Undercover: A Romance

Chapter Sixteen

*One week later*

I walked into the interrogation room making sure to keep eye contact with James. He looked slightly hurt and more than a little scared. I had a grim look on my face. I really hadn't wanted to face him again, but the other agents told me that he refused to confess to a crime he did not commit. I sat down across from James. He watched me as I did so, the same expression on his face.

"Why'd you do it James?" I asked. He shook his head, his eyes pleading me to believe the lie he was about to tell me. "I didn't. Jesus Nikki I didn't kill those girls. I thought they all just left me. But they're all dead. I never hurt nobody. Jesus, please believe me." Tears started to form in his eyes. I looked away from his face. It was so convincing.

"Were you going to kill me too?" I asked quietly. I had grown quite fond of him and I wasn't sure if I wanted to hear his answer. "What?" He asked, his voice full of disbelief. "Were you going to kill me next?" I asked louder, raising my head to meet his eyes.

He looked bewildered. "Of course not! I'm in love with you for Christ's sake! Why would I hurt you? I would never..." He trailed off dropping his head in his hands. His shoulders began shaking and I realized he was crying. He began shaking his head and repeating "I didn't do it" over and over again.

This didn't look like a man who had dismembered fourteen girls and tried to make a female from the different parts. No. This looked like a man who didn't have a damn clue what the hell happened to those women. I sighed and got up to walk out he door.

"Wait!" He called after me. I turned and looked at him. "Please believe me. I didn't do this." I sighed again and walked out of the door. There was doubt in my mind. Maybe James really didn't do it. I shook my head. There wasn't anyone else to do it. It had to be him. The arguement of whether he did or didn't continued in my head as I walked through headquarters to John's office.

As I walked in, John looked up from his computer. I smiled at him and sat down in front of his desk. I wanted to ask him a question that had been bothering me for a couple of days. "Hey John. I have a question." He raised an eyebrow at me, signaling me to continue.

"When you guys swept the place for fingerprints, what was found?" I asked.

He looked slightly uneasy and that was bothering me. "Well," he started rubbing the back of his neck. "We actually didn't find any of James' finger prints. However..." He trailed off looking at me with a pained expression. "What did you find?" I asked, my stomach sinking.

"We did, however, find Amanda's fingerprints. All over the shed actually."

What. The Hell. Amanda's fingerprints? How did they get in there? She couldn't have possibly... But then I remembered the day that I had asked her about her dad's ex girlfriends, the unsettling way she had answered me and the uneasy feeling I got from her answer.

I stood up, knocking the chair over in the process. "It wasn't James, John. How could you still be holding him knowing he didn't do it?" I yelled. "How long have you known?" I asked. He looked down at his hands clearly not wanting to answer me. "Since Tuesday." He said quietly. What. The HELL?!? We busted him last Friday and today was Friday. They have known for the past three days and not a damn soul told me.

I was furious. This was un-freaking-believable. "Let. Him. Go." I said slowly and lethally through clenched teeth. John looked up at me, surprised at my anger. "Ariabella, the only reason we are still holding him is because his daughter has not returned home yet. We're going to use him to lure her in." I shook my head, remembering how scared James looked. "I'll do it my damn self." I said, turning around, determined to make Amanda tell me the truth.