DYSFUNCTIONAL LOVE

Chapter 14

William

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I stepped over the broken glass at the "Little Miss Steaks" restaurant.   This place seemed nice the last time I was here.  Not your typical spot for an attempted murder investigation.  All of these shootings in this one little area.  There's no way that was a coincidence.  The owner, April Williams seemed pretty shaken up about the whole thing.  I hated to press her with questions, but I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't.

"Tim.  Make sure you do a thorough sweep where the shots were fired.  Any evidence at this point is valuable.".   Tim is one of my best officers.  So I know he'd come up with something.

I walked back into the restaurant office where I knew April was waiting.

She was sitting at her desk with her leg bouncing up and down really fast.  I'm sure that was a nervous habit she picked up.  

I sat down in the chair in front of her.

"I know you're very shaken up, but I do need to ask you some questions about what happened.

April nodded her head but didn't say anything.  I needed her to snap out of it so that we can find whoever did this. 

"Do you know anyone who would want to hurt you?"  I asked her seriously.

She nodded her head. "I know exactly who did this...and I can prove it.".

I spent almost an hour speaking to April, and the information that I received from her was something that I could not believe.  The question is, what was I going to do with it?

Megan

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I sat in my little apartment, thinking about Jessie.  It seems like that's all I do now.  Work, come home, think about Jessie, repeat.  No one will ever understand the pain of being truly alone until they actually go through it.  No family, no friends, nothing.   Everyone was gone. 

The only one who could even understand what I'm going through a little bit would be Heaven, but who knows where she's been.  I had asked her mom, Mary about her a couple of times.  She hadn't seen her either.  Not sure what was going on with her.

I sat in front of the TV.  I had no idea what the hell I was watching.  It could've been anything honestly.  It seemed like I was a robot these days.  I was completely checked out.  I was taking the last couple of bites of my frozen dinner when he popped into my mind.   I had been seeing someone for a little while, but when my sister died I just kind of cut him off without warning.  I wasn't sure how to truly face what I was going through.  I didn't have time to deal with a man.  Right now I needed him.  Needed him to help me forget about what I was dealing with, even for just a little bit.  I picked up the phone and dialed his number.  No answer.  Was he working?

Normally I would never do this, but I was desperate to not be alone tonight.  I put on my jacket, grabbed my keys and purse and walked out the door.  It wouldn't hurt for me to stop by and see if he's home.

Heaven

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Chris and I were in his car driving back to his house. The resort with him was amazing. It definitely was much more than I could have ever expected. Spending that alone time with him made me realize that he's not a bad guy at all. He just does what he needs to do. What he's always been used to. I learned a lot about him during this time.

We had already spoken about the situation with Greg.  We talked about how he got started in his "line of work". 

You know how someone can get addicted to drugs?  I think Chris was addicted to money.  He didn't actually come out and say it, but the way he spoke about the things he'd done, you could tell he didn't want to be a killer, but he wanted the money.  He needed the money.  It was like a drug for him. 

I always used to judge the dope boys on the block, and killers out there in the streets.  But they could very well be just like Chris.  Not wanting to be a criminal, but addicted to the money.

Our age difference never came up in conversation, but it was definitely in my mind. He was 36 years old.  He had damn near two decades on me.  Granted, it was not illegal, since I was 18, but it didn't change the way I felt about it.  With him being so much older, he was more mature, more experienced.  He knew things about relationships that I didn't.  I kept thinking about him getting tired of me and just getting rid of me for another woman his own age.  I tried not to be negative, but it was hard to believe that I could be enough for him.

I had not realized that I fell asleep, but all of a sudden I felt the gentle touch of Chris' hand and heard his voice telling me we were home.  Home?   Did that mean he wanted me to stay permanently?  I didn't press the issue.  I just got out of the car and walked side by side with him into the house. 

I started to walk towards my room but he grabbed my arm, stopping me.

"I was thinking, maybe you can start sleeping in my room."

I didn't expect that.  Then again, everything that was going on seemed really unexpected.  Before I knew it though, a big smile formed on my face, and the word  "Okay." escaped my mouth. 

Things between us were moving very fast, but I honestly didn't mind.

I took my things into his room and then headed towards the kitchen to grab a quick snack.

Chris yelled out "I'm gonna hop in the shower."

I had pulled out all the ingredients I needed to make a nice sandwich when the doorbell rang.  Chris still hadn't came out of the shower yet. 

Should I answer it?  I thought maybe I shouldn't.  But then again, it could be about Jessie.  I sat there debating for a while.  Whoever was at the door was very impatient, because they rang the bell again and began knocking on the door.

I went to the door and looked out the peep hole.  Utter confusion was spread across my entire face.   I opened the door and she had the same look on her face.

"Heaven?" she said in disbelief.

"Megan...what are you doing here?"