Picture 2017 Copyright © Karen Espenocilla

2014 Copyright © A. M. Forest

All Rights Reserved

"So from what I can gather, Todd Waters was a very private man," Joseph began as he clicked away at the keyboard, his eyes never leaving the screen. "He might have been an ER doctor, but he's barely been on the map for the last five years. No property or utilities under his name. He only had one checking account that he kept little to no money in; no savings. No arrests or tickets." Joseph sighed, gazing up at Magnolia who was scanning the screen repetitively. "I'll dig deeper, but it will take a couple of hours. If this guy had a mole on his butt cheek, I will know."

Magnolia grimaced, "I rather you keep that information to yourself." She moved around the couch and sat next to him. "Put his picture through facial recognition. Maybe he has aliases; see what comes up."

"Consider it done." A few clicks on the keyboard and the picture of Mr. Waters was running through every facial recognition software at his disposal in the top corner of the screen. He pulled up the autopsy report. "Okay, so the official cover-up is an animal attack. Due to the bloating, they assume that he was in the water for a couple of days, leaving no trace evidence as to what animal it really was."

She paused for a second, her eyes still on the screen. "What was Waters' position in the hospital?"

"Um... it says here, an on-call ER doctor."

Magnolia took a mental note of that. Her eyes moved to the bottom corner of the screen and looked at the time, "Interesting. Can you have this running while you are away from the computer?" she asked as she got up, walked around the couch before heading towards the front door.

When Joseph noticed this, he quickly followed suit. "Yes; but why would you need me away from my computer? I thought you wanted me to continue working on this."

She turned around coming within inches of his face, a big smirk gracing her lips. She brushed off non-existent lint from his leather-clad shoulders before answering, "Because you, sweet Joseph, are going to take me to the most thriving club in town-tonight."

With that, Magnolia winked at Joseph's opened mouthed form before walking out the house back towards town.

~~~

Joseph arrived at her cabin at 11 P.M. on the dot. It had gotten colder in the hours of the night and Joseph was blowing into his hands to warm them up after knocking on the door, taking a step back, absorbing the forest surrounding her house. A twig snapped to his right and his eyes trained in that direction to see a woman with red glowing eyes. He blinked and she was gone, replaced with a red fox.

"What the..." He started, taking a step closer to look at the fox. The fox's eyes glowed the same red as the woman; it's face just as curious. It tilted its head to the side but never left the tree line. He could have sworn he heard it purr.

Just then the front door opened and when Joseph turned back to the woods, the fox was gone. "Did you see-" he broke off when he looked at Magnolia, only to gape at what he saw.

She stood five inches taller in black velvet thigh-high heels that came up eight inches below the hem of her skin-tight olive green turtleneck dress. The shoulders were cut out and three circles showed off a small amount of cleavage. The dress hugged her curves, leaving nothing to the imagination and giving Joseph plenty of ideas.

"Snap out of it." Magnolia snapped her fingers to get his attention. "Did you bring what I told you?" She asked, turning to the small table by the door, showing off two small braids on the side of her head which revealed the hoops and stud in the top corner of her ear. Looking into the small mirror hanging there, she swiped on some pink lip gloss to complement her golden smokey eye look and turned back to him for an answer.

He blinked, "Um, yes. It's hidden like you advised. It's going to be a bitch to take off though." He mumbled the last part, scratching his lower back.

Magnolia looked him up and down, taking in his simple style: a black sports jacket over a black t-shirt and jeans, black boots covering his feet. His blonde hair was combed back from his freshly-shaved face and curled at the nape of his neck.

She nodded in approval. "You clean up nice, Austin." She stated before going back to examining herself in the mirror.

Joseph gave another long look down her body, stopping at where the dress clung to her rear. "So do you, Agent Haunt."

She gazed at him from the corner of her eye before turning to him, causing his gaze to jump to hers. Magnolia raised an eyebrow, "Something on your mind, Joseph?"

"Uh," he started, "If you don't mind me asking, where are your weapons?"

A broad smirk appeared on Magnolia's face. "Wouldn't you like to know?" She said before walking past him and out the door. When she stepped out onto the porch, Magnolia looked around, eying the forest before turning to him expectantly. "Well? The club isn't going to come to us, now is it?"

"Right," he uttered. After closing the door behind him, Joseph looked at the spot where he saw the woman and the fox.

"Come on, Joseph, I'm not getting any warmer!"

He shook his head and moved swiftly towards his Jeep. He must have imagined it.

~~~

Ten minutes later, Joseph parked around the corner from the club Neon. Showing their fake ID to the bouncer, they walked into the club, expecting the people to be covered in the neon colors of the rainbow. Black-lights and lasers bounced around the room lighting up the already bouncing crowd and DJ booth.

She leaned over to Joseph, "Split up, we can cover more ground that way. Remember what I told you to look for."

He nodded and they moved into the sea of people separately, Magnolia dancing along to the music, Joseph moving smoothly to the bar.

Magnolia skillfully moved to the music, touching the other people in a seductive way as she found herself in the middle. With each spin, she got a better look around the club, taking in the extremely high ceiling that held three black crystal chandeliers. In the far corner there were stairs that led to the second floor, a balcony looming over the dance floor. She spun again to see another bouncer guarding the stairs.

Spotting a non-neon colored person at the bar, Magnolia walked towards him smoothly, a neat fake smile plastered on her face as she tapped Joseph's shoulder. She eyed the bartender who was listening nearby before saying, "Hello, handsome. Why is such an attractive man like you doing alone?" She said loudly in their code.

Magnolia turned back to Joseph and gave him a pointed look in the direction of the bartender before flashing her smile again.

He nodded and leaned back onto the bar, his own coy grin appearing on his face. "Oh, don't worry about me; I haven't seen someone who interests me." He shrugged it off-which was code for 'I haven't seen anything unusual'.

"Well, since you haven't found anyone, dance with me." She offered flirtatiously, watching as his eyes widened. Magnolia could see him working it through his eyes; he couldn't tell if she was acting or for real.

His eyes gradually looked down her body, lingering on her chest and the curves of her hips before catching her eye again.

Her flirtatious demeanor wasn't as forced after watching his gaze. She pulled his arm towards the dance floor. When they made it to the center, Magnolia started to dance around his stiff form; he stared at the woman, wide-eyed and confused.

Magnolia rolled her eyes before whispering in his ear, her lips brushing the tip of his earlobe. "Stop being so stiff; relax and dance with me." After he finally loosened up and started to move with her. As they danced she took every chance to look around the club for signs of distress. Instead her eyes landed on a man standing on the balcony watching her. When she looked up again, he was gone.

After a while, the dancing became more heated between them as Magnolia started to grind on him, getting into the music. He must have started to get into it too, because his hands moved from her hips to her behind when she spun around. When she felt his lips touch her neck briefly, Magnolia stopped surveying momentarily, telling herself she was going too far.

What are you doing? Did you forget who he is? He left you once he will do it again.

After that mental debate, she pulled away from him reluctantly, and turned to him, "I'm going to the bar." When she looked up at his eyes, they were swirling with disappointment and something else that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Just as someone vacated a seat, Magnolia sat down, waving to the bartender, "Vodka, neat." Once he handed it to her, she swallowed the stinging clear liquid and tapped the glass for another.

"That's a strong drink for a little girl like you," A guy from beside her spoke up, catching her attention. He was the same guy who was eyeing her from the balcony. He had dark brown hair that fell on his forehead in curls and hazel-blue eyes to match. A smile spread on his face, showing his straight white teeth; possibly had braces. Medium built, 6'3", fitted black button-down shirt, white jeans, and large gold watch; possibly loaded. Tan skin, works outdoors; possibly grew up around here, so he knew the woods better than she did. High threat.

"Well, I can handle more than you think." She said matter-of-factly, nursing her second shot.

He chuckled, "Want to test out that theory?"

Magnolia looked him up and down one more time, "No thanks," she said dismissively. Quickly, she finished the drink and took some money out of her bra.

He chuckled besides Magnolia and pushed her hand back, "This one's on me." The mystery man waved at the bartender and pointed to their drinks.

Magnolia turned her head sideways, smirking at him as she asked, "What did you say your name was again?"

A cocky smile appeared on his face, "I didn't." And with that, he got up and walked out of the club through a side door.

Huh. Okay then.

Joseph walked up to the bar and moved into the vacant spot the mystery man once stood, a serious look on his face. "I didn't spot anything suspicious; how 'bout you?"

She was still looking at the exit the guy-with-no-name walked out of. "Possible lead; curly brown hair, hazel-blue eyes, 6'3, tan skin, no name given or received," Magnolia breathed out easily. She paused as she stood up, "he tried to get me to leave with him. I gave him a two minute head start."

Magnolia began walking towards the exit the man had left from, Agent Joseph quickly at her heels. "Wait for five minutes before following me, make sure your gun is at hand." She ordered, walking closer to the exit. Hiking her dress up a little, she revealed a knife carefully strapped onto her inner thigh. "I'm going after him."

"Agent Haunt," Joseph began, grabbing her arm to make her pause, "be careful."

Magnolia turned slightly to see the worry lines on his face, and gave him a reassuring smile. "They don't call me the best for nothing." With that, she walked out into the brisk night air.

~~~

Edited by Shrutiluvbooks