Criminal Detective

And So, It Ends

Roberto's eyes remained on Claire's as he chewed the taffy in his mouth. This continued until the entirety of the product had melted. He then took a deep breath and spoke.

"I want you to work for me, Miss Williams"

Claire cocked her head backward "What?"

He smiled then leaned forward in his chair.
"I want you to work for me. Most of our success, no matter how much I might try to deny was actually thanks to you"

Claire shrugged "It's not like I had a choice"

"Well, you didn't" Roberto said before he stood to his feet, walked towards a fridge, opened it, pulled out a can of soda, then shut it close. "But I'm pretty sure I let you off after Adrian's death, didn't I?"

Claire remained silent as Roberto cracked open the can "But you didn't leave. You stayed, you saw the whole thing through down to this very day"

After a small sip of his drink, he let out a gracious "ah" then continued.

"I just figured that you wanted to be part of all of this"

Claire chuckled "I stayed to be a part of the investigation, not a part of your group"

Roberto's eyes remained on Claire and his pupils danced as he debated mentally. After a while, he inhaled then brought the soda can to his lips.

"I see" He sipped lazily out of his drink then pressed his lips into a thin line as his eyes returned to Claire.

"So, what are you saying?" Roberto asked with an arched eyebrow even though a part of him was completely and fully aware of what she was saying and knew where the whole conversation was headed.

Claire eyes shifted from Roberto's waiting gaze

She began to wonder, did she really want to leave all of this behind? Was it really about the investigation or was it just the thrill she got from living dangerously?

Was she a bad person for even considering to work for a criminal?

Claire decided to make up her mind. She decided right there to give Roberto a response that no matter what followed after her response, there was no going back.

She exhaled loudly then shrugged before she spoke "I'm done. If I'm actually given that freedom of course"

Yes, she did want to be part of something that would actually make use of the skills she possessed. Yes, she did want to be part of something that would 10x her dopamine and fuel her adrenaline.

And, yes if she was going to work for him. Then obviously he was going to pay and the pay was definitely going to be decent.

But it stood against everything that put her in her current situation in the first place.

It was because she was involved with criminals and crime that she had to pay for crimes that she didn't even commit willingly compared to the others.

It was because she was involved with criminals and crime that she had to spend years behind bars, serving a sentence that she didn't even entirely deserve.

And, it was because she was involved with criminals and crime that she lost her brother.

There was no way in hell she would willingly thrust herself back into that world when it had put her through the worst of the worst.

Roberto stared at Claire with a small smile, sipped from his drink, then spoke.

"Not even as someone in charge of keeping the girls safe?"