The fog wasn’t getting any clearer as Chris entered the Family Violence and Sexual Unit headquarters. He could count on both hands the number of times he had been to the unit. He was sick of the place. The smell of almost stale coffee. The noises of men and women in the holding cell. And especially the saddened looks on some of the detectives' faces. He couldn’t imagine seeing what they see daily.
“Mr. Matthews thanks for stopping by.” Detective Adam Darwood said as he shook Chris’s hand.
“Of course.”
“Can you follow me please?”
Chris passed some of the detectives' desks including David’s who then followed behind Chris and Adam. Adam led them into one of the spare rooms in the unit. Chris didn’t hesitate to speak up first. He needed to figure out what was going on.
“Adam was it you who told me that you wanted to speak to me specifically about Victor?”
“Yes. I also had Jake look over some of the information that I am about to show you.”
“And David?”
“Yes,” David replied in a serious tone.
“I know you’re not on the case but since you’re here I know it is something you are going to want to see too.”
Adam turned his laptop towards Chris and David.
“The Lonely Traveler what’s that?” Chris frowned as he glanced at nature photos on the website.
“This is Victor’s blog. We had a person who knew him give us this information.”
“Who are they?” Did they have something to do with what happened to Sarah?”
“We can't say who this person is but they didn't have anything to do with what happened to your wife,” Jake said.
As Adam scrolled through the blog he said to Chris “as you see everything looks normal right?”
“Yeah. I mean I’m not a huge blog person, but Sarah is.”
“Rose is too,” David said with a smile.
“Well if you click on this link which isn’t something the public can see. We have some people in the tech department who assisted us. Anyway...we found some videos.” Adam then played one and it was of Chris and Sarah out at a restaurant.
Chris smiled at the memory. He and Sarah had just celebrated the release of her third book. The sales numbers had been great and it was climbing up the charts to be the best of her releases to date. Chris then remembered why he was watching this video. “Who took this? This happened over six months ago.”
“Six months?” Jake questioned.
“Do we know if Victor took this?”
“Well that’s our assumption.”
“So what do we do about it?”
“There’s more.” Adam scrolled further down the page of another video of Chris and Sarah. In this video they were in their bedroom.
“I don’t need David or the two of you to see that,” Chris said closing the laptop.
“All we’re saying is there’s more. Also David had a chance to talk to Victor recently.”
“You did? I hope you-”
“Chris I know what you’re going to say but I talked to him over the phone. We’ve been working on a deal-”
“A deal! What’s wrong with you?” Chris could feel the anger rise within him.
“He just told me that he needed Sarah for a specific purpose in their group.”
“What about the other men with the tattoo?”
“We’ve interviewed a few and so far we haven’t had a lot of suspicious information on them.”
“So they haven’t told you anything?” Chris questioned the detectives.
“Not much.”
Chris huffed in frustration and anger then said “You know we’ve been wanting a baby for so long?”
“Huh?” David questioned as he had opened the computer and began to scroll through some of the blog posts.
“Sarah and I- Well at first it was me who wanted a baby. Being a father to me is so important. I wanted to give my child the things I didn’t have growing up. Sarah wasn’t. She was a career woman. It’s not that she doesn’t like kids, but she knew she wanted to write and her productivity in her writing would be so much different if she had kids. Over time, however, she knew that having a baby was going to create a new version of herself that she couldn’t wait to meet.”
“What does this have to do with the case?” Adam questioned.
“I-I don’t know. What I do know is that my heart is aching and solving this case will help put things back together. At least part of the way.”
“Do you remember Henry Croswell?”
“Who is he?” Chris questioned sitting down at the table.
“He’s a person we’ve talked to,” David said.
“No offense, Mr. Matthews, but we can’t technically tell you anything,” Jake said seriously.
“The man deserves to know,” David said.
“If Captain finds out-”
“He won’t say a word right?”
“I won’t say anything,” Chris said in a nervous tone.
David then continued “He’s a man we talked too as I said earlier. And he gave your wife the letter and photo from Victor.”
“And you’re just going to let him walk?”
“He did nothing wrong.”
“You all disgust me seriously!” Chris then stood up from the table and stormed out of the room. As he left a man brushed past him. Chris read his name tag and said “Croswell?”
“Yes? I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to bump into you.”
“Are you Henry Croswell?”
“Who’s asking?”
Chris didn’t get the man time to respond as he punched him in the face. Henry stumbled back and fell onto the ground. Chris hovered over him and continued to hit him. Chris’s fists turned to beat red and he ignored Henry’s cries for help and he didn’t stop. Chris felt someone pull him and yet he continued to swing as David dragged him out of the room.
“What are you doing?”
Chris ignored David’s question as he paced around the room “Henry or whatever his name is has such a nerve to come into here.”
“Chris. Like I said before he’s done nothing wrong.”
“But I mean he-”
“Look Chris go home. Sit home with Sarah.”
“What about the surveillance video?”
“There’s nothing yet. The video shows nothing. I'm sorry.”
“Why did this happen?” Chris’s voice broke and he continued “things were going great, David I’m sure you know that.” Chris leaned against the wall, “she’s gotten so quiet. So distant. Our love is drifting away. Sarah told me the other day that when we had arrived at the precinct to discuss her case. The man who she saw in the holding cell terrified her. She also noticed he had the same tattoo as her attacker.”
“Oh him. Black hair, blue eyes probably about 6 foot 2.”
“I don’t remember the details.”
“His name is Oscar Worthington. He’s dead.”
“Did he have anything to do with Sarah?”
“No. He was here in the same holding cell. He was here almost monthly. So many misdemeanors. Now that I think about it he did live in the same building as you and Sarah. On the 8th floor. But he was nowhere near your apartment during that time.”
“Am I in trouble?” Chris’s voice seemed to shrink. He didn’t want Sarah to carry another weight on her shoulders. He wanted her to have more peace in her life, not chaos.
“If you leave before Arie I mean Captain arrives you should be just fine.”
“Gentlemen?” Chris turned towards the door to see Arie standing at the entrance. Chris wondered what happened because she looked so fragile.
“Captain why are you here?” David said.
“I’m sick of staying home. The kids are with their father and It’s so lonely in the house. But enough about me, Detective Darwood told me what happened.”
“Please. I can’t let anyone hurt my wife again.” Chris said, pleading.
“Nothing’s going to happen. Henry’s not pressing charges.”
Chris sighed in relief.
“Also we did some research on the company Fixing Doors and More and there’s been a surge of that company doing some shady things not just to you but all over Philly.”
“How?” Chris felt overwhelmed by all of the information that was being thrown at him and he said “This is ridiculous.”
“I know. Look, just keep an eye on your wife. We will have protective detail on both of you.”
Captain Arie Weston took a ragged breath as she then lost her balance. Chris caught her by her arms before she almost fell. “Are you okay?” Chris said, guiding her to a chair.
“Yeah...just a lot has been happening?”
"Is there anyone I can call for you?"
“My friend Lloyd. But I don’t need him to worry.”
“You sure?” Chris said. Even though he didn’t know her, he felt a pull to help her.
“No thanks.”
“I’m gonna head out. Rose said she needed to talk to me ASAP. I told her I would be home about half an hour ago. Do you mind Captain? I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Sure.”
“You want me to see you out?” David said standing near the door.
“No that’s okay Thanks though.” Chris gave him a half-smile as David walked out of the room.
Chris sat across from Arie and looked her in the eyes “Arie?”
“Yes?”
Chris could see the tears in her eyes and he had the urge to wipe them away. “If you ever need anything don’t hesitate to let me know.” Chris didn’t know what compelled him to say this. Was it the fact that he couldn’t connect or talk to his wife so he needed to connect to another woman?
He stared at her hands which laid delicately on the table. Her hands looked so soft and warm. Chris placed his hand on top of hers and squeezed it. Arie didn’t pull away and he was surprised that she held onto his hand tighter.
Throughout his years of being a counselor he learned that sometimes we just need someone to listen and not say a word.
A knock on the door quickly withdrew his hand away from Arie. “Sorry to bother you Captain but your daughter’s here. She said they had an early dismissal and she couldn’t get into her dad’s house.” Jake said.
“Oh no I forgot all about that. Will you excuse me?”
“Certainly.” Chris hoped that he was hiding the redness on his face which he could feel on the inside. His phone buzzed in his pocket so he looked at the text message.
"Hey Honey. It’s Sarah of course. Holly and I just had a crazy conversation. Can't wait to see you soon. Love you."
Chris couldn’t believe what he had done and hoped that Sarah would forgive him. But yet he didn’t feel guilty.
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