//------------------------------//
// Chapter 16 
// Story: Millie 
// by totallynotabrony 
//------------------------------//

	I tried not to show how cold I was, standing in the snow atop the building.  The wind was stronger up here.  Gilda stared at me, caution and still some astonishment on her face after I had told her who I was.  She glanced at Jenna.  “So both of you aren’t from this planet?”
“That’s correct.”  I nodded.  “We need to catch this killer so the Lunar Guard will hold up their end of the bargain and send us back.  It’s a terrific injustice that they did this to us to begin with, but right now I would settle for just putting this behind me.”
Gilda shook her head.  “And why should I believe you?  That you’re actually the infamous Miller?  This sounds insane.”
I stared at her.  “Ask me a question about what happened in Canterlot.”
She studied me for a long moment and then shook her head.  “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m really not able to come up with a better explanation for this than you being an alien.”
“I thought you were with law enforcement?” Jenna asked.  “Isn’t getting proof kind of your job?”
Gilda glanced at her.  “I’m with the Manehattan Police, Homicide Department.  And yeah, facts are what I’m looking for.  But I already said that I couldn’t find anything on you two.  It’s like you, uh, just appeared out of thin air.”
“So now you know.”  I glanced away for a moment and scuffed a hoof in the snow.  “So what are you going to do about it?  Detective Ice, Equestrian National Police, only wanted to catch those responsible for kidnapping us.”
Gilda snorted.  “Oh, him.  If I wasn’t a professional, I could tell some stories about Ice.  He didn’t leave the Canterlot police force on a good note.”
Her tone changed.  “While I’m sympathetic to you being kidnapped, I think taking down a murderer is more important.  However, it sounds like that’ll help you, too.”
“Just checking,” I said, “But are you sure you’re a cop?  I can hardly believe talking to you has been so easy.”
“I do things my way when I’m out of the office.”  Gilda chuckled.  “All right, now that we’re on even terms, I think I can get my mind back on the murders.  No offense, but like I said earlier, that’s more important.  Let’s get back to business.  Where do you want to start?”
I thought about it for a minute.  “We still have no solid leads on who the killer might be.  Ice might have more evidence that he isn’t telling us.  Does your department have anything useful?”
Gilda frowned.  “Such a high profile series of murders has attracted national attention.  The feds have been slowly taking over this case.  Maybe that’s why they brought you in.  To answer your question, I personally don’t know much that you haven’t already figured out on your own.  I’m just the griffon on point, doing what I can.  The higher ups might be better informed, although I doubt it.”
I sighed.  “And we’re back to where we were before.  No info.”
Gilda studied my wife and I for a moment.  “I suppose I can suggest a few places to start looking.  I shouldn’t kid you, though.  It’s probably going to be dangerous.”
“Millie has already been attacked once,” said Jenna.  “That didn’t slow either of us down.  If anything, I think it made it more apparent that we’re willing to do whatever needs to be done.”
I nodded.  Couldn’t have said it better myself.
“All right, then,” said Gilda.  “My biggest lead so far has been Little Puffy Joe.  That’s why I met you outside The Happy Dragon.”
“What do you mean biggest lead?” I asked.  “Surely he’s not killing his own crew?”
“No, but I think he knows more than he told you.”  Gilda thought for a moment.  “For instance, how did that brown unicorn stallion that works for Joe know who you were and where to find you so he could ask you to meet at the restaurant?”
That was a good point.  I thought for a moment.  “Speaking of the ‘how did they know’ category, were you the one who told Octavia that I was in the hospital?  Vinyl missed me when I didn’t show up to her concert, but I was wondering how Octavia found me so quickly.”
Gilda nodded.  “Yeah.  I knew she was your friend.  When I saw her at the club, telling her that you were hurt may have risked my cover a little, but it just seemed right.”
“Thanks.”  I gave Gilda an appraising look.  “So going back to Joe, where do you want to start?”
“If we monitor some of his associates, maybe we can catch the killer in the act,” she mused.  “Even just catching somepony else also doing monitoring would raise some suspicions.”
“That still leaves a lot to chance,” commented Jenna.  “We’re running out of time.”
Gilda sighed.  “I know.  I think we may have to force something.  And the one who knows the most is Joe himself.”
Abducting and interrogating Joe was not something I wanted to do.  Not only did it not fit with the good-guy image that I was trying to cultivate, but he was a freaking dragon who was surrounded with henchponies who probably would not hesitate to get violent.
But wait a minute, if Gilda was a cop, then could she really do something like that?  Suddenly, I saw the downside of being on the right side of the law. There were lines to cross everywhere and tripping over one would be too easy.  The problem was once you crossed a line where do you stop?  Huh, so this is what Ice obsessed about all the time.  Was that sympathy I was feeling?  No, couldn’t be; he was still a jerk.
“Tell you what,” said Gilda.  “I know a place where you can set up some surveillance.  Joe has a warehouse that some of his illicit activity is connected to.  Across the street, I know of an abandoned apartment.  You can set up there and watch who comes and goes.  It’s a bad part of town, but I’m sure you both can handle yourselves.”
While the plan didn’t promise direct results, it was still more than we had been doing previously.  Gilda gave us directions to the place.  Like Joe’s restaurant, it was in the Chineighese district.
“I’m going to go work some angles of my own,” she said.  “I’ll catch up with you later.”
Gilda spread her wings and took off.  I paused for a moment.  “Hey, she forgot me.  How am I supposed to get down from here?”
“I remember what you told me about pegasus weight manipulation,” Jenna replied.  “I think I can get you back to terra firma.”
I would say that Jenna hooked her fetlocks in my armpits to carry me, but since I didn’t have arms I don’t really know how to say it.  Legpits?  Whatever.  Having front legs instead of arms makes phrasing weird.  Anyway, she was able to carry me back to the ground without much trouble.  I was a little concerned that she would be unstable, but she seemed to have no problems.  After all, I was a little smaller than her.
The two of us set off towards our surveillance outpost.  Before leaving The Metronome that morning, we had all agreed to meet back for lunch.  I figured that gave us a few hours to spend watching Joe’s warehouse.
While Jenna and I were both eager to get to work, we hadn’t had breakfast.  We stopped by a bagel shop and picked up some to go.  She was the only one of us who had the money to pay. 
God, my chauvinistic ways were really taking a hit today.  I suppose it made me appreciate a little more how much Jenna and I depended on each other.  I knew what I could do alone, but we worked better together.
We were just passing by a coffee shop when Ice came out, blowing on a steaming travel mug.  He saw the two of us and pointedly turned his head to look down the street in the direction we were heading, which was towards the Chineighese district.  He did not seem to be surprised.
Turning his eyes back to Jenna and I, Ice edged into our path.  I wasn’t really in the mood to talk to him, but obediently stopped to see what he had to say.
“Where are you headed?” he asked.
“We’re walking,” Jenna replied.  “That’s not a crime right? This is a free country, yes?”
“They say so,” I told her.  “The government regulations supposedly agree.  It isn’t quite like home, though.”
“‘Murica,” she said, throwing in an accent.  I had a hard time keeping a straight face as I looked back at Ice.
“Are you going to see what you can gain from Little Puffy Joe?” Ice asked.
“And how did you know that?” I blurted out.  Nuts.  I really needed to have better control.
“I am a federal agent,” Ice retorted.
“A junior one who they won’t issue a real lie detector,” Jenna shot back.
While I appreciated her sticking up for me, I decided that maybe we should disengage from the conversation as quickly as possible and continue on with our task.  “Look, just leave us alone, Ice.  Not that you’re worried about us, but we have a Manehattan police officer helping out now.”
We started to walk past.  Ice asked, “Who is it?”
If Gilda was undercover, then telling anypony would be a breach of her faith in Jenna and I.  Also, I didn’t trust Ice.  Plus, I felt like giving him one parting shot by telling him no.
I glanced over my shoulder.  “Nopony you know.”
“Gilda must have told you she was a cop.”  I froze at Ice’s statement and slowly turned my head back.  I am a really bad actor.
Ice cocked an eyebrow.  “She did, didn’t she?  Cute.”
“Just what is that supposed to mean?” I demanded.
“It means that you have even fewer friends than you thought.”  Ice sipped his coffee and then took off into the sky.  I glanced at Jenna.  I guessed that her face probably showed about as much worry as mine.
“What do you think he meant by that?” I asked.
“Unfortunately, probably just what he said,” Jenna replied.  “You have to admit, Gilda doesn’t have a lot of proof on her side.  I like her and I want to trust her, but we have to be careful.”
“But what about Ice?” I frowned.  “I know he was with the police in Canterlot, but so far we don’t have any proof he is who he says he is in Manehattan.  And you have to admit, he is being very cagey about this.”
Jenna considered that and nodded.  She leaned close for a quick nuzzle.  “At least I can count on you.”
“And I can count on you.”  I closed my eyes and smiled, enjoying being close to her.
Our reverie was interrupted when I lost concentration with my magic and dropped the bag of bagels.  We pulled back a bit reluctantly.  I picked the baked goods up again and we went on our way.
No matter what Ice and Gilda had going on, spying on Joe was still something we could do.  We made it to the building we had been told about.  The warehouse was positioned close to the street.  It had a few large doors for bulky items and a small walk-in door.  Across from it was the housing building.  The abandoned apartment was on the second floor.
We slipped in the back way of the apartments and went up the stairs, careful not to be seen.  The apartment door was unlocked.  Trash and graffiti decorated the main room, showing that we were not the first to stumble upon the place.
The window provided a good view of the building across the street.  Jenna and I sat down, munching on our bagels.
Time ticked slowly by.  While I understood that surveillance could take a while, I still felt antsy that our time to catch the killer was still ticking down.
Jenna and I talked a little.  Just quiet conversation to keep us from boredom.  She glanced at me, her eyes traveling down and to the rear.  Almost involuntarily, my tail swished between us.  Jenna grinned.  “I’m not looking at your butt, I swear.  Just the cutie mark.”
Only slightly relieved, I asked, “What about it?”
“It still seems to be for fabrication and engineering,” she noted.
“I’ve done a few odd jobs and fixes around the club,” I confirmed.
“Do you have any specialized magic?” she asked.  “I’ve heard that some unicorns do.”
I shrugged.  “I’m good at using tools?  Hammering things, maybe?”
“What’s that like?" she joked.  "Applying a force along a straight line to impact a small area, like the head of a nail?”
“Maybe.  Kind of useless, I guess.”
Jenna snuggled close to me.  “Well, with your skill set you were able to get a job in Equestria before.” 
Her tone was comforting, but I didn’t like the implications.  I didn’t want to stay here long enough to be gainfully employed.  But she did have a point; if it came to that, I could get a job and start a new life with her here in Equestria.
That was not a happy line of thought and the two of us sat silently for a few minutes.  Our time to deadline was still ticking down, but I supposed that being with her was about the best way to spend it.
The traffic on the street was light, and almost all of it was pedestrians.  Jenna and I both perked up when a white unicorn who looked out of place on the shabby streets came into view.
“What’s Fleur doing here?” muttered Jenna in surprise.
“Octavia would love this,” I replied.
“Photo, too,” Jenna added.
Fleur seemed to be on edge.  She kept looking over her shoulders as if suspecting that she was being followed.  She went right up to the warehouse and knocked on the door.  A few seconds passed and it opened to let her in.
I could hardly believe it.  To say the least, this had certainly put a new spin on things.  I grimaced.  Just what we needed, more complications.
“What could this mean?” I asked.
“Either a huge coincidence or a huge problem,” answered Jenna.
We were still discussing it when several sets of heavy hooves tromped up the stairs and came down the hall.  We both fell silent, hoping those ponies weren’t looking for us.
But of course they were, and four large stallions burst into the room.
We got up to run, but they surrounded us before we could get away.  I glanced at Jenna, reading her expression.  The window behind us might be dangerous to break through, but after that she could fly away.  And it was only the second floor, so the drop wouldn’t outright kill me.
Before either of us could move, however, I heard another set of steps approaching.  Gilda stepped into the room, casting her eyes around.
My heart lept up in relief.  In the next instant, however, it crashed again.  Gilda gestured to the stallions.  “What are you idiots waiting on?  Get them tied up and over to the warehouse.”