✔Cupcakes to Kill For

19. Bad Decisions 🧁

"Maybe this isn't a good idea," Mr. Lockhart said.

Casey parked his car in front of the police station. "Dad, come on. We need to show the police that stupid dating profile. Sure, it's harmless enough with Frieda but she honestly believed you guys had a connection. What else could this impersonator do, acting as you? Think about it."

Police cruisers swarmed the parking lot. Casey couldn't deny how much the police station intimidated him, but he needed to help his dad figure all this out. The cops had resources that could possibly trace back where the dating profile originated from and who else might've used it.

"I know you're right." Mr. Lockhart sighed. "But what if they don't believe me? They'll think I've been cheating on your mom, giving me motive to murder her. Even you guys thought I'd cheated."

"It was an honest mistake. I mean, at first glance, we really thought it was you but we realized it couldn't be. By handing this over to the police and explaining it now, I think we can assure them that it's definitely not you. Just an impersonator."

"Alright, let's go then."

The wind shook a flag pole violently in the wind as they crossed the lot to the entrance. Crossing over the NSPD emblem on the floor, Casey hoped they were doing the right thing by turning that profile over to the police.

A young receptionist instructed them to wait off to the side while she fetched Detective Bailey for them. Mr. Lockhart thanked her, pacing around the floor as Casey took a seat. He finally checked his phone and scrolled through the missed text messages from August. Most of them asked if he was doing okay and wanted to meet up again. Not at the Black Viper's hideout.

Sparing a glance at his father, Casey sighed. His thumbs lingered above the screen, considering if he should respond. August had led him back down familiar, addictive habits that he needed to abandon. While he couldn't have known that, Casey knew he was bad news. No matter how kind and helpful he'd been. Severing all ties would be the best decision.

Casey would meet with him one last time and explain how he needed to keep his son his priority. Then, they'd never see each other again.

Soon enough, Detective Bailey rounded the corner near the stairs with his partner, Detective Lindel. Casey sat up when they approached them, hoping they'd made the right choice and be understanding.

"There's something you wanted to show us?" Detective Bailey guided them down the familiar path to their interview room, passing by their desks.

"Yes, my kids actually found it," Mr. Lockhart replied.

Detective Bailey frowned, noticing the laptop bag Casey carried. "What exactly did you find?"

"A dating profile, made like it's my dad, but it's not his. Someone else created it and has been messaging a woman named Frieda," Casey explained. "We figured it was best we brought it to your attention before someone else did. Honestly, we thought it was legit at first too before reaching out to the woman and noticing that the profile had only been accessed once on this computer."

Detective Lindel frowned. "Who would do that? Has anyone else had access to your laptop?"

"Yeah, those gang members who had me do their dirty bidding," Mr. Lockhart replied. "Casey here and my daughter, Lani found it while she was using my computer. I knew nothing about it until they reached out to that Frieda woman and she came down to the bakery."

"You think they created this fake dating profile of you and logged onto it from your computer?" Detective Lindel asked, shaking his head. "Why the hell would they do that?"