“I wish I could, but I am obliged to settle this matter. If De Leon is really alive, then I am going to get him. I’ll make him pay for what he did to our family.”
“You’re playing with fire, Chelsea. Detective Carson, please talk some sense into her.”
“She’s a stubborn one, I’m not sure if I can do that.”
“Tell me what I need to know, Isaac!” Chelsea insisted.
“You don’t have any jurisdiction in Mexico. Plus, you don’t have it in you to become a killer.”
“That is because you only remember the little girl I was long, long ago, Isaac. You don’t know who I have become. That innocent little girl died that night with my parents. I am now all grown up with a different view of life. Believe me when I tell you that I will not rest until I have accomplished my mission to see that justice is done.”
“Tell us what you know, Isaac. It’s not too late and the prison will provide you with extra protection,” Pierce said.
“No thanks, I’m quite comfortable where I am. I have nothing more to say.” But as he spoke, he kept looking at Chelsea as if trying to tell her something, but not directly.
“Before you go though, do you remember anything about that little girl you were? Do you remember what your mother used to tell you?”
“She always told me that I would do great things.”
“Yes, and she also told you that you had a pure heart and that you never had it in you to harm another human being. Your life was never supposed to turn out like this, Chelsea, and I’m sorry. If only I could turn the clock back.”
She felt tears begin to sting her eyes, and so getting to her feet, she said, “Thank you, you were really very helpful, Isaac. Now I know what I have to do.”
As she was walking towards the door, she turned toward him and he spoke the one sentence she had not heard in years.
“Kocham Cię na zawsze mój słodki, Chelsea.”
A tear escaped and rolled down her cheek and she nodded. “I love you too, Wujek.”
Walking out of the room, she felt that her entire world had been shattered. The information was almost too much for her to manage as things became clearer, though not easier to bear. If she had any innocence left, it was completely shattered. She would never have suspected her uncle of such deeds, and she was not about to underestimate who or what she was up against. But something had to be done, things could not be allowed to slide, just like that.
One thing she knew, she was no longer a fearful cowering little girl waking up to the shock of her parents’ murder. She was not going to stop until she got what she wanted, and no one was going to stand in her way. No one!
Chapter 14
They were back at the station after the visit to the prison. Chelsea was going through the database at her desk when Pierce came by.
“You know Isaac is right. If Emilio De Leon is in Mexico, you won’t be able to get to him.”
“Let me be the one worrying about that.”
“Chelsea, you need to stop,” he warned, “you have no idea what you are saying!”
“I actually do, Pierce, and I will do everything in my power to get justice for my family.”
“Chelsea, please don’t do anything foolish.”
“Let me be the judge of that.”
Seeing the obstinate look on her face, a frustrated Pierce left and went into his office. Chelsea barely noticed. She could feel a fire burning deep in her heart. All her anger at the many injustices in the world fed the flame within. She was too angry to be afraid and her thoughts were consumed with how to carry out her plan. De Leon must be stopped one way or another. She refused to sit by and let any more people die at his hands. The cop in her and her sense of personal justice were clashing head on, and the latter was winning. Life was not fair and sometimes one had to intervene to restore the imbalance.
Pierce re-emerged from his office. “Just a minute, Chelsea. Come here for a minute.”
He waited until she had come in and closed the door. “Want a seat?”
“No, I’d rather stand.” She suspected he was about to say something she did not want to hear.
“I am sorry to tell you, but we can’t allow you to continue on the case any longer.”
“But I am the best chance at getting De Leon and you know that!” She was almost shouting, although she wouldn’t say she was totally surprised.
“True, but you’re too close to it, and I’m afraid you have lost your objectivity.”
“But, I promised Ashlee’s mother and…” her voice trailed off. She felt like crying, but that would be a sign of weakness.
“I also have to tell you that you’re suspended, too.”
The shock of that nearly made her knees buckle. What had she done to be suspended?”
“Don’t look like a deer caught in the headlights. You’re suspended for breach of official policy when you copied that file without authorization. You seem to have forgotten that.”
“You…you…” she could not find the right words to describe him.
“Chelsea, come on. Let’s not add insubordination to the charges. Believe me, this is for your own good, and for that of the department. I’m trying to protect you and I can’t allow you to do anything that will jeopardize the case with Quincy.”
While he was speaking, he was scribbling on a sheet of note paper which he handed to her. She read it and tore it into tiny bits immediately. It said, ‘Do what you have to do, but you can’t be on this case for now, and that’s the reason for the suspension. Do it for Ashlee, others and yourself. I’ll give you whatever information I get.’
She understood and for the first time since getting back from the visit to the prison she smiled.
“We thought it best if you had some kind of a police protection given what has happened. I checked around and the only person who has an extra room available was Dean. So since you’re not able to return to your apartment, we thought it might not be too bad of an idea for you to stay with him for a while.”
“Well, it could be worse…”
“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” Pierce assured her. “We could come up with something else…”
“No, it’s alright…” It would only be for a short time and at the moment she was too tired to care.
As if on cue, Dean came in as she was returning to her desk.
“So, that which you feared has happened?”
“You mean being taken off the case and suspended?” She decided to keep what Pierce had written on the paper to herself.
“Oh, suspended too?
“I think it is totally unfair…but I’ll bide my time and lie low.”
“Are you ready to go? Pierce said I should take you home and keep an eye on you, considering all the threats you’ve been receiving.”
“I’m not afraid, but it might not be a bad idea.”
“I don’t have a luxury apartment, I just wanted you to know.”
“Neither do I, as you already saw.”
He smiled and she followed him outside. It had started to rain again.
“Are you sure you’ll be comfortable bunking with me?” he asked.
“No,” she replied, not wanting him to know that she had mixed feelings about the arrangement. She had never actually shared a house before with a man who was not a relative.
“So, you’re not afraid of the big bad wolf?”
“No, I’m not…I am a grown woman, remember.”
They both burst out laughing.
They got into the car together and Chelsea lapsed into silence.
“Are you sure you’re okay? Yesterday must have been a horrible day for you.” His voice was thick with concern.
“It surely was,” she agreed. “It was a lot to absorb and I am still trying to figure it out.”
“That shouldn’t take too long. You’re a very smart woman.”
Chelsea warmed at the compliment. She was tempted to
fill him in on all the details of what had happened, but decided not to do so, more out of tiredness than caution. She changed the topic.
“You’re not looking so hot yourself.”
“You’re right about that. Some things kept me awake most of the night.”
“Personal or work related?” she asked.
“You could say a little bit of both.”
She could not help wondering about the nature of the personal things. Did they include thinking about her? She dared not ask.
“So you have any new ideas about the case?”
“I sat up most of the night doing some research and I still can’t seem to put my finger on a few things—like why De Leon would want to kill his son and his girlfriend…and why they are so determined to get at you after so many years…”
The same questions occupied Chelsea’s mind, but the visit to the prison had provided some answers… and she felt the teddy bear featured in there somehow. But right now, she was too tired to talk about it.
They arrived at a modest block of low rise apartments and went up to the third floor. The apartment was small and neat, consisting of a main bedroom and a smaller one, more like a study in which was a futon that doubled as a bed. It was clearly a man’s place with furniture in earthly colors with metal accents.
“You can bunk here for the time being,” he said, as he took her to the smaller room.
“That’s alright, I don’t need much space and I live very frugally.”
“It seems like we have quite a few things in common,” he said.
“I quite agree.”
He gave her a thoughtful look before saying, “I’ll go whip up something for us to eat while you settle in.”
That sounded so good and in a short time they were eating a delicious meal of lasagna. She could not recall the last time she had someone prepare a meal for her. Apart from eating in a restaurant, most times she just scrounged around for something in her always near-empty fridge and ate whatever she found.
“How about some wine?’ he asked.
Not waiting for her to answer, he fetched a bottle from his cupboard and brought two glasses.
“What are we celebrating?” she asked.
“Well, I’m just trying to cheer us both up, and if I’m celebrating, it is the fact that you are sitting there and I’m sitting here.”
Chelsea blushed, but liked the warm feeling spreading over her. She was no longer sure if it was the wine or something else. To break the spell, she got up quickly.
“I’ll do the washing up.”
“Okay, you wash, I dry.”
The space was very limited in the small kitchen and they kept bumping into each other. One of the times, Dean was behind her and he wrapped his arms around her.
Instinctively, she froze, but he did not let her go and gradually she relaxed.
“That’s better,” he whispered in her ear.
Confusion flooded her. A part of her wanted to move away, even run, if that were possible; and another part wanted to stay enclosed in the warm security of his arms.
Gently, Dean turned her to face him. Her heart was pounding away on its own. He lifted her face toward him and kissed her. As he pulled her closer, she found herself responding to his kiss. It was exhilarating and heady.
Then suddenly, she pulled herself away.
He looked at her with eyes aflame with passion. “Is something wrong, Chelsea?”
“Yes. We have only just recently met.”
“So? We both know how we feel about each other. So what does it matter if we have only known each other for such a short time?”
“Well—” she was scrambling around in her mind to find anything to cover her bewilderment at the passion he had awakened in her and her fear of yielding to it. “Well… I thought you said you didn’t sleep with the people you worked with?”
“I did, but that was before I met you.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re special.”
She didn’t want to respond to that, but her heart was following its own tune. Warm pleasure enveloped her.
He stepped closer to her. She did not move.
“Are you really that afraid of loving someone, Chelsea?” He asked tenderly, as he closed the gap between them.
“Sort of…” was all she said.
How could she tell him that she really was afraid of her own emotions and where this would lead? She still did not move as he took her into his arms once more.
He could feel her trembling, so he decided it was best to go slowly. He pulled himself away.
“Tell you what. We’ll take it slowly and not before you’re ready. We’re both tired so I think maybe we should get some sleep.”
She could only nod her head. Her emotions were too overwhelming for her to try to speak.
“Goodnight, then.”
She watched as he went into his room and firmly closed the door. Only then did she sit down as her knees were too weak for her to remain standing.
She chided herself for her fear. Dean was so kind and considerate, and he really seemed to care. When she was with him her burdens seemed less heavy and there was some semblance of order and hope. But somehow it didn’t seem as if she was able to let herself go, or forget her past experiences and learn to trust again. Was there any redemption for someone like her?
She looked around and couldn’t help noticing that he had no photographs—of himself or any family members on display. It seemed as if he had cut himself off from the world. She wondered if he kept certain memories close to himself, even as she did. Maybe he was a loner just like her. Her heart went out to him. That could be part of the reason for their attraction to each other. As someone once said, like attracts like.
She found herself smiling. Surprisingly, she felt better and stronger to face the challenges ahead. She was confident about this because she no longer had to do it alone. Dean was there to help her and together they would defeat the enemy.
Chapter 15
Sitting at his desk, Pierce was playing back all that took place during the visit to Isaac. Something was nagging at him in the back of his mind. He felt sure Isaac was giving them a hint about something. He had given very few direct answers—he kept re-directing everything they asked. He seemed outwardly calm, but maybe he was still afraid. Being in prison provided no security from drug dealers. They had their people everywhere.
Why did he talk so much about the teddy bear, a gift from long ago? The damn teddy bear was important to him and to Chelsea, or he would not have gone on so much about it. He remembered Isaac telling Chelsea that it was precious. That might hold a clue.
He jumped up from his desk and headed toward the room where the evidence lockers were kept. His mind was already racing ahead as to what he would find. He swiped his pass to get access and hurriedly scanned the headings on the boxes until he found the one he was looking for.
He literally grabbed the box off the shelf. With trembling fingers, he opened it up and he pulled out the bear. It was no longer a child’s innocent toy. In places, the body was tarnished by some old blood stains, but he knew there was something else much more important at stake. He methodically squeezed every inch of the body from top to bottom. Nothing. He crushed it harder, but didn’t feel anything different from the soft stuffing.
Heedless of the consequence of being accused of destroying evidence, he tore the toy open. Something had to be there. The stuffing fell out and he searched it, but still nothing. Frustrated, he was about to put everything back together as best as he could, when he held on to the label, part of which was sewn inside the body of the teddy bear while the other portion hung loose. Then he felt it, something small and hard.
Quickly he got a pocket knife and cut it open. Bingo! A small microchip fell out. It was sewn in under the label so it was not easily detectable. This was sure to hold something important. This was the breakthrough they needed.
He not so
carefully flung everything back into the box and was returning to his desk, when his phone rang.
“Pierce, we’re bringing in Jeanine Groves for questioning right now, so don’t go anywhere.”
“Sure, Parker, I won’t.”
Damn! He had to wait a bit before he could look at what was on the microchip.
He climbed the stairs in a series of bounds and sat waiting for the next suspect to arrive. She could possibly have something to do with Ashlee’s death, although he was now becoming more convinced that it was drug related. Whatever the girl said would help to confirm whether his hunch was right.
After a few minutes Parker escorted Groves inside. She looked like she was suffering from a hangover. Her mascara was smeared, her brown hair was in a wild tangle and she was still wearing her party clothes. Parker took her to the interrogation room and returned.
“She’s all yours, Pierce.”
“Where did you find her?”
“At her house. She showed up some time this morning.”
“Thanks, Parker. I’ll see you later.”
He went into the room. Miss Groves looked as if she was going to pass out, and he hoped he could get a few answers out of her first.
“Jeanine Groves, I am Detective Carson. Do you know what your rights are?”
“Yes, I do.”
“And you know you can have a lawyer present.”
“I do, but I don’t need one, because I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Do you know why you are here?”
“No, but I’m sure you are going to tell me.”
“Yesterday morning Ashlee Thompson was murdered,” he began.
She shot him a look of surprise, but there was no sympathy in her eyes.
“Somebody gave her what was coming to her. The stupid bitch never knew when to back off.”
“Why do you say that?”
“She tried to help everyone and, of course, one of those people so happened to be my boyfriend. Yeah, he was charmed by her somehow. That bitch was a snake charmer and after seeing her he never gave me a second thought.”
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