The Test

Chapter Twenty-Three

I put my hands on his shoulders, making sure he was paying attention, "You can't see him tonight, Tom, I'm sorry. But, I promise you, tomorrow morning I will take you and you can see him."

Tom's face crumpled and he sagged against me. "I just want to see him," he whispered, his voice cracking, "It can't be him, Derek, it can't. I just saw him; he was with me!"

At that point Greene walked out of the door, followed by two men rolling a gurney that was covered by the body in a black bag. They started rolling the gurney towards the large coroner van that was parked in front of the house.

Tom turned to Greene, his face pleading, "Just let me see him. Please."

Allan sighed looking at me, before nodding his head towards one of the guys pushing the gurney. "Open it up, but just the top. Tom, you can't touch alright?"

Tom nodded taking a step closer as the body bag was unzipped. As Steve's face was revealed he gasped, "Oh God."

"That's enough," Greene said to the coroner's assistant. He nodded sealing the bag again and hiding Steve from view. They continued down the pathway until they reached the van and loaded the stretcher in the back.

"Daddy, let's go," Layna wrapped an arm around her father's shoulder, leading him towards my mom's car. She followed behind, unlocking the door and helping Layna get Tom into the passenger's seat.

Greene came to stand beside me as we both watched them drive off, "This is a fucking disaster."

"Tell me about it," I said.

"No one deserves this shit show that that bastard put her through, and now someone thinks this is a joke and is continuing this bullshit."

"So you're still going with the theory that it was a copycat?"

"Yeah. As much as I would like to pin it on his crazy ass, he's still on suicide watch so that means someone's watching the camera's twenty-four/seven."

"Well someone did this, and they're going to pay, I can guarantee you of that."

"Trust me, Derek, whoever did this is not going anywhere. I will find them."

Layna

Tom was sat at the edge of the hotel bed, his head hung as he stared at his hands. He hadn't moved from when we had come into the hotel room.

I didn't blame him though; my parents had been together for ten years before they adopted me. That was almost thirty-five years with the same person, and to have that person so cruelly ripped from your life would be hard for anyone.

I didn't know how to comfort my father. Nothing I said seemed to help, so I was giving him his space for the time being. I was worried about him, but I understood that he needed his time to mourn by himself.

The door to the hotel room opened and Adelia walked in, carrying plastic bags with take-out. I doubted any of us were able to eat, but it was good to have the option. She and my father were sharing the hotel room. As much as I wanted to stay with my dad all night, I knew that if I stayed he would just compose himself in front of me and not let his emotions properly run their course. I trusted Adelia to be there when he needed it; she and Tom were best friends and had been for a long time.

"Derek just got back," she said quietly, "You guys have the adjoining room next door."

I gave her a hug, "Thank you," I whispered, but I wasn't just thanking her for the information. I was thanking her for everything she had done to help my family, even while she had been going through such a rough time on her own.

She smiled at me when I pulled away, before putting down the bags by the front and going into the bathroom. I walked over to the bed where Tom was on and leaned down to gently kiss his forehead. "Get some sleep, okay? I'll be back tomorrow morning, but if you need me I'm right next door."

Tom grabbed my hand before I could leave. "He loved you so much, Layna."

I wrapped my arms around my dad and hugged him tightly. "I miss him already."

"I do too, sweetie, I do too."

We stayed quiet for a while before Tom spoke again. "He told me he wasn't feeling well, and he went home. I should have gone with him I could have protected him or stopped this from happening. He could have been here with us if I had done something."

I could feel my dad shaking so I held him closer, "Don't say that. It's not your fault."

"I didn't even tell him that I loved him before I left; I just left him all by himself."

"He knew that you loved him, Dad. He knew without you needing to say anything." I sat up and wiped a tear from his cheek, and he smiled sadly at me.

"Steve was so proud of you; you know that? Wherever he is, he will always be proud of his little girl."

***

When I walked into our room Derek was sitting at the desk, a folder spread across the table. He looked up at me as I walked in, taking a break from the papers in front of him and gave me a soft smile. "Hey."

I said nothing as I went over to him, wrapping my arms around his chest and resting my chin on his shoulder. I gave him a soft kiss on his neck as he collected all the papers and returned them back to the folder.

"The forensics team was still working when I left, but they should be done by tomorrow. They need us to go by the precinct tomorrow to give them our finger prints, just to eliminate some of the ones they already found."

"Okay."

"Humphrey said that he can fly everyone down tomorrow to help out with the investigation. They are going to be here in the evening sometime since they are just finishing up a case."

"Okay."

Derek turned around, pulling me into his arms, "I'm so sorry, baby."

I pressed my face into his neck, breathing in his scent. I could feel the tears leaking from my eyes, but none of us said anything as Derek ran a reassuring hand up and down my spine.

"I'm scared," I whispered, my voice muffled my Derek's skin.

"You have nothing to be scared about. We are going to find who did it, okay? We'll be safe. Greene was officers watching the hotel and I won't let anything happen to you."

As much as I wanted to believe what Derek was telling me, I couldn't shake the foreboding feeling in the pit of my stomach.