Up in the Air

Helga Pataki slumped down in the hard plastic chair she sat on. The room was drab and dimly lit with a wooden table with three chairs total, two on one side of the table and one on the other. She looked at herself in the mirror that spread across the wall she was facing. She had seen enough cop shows throughout the years to make her wonder if there were any cops on the other side watching her. She tunneled her fingers through her blond hair and sighed heavily.

How long had she been in this damn room anyway? She looked at her watch; she had been sitting in the room alone for fifteen minutes now. The cop that had brought her in the room called it an 'interview room' but she knew the proper name for it was more likely an interrogation room. Why did it feel like she was going to be interrogated? She was the one who…

Her eyes closed as the images of what had happened just a couple of hours ago flooded her memory.

She had been upstairs when the yelling started. She heard Derek raise his voice first, yelling something about the money and then she heard Tom, one of Derek's business associates, yell something back. Helga became concerned after the yelling continued for several minutes and she finally decided to go see what the hell was going on.

She didn't really mean to 'sneak' downstairs to Derek's office, but that's what happened. She made quiet, unsure footsteps to Derek's office. She had opened the office door just a crack when it happened.

BANG!

Helga had jumped back in shock, covering her mouth, muffling the sound of a shriek when she saw Derek pull out a gun and shoot Tom between eyes. Tom hadn't stood a chance, he was dead the instant the bullet hit.

She was snapped out of her frozen state when she heard Derek's voice. Slowly, as quietly and carefully as possible she peered back into Derek's office, doing her best not to look at Tom or the blood soaked rug he was laying on.

Derek was on his cell phone, "Yeah, I had to take care of Jacobs. I need someone to take care of the body before Helga sees anything." There was a long pause. "No. Not there, the place has been crawling with cops lately. Dump him in the lake off do Riverside." There was another pause. "Be here in five minutes. I don't want Helga to know anything about this." Another short pause. "Good."

Helga watched Derek as he looked down at Tom's body before stepping over the deceased man and poured himself a drink. She gave him one last look before making her way back upstairs, not knowing what Derek would do if he saw her.

It had been a good decision, Helga decided, because just a few minutes later Derek appeared in their bedroom indirectly asking her if she heard anything. She lied, of course, gesturing to the book she was holding. She knew Derek knew she tended to ignore the rest of the world when she read. He proceeded to tell her he had some business to attend to in New York City and he'd back a couple of days. She faked a few passionate kisses and told him she would miss him as he packed a bag.

She waited a full twenty minutes after Derek left before she packed her own bag and drove to the police station.

Helga talked to three different cops since she arrive at the police station over an hour ago, recounting the events with each conversation. The third cop had led her into the so called interview room, asking her to wait there, because a forth officer wanted to talk to her. She looked down at her left hand where her engagement ring still sat. She loved that ring. It was the biggest engagement ring Helga had ever seen in real life, not that diamond size really matter to her, but the ring was beautiful and she was so in love with the man who gave it to her.

She chewed on her bottom lip; she never would have imagined Derek actually murdering someone. She thought back to the phone conversation she had overhead and had the sinking realization that Derek had probably killed before. They were in the middle of planning their wedding; Helga had picked out her wedding dress just last week. But now…Now she felt sick at the thought she had slept with this man and worst of all that she was in love with a murderer.

"You better not be shitting us about this." Arnold Shortman stated as he walked into the room next to interrogation room one. He had been trying to nail Derek Malloy since the day he joined the FBI three years earlier. This was the first real hard evidence they had on him. There was a witness. Malloy's fiancé witnessed him committing murder. He just prayed that the woman was credible.

"Here's the witness's statement." Officer Cruller said holding out a file.

Arnold snatched the file from Cruller's hands and immediately began reading the signed statement.

Arnold's partner, Edgar Allen looked at the blonde woman on the other side of the two-way mirror, "Pretty girl." He commented. There had been rumors that Derek had been engaged, but Malloy seemed to be purposely keeping her out of the public eye.

Arnold looked up, curious to see what his partner considered pretty. "Oh my God." Arnold stepped closer to the two-way mirror. "I know her!" He was shocked to see that it was Helga G. Pataki, as beautiful as ever, on the other side of the mirror. "I went school with from preschool till high school graduation." He scanned the rest of the statement. "Let's go talk to her." He handed the file back to Cruller and exited the room.

Helga sighed heavily, eying the mirror in front of her, waiting for someone to come in so she can give her statement again and get the hell out of there. She turned to look over her shoulder when she heard the door finally open. "Criminy! It's about time." She mumbled, clearly annoyed they kept her waiting so long. She looked back into the mirror, "Can we please get on with this. I'm getting really sick of repeating myself."

Two men had walked in taking a seat in the chairs on the opposite side of the table from the Helga and she finally took a good look at them. The first was a pudgy man with dark brown hair and looked to be somewhere in his forties. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw the other. Was she seeing this right? The man was her age, blonde, and as handsome as ever. "Arnold?" She hadn't seen him since the night they graduated high school.

"State your name." Arnold's green eyes locked with Helga's blue ones.

She sighed, "You know my name Arnold."

"State your name." He repeated. He tapped a pen against the wooden table.

"Helga Pataki." She offered.

"State your full name." Arnold clarified, still not breaking eye contact.

"Helga G. Pataki." She took it upon herself to break eye contact and look down at the hands, her engagement ring sparkling despite being in the dim space.

"Your full name Helga." Arnold demanded.

"Helga Geraldine Pataki." She let out annoyed sigh, "Are you satisfied now?" She grumbled.

"Very. I was always curious about what the G stood for." Arnold's serious expression cracked a small smile, but then quickly returned to its original serious stance. "Now I need to you tell me exactly what happened." Once again his eyes locked with hers.

"I've already made three statements to three different cops. The second one had me write and sign a statement. I know you can read Arnoldo, you know what happened." Helga folded her arms as she glared at Arnold and other man. "Who is this guy?"

"We aren't in high school anymore Helga." Arnold spoke up. "I'm a FBI agent. You can't talk to me like that. This is Edgar Allen; he's been my partner since I joined the force."

"Wait…You're FBI?" Helga unfolded her arms and sat up straight. "Why does the FBI want to talk to me?" She looked over at Edgar, who hadn't spoken a word since entering the room. "What the hell is going on here?"

"I read the reports, but I need to hear what happened directly from you." Arnold explained, "This will go a lot easier if you just cooperate with us."

Helga sighed, "Fine…I was upstairs when I heard Derek and Tom start to argue. They were shouting. I've never really heard Derek raise his voice to anyone before so I went to see what was going on. I had just opened Derek's office door when I saw him pull out the gun." She paused; her voice slowly beginning to waiver. "Derek killed him. He shot him point blank without a second thought." She swallowed a dry lump in her throat. "I was just so shocked…I was just standing at the door, frozen. I heard Derek on the phone. I don't know who he was talking to, but he told them he had to 'take care' of Jacobs and told them to dump the body in the lake off of Riverside." She ran her fingers through her hair, "He kept tell whoever he was talking to that he didn't want me to know or see anything. He doesn't know I saw anything…I think he's killed before. He said something about not dumping the body somewhere because it has been crawling with cops lately. Anyway, I went back upstairs and a few minutes later Derek came up and told me he was going out of town for a few days. After he left I packed a bag and came here. Now can you please tell me what the hell is going on? Why is the FBI involved in this is?"

"What exactly is your relationship with Derek Malloy?" Arnold asked, ignoring her question.

"He's my fiancé…Or was my fiancé." Her persistent glare at Arnold softened. "Arnold, could you please just tell me what the going on here? Why does it feel like I'm the one who is being interrogated? Criminy, I saw the man I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with murder someone today…I think I deserve some answers."

"We will give you them." Edger finally spoke up as he watched his younger partner shoot the young woman a sympathetic look. "We just have a few more questions we need answered first." He looked over at Arnold, "Shall I? Or would you like the honors Shortman?"

"How did you and Malloy meet?" Arnold asked after scribbling down a few notes in his notebook.

Helga released another annoyed sigh, frustrated she wasn't getting any answers. "We met half way through my senior year at MIT."

"You went to MIT?" Arnold asked in surprise." I didn't know that."

"Well I didn't know you are an FBI agent either, so get over it." Helga snapped, she eyed Edgar when he let out an amused chuckle. "MIT has one of the best writing programs in the country." She explained before continuing, "Anyway, I was bartending and he was there with some of his friends and there was there was some creep who kept hitting on me all night. After my shift the creep tried to follow me to my car, but Derek saw and stopped him before he could try anything. We started talking and ended up hitting it off." She looked at Arnold, "What else do you want to know? I want answers."

"We just have a couple more…" Arnold cleared his throat. "What do you know about what Derek does for a living?"

"He took over the family business. Real-estate. He is quite successful." She watched Arnold and Edgar exchange looks, "He doesn't talk to me much about work. He always told me he wanted to leave work at work. When he was home he didn't want to think about work." She scratched her arm nervously. "What else?"

"Just one more." Arnold's voice had softened slightly from the stern tone he had been using, "Was he ever violent with you?"

"No." Helga answered quickly. "I mean…I guess he slapped me a few times, but I probably deserved it." She spoke directly to Arnold, "I'm you remember how much I can run my mouth. It was never more than a slap and he was always really sorry afterwards." She sighed, "Honestly, it didn't happen that often. We've been together for three years and I count the times on one hand, so you don't need to look at me like that." She looked at both men, "Now can you please just tell me what is going on?" She begged, "If you really are FBI this isn't just about a murder, is it?"

"I've been on Derek Malloy's case since I joined the FBI. He isn't in real-estate Helga. It's just a front to his real dealings. He has connections with the biggest crime ring on the East Coast. We aren't sure how big his involvement is, but we do know he is involved. We know he has supplied weapons and safe havens for some very dangerous criminals. You were right, we are pretty sure he has killed before."

Helga's jaw dropped open and she physically paled, "He…He's a criminal?" She asked quietly. "I swear. I had no idea that he was involved in all this. I never would have…" Her hand covered her mouth. "Oh God…This cannot be happening."

"Shortman, get her some water would ya?" Edgar more demanded than asked.

Arnold gave a sharp nod before getting up from his seat and disappearing from the room only for a few moments before returning with a paper cup fill with water. "Here." He said softly as he handed her the cup.

"Thanks." Helga whispered after she gulped half the water down.

"Do you have any family or friends that you think could be in danger because of all this?" Edgar spoke up.

Helga shook her head. "I don't have a relationship with my parents or sister. I have barely spoken to any of them since I graduated high school." She paused, "My friends are his friends. I didn't have that many friends in high school and college and the ones I did…Well we drifted a part in the past few years."

"Are you sure about that?" Edgar asked.

"Yes. The last couple of times I talked to my so called parents the phone calls ended in disaster and Derek was there for it."

"What happened?" It was Arnold who asked this time.

"Why does it matter?" Helga asked, drinking the rest of the water. When Arnold and Edgar didn't answer she continued, "I've never had much of a relationship, not a good one anyway, with any member of my family. Bob and Mariam promised me they were going to come to my graduation. I was top of my class and was selected to read something I wrote during the ceremony. Then Olga got engaged—for the third time I should add— the she had two engagements that fell through before that and they went to see her to celebrate instead. Then when I got engaged I called and told them and they accused me of trying to rub my happiness in Olga's face, because she and Mick just called off their wedding. Well Mick called off their wedding. I haven't spoken to any of them since. I'm sure in Derek's eyes he'd be doing me a favor if he offed my parents."

"We think you could be in danger." Arnold told Helga point blank. "Malloy is a very dangerous man and he won't go down without fight. We are offering you police protection."

"You are offering me it? So that means I can reject it, right?" Helga asked.

Arnold paused, "Yes, but I strongly recommend you don't. You are a key witness to a major crime and your life could be in danger. Without you we really don't have a case and your life could be in danger." He emphasized the fact once again, "Please don't reject police protection Helga."

"Sorry Football Head, but I'm rejecting it. I am right now anyway. Derek does not know I saw anything or went to the police." Helga argued. She didn't say it, because she knew what Arnold's reaction would be, but she knew despite everything, Derek loved her and wouldn't kill her. She could feel it in her bones, Derek would not harm her.

"Miss Pataki I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation…" Edgar tried to argue.

"I do. Believe me, I do." Helga brushed loose strands of hair behind her ear, "But I don't want any protection at this moment in time."

"What are you going to do? Where are you going to go?" Edgar asked.

"I'm going to check into a hotel and relax. I'll figure out the rest tomorrow. When are you going to arrest him?"

"We have a few men in blue after him right now. He should be in custody within a couple of hours." Arnold to her as he closed his notepad.

"Okay. Good. Are we done here?"

Arnold nodded, "There is just some paper work you need to sign." He fished out a card from his suit pocket. "If you need anything, think of any new information, or changed your mind about police protection don't hesitate to call."

Helga took the card, "Thank you." She put the card in her pants pocket and stood up, "Can I go now?"

"We'll walk you out." Arnold took some fast strides to the door, opening it for Helga. "After you…" He stepped aside.

Edgar and Arnold watched Helga for across the room as she signed the paperwork she needed to sign before she could leave the police station, "Are you really letting her just leave?" Edgar asked, "You and I both know she needs police protection."

"I do know that." Arnold told him, "But I also know Helga. She is stubborn as hell and won't admit she needs help until it's too late."

Edgar raised an eyebrow, "So what's the plan?"

"We are going to track her. We will follow her to protect her. I'll be damned if I let Malloy or any of the scum he works with hurt that woman. Come on, let's go to our car. We can't let her know we are following her."

So I didn't really intend to start writing this...It just kind of happened. I got the idea and my muse just kind ran with it. I've been having more free time lately so don't worry, I plan to update this, A Twist of Fate, and Reunion more often. As always, if you enjoyed please review.

One more thing, I *might* be changing my username. I made this when was Grey's Anatomy fan and I have not watched nor like the show for a couple of years now, so if you see this or any of my stories under a different username that is why.

Anyway, again, if you enjoyed please follow, favorite, and review!