50 Shades of Drake 3 and 4

Chapter Thirty-Seven

    The ambulance arrived before the police did. Destiny let the paramedics in, and led them to the fountain. Then she moved to stand beside Brian, who now looked stricken with grief. She clasped his hand in hers and stood close to him. The brave face she had on, she'd been wearing it for so long now that she was starting to believe it. She was starting to believe that she wasn't shaken up by the fact that a co-worker of hers lay dead not five feet away from her. While comforting Brian, she had to remind herself that he had very good cause to be in this traumatized state. After all, a person was dead at his own hands. Whether he was protecting her or not, he would most likely never forget the way it had felt to hold Jeremiah's head underwater, or the look in Jeremiah's eyes before Brian pushed his head down.

    The police crew that arrived, of course had to include Detective Larrieux, whom Destiny had met in Aubrey's spare condo the day Rafael was found murdered. He didn't look all too surprised when she opened the door to let him in. "Ms. Richards."

    "Hello," she greeted formally.

    He and his partner followed her to the fountain. More law enforcement personnel followed suit, including a female medical examiner with mocha brown skin and braided hair. Larrieux's eyes honed in on Jeremiah, then slid over to where Brian stood. "Can you spell your name out for me, please, and explain - in detail - what went on here?"

    Destiny returned to Brian's side and held his hand.

    He spoke in low tones as he spoke to the detectives. To his credit, he didn't fluff up the details of the story to make himself look like a hero. He told them, in plain English, the events that had led up to the death of Jeremiah Tiggs.

    Detective Larrieux consulted with his small notepad and asked Brian's whereabouts on three other dates.

    Destiny frowned. "Why are you asking him that?"

    "It's a mandatory question," Larrieux responded vaguely.

    "Because he thinks that I might have killed Bridgette and Steve," Brian said with a shake of his head.

    "Let's not forget Rafael," Larrieux said after flipping back a page on his notepad.

    Destiny looked from Brian to Larrieux. "Are you serious?"

    "A fourth person is dead, Ms. Richards," Larrieux told her with a stern expression on his face. "A fourth person who is connected to you and Aubrey, and by association, also connected to Mr. Davies here. I have to investigate all avenues, all possibilities, of this case."

    "You're acting like you don't know who the killer is!" she yelled at him. "Aubrey and I clearly told you who the killer is. All you have to do is arrest him before he continues killing more people. Harry Palmer, the United States politician, is the master mind behind all of this. He is who hired Jeremiah. He is who hired Bridgette. He is who hired Rafael. The Steve guy...I don't know a lot about that. But he is framing Aubrey for murder. Until you arrest him, he's just going to keep doing shit like this."

    "There are protocols that we must uphold," Larrieux told her.

    "Those protocols are getting people killed," she spat at him.

    Brian, who was becoming more and more like himself as time dragged on, slid an arm around her waist. "It's okay."

    "It's not okay," she argued. "You saved me. If you hadn't been there...he would have..." She blinked up at him, her throat becoming tight with emotion. "When we were upstairs, by the copier. He was...grinding on me. If he'd gotten me out of this building, I don't know where I would be, or what would have happened to me, but it wouldn't be good. And they're treating you like you're the bad guy. It isn't right."