Chapter 6

"Heeey, good morning! You were Veronika, right?"

"It must be me." I yawn, still half asleep.

"What brings you here so early, Veronika?" The nice lady behind the cashier's desk asks smilingly while cleaning the wooden top with spray and a piece of cloth.

"Uh-- I came to grab two coffees to-go and two sandwiches." I sheepishly rub the back of my neck.

"What kind of coffees and sandwiches?" 

"Um that's the thing, I don't know. I want my coffee clear and long." I look at the bright menu hung on top of the bar. 

"And the other?" Grace asks while turning the coffee machine on.

"I don't knooow..." I complain, it's too early to even think. "It's not for me."

"Okay, who is it for?" Grace asks while sliding the first plastic cup of coffee on the wooden top.

"Uh-- Uh--" I stutter and feel my cheeks starting to burn again. 

"Oooh, is it for Christopher?!" Grace squeaks while a wide grin forms on her face and she wiggles her brows teasingly.

"Um, yes. How did you know..?" I ask almost whispering and quite embarrassed.

"I just know, chick. I can feel the strong chemistry between you two." She turns her back at me to prepare his coffee.

"Uh, that's not true." I scoff. "He hates me." 

"Oh, he doesn't hate you, Roni. Trust me when I say you will end up together and married." She passes me the second cup of coffee.

"As if." I roll my eyes. "Anyways, I would like to get a grilled chicken panini sandwich, and what does he usually get?" 

"Well..." Grace laughs. "He gets the triple bacon and cheese extra grilled sandwich, with extra mustard and pickles." 

"Uh, isn't that like a bucket of fats?!" I cock an eyebrow in surprise. "How he stays in such good shape with eating this every day?" 

"He must do a lot of workouts." The friendly woman casually notes and passes me two paper bags. "It'll be 21,50$." 

"It'll be a what?!" I almost shout startled. What the heck did I just order?!

"Well, it's after the discount. You don't think this triple bacon and cheese sandwich costs two dollars, do you?" Grace chuckles. Fuck, I got robbed.

"Here." I sigh, my plan better works out because I can't afford to buy Mr. Grump a sandwich every morning.

Grace gives me my change and waves me a great day as I'm leaving for work. Great, sure.

                           *** 

"Good morning, sir." I greet Officer Smith who is smoking a cigarette outside the station. Weird, I haven't seen him smoke.

"Good morning, Miss Hughes." He nods but it feels like something is off. He seems nervous.

"Is Christopher already here?" I ask, a little shyly.

"Not yet. You're actually early." 

"Good." I mumble. "Um, sir-- I meant to ask, since when are you smoking? I haven't seen you smoke, so--"

"I haven't lit a cigarette for over 10 years." He interrupts me with a heavy sigh. Something is really, really off.

I try to brush it off and step inside the station before Christopher comes, then carefully prop up the coffee and sandwich on his desk and hurry to write a note.

"I hope we can try again." I finish the lettering and reread it a few times. I hesitate and am about to give up on the note, but then I hear Christopher's rough voice greeting Officer Smith. I fastly leave the small sheet on top of the paper bag of sandwich and throw myself behind my desk, pretending to search for something on my computer.

"Huh..?" I hear Christopher's surprised voice and turn my back at him on the snivel chair. My heart is hammering and my palms get cold sweating. To say I'm embarrassed is an understatement.

I wait for a good two or three minutes but nothing. No response from Mr. Douchebag, no question why I did it, I only hear a slight noise of crumpling paper. So with held breath I slowly face him, only to see my little note flying to the trash bin, smashed in a small ball. Then he pushes aside the coffee and the paper bag and turns on his computer.

"Huh? Seriously?! Why don't you throw the sandwich too?!" I ask, half-intimidated and half-mad by his act of coldness.

"Because I have a dog at home that can eat it." Christopher only rumbles in a lowered voice.

"Well, I didn't pay 15 dollars to feed your dog!" I protest.

"And did I make you pay 15 dollars?" He arches an eyebrow and faces me.

"Well, no but-- I-I thought maybe we can try again." I shyly stutter and scratch my head.

"What did you even think? That we can be the best of friends if you buy me a sandwich?!" 

"Well, no! But I hoped that at least you won't look at me like you will shot me dead any moment!" 

"Well, you were wrong! And after what you did, be thankful that I did actually not murder you!" Christopher raises his voice at me and I'm taken aback, even shocked. 

"I did nothing! You're like this from the moment you saw me!" I raise my voice too, trying to sound more intimidating than him. "I'm sorry that my sitting on your chair was such a problem! If I knew, I wouldn't even look in the direction of your desk!" The thumping of my fists on my desk echoes through the big office.

"This has nothing to do with you sitting on my chair and if you can't realise it, you're as dumb as a rock!" Christopher rushes his fingers through his hair, messing the perfect slicked back shape of it. 

"Christopher, behave!" The ordering voice of the Officer once again puts an end to our verbal fight. 

"Ugh, screw you, Jason! I'm not your dog to boss me around!" Mr. Asshole points irritated Officer Smith.

"I suggest you go outside for some fresh air."

"Whatever, old man." Christopher rolls his eyes and sits back on his chair, crossing his arms and breathing heavily.

"Miss Hughes, please come to my office." The Officer rumbles and tramples to the backdoor and I only nod, then follow him obediently.

"Listen, sir, I give up!" I raise my hands in defeat. "I give up! I tried everything!"

"Veronika, I got an interesting call this morning and as you can probably guess, Christopher did hear it too." The Officer sighs, not paying attention to my protests.

"Wha-what kind of a call?" My thoughts start running wild. Did my teacher call him? Or was it my mother? I sit in the leather chair in front of his desk.

"Try to guess." Officer Smith crosses his legs and locks his fingers on top of his knee in a quizzing pose. "Come on, try."

"I-I don't know what you are talking about, sir." I stutter and scratch my forehead, clearly clueless.

"Where did you go last night, Veronika?" 

"Sir, I--" I open my mouth, then close it like a fish out of water. So the little old bastard made a call.

"Listen, Veronika." Jason sighs a little disappointed. "First, you can not go to such places unaccompanied by at least one more policeman. Second, you can not use your temporal badge and present yourself as a legal part of the law system, what to say about leading an investigation yourself and third, you can not threaten people."

"Is it why you were so nervous this morning? Listen, sir--" I stop for a moment and sigh heavily, here goes nothing. "Due all respect, but I had to do something! I realise I stepped a line or two and you're supposed to punish me now, I will understand, but I had to try! You keep me away from any possible activity, what am I supposed to do?! Sit in silence and play solitaire for the whole year? And then what? Give an empty paper to my teacher?!" I try to validate my actions from last night, but I do realize the risk I took by doing what I did.

"Miss Hughes, I must say I'm amazed by your detective skills, I made sure to delete any article or evidence of that particular case you pretended to be working on, but this changes nothing. You did what you did and crossed a huge, thick, red line."

"Whatever, sir." I sigh, it's been almost a week and I want to leave so badly already. 

"Luckily for you, I like you, Miss Hughes. I believe you have great potential and I know you will be one of the best investigators the world has ever seen." The Officer smiles at me, somehow proudly, satisfied. Like a father smiles at his daughter when she achieves something.

"Wait, what?! Won't you call my teacher or punish me, or send me back home?!"

"No, Veronika. I believe you're a person who doesn't do the same mistake twice. I believe you taught your lesson and I'm not willing to ruin your future for what you did. Of course, maybe if it was someone else at my place, you would've been already driving back to Portland, but luckily for you, it is not someone else."

"I'm really confused, sir?" I still stare at him in surprise, mouth opened.

"What I'm saying is that I won't report to your teacher, we'll forget about this little accident. Your only punishment will be dealing with Christopher."

"That's... not a punishment. I'm dealing with him since day one." I sigh a little disappointed, yet relieved that the last four years of studying won't be thrown in the dumpster.

"I know you had a rocky start with him, but I promise you, it won't be always like this. Just give him some time." The Officer laughs. "But I must ask, how did you even find the information about Christopher's mother?" 

"Oh, don't even ask. It was such a hard and tiring thing to do, even I don't know how I ended digging out that article." I shrug my shoulders.

"How is she?" The serious tone of Jason startles me. "I haven't seen her for over 4 years. Actually, a little before she was transferred to that mental home." 

"Sir, Christopher is your son, right?" I ask cautiously, I know the answer already but I want to hear it from the Officer as well, so I don't have to pretend I didn't eavesdrop.

"He... he is." Jason sighs. "Not my own, blood-bound son, but he is. How did you find out?" 

"I figured." I lie and scratch my arm. "You said you made sure that any information about the case was deleted, plus you just said that you haven't visited her and in that article was said that her own husband put her behind the bars." 

"You're a really smart girl, Veronika." The Officer throws his head back and looks at the ceiling as if something really interesting is hung on it. "I- I was crazy in love with her. We met when I was sent for a training program to New Amberton to become a Lieutenant. I managed to charm her--" Jason chuckles then sighs. A painful, regretful, heavy sigh. "I asked her to move in with me here, in Waterfall Bridge and she agreed. The only thing is I didn't know she has two kids. She was barely 25 and already had a five year's old son, but I accepted them. We married and were happy. Everything was fine for maybe a year or two, I got the promotion, she fastly found a job and got used to the life in this small town. Nothing felt off until that particular night I came back home earlier than supposed and found her pushing Christopher's head underwater in the bathtub. Sadly, I came too late for Cindy. And to this day I don't know the reason as for why she did what she did. She never gave me a reason, a valid one. All she kept repeating is that they were devils and that she has no regrets. I loved her, I think a part of me still does. I tried to help her multiple times, I visited her countless times, tried to talk to her, to get to the roots of the case, but I never did. She faced a fast trial and now serves a life-long sentence. The case was closed and I was congratulated for the great job, but I consider it my biggest failure so far. I couldn't help the person I loved the most in my life."

"But you couldn't help her, sir. I'm sorry to say this, but she deserved the death penalty, not a life-long sentence. She tried to murder two kids!" I protest. I feel so sorry for the Officer, no one deserves to live through such a horror, but then he tries to reason, even excuse this monster's actions.

"I do know you're right, I realise it. If it was someone else, I would've wanted the death penalty for them too, but--" He stops and quickly brushes off with a finger something from under his eye. A tear perhaps. "Anyways, I need to know, how is she?" 

"She... I don't know how to say it, sir." I look at him with empathy. 

"How bad is she?" He almost whispers the question.

"Really bad. She's a walking skeleton, she has barely any hair left and has completely lost her sanity. I don't even know how to properly describe how horrible she looked. Actually--" I stop a thought strikes me like a lightning. "Sir, I think I know the reason for her crime!" I shout.

"Hm?" 

"Well, I can't prove it, but you can investigate! You said everything seemed fine until that night. I think she was part of a cult." I shoot the suggestion.

"How come?" The Officer straightens his shoulders and looks at me.

"When I visited her, I tried to talk to her. It was almost with zero success, I thought she's just lost her mind, but now it makes a little more sense. She kept repeating that the kids were devils, true. She smiled at me with horrific satisfaction of her gory achievement. Then she said it's 'he, who made her do it' pointing the small window. When I demanded to say his name, she only said 'God' and that the water was blessed by God. I think she was part of a cult!" I fastly blurt out everything, I feel overwhelmed by so much speaking, I didn't even get a breath.

"You- you actually make some sense, Veronika! I can ask to reopen the case and--" His excitement gets interrupted by his own hesitation. "I can't do this."

"But why?" I ask surprised, I thought he wants to find the truth?

"I can't do this to Christopher. He walked such a long and rocky path to relieve himself from that nightmare. It was a real challenge to even shower him. Reopening the case would look like a betrayal to him. I love him more than I loved her..." 

"I understand, sir." I supportingly respond, he has a point. "Sir, can I ask you one more question?"

"Mhm." He nods.

"How is it that you said you have two sons when you adopted only Christopher and I've never seen you with a woman? I'm sorry if the question is too personal."

"Well, I married again. I met a woman that I believed would make me forget about Agatha, she gifted me with another son but sadly, she died two years ago in a car crash. I guess I was never meant to live my last years with a beloved one." The Officer shrugs.

"I'm sorry for asking. My deepest condolences." I bow my head down in embarrassment, I shouldn't have asked.

"It's okay, Veronika. It's not your fault." 

"Sir, I think you should investigate the mental hospital." I offer another suggestion that might rest his soul at least a little.

"How come?" 

"It's awful. It barely has any living conditions, the building is old and what I believe not safe at all. Inside is cold, humid and dark. It smells like mould and they obviously don't put much effort into their patients. Don't do it for Agatha but for all the sad people that were unlucky enough to get there. It's really saddening and depressing there." 

"I- I will think about it. Thank you, Veronika. And please, pretend I never told you any of this. Don't show to Christopher that you know our kind of relationship." 

"Of course, sir. You can rely on me." 

I get up to leave his office and hear a loud, heartbreaking sigh behind me. I'll live him in peace and will make sure no one bothers him today. He'll need some time.