"So...am I okay?" I asked. "I have so much I need to finish today.
"Ma'am, we'd prefer you stayed here for a couple more days. You haven't had your monthly checkup anyway, so you could stay--"
"Ah, can't I come back later?" I snapped. "I have a case that needs to be finished. I can't overlook it anymore."
"Mrs. Thompson, I don't think it's good for you to--"
"Hey, Lexi." Luca walked into the room. "I just signed the discharge papers. Sorry, doc, but she has a lot to do at the moment."
"But, she--"
"No time. She's due for a meeting with her manager within the hour. A whole lot of can she work on the set or whatnot."
I watched the doctor look at the both of us like we'd gone crazy. Maybe I had, but Luca wasn't acting the same. I'm not going to stay even if I had to. There was a lot I had to do and staying here wasn't going to do anything for me. Plus, if I end up in the hospital, Asher's going to be worrying about why Crystal isn't working and I can't have that. Not right now.
"We'll bring her in for a checkup tomorrow," Luca said. "Promise."
"He promises, but I won't," I muttered.
The doctor only chuckled and put his clipboard on the bed. Please give up. I thought eagerly. If he didn't, I'd throw a fit. Better yet, I'd walk right out. Luca already signed the discharge papers.
"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow, Mrs. Thompson. Sooner if you need it."
Why was he saying that like he knows something's going to happen?
⭕️⭕️⭕️⭕️⭕️
I was speaking to Davenport when the front doors flew open. Asher marched in with a man in handcuffs. I ignored them and continued talking until I caught a glimpse of the man. I couldn't believe it! It couldn't be. No one has heard from him in such a long time. They didn't even know he was at the gala. Wait...someone must have gotten him on camera. Or followed him home. That had to be it.
Time seemed to slow down as they walked past us. Brad looked at me and winked. My eyes widened in surprise and confusion. What was he up to? "They finally got me," He said. I turned away as my hands curled into fists. How did they find him?
"Crystal, speaking of old cases...I want you to take this one," Davenport said. I shook my head. "Why not? I know you're not comfortable with him being your ex-stepfather, but I really don't want Monteil to take the case. He's too...He just accuses everyone before he even knows everything."
"Sir, I really want to, but--" I started.
"That's great!" He exclaimed and turned to the officer at the front desk. "Have the files for the Roberts case sent to the interrogation room immediately. Good luck, Roberts."
I ground my teeth together, plotting Davenport's demise in my head. If someone says 'no' it means no. Something about the situation bothers them. "Yes, sir," I muttered. "I'f anything goes wrong...I'm coming for you first."
"That's nice, Roberts." Davenport laughed and walked away. Why couldn't he find someone else just as good as me?
"Hey, Nolan! Won't you take this case for me?" I fluttered my eyes at him.
"I would, but I'm sure I'll never come back out."
"What..."
"He kills everything that poses a threat to him."
I let out a shaky breath and finally went to find the interrogation room. Before I could open the door, a shadow fell across it, making me jump in surprise. Asher stood there with his hands in his pockets. Gosh, that was hot. But, what did he want? I sighed heavily waiting for him to say something.
"I want to be your partner," He said.
"You what?" I squinted at him.
"I want to help you put Brad behind bars again."
"Of course you do, but I'm going to do it myself."
"Come on. Did dinner not mean anything to you."
"You have a girlfriend..."
Asher smiled like he'd accomplished something.
"Your pencil broke when I asked you." He winked. "Doesn't that say something about you?"
"Monteil," I snapped. "There is a fine line between surprise and disappointment."
"No need to deny your love for me, Crystal. I won't tell if you let me be your partner."
I shook my head. What kind of person would I be to have someone help me put my own dad in jail? He had to be ten types of crazy. Brad wouldn't even be afraid of him. He'd just mock him and possibly reveal everything about. I'd have to be oblivious to it all, because of who I was posing to be.
"Monteil, do me a favor and go to your best friend, Nolan, yeah?" I sent him a tight lipped smile. He didn't get it or he was just pretending not to get it. Men...
"I promise I'll let you do the talking."
"Liar."
"I swear."
"No."
"I'll treat you to dinner down the road."
I laughed and stepped up to him. "Firstly...Monteil, you have a girlfriend. Secondly, it's too expensive for a police officer working in this dump. Thirdly, I will never like you."
Asher stamped his foot like a child. Well, that's his problem. No meant no. It was almost like talking to Davenport again about not taking the case.
"Get me the Roberts file," I ordered.
"Really?" A smile adorned his features.
"Really."
Once he was out of sight, I told a passing officer not to let Asher into the room. If I so much as saw him peek in, I'd kill him. Or let Brad do it. I needed to be alone for this.
"How'd they catch you?" I asked.
"...Don't be so careless," Brad muttered. I got the memo and sat down at the table. "It's not my fault. It was your mother's."
"She's dead," I snapped. Brad shot me a look. "Are you really going to put me through that again?"
"You're still with Luca," He pointed out. "I thought you'd kick him out the house or something. Did he not scare you enough?"
"I'm not afraid of him. Why are you here anyway?"
Brad chuckled and looked to the file on the table. I glanced at it. "Hmm...why don't you tell me?" He suggested.
I slowly dragged the photo over to me and cautiously opened it. Nothing I had seen from cases before was going to help me get over what I saw inside. Photo after photo of a woman's severed head and mutilated body. Her insides were hanging out. Files said she had been hung and her head was cut off after she died. But, her eyes had been gouged out before death.
What kind of murder was this? And these pictures weren't the end of it. Reports on how this woman went missing for days and no one knew. She's been scalped. Her knees had been dislocated so she couldn't run away. Her fingernails and toenails had been ripped off. Her fingertips burned beyond recognition.
Her shoulders were dislocated completely from her body. I assumed she had been tortured alive and pushed from an extreme height with a noose around her neck. Who could do such a thing? I couldn't fathom how this person was thinking. Too smart. Left no evidence it was them. Not unless they really wanted to get caught.
"...What does any of this have to do with mom?" I asked.
"Keep reading, dearest." He smiled and gazed behind me.
I looked down again, flipping through the pages all over again. A heading caught my eyes. At first, I couldn't believe that mom was really dead. Had actually been alive for most of my life and didn't decide to reach out to me. Natasha showed up to the gala, so I should have known something was up. But, where was her father?
Karmen Davenport, formerly known as Karmen Roberts and Karmen Daniels, was found brutally murdered in an abandoned warehouse just outside of town.
Davenport? As in the Davenport I was working under? This couldn't be.
"It's exactly what you're thinking. You can never trust the people closest to you," Brad said. "Ryder never changed in appearance, but since you only remember his face from when you were younger, you didn't put two and two together."
I had noticed. He looked familiar to me, but I could never pinpoint why. The limp should have been a dead giveaway. Ryder had one when he was dating my mom. I guess the crash made it worse. His story of being in the military was just the right story to continue his crimes.
"What's next?" I whispered. "Can't we pin the blame on someone else?"
"Do you have anyone in mind?" He asked.
I took a short glance at the camera, praying it wasn't working at the moment. Later I would learn it didn't. Almost none of them did. I guess that's how Davenport was able to make dirty deals with most of the people who came through here. I looked back at the recorder and inched my fingers toward it. Brad watched me in silence and once I pressed the record button, he looked at me.
"You won't get away with any of this," I started calmly.
"...No one ever said I would, doll," He bit back. "What? Are you implying you're going to stop me?"
"You could say that. Are you afraid yet?"
"Why would I be?"
"I can have you put in prison faster than you can explain yourself, Brad. I'm not afraid of you nor will I ever be."
I lied. I was so scared of him. What if our plan backfired and he was put in prison for real? He'd come for me. Even behind bars he had people watching my every move. It wasn't from experience, but I had heard from a lot of people. Hence my mother and Luca.
Brad looked over to the window and smirked. To be honest, I was hoping the police force was on his side. I doubted that since Ryder was in charge. He's been wanting to take Bread out for so long. He wouldn't miss this chance to make me do it on my own. It's not like he was the better father or anything.
"Officer Roberts, who are your parents?" He asked. I was going to answer, but he held up a hand and looked me in the eyes. "Apparently nobodies if they don't know their own daughter is trying to put the very man they're indebted to in jail."
"That's my job. I would have parents if not for you!" I exclaimed.
"Me?" Brad laughed. "I have nothing to do with that. I only instigated the incident and your police boyfriend fell for it and put me in cuffs." He gestured to his wrists.
"And whose fault is that?"
"Your mother's. It's not my fault I have a gun license. Or that she happened to the be in my warehouse I loaned to a friend three days prior to the murder. Or that I left the scene an hour before the murder. I couldn't have seen her and she wasn't killed in my warehouse. Your information is all wrong, darling."
"What does your gun have to do with anything?"
"Nothing. Just thought you'd fall for it."
I sighed. He was really putting on a show. He was teasing me. And for what? I was on his side. He wanted me to play along and I was doing it just like he said. I knew nothing of this, but my mother dying when we could have made amends isn't a funny matter. I would have forgiven her.
"Considering your record for smuggling illegal weapons into the country...I'm not at all surprised those are involved," I said.
"Are you avoiding talking about your mother?" He teased. "Ever wonder why someone might have wanted me to get caught?"
"...She was a good woman." She really wasn't. "I loved her and you took her away from me. How could you?" All these lies were going to send me to Hell.
"Are you sure about that?"
"Are you implying that I'm lying? That I'm only putting on a show for you? You have the nerve--"
"She never wanted you in the first place!" Brad slammed his hands on the table. I flinched. "You don't know how hard it was to ignore her complaining about you every single night. I get that she was young and stupid, but that didn't mean she needed to tell me how much she wanted to kill you when she knew I loved you like you were my own. She wanted you dead, Roberts! If not for me you wouldn't be sitting here right now!"
I stood up knocking my chair backwards, angry at the fact he was lying. He didn't have to go this far with proving a point. I knew how my mother was and she wouldn't want me dead. Would she have traded me for Ian? Definitely. Killed me? She didn't have the guts. I knew she didn't love me and she told me that everyday, but he didn't have to rub it in.
"Do you hear that?" Brad asked, serious once again. The look on his face proved he wasn't kidding around. Then again, it hadn't changed since he yelled at me.
"What are you talking about?" I straightened.
"I'm serious, Roberts. Someone's here."
I turned around to go to the door. I knew it was a stupid move, but it was him or me and I was willing to sacrifice myself for him any day. Brad tried to get me to stay away from the door, but whoever was on the other side would never get in. If only I could lock the door. If only I could turn back time.
It's like the world slows down when you're doing something stupid. I walked to the door with Brad literally screaming at me not to do it. If he wasn't in cuffs I'm sure he would have jumped across the table and pushed me out the way. As soon as the door was shoved open, I regretted ever wanting to protect him.
"Lexi! No!"
I felt a hand yank me back and pull me into a hug. I hadn't registered what was happening until I heard the gunshot. Brad was protecting me and I couldn't do anything about it! The second and third gunshot had gone off as Brad fell to the floor, leaving me vulnerable. That's how I ended up in the ICU. Again.