Clean Criminal // l.s.

xxx.

[And here's chapter 30...We'll see how many there are after this! Tell me what you'd like to see in Larry's relationship. Enjoy the gif of Harry being totally hot and doing his thang. Also, there will be a double update today, so hang tight for the next one! :) -M]

"Alright, you're going to tell me the truth before I lock you up and never let you out. You hear me? Why did you kill Zayn Malik?"

-

24 Hours Earlier Pt. 1

Harry quickly walked through the door to the office, marching toward Cris' desk, "alright, tell me what you got."

Cris pulled up phone records from a few months ago, "I got to thinking about Zayn's past. Maybe someone wanted to help him and things went wrong. So, I looked into phone records and found this." Cris highlighted a few important calls with the cursor, "this number called him a few times and only left one message. Zayn had called him back. Look at the time stamp."

"One week before he was killed," Harry stated.

Cris nodded, "I've already asked Abigail to look into who the number belongs to. She should be tracking it now."

"Cris, I could kiss you right now," Harry said and Cris gave him a strange look, "but that's not going to happen. So I guess you'll just have to dream about it." Harry winked and then made his way to his desk where he took off his coat and set his satchel next to his chair. He was just about to get to work when he noticed a small box sitting off to the side. "Hey Cris, who dropped off this box?"

The other detective shrugged, "I didn't even know it was there."

Harry carefully took the box and opened it, revealing a silver watch with a note. Harry smiled to himself, seeing that it was from Louis.

"Dinner's at 6:30. Here's a watch to remind you what time it is."

Cris laughed from his desk as he noticed Harry blush, "is it a gift from your bae?"

Harry shook his head as he laughed, "I guess you could call him my 'bae' and yes. He got me a watch since apparently I can't tell time well." Harry then proceeded to take off the watch he had on his wrist and replace it with a new one.

"You already had one didn't you?" Cris said, paying no attention to Harry's actions.

Harry then stuffed the watch in his satchel and logged on to his desktop computer, "yes, but you can never have too many watches. Besides, this one's special."

Cris didn't reply, only laughed and continued to look through records, finally receiving a call from Abigail. "Yo, Abs, what's up, mate?"

"Please stop," Abigail stated. She let out a sigh, "you know what, it doesn't even matter. Okay, I was able to trace a few texts and found a few picture messages-selfies, I guess-that I was able to trace and found that the sender was a guy by the name of Alec L. Chambers."

"What's she saying?" Harry mouthed to Cris.

Cris lifted a finger and continued to listen to Abi, "now before you tell Styles this, yes, I already connected him to the case. I'm sending you a few files and articles now. Alec L. Chambers was the boy who Malik was friends with."

"So the guy who's dad-"

"Exactly. He had contacted Malik a few months before the death and then the week before. The last message he sent said, 'see you there.' Do you think they had planned this date?"

"Alright, alright, let me talk to her," Harry said, waving Cris away from the phone. He took it himself and spoke, "what did you just say?"

"I think that Alec and Zayn had planned this date. It was something they agreed on," Abi hypothesized.

Harry thought about it tapping his finger against his chin, "thanks, Abs. We'll call you later."

Harry gave Cris that look which could only mean in thing: they were on the hunt again. Harry searched Alec's name in the database to find his current address and soon Cris and Harry where in the car again on the way to visit their newest suspect.

.

"Hi Lou, this is your mom. I just wanted to call and see how you are. We haven't heard from you in forever and we were getting pretty worried. How's the big apple? We hope you're still adjusting to the area. Maybe you've met a few new people, made a few new friends. Look, your sisters are screaming, so I better get going. We love you, you know."

Louis deleted the voicemail after he listened to it and laid back into the couch, pulling his legs up beside him. He continued to stare at the muted television and contemplated whether or not he should call his mother back. He hadn't talked to them in the longest time, fearing they-his parents-would yell at him once more.

He finally decided to call back, leaving a message of his own, only four words long, in hopes that those few words could mend their broken relationship.

"I love you, too."

Although he hadn't got a quick reply from his mother, Louis' phone began to ring, a picture of himself and Harry popping up on the screen. He smiled at the picture he had taken a few nights before, quickly thanking God for letting him find such a sweet and caring person like Harry.

"Hi love, I just wanted to thank you for the watch. It's a very kind and generous gift and the note from you made it a million times better."

"What a hyperbole!" Louis exclaimed and Harry laughed at his reaction.

"Your laugh is so cute," Harry claimed. Harry glanced at Cris as they sat at a stop light, "look, love, today might be a really long day for me and-"

Louis sighed, interrupting Harry, "and you won't be able to make it back in time for dinner." There was an awkward silence after Harry said yes and started driving once again. Just then, Louis got the perfect idea. "What if I bring dinner to you? It could be like a picnic except inside and away from scary wild creatures like those damn geese," Louis had suggested.

Harry smiled, loving Louis' enthusiasm, "that's sounds perfect. So, I'll expect you at six-thirty then?"

"Of course," Louis replied with a laugh.

Then their call was over with and Cris gave Harry a look, "we'll probably be busy, Harry. Don't drag this boy into it all."

"He's been in it since the start, Cris. I can't exclude him now, not when we actually have something."

"We hardly have anything!" Cris exclaimed.

Harry shook his head, "not true. We have a name and an address. Now it's just a matter of time before we find the actual killer."

"And what if it was actually Liam and now he's fleeing the country?"

"Doubtful. Liam wants to stay close to Louis. He feels like he needs to protect him. He'll stick around and then maybe once he realizes Louis is fine on his own, he'll leave," Harry said.

The two young men sat in silence as they drove to Alec's place. Harry could only hope that this is what they've been waiting for; he needed to end this case.