Broken

Prologue

"Why are you so angry, Damian?" I asked the man sitting in front of me with my arms crossed over my chest.
"What makes you think I'm angry, Dr. Russell?" He countered.
"You beat six women to death with your bare hands. I'd say that's a sign of pent up rage. I've seen pictures of your mom. She looks a lot like your victims. So, what did she do, Damien?" I asked sitting forward resting my forearms on the table between us.
His dark eyes that had been locked on mine for the entirety of the interrogation now dropped to look at his hands cuffed to the table.
"Come on, Damien. You can tell me." I whispered gently.
"She would make me watch her when she slept with men. At one point one of the men wanted me to join them and she made me. I hated her. I hated her! By the time I was strong enough to stand up to her she was already dead so yeah. I killed all those bitches. Each one a mirror of my mother and each one capable of hurting their children the same way she hurt me. I saved them."
"Is that really what you believe?" I asked.
"No, but it sounded good didn't it?" He laughed.
"I hated her and everything she was and I killed them because they reminded me of her. I killed them because just the sight of them set me off. I don't regret it and I'm not remorseful. And you thought you could appeal to my remorse." He shook his head.
"No. I didn't. I knew that if I made it seem like I thought you could be remorseful that you'd have to shove it in my face that you aren't. Now, you've made a video taped confession and proved my theory. Thank you for that. Now, I can go home." I laughed softly.
"That's entrapment!" He yelled.
"Actually it's not. It's reverse psychology. I'm sure the DA would love to talk to you now. I'll be going."
I stood up and walked out of the interrogation room.
"Great job, Lily. As usual." Detective Maryann Kane said slapping me on the back.
"Thank you, Maryann." I chuckled as my phone rang.
"Ash? Is everything okay?" I asked answering the phone walking out of the precinct.
"It's Malcolm..." She said.
"What about him?" I stopped walking.
"I just processed his termination paperwork."
"Termination? Why?" I asked resuming my walk towards my rental car.
"Apparently, he punched a sheriff."
"If he hit someone there's a reason." I sighed.
"The board told him he has psychopathic tendencies not unlike his father."
"That's low. Even for them."
"Apparently, he told them that if they're going to call someone crazy they should ask for their gun first before slamming the gun and his badge on the table and walking out."
"He's not actually wrong about that." I sighed again.
"He bought a plane ticket to New York this afternoon." She told me ignoring my statement.
"That make sense. That's where his mom and sister are." I sighed.
"It's also where you are."
"Well, not currently. Right now I'm in Cincinnati."
"What are you doing in Cincinnati?" She asked.
"I've been working independently as a forensic psychiatrist as opposed to working with an FBI team. I'm flying back tomorrow."
"Will you reach out to him?" She asked.
"I don't know. Not right away anyway." I shrugged opening the car door.
"I know you two are kind of estranged but I wanted to make sure you knew what happened. I know you still care about him."
"Yeah, I do." I climbed into the car.
"You were friends with him for more than ten years before you even started dating. It's only natural that you still care for him."
"Yeah. Hey, I've got to go. I have to get my stuff together and finish the paperwork for the Cincinnati PD before I go to bed. I'll call you when I land tomorrow." I said feigning a smile.
"Sure, Lily. I'll talk to you tomorrow." She sighed.
I hung up the phone and sighed heavily.
I looked down at the platinum diamond and blue topaz ring I wore on my right hand. It was the ring Malcolm Bright gave me for our second anniversary in January of 2012.
I'd continued to wear it even after he left in 2015. Part of me was still with him. Maybe it was time the rest of me caught up?