The Perfect Emma

Chapter Thirty-Six

Grayson Todd

Upon hearing the scream, everyone in the room had stopped and gone for their weapons, Gray and Sabrina included. However, seeing Emma cowering away from Zach made him put it away with a sigh.

Gray was trying so hard to cooperate and be a good detective and just do as his superiors asked, but when they were acting so insensitively to his witness—yes, his witness—he couldn't help but intervene with exasperation.

Now that things were calm again, back in Zach's office, he was aware that perhaps he was dooming himself, but at the moment he didn't care. Especially...having asked Emma if she needed to slap him again. Hannah and Zach had both found it amusing, but now the agent was jumping on it. "If you're so trustworthy, Detective, why is it that Emma has slapped you before?" She was wearing this smug face, both amused by the fact and seemingly triumphant that she might have something against him.

Fucking IA.

Gray sighed, glancing down at the floor. "For the record, Hannah, it was more of an awkward tickle than a slap." At that, Emma frowned and glanced to the side, clearly put-out by that. "And I asked Emma to slap me to prove to her that she wouldn't get hurt for it."

Hannah attempted to hide her disappointment behind a stoic expression, but Gray knew what it meant, and he counted that as a victory. "Be that as it may," she started, a little huffily. "You are not redeemed yet, Detective. I still can't allow Mrs. Mabel to reside with you."

Emma cleared her throat and crossed her arms. Despite avoiding the agent's face, the action seemed to have merit, and Hannah stiffened, her brows furrowing over wide, annoyed eyes. Grayson resisted the urge to snort.

Hannah sighed deeply, coming around to stand behind Zach's desk, to face Emma. Gray got up from his crouch and sat in the chair next to the blonde woman. Seeing as last time he left her alone with these two, it hadn't gone well, he wasn't leaving again. "Emma," Agent Westbrook began, attempting to replace her annoyance with kindness. "No one is more sympathetic to your situation than I am."

Emma made a skeptical face.

"But without your cooperation, Aaron Matthews will walk free. You are the only victim, that we know of, that has survived. And we don't have the forensic evidence to pin him to all the previous victim's murders. Your testimony is essential to this case. Without it, your kidnapper, your abuser, has the potential to kidnap and abuse and murder more young women such as yourself. And I know you don't want that to happen. Do you? I implore you to reconsider your decision."

This bribery was dirty of her, but Gray was more caught by the fact that Emma had apparently withdrawn her cooperation. He looked at her with surprise, but Emma didn't look at him; she merely glared at Hannah with her arms still crossed. "I 'implore' you to reconsider yours," she retorted, throwing Hannah's words back in her face.

What the hell was this about.

The agent shut her eyes and pressed her lips together, working her tension away through her mouth. "It would be irresponsible of me to allow you to remain in contact with someone who has the potential to be a detriment to—"

"Let me tell you something about Aaron," Emma muttered, averting her gaze. Gray could see fear in them, and it wasn't hard for him to tell that she was nervous about speaking out so strongly. He was...kinda proud of her. "Almost every day, he would have something to say about work. Sometimes he had good days. Sometimes he had bad days. And do you know what his complaints would, pretty much, always be about on bad days?"

Hannah blinked. "No, Emma, I don't."

"His partner, Grayson."

Gray glanced to the side awkwardly. Yeah, still bugged by the whole "our friendship is a lie" thing.

Emma continued, never breaking stride even though there was a subtle tremor in her voice. "He would complain that Grayson was constantly getting in the way of him tampering his own cases, that Grayson was too stubborn about finding out the truth, that Grayson never knew when to leave well enough alone. And towards the end, the only reason Aaron invited Grayson over was to regain his trust, because Grayson had figured out that it was a cop that kidnapped me. So if you really think that Detective Todd is anything but the exact opposite of Aaron, you...." Emma stopped herself there, her throat catching, and her head immediately shifting down to stare at her lap. Gray watched her shiver slightly, and though he wanted to comfort her, he was afraid to. Hannah was staring intently. "You're a fool," Emma finally whispered, wincing right after, as if expecting to be hit.

Seeing this as an opportunity to show her that she didn't need to be scared to speak her mind, Gray did reach over and touch her shoulder. The woman flinched slightly, and turned her head to look at him, relaxing as she realized it was only him.

Behind them, Zach finally spoke up. "Agent Westbrook. It's clear that Detective Todd is instrumental in Emma's cooperation. Now, I don't mean to tell you not to do your job, but—"

"I know," Hannah replied, sounding very annoyed now despite her best efforts concealing it. "I know." She sighed, rubbing a temple. Then she opened her eyes and stared at Gray, who attempted not to open shrink at her gaze. "You are not off the hook yet, Detective. But...Emma has convinced me that, at the very least, it is both...safe and...necessary...." Wow, it was really difficult for her to say this. "....that she remain with you."

Emma picked her head up with a smile of disbelief, then immediately got rid of it, trying not to look too grateful. Grayson, on the other hand, blinked, a little confused. However, the last thing he was about to do was argue. That was both best for Emma's sake, and his own.

"However," the agent continued, raising a finger and catching their attention again. "Don't think that this means you'll just be left alone to your devices. I am not an idiot. You will be monitored." She looked at Emma. "I'm aware that you spent fifteen months under constant observation, but I think I've been generous enough today. Unfortunately, some things cannot be avoided. I will not be persuaded against this as well. Do you understand, Mrs. Mabel?"

Emma nodded quickly. "I understand. Can....Can I go now?"

Hannah flicked her wrist before bringing the same hand to her face. "You can leave the office, but seeing as you're so adamant not to be separated from Detective Todd, you'll be spending the rest of the workday with him."

Emma furrowed her brows. "....but what if he has somewhere to go?"

The agent then laughed, and Gray stifled a scowl. Hey man, don't kick him while he's down. "Detective Todd won't be going anywhere but here and home for a while yet, Mrs. Mabel."

"Oh," Emma murmured, glancing at Gray in slight confusion.

He gave her an "I'll explain later" kind of look.

Now that they were dismissed, Gray brought Emma back to his desk, where Sabrina was waiting at her adjacent one, spinning around in her chair with boredom. At the sight of them, she perked up and stopped. "The hell was that about?" she asked.

"It's...a long story," Gray replied. He then gestured at Sabrina and said to Emma, "Emma, this is Detective Sabrina Valdez. You can trust her." He wasn't sure how Emma felt about women officers, but he still wanted to reassure her.

Sabrina waved with a bright smile. "Hey! Nice to meet you, Emma~!"

Emma glanced at Gray, and he nodded at her encouragingly, before she offered Sabrina a tentative, polite smile. "Hi...."

Though Grayson hadn't been expecting to take Emma home today, such would be the case. But, he didn't think he was minding that very much.