Black Rose

Chapter 12

Everyone reached the police station in ten minutes. Susan Pierce was waiting at the entrance with her hands on her hips.

The group tentatively approached her, wondering what she was going to say. Susan would either present them with good or bad news and Kate could only hope it was the former.

"I just spoke to one of the police officers. All three of the convicts are in holding cells. We are allowed to go in there," Susan explained.

Kate took in her outfit. Susan was dressed in a suit and looked very professional and put together. Did she always look like that or was she trying to look fancy when she threw her boss in jail?

"We will go ahead in a minute. I just want to talk to Kate," Garret said. With that, Caitlin and Bethany followed Susan inside.

Kate looked at Garret, curious as to what he wanted to tell her.

"I just wanted to thank you. You helped everyone at Black Rose by uncovering Harry's plan. Personally, I would never have figured that out," Garret said, as if reading her mind.

Kate smiled with pride. "You're welcome. Thank you for your help too. After all, spies are just life savers in disguise," she said, quoting Black Rose's motto.

Garret's smile was even more radiant than the sun. "Come on, let's go inside. We have answers to hear."

♡

Everyone was shuffled into a large conference room. There was a glass wall that divided half the room. On one side was Caitlin, Bethany, Susan, Garret, and Kate. On the other was Valerie, Harry, and Ms. Martinez.

"You have 30 minutes to talk. Your time begins now," a police officer said, walking out of the room but peering through the small window in the door.

The whole room was silent and heavy with tension. Kate did not realize that she was holding her breath until Bethany spoke up.

"We found a letter under Valerie's desk. It started off by saying that Valerie had a plan, although she did not specify what it was. We can now conclude that it was to overthrow Black Rose. It went on to say that she needed the money for her grandma's medical bills. In order to pay for them, she wanted to sell Black Rose. Harry then agreed but thought that Susan and Garret wers suspicious of him. Does this sound familiar?"

Bethany stared at Harry and Valerie, waiting for a response. Both of them simply nodded.

"I have some questions," Kate interjected, looking pointedly at Valerie. "First, why did you want me to join Black Rose so badly?"

Valerie stared at the ground. "I figured if I brought you to the headquarters, it would be easier to carry out my plan."

"How do we know that you're not lying about your grandma's medical problems? She seems perfectly fine right now," Kate asked, gesturing to Ms. Martinez.

As if on cue, Ms. Martinez started coughing.

Kate rolled her eyes. She was tired of Valerie's lies. Of course Ms. Martinez wasn't sick. She probably just wanted the money for herself.

"How do you know Harry?" Kate asked.

"He is my uncle," Valerie answered.

Kate gasped in shock. The secrets that Valerie had kept from her continued to grow like a black rose: sweet and unsuspecting at first but darker as the secrets were revealed.

"How long have you been devising this plan?" Kate asked.

"Since a year ago," Harry piped up.

"Excuse me," a voice sounded throughout the room. Everyone glanced over at the door and noticed that the police officer was standing there. "Your time is up."

Kate knew that she could not argue with the officer so she shuffled out of the room with one last glance at her former best friend, science teacher, and boss. The others followed, not even looking at the people who betrayed them.

Kate could only hope that the black rose had died, just like her and Valerie's friendship.