Chapter 42

Holden

       The police showed up to our house before Kendra was able to bring the kids over, so Shaw deicded to go meet up with them instead of them coming over. We didn't want the kids, or Kendra, to see that someone had broken into our house, especially when Shaw just gained custody of the kids.

       Things wouldn't look good.

       I stayed back so the police could take my statement and ask any questions. Thankfully, Horatio was one of the police officers to arrive to the house. No offense to the other police officers but they didn't really think sometimes.

       I could probably think better and I had a lot of brain damage.

       Horatio was the one doing the questioning since he was the friendliest police officer. At least that was what I was guessing. "So where were you when the break in happened?" he asked.

       "The courthouse," I said. "Shaw was in a custody battle and since I'm his husband, I had to go with him. We left almost immediately after it ended and when we came back, we found this with the door unlocked."

       "Did either of you accidentally leave it unlocked?" Horatio asked.

       I sighed. "I was the last to leave but I can't remember." I rubbed my forehead. "I'm sorry. Short-term memory loss. Funny how every time I actually need to remember something, I don't. But when I don't want to remember something, I do, like my step-daughter telling me I look like a walking pile of dog poop the first time we met."

       Horatio chuckled. "Kids always say the best things. Anyway, was anything missing from your home?"

       "I don't know," I said. "I don't remember where anything is. I really wished Shaw was here. He could remember."

       "Hey, don't worry about it," Horatio said. "I'll ask Shaw another time. Can you think of anyone who would want to break in your house? Maybe they were looking for something or they thought you were home?"

       "I can actually think of three people," I said. "Roman, Roman, and what was the last one? Oh, right. Roman."

       "Ah, right," Horatio said. "Well, I'll make sure I get his alibi."

       "Good luck with that," I said. "He always seems to be one step ahead of everyone. Oh, and speaking of, can you make sure Viola isn't on the case? She's romantically involved with Roman and doesn't have the police department's best interest at heart because of it."

       "Meaning...?"

       "Meaning she's believing Roman's alibi when there's three witnesses proving it to be false, and when Roman harassed and threatened my best friend, Jane, she ignored us when we went to report it."

       "Really?"

       "Really."

       "Well, I'll definitely make sure she stays off the case. What exactly did Roman say to Jane as a threat?"

       I tried to rack my brain but I was coming up with nothing. "I can't remember. I hate this. I really wish I didn't get all these injuries to my brain. I hate not being able to remember the important thing."

       "Hey, it's okay," Horatio said. "You can talk to Jane about it and if she still wants to press charges, I'll make sure it happens. I would report Viola to the police for neglecting to do so to the chief but I don't think he's going to do anything about it since he isn't the smartest chief. And I'm totally not saying that just because he accused my brother-in-law of being a serial killer when the evidence pointed away from that."

       "You totally are saying that because he accused Calvin."

       "I am."

       "I don't get it," I said. "The police believes Roman didn't kidnap me and Mercy when there's evidence pointing towards him, yet the believed Calvin was the serial killer when there was so much evidence pointing against him."

       "Like his alibis," Horatio said. "All pointing away from Calvin. Some police officers would rather solve cases fast than thoroughly so they don't think things through."

       "Then why aren't they trying to solve my and Mercy's case?" I asked.

       "I hate to say this but it's because nobody died," Horatio said. "So it's not urgent. I'm still trying to find something to pin it on Roman but so far, nothing."

       "No surprise there," I said.

       "I'm going to keep trying, believe me," Horatio said. "He's not going to get away with everything he's doing."

       "Yeah, I hope so," I said. But I didn't think it was going to happen any time soon.

       Even with my father-in-law trying to take Roman down.

       "Well, it looks like everyone is almost done here," Horatio said, looking around. "They did take pictures so when we leave, you'll be able to clean up."

       "Oh, how fun," I said. "Can't wait. So... Was the lock picked or did I actually forget to lock it? Because if I did forget, I will feel extremely guilty."

       Horatio called someone over and asked if the door was picked or not. To my relief, it was picked. I mean, I didn't want anyone break it but I would rather it be because they did it on their own and not because I stupidly forgot to unlock the door.

       While the police was getting ready to leave, Horatio told me that if anything were to happen, I could immediately call him since he would definitely help. He wanted Roman behind bars as much as I did.

       After he left came the dreaful part.

       Cleaning.

       When I was almost done, I texted Shaw to let him know that he could bring the kids home. Unfortunately, when I was almost done, I got distracted. Big surprise.

       I remembered I was supposed to be cleaning and not reading a cookbook when the door opened and Shaw walked in with the kids.

       "Why are there books all over the floor?" Mercy asked.

       "Because I'm a complete mess and was trying to find this cookbook," I said. "I'm thinking of making something special for dinner."

       "You? Make something special?" Mercy asked. "Since when can you cook?"

       "Uh, I work in a restaurant," I pointed out. "And is that really the best way to treat your step-dad?"

       Mercy then smiled before she rushed over and gave me a hug. "I missed you, Holden."

       "I missed you too," I said. I was just as happy as Shaw was having the kids back in our lives.

       I just really hoped Roman would stay away.

______________________

so. i wrote a whole chapter of this. and for some reason, none of it got saved in the whole three hours it took to write it. and then the app glitched. and i lost it all.

so i hate to spend another two hours writing it and it's now 2:17 am and i'm tired and hate everything.

fun times.