Behind the Badge: Obsession in the Shadows

Emotional

The sudden knowledge of the truth regarding their crash hits me like a wave. I can't make sense of it—six years of mourning, of pain, of trying to navigate life without them. Of struggling this man I've come to fear, stands as the bearer of a truth that flips my world upside down.

Feeling nauseous he didn't know what they looked like so there is no way these are faked.

I even saw the scar on my dad's elbow. Why?...

I drop the binder as my hands tremble I no longer feel like I controlled my movements. I hear it drop before I even realize I have dropped it.

It hits the ground with a soft thud, but the sound echoes in the silence of the basement, a reminder of the gravity of the situation.

Yet again.

"Why?" I whisper to myself, my voice barely audible and loaded with anger, I struggled for years and mourned their death. "Why would they fake their deaths?"

Were they in danger?

Was this a life that they wanted?
Why?!

I glance back at the binder, my mind racing with possibilities. Did they protect me? Did they choose a life without me? The questions wrap around me each one more painful than the last.

The waves around me were exhausting.

"Madison!" Gregory's voice calls through my thoughts, pulling me back to the reality of my situation. He stands at the top of the stairs, his silhouette framed by the dim light. At the top of the stairs.

I look at him not even hearing the door open.

I take a deep breath, trying to make myself calm. He may have information that could explain everything to me, but the thought of talking to him fills me with dread. I can't let him see how vulnerable I am—not now, not ever.

"Why do you care so much about me?" I bite my tongue trying to keep my voice steady. "What's in it for you?"

He smirks. "Oh, baby, you have no idea. You were more than just a case to me. You're my future."

"Your future?" I scoff at him as I try to keep the bitterness from my tone. "You think I'd ever want a future with you?"

His expression darkens almost instantly in response to my words, and I can feel the tension start to thicken in the air. "You don't have a choice. I'm the one who's been protecting you all along your parents couldn't care less about you. I'm the one who has always kept you safe! It wasn't something I planned falling for you Madison but I did."

"Protecting me?" I shout. "This isn't protection! This is a prison!" I shout defensively

"Enough! It's not like that!" he shouts back. "You need to understand that I'm the only one who truly cares about you. Your parents are gone and want nothing to do with you, and you need someone to keep you safe, they have enemies.

My heart starts to race and I swallow hard as I try to fight back tears. "They didn't want to leave me. They loved me. They were probably trying to protect me." I explain defensively.

"Were they?" he asks as he takes a step closer again. "They left you to fend for yourself. I can give you what they never could a stable life, security, and love. They got tangled up in the wrong crowd and chose money over you. It is that simple Madison.

"Love?" I shake my head in disbelief my mind only hearing one word that was like a slap in the face among everything else he had said. "This isn't love, Gregory. It's obsession. It's madness."

He steps back as his eyes narrow. "You're too emotional right now baby. Just give it time. You'll see."

With that, he turns away, heading up the stairs. I feel my heart drop again as the door creaks open, and then slams shut leaving me isolated in my thoughts again.