A love to die for.

Chapter 28: That photo strip.

After Lorenzos arrest, the cops assist him to their car. Nick and I drive back on our own, in complete silence. I think its a peaceful silence. It gives me time to reflect about everything that happened the past half hour. Sybil? Nick breaks the silence when he parks the car.

Yes? I turn towards him. Never mind. He smiles. Oh, okay. I say confused. He enters the building and I follow him, not really knowing where I need to go to.

They will be hearing Lorenzo any minute now. Is that legal? Dont they have to wait for his lawyer? Nick shakes his head. Hes 18, so legally we can hold him here for the next two days until we need his lawyer to be here. But, were busy to get in touch with his lawyer and he should be here somewhere within the next few hours. So, what do we do? I ask him. I want to send in a motion for a house search. Or well, dorm search. It should be accepted quite soon, since they dont have any arguments to deny it. He explains. Great. I smile. My stomach is rumbling.

Nick lets out a laugh and my cheeks turn red from embarrassment. Sounds like someone is hungry. Famished. I could barely eat something during lunch. I correct him with a laugh. Ill just send in this motion and then we can go out and eat something. He smiles. Wait. Dont you have to be here for the interview with Lorenzo? Nah. Detective Jefferson will handle that. He told me it was fine if I wanted to leave. Believe it or not, but Ive been up for almost 12 hours already. Its 4 Oclock.

Yeah, I know. He tells me. Jeez, Nick. Why are you putting so much energy in this case? I ask confused. Sybil Nick sighs with a smile. I like you. I would do anything to solve this case. Almost anything. He laughs. But, seriously. I never met someone like you and I really appreciate that were such good friends. You know that I hope that we can be together soon enough, now that weve arrested Lorenzo. But I wont push you. Instead, I will just be by your side and support with everything thats coming next in this case. He tells me honest. I dont really deserve you.

You do. He says, still smiling. If you wait here, Ill be right back. I just need to send this in. Hes holding up a document, which probably holds the motion to search Lorenzos dorm. I nod and he walks away leaving me all alone.

After Nick and I had eaten a sandwich at a restaurant nearby, he had gotten a call from his colleagues about the motion. It has been accepted and now Nick and I are driving back to

LCBS. What do you think we will find there? I ask Nick. Im not sure. Anything that will fit as evidence. It will make the case much easier and sooner to close and to bring Lorenzo to court. He explains. I nod. I see. We enter at LCBS, the place where just an hour ago, Lorenzos life probably changed forever. Are you ready to do this? It might be shocking to find something about Jackson or Austin. Nick asks. Im fine. I can do this. Ive got you, dont I? I smile. He nods and opens the car door. I follow his example. Alright then. Nick stands still next to me. Ready to enter the lions cage? He asks dramatically. I roll my eyes and laugh. I think Ill manage.

We enter the building and I lead Nick the way to Lorenzos dorm. Around this corner and then well be there. I inform Nick. We turn the corner and I watch how we get closer to his dorm, by every step. With one meter to spare, I stand still. Take your time. I nod. I breathe in and out. I dont know why this is doing so much to me. Its not like Austin nor Jackson died in there. Its just The realization that Lorenzo spend hours in that room

plotting those murders and without feeling a touch of guilt.

I take a deep sigh and take the last step. My hand clutches the doorknob and I take a second before I twist it and open the door. My eyes scan the room looking for any hints so far, but of course there arent any visible to the clear eye. So, Ill start with the right side and then you can start with the left side, okay? I suggest. He nods and starts searching his side of the room. Lorenzos room is quite big since hes the principals son, so it takes a while before we are even halfway.

I search through his textbooks, notebooks even through his underwear drawers. Then I realize it. If theres one thing I learned from movies, its that the criminals dirty laundry is most likely in his closet. And probably in a weird box of any kind. I open his closet and almost feel the hope sink to my feet, until something catches my eye. I kneel and push away a few socks and a medium sized box comes in sight. Damn, Sybil. Youre such a genius. I smile to myself. With shaking hands, I take the lid off the box. Theres a bunch of stuff in there that I cant place, but also one thing that drives my attention away from everything else.

The photo booth. I whisper. My hands grab the photo strip featuring Jackson and me.

Nick! Come here. I yell across the room. I hear Nicks footsteps approaching and stand up. Whats wrong? Have you found anything? He asks. I hold up the photo strip of Jackson and me. Sybil, this is great evidence. Look, Jacksons head is even crossed out. This is almost everything we need to get Lorenzo to confess. Nick smiles excited. Yeah

Whats wrong? Why arent you happy? That photo strip Jackson and I took it at one of our last dates. Turns out Lorenzo was there that day and he stole those photos. It was one of my last moments with Jackson. And that bastard stole it from me. I explain. He will be punished, Sybil. Promise me. I need him to be punished. He ruined too many lives. Sybil Promise me, Nick. I promise Ill do anything I can to get him behind bars. He whispers. His arms embrace me when he notices that I started to cry. I want him to pay. I try to say during sobs. I know, Sybil. I know. I do too. He whispers.

Nick drove us back to the police station once we cleared Lorenzos room. We hadnt found anything but that photo strip and his diary. Especially his diary will be everything we need to let him pay. He literally wrote everything down in that book. Nick has zipped the two things in two different plastic bags and labelled them as exhibit A and exhibit B. We need to show this to Jefferson and then Jefferson and I will ask Lorenzo about it in the interrogation.

Oh, Detective Jefferson text me that Lorenzos lawyer has arrived. Nick explains. Great. Do I need to be there? You dont have to, but you can. You may look behind the mirrored glass if you want to. Oh, yeah. I will just be doing that then. I smile. We start walking towards our usual room. Before Nick opens the door, he turns around to face me. Are you ready to let the devil pay? Nick smirks. Id thought youd never ask. I smirk back.