Finally

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

3rd Person

"Keep an eye out for that, Strauss," came the eerily calm voice from the other end of the phone line, "and if there is a cop helping her, arrest them too."

"Of course, sir," Strauss said, almost shaking with the effort it took to keep the contempt for this man, this murderer out of his voice.

"Then we're done here," the man said.

Strauss kept the phone pressed to his ear until he heard the click that signaled the connection had been cut. With shaking hands, he placed the phone in its cradle and rested his head in his palms, massaging his eyes with the heels of his hands.

He couldn't believe what he was doing, couldn't believe he was working for a murderer. This wasn't him. He wasn't this type of person. He didn't help law-breakers.

He was scared.

He couldn't risk being caught. He'd lose his badge if he was, and his badge was everything to him. He had nothing else to live for, no family, not even any friends, really. He was sort of a loner, just kept to himself most of the time.

He would stop. He wasn't going to help that man anymore.

But could he stop? Or would the killer follow through on his threat?

The first time the killer had contacted Strauss was a few weeks ago. He had told Strauss that he was planning to kill someone and that he would kill Strauss if he didn't help him get away with it. Strauss had fought him on it, but gave in when he realized that the man really would kill him.

The second time, the killer had given Strauss instructions on what to do once the murder was committed. How Strauss had to rule the death a suicide and convince everyone else, no matter what, to believe him.

The third time had been to remind Strauss of the threat from before. The man told Strauss that he was perfectly capable, and completely willing to kill him.

The fourth time had been tonight, to warn him of Chloe and her possible partner and to tell Strauss to make sure she never found out who killed her fiancé. Ever.

Strauss stood up and paced. There was no way he would be able to get out of this mess alive without helping the murderer. But to help a murderer would be to put his badge on the line. No scratch that. He could throw his badge away. He would be caught for sure. There was no way around that.

His choices were death, or to lose the only thing he lived for.

He was screwed.

"You need to stay alive," Strauss muttered to himself. "You need to keep helping him."

With those words, Strauss choice to save his life.

* * *

Ryder

I stood in Mag's apartment, the place torn to pieces around me, looking for something, anything, to tie her to the case I had been working.

I had searched the whole apartment and found nothing. No weapon, no way to tie her to the crime scene, nothing. I had no idea what to do. Without a weapon, I had no way to prove she killed anyone. I also had no way to prove I didn't kill her in cold blood.

She had killed him. I knew she had. I just had no proof.

And now I had no suspect to interrogate.

I wondered if she knew when she tried to draw her gun on me that I'd shoot her, if dying was her plan to stay out of jail, to keep me in the dark in this whole case.