One More Chance With Time

2.

A few days later

"My name is Detective Vega." The man sitting across from the bruised and battered Ryder Daniels said quietly as he looked down at the notes that had been gathered about what Ryder had done. "And before you ask, yes. I'm related to the woman who's life you ended." He looked up and stared at Ryder with undisguised hatred. "I'm her father. And I called in a lotof favors to make sure that I was the one who got to talk to you."

Ryder was understandably nervous as he looked down to avoid making eye contact. He hadn't shown any remorse for what he had done to Tori but he was nervous that he was in a room with the cop father of the girl he had beaten and left for dead.

Vega placed his hands on the table and took a deep breath as he tried to gain his composure. "Do you have any idea what you did to our family?" He asked quietly. "My wife, Holly hasn't been able to stop crying since you did what you did. My daughter Trina hasn't come out of her room since she got home the day her sister died. I can hear her crying and screaming every day."

Ryder shuffled his feet and kept looking down, avoiding eye contact.

"You tore my family apart." He said as he fought back tears. "And Tori's friends aren't doing any better.

You broke the hearts of a lot of people. And Jade West told me she was there for Tori's last words. She told her what you called her, what you did to my daughter." He took another deep breath as he leaned in close to Ryder who tried to back away but couldn't.

"I don't care who my daughter preferred to date. Boy, Girl. It didn't matter to me. My wife and I loved her with all our heart and so did her sister. So did her friends." He said quietly. "You beat my daughter...you stabbed her with a piece of glass and left her to die alone and scared when her family was gone. You are nothing but slime, a coward who waited until she was alone to..." Detective Vega couldn't finish, it was just too painful for him.

Ryder muttered something under his breath and Detective Vega looked up at him sharply. He had distinctly heard a vulgar slur.

"What was that?" he asked quietly.

"Tori screwed up my life!" Ryder shouted angrily. "Do you know what she did?! She made it impossible for me to find a girl! That stupid Dyk-"

Ryder wasn't able to finish the vulgar slur as Vega grabbed him by the collar with one hand and brought himself nose to nose with him.

"If you ever call my daughter that again...I swear there won't be enough officers in the world to keep you safe from me." He said in a soft dangerous tone that almost made Ryder faint. Vega slammed him back down on his chair and gritted his teeth. "You...You...show absolutely no remorse for what you did. You still think it's Tori's fault that you screwed up your life when it was your fault. I'm going to let you in on a little secret young man."

Vega smiled a predatory smile that made Ryder's blood turn to ice.

"I turned off the security cameras. Right now, it's just you and me." Vega said quietly. "My partner considered my daughter part of his family and he's the one making sure that n one interrupts us."

"Y-You can't do anything. You have to follow regulations and rules." Ryder said in a voice with a tone that said otherwise.

"Rules?" Vega asked in a voice tinged with disbelief. "You take my youngest daughter from me and you think I give a damn about the rules?" He said softly. "I could care less about the rules and regulations that I swore to follow right now. I don't care about my job right now, all I care about is making you hurt as much as you hurt me, my family and Tori's friends."

It was then that Ryder noticed something that caused him to start shaking with fear. Detective Vega had brought his gun in the interrogation room with him. He noticed Ryder's stare and shook his head with a savage grin. "I wouldn't waste a bullet on you." He said. "I won't sink to your level."

Ryder sighed in relief but nearly jumped out of his seat when Detective Vega slammed his hands down on the table with enough force to nearly flip the table over. He continued staring at Ryder with undisguised hatred and motioned towards the door. "This isn't an interrogation but rest assured, there is an ongoing investigation concerning what you did. You want my opinion, whatever you get is too good for you." He said quietly. "This is simply a father telling you what you did to his family and Tori's friends. How you destroyed so many people's lives with your actions."

He looked away and continued trying to fight back tears. "There's a surprise waiting for you outside. I made sure no one would around except for a few friends. You are free to go." He said sarcastically. Ryder nearly jumped out out his chair in his haste to make it to the door but once he opened it he saw something that made him stop cold.

Jade was standing outside the door. As were Beck, Andre, Cat and Robbie. They were all staring at him with undisguised hatred except for Cat who was sobbing uncontrollably into her hands as Robbie gently patted her on the back.

"You took Tori away from us. From her family." Beck said quietly. Andre didn't say a world but just stared at him with disgust and hatred in his eyes. Robbie just continued comforting Cat but he shot Ryder a look that was pure anguish and pain. As Ryder walked past them he heard a voice that he hoped he would never hear again.

"Nothing to say?" Jade asked quietly as he walked past without saying a word. "Yeah. I thought as much. I doubt you'd be able to take on someone who you didn't take by surprise. But I'm going to give you something that you didn't give Tori." She said quietly as she stepped in front of him with her hands balled into fists and her eyes blazing with hatred.

"I'm giving you a warning." She whispered. "I will be coming for you. And that's not a threat. That's a promise."

Ryder looked up at her and saw the look in her eyes and he shuddered. He picked up the pace and sprinted down the hallway towards the entrance to the police station.

Andre turned to look at Jade with a questioning look in his eyes. She turned to look at him and shook her head to the unspoken question.

"I wasn't bluffing." She said quietly as she walked away.