Deal With It

forty four

Chapter 44

Daniel's POV

She abruptly moved back, brushing a palm across a forehead as guilt and probably regret filled her. She turned away from me and I heard her deep breath in the silence that consumed the old cobblestone streets.

I stood up when she spoke, "that was a mistake, I'm so sorry," her back still facing me.

"Why are you apologising?" I asked, as I was the one who made the first move and would still have done it if the opportunity arised.

"I- I don't know. It was wrong and I shouldn't have done it. Please just take me home?" she said quickly. She looked as though she would break down any moment now so I nodded my head and we walked to my car.

The drive to Arissa's house was completely silent; uncomfortable and silent. I glanced over every once in a while, only to see her staring out of the window absentmindedly. No doubt wishing she could have taken everything back.

When I parked in front of her house, I planned to talk to her but she was in a hurry to get away and disappeared in a flash, running up the front porch steps to hide away from me.

I drove away and decided to go back to the station.

"I thought you had taken the night off," the receptionist, Claire, said when I walked past.

I nodded. "I did, then I thought I'd come back and work on the case a little more." It was what I was going to do but I didn't bother mentioning what the reason behind it was. I needed to get my mind off Arissa and the fact that the start and end of a possible relationship had occurred in the space of five minutes.

I sat down and began to shuffle through the mess of papers on my desk, not really being able to focus on anything. In frustration, I slammed my palm down on the wooden table and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath as I tried to clear my mind. Forget tonight. Forget her. She has a boyfriend, remember? I reminded myself. A boyfriend whose attempted murder case I was working on.

Picking up a sheet of paper, I scanned it and came to the realisation that it was Gabriel's statement. I decided to read through it again and slowly became quite engrossed. After finding nothing new or of interest, I put the paper back, moving onto the next item when something hit me. I read through his statement again, noticing that I did miss something crucial out. How had I overlooked it? It was like my brain only just processed what I was reading.

I quickly moved out of my chair and made my way to the jail cell where Gabriel was being kept. He was lying on his bed, whistling. "The money," I said, cutting to the chase. "Where is it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"The briefcase you gave to Tyler? Where is it?" I asked.

"How would I know?" he replied. "He got it for Jake, why don't you ask him?"

I opened my mouth to speak then shut it again. He sat up.

"What? More and more things pointing to Jake? Are you finally believing that it might not have been me?" he spoke mockingly.

"I'm not done with you," I said before almost leaving. "And kid, eat your food." I grinned at him, pointing at the tray as he glared back at me.

-

Arissa's POV

I heard my parents call my name as I entered the house, my plan to escape upstairs and lock myself in my room failing instantly. Trudging into the dining room, I threw my bag onto a seat and slumped down on the chair beside it.