DISCLAIMER: Women's Murder Club and its characters are the property of James Patterson, 20th Century Fox Television and ABC. No infringement intended.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
The Seed We've Sown
By Aubz
Chapter Three - Hit The Floor
Cindy rolled over in her bed and realized at some point Jill had left. Something crashed in the kitchen, and she sat up. "Jill? Please tell me you dropped something." She said, her voice shaky. The footsteps that made their way down the hallway were too heavy to be Jill's, and that scared the hell out of Cindy. A tall figure appeared in the doorway and she jumped up off of the bed. "Who the hell are you?"
"Let's say I am an old friend." The man said, reaching across the bed and grabbing Cindy's arm. She struggled against him, but it was no use. He had her arm tightly and there was nothing the young reporter could do. As the light from outside caught his face, she inhaled sharply.
"Jace." She said, her voice barely a whisper. All rational throughts of trying to fight back left her mind as she looked into his dark eyes. "When did you get out?" She asked, taking a deep breath as he let her arm go, but still blocked her exit.
"Just this morning. Good behaviour." He said, laughing. "What's the matter Cindy? Still scared?"
"You need to leave." She said, her voice full of strength that her body lacked.
"So, who is your pretty girlfriend?"
"Leave her alone." She demanded. He took a step closer to her and she found herself unable to move. His fist connected with her cheekbone before she could even think about what he was doing.
"Don't talk to me like that. You should know better." He yelled. "You better keep your act straight. I will be watching you. I don't want to have to come see you like this again." As quick as he appeared, he was gone.
Cindy was trying her hardest to avoid everyone's stares the next day. The bruise on her cheek was hard to explain, because 'I hit it.' didn't really explain what had happened. She groaned when her phone beeped and it was a text message from Lindsay wanting to talk to her about something. She gathered her things from her desk at the Register and headed to the Hall. As she appraoched Lindsay's desk, she put her head down when she saw Jill sitting there. The two women looked at her as she sat down, still managing to keep the ugly bruise hidden. "You wanna look at us?" Jill asked, reaching for her. She pulled back quickly and tried to stifle a sob.
"Come on." Lindsay grabbed her arm and Jill's and led them towards Tom's office. She stuck her head in the door. "Hey, can we use your office to have a private conversation? Unless you're busy. We can find somewhere else."
He saw Cindy's shoulders shaking and he stood up. "Feel free. Let me know when you're done." He said, passing them on his way out of the office. Once the door was closed and the blinds drawn, Lindsay moved over to Cindy and forced her to look up.
"What the hell?!" Jill almost yelled, seeing the reporter's face.
"I don't want to talk about it." She whispered. "I can't."
"What the hell happened after I left?"
"Why did you leave? He would have stayed away if you were there." She whispered, leaning into the corner, as far away from the older women as she could get.
"Who, honey, who?" Jill whispered, carefully moving towards her.
"Jace." She croaked, a new wave of tears breaking out at the man's name.
"Who is he?" Lindsay said. Her voice was sharp, but her face was anything but.
"Jacen Michaels. He is 33. He was in San Q, serving a nice little sentence for beating the shit out of me four years ago. Apparently, they let him out almost a year early for good behaviour." She said, melting into Jill's arms as the woman reached for her. "I don't know his address, but he showed up in my apartment last night. He was asking me about Jill, and I told him to leave her alone, and he hit me." Lindsay was on Tom's computer, looking up the man. She had Jill pull Cindy over to look at the screen. The look on her face let Lindsay know that she had the right guy.
"Don't let her out of your sight." She said. She left the office and quickly found Jacobi. "I want you to go up to Tom's office, get Jill and Cindy and escort them to my place. Do NOT let them leave your line of sight for a second. Got it?" She said. Instead of asking questions, he made his way up the stairs as Lindsay stormed out of the room.
Jacobi knocked on the door and Jill looked up. "Where did Lindz go?" Cindy whispered.
"I don't know but I am supposed to take you to her place. Both of you." He gently placed a hand on Cindy's arm.
"You need to go find her. She is gonna do something stupid." She looked at Jill, panic on her face. "She is gonna go after Jace. That's why she looked him up! He'll kill her!" She broke away from the two people and quickly made her way out of the building and into the sunshine. She took off at a dead run and caught up with Lindsay as the woman entered an old apartment building. She followed silently behind her, not wanting her to know she was there.