He sighs and looks down at me. “I understand there are circumstances surrounding your family that have been hidden and are now coming to light. Had either your father or Donnie lived, they would have been prosecuted to the full length of the law.”
“Thank you. I believe you would have seen that through,” I lie. This man is a moron if he believes that either one of them would have seen the inside of a courtroom.
“You need to come to the station tomorrow to give a full statement about all the things that happened so we can document it and close the case.”
Drew puffs up. “No, you were coming to my house at noon.”
“Drew, I am reinstating you to full duty. I need you to get busy on this Mad Hatter case.”
“Thank you, Sir, but I’m not leaving Maddie’s side until she is back to full strength.”
“I see.” He sighs and looks hard at Drew. “We can put security teams on your house if it will make you feel better.”
Drew is about to argue. He has this twitch under his left eye that tattles on him. It only comes out when he’s ready to fight to the death about a subject he is passionate about.
“That would be great, thank you, Sergeant. Drew will be at work tomorrow after you come to his house to get my statement.”
Sergeant laughs and nods. “Well, you have your hands full with this one, Drew.” He shakes Drew’s hand and leaves.
As the door clicks shut, Drew traces a finger along my left cheek. “I’m sorry angel.”
“For what?”
“The interruption.” He chuckles and kisses me. I kiss him back, happy that we are not awkward or distant with one another. Hell, happy isn’t the right word. Elated. I’m elated that he’s accepting me.
The rest of the evening,I held Maddie in my arms as she slept. We only had a few hours of sleep before the doctor came in and told us Maddie was fine to leave. It took some convincing, but Maddie agreed to let Crystal take the fall for The Mad Hatter crimes.
I understand why she is willing to go down for the crimes but I won’t let her fall on that sword. Her past is just that, in the past. Except, all I can remember hearing as Maddie told the detectives and my sergeant what happened over the years, is my heartbeat beating in my ears. I want to kill Donnie all over again.
The only thing I can say is that it’s done. Being at work seems wrong, especially since I’m technically a killer. I will follow through with the case as Knave has made it come to fruition.
“Vega, we got a lead in The Mad Hatter case, we need to get a move on it.”
I catch the keys he throws at me and I stand up, put my jacket on and I can only hope that the scene isn’t too crazy. Knowing Knave, it’s likely a wreck.
Fuck.
* * *
The day flewby as we processed the crime scene. Crystal’s death was ruled as a suicide and the media ran with it. It’s wrong to go along with this story, but it’s for Maddie.
I am driving home right now, thinking about how I’m going to enjoy making my girl have multiple orgasms. A smile creeps onto my face before I can stop myself. My phone rings and I hit the answer button. Thank goodness for Bluetooth headsets nowadays.
“Tell Maddie I said goodbye.”
Knave’s voice echoes in my ear. I sigh, knowing this is going to be hard for both of them but I made a decision to change Knave’s name and get him a job in Gotham City. It will work itself out. Once all this shit dies down, I will take Maddie to see him.
“You know I will. This isn’t forever. Just until everything settles. Besides, you may like working for Dr. Freeze.”
“The guy creeps me out, Drew. Who the fuck has blue hair?”
I laugh so hard I almost miss my turn to the house. “Shut up, Knave, and enjoy your new life. You are getting paid four times what you were as a bouncer.”
“True, the damn money is going to be amazing. I left Maddie a present in the mailbox. But don’t let her have it until after graduation.”
“You got it. Talk soon.”
He hangs up on me, and I feel a part of Maddie is going to be pissed as hell knowing she won’t get to freely come and go to his house like she used to. Or that he can’t come to Wonderland right now. His boyfriend turned out to be the victim we found at the high school. The one where I knew it was a different M.O.
