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celerycoke88 · 2 years

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Xem Trực Tiếp Bóng Đá Aff Cup 2021 Hôm Nay 8

Về điện thoại hoặc truy cập một trong các hyperlink dưới đây để xem trực tiếp trận đấu. Tương tự như VTV GO, VTV Giải trí cũng là ứng dụng xem phim truyền hình miễn phí, có thể xem Tivi trực tuyến hoặc xem lại dễ dàng, bất cứ lúc nào. Các bạn cùng xem cách tải và cài đặt VTV Giải trí trên điện thoại để cài VTV Giải Trí dễ dàng, xem phim, xem gameshow đặc sắc. Mời quý độc giả chú ý đón xem và cổ vũ cho thầy trò HLV Park Hang Seo tại AFF harry kane man city . HLV Tatsuma Yoshida cho biết toàn đội sẽ bước vào trận đấu với một tinh thần chiến đấu mạnh mẽ và quyết tâm giành trọn cả ba điểm. Bạn đang muốn tải video Facebook về điện thoại của mình để chia sẻ, gửi cho mọi người cùng xem nhưng chưa biết làm thế nào? Hãy theo dõi ngay bài viết dưới đây để biết cách tải video Facebook trên điện thoại bằng x2convert một trong những Website hỗ trợ tải video hiệu quả và tốt nhất hiện nay. Đây là trận đấu mà U22 Việt Nam bắt buộc phải thắng nếu như muốn có quyền quyết định với U22 Thái Lan. + Các chương trình của kênh VTV6 tập trung khai thác mọi khía cạnh trong đời sống, văn hóa của giới trẻ, với những người dẫn chương trình hầu hết đều là những người trẻ tuổi. Nếu có thì đừng quên để lại bình luận ở bên dưới cho mình biết với nhé, à tiện mình dự đoán trận đấu tối nay thì Việt Nam sẽ thắng Malaysia với tỷ số là 2 - 0, bạn nào có dự đoán khác thì cứ bình luận ở dưới luôn nha. Nhắc đến VTV Go thì mình không thể nào không nhắc đến tính năng xem lại chương trình đã phát cực kỳ hữu ích. Cá nhân mình là một đứa rất thích xem thời sự nhưng không phải lúc nào mình cũng có mặt đúng giờ để xem chương trình này. Việc tận dụng tốt nguồn ngoại lực, khiến Philippines nhanh chóng có được sức mạnh để cạnh tranh cùng nhóm ứng viên của cuộc đua vô địch. VTV Go là một trong tảng số cung cấp dịch vụ giải trí trực tuyến tốt nhất hiện nay. Mình hoàn toàn có thể xem lại chương trình đã phát sóng cách đây 6 tháng trên VTV Go. Siêu sao Cristiano Ronaldo bị rút ra sân ở phút 88 trận đấu giữa MU và Arsenal (vòng 14 Ngoại hạng Anh) hôm 3/12 vừa qua. Trang Daily Mail tiết lộ, anh dính chấn thương đầu gối vì ăn mừng pha lập công ấn định chiến thắng 3-2 cho "Quỷ đỏ", thậm chí không kịp bình phục để tham dự trận gặp Crystal Palace. Như vậy, Viettel4glte.com đã hướng dẫn cho bạn 3 cách để xem bóng đá trực tiếp trên VTV6 dễ dàng qua TV360, VTV Go, FPT Play. Ngoài ra còn rất nhiều ứng dụng, web site khác cho phép xem trực tiếp các kênh truyền hình, tuy nhiên lại rất dễ bị giật lag và tốn phí đăng ký dịch vụ. Được Viettel cung cấp cho khách hàng, đây là ứng dụng xem truyền hình trực tuyến với rất nhiều kênh có nội dung đặc sắc, trong đó có kênh VTV6 – trực tiếp bóng đá. Sẽ có rất nhiều kênh để người hâm mộ bóng đá Việt Nam xem trực tiếp trận chung kết lượt đi AFF Suzuki Cup 2018, hãy cùng điểm lại một số kênh trực tuyến trên internet. VTV3 trực tiếp bóng đá hôm nay 2021, Ngoại Hạng Anh, Cúp C1, Việt Nam. Để có được chất lượng hình ảnh xem bóng đá tốt nhất, ngoài kênh vtv6 còn có vtv6hd cho người xem trực tuyến có được hình ảnh sắc nét nhất . Không phải bất kỳ ai cũng có được tấm vé hoặc điều kiện để xem được trực tiếp trên sân vì vậy Kenh vtv6 hd trực tuyến bóng đá nhanh nhất cho người xem . Báo Lao Động sẽ cập nhật hyperlink xem và tường thuật trực tiếp trận đấu giữa chuyển nhượng tottenham phục vụ quý độc giả. Tuy nhiên trong lần đầu sử dụng ứng dụng FPT Play để xem trực tiếp VTV6 trên điện thoại, các bạn sẽ cần phải thực hiện tạo tài khoản sử dụng ứng dụng này. VTV6 HD là kênh truyền hình Thanh thiếu niên đã được lên sóng hơn eleven năm gắn liền với những thế hệ trẻ 8x, 9x, 10x,.. Kênh VTV6 luôn tập trung khai thác đa chiều khía canh đời sống của giới trẻ là chính. Bên cạnh đó VTV6 HD trực tiếp bóng đá được đông đảo khán giả biết tới (tường thuật bóng đá trực tiếp và phát lại các trận đấu, bản tin thể thao trong nước và thế giới). Có thể nói rằng, VTV6 là kênh truyền hình dành cho giới trẻ của đài truyền hình Việt Nam. Tất cả những chương trình được công chiếu trên này đều hướng đến giới trẻ. Và tất nhiên thì VTV6 trực tiếp bóng đá sẽ đưa đến cho bạn toàn bộ những trận đấu của GIẢI VÔ ĐỊCH U23 CHÂU Á 2020. Ở lượt trận thứ 2, Myanmar có cơ hội cải thiện thành tích để tìm kiếm chiến thắng đầu tiên khi chỉ phải đối đầu với đội bóng bị đánh giá yếu nhất bảng là Đông Timor. Ở trận đấu đầu tiên gặp ứng cử viên hàng đầu cho chức vô địch là ĐT Thái Lan, Đông Timor đã chơi chắc chắn ở hàng phòng ngự khiến cho đối thủ gặp không ít khó khăn. Nếu kênh VTV6 có vấn đề về phát sóng, ae có thể tham khảo các kênh dưới đây để đón xem các trận đấu bóng đá yêu thích của mình mà không bị gián đoạn nhé. Có thể nói VTV Go là một trong những nền tảng số cung cấp dịch vụ giải trí trực tuyến tốt nhất hiện nay. (Techz.vn) ĐT Việt Nam đã có được chiến thắng nhẹ nhàng trước ĐT Lào ở lượt trận đầu tiên vòng bảng AFF Cup 2021. Mặc dù vậy, BTC đã gây bất ngờ khi không vinh danh bất kỳ học trò nào của HLV Park Hang-seo. (Techz.vn) Trò cưng của HLV Park Hang Seo - tài năng trẻ Dụng Quang Nho đang trở thành tâm điểm của sự chỉ trích khi "học theo" đàn anh Lê Công Vinh vái lạy trọng tài. Với scandal này, cựu thủ quân Đội tuyển U23 Việt Nam đang đối mặt nguy cơ lụi bại sự nghiệp khi mới bước sang tuổi 21. Trong khi đó, với lợi thế sân nhà và sự hưng phấn sau chiến thắng 3-0 trước Myanmar, ĐT Singapore đang đặt quyết tâm giành trọn 3 điểm tiếp theo để sớm hoàn thành mục tiêu vào bán kết. Tuy nhiên, Đài truyền hình Việt Nam đã có bản quyền phát sóng giải đấu thể thao lớn nhất hành tinh vào phút chót, ngay trước giờ các trận bóng đá nữ đầu tiên diễn ra vào ngày 21/7. Trên đây là các kênh truyền hình có phát sóng trực tiếp World Cup 2018 mà người hâm mộ có thể tìm xem trong trường hợp VTV vẫn không mua được bản quyền truyền hình. giải copa chiếu kênh nào nhiên, những kênh trên lại không phát sóng chính thức trên các hệ thống truyền hình cab Việt Nam nên người hâm mộ thường phải xem qua web hoặc tải các ứng dụng di động. Cùng xem VTV6 trực tiếp bóng đá qua bằng cách đi vào những đường dẫn được chúng tôi cung cấp. Bạn có thể sử dụng điện thoại, laptop computer, máy tính bàn bật chế độ HD căng nét để theo dõi nhé.

#harry kane man city #chuyển nhượng tottenham #tin tuc tottenham #nguyen hung #lich thi dau tottenham #kênh chiếu copa #giải copa chiếu kênh nào

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drivernancy53 · 2 years

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Cảnh Giác Với Cơn Đau Tim Khi Xem Trực Tiếp Bóng Đá

Tuyển Tây Ban Nha sẽ hành quân đến thành Milan để trả món nợ đã vay từ 3 tháng trước. Không dễ gì để sòng phẳng với nhà đương kim vô địch EURO nhưng thầy trò ông Luis Enrique có đủ tự tin để làm điều đó. Văn Đạt thoát xuống và bị hậu vệ U23 Myanmar truy cản trong vòng cấm, nhưng không có phạt đền cho U23 Việt Nam. (đơn vị sở hữu bản quyền phát sóng Vòng loại thứ 3 World Cup - Khu vực châu Á). Đội bóng từng vô địch thế giới three lần Sada Cruzeiro đã chiếm ưu thế trước nhà vô địch châu Á Sirjan Foolad của Iran, dành chiến thắng 3-0. Tình hình đang rất căng tại Portland Trail Blazers khi họ gặp một loạt vấn đề, từ GĐKT cũ bị sa thải, CJ McCollum vướng tin đồn trao đổi và giờ là Damian Lillard. Chỉ 10 ngày nữa, sự kiện MMA đầu tiên do Liên đoàn Võ thuật tổng hợp Việt Nam tổ chức sẽ chính thức khởi tranh, sixteen võ sĩ - eight cặp đấu của đêm đấu đã chính thức lộ diện. Nếu cả SGP và VGM cùng thắng, họ sẽ tiếp tục đụng độ bán kết nhánh thắng. UAE Tiền đạo Cristiano Ronaldo đang dẫn đầu bình chọn giải thưởng "Cầu thủ nam hay nhất năm" của Dubai, trong khi Quả Bóng Vàng 2021 Lionel Messi đứng thứ ba. Đức Đã giành vé sớm nhưng HLV Julian Nagelsmann khẳng định vẫn sử dụng đội hình mạnh nhất khi tiếp Barca ở lượt cuối bảng E Champions League tối 8/12. TTO - UBND TP.HCM vừa có văn bản chỉ đạo tạm thời chưa dạy học trực tiếp cho trẻ 5 tuổi và học sinh lớp 1 từ ngày 13-12, chỉ thí điểm tổ chức học tập trực tiếp cho khối lớp 9, lớp 12. Trên thị trường, Smart tivi và Android tivi được biết đến là dòng tivi thông minh cao cấp nhất hiện nay. Theo đó, nên mua Smart tivi hay Android tivi trở thành trăn trở lớn của người tiêu dùng. Livestream trực tiếp một trận bóng trên Facebook thực chất là Livestream video trực tiếp trận bóng ấy từ nguồn khác . Và hàng loạt giải đấu hấp dẫn khác trong khu vực và trên thế giới. Website liên kết với các nhà cái danh giá, uy tín hàng đầu Việt Nam. Và net có dẫn hyperlink sang các nhà cái để phục vụ nhu cầu cá cược của người hâm mộ. Nếu là người chơi cá độ, cá cược trực tuyến lâu năm, hẳn bạn đã từng nghe qua cái tên Thiên Hạ Bet. Nhà cái đầu tư định dạng full HD, hiếm khi xảy ra tình trạng giật lag giúp cho người chơi có được trải nghiệm một cách tốt nhất. Với công nghệ này, dù lượng người truy cập đông đảo thì web site cũng không xảy ra tình trạng quá tải. Bạn đang muốn tải video Facebook về điện thoại của mình để chia sẻ, gửi cho mọi người cùng xem nhưng chưa biết làm thế nào? Cuộc thượng đỉnh trực tuyến Nga-Mỹ; vấn đề Ukraine, căng thẳng giữa Belarus và phương Tây... Những người gốc Ấn Độ đang nắm giữ nhiều vị trí quan trọng trong các công ty hàng đầu thế giới, cho thấy sức ảnh hưởng trên nhiều lĩnh vực. Bên cạnh đó, kênh chiếu copa còn cho thấy sự cẩn trọng khi bỏ qua nhiều cầu thủ trẻ đang có phong độ tốt để lựa chọn hàng loạt cựu binh có kinh nghiệm nhiều năm chinh chiến trong đó có 9 cầu thủ từng tham dự World Cup 2018. Đội tuyển Việt Nam tiếp tục hành trình lịch sử sau khi lần đầu tiên giành quyền lọt vào Vòng loại thứ three World Cup - Khu vực châu Á, lượt trận đầu tiên là chuyến làm khách trên sân Mrsool Park của Saudi Arabia. Ghi rõ nguồn "Cổng Thông tin điện tử Chính phủ", "Báo điện tử Chính phủ" hoặc "" khi phát hành lại thông tin từ các nguồn này. Nhất là với những trận đấu HOT được nhiều người quan tâm thì số lượng hyperlink được chia sẻ cũng nhiều hơn. Giờ đây khi xã hội phát triển hơn, các ứng dụng xem bóng đá miễn phí đang dần bị lãng quên, Sopcast cũng nằm trong số đó. Tuy nhiên ở một số khu vực, SopCast vẫn hoàn thành tốt được sứ mệnh của mình để mang đến những trận bóng đá miễn phí cho người xem. Đặc biệt mùa Euro 2020 đã tới, tâm điểm của thể thao thế giới đang dồn cả vào những trận cầu kinh điển của lục địa già thì đây cũng là lúc SopCast tiếp tục phát huy được thế mạnh của mình.

#harry kane man city #chuyển nhượng tottenham #tin tuc tottenham #nguyen hung #lich thi dau tottenham #kênh chiếu copa #giải copa chiếu kênh nào

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thecollectibles · 1 year

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Art by Hung Nguyen

#art #digital art #Illustration #painting #Hung Nguyen

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artfulfashion · 3 months

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Nguyen Xuan Lan wearing Tran Hung 2023

#nguyen xuan lan #tran hung #2020s

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oldsardens · 5 months

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Nguyen Phi Hung - Portrait of an elegant lady from Hue

#Nguyen Phi Hung

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vietlad · 1 year

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Veronica Ngô as Thúy in The Rebel aka. Dòng Máu Anh Hùng (2007) dir. Charlie Nguyễn

"Murderers? How do you call us "murderers" when we're only fighting for our homeland?"

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roomsbythesee · 2 years

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Street In Cold Winter Days - Nguyen Manh Hung

#Nguyen Manh Hung #art #painting

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2t2r · 10 years

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Un coiffeur qui coupe les cheveux au sabre [vidéo]

Nouvel article publié sur https://www.2tout2rien.fr/un-coiffeur-qui-coupe-les-cheveux-au-sabre-video/

Un coiffeur qui coupe les cheveux au sabre [vidéo]

#cheveux #coiffeur #coiffure #coupe #katana #Nguyen Hoang Hung #sabre #samouraï #vidéo #vidfirst #imxok #Insolite

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gbhbl · 2 years

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Horror Movie Review: Planet Terror (2007)

Planet Terror is a 2007 American action horror film written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. Set in Texas, the film follows the survivors of a biochemical outbreak as they battle zombie-like creatures and a rogue military unit. The film was originally released theatrically as part of Grindhouse, a double feature that combined Planet Terror with Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof. In rural Texas,…

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hanhomesno · 2 years

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6 tỷ phú Việt Nam kiếm được bao nhiêu tiền trong đại dịch COVID-19

Bài viết mới nhất: https://hanhomesno08maichitho.com/6-ty-phu-viet-nam-kiem-duoc-bao-nhieu-tien-trong-dai-dich-covid-19/

6 tỷ phú Việt Nam kiếm được bao nhiêu tiền trong đại dịch COVID-19

Đến nay, Việt Nam đã gần trọn 2 tháng không có ca nhiễm COVID-19 mới trong cộng đồng. Nền kinh tế cũng đã trải qua hai đợt tổn thương từ bùng phát đại dịch. Theo đó, khối tài sản của các tỷ phú Việt Nam cũng biến động ít nhiều sau 6 tháng kể từ …

#Ho Hung Anh #Nguyen Dang Quang #Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao #Pham Nhat Vuong #Tran Ba Duong #Tran Dinh Long

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ash5monster01 · 7 months

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Hi how are you? I don't know if you are accepting requests... but if so, I would like to ask Macgyver for something

I imagine something, where the reader is jealous of Mac with Desi or Riley, and to make matters worse for the reader, one of them ends up getting hurt, and then Mac gives her his full attention? (Riley, Desi) and the reader starts to feel super insecure and super bad...

Thankss!!

first of all the fact I have a MacGyver request right now is nothing short of amazing. with the show being over for a while now the fandom has died down quite a lot and I am happy to write for him whenever. I will also be choosing Desi for this considering I’m very anti-Desi, apologies to anyone who likes her. anyways I hope you enjoy xx

Wish It Was Me

Pairing: Angus MacGyver x Fem!Reader

Warnings: jealousy, language, angst, heartache, unreciprocated feelings, fluff, happy ending (don’t worry)

Summary: After months of pretending that his behavior doesn’t bother you, you finally find yourself getting fed up and showing your heartbreak towards the boy. He uses this as an excuse to finally confront his feelings for you.

word count: 2.4k

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Harboring a crush on the man your job required you to protect was a great work ethic tactic. In fact it was the best one you had yet. Obviously you’d protect anyone of the team but if something ever actually happened to Mac, you’d be more than upset. Quite possibly crushed. It was also a great tactic considering you were very well trained at keeping your emotions intact which meant not once had you given up the fact you had any feelings for the blonde boy at all. It was simple actually, pine for him when you were alone and protect him when you were together. Always at his 6, gun pointed and loaded. A team always and forever.

That is until Desi Nguyen came along.

Not only is she just as good as you at combat but she was also getting closer to the team and you despised that. Feelings of replacement and jealousy filling you which made you angry for experiencing such emotions at all. It started to get worse when you noticed how close Mac was getting to her. Hell when she first showed up she had caught him leaving the shower and she hadn’t been shameless about it at all. You were the only one to successfully pass her test and she acted like because of that, the two of you were friends. That made it even worse.

It started with him laughing at her jokes, then it was grabbing a coffee after work, and pretty soon it was slight touches in passing, barely noticeable, but there. It was driving you up a wall, yet you’d never show it. Not only was Mac completely clueless but Riley and Bozer as well. So when you find yourself particularly angry for being sent in the field with Mac and Desi, no one seems to pay no mind because you are a shell of stoic. Untouched by silly and childish feelings of crushes and love. You wonder if there is possibly anything that could break your cool and calm structure.

“Y/N, I need you for a minute” your heart stutters, wishing he meant it in a different way, some other way. Yet you obey, not even a glimmer of hope shining as you look in his eyes. “Hold this wire for me please”

“Better hurry guys, we’re gonna have guests soon” Desi speaks, still on guard for any unwanted visitors. You slide your gun in the holster, allowing her to cover you both as you hold the wire like Mac asked.

“Please tell me this will only blow up the bad guys and not us” you tell Mac, a sly smile on your face and he chuckles, his hand twisting with his Swiss army knife as he works on something you can’t possibly comprehend.

“I’m not making any promises” he tells you and you fight the grin that wants to crawl across your face. You want to smile at him like he hung the stars but your job was to protect, not love. Even if you wanted to you’d be afraid of doing it for competition now, even if you didn’t know how Mac felt about Desi you knew she liked him.

That point is proven when you’re interrupted by the heavy footsteps of three men. A shot is let off in the air before you have time to register that the shot was heading for Mac. Desi does her job which is the same as yours, stepping in front of the bullet, and letting it knock her to the ground. You don’t have time to think about it, you move on command, years of skill practically motorized into your being. Your gun is out your holster in seconds and you’ve shot all three men to the ground before anyone can think about it. It’s what you were built for.

“Shit Desi, are you okay?” it’s Mac’s voice that pulls you from combat mode. You turn to find he has taken position over her fallen form, both her hands and his own holding her wound tightly as she bleeds from her torso.

“Been better Mac” she tells him, voice straining like she’s clearly in pain. You see it in his eyes though. It’s what keeps you from rushing to her side as well. It was there all along and maybe he was just as good at hiding it as you or you were denial. He’s looking at her the way you would’ve looked at him if he was the one laying on that ground.

“Matty, we’re gonna need an exfil location stat. Desi has been shot” you call over on your comm’s and the worried voices from the other team members seem to make you sadder. Feeling abandoned by your team and guilty for allowing such personal feelings to make you seem so cold towards a girl who had never done anything wrong to you.

“Alright, hang in there Des. We’ll get you out of here” it’s the nickname that comes from his mouth that makes bile rise to your throat but when he cradled the girl in his arms it’s something else entirely. Pain worse than you’ve faced in the field sears through you and when Mac looks up at you, you decide it’s time to accept that this is your life now. Him and her. The real team.

What you don’t know is that Mac see’s it. The pain, it’s written clear as day across your face. It startled him for a moment because you never give anything up. A statue of a person and to see you seem so dejected is heartbreaking in a way he can’t comprehend. He knows it’s not worry for Desi, he’s sure that is inside of you somewhere, but the pain written across your face is one of longing. After months of wishing you’d reciprocate any feelings for him at all he realizes they were always there, just under the surface.

Matty pulled off an emergency extract quickly, and thankfully the debrief was quick due to worry of Desi’s condition. Everyone can tell you’re defeated, more than likely thinking it was from an unsuccessful mission. You let them, and go to your rented room in Mac’s home. For the first time in months wishing you didn’t live there. Thankful Bozer and Mac stayed back you pour yourself a heavy glass of wine, find yourself in a warm shower, and then curled on your bed in some pajamas with a book. You’re four glasses of wine deep and halfway through the book when you hear the front door open and close.

“I’m home” is called out. Mac who had been with Desi all this time. Bozer had come home hours ago, and was more than likely asleep. For the first time in a while you wished you had shut your bedroom door to avoid him, have a good night sleep in before you had to deal.

“Hey, you’re up” he’s in your doorway in seconds. You feel yourself sitting up and removing the reading glasses from your face. Mac always finds it odd seeing you like this. Curled up in a mound of blankets and pillows, the smell of fresh wine and a vanilla candle, silk sleep sets laid across your skin, hair piled high on your head. You were so soft compared to the girl in the field. The same girl he watched take down three men in lightning speed today. Now somehow you were in bed with a book. Weird how the world worked.

“Not really tired, is um. Is Desi okay?” you feel bad for not showing much interest in her well being. You just needed some time to think, some time to regain your composure.

“Last I checked yeah, I haven’t seen her for a couple of hours” he admits as he walks in. As he sits at the end of your bed you realize this isn’t uncommon. You two are still friends. No matter what you realized today.

“I thought you were with her?” you give him a puzzled look and he shrugs.

“I was, yeah. Then once I knew she was stable I went back to the Phoenix to fill out a mission report. Then Matty took advantage and got me to catch up on paperwork I’d been avoiding for a while” you can’t help the soft giggle that escapes your lips. Mac was a professional at avoiding the paperwork part of his job but every once in a while Matty could get her way.

“That’s on you for going back” you tell him and he chuckles along with you, head nodding.

“Could I ask you something?” he says once the laughter has quieted down and you find yourself getting exceptionally nervous. He can’t tell.

“Always Mac, it’s kinda my job” you tease which is true. When you were hired at the Phoenix Foundation it was literally to protect Mac in the field. You were pretty sure his name is in your exact job description.

“You’re not on the clock” he says which in a way was true but not really. It wasn’t uncommon for threats to breach your shared home, the minute that happens you’ll be protecting him then too.

“MacGyver, get to the question” you tell him even though you’d rather he walk out and never ask you any questions ever.

“Today you looked, well you never usually look like anything. But today you looked hurt, dare I say heartbroken” and you feel all the air sucked out of the room because you had shown emotions past your exterior and Mac had seen them.

“I don’t know what you mean” but you couldn’t look him in the eyes and he knew. He knew it deep in his bones.

“Look Y/N, maybe I could be wrong. That it was all just concern but if you feel anything for me the way I feel for you than that look was so much more than that” his words almost didn’t register. Your heart caught them before your head did. It was ramming against your rib cage and your head was snapping towards him because MacGyver of all people just admitted to having feelings for you.

“Feel for me?” you questioned quietly, your eyes locking on his own blue ones. You had seen Mac serious about many things before but somehow this seemed like more.

“Are you kidding me Y/N? Of course I have feelings for you. I spend all of my time with you considering we work and live together. On top of that you are always taking care of me and are the most interesting person I’ve ever met in my life. I was in love with you within a month of knowing you. Jack would always tease me about it” a small squeak left your throat at his confession. Wondering how you had never seen it before.

“Jack knew?” maybe it wasn’t the best question at the moment, but since Jack had passed it was hard to bring him up. Knowing he had passed away and there were things none of you guys got to tell him.

“Yeah, I always promised him I’d tell you how I felt one day and every day since he passed I’ve been breaking that promise more and more. So here I am not breaking it” he told you, a hand running wildly through his hair.

“What about Desi?” you wanted to make sure, needed to make sure.

“She’s just a friend. Most of the time I just flirted with her to get a reaction out of you” this was the most shocking of all. You’d expected him to say he had gained feelings for her too, but now as he sat at the end of your bed staring back at you with hopeful eyes you realized this was never the case.

“So it’s me?” you asked and a smile cracked across his face, a deep chuckle coming out as he dropped his head. His soft blonde locks dangling in front of his eyes.

“Yes Y/N. It’s always been you” he told you once he looked back up, and finally you allowed a real smile to cross your face.

“Well this is a first” you chuckled, hand reaching to grab your glass of wine. You gulped back the last sip and abandoned the empty glass, him watching you closely.

“What is?” he asked once you seemed to have your head straight.

“Having someone return the same feelings I have for them. I mean it usually never happens because I save face when it comes to emotions but here we are. You and me. In my room. Being adult and admitting things like attraction” you blabbered lightly and Mac laughed, a wide grin on his face. You suddenly had the urge to grab hold of the deep red shirt he had on, it matching the color of wine on your lips.

“So you’re admitting you like me too?” he asked and you just rolled your eyes before shoving your book out of your lap.

“Shut up and kiss me MacGyver” and he wasted no time, a devious grin crawling across his face as he moved to climb over to you. The anticipation of him getting closer seemed to take forever but finally he was face to face, arms locked on either side of you, and you took a moment to inspect every inch of him. “I have good taste”

“I do too” and then he was closing the gap between you both. Lips slotting gently against your own. His mouth was warm and soft, much different from his calloused hands. Your fingers tangled in his hair, mussing it around. Kissing him was like taking in a breath of fresh hair and pretty soon his tongue was dipping your mouth, tasting the wine left behind from your leisure afternoon. Tangling your tongue with his own you realize you could stay like this forever, just the two of you, in this room.

“It’s so not fair” you said once you broke apart, foreheads pressed together and heavy breaths panting out of both of you.

“What’s that doll?” he asked and you sighed.

“You’re good at everything else, you can’t be good at that too” and he was laughing, arms wrapping around you as he rolled over and pulled you on top of him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll show you what else I’m good at too”

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universitypenguin · 4 months

Text

Chapter 25

Summary: Doubts about Nguyen arise in the stalker case and the murder case. Princess and Lloyd review the evidence and decide where to focus their efforts as they race against the clock to rescue Laine Cruz.

Word Count: 6,182

Masterlist

Warning: This story contains content that is intended for those who are at least eighteen years old, such as strong language, sex, sexual content, and references to murder, kidnapping and criminal elements.

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Chapter XXV

Jake Jensen was in nerd heaven and you loved that for him.

He sat at a desk in the middle of the D.C. Metro Police station bullpen. A female detective from cyber crimes was leaning over his shoulder. She was slender with a pixie cut and delicate facial features that reminded you of Audrey Hepburn. Jake’s fingers flew over the keyboard of your work laptop as he explained how your system had been hacked.

You hung back, settling into the guest chair across from Detective Diskant’s desk, fifteen feet away from the computer nerd fest. Diskant hadn’t shown up yet. He’d called after your allergist appointment to ask if Jake could bring in your work laptop and go over it with cybercrimes. You looked around the semi-deserted bullpen. A few uniforms stood around, talking near the front desk. There were a couple offices around the central area that appeared occupied, but it seemed most of the detectives were out and about. This gave you mixed feelings. It might be good to have the police force on the street, present in the communities they served, but where was their back up? Was everyone else at a conference or a training in-service or was the station always this empty?

Trying not to stare at Jake and the lady cop, you searched your purse for a nail file. It had been ages since you’d gotten a manicure and long past time for a good re-shaping. As you filed, you tried to be subtle about glancing over at the computer nerds. The lady cop laid a hand on Jake’s shoulder and smiled.

You couldn’t catch the words but you knew body language. That head tilt and the sly glance that darted away once eye contact was made was straight out of Flirting 101. Despite the clear signals the lady cop was throwing down, they still went over Jake’s head.

“Princess, can you come over here?” Jake asked.

You winced at the expression that flashed across the lady cop’s face as she withdrew her hand from Jake’s personal space.

“What’s up?” you asked, moving to stand behind Jake’s chair but keeping a respectful distance between you.

“Look at this,” Jake said, pointing to the screen.

You examined the string of numbers he indicated. “What am I looking at, again?”

“It’s an IP address from Bishop & Howard.”

“Uh-huh.”

“This is where the attack originated. Also, it came through our server.”

“So we know who was behind the attack?”

Jake sighed. “Not exactly. We know where it came from. The naming convention of the IP address doesn’t exactly match the company’s standard, but some departments do use unique identifiers.”

“Don’t you guys keep an inventory list of all the active IP addresses?”

“I already ran it through the list. No match.”

“But it came from our server?”

The lady cop cleared her throat. “Is there any reason a particular department would have a computer with a unique IP address?”

“Usually they’re marking computers that are designed for sensitive information, but most of them aren’t connected to the internet.”

“We should ask what departments use unlisted computers,” she said.

“I doubt they’d just hand that information over,” Jake replied.

“But this narrows down the suspect list to employees of Bishop & Howard,” the female detective said.

“How else can we match this IP address?” you asked.

“I’ve set up one of the specialized computers for an investigation before. The format of the IP address includes a project code, security level, and identifying number for the system. If I do some digging, I might be able to figure out who’s computer this is.”

Reading between the lines, you knew ‘digging’ meant ‘hacking’ but didn’t call him on it in front of the cyber crimes detective.

“I didn’t realize those specialized computers were connected to our servers.”

Jake rubbed a hand over his face. “They’re not supposed to be. But clearly whoever’s stalking you is tech savvier than we thought. It’s like someone deliberately used the untraceable system to cover their tracks."

Detective Diskant finally entered the room, carrying a laptop under his arm. He stopped at the desk where Jake sat and placed it down.

“You need to see this,” he said, pressing play on a video file.

At first it seemed like footage of an airport, but when the angle shifted you recognized the platform at Washington Union Station. A train pulled up and passengers disembarked. Diskant pressed pause when the video reached a certain frame.

“Recognize anyone?”

“Nguyen,” Jake said.

You scanned the crowd, looking for the familiar face. It wasn’t until Jake pointed him out that you recognized Shun Nguye. He was in the center of the screen, blending into the blur of travelers.

“We need to reconsider the prime suspect in your stalking case,” Diskant said.

“What?”

“Look at the time stamp,” Jake said.

“August 16th, at 11 A.M,” you read.

“Unless Nguyen has developed the ability to be in two places at once, he couldn’t have attacked Princess in Lloyd’s backyard and been in the train station.”

You closed your eyes feeling weak. “That explains the photos,” you murmured.

“What photos?” Diskant asked.

“The pictures left on my car. It was right after the birthday dinner with my family. I remembered them yesterday. The timing didn’t make sense. Nguyen couldn’t have taken them, not by himself.”

“Right. Based on this, we can rule him out, but it’s suspicious that he’d return to Virginia.”

“We’re back where we started, with no idea who my stalker is,” you said.

Diskant inclined his head, acknowledging your statement. “No, we don’t.”

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Lloyd spent the afternoon in a coffee shop transcribing his interview with Tate Corbin. Despite his aversion to such establishments, they offered reliable internet which was a service he desperately needed. Still, the saccharine sayings painted on the walls, boldly advocating the joys of chemical dependence in Brush Script font, were hard to stomach. He didn’t find the artistic photos of coffee plants hanging beside his table any more palatable than the quotes.

The pictures grated on his nerves; at least the drug dens he’d frequented hadn’t been plastered with photographs idolizing the coca plant. In truth, these images were captured with the same propagandistic intent as the works of other renowned visual manipulators like Dmitri Baltermants. However, the Soviet photojournalist had composed his photos with nuance and emotion - qualities sorely lacking in these uninspired shots.

Lloyd glanced at his watch and saw that it was still too early to call you. He sipped the last of his mint tea, watching the crowd queuing for their 2:30 fix.

“I can’t get anything done after noon unless I’ve had three shots of espresso,” a woman in line declared.

He waited for her companion’s response, anticipating that three shots of espresso per day ought to warrant some kind of self-reflection, but the woman’s associate nodded understandingly. Really? That was it? Why did no one offer her the intervention she clearly needed?

Behind the counter baristas poured beverages into plastic and styrofoam cups and passed them to waiting addicts. Cocaine was an indefensible habit, but at least its packaging wasn’t a significant driver of microplastic pollution. Those damn cups had to rank among the worst inventions society had ever dreamt up. They were somewhere near the top, probably right in between Jake Paul’s career and neonicotinoids.

At 2:45 his patience had worn thin. Lloyd grabbed his keys and headed for the door. Driving back to D.C. wasn’t part of his agenda, but he was on the cusp of an outburst that would earn him an invitation to never come back, so the forty minute drive to Zach’s office was worthwhile.

He set up in the spare office you’d taken over and laid out his notes when the door swung open, and you stalked in, looking upset.

“Princess?”

You shrieked and jumped a foot in the air. Lloyd blinked, ears ringing from the assault on his eardrums. You were pressed against the wall clutching your heart with one hand and cradling your purse to your abdomen like it was a shield. He sat very still.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

You groaned, closing your eyes and sinking down the wall, crumpling. “I’m fine.”

“Yeah? Well, you don’t sound fine. Or look it.”

Lloyd stood up, moving around the desk and approaching you. He took the purse from your hands and dropped it on the spare chair, then dragged you into his arms. You melted into the embrace, tucking your head in the crook of his shoulder. He smoothed a hand down your back and listened as you breathed deeply.

“Bad allergist appointment?” he asked.

“Not really. It turns out that I have an aspirin allergy, which we already knew. How was your interview?”

“Unsatisfying.”

“Why?”

“It ended up killing more leads than it generated. What’s wrong?”

“I had a meeting with Detective Diskant after my appointment. Nguyen isn’t my stalker.” You filled him in. “So, Jake’s running down the information from the hack but we’re back at square one.”

Lloyd reached behind you and closed the blinds to the office window, then took your hands and guided you to the office chair behind the desk. He sat down and drew you onto his lap, positioning your legs to rest over the arm of the chair.

“I wrote up some timelines for the Harmony case,” you said, looping your arms around his shoulders.

He glanced over at the murder board you’d arranged on the office wall. Part of him wanted to dive into your meeting with Diskant but looking at your face, he knew that wasn’t a topic you were ready to pursue. Not right now, at least.

“I see that. Did you learn anything at the bible camp?”

“Li Wei had a secret boyfriend during the spring of 1999.”

Lloyd groaned. “Not another secret relationship. What is it with women and hiding their love lives from investigators?”

“Don’t ask me. Anyway, that revelation was the highlight of the trip, but it got me thinking about the timelines of the case.”

“Timelines, plural?”

“Yeah. I’ve been playing around with the theory that the cases weren’t actually connected since the beginning. I know it might seem unlikely for two prolific killers to be operating in the same area at the same time, but the differences in victimology are so stark it has to be considered.”

“And the timelines changed your mind.”

“If there was evidence of two killers, it seems like we’d have found something pointing in that direction by now.”

“But you’re not letting the theory go?” Lloyd asked.

“Not yet, but I’d rather focus on the evidence. I started by reviewing the events from 1999,” you said, pointing to the wall. “Li Wei’s boyfriend is the first event. Then, on June 14th, she and her daughter, Zoe, disappear. Two weeks later, the first of Harmony’s missing women, Stacey Moore, was abducted.”

“You think there’s a connection?”

“The timing makes me wonder if that killing was a trigger for the perpetrator. Another possibility is that he viewed Li Wei and Zoe as a… test run, of sorts.”

“That speaks to his behavior. He’s controlled, premeditated, and careful. If he captured Zoe first that would have given him leverage over Li Wei.”

“Exactly. And if we look at our suspect list, something else that comes up on the 1999 timeline is the connection between Shun Nguyen and the other parties.”

Lloyd straightened, adjusting you on his lap. “There’s something linking Nguyen and Li Wei? What is it?”

“Nothing. I looked high and low, but there’s no connection. I can’t even establish that he was ever in Fredericksburg. His only connection to Li Wei is through Julia, who he didn’t meet until late 2000.”

“When was his residency interview at the hospital?”

“June 18, 1999. After the interview on Friday, he spent the night at a hotel, drove back to D.C. in the morning and took a train home to New York.”

“Which we already knew,” Lloyd grumbled.

“I know, I’m just trying to organize things so they make sense. And you know what really doesn’t make any sense?”

“The idea of Nguyen commuting between New York City and a small town outside of D.C. to kill random strangers almost a full year before he knew he’d be living there,” Lloyd said.

“We don’t have much in terms of physical evidence, so we’ve been using behavioral profiling to try and understand the killer’s actions. Know what’s more accurate than behavioral profiling? Geographical profiling. Scientists use it all the time.”

“I’m not arguing with you. The case against Nguyen always hinged on his connection to Julia and his knowledge and access to chemicals.”

“There’s a distinct pattern in these early crimes and it points to someone local. Abducting nine people and never leaving behind a trace requires planning and preparation. Nguyen couldn’t have spared the time for all that in 1999.”

“Which brings us to 2000, when he moved to Harmony.”

“He moved in July. A week later, Kayla Ballesta went missing, which sounds damning until you account for the car accident Nguyen had been in two months earlier.”

Lloyd grunted. “Yeah, but who could fake an injury better than a doctor?”

“Radiology doesn’t lie. He wasn’t in any shape to abduct Kayla that July.”

“Do we have his radiology reports?”

“No, but Peter Shaw had them. According to his article in the Rolling Stone, he had two different orthopedic surgeons review the images. They both confirmed the severity of Nguyen’s fracture.”

“It’s compelling, but you know what else is compelling?” Lloyd asked.

“What?”

“After Nguyen was arrested the disappearances stopped. That’s too much of a coincidence to ignore.”

“You know what else is too much to ignore? An open book pelvic fracture.”

“Mmmh.”

You chuckled at the wrinkle of disgust that passed over Lloyd’s face and stroked his jaw with the back of your fingers. “I went through all the evidence from 2001, which didn’t take long because there’s almost no evidence to speak of.”

“There was more evidence at Julia’s crime scene than any of the others,” Lloyd said.

“She went missing either on April 17th or 18th and her body was found encased in concrete beside Cub Run Trail a few days later. Police identified the remains about a week after finding them and Nguyen was arrested in August.”

“Going back to the behavioral evidence, we can establish a few things for sure. Starting with the obvious, the serial killer is knowledgeable and capable at using chemicals. He has access to them somehow and might have a secondary location where he can treat the bodies.”

“Which we know from the remains found at the trail,” you said.

“Right. Julia’s bones were brittle and crumbled when touched, which is a property of exposure to a strong base. If they’d been soaked in acid the bones would’ve been rubbery and flexible. Nguyen’s chemical training and access to materials through the hospital led the police to focus on him.”

“But he was never tried for any of the other murders and everything that made him a suspect was circumstantial.”

“Ninety percent of the case against Nguyen amounts to fact that the disappearances stopped after he was out of the picture,” Lloyd reminded you.

“It’s also interesting that Li Wei, Zoe, and Julia’s remains were all treated the same, even though there’s three years between their cases.”

“All the bodies found beside the trail were disposed of by the exact same method. It’s too specific for a copy cat - unless the original perpetrator told someone precisely where they left the first two victims.”

“Wouldn’t they have had to describe the chemicals and methodology, too?” you asked.

“For the results to be this uniform? Absolutely.”

“What about victimology? That’s always been a huge question for me. All the killer’s known victims are female but aside from that, things start to get murky.”

You gestured to the photos on the wall, where the six portraits of the missing women were grouped. “They match a specific type. They were average build, natives of eastern coastal Virginia, with advanced degrees and professional jobs. Li Wei doesn’t match the pattern, and neither does Julia.”

“But the real outlier is Zoe,” Lloyd pointed out.

“Agreed. Which is why we’re paying Annabeth Green a duke’s ransom to run a paternity test on her remains and identify her father.”

“You set me up for that one, Princess.”

“I have to spread the blame around. Do you know what she charges for that kind of a test?”

Lloyd snorted. “Do you?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Her secretary just emailed me the invoice.”

“What’s the goal of the paternity test?”

“To identify a new suspect. After going through all the evidence, our suspect list is pretty barren. Nguyen was too far away to have killed the victims from 1999 and there’s no connection between him and Li Wei Chapman. He wasn’t able to kill the first victim from 2000 because of his injury. And when it comes down to it, I don’t think he killed Julia, either.”

Lloyd ran his tongue around his teeth.“I agree. He didn’t have the opportunity. That was established by the Virginia Supreme Court beyond any reasonable doubt. Did you find anything on Leo McKenzie?”

You shook your head. “Nothing new. The Fairfax Sheriff’s Department hasn’t sent me a copy of their file on him, either.”

“They’re not known for their inter-agency cooperation.”

“Well, it probably doesn’t matter if I have their file or not, because Zach got a copy of McKenzie’s discharge papers from the Army. His back injury is serious enough to exclude him from suspicion. That leaves Tate Corbin. How’d your interview with him go?”

“Not great. He has an alibi for two of the abductions thanks to a biennial fishing trip with his merchant marine buddies.”

Lloyd gave you the details of Corbin’s alibi and you scribbled down the information, making a note to contact the witnesses tomorrow morning.

“Also, get this. There was only one other person who bothered checking out Corbin as a suspect. You’ll never guess who it was.”

“Detective Roth?”

“Peter Shaw.”

You chuckled. “Ouch.”

Lloyd gathered you closer, his eyes falling half closed as he nuzzled your neck. “Yeah.”

“He didn’t give an alibi for Julia’s murder, though.”

“I knew he wasn’t the one before he produced the alibi,” Lloyd said.

“How?”

“His reactions were off. This killer has flown under the radar for too long. His public mask is impeccable.”

“And Corbin…?”

“Corbin is weird. There’s no mask. He wasn’t interested in talking about the missing victims. Then, when I finally got him talking, he wasn’t curious.”

“Why would the real killer be curious? He knows more about them than we do.”

“He’d want to know what we had. The question of evidence would’ve been brought up, but Corbin couldn’t have cared less. The real killer would’ve been excited by the conversation, but he’d have masked the reaction. Corbin was ambivalent. And the last reason is the same as the first,” Lloyd said. “He’s too weird to be the killer. He’s loud, opinionated, and obnoxious. He doesn’t fly under the radar at all.”

You giggled. “Eliminated from suspicion because of his personality…”

Lloyd rolled his eyes. “We’re looking for a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Corbin is a peacock.”

“Well, we’ve shaved the suspect list down to zero. Nguyen’s off the list for lack of opportunity. McKenzie isn’t physically capable of abducting anything bigger than a puppy. The most promising suspect, Tate Corbin, is off the list for being sane, and he has an alibi for multiple abductions.”

“We’re out of suspects.”

“Which sucks, because there’s a missing woman who needs us to figure this out.”

“Well, at least we know we’re looking for a strong base. Corbin completely sealed his innocence in my mind when he brought up an acidic mine as the potential disposal site.”

You sat up in Lloyd’s lap, nearly elbowing him in the stomach. “What acid? Where?”

Lloyd grumbled and caught your legs. He wrapped an arm around your knees, holding you captive. “Copper Ridge Quarry. It’s south of Harmony and it’s been abandoned for decades. The government has spent billions containing the toxic sludge.”

“Copper Ridge Quarry. That sounds familiar.”

“It’s a super-fund site. Every year the exposed ore reacts with rain and ground water and produces new runoff. Until someone figures out how to stop the reactions, the acid will keep getting more concentrated every year.”

“Gross. Hang on, let me check something.”

Lloyd eased his grip and let you reach your laptop. He waited as you typed, flipping through pages of the database you’d organized months ago.

“Here. Copper Ridge Quarry is in the database.”

“They already checked it out?”

“Mmmhh… According to the file summary, NASA sent a robot into one of the acid pools in the 80s and it was never seen again.”

“Did it return any data?” Lloyd asked.

“No. It looks like the investigation into Copper Ridge wasn’t very thorough. The first time they checked it out was in October of 2000. The local police’s resources were stretched thin. Between processing evidence from the abduction sites, organizing massive searches, and running down other leads, Copper Ridge didn’t get much attention.”

“What about later?” Lloyd asked.

“They tried again in 2001 when Stephanie Young disappeared, but there were conflicts with the search warrants. Some of the land around Copper Ridge is privately owned and required a compelling reason to search private property, which they didn’t have. In the end, they searched all the public land they had consent to access, but that’s it.”

“An acidic mine site is an intriguing lead, but we don’t have any evidence the killer uses acid.”

“Is that really a logical jump?” you questioned.

“Scientists use strong bases in labs to remove flesh from skeletons. If you expose the bones for longer, about five to six hours with some heat, they crumble.”

“That’s not possible with acid?”

“It would work,” Lloyd admitted. “It might even do a better job of completely dissolving them, but it’s more dangerous. The acids strong enough aren’t safe to handle. Sodium hydroxide on the other hand, comes as a salt. It’s much easier to obtain and if you got it on your skin it might cause a rash, but that’s it. You have to dissolve it in water before it’s dangerous.”

“But Copper Ridge would eliminate the need for him to obtain chemicals. Assuming he had a way in, it mitigates the risk of being caught by purchasing records or his professional access.”

“If he had a traditional education, he’d lean towards a base,” Lloyd said.

“If he’s smart enough to use a base, why not use an acid? It’s all chemistry at the end of the day.”

“Following the same logic, why not dispose of Julia’s body the same way as Li Wei and Zoe’s? The crimes were three years apart. He’d have had time to perfect his methods,” Lloyd said.

“That’s been my biggest gripe with all the victims being connected. But this afternoon, I remembered something Marco said when I explained the case. He commented that it was ‘like he put the sisters together,’ with how he disposed of Julia. It meant more to me before we learned Li Wei was actually Julia’s cousin. But now, what if he had the same motive both times?”

“We haven’t considered his motives.”

“I have. If you lay out the whole timeline, Li Wei and Zoe were his first victims and they’re both anomalies in victimology. Li Wei wasn’t born in the U.S., but she did grow up here. She dropped out of college freshman year and didn’t finish a bachelor’s degree, let alone a masters. She worked at her parent’s bible camp, which was a far cry from a professional job, like the other victims. And she doesn’t fit the physical victim type, either. She was too tall.”

“And Julia’s the same. Too tall and too thin, no degrees, no job. Plus, she really was foreign.”

“Right. Li Wei could have passed for a Virginia native, but there was no way he mistook Julia for an American. Where’s the motive, though?” Lloyd asked.

“If they don’t fit victimology there must be a motive. That’s why I really wanted the paternity test on Zoe. Usually, with a child victim, the perpetrator is one of the parents. We can rule out her mother, which leaves the father.”

“What about Julia?”

“She was digging into Li Wei’s death. If the killer found out, wouldn’t he have been compelled to interfere?”

“Yes, but why not dispose of her like he did all the other victims? If your theory about Copper Ridge is correct, he had the perfect disposal method. I can imagine him failing on his first attempt to dissolve a body with a strong base, but going back to the failed method three years later? That’s stupid.”

“Or it’s incredibly smart. Anyone who found all three victims, encased in two different concrete slabs, beside a popular jogging trail, albeit, in a remote area of said trail, would’ve connected the dots. Then they would’ve connected the victims. Julia arrived in the U.S. in 1997. It’s plausible to imagine a connection. We only know there wasn’t one because of Aliyah.”

“The killer was making sure the cases would be connected.”

“But when no one found the second slab, Nguyen was arrested and the rumor mill started up, claiming he was connected to the six missing women,” you said.

“The killer was handed the perfect scapegoat on a platter. So, he stopped killing and as far as public opinion went, no more disappearances meant they’d collared the right guy.”

“I know it’s a lot of theory, but looking at the whole sequence from 1999 to 2002, how the killing started with Li Wei and Zoe, then stopped after Julia, it’s almost like a full circle.”

“He didn’t stop, though. If he had, Zach and I wouldn’t be spending our Monday night on a search party for Laine Cruz,” Lloyd said.

“What if this is a copycat?” You sighed at your own question and shook your head. “The problem with all this theory is that we don’t have any evidence to back it up. Paradoxically, we have more evidence than anyone else who worked the case ever did.”

“We’re here because Roth searched an old crime scene and got lucky,” Lloyd said.

“There’s solid evidence suggesting the killer is knowledgeable in chemistry. He’s proven capable with them, and we have physical evidence that two of his victims were disposed of with a strong base. We also know his access to these chemicals wasn’t a fluke because he used them twice - once in 1999 and again in 2002.”

“And the concrete slab itself is evidence,” Lloyd said. “He knows how to mix, form, and set a concrete slab by himself. It’s not as specific as his advanced chemical knowledge, but it’s still a proven ability.”

“He’s prepared and careful, so disposing of the bodies wouldn’t have been the first time he worked with concrete. That makes sense,” you said.

“He’s also shown to be quite knowledgeable of the local area. Abducting six women without leaving any witnesses isn’t easy. Also, he’s familiar enough with Cub Run Trail to dispose of bodies there twice. It was a remote section of the trail, sure, but that points to him knowing the area.”

“And getting them up there? He’s got to be physically fit.”

“Unlike Leo McKenzie. We have evidence that Julia’s teeth were destroyed with a gunshot, and the .22 shell casings found in Nguyen’s yard after she went missing. It’s not difficult to get a gun in the D.C. area, but let’s add it to the list.”

“Also, the last fact, but maybe the most important: he had the opportunity to commit all nine murders.”

Lloyd grunted. “How do we know so much about him, but still don’t have a suspect?”

“He’s careful and prepared. Speaking of that, what about the woman that went missing on Friday night? Have they found any evidence at the scene of her abduction?”

“Laine Cruz. The search isn’t going well. They found her car abandoned in town with a dead battery. It could have been sabotage or the perpetrator saw an opportunity and took advantage. Her purse was in the car, but not her cell phone. There’s been no activity on her bank cards and her phone is turned off.”

“What are they doing to find her?”

“The usual - tracking dogs, a search grid. It seems futile,” Lloyd said.

“Isn’t the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and hoping for a different result?” you asked.

“According to Einstein.”

“Search grids and dogs didn’t find any of the other missing women, did they?”

“No,” Lloyd conceded.

“We were brought in to investigate the new evidence and figure out if it was connected to the missing victims.”

“Are you saying they should call off the search?”

“No, but searching is their job - not ours. I think we should focus on following the evidence and investigating what we have.”

“You’re saying Zach and I shouldn’t join the search,” Lloyd said.

“Copper Ridge Quarry is a fresh lead. I think that’s where our time would be best spent.”

“Alright. We’ll do it. Are you okay with staying late at the office? I don’t know how long this’ll take.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ve got a mountain of paperwork to catch up on.”

Lloyd studied your expression and noted that you still looked upset. He slid a finger under your chin, turning your face up to his.

“Hey. It’s okay. Jake will find a new lead.”

“What if my stalker isn’t someone we would suspect?” you asked. “What if it’s totally random?”

“Don’t think about that. Let Jake and Landon worry about the stalker. Let me worry about him.”

Your eyes scanned his, filled with concern. There was nothing he could say, Lloyd realized. He changed tactics and lowered his gaze to your chest.

“How do your nipples feel? Still sore?”

“I…” you squirmed.

He ran a hand over the curve of your breast, feeling the gentle curve through the thin silk of your blouse. There were three layers of cloth between his fingertips and your flesh but he still felt the hardening of your nipple. You hissed and he paused.

“They’re not sore,” you said, reassuring him. “Just… tender.”

His lips curved. “What’s your current opinion on nipple clamps?”

“It’s an eighty-twenty split.”

“For or against?”

“For,” you admitted, lashes fluttering as you fought back shyness.

Lloyd squeezed you tight and explored your throat with soft, teasing kisses. You relaxed instantly, muscles loosening as your head fell back to give him more room. His free hand went to the fastenings on the front of your blouse, flicking open each tiny pearl button.

You caught his hand. “There’s a window on the door.”

“I closed the blinds,” Lloyd said.

“Oh.”

You let go and when he arched a brow, you nodded. He carefully undid each tiny button, flashing you an amused look.

“Did you plan on making it hard for me to undress you, or this coincidence?”

“Actually, I just thought the buttons were pretty.”

“They are. However, this is prettier,” Lloyd said, pushing open the silk and sliding off the thin straps of your camisole. He purred at the sight of your cream colored bra. “Front-clasp. I forgive you for the buttons.”

He flicked open your bra and you shivered at the sensation of cool air on delicate skin. Lloyd shifted you again, turning your body so your back was positioned to the door of the office. It wasn’t necessary, but you appreciated his awareness.

“Mmmhhh… still a little swollen,” he murmured, caressing his thumb over a puckered nipple. “They’re warm.”

You trembled when his hand moved up to curl around the back of your neck. He kissed your sternum and his mustache brushed your skin in a teasing dance. His facial hair wasn’t bristly, but it wasn’t soft, either. His hand slid from your throat to your collarbone and slowly cupped the weight of your left breast. Your eyes closed in pleasure.

“Lloyd.”

His cheek pressed to your sternum and you felt his hot breath against your tight nipple. The slow, gentle stroking of his thumb over your breast was restrained and controlled. You shuddered. Part of you wanted to beg for more. The other part knew the office door might have the blinds lowered, but it was still unlocked. Lloyd’s tender stroking was making your head go fuzzy. You arched your back in offering, but he didn’t react.

“Please,” you whined.

Lloyd made a rough sound and dropped his head, kissing a slow path across your chest, down your sternum to suckle the inner curve of your breast. Your fingers threaded into the cool strands of his hair as you pulled him toward where you needed him the most. As his mouth fastened around your nipple, you felt his lips curve into a smirk, but couldn’t bring yourself to care.

He’d finished lapping at the first straining nipple and moved onto the second when the door to your office swung open. You were so caught up in the moment that the noise barely registered. It wasn’t until the sound of a masculine voice cut through your mental haze that you gasped.

“What the fuck, Lloyd?! Hang a damn sock on the door next time!”

Zach’s shout brought your head around. The man had turned his back and clamped a hand over his eyes. Lloyd slowly released your nipple and raised his head.

“Have you heard of knocking?” he asked.

“I didn’t know you were in here!” Zach protested.

For some reason, you weren’t scrambling to fasten your bra in a panicked rush. Instead of embarrassment you felt dizzy with lust as Lloyd re-fastened your bra and returned the straps of your camisole to their original position. His eyes caught yours and he smiled, eyes glinting with something like pride. Whether it was at his own work or your lack of reaction to the embarrassment of being caught, you weren’t sure. He started from the bottom as he re-buttoned the tiny pearl fastenings of your shirt.

“Can I turn around?” Zach asked.

You grined at Lloyd, who’d only fastened two buttons of your blouse.

“Sure,” you said.

Zach turned half way, peeking from the corner of his eye. He nearly wrenched his neck out of place when he spun away again, unleashing a string of curses that would’ve made a sailor blush.

“Do you two mind? I don’t like walking into the middle of a porno in my own office!”

Lloyd snickered. “Please. Grow up, Zach. There were racier scenes than this on T.V. when you were a kid.”

“I’m going to wait in the truck!”

You giggled as Zach raced out of the office like something was chasing him and smirked at Lloyd when he finished doing up your blouse. “I take it you don’t share details about your sex life with Zach anymore?”

“If did, he’d probably knock my teeth out.” He wrapped his arms loosely around your waist. “Speaking of things that would send me to the dentist, why are you so calm about me forgetting to lock the door?”

You linked your hands behind his neck and shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought getting caught in a compromising position would be embarrassing but it wasn’t. I mean, Zach didn’t see any parts of me he hadn't seen before. We weren’t hiding the fact that we’re sleeping together, so he didn’t learn anything new.”

“Funny. You were a virgin three months ago and Zach’s the shrinking violet,” Lloyd snickered. He bent down and kissed you thoroughly. “I won’t be back until late. You’re sure you don’t want one of the guys to give you a ride home?”

“No. I’ll wait for you.”

Lloyd reached for his jacket and paused. “Princess, if you have time tonight, can you do me a favor?”

“Sure.”

“Go back through the footage of Nguyen’s interviews. There was a moment in there, something he said that I didn’t quite catch. It was like he had a slip of the tongue and then backpedaled to cover it up.”

“You just described his whole communication style,” you said.

“Yeah, that’s why I was driving myself nuts in Qatar, listening to the tapes over and over, trying to figure out what it was.”

“Okay. Do you remember which day it was on?”

“It was on the first day of interviews. I didn’t notice the slip until I listened to the audio of the interview on the flight out of Singapore. Maybe it’s nothing, because I haven’t been able to find it again, but at the time I was absolutely sure he’d said something important.”

“Maybe another set of ears will help.”

“Thanks, Princess. Don’t expect me until late, okay?”

“Good luck tonight.”

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Next - Chapter XXVI

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Masterlist

#series: the princess & the lawyer #the princess & the lawyer #series: the princess and the lawyer #the princess and the lawyer #lloyd hansen au #lloyd hansen fanfic #lloyd hansen x princess #lloyd hansen x reader #lloyd hansen x you #lloyd hansen x y/n #lloyd hansen x female reader #lloyd hansen #chris evans characters #chris evans characters au #the gray man #the gray man fanfiction

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