Into My Heart

LXXXII

CHRISTEN

Everybody seemed too occupied to even care to go and talk to Kelley O'Hara, so it was exactly what I did: I went to the police station she was incarcerated in (while she waits for her mutation in a women's prison while waiting for her trial) and come face to face with Julie Johnston and Lia Wälti, who seem surprised to see me and Kristie there.

The blonde is highly motivated and angry and really wanted to come with, so I couldn't really say no - furthermore, she and me working together had proven pretty useful last time, so why not at least try? 

Immediately, a tensed atmosphere occurs, as Kristie frontally and nonchalantly declares:

"Alright, sheriff (her fake British accent almost makes me laugh, but I hold it back out of respect for the law enforcement woman) here's the deal: yesterday I overheard a pretty interesting question between Alex Morgan and you, about a box and Kelley O'Hara's innocence, so you have two choices now: either you tell us everything and we work together, nor my girl Christen here can make sure you get suspended and we take over the case without your dumb asses. So, what will it be?"

As the sheriff's face decomposes out of rage and Lia's body language was communicating anxiety, Christen leans forward and whispers to me:

"That was a little too much, Kristie, but I liked it."

I have a content smirk, as we wait for the two women to speak.

Without saying a word, the sheriff exchanges a look with her co-worker, before making us a sign to follow them into another room, so that nobody would overhear our conversation. As we walk into the room and that they close the door behind them, I finally feel like payback is coming: we are going to find out what the hell has been going on behind our backs.

After a deep sigh, Julie Johnston says:

"If we let you two in the know, you have to promise that you will keep whatever information we give you secret. Understood?"

"That's fine by me" I announce, before realising that Kristie was about to say something that would mess everything up. So, right before she is able to let the sass out of her mouth, I quickly add: "And by Kristie, too."

Kristie rolls her eyes, but nods. 

After a long silence, during which Julie and Lia were exchanging extensive eye contacts - and we could see how worried they were - the sheriff ends up saying:

"We believe that Agent Krieger's comeback has been no coincidence, and that she is the one framing Kelley O'Hara."

"Tell us something we don't already know, Barbie" Kristie exclaims, bored.

Throwing her a dark look, I just address the two women in front of me:

"Excuse her, this case is particularly sensitive to her. Now, care to tell us what was in that box Alex gave Kelley?"

"A burnt phone" Lia announces, staring right at us. She then takes her computer out, and continues: "We knew we had no choice but to arrest Kelley if we wanted the real killer to reveal themselves: whoever killed the last two victimes was going to come after Dan O'Hara's daughter. So, now we have a visual on Kelley 24/7, which allow us to protect her."

I frown, confused.

"I still don't understand how that is going to help catch the bad guys?" I say, exchanging a look with Kristie, who nods in agreement and adds:

"Yeah, especially since Kelley isn't useful from behind bars... (then, after a small break and her eyes going wide, she exclaims:) Unless whoever is involved with The Patriarch is in the police..."

"But why Ali?" I ask, still not getting it.

Lia sighs.

"That's the problem: we've got no idea."

"Well, Kelley gave Mallory a USB-card that is being analysed right now by my sister" Kristie explains, shaking her head. As Julie rolls her eyes in anger, she adds: "We will keep you updated as soon as Sam finds out what was on that card."

"Strange she didn't tell us" Julie says, raising her eyebrows.

"Maybe she didn't fully trust us at the time" Lia reasons, concentrated. 

There is a small moment of silence, before Kristie asks:

"So, what is Alex' part in this story, then?"

Julie smirks. 

"You know her as well as I do: if someone only thinks about hurting the Dragons, that girl would do anything to protect her little tribe" the blonde declares, staring right at Kristie. As the latter seems on the verge of insulting her, Julie adds: "So, it should be no surprise that she wanted to help us find out who The Patriarch is so that she could protect all of you... And you (she specifically points at Krisite) especially."

There is a bit of unwanted blush in Kristie's face, and I decide to steal her spotlight as I say:

"Something don't add up: Ali Krieger cannot be The Patriarch, because she was there when Becky was shot - hell, she was the one who shot her. Why on Earth would she shoot her associate?"

"Maybe Ali isn't as honest as we thought she was and wanted to gain your trust?" Lia proposes, thoughtful. 

"Or perhaps" Julie adds, visibly onto something, "we've been looking at this wrong this whole time"

In order to illustrate what she was saying, the sheriff bursts out of the room, as the three of us follow her further, right into her office, where an investigation board was step up with pictures of everything concerning The Patriarch's case. There were picture of me, Kristie, Abby, and pretty much everybody we know - and then Ali Krieger, Kelley O'Hara, the Press family, Ashlyn Harris... Everybody that played a role in the hunt of the truth.

Julie doesn't wait long to take a picture inside of her hands, before showing it to us: it shows what seems to be a murder weapon (a very incisive and small hammer, that has been used to remove the victims' eyes) and the results of blood and fingerprints tests. My eyes go wide, as two people's profile matched the footprints: Ali and someone very, very familiar.

Immediately, Kristie whispers:

"No, it can't be..."

"Crystal? My bodyguard?" I exclaim, in shock.

Julie nods, as Lia says:

"We tried to bring Mrs Dunn in for questioning, but it appears that she has left town..."

I am shaking with anger, as Kristie puts a comforting hand on my shoulder. But soon I get away from it, crossing my arms against my shoulder.

After taking a deep breath, I just hear what Julie has to say:

"But we have enough incriminating evidences to bring Ali Krieger in - although she has a lot of connections inside the police forces, so we gotta be careful..."

"Whatever it takes" Kristie says.

But in my mind, everything is already running 100%: I couldn't handle another betrayal right now, so I needed to talk to the only person that would calm me down - Abby.