DYSFUNCTIONAL LOVE

Chapter 12

Chris
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Waking up next to Heaven was better than I could have imagined.  She made me forget about the conversation I had with Tim before picking her up from work yesterday.   What did all of this mean though?  Yeah we had sex, but did she just do it because she was vulnerable? I still don't know what was bothering her so much yesterday.  I felt like I needed to know though. After last night I felt like I needed to protect her.  Like she was mine.  I wondered how she felt.  I wanted to know if she felt the same way I did.  I was much older than her.  Had she even been in a relationship before?  There were a lot of questions. Clearly we needed to talk about it.

I felt her squirm a little in my arms. Good. She's awake.  "Good morning beautiful."  I pushed her hair back so that I could see her face.

She smiled and stretched at the same time. "Good morning".

We sat there starring at each other for a while. We both wanted to know what the other was thinking.

"We...".   We both started talking at the same time. She giggled a little. "You go first"

"We obviously have some things to talk about." I said.

She put her hand against my cheek. Almost like she was admiring my face.  "Not now, please.  I just want to enjoy this."

She was right. No need to spoil the moment. I reached down and lifted her chin. I looked at her for just a moment before kissing her.  This is definitely not what I was expecting when I took that job.
But we were hear now, and I honestly wouldn't change it.

Megan

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I missed my sister more and more every single day.  I could not believe she was really gone.  Jessie would never do anything to hurt anybody, so for someone to just shoot her in broad daylight was something I could not wrap my mind around.   I hadn't really spoken to anyone since she died.  I couldn't even stomach going to her funeral.  There was no way I could handle seeing her like that.
Our parents died when I was 18.  We had no other family that actually cared about us, so the responsibility to take care of the both of us fell to me.  Now Jessie was gone, and I was completely alone.

I sat on the couch in the tiny apartment.  The TV was on but I couldn't tell you what I was watching even if I wanted to.  I was almost completely checked out these days.  I went to work, came home, and tried to sleep as much as I could, before waking up in a cold sweat due to another nightmare.  That was my life these days.  I might as well be a robot. 

I got of the couch and walked back into Jessie's bedroom.  I had been in here a few times since she died.  But I still had not found the courage to go through her things.  Her room was exactly the way she had it since the last day she was here.  Clothes were still lying on the floor from her trying to decide what to wear.  Her makeup still sat out on the dresser.  The bed was unmade.  The room looked as if it was still lived in.   Seeing all of her things still out, in a way, it gave me false hope that she wasn't really gone.  It was like she was going to walk back through the door one day.

Little by little I started packing up Jessie's things.  I didn't know what I wanted to do with it all yet, but I needed to get it out of here.  I thought about moving away completely a few times.  I just wasn't sure where I could go.  It's not like I could go live with a family member for a while.  I guess I could just pick any place I wanted to go.  Somewhere no one knew who I was and start from scratch.  At least I wouldn't have to deal with everyone randomly coming up to me saying, "I'm sorry for your loss." .  I wouldn't have to be reminded of Jessie every single day.

I was putting more of Jessie's things away when I noticed a small metal box tucked behind her dresser.  It fit perfectly in the little space between the dresser and the wall.  I moved the dresser out of the way a little so that I could easily pull out the box.   There was a lock on it, but I was able to pick it easily.  

The box was filled with folded up notes.  Love letters?  I started looking through some of them.  I didn't know Jessie was ever seeing anyone.  Who wrote these? I read a few of them and they were pretty universal.  The same old thing that everyone writes in a love letter.  I looked at the bottom of the box and noticed there was a picture turned upside down.  I turned it over and it was Jessie sitting on someone's lap. 
Wait a minute...was that...?  Complete shock ran through my body.  I couldn't believe what the hell I was looking at. 

"Oh my God."

William

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Another late night at the station.  This didn't surprise me.  I had my hands full with everything going on with these cases.  The only thing that we knew for sure was that the same gun was used to kill Greg and Jessie.  But why?  The only connection that I could find between the two, was Heaven.  We still hadn't brought her in for questioning yet.  It might be about time to do that.  Heaven is Greg's daughter and Jessie's bestfriend.  She seemed to be the only common denominator between these two individuals, which made her the only suspect so far.  I just couldn't wrap my mind around the whole thing.  Even though she was the only suspect, I could not think of a motive she would have.  Why would she want these people dead?

The phone on my desk started beeping.  The receptionist, Shelly, was trying to get through.  "Yeah?"

"Detective, there's a woman here to see you.  She says she wants to speak to you about the Jessica Hamby case."

That was odd.  I wasn't expecting anyone to come in today.  I needed any sort of lead I could get though.  "Send her in."

Megan Hamby, Jessica's sister walked through the door.  I hadn't spoken to her since the day her sister died.  I wasn't sure why she would need to speak to me today. 

"Good evening ma'am.  Please have a seat."

Megan didn't say anything, she just walked to the chair at the front of my desk and took a seat.

"What can I do for you?"

Megan took a deep breath before finally saying, "I think I know who killed my sister, and  I have proof."   Megan tossed a photo onto my desk.  It was her sister, Jessie, sitting on someone's lap.  I took a better look at the photo. 
It wasn't just someone.  It was Greg.

It was definitely time to bring Heaven in for questioning.