"What's so special about this case that it needs to be revisited again?" Lauren questioned, engrossed into what her boss was saying. "Does it have anything to do with crime and murder?"
"Jackpot," her boss said as he slammed his palm down on his desk. "I want you two to work together on this case. You're both my best assets, and I wouldn't want anyone else to do it."
"I don't think she should be in this case, Edward." Josh finally spoke. When Lauren glanced at him, an invisible curtain had fallen over his eyes already. He looked tense as if he really didn't want to work with her. He had always made a joke about working on the same case and competing against each other as they brought out their personal resources. She might not win on that, but at least she had the chance of doing her best when it comes to the writing part.
"Why shouldn't I be in this case, Baker?" she asked, daring him with a lift of her chin.
He glared at her. "It's way too dangerous to go out there and deal with that. You're a woman, Lauren. Not a damn man. You won't be able to handle something like this. Change her, Edward. I want someone else. Someone who can handle anything that's handed to him."
He was obnoxious as always, and it irritated her. She wanted to tell him that a woman could do anything a man could. Edward spoke for her before she could reply. "There's no need to change, Baker. Lovely here is right. Why shouldn't she be in the case? It's not like you're going to capture the damn murderer for this. This case is almost two years old."
"Which doesn't help at all," he responded, mouth pressed into a thin line. "The murderer for this massacre could still be out there, wandering around looking like he's innocent."
"Too bad, Baker." Their boss had said before he took his glasses off. "I've already made my decision. You and Miss. Lovely here would work together, and that's final. You're both dismissed." There was nothing more to do but leave.
Lauren smirked as she walked past him, her motive intentional. She had won, and she could see that it had stung his male ego. She braced herself for the argument that would come as soon as they hit their office. Baker would surely let off his anger at her for not being able to be heard by their boss. She waited for it, but none came.
"You really should just work on a different case," Josh said as soon as they hit their desks. "This isn't something that you would be able to handle well."
"How do you know?" she said, flicking her hair behind her. "I've already handled cases like this one. Nothing can faze me like before."
"Don't be stupid, Lauren!" Josh outburst before he slammed his fists down.
She regarded him with a cool demeanor, flicking her eyelids up at him. "I'm not completely aware how I'm being stupid. If I had to give my opinion, I would rather say it's you acting irrationally, Mr. Baker."
She regarded him with a coolness that she knew it would only break him further. Lauren saw the crack of emotion in his face. It played out differently, anger, pissed off, and coolness and some others she couldn't exactly identify. She had worked with many murder cases before, so she didn't understand why Joshua Baker was suddenly acting like the protective boyfriend that he wasn't. He was probably just talking out of the heat of the moment. He was angry because he couldn't have this case alone to himself. Well, there were some things in life that one could not have.
"You're not going to do this work with me," he said after he took a deep breath. "You can do the writing part; I'll give you that much credit. But I'm going to poke around and stick my nose where it doesn't belong. And you're not coming with me."
It was her turn to get pissed off and cross her arms across her chest. "Stop acting like a child and man up, Baker. We won't get anything done if we don't start. Now, if you're done having a tantrum, I'm going to go to the reference room and find that case that Edward was talking about."
She heard a string of curses from him but ignored it. Lauren wasn't in the right frame as of right now. She had no patience for bullshit or games anymore. When work was involved, she always had a straight head. And if he was about to stick his nose where it doesn't belong and follow a hot lead, then that was where she would be. Along by his side, doing and putting as much work into everything throughout the whole process.
Just as she was about to step into the reference room, she heard him call out her name before following her. "Wait for me. Don't do anything without me yet, Lauren."
She didn't listen but continued to walk further into the room. Lauren saw the file case that had the information that she needed to have a look at. As she pulled the drawer open and started going through the folders, she wondered what kind of case they were looking at. This was a dangerous thing to do. Digging into someone's business that also happened to be filed as close made her want to re-think about working on something else. She ought to hand this case to Joshua and let him deal with it. But there was something about it that pulled her interest, and she couldn't let him face this alone.
She stopped for a moment. Why should she care if anything happened to him? She didn't care at all. But the fact that Josh could get in trouble made her want to stay. This shouldn't be that bad, she thought to herself.
As soon as she saw the right folder, she pulled it out and sat down on one of the chairs.
"Damn it, Lauren." Josh cursed as soon as he walked in and saw her sitting down on the desk, going through the files already. "I told you not to look through those without me."
She gave him the deadly glare. "And I told you to stop breathing down my neck every chance that we're together. You can't keep bossing me around. Not when we're going to spend the next few weeks together on this case."
The thought of them working so close together had Joshua's mind wandering off to dangerous grounds. He had always wanted her with everything that he had in himself. A quick, sudden flash of her naked pressed against him and his cock tightening inside his pants.
"Are you going to help me go through this case or not?" Lauren said, irritated at how her partner was acting. It sounded weird on her mouth to be saying they were partners. He was anything but that. As far as she knew, Joshua Baker came from a secluded area from New York that no one was really sure about. Although he didn't have any history or background of criminal records, she was still suspicious of how this man came about to be a journalist. It was not one of her problems, so she decided to let it go.
"I know who covered that case," Josh declared as he took the seat opposite her. The strong scent of his cologne mixed with pure male had her nose flaring in passion. Squeezing her thighs together was the only thing she could to stop the arousal starting at the pit of her belly.
"Fernando Hugh," he continued as if she had asked him. "I haven't talked to him about this case, but there have been holes in them. I was polite enough not to point them out since he was just a start-out then. Edward would surely have fired him if I hadn't covered his ass."
"You don't seem to like the guy," she said, bemused.
He shook his head. "I don't really. But the only reason why I covered his ass that time is that he was a newbie, you know? Everyone deserves to shine in their own way and grow as a writer. But that thing is, the bastard wasn't thankful after I just saved his damn ass from getting fired."
"That's a surprise coming from you," she said in a small voice. "But I do agree with giving people the chance to grow and do better at their job. Especially if he was just a first-timer."
"The bastard graduate with a degree in Journalism. I didn't really understand why I did that, to be honest." He sighed before giving his head a shake once more. "But it doesn't matter now. I'll have to have a talk with him as soon as we're done here. I want to clear some of my theories up with him."
"Like what theories?" she asked, going back to her reporter mode.
He stared at her intently, and she wondered what he thought of her. Nothing, probably. He probably just thought she was some spoiled brat that everyone made her seem to be. Just because her father knew Edward, it didn't mean that she got here easy. The old man didn't let her get
off the hook so easily. She had to go through the small hole of a needle just to get where she was now.
"A few theories of mine that I'm not about to tell you," he said before trying to grab the folders from her. She tightened her grip on them before smacking his hand away. He yelped, cursing as he rubbed the sore spot.
"That actually hurt," he pouted.
"You deserve it," she grumbled before finally digging into the papers now thrown around the desk. They went through the information that had been gathered and started reading them. According to the husband, Elijah Crimson, who also happened to be Edward's family friend, he found his family murdered cold-bloodedly after he got home from work around six o' clock in the evening.
After seeing the incident, he immediately called the police, and that was how the case ended. They questioned every single-family member from the wife's side, but no information had been added. None of them were useful when it comes to asking vital questions that could have possibly played out on the crime. The police were also reported to have asked if the family had any possibility that they had made, unintentionally or intentionally. But all of them had said none.
"Well, that ended greatly," Lauren commented as soon as she finished reading.
"I told you, Fernando did a shitty job at this. We need further investigation, and we need to start with him first. For all we know, he might have killed that family." She knew it was a joke, the last part but joking right now was the last thing that should be in their brain.
Lauren smacked him again, and he cursed once more. "You really need to stop doing that."
"If you want me to stop then stop mocking around and be serious. We can't ask him yet unless we've gathered enough data."
"What else should be gathered? That's as much as we can get."
"Wait--" she uttered before pictures started spilling out of the folder. "What are these?"
"Don't look at those!" Joshua warned, but it was too late. She had already looked.
Chapter 3
Horror gripped her as she stared at the horrible images flashing directly at her vision. Explicit photographs of the crime scene stared back at her that made her want to throw up and cry at the same time. Blood flashed in her eyes as she blinked, unable to wipe away the horrible thing she had just witnessed. The poor children and the wife were lying lifeless on the floor pooling in their own blood. Eyes dilated and not breathing; it made air harder to pass through her airway.
"Hey, hey," Joshua said as he came to her side, bringing her head down to her knees. "Easy, girl. Easy. Breathe."
She did as he said and closed her eyes. When the photographs hunted her further, her chest began to constrict. Air became hard, and she wasn't aware of how hard she was gripping his arm. Her nails had dug into the point it would surely draw out blood, but Joshua didn't care. All he cared about right now was for her to find her balance again. This hadn't been a good idea. He should never have let her look at these photos alone.
Damn her for being so stubborn; he cursed in his head.
She clawed at his arm as her lungs tried to regain air. She fought for it as if it would be her last, which might be since she couldn't keep a hold of herself. The only thing Joshua knew was to perform a procedure she might not end up liking. But they both didn't have a choice.
He bent down and lifted her chin up, kissing her with an open mouth. Instead of kissing her naturally, he breathed air into her mouth. Her chest heaved against him as he performed CPR. She was still gasping, but he felt that the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation had helped as she became to cough and to breathe roughly until it returned it to normal. He exhaled loudly, slumping against his chair. That was a close call.
"Are you okay?" Joshua asked as Lauren closed her eyes, her pink lips opened slightly as she pressed an arm against her forehead. She looked pale, it worried him. He had come close to losing her.
"How could anyone do that," she whispered. She still had her arm on the way so that he couldn't see her.
"Do what?" Joshua asked, fuzzed.
Lauren brought her arm down and stared at her partner. "How could anyone do such a horrible thing, Joshua? Don't they have humanity in them? Or have any conscience at all?'
She was showing him a weakness that no one had ever seen before. She hated it, being vulnerable to the enemy she had grown to like for his passion for journalism. Even if he was obnoxious.
Tears were streaking down her face without realizing it. She felt weak and unable to move. Her bone felt like they had turned jelly. She was powerless but not as powerless as that family who died under a cold-blooded murder. Whoever had done this deserved to be sentenced to life in prison. Or be sentenced to the death penalty for taking lives of innocent children and a woman that could not defend herself. Realizing their vulnerability made her even sadder.
"There's nothing we can do right now but do further investigation," Joshua said as he pulled her into his arms. She felt safe in his embrace, much to Lauren's surprise. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She wasn't supposed to be looking for comfort in this man's arms that would only cloud up the better judgment of her mind.
"We need to find out who did this, Joshua." She said after she pulled away and stared into his amazing eyes. "Promise me we would do everything that we can to find who murdered these innocent people."
"We will," he nodded before wiping her tears away.
He stepped out for a moment to talk to Fernando while she pulled herself back together. She was still shaking from what she had seen, but she had to see them. Lauren would never be able to shake that image away from her head, but at least she had her mind set up already. She couldn't bring herself to quit or break away from this project. Not when she had seen how badly those kids and woman had been killed. She was far too deep already. And she wouldn't be able to let Joshua do this by himself.
She stepped out of the room and went to look for Joshua. When she found him, he was already in Fernando Hugh's desk and demanding questions that the other guy could not answer. The obvious terror on Fernando's face showed that Joshua's intimidation was working very well. The kid looked very scared.
There was at least five years or so difference between Joshua and Fernando. The youth that radiated from the other guy made her sympathized him more.
"Maybe I should do the talking," Lauren declared as she stepped forward. Both men glanced in her direction. Fernando's face lit up as he gazed at her with an appreciation in his face. While Joshua frowned at the younger man and slapped him on the side of his neck, sending her a pissed-off look. One she didn't understand and ignored.
"You were the guy who did the family massacre case, right?' she asked, and Fernando nodded way too quickly, way too enthusiastically. As if he was a dog waiting for a bone that she would never give him.
"Good," she nodded before nudging Joshua aside. "Tell us exactly the details of what happened that night."
Sweat started to trickle down the side of Fernando's head, and Lauren could tell whether the other person was lying. She had studied law as her minor back in college. She knew everything about lawsuits and whatnot. And this young man was very nervous for being called out on a lousy job done.
"Well, that night I came into the crime scene as any journalist would do. To investigate and poke your nose around to see if there are any possible pieces of evidence or whatnot that you can find." Fernando stopped before gulping. He looked up at her as if waiting for permission to continue.
She nodded at him in encouragement. "So, that night I saw the family murdered. There was blood everywhere. The kids were in their bedrooms, probably playing with the toys strewn around the room. The mother was in the kitchen cooking dinner. They were all in different rooms. The two kids in their bedroom and the mom in the kitchen. It was kind of ironic, really. These people must have known the murderer."
"What made you say that?" Lauren asked, engrossed.
"The bodies are in two different rooms. Therefore, the murderer must have known where the kids and the wom
an are. I guess you could call it coincidental, but I don't think it is." Fernando said with his brows furrowed.
"So, you're saying that the murder has been planned and that it's not some burglar that accidentally killed the family?" Joshua asked, listening just as intently.
Fernando rolled his eyes. "If it was just some burglar then he would have taken whatever he wanted. But nothing was missing when the husband checked so how could that be, dumbass?"
Lauren held Joshua back from punching the younger man. "Enough, you two. We didn't come here to cause any fight or scene, okay? Make sure to grab hold of that temper and hold onto it tight." She meant it for the both of them but mostly for Joshua who got it instantly. He stared at her, disgust written all over his face. She merely shook her head, unable to believe that she was having this scenario with stupid men.
"Continue, please." She directed this question to Fernando.
"After that, I did some questioning from the police, but none of them wanted to tell me anything." The younger man said sadness obvious in his voice. "Which is why I didn’t include that much information into the article?"
"You were too young," Joshua interjected once more. "There is no way that you would have gotten information from them anyway. You're too inexperienced up until now. I don't know how Edward assigned that job to you. He should have just given it to me."
"Oh, yeah?" Fernando challenged a glint in his eyes. "You think you would have gotten anything else out of the police officers then?"
Joshua smirked cockily. "Of course, I would have. I'm a man of many talents. Besides, I have a lot of resources so that case would have been a piece of cake to me."
"Cocky bastard," Fernando whispered.
Joshua feigned as if he hadn't heard the younger man. He stared at her, gesturing for them to go outside. "Let's go already. There's not much helpful information from this jerk. We ought to start talking to the husband, so we have a pretty good lead."
The Lost Seal: A Seal Romance Page 44
