UNCONDITIONALLY YOURS

Guilty // 54

I look through the one-way glass at my stepmother. She was sitting alone at the old, scratched table and she was cuffed. I stood hand in hand with Parker, and damn, that moment felt good. Seeing her annoyed expression, how helpless she looked... it wasn't a bad feeling at all. I didn't have any sympathy for her; she tried to kill me.

Giving the information had gone pretty well. This time, we have provided enough evidence for them to make an arrest and interrogate her. So far, I was relieved because they had not questioned me nor Parker about the origins of how we acquired such information. Maybe they were too focussed on the main crime in hand for it to matter. I hoped it would remain this way.

Parker stayed with me the whole time. The process was pretty long, I tried to encourage him to head home while I waited but he refused of course. He wanted to be right there next to me through it all. As much as in some ways I would have rather Parked go home rather than forcing him to be bored waiting for me, it was nice having him there.

I had become more and more familiar with all the had happened and Parker helped me relax about it a little. However, sometimes talking about it could be hard. It was easier when Parker was there. If I were unsure, he would encourage me. He healed my pain, he always made me feel better.

After sharing our evidence, the police officer gave us the offer to go home. They would arrest my stepmother shortly, but it wasn't instant. We would be waiting a few hours before anything happened. I didn't even want to go home. I couldn't relax, so what would be the point anyways?

I fell asleep on a chair with Parker whilst he read a book. He slept substantially the night before. Predictably, I had not. But it was a good way to pass the time. Surprisingly, I wasn't too stressed to sleep. It seemed strange that I would sleep better squashed onto a chair and leaning on Parker in the middle of a police station waiting room, but my sleep schedule had always been strange.

It was a while before they arrested my stepmother. I didn't see them bring her through because I was sleeping. Parker gently nudged me to wake up. I rubbed my eyes. After he told me the reason for him waking me up, I quickly became alert and fully awake.

The police officer offered for us to watch the interrogation as long as we agreed the information was completely confidential. Seeing as we had provided the evidence and we were involved and aware of the case, after signing some agreement, it was okay.

And so there I was, looking at her through the one-way glass, I was at peace just a little. Finally, I could see the end to all of this. I could see myself being happy without huge dangers and decisions laying on my shoulder.

One police officer was with me and Parker, and we were waiting for the other police officer to interrogate my stepmother. She would probably resist, however, when faced with the undeniable evidence it would be hard for her to deny it. She wasn't the smartest human I had ever met, let's just say.

I felt Parker reach his hand out a little, and he allowed it to brush against mine. He then slowly took my hand into his and squeezed it. Neither of us spoke a word, we simply stood in silence and we waited.

The doorknob turned and the other police officer walked in to face my stepmother. She instantly frowned at him. At this point, I had a feeling she already knew she wouldn't get out of this. And in a way, I hoped she knew. She deserved to know her fate.

"Mrs. Atkinson." The police officer addressed. He walked quickly across the room and sat on a chair in front of her. "I was a little surprised to see a famous Atkinson here. Trying to murder your stepdaughter? That's low." He said in a low tone. I assumed making her uncomfortable was part of the procedure.

"Except I didn't do anything of the sort." She cleared her throat before speaking, presumably so she didn't stutter her false words out.

"Funny you say that." He picked up a pile of files and paper, then slamming them down onto the table in front of her to read. I recognised many of them as the files from the investigator. There were a few other reports that had already been written up. "This says otherwise." She glanced down at it and I saw her face twist a little before she snapped her head away.

"I'm not going to read this nonsense." Officially, if my stepmother didn't admit to her crime they could not yet arrest her. The evidence was provided by outsiders meaning I could have edited it or something. It was a stupid procedure, but there was nothing I could do about it.

"If you plead guilty, I can assure you will be better off it all of this." My stepmother's hard gaze faltered and she sighed. "Read the evidence. You have no chance against this." She huffed angrily and looked at the paper.

As she sorted through it, every piece of paper she looked at, her face fell a little more. Her brow furrowed. She was between angry and shocked.

"I did it." She sharply turned her head back. I sighed and smiled a little. Parker squeezed my hand, sharing the relief. This meant she would go to prison. I would be safe.

"Motive?" The police officer continued. He seemed unaffected by her admitting it, and I guess that was because he had already thought it was her enough to not react. My stepmother rolled her eyes in response and remained silent. "If you don't cooperate it won't help your case."

"My motive was money." I breathed deeply. Of course, it was money. It was my stepmother, what else did she want in life?

I looked up to Parker for reassurances. He was already looking down at me. He mouthed 'it will be over soon' to me and nodded. I leaned into him a little more and gave him a side hug. Knowing someone had put both mine and Parker's lives on the line for money was a tough concept.

"Explain everything please." The police officer bluntly asked whilst getting a pen and notepad out to write it down. For a moment, she looked angry, but she began speaking shortly after.

"David Atkinson doesn't have a will yet. Idiotic, really, with his vast wealth. If he were to 'mysteriously die', the money would go to me and Riley. If Riley was out of the way, I would get it all. It would have worked if she didn't gain herself a boyfriend, who for some reason seems to like her although the fact she has a bad personality, she refuses to dress up, she won't even wear make-up to cover those horrific freckles of her.

"Even if it weren't for the money, I almost hate her enough to kill her anyway. She gets in the way of everything with her strange non-money loving ways, and I wouldn't miss her if she were dead." My breath hitched. I nuzzled my head into the side of Parker's neck. No matter was she said, it wouldn't have been great and I knew that. Just hearing the reasons was painful.

"I wish I could say good luck in your court hearing, but you are already destined for a life sentence." The police officer stood up about to walk out of the room.

"Wait!" My stepmother yelled. The officer turned back to her and waited. "If I go down, David Atkinson will too." The police officer walked back over to her.

"Um, I don't think you two should be hearing this. You only agreed to hear this particular..." The police officer who was with Parker and I began trying to usher us out of the room.

"No!" I argued. "Please, that's my father she's talking about. I want to hear it." He sighed.

"I'm going to get fired for this." He said. I looked at Parker nervously. What did she have on my father?

"David Atkinson has a secret too." She began. "David Atkinson killed his former wife. He killed Riley's mother."

Oh dear D:

I thought she died of cancer?

Why am I commentating this like I didn't write it lmao XD

Anyways... only two more episode! (and a bonus)

Thanks for reading <3

- Rae