly, Patrick.” Lilly answers, emotion starting to flow along with her words. “The important things don’t change. I’m still the woman you didn’t want me to be.” Patrick motions to say something, but Lilly doesn’t let him. “Because that was the problem, wasn’t it? You were at my house, drinking the beer I was working to pay for, and what could I expect? You were a guy, and a guy wants his girl home!” Lilly’s stumbling on her tears, but she can’t stop. “And she was there, like a woman should be! Dear God, my own sister! According to you, it was my fault, right? ‘If you weren’t out for so many hours, Lilly, this would’ve never happened’.” She stops, almost losing her breath. Through this whole time, Patrick is looking down, not able to face Lilly. She regains a bit of her self-control, and walks near him. Still through tears, she whispers angrily, “Honestly, you think I’ll ever buy your crap again?”

Patrick looks up, and says, “Lilly, I was young, I was stupid. I didn’t know what I wanted.”

Lilly smiles sadly, “You know what? I think neither did I. But now I do.” A few more tears fall down her face. “I don’t want you anymore.” Patrick breathes deeply, looking for the words he doesn’t have. Lilly wipes the tears off her face, and says, “Don’t come looking for me ever again.”

Their eyes meet for one last time, before she walks away, without looking back.

***

[Tati]

When Lilly arrives at the office, she’s almost one hour late. After she comes out of the elevator, she wipes her cheek and her eyes one more time, to make sure there’s no trace of tears left. She sighs and walks into the office, ready to pretend her alarm didn’t go off when it should have.
“Hey, Lil,” She’s greeted by Scotty, who glances quickly at her while working on some paperwork. “The alarm again?” He then looks up and looks at her a bit surprised. “What happened?”

“The alarm didn’t go off.” She says, casually. “I really need to get a new one.”

“Your eyes are all red, Lil.” Scotty says, worried. “Did you cry?”

Lilly puts on a surprised look on her face, “Crying? Of course not.” She gestures towards him, “I must have got something on my eye.”

“On both of them?” Scotty asks, thinking this story was beginning to look weird.

However, Lilly is saved by Stillman, Nick and Will, who approach their desk. “Good morning, Lil. Nick was saving the interesting stuff for when you arrived.” Stillman says, sitting on the edge of Lilly’s desk.

“Well, let’s hear it, then,” Lilly says with a smile, quickly putting past her what had happened earlier that morning.

“OK. So, you remember I said I was going to look into Brian Witter and Doug Welsh’s past, back in high school?” The other detectives nod, anxiously, and Nick goes on, “Well, I called the school and talked to the principal, who’s still the same from 1990. She told me that Brian and Doug were never close, but a few weeks before Mary was murdered, they were involved in a nasty fight in the school.”

“What were they fighting about?” Scotty asks.

“That’s the problem. Both boys refused to talk about it.” Nick answers. “The principal told me it looked like both knew something that could complicate the other.”

“Was it a one-time thing?” Lilly asks.

“Yeah, and that’s the weirdest part.” Nick explains. “After the fight, they were seen talking peacefully more than once.”

“They were planning something together?” Scotty thinks out loud, not able to come out with a better theory. All detectives were at lost with that information.

“Well, maybe Doug Welsh can shed some light on this,” Stillman says. “Nick, Will, you go talk to him. I made some calls and found out he’s supposed to be in court now. You wait for him outside that courthouse, and don’t leave before you talk to him.”

“You got it, boss.” Will nods.

As Nick and Will begin to leave, Lilly asks, “Hey, Nick. Did you take a look at Brian’s websites last night?”

“I couldn’t.” Nick answers. “System was down. But the list is on my desk. Have fun.”

Scotty gets up and walks to Nick’s desk. He grabs a piece of paper and hands to Lilly. “Here it is.”

Lilly picks up the list. “Well, let’s see what our boy has been up to.” She says, as she types the first link on her browser.

***

[Tati]

Will and Nick are outside a courtroom, where a trial is being finished. According to the information they got, that’s where Doug Welsh is defending a man accused of murdering his stepson. Suddenly the doors open, and people start to walk out. A man is being carried on handcuffs, while other man tells him, “Don’t worry, Stuart. I’ll ask for a retrial, the People entered illegal evidence.” Will and Nick share a look, noticing that’s their guy.
After the guards take the defendant away, Nick and Will approach the lawyer. “Douglas Welsh?” Nick asks.

“Yes, that’s me.” He answers politely. “And you are?”

“Detectives Vera and Jeffries, Philly Homicide.” Nick answers, as he and Will show their badges.

“Has the investigation on my case been reassigned?” Doug asks.

“We’re here about other case, Mr. Welsh.” Will says.

Doug then realizes what it’s about, “Mary Witter.” He nods, “My mom mentioned you were at our house the other day.”

“Now we want to talk to you.” Nick says. “Just to clear a few details.”

“OK, let’s take a walk, then.” Doug says, and the three men walk outside the courthouse.

“So, Doug, how well did you know Mary Witter?” Nick asks.

Doug laughs. “I didn’t. I only saw her once.”

“And where was that?” Will asks.

“At one of Smith’s nightclubs.” Doug explains. Upon seeing the detectives confused looks, he explains, “Back on those days, Smith “sponsored” a few nightclubs. You know, provided the girls, the drugs... I was a regular customer, so one night I was invited to a party.”

“And Mary was there?” Nick asks.

Doug nods, “Yeah. Smith was going to open his own nightclub, and he planned to pull his best girls from the streets to work there. From what I remembered, Mary was going to be one of the main attractions of that new club.”

“When was that?” Will asks, he and Nick fully interested.

Doug thinks, “I’m not sure. I’d say two months before she died.”

“Did you recognize her as Brian Witter’s mother?” Will asks.

Doug shakes his head. “At first, no. I had never seen her around the school.” He pauses. “But then, one day...”

“What happened?” Will pushes.

He looks down, thoughtful, and decides to go on. “One night, not longer after that nightclub party, I overheard my mom on the phone with a P.I., talking about my dad having an affair.” He sighs. “Then the next day I heard her calling Mary and threatening to tell Brian about her “job”.”

“And did you do something about it?” Nick asks.

“I left an anonymous letter in Brian’s locker, saying his mother was a @#@#ing lovely woman. Somehow, he figured out I had written it.” Doug explains. “Then he came to talk to me, we ended up fighting.”

“Your principal said that none of you told the reason why the fight started. Why didn’t Brian tell what you had done?” Will asks.

“Because he knew I would spread the news all around the school.” Doug answers. “He couldn’t complain about me without telling what I had done.”

“But you didn’t spread the information on Mary.” Nick notes.

“Oh, I was going to.” Doug says, almost laughing. “I was just going to wait for a couple of weeks, because I was already involved in too much trouble at that moment.” His smile fades away. “But then she was murdered and everyone found out through the papers.”

Nick takes note of what he’s saying, while Will asks. “How did Brian take the news about his mom? You think he could’ve gotten violent?”

Doug shrugs. “I have no idea, I never knew him very well. But he did get quieter than usual after our fight. That day I told him to follow his mom around a little bit. I guess he did that.” After a pause, he adds, “Oh, and I never made the connection between Mary and the nightclub girl until I saw her pictures on the papers, after her death. If Brian knew about that, it wasn’t through me.”

“Ok. Thanks for now.” Will says. The detectives shake hands with Doug, who leaves. “So...” Will begins. “I think this was our most productive conversation on the last days.”

“I think we ought to call Dan Smith for another talk.” Vera says. “Just to see how angry he was when his favorite girl bailed out of his business plans.”

Will nods, “And check if Brian Witter ever acted on his break-up intentions.” He says as they get into their car, to head back to the office.

***

[Tati]

Nick and Will arrive at the office to find Lilly and Scotty at their desks, with a smile on their faces. Stillman, who’s also there, upon seeing his other detectives, says, “Here they are.”
“While you were out, we invited someone over.” Lilly says.

“Dan Smith.” Scotty adds, before Nick and Will ask.

“Funny,” Nick says with a smirk. “We were going to make that same suggestion. What have you got on him?”

“We visited Brian’s websites.” Lilly explains. “And one of them is particularly interesting. It’s a website for a support group for hookers.”

“And guess who made big contributions in the last few weeks.” Scotty says.

“Generous Dan. Always there to help.” Will says sarcastically.

“Lil, you talk to him along with Will.” Stillman says. Lilly gets up from her chair and Will waves “after you” at her.

Before they get into the interrogation room, Will quickly briefs Lilly on the conversation he and Nick just had with Doug Welsh.

“So, this is the famous Dan Smith.” Lilly says, as she enters the interrogation room, followed by Will. “The criminal with a good heart.”

“This is Detective Lilly Rush.” Will says to Smith.

Smith smiles at Lilly. “Don’t get your hopes too high, Detective. You’re not going to make a murder arrest here.”

“I’m not so sure of that.” Lilly says, crossing her fingers on the table. “You see, we know the plans you had for Mary back in 1990.”

“And we know how generous you’ve been with Brian Witter’s cause.” Will adds.

“There’s a word that usually describes that, isn’t there?” Lilly asks Will.

“Yeah,” Will says, leaning the table, closer to Smith. “Guilt.”

“You’re really off-track here, detectives.” Smith says, laughing.

“You mean you weren’t angry when Mary decided to leave Philadelphia? Exactly when you were opening your new nightclub and planned to have her as the star?” Will asks.

“Well, obviously I wasn’t pleased.” Smith answers. “But I’d never kill her because of that.” He leans back on the chair, and goes on, “You know, Detectives, I really cared about Mary. She was like a daughter to me. She was special. But there’s a million other girls who could be as attractive as she was. I didn’t need her to be successful.” He says, with a plain look on his face.

“What about your recent donations?” Lilly asks, bothered with Smith’s straightness.

“I’ve been donating for that boy’s site since it started, about 5 years ago.” Smith explains. “I had it checked, and the money is really used in a home for hookers who want to get out of the life. All those years I’ve been donating under several different aliases, because I know the hurt that boy has against me.”

“And what happened now?” Lilly asks.

“Last week, he announced on the site that the home was going to be renamed after his mother in a couple of months.” Smith explains, his voice a little emotional. “So I decided to talk to him. We made peace.”

“And you started donating in your name?” Will asks. Both he and Lilly are now holding back the sarcasm against Smith.

Smith nods. “Yeah, I figured Mary, wherever she is now, would like to see that I still care about her. And that’s why I decided to donate in Allan’s name.”

Lilly and Will are caught by surprise. “You made donations to Brian’s website in Allan Welsh’s name?” Lilly asks, to make sure she heard it right.

Smith smiles, and nods. “Yes, he deserved. He truly loved Mary, you know.”

“Does Welsh know about this?” Lilly asks, seriously thoughtful.

“No,” Smith answers. “I didn’t have time to talk to him yet.”

Lilly leans back on her chair, startled. “You made peace with Brian,” she mutters to herself, but Will, sitting on the chair next to her, can hear. She turns to Will and completes. “But Allan Welsh never did.”

She quickly gets up from her chair and leaves the room, followed by Will. “Let’s go, Scotty,” she says, grabbing her coat. “I will explain on the way,” she adds, impatiently, and Scotty grabs his coat, and follows her.

***

[Tati]

Lilly and Scotty are on the car, and Lilly’s driving. “So, Smith made donations in Welsh’s name.” Scotty says, trying to get Lilly to keep explaining. She parks the car, and he adds. “And now we’re visiting Brian Witter.”
They get off the car, and Lilly begins, “Brian thought his mother was leaving him for Welsh.” They walk up to his front door, the black drapes on the window not letting them to see inside, like the other time. “And now, Welsh’s is messing with his mom again.” She knocks hard on the door. “Brian Witter, it’s the Police!”

A calm man opens the door. “Detectives, you’re back. How can I help you now?” Brian asks.

“Can we get in?” Scotty asks. Brian nods and waves his hand for them to get inside.

“So, Brian, we learned about your charity website.” Lilly begins.

“Well, I kept a lot of hurt against my mom, but a few years ago I realized I should take a lesson from everything, and do something good.” Brian explains, as they walk to the living room.

“It must have hit you hard finding out from one of your school friends that your mother lied to you your whole life.” Scotty says.

“Doug was never my friend.” Brian says, bothered.

“15 years of lies...” Lilly says, walking around Brian. “That hurts.”

“Yeah, it did hurt.” Brian answered, angry. “Especially when she couldn’t admit the truth. I was there, looking at her, dressed like that...” He laughs. “And she expected me to believe that there was nothing weird about it.”

“Then what did you do?” Lilly asks.

“I walked away.” Brian answers. “But I stayed around.” Then his eyes start filling with tears. “And two hours later, she was back. And then she got in his car.”

“Whose car?” Scotty asks. He and Lilly are so concentrated in the interview you can almost feel the tension in the air.

“Allan Welsh’s.” Brian answers. “And she came home in the morning.” He starts walking around the living room. “And I finally understood the smile she had on her face in the last months.” Lilly and Scotty realize Brian is finally spilling out his feelings, and they don’t dare interrupt him. “And then I saw the passports on the table. And then I figured...”

“What did you figure out?” Lilly pushes, tense.

“That she deserved a lesson.” He answers, anger rising. “That I couldn’t let it happen.”

“You taught her a lesson, then.” Scotty says.

Brian nods, “Yes, but slowly. So she would learn.” Lilly and Scotty share a look, and place themselves in strategic positions, in case Brian tries something on them. But he just keeps talking. “I started calling her. Telling her little boy would pay with his life if she didn’t stop messing with other people’s marriage.” He shakes his head. “You know, for the despair it made her feel, Welsh was probably not the only married one.”

“Your mother was quitting that life.” Lilly says.

“No, she wasn’t.” Brian says, facing Lilly. “I saw the passports. For them.”

“No, they weren’t.” Lilly says, also angry. “They were for her and for you! Your mother had got a clean job in Canada, and she was going to move, and start all over again. With you!”

Brian is shocked and doesn’t say a word. Then Scotty goes on, “She was trying to protect you from being disappointed, because Welsh’s wife was also threatening her. Then she decided to leave, but Welsh decided he didn’t want to with her.”

“No!” Brian yells, almost crying. “I saw the passports. The pictures!” He runs off to a drawer, and pulls out some pictures, and hands them to Lilly. They are pictures of happy moments between Mary and Allan. “She told me she couldn’t quit. That we would starve to death.”

“She had found a way.” Scotty says.

Lilly hands the pictures to Scotty and sits next to him. “And now, 15 years later, you have the charity. A home in your mom’s name. And you can’t stand him there.” She looks at Brian. “So you send him a message. The piercing.”

“Yeah.” Brian answers. “He had no reason to be around her. And why would he want to be, anyway? After all, she was just a lying lovely woman.” He adds, tears running down his face.

Flashback to 1990

It’s late at night, and Mary is on the street, waiting for a client. She looks sad, and her eyes are red, like she has been crying a lot. There are other girls nearby, but the night is so dark you can’t really tell their faces apart.

Brian comes down, walking. He looks at each girl trying to find his mother. The girls are all excited to see a young boy among them, and they’re not shy to offer him their services. Brian ignores them and keeps walking, but before he can find Mary, she sees him, and runs in his direction. “I told you never to come here again.” She holds him by his arms. “Go home, and we’ll talk later.”

“You destroyed me.” Brian yells, between angry tears. “I was happy, and now all I have is a mother who’s a hooker, and who’s running off with a married man.”

Mary is surprised. “What? Honey, what are you talking about?”

Brian lets himself free of his mother’s grasp. “I know everything, Mom. Stop the lies!” He yells again, still crying.

“Brian, it’s not what you’re thinking...” She tries to explain.

“It’s not?” Brian yells, louder. The other girls are starting to stare so Mary pulls him to a close-by alley. “It’s enough! I can’t take the lies anymore!”

“Honey, I’m sorry!” Mary says, and she’s now crying too.

“No...” Brian picks up a piece of wood that was on the floor. “I can’t forgive you. I can’t look at your lying face anymore, you damn b*tch!” Then he hits her on the head, only once. Mary falls on the floor, already unconscious. The old piece of wood, due to its imperfections, has left several bruises on Mary’s face.

Brian kneels down next to her, and caresses her face. He glances at her bare belly and sees her bellybutton piercing. Knowing how much his mom was fond of that jewel; he carefully takes it off and puts it in his pocket, before running away, in tears.

ack to 2005

(“Come Back to Me”, by Janet Jackson, starts playing)

Lilly handcuffs Brian. She and Scotty take Brian out of his house, and put him in the car.

Looking through my old drawer
Came across the letter you wrote
Said you needed time away
That was so long ago
All my life I’ve waited
To see your smile again
In my mind I hated
Not able to let go

They bring Brian into the Police Headquarters. There, they meet with Dan Smith, who watches Brian being arrested with a shocked expression.

A little later, Lilly hands Allan the pictures of him and Mary that Brian had kept for all these years, and also the letter Mary wrote for him the day before she died.

Come back to me
I’m beggin’ you please
Come back to me
I want you to
Come back to me
I’m beggin’ you please
Come back to me

At the Welsh house, Doug shows his mother Abby a newspaper story about Brian’s arrest.

At his house, Dan Smith stares sadly at a portrait of him, Mary and baby Brian, which looks like it was taken right after he took her under his wing.

Lord knows that I have tried
To live my life as one
Friends tell me to hold on
Tough times don’t last for long

At Mary’s parents’ house, we see Carl Witter picking up in his front lawn a newspaper that tells about Brian’s arrest on Mary’s case. He shakes his head and tosses the newspaper aside, and Laura Witter, who’s working on the bush of red roses, reads the news. She then stares sadly at the roses.

My abandoned heart
Just doesn’t understand
My undying love for you
Won’t let me wait

Allan Welsh is now visiting Mary’s grave. He has one red rose on his hand, which he kisses and puts on her grave, one tear running down his cheek. Despite his sadness, he has a trace of relief in face.

Come back to me
I’m beggin’ you please
Come back to me
I want you to
Come back to me
I’m beggin’ you please
Come back to me

It’s late at night, and Lilly is sitting in her couch. She’s wearing casual clothes and her hair is down. In her hands, she’s holding a picture of herself and Patrick, many years ago. In the picture, they’re hugging each other and smiling hugely, as Lilly shows her engagement ring to the camera.

Lilly then puts the picture in an envelope, which is filled with other pictures, and shoves it in the bottom of a box of pictures. She closes the box with a calm smile on her face and walks to her window.

Please come back to me
I miss you so much
Wherever you are I love you

On the other side of the street, she sees a dressed-up Mary, who has a reassuring smile on her face. Lilly watches, also with a smile, as Mary turns and walks away, disappearing in the night.

All my life I’ve waited
To see your smile again
In my mind I hated
Not able to let go...

The End


***

A/N: Well, it’s done! Your final thoughts, please…

[Shorty]

it was great! i love the way you captured the characters-i can imagen them reacting and thinking as you have writen them doing(if that makes any sense whatsoever ;D) and i hope youll write another one soon

[TVFan]

Bravo Tati! The interrogation scenes were straight out of the show. I really felt like I was watching an episode instead of reading a fic. You really captured Lilly in the final scene between Lilly, Scotty, and Brian. I could picture her acting and saying everything you wrote.

I also thought you did a very nice job with the last scene between Lilly and Patrick. The way she reacted to Patrick's comments and control was EXACTLY how I would imagine Lilly would do. Great job! :thumb:

[Tati]

Thanks Shorty and TVFan! It means a lot to me that people are enjoying my fics.

Anyway, the next casefile is mostly figured out. I just need to come up with a personal storyline (suggestions are welcome).

[r2k]

Excellent work Tati! As a reader, I hoped it wouldn't be Brian. As a writer, I would have done just that. We definitely think alike. It's nice to read some fics instead of simply writing them. Good pick for a final song. I never would have thought of Janet Jackson and I actually have the album the song comes from. Keep it up. My next fic is getting near the end. And I've also begun the one after. This is a busy time of year for me so it has been hard to type up the stories though I have them all in my head. Hopefully I'll be done in a couple of days. I have a bunch more planned. I think I'll try to finish the next fan fic tonight. Later.