A Heart in Jeopardy

Chapter 7 Unyielding Shadows

The call came early in the morning, jolting Seraphina awake. Her phone buzzed loudly on her bedside table, its sound sharp and invasive in the quiet room. Groggy, she reached over to silence it, blinking at the unknown number displayed on the screen. An instinctive sense of dread settled in her stomach as she answered.

"Hello?"

"Miss Seraphina Ellsworth?"

The voice on the other end was crisp, formal, lacking any warmth.

"Yes, speaking."

"This is Officer Moreno from the central precinct. Detective Vincent Rhodes has scheduled an interrogation with you. You are expected at his office by ten sharp this morning. Any delay will be noted."

The officer's words hit her like a splash of cold water. She thanked him softly, her voice barely a whisper, before ending the call. It had been a week since the slap, a week in which she'd dared to believe that Vincent might have let it go. Clearly, she'd been wrong.

Her phone buzzed again, and this time it was a text from her mother: 

Good morning, sweetheart. Remember to take a deep breath; you're stronger than you think.

It was as though her mother sensed her anxiety from miles away. Seraphina wished she could confide in her, but the last thing she wanted was to burden her parents with her troubles. With a sigh, she got up, her mind swirling with thoughts of the interrogation ahead.

She dressed with particular care, choosing a tailored lavender blouse and a charcoal pencil skirt, hoping her attire conveyed both professionalism and respect. As she fastened her earrings, her fingers trembled slightly.

Her reflection looked calm, collected, but beneath her composed exterior, she was anything but.

The precinct was bustling with activity when she arrived. Officers moved swiftly through the halls, shuffling case files and answering calls, their voices blending into a constant hum that only intensified her nerves.

She made her way toward the front desk, trying to ignore the stares of a few officers gathered near the coffee machine.

One of them, a tall, muscular man with a shaved head, whispered something to his colleague as he eyed her curiously. Another officer, a woman with curly dark hair, tracked Seraphina's movements with an expression that was hard to decipher.

"Can I help you?"

The receptionist, Officer Ayers, a woman with short-cropped hair and an air of unshakable calm, looked up from her computer.

"Yes, I'm here for an appointment with Detective Vincent Rhodes,"

Seraphina replied, her voice steady despite the turmoil in her chest.

The officer gave her a brief, assessing look before nodding toward the waiting area.

"Take a seat. He'll call for you when he's ready."

Seraphina sat down on a hard plastic chair, clutching her purse as she tried to avoid the curious glances of people passing by. Each face in the precinct seemed to hold a mix of suspicion and curiosity. She was just another suspect to them, a woman wrapped up in a murder investigation whose every move would be scrutinized.

As she waited, her eyes wandered to a young officer nearby, probably no older than twenty-five, who was sorting through files with a look of grim determination. Occasionally, his gaze flickered in her direction, his brows knitting together as though trying to piece together her story.

Further down the hall, a seasoned detective with a salt-and-pepper beard Detective Harper, she remembered watched her with open suspicion. Known for his no-nonsense approach, Harper's gaze bore into her with an intensity that made her shift uncomfortably in her seat.