Detective Crawford

4

When he reached the bench, Alex sat down carefully with Megan.

"Megan, tell me what happened, I'm worried about you."

"I'm not going to talk to you about it right now."

For a moment, Megan saw a fierce light in Alex's eyes.

"What's going on? You haven't been yourself since this morning," The irritated voice continued to press on her.

"Alex, all I can tell you right now is to calm down and stop making a scene!" Megan fumbled in her pockets for her phone, but finding only cigarettes, she pulled one out and lit it.

Alex exhaled loudly.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you and pressured you. You know we have to hurry, this isn't a game."

Megan just smiled back at her husband.

Alec was gone, and it was just Megan, cigarette in her left hand and cell phone in her right.

***Megan raced to Whitney's house from school as soon as she was dismissed.

"Whitney, hey! How are you? Where's the beautiful girl?"

"I'm fine, Stella's been waiting for you," Whitney said with a slight smile, though she looked tired.

"Stella?" Megan walked over to the small crib where a small body lay with her eyes closed and her chest slightly heaving. The girl was asleep. "I have to say, she looks just like Peter."

"Oh yeah, we've all been told she's his spitting image. I hope she doesn't have his stubborn personality."

They both laughed.

***

It wasn't that it was hard to dial the number, it was hard to tell her the terrible news. But in the end, Whitney deserved to hear it from Megan, not from a stranger who might not be able to give her the support she needed.

"Yes?"

"Hi, Whitney, it's Megan. How are you?" She sounded like she was about to cry, but she had to hold it together.

"Not so good, I had a fight with Stella last night, and she got mad and left the house. I thought she'd be mad and come back in the morning, but she's still not here, I call her, and she's out of range, her phone must be dead, I hope she's staying with a friend."

"Okay... Uh..." Megan decided to follow up. "Whitney, this may sound strange, but can you please give me the details of that night? Like, what time did she leave, what was she wearing, what did she take with her?" The lump in her throat made it hard to speak.

"Why do you want to know?" She sounded afraid and anxious.

"I was just curious." She couldn't think of a stupider reason.

"Okay." She agreed incredulously. "She was wearing light blue jeans, a white and red top, and black sneakers. Her hair was simple, no makeup. She left around 5 p.m. As far as I could see, she only had her cell phone with her." Her anxiety grew. "Megan, if you know where she is, please don't be silent."

"Pull yourself together, Megan, you can do it, say it."

"Whitney, I... I know this is going to be hard to hear, especially for you as a mom, but..."

"Say it!"

"Whitney...your Stella...our Stella..." The words froze.

"What happened to her?"

"She was found in a pit... She's... She's dead..." The lump in his throat grew harder.

Everything collapsed. The next thing she knew, there was crying, hysteria, screaming. The phone was hung up... Maybe I should have gone to her. Whitney needed it. Megan was lost. Lost in her thoughts, in her emotions, in her actions. What to do? Where to go? Who to call for help? "Whitney is alone now, she needs moral support. I need to go to her."

Turning back to the murder scene, she met Alex's eyes. And now she couldn't... The tears came spontaneously. She stood there, crying, looking at Alex like a little defenseless girl."Megan, hush, what's wrong, why are you crying?"

He brushed her hair away from her face, looked into the depths of her eyes, where there was a sea of sadness, pain, fear, and questions she could not answer. He wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close, and finally hugged her.

"Hush, everything will be all right," He whispered in his soft, warm, silky voice.

"She was my...she was my niece," She said, choking on her bitter tears.

He hugged her even tighter, as if he wanted to take away her pain, but there was so much of it that even he could not cope with it.

"She had a fight with her mother last night, she left the house, she does that a lot, so Whitney didn't think much of it, but when Stella didn't come home... Alec, why is this happening to us...to me?" She burst into tears again in his arms, probably not just because of the death, but because all her problems were now in tears."You'll get through this, I believe in you, you're the strongest person I've ever met, and even if you do give up, I'll always be there to help you, to support you...to take care of you."

She looked up into his compassionate, deep, penetrating eyes.

"Alex, I don't need your sympathy, I don't need all those words you say, I just want to live a normal life."

"Everything will be fine, I promise you. After a black streak comes a white one, remember?" He smiled supportive.

"But I never get to the white part..." She rested her head on his shoulder again. She opened up in his arms again. She hadn't felt this warm or supportive from a man in a long time. All she felt was beaten. Both physically and mentally. Tonight it was over. She wouldn't let him lay a hand or voice on her. She wouldn't let him hurt her. She wouldn't let herself think he would change. She wouldn't let him.

"Megan, you need to go home, or at least to your sister's. You can comfort each other. You'll get better. I'll excuse you, they'll understand. I'll take you. Okay?"

"But what about the investigation?"

"Fuck the investigation. Go get in my car, I'll be right there."

He handed her the keys and they went their separate ways. She got into his black Hyundai Tucson. She waited for about 10 minutes, her mind racing, her eyes crying and her mascara running. Furthermore, she decided to smoke again.