To Love a Criminal ((MIKE ZACHARIAS X OC))

Chapter 33

"He's been harassing me since we were recruited for Elite Advancement."

Silica sat on the edge of Brutus' bed across from Monica whilst Brutus himself leaned against the wall behind her, arms crossed over his chest as he stared at Silica. The look of profound agitation was a hard thing to miss on her usual day to day impassive face, and one he knew meant that Silica felt guilty.

Despite Monica making it clear that she didn't blame Silica nor Brutus for Maddox's behavior, Silica still felt the twang of heartache in her chest for what happened to her squad member. She was supposed to be the one for them to go to with matters like this before they could escalate to Monica's current situation. She was supposed to make them feel safe — but Silica knew that had to be the last thing Monica was feeling in that moment.

"Why didn't you come to me with the harassment claim when it happened the first time?" Silica asked, tone as hard as stone.

"I thought it would stop after I declined his offers enough..." Monica confessed, looking down. "That maybe he'd get bored of me and move on..."

"Maddox didn't exactly have the cleanest streak in the past." Brutus mentioned, his finger tapping against his bicep as he scowled.

"Nevertheless," Silica shook her head, gesturing that Brutus refrain from speaking any further. "It happened and now he's dead. We don't have any other choice but to take this information to Erwin before someone else discovers Maddox's body."

"You already have so much going on with the courts already, Silica," Brutus reminded her, holding a hand up for emphasis. "You can't be dealing with this, too — it may affect Amelia's citizenship agreement."

"Please, Captain, don't put all you have on the line," Monica abruptly stood up. "I'll go to the commander myself; figure out where to go from there on my own. No one has to know that you discovered his body or that you know what I've done."

"I'll get dragged into the situation anyway," Silica reasoned, rising to her feet. "I'm your captain and the affair took place between two of my subordinates. Let me worry about my personal affairs. Everything will work itself out."

"But —"

"I won't take any more of this," Silica waved a hand in the air. "Go to Erwin now and tell him what's happened. I'll go check on Maddox's body."

"Captain, please. I can't let you do this," Monica grabbed onto Silica's arm again. She frowned. "I'll go to Commander Erwin, but you have to stay out of it from here on in. I won't be able to live with myself if anything affects your daughter's chances of staying on the surface."

"And if I'm called into questioning?" Silica gave her a defeated look.

"I want you to say that you had no knowledge of the incident or the harassment." Monica said. Silica chewed the inside of her cheek.

"That's risky," Silica told her. "If they find out that I was the one who found you —"

"They won't," Brutus cut in and stepped forward. Both women turned to acknowledge him. "Cause we'll say that it was me who found her and brought her here. You'll stay out of the story completely."

"Why would you do that?" Silica asked, squinting at him.

"Let's just say that this is my way of repaying you for saving my life," Brutus winked at her and set a gentle hand on Monica's shoulder. "We'll handle this from here. You just focus on your kid and getting Patrick jailed for good."

Silica looked on at both of them, clearly surprised by their insistence on keeping Silica out of the fire if things were to go south.

"Very well," she finally agreed and closed her eyes. "But I want you both to keep me updated every step of the way."