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“My girlfriend Echo’s bakery burned down —” I start but he cuts me off.
“We have already apprehended the suspect and she has confessed.Seems like a bit of a troubled soul.I sort of feel sorry for her.”
“Her?”I ask apprehensively, my heart already breaking for Echo.
“Yes.One Sasha Daniels.”
“Fuck,” I run my hands through my hair.
“Do you know her?”
“Yeah.She is my ex-wife and Echo’s older sister.”
“That’s insane,” he says as he rubs his beard.“I wish I had better news for you.Echo will need to press charges, or the insurance company won’t pay out for the fire damage.”
“What will happen to Sasha if she does?”I need to make sure I have all the right information so Echo can make an informed decision.
“Well,” the detective says twirling a pen between his fingers.“She is currently getting a psych evaluation and I would put money on the fact that she has some kind of dissociative disorder.Should that be the case, and if she is prosecuted, she will spend time in a mental facility for the criminally insane.”
I knew what he was going to say but hearing the words out loud is like a physical blow.“And if Echo drops the charges?”
“Then I would recommend that her family finds her professional help before she hurts someone.”
“I’ve already found a place for her,” Benjamin says behind me.
“I’ll leave you two to talk,” the detective says giving us some privacy.
“I know I have no right to ask either of you to do this,” Benjamin says, his voice tired.“But I would really appreciate it if Echo could not press charges.”
“And what about her?”I ask, angry that he would ask her to give up everything for her sister, who tried to burn her alive.
“I will pay for everything that needs to be done at the bakery.Replace any items she has lost.Hell, she can gold plate the windows for all I care.”
I look at the man I used to call my best friend and I can see this weighs heavily on him.His face is gaunt, and his skin has a greyish tinge to it.
“Why would she do this?”I ask, needing to know.
“After the divorce she got pregnant,” Benjamin says softly.“She lost the baby before we could tell anyone.The doctors had to take her womb to save her life and she hasn’t been the same ever since.”He shakes his head as he stares at me with tears in his eyes.“This is my fault.I knew she wasn’t okay, but I didn’t want to pressure her.Look where that got us.”
I stare at him in shock.I actually feel sorry for them both and I can honestly say it’s not an emotion I ever thought I would feel toward either of them.
“I’ll talk to Echo,” I say.“But it’s still her choice.”
Turning away from him I make my way outside where Detective Conrad is sitting on a bench under a tree, smoking a cigarette.
“I doubt that Echo will press charges.”
“Just bring her by to sign the paperwork in the next day or so and it will all be over,” he replies.
“Thanks for the help,” I nod before heading back to work.
Echo
The moment he walks in I know something is very wrong.He looks like he is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.I hope nothing bad happened during his shift.Sometimes, the work can take its toll on him.It’s not easy to save lives but I think it’s harder when you can’t save someone.
“Hey,” I wave from behind the kitchen counter where I am waiting on the stove timer.
The entire house smells like cookies.I bake when I’m bored.Or stressed.Or angry.Sue me.
