The Truth (Mommy's House 2)

Part Fifteen

Pulling up to the house was something I never thought I would do again.

There was caution tape surrounding the perimeter of the front yard, but it was ripped up and torn. The officers outside stopped me once I got out of my car, but I showed them my badge and they instantly backed off.

I walked inside, a flashlight in my hand. I flashed it on the spot where I first found Bella, standing beside Cole's battered body. There was dried, black blood crusted into the tiles of that area, broken glass from thrown bottles littering the floor still.

I slowly moved through, opening the door to the basement which was pitch black. Immediately, an ice cold breeze clawed at the flesh of my face, almost to tell me not to go down there.

I stepped down the creaking steps, keeping my flashlight focused in front of me as I walked across to the room where the children were held.

Not one item was out of place since the last time I had seen that room.

The blood splatters along the wall had fully dried, the dolls were still in the same place on the floor in the corner, and the toy box was closed beside them. The air had a metallic odor, which I assumed was the dried blood that had soaked into the carpet.

The air was frigid, nipping at my skin as I stepped further into the room.

I wasn't even sure that I was allowed to be going through evidence. The truth of the matter was, nobody was doing anything to help the case anymore. Most of the people in the evidence department felt that the case was dead anyway, leaving it nearly stagnant. But something felt wrong. I knew we were missing something, and if that meant I had to risk losing my job for the sake of setting this case straight then so be it.

I pulled out a pair of gloves out of the pocket of my heavy jacket.

I stepped towards the toybox, careful not to tamper with the placement of the toys or anything else. I knelt down in front of the dark, wooden toy chest.

I carefully gripped onto the top, pulling it open. I sifted through the dolls and action figures that had been piled to the top. I reached my arm down to the bottom of the toys, and grunted while pulling the book out.

The book was thick, with a plain black cover. My eyebrows knitted together in pure confusion.

"How did evidence not recover this yet?" I whispered to myself while shaking my head, my finger sliding against the dusty cover of the book.

I opened the book to the first page, which held an image of exactly what Elliot described to us. It was a black and white photo of a girl, she wasn't young but she was definitely an early teenager. She was passed out in a man's hands, but the photo was too grainy, and it drained out the man's face.

I flipped to the second page, which held another image of the same girl passed out in the backseat of a vehicle. Though the image wasn't coloured, I could tell the girl had messy, light locks of hair.

I flipped through a few more pages of the same images, a girl who was sound asleep. There was no date on the photos, or any indication of who the people were in the images.

I had a gut feeling that the girl in those photos were Rose.

On the next page, there was a newspaper article which was ripped out of a newspaper. The headline read, BOY MYSTERIOUSLY SHOT THROUGH WINDOW. The words were difficult to read, but I was able to make out: no suspect, no evidence as to who it could be.

A frightening, sickening feeling sprouted through my chest as I slowly turned to the next page.

The page contained a short note, with handwriting eerily similar to Rose's from her diary. It seemed to be a page ripped out from her journal or another book. The words were written sloppily on the page, making the writing nearly incomprehensible.

We didn't mean to do it. We meant to shoot his mother. I just wanted him to myself. We didn't mean to this time. We really didn't. I'm the only mother he can have. I made a mistake, Steven. I made a terrible mistake.

"What the hell? We?" I whispered under my breath, before turning the page to find a small photo of a smiling boy.

It seemed to be a school picture of a young boy, who was smiling a toothless smile. The photo was also quite grainy, but it was coloured. I was able to see that the boy, who couldn't be older than eight, had light eyes and slick, dark hair.

Once I saw the name of who it was, my stomach flipped. There was a sour taste in my mouth. My heart was racing in my chest as I stood up, shoving the book into the large, inside pocket of my coat.

I could barely see straight as I made my way through the evil house.

I raced out the front door, walking past the ripped up caution tape, to my car which sat isolated by the forest beside it.

After speeding almost the entire way to the station, I pulled into the parking lot and jumped out of my car, nearly sprinting inside.

When I walked to her office, I knocked once on the door before shoving it open.

To my surprise, Bella was sitting in the chair in front of her desk, and Liv was at her desk. They both stared at me as I stood frozen in the doorway.

"Uh," I said quietly, swallowing. "Liv, sorry, I didn't know you were talking to her right now."

"She needed to talk to me about something, it's serious," Liv told me, standing up once she noticed how pale I was. "Wait, are you all right?"

"It - I - can I talk to you out here for a minute?" I asked her.

Liv nodded, confusion clear in her expression. "I'll just be a minute, Sweetie," she assured Bella, before walking outside into the hallway and closing the door behind her.

"I-" I started, but Liv rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Tell me you went to the house, James," she whispered with her teeth gritted, looking both ways down the long and empty hallway to ensure nobody was around.

"I did," I told her. "And, and I found the book. Liv, there's a picture of a boy in there, a boy who was shot."

Liv furrowed her eyebrows, before staring up at me. "Who is it?"

I opened my jacket and pulled the picture of the boy out, holding it towards Liv. Liv stared at the photo, her jaw dropping open the instant she read the name.

"Gio Mancini," Liv whispered, her dark eyes widening. "That's Cole's last name. But- but he doesn't have any siblings, does he?"

"He never mentioned it," I responded, so confused my mind didn't even know what to think. "That's why I don't understand."

Suddenly, Bella opened the door, her eyes wide as she stared between both of us. She took a deep, nervous breath before she spoke.

"I- I could hear you guys in there," she said shakily, before a tear slowly rolled down her cheek.

"Oh, I- I'm sorry, Sweetie. Just... go wait out-" Liv started, but Bella shook her head.

"No!" she cried out, more tears rolling down her flushed cheeks. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Bella, I'm sorry, but you can't hear about this-" I tried, but Bella cut me off by breaking into a full sob.

I looked down the hallway at the woman who works at the front desk in the lobby, who was staring in concern. I gave her a fake smile and waved, before we all moved back into the room and closed the door.

Liv was hugging Bella, as Bella cried into her shoulder.

"Bella, what's wrong? I'm sorry you could hear us, we didn't really think," Liv said while rubbing her back, but Bella pulled away, her face red and tears staining it.

Bella calmed down after a few seconds and rubbed her nose, her bloodshot, hazel eyes locking on me. "Mommy knew about Cole's brother. I mean - I mean, Rose. Rose knew."

"Knew what? What did she know?" I asked, and Bella stared down at her lap.

"C-Cole is scared of guns. Mommy said- Rose said, that- that his brother was shot by someone," Bella sniffled, before putting her hands over her face. "It was her. Oh my God, it was her."