"What did you say?" Will faced him squarely.

Jiggy didn't seem as smug anymore. He appeared subdued even. Now that was odd. What was the vile man up to?

"The blondie that was killed left something behind." He uncharacteristically confessed and tucked his hands into his pockets.

"What did she leave behind?"

"Follow me." He started walking.

"Like hell, we will," I scoffed.

"I ain't lying, come see for yourself." He took another step forward but Will tripped him then held him up by the collar of his shirt.

"Any funny business and you're dead, got it?"

Jiggy grunted but nodded and Will released him. I held Will back from following him.

"He's got to be lying. There's no way she left something behind for him."

"I know but it can't hurt to try remember? And worst case, I can handle him. Would you rather stay here?"

"No, I'll go too." I quickly declined.

"You two coming or what?" Jiggy yelled from where he was and I flipped him off. We soon joined him at the top of the stairs and followed him all the way up into his apartment. The place was filthy, reeked of beer and an unnameable weird smell I concurred was probably just Jiggy. How the vile man ended up with the property and became a landlord still baffled me.

Will and I stood close to the door while he went in further and opened a cupboard. He rummaged through then finally brought something out. For a second, I pictured he really was fooling us and would pull out a gun on us, but instead he brought out a folded piece of paper.

"Are you shitting us right now?" I got annoyed.

"I never wanted the damned thing." He grumbled then tossed the paper to Will who caught it. It was folded into the shape of a small envelope and when Will shook the contents out onto his palm, something fell out. I went completely still. There in the middle of Will's hand was a small unmistakable object. A black memory card. His hand closed around it and he raised his head to glare at Jiggy.

"Where did you get this?"

"I told ya, blondie left it behind."

"You're going to have to give us more than that. How about the truth?" I said calmly although my mind and heart were racing. It was a memory card—no doubt about it. But was it the memory card? Could it even be the memory card? All of this was absurd.

"Why did she give you this?" Will enunciated. "If she really did."

"She was in a rush and dropped the damned thing, okay? I was in my spirits and picked it up thinking it was some cash." He had the decency to look embarrassed. "I got sober and saw it wasn't, I was going to return it I swear, I mean she was a good tenant, always paid her rent on time but she got herself killed and I couldn't."

"And now you're just giving it to us?" Will lifted a brow skeptically. "Have you seen what's on it?"

He reached for an open beer can and gulped. Something akin to fear entered his eyes and he bristled. "There's crazy shit on there and I don't want no hand in it. You two are the first to come here snooping so better you two than me."

I glanced at Will and we shared a look.

"What kind of crazy shit?" Will asked.

"The kind that'll chill you to your bones. Since you're here, you must know exactly what I mean. Now take the damn thing and leave." Jiggy looked ready to outright throw us out. His vague description was only pointing to one person in my head. Runo. But it made no sense. Jiggy of all people had the missing piece this whole time?

"Who cleared out Elise's stuff?" Will disregarded Jiggy's earlier words.

"Some woman friend of hers, wasn't in when she did. I'd have given her that damn thing too."

I took a look at Will again. The woman had to be Irene.

"You better not be lying because if this is what I think it is, then you know the consequences will be dire."

I had thought it impossible before now but the vile man showed fear for the second time in mere minutes. Just what the hell was on that card that had even Jiggy afraid? A chill ran down my spine and I straightened.

"Don't tell anyone we were here," Will warned for the last time. Jiggy gave a short grunt I took as agreement and Will and I were out of the weird-smelling apartment and back to the car in what felt like seconds.

"What the hell just happened?" I breathed out as Will reversed from the neighborhood.

"I don't know, I wouldn't trust that man for anything but,"

"He was terrified."

"It's either we just got the card we've been searching for, for weeks from your former douchebag of a landlord or we've just fallen into one elaborate prank."

"Well shit."

"That's about right. Here," he handed me the card.

"This could be it, how can you just give me this?" I asked off-handedly.

"Do you have any plans of throwing it out the window?" He grinned.

"I don't know, my arm's getting a bit of a spasm." I flexed my arm jokingly and he chuckled.

"I'd trust you with my life, Ophelia." He stared at me then back at the road. My cheeks went hot and I patted them with my free hand.

"I'll call Mark and the others."

"Shouldn't we check it first? Can we even check it right now?"

His face took on a thoughtful look. "Not internally but we could externally. Check the bottom left on the back, what do you see?"

I followed his instructions, turning the card to the back and reading out the letters at the bottom, "T.Y, oh my God, is that T.Y like Twain Yanus?"

"Or one very elaborate trap."

"I think this is it, Will."

"I think so too."

"But Jiggy?" I said with reluctance. "That's the wary part."

"Something must have happened and Elise lost it."

"That had to have caused a rif—wait, Irene's sister said Irene and Elise fought before she died. Maybe that's why they fought because Elise lost the card."

"At the end, they were lambs to the slaughter." He sighed.

The card felt a lot heavier now; like a ton of bricks. This could be the key to everything. And Will trusted me with it—with his life. I clutched it tighter praying with everything in me that this was it. The end to the carnage that was Runo.

When we got back to Will's he'd already called the guys over and Mark was just pulling in. We were so close to checking it and my nerves ate. All our nerves did. Will kept rubbing his brow and Mark's face was stony. I was still clutching the memory card. FBI and the detective arrived minutes after. That was how we all ended up crowding Will's laptop watching as he inserted the little black memory card into a drive then the laptop. Some files were encrypted and he clicked on one that wasn't.

It was a video.

Blurry at first but when it focused, four men came into view. Only three of them stood while the last man was on his knees and bleeding as two of the standing men continually kicked and hit him. They were tall and had large arms.

"That's Runo." Detective Shaun said but I'd already recognised the older man who stood apart just watching as the big guys kept hitting the man on the floor.

My fingers wouldn't stop tingling. This was the real deal, and it had been right under our noses all these months.

"Fuck," FBI swore under his breath.

I returned my attention to the video and instantly regretted it. Runo now had a gun in one hand and it was pointed straight at the bloodied man. There was no sound but their expressions were crystal. The two burly guys had stepped back and were stoic, Runo was smirking and the man—I'd never seen such fear on anyone before. Without a show of hesitation, Runo pulled the trigger and a bullet went through the man's head. My stomach fell.

"I'm going inside," I mumbled and blindly headed for the stairs. My coherence didn't return till I was upstairs and in a room. It was Will's room. I sat cross-legged on the plush rug in front of the bed. The gruesome scene wouldn't stop replaying.

The door opened and Will silently came in and sat next to me.

"I'm not okay and that," I motioned, "is not okay."

"I know."

I looked at him then as something hit me. "That was just a video, you saw that happen."

"And I nearly went mad."

"Doesn't that make me a bad girlfriend? I had no idea." That same feeling of guilt I felt when Will first told me about Runo clawed at me again.

"I didn't want you to, that's on me only, okay?" He lightly held my face between his hands and I slowly nodded.

"How can one man be so evil?"

"We have the memory card now, it'll be down with the FBI by tomorrow and we would have rid the world of one less bastard." He leaned back letting go.

"I still can't believe Jiggy had it all this while. Mark and FBI? How are they?"

Mark's cousin was who Will had witnessed being killed by Runo and FBI said Runo killed his family. I couldn't imagine how they felt. Sad but relieved? Will was right, we had the card now and Runo would be going down soon enough. One less bastard.

"They are alright, more excited than anything."

"You are too."

"We've all put so much of our lives into it. I mean Illston tech was started so we'd be on even grounds with the bastard. Looking back at all those years now," his expression was sublime. He should be cracking open a bottle of wine with Mark and celebrating not trying to console a sad, pregnant hormonal me.

"You've worked hard." I smiled.

"You have as well. We wouldn't have gotten this far without you. I'll admit this once, FBI and the detective haven't been all that useless."

"A pregnant woman's intuition." I tsked.

"Okay Gandhi," he chuckled and I pursued my lips.

"I'll be fine. You should go back down now."

"I want to stay here."

"Why?" I asked and we both knew the question went much deeper than it sounded.

"Considering everything that's happened, this may be forward, but you're it for me."

"It?" I attempted teasing but my voice was wobbly.

"I tried to forget you and everything we had. Made myself believe I didn't deserve you and that you deserved better, someone stable. Lately, though, I've started realizing something else."

"What?" I asked carefully.

"Maybe fate wasn't being cruel or playing a bad joke. Maybe fate is on my side and wants me to be as selfish as I want to be. I know I've fucked things up so many times already but I can't imagine myself anywhere else with anyone else. You're it for me, Ophelia."

A myriad of emotions encompassed me. I was happy, sad, scared, hopeful and lonely at the same time. His words were like a vice and they wouldn't let go. Honestly, I didn't want them to let go either.

"I'm not asking—" he was already saying but I cut him short.

"Everything you just said, show me."

The cue was simple. We met like a lock and key. A perfect fit. Our lips moulded together communicating everything else that couldn't be said. It was a lot. I felt him everywhere and revelled in the feeling. He lifted me off the ground till I was straddling him. I ran my hands through his hair, messing it up just how I liked it. His lips left mine to roam down my jaw to my neck. I shuddered when he kissed the sensitive spot between my neck and collar bone. I sighed heavily into his hair and guarded his lips back unto mine needing that feeling of breathlessness again.

His hands were warm and wandering as they left my waist and went under my top meeting bare skin. The connection sent little shivers down my spine. I could stay here and kiss him for hours, I thought honestly. The little thought scared and thrilled me. We never seemed to go out of style. We might just have lived that first thought if we weren't disrupted by a knock.

"Not sure what you two freaks are doing in there but come out, we aren't done Sherlocks." It was Mark on the other side and he was laughing.

Will groaned and leaned his forehead against mine. "He always has impeccable timing, doesn't he?"

"It's ridiculous." I laughed and we slowly untangled. Will's hands slowly slid down my waist and out of my top. The look on his eyes told me he was as tempted as I was but he stood first and held his hand out to me.

"Let's finish this, shall we?" He smiled and I accepted his hand with a smile of my own.

We headed downstairs and joined the guys. Mark was full of jaunts. I hoped to God my cheeks weren't as red as they felt. Throughout the rest of the afternoon, I kept stealing glances at Will. The future was vast. There was still time to always figure things out. This moment was for the psychotic crime lord.

Hours later, quarter way into the night and back in my apartment, Will's texts came in.

From:

Sleep in tomorrow, I'll call you. You two have a good night

From:

Sleep in!

I smiled and patted my belly. I caught myself before I said something cheesy I wouldn't be able to get back from. I threw my covers off, much too jittery to sleep, and went out to find Cece and tell her all about my day.

***