Never Again

Chapter 18

Hey! I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has voted on my story and also added it to their reading lists. I really appreciate all of the support! I do have a bit of bad news, however. I am going to be taking a break from updating this story for a few weeks. The end of the second semester is approaching, and so I have a lot of finals to prepare for. I need some time to focus on those, and don't want this story to take away from that, or vice versa, so I'm going to be taking a break, probably until the end of May. I just wanted to give everyone a heads up so I don't confuse anyone. And I also wanted to assure everyone that this story isn't over yet; I will be back at some point to finish this off. Trust me, I have a lot more planned for these characters! Again, thank you so much for the support, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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 It was the next morning and Unser was in his office, flipping through the police report from Donna's murder. Only one person had witnessed the shooting, and they couldn't ID anyone; they didn't even catch the license plate number in time. Still, even without any evidence, Unser knew deep down who had committed the crime.

While at the scene last night, Clay had claimed that it was retaliation from the One-Niners, but Unser was no fool; he knew that Clay had fallen victim to Stahl's plan. The club had believed her set-up, believed that Opie had ratted; and by the time Unser managed to convince them otherwise, it was too late. Clay had already made the order; Donna was already a dead woman.

His mind wandered to memory of Cora; her reaction to the crime had broken his heart. He knew how much it reminded her of Della, how much it hurt her; it made him start to feel guilty all over again. If she had just stayed in Tacoma, she wouldn't have seen any of it; she would've been sheltered from it, not having to relive her mother's death. But she had chosen to stay in Charming, and Unser couldn't help but feel like it was all his fault; if not for his stupid cancer, Cora would've been far away, doing just fine.

He shut the file with a sigh, rubbing at his forehead, stressed. He didn't know what to do about Donna's murder. She deserved justice, but he had no evidence to pin the murder on Clay; and at the same time, he couldn't bring himself to put all of the blame on him. Clay or one of his cronies had been the one to pull the trigger, yet it was Stahl, David, and the rest of the ATF that had given him the means to do it. They had given him the suspicion; they had set Opie up and sparked this whole event in the first place.

As Unser sat, mulling through his thoughts, the door to his office opened. He glanced up, watching as David entered; he looked exhausted and wore a guilty expression on his face. Not saying a word, he shut the door behind him and made his way across the room, leaning against the wall.

After a few moments of silence, Unser finally spoke, raising a brow at his Deputy Chief. "What do you need, son?" he asked.

David took a deep breath, averting his gaze to the floor. "How is she?" he asked, his voice quiet. He didn't need to even say her name for Unser to understand.

"Coralie's upset," he replied with a frown. "Thinks that this happened because of you and Stahl."

"It did," David agreed with a sigh. "I should've said something to you sooner," he confessed, full of guilt.

The Chief shrugged. "Nothing you can do now, son," he lamented.

"This is my fault," David grieved, shaking his head, disappointed in himself. "I need to do something to make it right." He paused, staring at Unser with a conflicted look. "This was Clay; we both know that, and we need to do something."

Unser nodded. "I know," he admitted, "but we got nothing on him, and we aren't going to find anything."

David groaned, running a hand through his hair. "Then what are we going to do?"