i am not throwing away my shot

“Go ahead” Eli murmured, eventually looking over at the girl. “Do you always carry a camera into bars? I mean, I know drunk people are entertaining, but I thought that was what phones are for.”

Claudia gave the man a more natural smile. After taking the seat beside him, she picked up her camera and took a few pictures of the couple playing pool by the bar. “Phones are so boring. No one asks questions when you bring a phone into a bar. A camera, though,” she smirked and raised both her eyebrows, “conversations galore.” Resting her camera on the table, she leaned forward to rest her chin in her hand; her focus on the couple.

When the woman agreed not to touch her setup, Aspen relaxed a bit in her chair and sipped at her cup of coffee. Over the rim of the mug, her dark blue gaze watched the other carefully, unsure why she was taking pictures of someone in a discreet manner. There were three options here: cop, photographer, or pervert. Aspen desperately hoped it was just the middle option. “A thief who takes pictures of unsuspecting victims,” the blonde hummed in her melodic voice, setting her cup back down. “Sounds like i’m in the presence of a real standup citizen.” Aspen’s tone was lightly sardonic, as it was just her personality. She then waited for the woman to correct her – hopefully.

Claudia took a few more shots. The men were now talking about something. She didn’t know what, but it didn’t matter when she already had her money shot. All she needed was proof that her target might be up to something. “Hey, you never know with people these days,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. Sarcasm didn’t bother her. More than anything, it was welcome. With her eyes still on her target, she placed her camera on the table. “But, I’m obviously not a thief. I’m a…nature photographer.” Purposely, she said the words in a way that made it clear she was lying. If her tone didn’t give her away, the way she squinted her eyes at ‘nature photographer’ might have, instead. 

Sierra scoffed at her friend who repeated how fine her establishment was when she knew it was far from the truth. Half the time it stood on it’s hind legs and the people who chose to frequent her bar were often those that most bars had long since banned. Her bar was a taste that took getting used to, but she still winked at her friend. “Thanks for saying that even though I know you’re being sarcastic.”

Her shoulders shrugged as she leaned forward. “I’m hoping that karma starts realizing how good I am and stops handing me shit for a little while.” The brunette said while she began to clean down the bar. As if her nice actions were all because she hoped that the universe would return them to her, though it wasn’t all that far from the truth. “Yeah, you should get out of here and get some sleep. You’ve been here for too long and I know for a fact that you’re not sleeping in later like I am. So get out of here.” The brunette plucked the others glass and brought it to her side of the bar so there was no excuse for Claudia to stay any longer. “Sounds good. I’ll get someone to cover me and text you. Have a good night, and get some sleep as soon as you get home.”

“I’m not, though – it’s special,” she said, crossing her heart with her left hand. Sierra’s bar had been one of the first places she visited after her move to Seattle. Sierra was also one of the first interesting people she happened to meet during her stay in the city. She didn’t know much of anyone else at the time and Sierra had been kind enough to talk to her. So, yeah. The bar was special to Claudia, warts and all.

“Who knows? The universe is full of surprises.” She did an open-armed shrug, hands out. Claudia really didn’t want to go home, but it was getting late. With the little bit of alcohol in her system, she was sure she’d at least get a little sleep. Jumping off the barstool, she took out her phone from her pocket; it had rang and when she opened it, it alerted her that her driver had arrived. “Alright, mother. I’ll try to get some sleep,” she teased, waving goodbye at her friend. She paused once she was by the door, her body leaning against the door frame. “And okay – can’t wait. See you later!” After she said that,  she was out the door.

Setting his coffee down, Kaleb soon looked at the woman. He didn’t know who she was but he wasn’t apposed to her sitting next to him. “No I don’t mind at all. Hi there” He greeted happily to her. 

“Uh..” Beau looked down at the empty spot beside him, “Sure I guess.”

Claudia took the spot beside him, her eyes on her camera as she goes through her photos “Thanks, I’ll try not to bother you, ” she said to him, before she lifted her camera to take a picture. “I would have bothered someone else, but I have a pretty great view of what I need from here.” 

“Do whatever you want…” Nate responded, looking over at Claudia, a confused expression clouding his face. He looked down towards the camera and raised a brow. “You know, if you wanted a picture, you could just ask.”

“Thanks,” she expressed.  Without saying anything else, Claudia took her seat and immediately began to take pictures of a blond woman hugging a man in a plaid shirt. Her attention fell away from the couple when the kid in front of her began talking. “Why would I want to take your picture? It’s not like you’re Tom Cruise,”  she said, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

Aspen was about to say no, before she looked up at the face attached to the voice. Oh, pretty. She’d tolerate the presence if it came with a view like that. “I suppose. Don’t touch anything.”

Claudia glanced at the items on the table, before she took a seat. Her arms went up in surrender. “I wasn’t planning on it,” she admitted, immediately picking up her camera to snap a few shots of her target passing something to another well-dressed man. She wasn’t trying to be rude when she didn’t make eye contact, but she had shit to do.  “I do like that you’re quick to lay down the law. A lot of people are too trusting. I mean, you don’t know me. I could be a notorious thief or something.” 

Rafael glanced up from where he’d been focused on his phone, scrolling through an article that was probably damaging his eyes more on this small screen than it was bringing him knowledge. But it kept him busy so he took it – until a stranger’s voice distracted him. “Oh, no. Please, feel free to,” he nodded quickly. His gaze flickered towards the camera once it caught eye – but he decided not to comment on it. Small talk with strangers wasn’t his forte anyway.

Claudia sighed with relief. Thankfully, it looked like she wouldn’t have to bribe anyone or kiss anyone’s ass today. “Thanks. I apologize if I interrupted anything,” she said, motioning toward his phone. Although she was speaking to the man, her attention went back to her target and the woman giggling beside him who wasn’t his wife.  Since the man in front of her had his phone out, she got the idea to use hers to take photos. It looked less suspicious that way; she could use her camera later. “I promise I won’t bother you.”

Cat recoils a little at the yell, not expecting such a reaction from someone she found to be kind of familiar. It took her a moment to place the face, but when she did she couldn’t help but roll her eyes. 

“You’re looking a little jumpy there,” she notes drily, taking the lighter before Claudia can wave it in her face for much longer. She snorts at the warning, lighting up her cigarette before she speaks again. 

“It takes more’n a boogeyman to scare me, sis.”

Claudia chooses to ignore the comment, crinkling her nose as she does. When the lighter is taken away from her, she crosses her arms over her chest and leans against a nearby wall. The smoke coming out of the cigarette catches her attention, and as Cat speaks, she watches as it drifts through the air.

“I bet. You don’t seem like you’re afraid of shit,” she says, too drunk to keep her thoughts to herself. “Your job is literally the stuff of nightmares.”

Sierra couldn’t help but smile at the girl when she told her that she was doing a great job. It was always nice to hear, especially when she put all her sweat, blood and tears into making sure this bar ran as smoothly as it could. The brunette winked at her friend and sighed. “What would I do without you telling me how good I am. I needed to hear that.” It was a moment of vulnerability she didn’t let many people see. 

At the mention of women and couples, as well as cheating, all sierra could do was roll her eyes given how typical it was. Women always stayed around because often many felt like they couldn’t function without a man. Which, to her, was the saddest part about it all. “He’s not allowed but I sometimes let him in when he comes at the door and begs to have a drink. But I make him promise to stay in my eye vision. He knows he’s on thin ice with me and I haven’t had much trouble with him since.” Her head nodded once more as she glanced around. She definitely had colourful clients. “That sounds like a plan to me, I’m always down to beat anyone. Though I promise to be extra gentle with you.”

“Well, I’m surprised you don’t hear it often. You do run a damn fine establishment. Damn fine.” Agreeing with her own words, she nodded a few times to herself. She thought Sierra did wonderfully. She wouldn’t come to the bar as often as she did, if the woman didn’t.

Downing what was left of her vodka, Claudia grimaced. The drink was good, but it had gone down wrong.  “Good for you. Laying down the law like that. You’re also a real peach, because I’d make the poor sod sleep outside,” she declared, her eyes glancing throughout the room. She glanced at a man playing pool against a woman. The woman appeared to have him beat. The horrified expression he made when she won made Claudia smirk. Her attention also fell back on Sierra. “You’ll have fun. I promise.” Obviously she would make sure of that. There was no way in Hell she’d plan a boring girl’s night. “I do think I should be heading home soon, though. My sister’s going to fuss, if I stay here too long. Maybe text me when you’re free tomorrow?”

        Cara had a habit of gazing at sources of her wariness with a significant degree of intensity, and she caught the nearly imperceptible shift in the stranger’s focus to a narrower one, and even if eye contact was not present in either level of focus, the abruptness indicated some sort of surprise. The minuscule, though unintentional, result of catching her off guard offered the scientist a small sense of victory. But given the way that the newcomer was poking around the crime scene, the woman clearly was neither unfamiliar with morbidity nor with crime scenes in general, nor apparently the medico-legal team present given her claims. Her moves haven’t been monitored, and she didn’t look particularly delicate in this crime scene that was rather delicate itself.

       Furthermore, with the revelation that the new arrival had been the one to discover the body and didn’t even flinch when she surveyed the body and the freshly bloody scene was just… curious. But Cara was only armed with the intention of pursuing her initial motivation and moving on, until the unofficial visitor asked a question that skewed that attempt. In a split second, Cara decided to leave her own questions for the end, which would really only disrupt the process of possibly having a fascinating conversation.

        She’s not a fan of instigating small talk, but they’re technically talking about work, and Cara’s intuition planted her feet in the ground, in position to find out more from this woman, whose character she’s already internalized more shrewdly than the introductions that were never exchanged… who had enough ties to the relevant authority to gallivant around the crime scene without supervision, enough obvious prior expertise in some applicable area that required “gallivanting around crime scenes”, so Cara raised her eyebrows before answering her question — though not in a way that would prove her unfriendly.

        “Empty?” Cara pushed a lock of unruly hair behind her right ear, proceeding to allow her inspecting eyes to spider around the spot she occupied. “Of what, paranormal activity?” Realizing that that might come off rather rudely but also maintaining some strange faith that she wouldn’t exactly get reamed for slight lippiness, she continued while one hand swiftly regarded the area around them, “If anything, I’d say that there’s too much shit going on.” But still curious, always probing, she turned a curious eye onto the woman and asked, “However, that’s probably not what you meant.”

        “You can’t really rule out paranormal activity when there are a bunch of demons in here.” Claudia teased, a devious smirk making its way to her features after she spoke. Since she knew she wouldn’t be at the crime scene for long, she thought it was appropriate to make at least one sly dig toward some of the detectives working the crime scene. A few morticians also, since one too many have had to deal with her asking them for favors one too many times. One of them was bound to notice her and send her on her merry way. She knew it was only a matter of time. And even though the woman’s colorful language made it look like she would get the joke, Claudia knew there was a one-percent possibility that she was a buzzkill like the rest of them.  “But I get what you mean. It is hectic in here.”

       Placing her hands in her jacket’s pockets, she glanced removed her focus away from the woman and let her eyes stray back to empty walls. “What I mean is...It doesn’t look like anyone’s lived here. For starters, there are no photos anywhere. I looked in the rooms earlier and I didn’t see any,” she explained, nodding her head. She knew she should have kept out of the rooms, but she had managed to find her way in them during all the chaos. The lack of photos caught her attention, just not enough to ring any alarms. It had taken the blood spatter analyst’s explanation of what she ‘saw’ in the pattern that made the realization loud in her mind. “There’s also like...one sofa in the living room and it’s covered with plastic. I know profiling is usually a bunch of bullshit, but doesn’t that seem off to you?”

         Eyeing the dead woman and ignoring everyone around her, she let out a heavy sigh. As she processed what she saw, she wondered why it even mattered. Obviously, she wouldn’t be allowed to work the case. But the thing is, she knew this scene. Seen it before, even. Well not it, but something like it. Very clearly she remembered the scientist say that the killer had made the ‘art work’ on the wall separating both rooms with gloved hands. Her eyes began to squint, her fingers tapping at the side of her thigh. The bloodied hand-prints, the medical background, the eerie emptiness...it all familiar. Her attention fell back to the scientist, “I know you’re probably going to kick me out of here, but I’ve seen something like this before.”