Against Reason

Chapter Thirty Five - War of Words

The officers smile gently at his words. "No problem, I understand. I have two young ones myself, it's almost impossible to keep the house tidy," the younger looking one responds. 

Taking a seat next to Danny, the officers face us, sitting down on the ottoman. Danny is quick to grab my hand, feeding his fingers through mine and gripping my hand as if it holds safety to the uneasy situation at hand. 

"Now, Mr Thompson, I'd should preface that this news might not be easy to take in. So feel free to take a break or ask for some space at anytime," The older one explains and I take in a sharp breath, nervous at to what they're here for. 

Did someone die? Did something happen to Danny's parents? Ben maybe? God, I hope it's nothing serious, but the looks on their faces and the dimness in their voices isn't reassuring. 

"Okay," Danny drags out. "Could you explain what this is about?" he questions again, his voice still hard and firm. 

The older officer sighs. "This is about the accident of your ex-wife," he says and the room falls to a hush. The wasps thrash inside my stomach, stinging everywhere as they spread through to my arms, neck, and legs. 

Danny's hand remains tightly in mine, but his shoulders tense to attention as his posture straightens. "What about the accident?" he questions, his voice falling a little. 

"As you know we weren't able to disclose the driver at the time, since it was a stolen car and the perpetrator was never caught," The younger one explains, Danny just nodding along. "Through some new information and further security camera footage-" he continues to explain, before my phone rings and cuts through the chilling silence. 

I pull out my phone, the Caller ID reading 'mum'. "I should take this," I mutter, not wanting to leave Danny alone right now. "Um, excuse me for a second," I say, glancing at Danny and he nods, silently telling me it's okay to go. 

Getting up, I briskly walk into the kitchen and answer the call. "Hey mum, you know, now really isn't a good time-"

"Daph! Oh god, um- shit!" she curses, her panicked voice spiking the hairs on the back of my neck. I hate hearing her panicked, it reminds me of my childhood, it reminds me of when she was scared and fearing for her life. 

"Mum? Mum, what is it? Are you okay?" I question rapidly, my hands weakening at the vulnerability of everything right now. 

"Your brother, Nick, he's been arrested," she says, her voice now neutral, but laced with shivering confusion and fear. 

What? Arrested?

"What? What for? Is he okay?" I ask, my mind clawing and leaving scratch marks as it tries to grasp onto to some solidarity in this whirlwind. 

My mum sighs deeply, her footsteps echoing through the phone as she paces back and forth. I here the echo of voices in the background and my heart drops as I assume she's at the police station. 

This is..? What the fuck is going on?

"It must've been a few years ago," she mutters. "But apparently he stole a car, and was under the influence of drugs behind the wheel and underage. Which already is crazy, since we had no idea," she explains and my mind goes numb as it falls into a pit of darkness on what to think and how to process everything. 

"Though, thats not the extent of what he was arrested for," she says, a whisper of heartache to her voice, one even I've never heard before.

"What? Mum, please explain," I ramble out, running a hand through my hair. 

"He had an accident, and the woman he crashed into was killed on impact," she tells me and I almost drop my phone. "Daph', he killed someone," she whispers, her voice cracking and the blood in my veins goes gaunt.