The Prom King: A Murder Mystery ✔

Chapter 26: Betrayal

"Cassidy," I whispered, "What have you done?"

Cassidy pressed her lips tightly together. "I'm not talking until I get a lawyer."

Wilson interjected, "Ma'am, you're not under arrest, you know--"

"I know that!" she yelled. She narrowed her eyes towards Jonas and me. "Look, I'm not saying I'm guilty of anything," she said through clenched teeth, "But I'd rather not have you come back to scare my brother and my parents, all right? Let me just get my brother home, and then we can go down to the station. Agreed?" Jonas and I nodded, neither of us able to say a word.

"Liam, let's go home, okay?" she said without emotion. The little boy nodded in agreement and smiled.

Cassidy's house was only a couple blocks away. Like Jonas, she came from a wealthy family, and her house was just as gorgeous. It was old Victorian-style home that had been renovated many times. I used to come with Chase and Jonas to hang out at her house. Now, I didn't think I could step into it without feeling not only sadly nostalgic at the memories inside, but also betrayed because it may be that those happy memories were shared with Chase's killer.

I told Officer Wilson I would stay outside while he made sure that Cassidy came back after leaving her brother with their nanny. Jonas decided to stay with me too, probably for the same reasons. I started to massage my temples in a futile attempt to relief my splitting headache.

Everything points to Cassidy. The sneeze, the helmet, the fact that she was with Ethan. As soon as we find the connection between her and Valerie and Robert Thomas, that's it. We found out who killed Chase. And now, we just need to know if she killed Carly.

Cassidy and Officer Wilson then appeared in the doorway. I didn't hear any commotion from Liam or the nanny. Cassidy probably didn't tell them the real reason Wilson was there. The lack of handcuffs probably helped.

We walked back to the station in a very awkward silence. What do you say to the girl who probably killed your best friend? In our case, nothing. Jonas put his arm around my shoulders, probably not just for my comfort, but also for his own. We glanced at each other several times, speaking without words of our hurt, surprise, and acceptance that this was really happening.

After what felt like hours (in reality, only fifteen minutes), we arrived at the station. I saw that my dad's police car wasn't in the parking lot, so I figured he was probably still at the crime scene. Hopefully he would be back soon so he could interrogate Ethan and Cassidy, and we could find out what exactly happened to Carly.

Wilson led Cassidy to Interrogation Room 4. Meanwhile, she was sneezing every five minutes.

"Allergies," she explained. That explains the sneeze on the phone. Unfortunately, no one else at the station was allergic to pollen, so we didn't have any allergy pills to give her. She had taken her last one at the park a few hours ago, and she didn't have anymore with her. The effects were starting to wear off, and I was growing irritated at the sound of her sniffling and sneezing.

I didn't want to be the one to talk to Cassidy Taylor first. I didn't want to be the one to look into her eyes and ask, "Why did you do it? Didn't you know he loved you?" I just couldn't do without breaking down and wondering if it was even possible to trust someone. Any friend of Chase's was a friend of mine, and I thought Cassidy felt the same way. Now, it seemed like it was all an act. I just don't know why she had the mask on.

Jonas and I looked at Cassidy through the two-way glass in silence. I didn't have to ask what Jonas was thinking about because I already knew: we trusted her, and she betrayed us. She killed our best friend. After a couple of minutes, I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket. The contact name read Dad. I swiped across the screen to answer.

"Hey, Dad," I said flatly.

"Hey, kiddo. Wilson just called me. He said Cassidy Taylor is at the station? What's going on?"

I briefly explained that Carly was the one who was listening in on the phone call to Ethan. We felt confident that she had called us using her brother's toy Darth Vader helmet, and therefore, had been stalking us. We just needed to know how she knew Robert and Valerie and if she killed Carly.

Dad didn't speak for a few moments. He then sighed and let out a soft, "Wow. Ok, I think the detectives here can handle gathering the rest of the evidence. I'll be there in a few minutes. Hang tight, okay?"

"Okay." I hung up the phone and looked up at Jonas. "He's on his way."

"That's good," he replied in a low voice.

Suddenly, we heard a muffled yelling out in the hallway. Jonas and I immediately rushed out of the room to find the source.

"Sir, we need you to stay calm and stay where you are!" I recognized Officer Stevens' voice. We followed his yells to Interrogation Room 2. There we found Robert Thomas struggling to escape the grasp of Stevens and another officer.

"You have to let me see her! You have to!" Robert cried. His face was a bright red, and sweat poured down his face.

"Sir, sit down!" Stevens yelled.

"She's my niece, okay?! Cassidy is my niece! Just let me see her! I need to make sure she's okay!" Stevens and the other officer eventually got Robert to stop struggling and just stay in his seat, but not without frustrated groans escaping from his lips.

"Jonas, if Robert is Cassidy's uncle, and Valerie Thomas is Robert's sister-"

"Valerie is Cassidy's aunt."

A/N: What's up, peeps! What did you guys think of this chapter? Did you see this connection coming? Please VOTE, COMMENT, and SHARE this story!

Till next time,

-shalom900