"Right...." Abel trailed on, looking at them suspiciously. He picked up a laptop and joined them in their research, pretending like he didn't just see them shaking hands. And although shaking hands was something normal, he was curious about this small interaction he had just witnessed between the two weirdest people in the house. A couple of seconds had gone by and as he looked up from the laptop, he noticed Roman and Zadia take a small glimpse at one another. "Interesting." He whispered, slightly smirking. This was something he and Adam were going to joke about later on.
Roman cleared his throat. "So I'm going over my sister's old messages to herself... She always found texting or emailing herself therapeutic. I'm not sure why, but in some of these messages, she's talking about leaving Cortez." His brows furrowed reading the disturbing texts out loud. "He put a gun to my head today and said if I didn't find a way to breastfeed he'd kill me." He quoted.
"Christ," Zadia whispered.
Roman scrolled down to the last recorded message. "Leaving is something I've got to do, it's what's best for Santino. I can't forgive myself if he continues to grow around Corey. He's unstable and I'm as good as dead being here. It's time to go."
"Woah," Abel said. "Sounds like she went through it all."
Roman bounced his leg as he thought about the last time he saw his sister. Although he tried his best to warn her about Cortez, part of him felt like he didn't try harder. He felt like he could've said something in those final moments of them arguing that could've convinced her it was best to come with him. "I don't think we should use those messages as proof," Zadia said. "Besides them being very private, Cortez could just claim them as fake, especially since she wrote them to herself."
Abel shook his head. "Yeah, but they're also somewhat detailed. I think it leaves room open for people to connect the dots." Abel nodded towards Roman. "What do you think?"
"I'm gonna use them." He replied, his tone firmed as if leaving no room for debate.
Zadia decided not to voice any more of her input, not wanting to deal with whatever he had going on. "Okay, so we've got an interview, and messages from Eliśa to add to our list, that's not exactly much proof." She said and then paused to think. "If Cortez was beating on your sister, then she would have evidence of it on her body..."
Roman shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with the topic. "So?"
"So," Zadia glared at him for interrupting her. "If she was ever badly hurt from it and ended up at a hospital or clinic, they would've documented such injuries."
"Meaning we should look up her medical records and see if we find anything," Roman concluded, beginning his typing on the laptop.
"Exactly. It would be hard for anyone to say those records are fake."
"Nice one." Abel complemented, playfully bumping his shoulders with hers. "Looks like the both of us do add something to the team."
Roman scoffed. "Like what?"
"Creative thinking," Zadia added.
"Good looks." Abel joked, making Zadia chuckle.
"All sounds like bullshit to me," Roman mumbled, clicking through the files he had access to because of Adam. "There's nothing creative about your thinking and if Lynn or Adam were here, they would've suggested checking the medical records as well. And having good looks is as good as nothing in a team."
"He's such a negative Nancy," Zadia whispered to Abel.
Abel smirked, placing his hand on his cheek to mask it. "Tell me about it. You think he'll ever get that pole out his ass?"
ChApTeR - 10
Start from the beginning
