Numb3rs AU: Poison, chapter 4 (Amita, Jeff Upchurch, Charlie, Colby, Dwayne, R)
Series: Poison
Chapter 3: Uniform Beauty
Characters/pairings: Amita, Jeff Upchurch, Charlie, Colby, Dwayne, mention of Oswald and Megan.
Rating: R to be safe.
Warnings: Sexual topics.
Summary: The FBI and LAPD visit Leather Street and Oswald's apartment to find the leads that will guide their investigation.
Betas: The awesome lillyg and the amazing twins_m0m.
Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it.
Previous chapter: 3 - Financial Aid
Next chapter: 5 - Sex Job
***
4 - Uniform Beauty
With FBI and L.A.P.D. presence, the Leather Street seemed to be pretty well controlled. Amita was used to seeing these kinds of places and working with murderers, hookers, extortion and blackmail, but this time it felt different. The atmosphere just didn’t seem right - or maybe it was Charlie’s and Lt. Upchurch’s presence that disturbed her.
On the way there, Amita did her best to figure out what she was going to do. Since the lieutenant had whispered strange words into Charlie’s ear before they left, the urge to know what that was all about managed to obsess her.
However, once at the crime scene, the displayed scenario caught her full attention. It was the source of a limited amount of data, so she had to be careful and assemble as much of it as she could. The lights of the sirens lit every corner. Groups of sex workers - or whatever they wanted to be called - were talking and gossiping. Forensics was collecting traces of evidence while some agents and officers were interrogating possible eye witnesses.
She saw the “Police line, please do not cross” tape but didn’t enter the restricted area yet. She noticed that Charlie and the others did the same and she decided to go solo tonight. Or at least that’s what she wanted. As soon as she started walking around, a mature guy dressed with tight leather pants started to bother her.
“Wouldn’t a uniform beauty like you want a good, kinky shag?”
Annoyed, Amita turned to him and didn’t understand why people would dress like that and say such things in the middle of the street. Secrecy was important. Discretion was supposed to be a very important social rule. She started walking over the guy, but he didn’t stop as she reached for her gun.
“Ah, you like it hard, huh?” he said, walking backwards. Before his back hit the wall behind him, Amita pushed him against it and placed her gun against his neck, smashing her badge up his nose.
“Listen to me. I’m FBI, you jackass,” she introduced herself. The man didn’t respond, but he didn’t seem to want to flirt anymore. “Do you see the badge or do I have to push it down your throat?”
The silence that followed gave her the answer. She let the guy go and put her gun and badge away. She wasn’t in the mood to play when there were secrets hidden all around. Going towards the Vigilante’s latest victim, she saw Dwayne knelt beside the body, analyzing it. “What do you have, Dwayne?”
Focused on his work, he signaled the dead woman’s chest with his gloved hand. “Samantha Winston. Female, 28, natural brunette. Single shot to the heart, but it’s not clean, nor calculated. 9 mm, probably made by a Beretta M9. Forensics says there are no traces of any other prospective murder weapons, but they need to take everything to the lab before being 100% sure.”
This was very good. Amita smiled with satisfaction.
“He made a mistake,” Charlie’s voice said behind her, as he got closer with his own laptop. Apparently, they’d heard the results.
“Yeah, and we got it,” Dwayne stated, turning to Amita.
She nodded. “Work on it.”
“Sure I will!” He went to talk to Forensics. Amita and Charlie stared at the body.
“We have an anomaly. This guy’s always accurate and clean. What was different this time? If we find that out, it should give us a good amount of data,” she said, almost excited that things were starting to go well. The right leads were just starting to pop out.
But Charlie frowned. “A good amount of information, yes. Because… that bullet wasn’t meant for her.”
Amita stopped in her tracks. “Then for who?”
“Oswald Kittner. He was a permanent client of the sex workers in this area. According to the witnesses, he and the victim, Samantha Winston, used to get together about two or three times a week at least.”
“Energetic boy, he was,” was the only comment Amita could make as she started to walk with Charlie by her side. “Was he here for one of their encounters?”
“Apparently not. He was seen running all the way from Chinatown to this very place, where the criminal shot the woman instead of him.”
Upchurch came towards them, writing on a little note book and catching up. “He’s renting an apartment a few blocks from here, in Chinatown.” He looked up and his eyes landed on Amita, like they were trying to figure her out somehow.
She didn’t like that look. However, behind Upchurch, the perfect subject to make himself a distraction was standing against the wall, resting. “Check that out.”
Charlie immediately turned around, but Upchurch didn’t seem to be very convinced until he saw what had caught Amita’s attention. Near them, against the building’s wall, there was D.S. Cowboy’s favorite boy. He looked quite well - shades, jacket, white t-shirt, old jeans, snickers.
“He protected the body until we arrived. I guess living here and being D.S. Cowboy’s right hand has taught him what to do when someone dies…” Upchurch said before cocking his head, inviting the rest to approach the guy. A year ago, D.S. Cowboy had been accused of murder, but no one could ever prove he did it. Amita and everyone else thought they’d gotten rid of the body in a very professional way.
As they got closer to him, the man saw them coming and straightened up. When he took off his shades, his green eyes described a broken but still confident personality.
“Special Agent Amita Ramanujan, and these are Lieutenant Upchurch and Detective Eppes. We’ve got a few questions for you.” She saw how Upchurch checked his note book and found a name.
“Colby Granger, right?”
“Yes, sir,” the other man said.
“We understand that you witnessed the shooting that killed Samantha Winston.”
“That’s right. I was passing by and I heard her talk to a guy. He wasn’t here for business, you know. He was running away from something or someone, and the next thing I know, Sam was on the floor with a bullet in her chest. I had to protect her. She was a good woman and a hard worker.”
Amita cleared her throat and nodded. “Did you know the guy that was talking to her?”
“Not really. I come here very rarely now. Anyway, the guy was pretty tall and looked almost thirty, dark hair and eyes, dressed like a teenager… I think he carried a skate or something.”
“We’ve got an ID already,” Upchurch muttered, taking down notes. He was so very old style. “Did you see the shooter? Any particular marks or physical attributes?”
“Nothing… He was dressed in black and no one could see his face. People say it was the Vigilante. Was he?”
“We’re working on it.”
Amita analyzed Colby Granger’s posture, trying to figure out if he was holding any data. Suddenly she noticed that Charlie was looking right into his eyes, too, but wasn’t asking any questions. “How long have you known D.S. Cowboy?” she finally asked.
Colby answered immediately. “Three years… why is that relevant?”
“You’re his favorite.” Upchurch stated, sending out a message.
“Used to be, that’s the key word… Now I’m his friend, I don’t work for him anymore.”
“Are a gigolo now?”
“What’s going on? Why are you asking…?”
Surprising Amita, Charlie finally spoke up. “The Vigilante could be after you. It’s not just this episode with that guy and Samantha Winston. There have been several attacks in the Leather Street during the last two weeks. I’m sure you’re aware of that.”
Granger frowned and finally nodded. “You’re right about that, Detective.”
Charlie went to stand beside him. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to interview Mr. Granger in private.”
The idea didn’t seem to disturb Colby. For a moment, Amita imagined that there was something going on there, as if the private interview had been previously arranged. Her impression strengthened when Upchurch didn’t opposed to Charlie taking care of that particular key witness.
As the two men walked away, she noticed how Granger wiggled his ass for Charlie as he guided the way and how Charlie occasionally looked down at him with eyes full of determination. Sure, Charlie swung both ways, but doing it with someone like Granger? It was too damned dangerous… unless he was doing some kind of weird undercover work.
Upchurch’s voice sounded behind her, startling her. “Kittner’s apartment. Coming or not?”
Oswald Kittner’s apartment door had been obviously forced. As Forensics took care of analyzing the area, Amita and Upchurch researched the dusty and dark interior. They’d all been provided with gloves and the necessary equipment. Now that they had Oswald’s picture and file, the lieutenant had decided to use a laptop and was now walking around the main room, collecting evidence.
“This place’s a mess,” he said, as she walked between piles of papers full of formulas. He leaned to grab something from the floor and showed a baseball bat. “And he likes sports.” Then he picked up the ball that went with it. “A lot.”
Amita had her eyes on the papers around her. “These numbers… We’ll need a better analysis, but they look like baseball mathematical analysis… I’ve seen things like these before. Real life matches and how to predict the winner.”
“We’ve got a little cheater here who enjoys gambling. Perfect target for the Vigilante, I guess,” Upchurch muttered between greeted teeth. He beckoned the desk in the middle of the room. “This is damned empty, but…” As if he was hypnotized by it, he touched one of the edges and his gloved finger got full of dust. “There are the marks of a rectangular object here. The space where it was is clean but the rest of the desk is dirty.” He took a look at his laptop. Its size fitted the shape in the desk perfectly. “Maybe the Vigilante took the laptop that was here with him… which is not good news. What could he possibly be looking for? He had the guy, he went after him. Why would he take his laptop?”
“Maybe Oswald took it with him before the Vigilante got here.” Amita’s words hung in the air. She only got a disturbing look from Upchurch. “In which case, he was a very brave - or maybe stupid - guy. If he took the time to grab his belongings before running away, then he wasn’t scared enough...”
“… or what he had in his hard drive was worth his life,” Upchurch finished.
“Exactly.”
“Maybe a clients’ record,” Amita imagined. Upchurch grabbed something from a shelf full of big books.
“Look at this,” he said. He was holding a picture of a young man with an older woman. They were both at a table, having coffee with pancakes. The breakfast scene looked very homey. “And…” Upchurch flipped the picture and exposed the back side. Love you no matter what, it said, and it signed by someone named Megan.
“That’s Oswald, but her?” Upchurch entered data into his computer, looking for an ID.
In the meantime, Amita decided to take a look out the window. The view wasn’t lovely but she couldn’t expect more than that, considering the area. Looking down, she could see the fire stairs and Dwayne Carter looking up.
“Hey, boss!” he yelled. “I’ve got an update! He ran down the stairs!”
“Track a possible trajectory through Chinatown and to the Leather Street and see if he left anything behind!”
As a response, Dwayne gave her a thumb up. She thought that anyone could have guessed that Oswald had escaped using the fire stairs. It was the only way out, with the Vigilante kicking down the door.
Upchurch was beside her again and he pointed at a plate with old food - a half-eaten burger and a soda - that was on the floor in a corner of the room. Beside it there were pizza boxes and lots of delivery cards. She leaned to explore the leftovers. “Looks like he spent a lot of time here.” She picked up the cards. “Pizzas, burgers, sodas, drinks, ice-cream… and a sex shop,” she added, raising her eyebrows. “It fits anyway. He used to go to the Leather Street a lot. Maybe he wanted to be sure he always had the necessary supplies.”
The lieutenant took a deep breath like he didn’t approve her analysis and pointed at the pizza boxes. Then he went towards his laptop. “There,” Upchurch interrupted her, pointing at his laptop. “This is the woman in the picture, it’s the only person named Megan who is part of Oswald’s life. We’ve got to figure out if she’s got something to do with his disappearance.”
Amita got closer to the screen. Megan Reeves, 41, single, worked for Wright Corporation until June 2008 as Human Resources Manager… Her train of thoughts was interrupted by the lieutenant, who approached her with no good intentions. From the way he held her gaze, she could tell he didn’t like her much. God knows why. “Okay, let’s assume for a moment that…”
“You assume too many things, Agent Ramanujan. I’m sorry to inform you that we don’t work that way. We find evidence and we come to conclusions, we don’t jump to them. That just means misleads, and I don’t think that’s what you want as part of the FBI.”
He obviously didn’t like her very much. With his eyes fixed on her, he took out his cell phone and dialed a number. “Millie, call Eppes and see if he’s done with Granger. Tell him that I need him to interview someone else. Her name is Megan Reeves…”
As he started to walk away, Amita analyzed him and his words. Why wouldn’t he just call Charlie, instead of telling Millie to do it? Apparently, he knew that Charlie didn’t want to be interrupted, thus he knew what he was doing with Colby Granger.
And the secrets continue. A while later, Amita was telling Dwayne that she needed to take care of something personal and that she should be back soon. The Mayor had texted her and asked her to meet him in the same private place they used when they got together to talk about projects related to his political career.
Walking out of the crime scene didn’t feel quite right. Upchurch’s eyes followed her until she disappeared from the place. On her way to the Mayor’s office, Amita told herself that she had to come up with a plan. If Jeff Upchurch didn’t trust her as an FBI agent, she would have to pay the consequences.
Chapter 3: Uniform Beauty
Characters/pairings: Amita, Jeff Upchurch, Charlie, Colby, Dwayne, mention of Oswald and Megan.
Rating: R to be safe.
Warnings: Sexual topics.
Summary: The FBI and LAPD visit Leather Street and Oswald's apartment to find the leads that will guide their investigation.
Betas: The awesome lillyg and the amazing twins_m0m.
Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it.
Previous chapter: 3 - Financial Aid
Next chapter: 5 - Sex Job
***
4 - Uniform Beauty
With FBI and L.A.P.D. presence, the Leather Street seemed to be pretty well controlled. Amita was used to seeing these kinds of places and working with murderers, hookers, extortion and blackmail, but this time it felt different. The atmosphere just didn’t seem right - or maybe it was Charlie’s and Lt. Upchurch’s presence that disturbed her.
On the way there, Amita did her best to figure out what she was going to do. Since the lieutenant had whispered strange words into Charlie’s ear before they left, the urge to know what that was all about managed to obsess her.
However, once at the crime scene, the displayed scenario caught her full attention. It was the source of a limited amount of data, so she had to be careful and assemble as much of it as she could. The lights of the sirens lit every corner. Groups of sex workers - or whatever they wanted to be called - were talking and gossiping. Forensics was collecting traces of evidence while some agents and officers were interrogating possible eye witnesses.
She saw the “Police line, please do not cross” tape but didn’t enter the restricted area yet. She noticed that Charlie and the others did the same and she decided to go solo tonight. Or at least that’s what she wanted. As soon as she started walking around, a mature guy dressed with tight leather pants started to bother her.
“Wouldn’t a uniform beauty like you want a good, kinky shag?”
Annoyed, Amita turned to him and didn’t understand why people would dress like that and say such things in the middle of the street. Secrecy was important. Discretion was supposed to be a very important social rule. She started walking over the guy, but he didn’t stop as she reached for her gun.
“Ah, you like it hard, huh?” he said, walking backwards. Before his back hit the wall behind him, Amita pushed him against it and placed her gun against his neck, smashing her badge up his nose.
“Listen to me. I’m FBI, you jackass,” she introduced herself. The man didn’t respond, but he didn’t seem to want to flirt anymore. “Do you see the badge or do I have to push it down your throat?”
The silence that followed gave her the answer. She let the guy go and put her gun and badge away. She wasn’t in the mood to play when there were secrets hidden all around. Going towards the Vigilante’s latest victim, she saw Dwayne knelt beside the body, analyzing it. “What do you have, Dwayne?”
Focused on his work, he signaled the dead woman’s chest with his gloved hand. “Samantha Winston. Female, 28, natural brunette. Single shot to the heart, but it’s not clean, nor calculated. 9 mm, probably made by a Beretta M9. Forensics says there are no traces of any other prospective murder weapons, but they need to take everything to the lab before being 100% sure.”
This was very good. Amita smiled with satisfaction.
“He made a mistake,” Charlie’s voice said behind her, as he got closer with his own laptop. Apparently, they’d heard the results.
“Yeah, and we got it,” Dwayne stated, turning to Amita.
She nodded. “Work on it.”
“Sure I will!” He went to talk to Forensics. Amita and Charlie stared at the body.
“We have an anomaly. This guy’s always accurate and clean. What was different this time? If we find that out, it should give us a good amount of data,” she said, almost excited that things were starting to go well. The right leads were just starting to pop out.
But Charlie frowned. “A good amount of information, yes. Because… that bullet wasn’t meant for her.”
Amita stopped in her tracks. “Then for who?”
“Oswald Kittner. He was a permanent client of the sex workers in this area. According to the witnesses, he and the victim, Samantha Winston, used to get together about two or three times a week at least.”
“Energetic boy, he was,” was the only comment Amita could make as she started to walk with Charlie by her side. “Was he here for one of their encounters?”
“Apparently not. He was seen running all the way from Chinatown to this very place, where the criminal shot the woman instead of him.”
Upchurch came towards them, writing on a little note book and catching up. “He’s renting an apartment a few blocks from here, in Chinatown.” He looked up and his eyes landed on Amita, like they were trying to figure her out somehow.
She didn’t like that look. However, behind Upchurch, the perfect subject to make himself a distraction was standing against the wall, resting. “Check that out.”
Charlie immediately turned around, but Upchurch didn’t seem to be very convinced until he saw what had caught Amita’s attention. Near them, against the building’s wall, there was D.S. Cowboy’s favorite boy. He looked quite well - shades, jacket, white t-shirt, old jeans, snickers.
“He protected the body until we arrived. I guess living here and being D.S. Cowboy’s right hand has taught him what to do when someone dies…” Upchurch said before cocking his head, inviting the rest to approach the guy. A year ago, D.S. Cowboy had been accused of murder, but no one could ever prove he did it. Amita and everyone else thought they’d gotten rid of the body in a very professional way.
As they got closer to him, the man saw them coming and straightened up. When he took off his shades, his green eyes described a broken but still confident personality.
“Special Agent Amita Ramanujan, and these are Lieutenant Upchurch and Detective Eppes. We’ve got a few questions for you.” She saw how Upchurch checked his note book and found a name.
“Colby Granger, right?”
“Yes, sir,” the other man said.
“We understand that you witnessed the shooting that killed Samantha Winston.”
“That’s right. I was passing by and I heard her talk to a guy. He wasn’t here for business, you know. He was running away from something or someone, and the next thing I know, Sam was on the floor with a bullet in her chest. I had to protect her. She was a good woman and a hard worker.”
Amita cleared her throat and nodded. “Did you know the guy that was talking to her?”
“Not really. I come here very rarely now. Anyway, the guy was pretty tall and looked almost thirty, dark hair and eyes, dressed like a teenager… I think he carried a skate or something.”
“We’ve got an ID already,” Upchurch muttered, taking down notes. He was so very old style. “Did you see the shooter? Any particular marks or physical attributes?”
“Nothing… He was dressed in black and no one could see his face. People say it was the Vigilante. Was he?”
“We’re working on it.”
Amita analyzed Colby Granger’s posture, trying to figure out if he was holding any data. Suddenly she noticed that Charlie was looking right into his eyes, too, but wasn’t asking any questions. “How long have you known D.S. Cowboy?” she finally asked.
Colby answered immediately. “Three years… why is that relevant?”
“You’re his favorite.” Upchurch stated, sending out a message.
“Used to be, that’s the key word… Now I’m his friend, I don’t work for him anymore.”
“Are a gigolo now?”
“What’s going on? Why are you asking…?”
Surprising Amita, Charlie finally spoke up. “The Vigilante could be after you. It’s not just this episode with that guy and Samantha Winston. There have been several attacks in the Leather Street during the last two weeks. I’m sure you’re aware of that.”
Granger frowned and finally nodded. “You’re right about that, Detective.”
Charlie went to stand beside him. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to interview Mr. Granger in private.”
The idea didn’t seem to disturb Colby. For a moment, Amita imagined that there was something going on there, as if the private interview had been previously arranged. Her impression strengthened when Upchurch didn’t opposed to Charlie taking care of that particular key witness.
As the two men walked away, she noticed how Granger wiggled his ass for Charlie as he guided the way and how Charlie occasionally looked down at him with eyes full of determination. Sure, Charlie swung both ways, but doing it with someone like Granger? It was too damned dangerous… unless he was doing some kind of weird undercover work.
Upchurch’s voice sounded behind her, startling her. “Kittner’s apartment. Coming or not?”
Oswald Kittner’s apartment door had been obviously forced. As Forensics took care of analyzing the area, Amita and Upchurch researched the dusty and dark interior. They’d all been provided with gloves and the necessary equipment. Now that they had Oswald’s picture and file, the lieutenant had decided to use a laptop and was now walking around the main room, collecting evidence.
“This place’s a mess,” he said, as she walked between piles of papers full of formulas. He leaned to grab something from the floor and showed a baseball bat. “And he likes sports.” Then he picked up the ball that went with it. “A lot.”
Amita had her eyes on the papers around her. “These numbers… We’ll need a better analysis, but they look like baseball mathematical analysis… I’ve seen things like these before. Real life matches and how to predict the winner.”
“We’ve got a little cheater here who enjoys gambling. Perfect target for the Vigilante, I guess,” Upchurch muttered between greeted teeth. He beckoned the desk in the middle of the room. “This is damned empty, but…” As if he was hypnotized by it, he touched one of the edges and his gloved finger got full of dust. “There are the marks of a rectangular object here. The space where it was is clean but the rest of the desk is dirty.” He took a look at his laptop. Its size fitted the shape in the desk perfectly. “Maybe the Vigilante took the laptop that was here with him… which is not good news. What could he possibly be looking for? He had the guy, he went after him. Why would he take his laptop?”
“Maybe Oswald took it with him before the Vigilante got here.” Amita’s words hung in the air. She only got a disturbing look from Upchurch. “In which case, he was a very brave - or maybe stupid - guy. If he took the time to grab his belongings before running away, then he wasn’t scared enough...”
“… or what he had in his hard drive was worth his life,” Upchurch finished.
“Exactly.”
“Maybe a clients’ record,” Amita imagined. Upchurch grabbed something from a shelf full of big books.
“Look at this,” he said. He was holding a picture of a young man with an older woman. They were both at a table, having coffee with pancakes. The breakfast scene looked very homey. “And…” Upchurch flipped the picture and exposed the back side. Love you no matter what, it said, and it signed by someone named Megan.
“That’s Oswald, but her?” Upchurch entered data into his computer, looking for an ID.
In the meantime, Amita decided to take a look out the window. The view wasn’t lovely but she couldn’t expect more than that, considering the area. Looking down, she could see the fire stairs and Dwayne Carter looking up.
“Hey, boss!” he yelled. “I’ve got an update! He ran down the stairs!”
“Track a possible trajectory through Chinatown and to the Leather Street and see if he left anything behind!”
As a response, Dwayne gave her a thumb up. She thought that anyone could have guessed that Oswald had escaped using the fire stairs. It was the only way out, with the Vigilante kicking down the door.
Upchurch was beside her again and he pointed at a plate with old food - a half-eaten burger and a soda - that was on the floor in a corner of the room. Beside it there were pizza boxes and lots of delivery cards. She leaned to explore the leftovers. “Looks like he spent a lot of time here.” She picked up the cards. “Pizzas, burgers, sodas, drinks, ice-cream… and a sex shop,” she added, raising her eyebrows. “It fits anyway. He used to go to the Leather Street a lot. Maybe he wanted to be sure he always had the necessary supplies.”
The lieutenant took a deep breath like he didn’t approve her analysis and pointed at the pizza boxes. Then he went towards his laptop. “There,” Upchurch interrupted her, pointing at his laptop. “This is the woman in the picture, it’s the only person named Megan who is part of Oswald’s life. We’ve got to figure out if she’s got something to do with his disappearance.”
Amita got closer to the screen. Megan Reeves, 41, single, worked for Wright Corporation until June 2008 as Human Resources Manager… Her train of thoughts was interrupted by the lieutenant, who approached her with no good intentions. From the way he held her gaze, she could tell he didn’t like her much. God knows why. “Okay, let’s assume for a moment that…”
“You assume too many things, Agent Ramanujan. I’m sorry to inform you that we don’t work that way. We find evidence and we come to conclusions, we don’t jump to them. That just means misleads, and I don’t think that’s what you want as part of the FBI.”
He obviously didn’t like her very much. With his eyes fixed on her, he took out his cell phone and dialed a number. “Millie, call Eppes and see if he’s done with Granger. Tell him that I need him to interview someone else. Her name is Megan Reeves…”
As he started to walk away, Amita analyzed him and his words. Why wouldn’t he just call Charlie, instead of telling Millie to do it? Apparently, he knew that Charlie didn’t want to be interrupted, thus he knew what he was doing with Colby Granger.
And the secrets continue. A while later, Amita was telling Dwayne that she needed to take care of something personal and that she should be back soon. The Mayor had texted her and asked her to meet him in the same private place they used when they got together to talk about projects related to his political career.
Walking out of the crime scene didn’t feel quite right. Upchurch’s eyes followed her until she disappeared from the place. On her way to the Mayor’s office, Amita told herself that she had to come up with a plan. If Jeff Upchurch didn’t trust her as an FBI agent, she would have to pay the consequences.