It Started As a Deal

Chapter 36: Arrest

"You've turned into everything you're not/  Take a step back and see what you've become" Our Last Night, Imaginary Monsters, Younger Dreams

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KYE'S P.O.V

I look down at my blackened hands that were folded in my lap.  Gun powder stained my fingertips, and no amount of washing could get it off.  I scrubbed and scrubbed until the palms of my hands were rubbed raw and red.  Nothing had worker; I couldn't erase the evidence of what I did to Imogen.

"Do you have any antibacterial wipes?" I asked the nurse as she approached the nurses' station.  She rummaged around in a couple of desk drawers before she found what she was looking for and crossed the room over to me.

"Here you go baby.  Throw the trash in the waste bin by the coffee maker alright, the nurse said patting me on the shoulder before she walked back to the station and got to work on her computer.

"You shouldn't be doing that you know," Hunter spoke up pointing at my hands with anger in his eyes.  His strong stare that he was maintaining was beginning to creep me out, yet I didn't understand why he was mad.

"I shouldn't do what exactly?" I snapped glancing down at my hands as I began to attempt to clean my fingers again.

"You shouldn't be getting rid of the gun powder," he growled out jumping from his chair and striding over to me and ripped the toweled out of my hands, "That's obstruction of justice!  You can't just wipe away the fact that you shot my wife!"  He plucked the packaging of the wipe from the ground and placed it back inside and then in his jean pocket.

"I don't understand your point; I mean you kidnapped her and my child forcing Imogen into marrying you in order to release them.  You have no business telling me what to do," I retorted pushing him away form me with my foot.

"My point is that you can be arrested for shooting an unarmed person.  Imogen may not decide to press charges on you, but I will if the police question me about it.  You may have shot her on accident, but you still harmed her.  She could have died."  Hunter's voice cracked on the last word. He took in a long breath and let it out as he brushed away the tears that escaped his eyes.  I felt my anger boil inside of me at his tears; none of this would have happened if he never kidnapped any of the girls in the first place.

"This is all of your fucking fault!" I shout springing up and poking him in the chest.  "You have no right to cry over her when you caused all of this to happen in the first place!  It was your decision to kidnap all of those girls.  It was your idea to take them all away when the police came and then split away from the group with Imogen.  All you had to do was hand her and the rest of the girls over, but you instead insisting on trying to fight.  You should have just let go of her man."

"How could I let go of the girl I love?" he demanded throwing my arm away from him.  "You couldn't even let go of your previous girlfriend; Imogen was just her replacement.  And even if this was partially my fault, your hand still pulled the trigger.  You cannot deny that fact or try to cover it up."

"Imogen is not a replacement!" I yelled at him only to be shushed by the nurse and given a warning to be quiet.  One look at Hunter's face told me that he didn't believe a word I just said.  "Okay, so she may have started out as a replacement, but she grew to be something more to me.  I ended up developing feelings for her as I watched how she acted with Evangeline.  You can't tell me that you feel for her as genuinely as I do." 

"At least I didn't lie to her about what she meant to me.  I was upfront and honest with her the whole time while you hid the truth from her and didn't feel any remorse about it," he whisper-yelled throwing his hands about wildly around himself as he talked.

"Your truth is nothing compared to the lies and deceitful actions you've done," I growled out stepping back form him to sit back down in the uncomfortable hospital chair.

"You may believe this, but Imogen deserved the truth from someone.  I gave her the truth."  Hunter made a face of disgust before walking further down the hall to rest in a chair that wasn't in my vicinity.

As the silence between us stretched on, I began to think about what he said once I had time for his words to digest.  He was right about me trying to cover up what I had done to Imogen.  I felt even dirtier than how my hands looked knowing that I couldn't come to terms with myself on what crime I committed.  My only thought was that Evangeline couldn't find out I injured the woman she called mother.  Hunter was also right about Imogen being a replacement.  I hadn't noticed that I used her for that until he called me out on it.  The thought never crossed my mind until now even thought I think it was hiding in the back of my mind this whole time.  I wasn't truthful with Imogen and used her for my own selfish needs even though she only needed a place to stay.

She deserved more than what she ended up with.  I let her down.

The sound of a door creaking open caused both Hunter and I to lift our heads and make eye contact.  We then glanced at Imogen's hospital door to see the two investigators exit her room and make their way towards us.  My palms instantly became clammy, and I wiped my hands on my jeans before I stood up to face the police officers.  I saw Hunter do the same as I walked over towards them.

"Which one of you is Hunter Blackburn?" the taller of the two asked which I assumed was the higher ranking of the two.

"I am," Hunter told them stepping forward.

"Hunter Blackburn, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of eleven girls and assault with a deadly weapon," the other one said placing handcuffs onto Hunter's outstretched wrists.  They believed that Hunter shot Imogen and not me.  I could walk away and them never know the difference since they wouldn't believe Hunter.  He could take the fall for me.  My hands fidgeted at my sides as guilt started to flow in my veins for thinking about not saying anything.

"Hunter didn't shoot Imogen, I did," I confessed stepping forward with outstretched arms.  "What I did to Imogen was an accident, but Hunter didn't do it."

"You don't have to cover -"

"I'm not lying," I say lifting up my hands so that they could see my black fingertips, "You can find gun powder residue left on my fingers from when I fired the shot."  The two officers looked at each other before one of them went back into her room.  We waited in the hall for maybe a minute or two before the officer came back out and joined us.

"Imogen has corroborated what you've said and has ultimately decided not to press charges on you, but you'll still need to come down to the station so that we can file an official report," the man informed us taking the handcuffs meant for me and putting them back in his pocket.

"We trust that you won't make this hard for us," the other man said to Hunter.

"I'll go with you quietly if you answer me one question," Hunter said standing in front of Imogen's door.  "Is my wife alright?"

"She's not -"

"Has she denied it?" he challenged.

"No she has not."

"Then she is my wife," Hunter declared, "Now I'll ask again, is my wife alright."

"Your wife is alright and recovering nicely," the tall man told him taking ahold of his elbow, "Let's go."

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