The Game Changer (Completed)

Chapter 11- A dramatic wave of his hand

CHAPTER 11 - A dramatic wave of his hand

Kailee and I sat against the cool wall of the station and talked. We ended up talking way into the night. I explained to her what had happened. How the two groups of men had started arguing in the club and how I had got involved. I then moved on to why I was there and the fact I had started working on the case again despite being kicked off it. Finally I told her why I was doing it. It was doing it for Gus.

"I just want his murderer to be brought to justice and this, I thought, was the only way I could do that. It isn't fair that while Gus is dead in the ground, the guy who killed him is walking around freely. He deserves to rot in a jail cell for the rest of his life." Anger flared up inside of me as I spoke. It was still hard to talk about Gus, but with Kailee it was easier somehow.

"Others are still working on his case," she said.

"I know but I need to do something. I should have done something that night. I should have saved him. Now I can't, but I can do this." I felt weird to say the words out loud. Before they had just been thoughts, but now, saying them, it made them real.

Looking at Kailee it was as if she finally understood a problem she had been trying to figure out for days. Confusion faded from her eyes as she took my hand in hers. I dropped my head into my arms which rested on my knees.

"You can't blame yourself for Gus' death," Kailee said confidently, as if everything was clicking into place now.

"Why not?" I snapped. She wasn't there that night. She didn't know. "I should have done something."

"You couldn't have. You were both in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was nothing you could do," he voice was soft, and soothing. She was saying the words I had needed to hear for so long.

"Why was it him though? He didn't deserve that," my voice cracked as I spoke. But at the same time it felt as if a weight was lifting from my shoulders.

"He didn't deserve it," Kailee agreed.

"I wish it had been me." I finally muttered the words that had been swirling around in my head since the day Gus had died. The words I had always been too afraid to admit. I should have died that night.

"Tyler." I had never heard Kailee's so voice so sad. Softly she gripped my chin as she forced me to look at her. Blinking quickly I forced the unshed tears to remain just that, unshed. Her blue orbs never left my green as she spoke. "Listen to me," she started, her voice breaking slightly. "You do not deserve to die either. You were both good men in a horrible situation. Neither of you deserved to die, yet unfortunately one did. That is not your fault, it is the fault of the scrum who pulled the trigger. You had no role in his death, and you should not blame yourself," Kailee finished fiercely.

"I don't know what to do," my voice sounded so weak I almost laughed at how pathetic I was acting. However, for once I could actually be myself, I could actually reveal my true feelings, and that was thanks to Kailee.

"You're going to keep living your life. It will take time but you will eventually get past this. You won't forget him, you probably never will, but you will be able to live your life without the weight of this guilt, because you have nothing to be guilty for Tyler. I honestly believe you would have done anything in your power to save him." Kailee sounded so confident in her words that I started to believe her. "But promise me you will leave this case alone. You can't do what you did tonight again."

"I promise," I nodded. She was right. What I had done tonight was stupid and reckless. I had put Kailee in danger too and it had all been for nothing really. I was no closer to finding the guy who had killed Gus.