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Sep-1-2009 22:29

That was a sentence Valentina D'Angeli had heard many many times from her mother. She had never believed it much, not until she suffered the deepest wound in her life. The death of Fiorella, her beloved sister, had almost killed her.

Afterwards, she had gotten ill while chasing Domino, the responsible for the murder.

On the good side, she had met Zeo again, and gotten to know Vulkie, a new friend. Those two people helped filling up the void Fiore had left in her life.

It wasn't like she stayed with them all the time. They all had things to do and places to go. Cases to solve, agencies to help, villains to chase... It was almost a miracle when she could stay with any of them for a while. A complete miracle as she had time to be with both.

At the current moment, she had found some time to be with Zeo. It wasn't quiet quality time, though. The 'conversation' they were having resembled a fight.

"DON'T tell me what not to do!", Valentina shrieked, furious. "I AM going after Ladislav Zulfiqar and I AM going to catch him! I don't care what you think!"

She took a deep breath, irritated. Actually, she was like a loaded pistol lately. You never knew when she was going to fire at someone.

All of a sudden, she dropped on a chair and lowered her voice.

"Sorry, Joe. I don't know what's wrong with me. I think the tension of the hunt has finally taken it's toll."

Her eyes were suddenly welling up.

"You're not mad at me, are you, honey?"

Sep-3-2009 20:50

"Oh, I'm off to Delhi..." , the brunette answered with a smile. "I heard from some sources that told me my guy was heading there."

She then stood by Eric, listening as he pondered that she shouldn't go after Zulfiqar alone. At least she was listening, unlike she did to Joseph.

After some comforting words coming from Eric, Tina accepted his company for a drink. One that wasn't booze. She rarely drank, and it was getting even rarer now, after driking herself half to death as she was mourning for Fiore. Now, she felt the need to be responsible and keep her senses.

Eric ordered wine; Tina, orange juice, and they found a quiet table to talk. Only then she touched Zeo's name.

"Oh, yes... there is this person. Sort of."

"Tell me about him. Your eyes just sparkled."

The brunette laughed.

"Shut up! No they didn't! Okay, maybe they did."

She took a sip of her juice and sighed.

"The name is Joseph Zeo, guess you know him. I think... it may be the real deal."

"How real do you think..." , the man stopped in the middle of the sentence. "Is that the Joseph Zeo who's spying on us?"

"WHAT?", Tina shrieked. "I'm going to kill him and throw his body overboard in pieces!"

She got up from the table, mumbling a 'stay here' through her grinded teeth. Then, she went to where Zeo was standing.

"Joseph Zeo, you son of a..."

She would have completed the sentence, if a sudden jolt of the ship hadn't tossed her right in Zeo's arms. The woman took a deep breath, blushing a little.

"...gun.", she finally completed. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Sep-6-2009 05:08

"Who? Me? I'm... I'm... on my way, to... to India." Zeo stuttered.

"Obviously you are, being on this boat," Tina pushed Joseph away and said crossly, "but why are you going to India, of all places?"

"Just a change of scenery, i think, i mean... no, you've got company, so I should go now." Zeo said bitterly. As he turned around Valentina held tight onto his waist. She was torn between wanting to shred him to pieces and suffocate him with hugs. Zeo looked into her eyes.

Valentina cleared her throat, "Well, now that you're here, why don't you just come in and have a drink with us. I think you know Eric from one of your adventures."

"Yeah, and by the way Eric and Vulkie are very close 'friends', if you know what I mean."

"Oh, are they?" Valentina smiled slyly, feeling Joseph's jealousy. "Well Eric is a great guy." Joseph wanted to just jump into the ocean but Tina's grip on him was tight. He was unwillingly lead to the table like a sheep about to be slaughtered.

Eric stood as Tina returned, dragging Zeo behind her. "Ah I see your murder attempt had been more then successful." Eric remarked, amused. He then greeted Zeo and the three sat and order another round of drinks. Zeo remained very quiet as Tina and Eric laughed and chatted about the days when they were in the same agency. Tina and Zeo had even more memorable times together in the past, but Tina simply did not bring them up, so Zeo was just caressing his glass of vodka in silence.

Zeo was drinking much heavier than he usually did (he enjoyed his cigarettes more than his liquor), and was feeling quite dazed. Seeing that his presence was not really necessary, Zeo excused himself to return to his cabin. Valentina pretended not to care and dismissed Zeo lightly. The thin detective downed his finally triple vodka and left the bar.

Sep-6-2009 05:13

Zeo only then realized that it was already dark out; they had spent the day inside the bar. The stars shone especially bright out at sea. The low hum of the vessel and the breeze cleared Zeo's head up a bit, but he was still extremely dizzy. About a month ago Zeo's car was hit in an attempt on his life, and damaged his vision. The problem often return at all the wrong times. This was one of the worst.

Not seeing the railing clearly and in his intoxicated state, Zeo tripped over some chains and fell over board.

SPLASH!!

Sep-8-2009 16:19

Valentina practically draged Joseph back to the bar with her, forcing the man to sit with Eric and herself. After Zeo ordered his drink, the brunette dove back into her conversation with Eric, pretending not to care about what Zeo had said about Vulkie and Eric. They laughed and talked for a long time, digging up old memories. As a punishment for being so nosey, Joseph was kept out of the conversation, even in remarks.

As Zeo excused himself, Tina nodded for the man and watched him leave, silently. Only after a few seconds she realized Eric was talking.

"I'm sorry. Come again?", she asked, still sounding a bit distracted.

"I just asked what's the story with you two.", the man answered, with a smile.

"Oh...", Tina sighed. "No story. I mean... there is so much you just don't kno..."

SPLASH!!

The noise of something - or someone - falling overboard was loud enough to be heard at the bar. A voice yelled "Man overboard!", and something into Valentina's mind, or heart, made her rush out of the bar in order to see what had happened.

She saw exactly what she feared, and shook a sailor's arm frantically.

"What are you doing, just standing there and staring? Jump, do something!"

"Lady, I can't, it's not safe."

"SAFE! You... you... scared cat! I'll show you safe."

With these words, the young woman starting taking off everything she could, much to the amusement of the men standing around.

Once she was light enough, she did the stupidest thing she could do - jumping overboard.

Luckily for both Tina and Joseph, she was a pretty good swimmer, and someone quickly threw a rope down. The woman tied it around her waist and held the man, pulling the rope twice so they could yank them up.

Once they were safelly placed back in the ship, and Zeo was awake, Tina started pouding his chest.

"Are you completely out of your bloody mind? Do you want to scare me to death, or what?", she screamed, in nearly-bersek rage.

Sep-11-2009 08:19

file:///Users/Jola/Desktop/Interests/Sleuth%20Noir/Sleuth%20helper/SleuthCase2.html

The soak in the icy water along with the pounding he was now receiving really cleared Joseph's head. He realized what had happened, and that Tina dived into the ocean after him. Tina was still screaming and pounding at Joseph, so he did what just came naturally at the moment: he grabbed onto Tina and gave her the tightest hug ever.

Tina became completely still. Joseph didn't know what to do next. He was about to give her a kiss on the neck, but Eric came forward with a grin on his face, saying "I see that everything is fine and dandy now." Joseph then pushed Tina away. He reminded himself not to let anyone get too close to him, that danger was attracted to him like nails to a magnet.

Tina was apparently upset with Joseph's bipolar behaviour. She grabbed her attire from the sailor who was holding them, almost chewed off his head along the way, and stormed back to her cabin.

"Wow, that was smooth," Eric smirked at Joseph and held out a hand to help him up, "I thought you like the dame."

Joseph got up and took out his pack of cigarette, which was dripping sea water. He gestured to Eric, asking for a smoke and some matches. As Joseph inhaled the nicotine, Eric waited for him to speak his mind.

Joseph never did.

The soaked detective quickly returned to his cabin, making the excuse of needing to change. As he lay on his bed in his wet cloths, he couldn't help but to think of Anais, of Lisette, of women who died for being close to him, of his mother.... he drifted into a restless sleep.

****

Sep-11-2009 08:20

Joseph was sneezing badly for the next few days, but Tina seemed to ignore that. She seemed to ignore him altogether. At times she discussed with Eric various methods in flushing out Ladislav Zulfiqar from his hide out. Zeo kept telling himself that there was nothing between Tina and Eric, but he couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy whenever they laughed together.

Time seemed to crawl, but the ship finally reached port at Bombay. From there they took the train, which was delayed for hours. By the time they reached New Delhi, it was way past midnight.

"Our agency actually have a dormitory in the city. If you don't mind, you can stay with us. It's the wet season so not many detectives are around at this time of the year." Eric offered. Tina appreciated the gesture greatly and agreed to stay at them. Joseph had no choice but to follow.

The agency dorm was nothing posh, but it was clean and well kept. The group had only a few hours before sunrise, so everyone quickly turn in for the night. Tomorrow Tina would start looking for the psycho killer.

Sep-17-2009 16:35

Tina was so tired at the time they arrived to the agency dorms that she didn't want to talk or think about anything but sleeping. Not even Ladislav Zulfiqar was in her thoughts at the moment, let alone Joey.

The brunette went into the room Eric had arranged for her to sleep in and took a set of her sleeping clothes. After a quick bath, she went back into her bedroom and slept through the night.

The two men would only see her again in the next morning, fully dressed, when they were having breakfast. She looked tired and a little pale, despite the long hours of sleep.

"Good morning, Eric, Zeo...", she greeted, taking the seat at Eric's left and accepting a cup of cofee. "Thanks."

Not much more would come out of Valentina's lips as they eat their meal together. After she finished her toasts, she excused herself and went to a window, looking outside for a while.

She didn't turn as she heard light footsteps approaching the window. She knew those footsteps. And that smell. And the voice that had just asked if she was allright. Only then she turned around.

"Yes, Zeo. I'm okay. Just a bit of a headache", the woman explained. "Nightmares. And how was your night?", she asked, talking to Joseph in the usual way for the first time since the Domino incident.

Sep-20-2009 07:02

Zeo was astounded. For days Valentina refused to even address his existence, suddenly she was talking to him as if she never left him two years ago. He should be happy, but he just didn't know how to react. "Uh, okay, I guess." Zeo said no more, in fear of saying something that would ruin the moment. He seemed to be able to do so quite often.

"Come take a look!" Eric suddenly said, frowning into the local English newspaper. Tina returned to the breakfast table. Eric pointed at an article on the second page, "A family was slaughtered last night: a young couple with two small children. This has Zulfiqar written all over it. Seem like our killer could not quench his thirst for blood anymore, not even when he was supposed to be hiding."

Valentina looked at the address stated on the paper, "It's very close the where the mission is located. I'll go take look." Valentina picked up her purse and went for the door.

Zeo followed her closely. Tina turned around and looked at Zeo. "What do you think you're doing?"

"We're going to the crime scene... aren't we?" Zeo replied, looking at the floor. Tina crossed her arms and stared at the man.

Sep-27-2009 19:01

Tina let out a deep sigh. She tended to like Zeo, but, on the other hand, he tended to be somewhat over protective. The brunette could apreciate this trait of Joseph's personality sometimes. The only problem was that he only decided to be protective when no one needed his help.

That was exactly the case.

Valentina considered seriously telling Joseph what he could do with his protective trait, but seemed to change her mind instantly.

"Okay.", she said, softly. "You can come with me. But you have to promise to keep your mouth closed and your eyes open. Deal?"

As she waited for Zeo's answer, she went back to the table and kissed Eric on the left cheek.

"Don't wait for us, dear. We may stay out for quite a while."

Sep-27-2009 23:31

Tina kissed Eric on the cheek. Zeo was burning with jealousy but kept telling himself that there's nothing between them. Did he just notice that the kiss was a bit longer than it should have been normally? Zeo brushed that aside. "Sure Tina. I promise." Keeping his mouth closed was not an issue for Zeo. He liked it that way anyhow. The problem is expressing himself...

The two detectives passed by the mission and found the house where the murder the night before took place. It was an expat family where the lady of the house was a beautiful English lady.... well, not anymore by the time the police arrived. All family member was torn up pretty badly, especially the wife. D'Angeli went to talk to the officer in charge, and found out the man worked for the British embassy here in Delhi. Zeo noted the decorations in the house, including the crucifix and scripture calligraphy that adorned the walls.

Zeo kept his promise and didn't say anything. By the time Tina was done with the officer, Zeo tapped on her shoulder and pointed out all the religious decorations around the house to her.