"No, no, that can't be" Brady exclaimed, shaking his head so vigorously that he looked like it could fall off at any moment. "My sister can't be the newest victim," he said in a belligerent tone. He grabbed the officer by his collar with his blood stained hands, the officer was taken aback by his actions, but he stayed still with his eyes wide open "My baby sister cannot be the next victim!" He shouted uncontrollably with saliva spewing out of his mouth unattractively. His eyes went darker and his skin paler. He whimpered in misery. Cassie had never seen Brady's weak side, it was uncomfortable for her to watch him look so defeated.
"Brady please calm down" Cassie said as she gently unclenched his hands from the officers shirt. He let go of the officers shirt as he crashed down to his knees. He passed his hands through his neatly combed, jet black hair and pulled hard on it as tears began to rush out of his eyes with turbulent speed.
"Sir, we're sure it's her. That's why it took so long for us to tell you," the officer said sympathetically as he pulled his shirt down and smoothened it with his palms. "But there's a little bit of good news sir," he said reassuringly "she survived the incident. We suspect she fought back" he said "she's in the hospital now, she's in bad shape but she's alive." now sir"
Brady looked up at the officer with a little hope. He rose from the floor "so there's a chance that she'll survive?" He asked hopefully.
The officer gulped "The knife a lot of her vital organs, it's hard to say sir," he replied stepping back a little for fear that Brady will attack him again.
"Tamara's the strongest girl I know," Brady said "she'll fight this, I know she will" he nodded his head, but he didn't sound convinced by his own words. He was simply trying to give himself some hope, false hope maybe, but still hope. "I need to go see her," he said.
"I'll go with you," Cassie said.
"I don't think your parents will approve of that."
Cassie looked to her parents for a sign of approval, they looked hesitant at first but her mum eventually nodded her head.
"Go," Mrs. Meyer said "but this is the last time I want to see you with this irresponsible man," she said, pointing at Brady.
"I don't want you on this case anymore," her father added furiously. "As soon as you've seen his sister you will drive back home," he commanded, with an austere expression. "and when you do we need to have a serious talk " her heart sank a little bit, she had always seen her dad angry, but his anger had always been towards Caleb. Being in the hot seat was unfamiliar to her and she did not know how to deal with that. "I don't know what's gotten into you," he said disappointedly. "You're not my Cassie, the Cassie I know will never turn her brother in for murder," he said in a stern manner.
Cassie stood in front of her father speechless, she held back tears and walked away.
"Brady wait up" she called out to Brady who was almost out the building. He was in such a rush to get to the hospital that he had even forgotten that Cassie had offered to go with him.
"I'm sorry, I completely forgot that you're coming with me," he said as he came to a halt.
"I only met Tamara once but I could tell that she's strong and I know that she is in that hospital fighting for her life," she assure him as she placed a hand on his shoulders. He simply nodded his head.
"Thank you, " he said faintly "can we go now? I'm impatient."
"Only if you let me drive" she replied, as she stretched forth her hands, waiting for his car keys to fall into her palms. "You're in no position to drive." He dug out his keys from his left pocket and placed it in Cassie's hands. She smiled in satisfaction as she unlocked his car. She stepped into the drivers seat and waited for Brady to step into the passenger seat before driving off to Freetown hospital.
Cassie drove to Freetown hospital in silence, it felt like she was the only person in the car. She looked over to the passenger side to see Brady chewing on his nails impatiently.
"You know if you keep doing that you might not have any more fingers left, and then you won't be able to handcuff anymore criminals," she teased, trying to lighten the gloomy mood in the car. It didn't work, Brady kept on biting his nails and fidgeting, he was also unconsciously tapping his foot in the floor of the car. She just left him be.
"Could you drive any faster," Brady urged, impatiently.
"Brady if I drive any faster the both of us will end up in hospital beds of our own" She retorted.
"I'm sorry, I'm not good at handling situations involving death," he apologized.
Cassie let out a short laugh "how ironic, in your line of work you must see death all the time."
"Yes, but it doesn't hurt so much when you don't know the victims," he said "you're sympathetic, sure, but you never cry. You never shed a tear because those people meant nothing to you. You didn't watch them grow, you didn't go to the movies with them, or the park. You never fought with them at diner when you were a child. You never told them you love them and you never heard them say it to you," he said, subconsciously talking about his childhood with his sister. Cassie listened to him as he reminisced, she really hoped that his sister was alright. He was so vulnerable even without knowing first, how his sister was doing.
She couldn't imagine the state he would be in Tamara actually died. Cassie felt terrible like a terrible person because the main reason she wanted Tamara to survive was so that she can say if Caleb was the murderer or not. Although Cassie knew that all fingers were pointed at Caleb, and that it was her fault he was locked up, she hoped that somehow, he actually wasn't the killer.
"Have you ever lost anyone before?" Cassie asked.
"My dad" he said melancholically "he was murdered," he said in a harsh tone.
"I'm sorry," Cassie said, although she knew that her sorry wouldn't change anything. The word sorry possessed no power to undo any pain, it was simply five letter word that people used all the time. When Avril died people at camp who knew they were close said to Cassie 'sorry for your loss' she appreciated their sympathy but she didn't need it, she knew that no matter how much people encouraged her or told her nice things, it would never bring Avril back. She sighed as she thought about Avril.
"Brady, do you remember the day you asked me what really fuelled my passion for solving crimes, and I told you about how Avril had died?" She asked. Brady nodded his head weakly and then she went on "that day I asked you for your own story and you said you would tell me later, was it your dad's death that fuelled your passion?" She asked.
"Yes" he answered sadly "he was murdered by a very powerful man that he did business with, the man who killed him is still alive and is magniloquently roaming the streets of Freetown," he said with a very bitter scoff.
"Did you ever make him pay?"
"No" he replied impassively "but I will"
"Are you going to kill him?" She asked a bit terrified that his answer would be yes.
"No, in death there is peace, and he deserves to suffer," he answered bitterly. "I'm sorry Cassie I'm scaring you" he said softly.
"No, it's okay. I totally understand how you feel. I would love more than anything to see Avril's killers suffer. They might have already gotten killed, they might have gotten arrested, but I don't have peace knowing that I couldn't be there to watch them suffer. I would love to throw a party on their graves one day, but I can't, cause I don't know who the hell they are," she said frustratedly.
"Should I be scared of you?" Brady teased.
"Yes, yes you should," she answered in a deathly tone as she took a very quick right turn that made Brady move hardly in his seat. He looked so terrified as she burst out in laughter.
" Cassie you scared me, I thought you were about to get me killed" he said as he placed his right hand on his chest dramatically. She continued laughing like a crazy person but still trying to hold on tight the wheels and watch where she was going.
"I've-I-I've ne-never seen you so scared before," she said between laughs.
"You're evil," he said as he folded his hands under his chest.
"And you're an overgrown baby" she said as she stuck her tongue out at him "I was just trying to lighten up your mood. It's depressing seeing you look so sad. I'm sure your sister will be just fine" she reassured again.
"Thank you Cassie," He said with a forced smile.
Cassie finally pulled up at Freetown hospital, and they got out of Brady's car and walked in. They went to the reception and Cassie noticed that it was the same lady from the day that Matt was taken in. The woman was still chewing a piece of gum as if it was her life's mission to suck out all the flavour from it. She looked up when she felt Brady and Cassie's presence behind her desk. She quickly recognized Cassie and she immediately gave her a smile which Cassie returned.
"I see you're back to visit your friend," she said with a smile.
"Yes, I'll check up on him today but I'm actually here to see a Tamara Bauer." She told the woman.
"Oh I heard about her," the nurse looked to her left and right and leaned in "she's one of the victims of that psycho in town," she whispered.
"How's she doing?" Brady asked impatiently.
"I don't have that information, you'll have to see a doctor to know that."
"What doctor was issued to her?" Cassie asked.
The woman checked the computer before replying "Doctor McGrath" she replied as her eyes caught something behind her "oh you're lucky he's right there" she said pointing behind them, to a red headed man who looked to be in his early forties. "That's doctor McGrath"
"Thanks," Brady said, before walking over to the doctor.
"Thank you". Cassie said to the receptionist as she followed Brady to talk to the doctor.
"Doctor McGrath?" Brady asked. The doctor was holding a clipboard and was writing something down. He rose his head up as he heard his name being called by Brady. He had freckles on his cheeks and a very round nose, he had green eyes and very light eyebrows.
"Detective," the doctor said "what can I do for you?"
"Hi, I'm sorry to come up to you like this but it's urgent" Brady said breathlessly "I'm Brady Bauer, Tamara Bauer's older brother"
"Ah, I was wondering when her family members will come in" he replied, relieved that one of her family members had finally showed up.
"I'm terribly sorry" Brady apologized "I recently found out, and I'm her only family."
"Oh I see. Anyways would you mind following me to my office so that I can elaborate on her condition"
"Of course not, let's go"
"Would you be joining us miss?" The doctor asked Cassie.
"Oh I'm sorry, I'm Cassie" she said "I would if Brady doesn't mind"
"I don't" Brady replied.
"Very well then, let's go " Doctor McGrath said as he led them into his office.
The doctor had a very beautiful and extremely tidy office. His office was complete white. Cassie felt like if she touched anything she would stain it. The only colour in his office came from a beautiful flower decoration on his table, placed in a very stylish green vase. Like Brady, he had his chair behind his desk, and two chairs in front for patients or relatives to seat in.
"So how's my sister doing?" Brady asked the doctor after taking a seat. Cassie followed suit and took the other seat, beside him.
"She's in pretty bad shape Mr. Bauer, " he said "She has defense wounds on her arms, which means she put up a good fight, she kept herself alive during the attack, and with that same fighting spirit, it is my hope that she will pull herself out of the state she's in," he said.
"Is she for sure going to make it?" Cassie asked.
"It's way too early to say, the knife hit vital organs and she lost a lot of blood, but I'll do everything I can for her."
"Is it possible for me to see her?" Brady asked.
"Of course. Follow me" the doctor said as he got up from his seat, Cassie and Brady did the same as they followed him to Tamara's room. Her room was an exact replica of Matts room. In fact, it was two doors away from his room. Tamara looked lifeless on the bed. Her beautiful face was covered by an oxygen mask and stitches. A drip was connected to her right hand, she looked so pale. Brady walked slowly to her seat and knelt down in front of her in silence, he took her tiny fragile hand in his and placed a kiss on it.
"You'll be alright Tamara, I'm sorry this happened," he whispered into her ears as he got up.
"Doctor McGrath I assume the rose from her hair was handed to the police already, it could help with the investigation," Brady said
"What rose? "The doctor asked looking confused.
"There should have been a rose placed in her hair" Cassie shot In.
"No, no rose. The only things that were on her were her clothes of course, her phone and a purse. There was no rose," the doctor said confidently. That's when it hit Cassie, for Caleb to be in possession of a rose, the victim cannot have one in her hair. Tamara probably fought so hard that he didn't have time to put the rose in her hair. Either that, or he placed the rose in her hair, it fell off, and he quickly ran away with it. Things were not looking good for Caleb at this point.
"I need some fresh air," Cassie excused herself feeling a bit dizzy. When she got out, she was surprised to meet her friends outside. They were all standing outside Matts room. The strange part was that they were all in tears. Her heart started racing, she hoped nothing had happened to Matt. She shuffled her feet to where they were all standing. "Where Matty?" She questioned. No one answered, they were all too busy crying. Her heart started beating faster than ever. "I said where the hell is Matty?" She asked raising her voice a bit.
Danny looked at her sadly before replying, "he's dead" As soon as he uttered those words her heart dropped, she felt so light headed, it felt like everything around her was spinning.
"Stop lying to me" she yelled "he can't be" she said as tears started rushing out of her eyes "Matty can't be dead, I was here last week, I saw him," she said as the tears rushed out more violently.
"He's gone Cassie, he's gone" Danny said. She looked at all her friends, Phoebe was crying violently, Jesse looked as if his heart had been ripped out, he didn't cry, he couldn't cry, he was in shock, in denial. Danny had tears flowing out of his eyes and Tucker tried so hard to be a man, he tried to hold it in, but the more he tried the more e tears escaped. And Tyler, she took a good look at Tyler, he was standing behind them and didn't seem to notice her presence. She found it strange that he wasn't crying, he didn't look like he was in shock. He looked guilty.
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Hello guys, thank you for reading yet another chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Please vote and leave comments. Thanks 😘