Camila's POV
I am in the midst of a dream where Lauren, Dinah, Sofi and I are at the beach. I am sitting back watching Sofi tackle a protesting Lauren into an oncoming wave, when all of the sudden a man and woman begin screaming at one another down the shoreline. The voices are incredibly loud, considering how far down the beach they are, but Lauren, Sofi, and Dinah don't seem to notice the heated argument at all.
"THIS IS BECAUSE OF YOU!" I wake with a start and realize reality had been encroaching on my dream, and there really is a man screaming, just down the hall. I turn on the backlight of my phone to see the time - 3:27AM.
"That's right, Troy this is MY fault. It always is. Everything bad that has ever happened to you has ALWAYS come back to bite ME in the ass."
"I NEVER EVEN GOT THE CHANCE," Troy starts.
"WHAT Troy? What exactly did you never get the chance to do?!"
"TO GET OUT! I NEVER GOT THE CHANCE, ALLY! AND IT'S YOUR FAULT!
The arguing continues and I can hear Ally crying from where I am - down a hallway and through a closed door - and I can still hear it. I have no idea what I am supposed to do. I don't even know if he is aware I live here and that I am down the hallway. I have gotten to know Ally very well these last two months, but I can't help but feel like this isn't exactly my place.
I pick up my phone and call the first person I can think of.
"Hello?" A raspy, sleep ridden voice greets me.
"H-hi, Lauren? I'm really sorry if I... if I woke you," I say, now realizing how stupid I am for calling her at 3:30 in the morning.
"Wait, who is this?" Lauren says with the second half of her question trailing off, as I assume she went to look at her phone screen, "wait, Camila?" She suddenly sounds really alert.
"Oh, yeah I-I'm really sorry I shouldn't have called you this late... or early... nevermind, sorry I called you go back to sleep. I'm really sorry to bother you." I pull the phone away from my ear and hear something faint being yelled from the receiver.
"CAMILA, WAIT!!"
"I really didn't realize what time it was, I just didn't know who else to call," I say. Down the hall I hear the front door slam and it has gotten quiet. I hear Ally walk into her bedroom and shut the door.
"Camila what's wrong, are you okay?!"
"Yeah, I'm okay," I start, unsure of how much I can disclose of Ally's business. "It's just that Troy showed up again and there was a lot of screaming going on and some crying and I didn't know what to do."
"I am going to assume 'Troy' is Ally's ex-husband?"
"Yeah and I have heard them fight before but never like that," I explain.
"He left though? Where is Ally?" She asks, "Are you somewhere safe?"
The front door slams open and I can hear heavy footsteps enter the house and walk past my bedroom.
"Yeah, I'm in my bedroom right now. But, I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about Ally. I swear I heard him leave a minute ago, but he's back."
Just as I finish that thought there is a loud banging on a door down the hall accompanied by a booming voice, "OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR OR I WILL BREAK IT DOWN, ALLYSON."
"Is he violent? How much do you know about the situation between them?" she asks. I can hear the urgency in her voice.
"Ally has never told me if he's laid a hand on her. I really don't know to be honest. All I know is that they were married right out of high school - Dinah even knows him - and they got divorced early last year. He's come around the house to see her quite a few times since I moved in. Each time he yells and she cries, but I've never heard her fight back... until tonight." I hear a few more loud bangs on Ally's door before it opens and the screaming continues.
"Do you think her life could be in danger? Should we call the station? I can have someone down there in 5 minutes."
"Lauren, this is bad. Ally is hysterical. I don't know what to fucki-" I hear a crack quickly followed by shattered glass, "Laur, I gotta go..something just broke," I whisper before hanging up as Lauren screams my name through the receiver. I spring off of my bed, without a second thought swinging my door open to see Troy with a bat in his hand, shattered picture frames all around his feet.
"Who the fuck is this, and why the fuck is she in my house?!" He spits at Ally pointing the bat in my direction.
"Mila, go back in your room, everything is fine," Ally says, never taking her eyes off of Troy.
"All it takes is a quick phone call, Ally. I can have the police down here in a few minutes. Lauren already knows where I'm staying," I reply, willing Ally to look at me.
"Fuck this," Troy says, "Allyson, this isn't over."
With that, Troy leaves slamming the front door so hard the walls shake. Ally immediately drops to her knees, loud sobs cutting the air. I run into my room and grab my slippers before venturing into the hall where broken glass litters the floor.
"Hey, Al," I say, taking a knee next to her and stroking the top of her head. Ally immediately turns and wraps her arms around my waist, clinging to me for dear life as her sobs continue echoing off the walls.
I can see my phone screen lighting up on the floor next to me and realize Lauren has probably been calling me back for the last few minutes after the way I left the call.
I don't know how much longer Ally and I stayed like that, but once her breathing evened out I helped her to stand up and brought her over to her bed. She crawled in, sniffling lightly, and I sat on the edge of the bed holding her hand and rubbing small circles into her back until she was asleep.
I grab my phone off of the floor where I left it and I was right in assuming Lauren tried me back. I have 7 missed calls and new text messages. I decide to let her get some sleep for the night but send her a quick text to ease her worry:
To Lauren Jauregui: He's gone, we are safe, Ally is in bed now. Thank you for talking me through that... I'm still sorry I woke you up but try and get some sleep now. Thanks again, Lauren. - Camila
I pass by my room tossing my phone onto my bed as I head to the kitchen for the broom, dust pan, and a brown paper bag. I notice a hole in the wall behind the front door where the knob rammed forcefully when he stormed back in.
I spend the next half hour cleaning the glass off the hallway floor, escaping with nothing more than a couple shallow cuts on my hands. I'm back in my room scared to see the time but I need to know if it's worth trying to sleep or not. I turn on the backlight to see I have two new text messages both from Lauren - the first from about 45 minutes ago, and the second from about 10 minutes ago. Why is she still awake?
Lauren Jauregui: Are you sure you are safe? My apartment isn't much, but if you and Ally need somewhere safe you are always welcome here.
Lauren Jauregui: Camila? You're going to have me worrying until I get some sort of reassurance that you're OK.
Fuck, I can't believe I called her and ruined her night too.
To Lauren Jauregui: Please go to sleep, I feel awful that you're still up because of me. He is gone, we are safe. I'm going to ask you keep that offer open though for a later date. If he ever shows up again I'm getting Ally out of here. Thank you for everything, Lauren. Goodnight.
Lauren Jauregui: Alright, the door is always open. You get some sleep now too... Goodnight, Camila.
---
I swear I just closed my eyes, and my alarm is going off. Noooo I hate being an adult. I pout to myself as I lay there thinking about the events of last night that resulted in only five minutes of real sleep.
I am standing under the scalding stream of the shower thinking about what it meant that Lauren was the first person I thought to call. We didn't get along just a few short days ago, and now she is the one I call when I'm stressed? And what the hell am I supposed to do with Ally? She seems reluctant to take any measures other than changing her locks, and look how well that worked.
I get out of the shower and get dressed quickly, knowing Ally has to drop me off before she goes to work, teaching children with disabilities at a local school. How the hell did Ally, one of the most selfless people I have ever met, end up with a piece of shit like Troy? What exactly was Troy blaming her for?
Ally drives me to the station and it's clear she isn't ready to talk just yet, and I am not one to push, so we drive in relative silence. She does, however, reach for my hand and give me a light squeeze which I understand to be a 'thanks' for last night as we approach the station.
"Call me if you need anything, Al," I say, getting out of the car and heading into the station.
---
I arrive to my desk to see Lauren looking at me, concern etched all over her face.
"Camila, hey... you look like you didn't get any sleep," she says.
"That would be an accurate portrayal of my night last night. You don't look very rested either," I say, looking down apologetically because I know it was my own fault.
"Well it wasn't your fault, so wipe that frown off your pretty little face," she says and her eyes widen a little with the realization of what she just said. "Anyway, how is Ally?" she says while she frantically starts shifting things around her desk. I feel a smile fighting to appear on my face.
"Well after we hung up I went into the hallway and I think Troy got spooked by me because he left about 30 seconds after. Ally was a mess last night, and in no condition to speak about what happened. She held onto me like I was the only thing keeping her grounded before I got her into bed and waited until she was asleep."
"Wow, remind me to call you if I ever have a bad day," she says with a chuckle. "In all seriousness, though, she is lucky to have you staying with her while this is going on, but I still think we need to do something. If he showed up and was breaking things -"
"With a bat," I interject. "Remember when I told you he left? Well he came back... with a bat."
"Holy shit, Camila. I don't care what Ally says, what the hell are we going to do?"
"I asked her about it after the second time he showed up drunk and she refused. She said she is still in love with him, and that she knows he still feels the same," I inform her, "she wouldn't take any of my suggestions. Plus, he's a co-owner on the house, so legally he can show up whenever he wants."
"We can't force her to do something, even if it's for her benefit, I guess she needs to come to the realization herself - and hopefully quickly because she might be in real danger," Lauren says, empathetically.
"Yeah," I sigh. "I feel so helpless."
"Can we at least change her locks again? We can have them install dead bolts. And, I'll start driving by there at night, just to make sure you are both safe."
"You really don't have to do that," I say, "I should be taking care of her, she's my roommate. And I'm a detective... I should have all of this on lockdown."
"Yeah, and I don't doubt that you could handle it, but for my very own peace of mind, you may or may not see me on occasion. And, plus, I don't mind at all, really."
"Thank you." I try feeling bitter about the notion that she may think I'm incapable of taking care of Ally, but instead, I'm overwhelmed with a feeling of safety.
"By the way," Lauren says, briefly touching my arm. "We should really take Ally out - maybe a dinner or something with Dinah and Normani. I think that'll really cheer her up after the mess of last night. What do you think?"
"That sounds like a great idea - we have a lot to work on today though, with Mary coming in. How about tomorrow?"
"I think I can swing that. I'll tell Dinah and Normani today when I see them. Will you mention it to Ally? I mean, if she's up to it."
"Of course I will. I'll text her during lunch." I start making my way toward my desk.
"Oh, by the way, I also have a few things we need to discuss before Mary comes in today."
Lauren points to a list of questions on her desk and a folder. She presents me with the papers; I start scanning over the list and checking them off in my head with the one's I have on mine. I realize that she's very thorough in her work and quite possibly one of the better detectives I've ever worked with.
"So, we need to ask her about their house in Florida. We need to also check with her what time John's flight was on the day of the murder. We should ask about whether or not John had ever said that his daughter was 'wasted talent'."
"Yes, I agree, and also we need to ask if Gabriella had any boyfriends..."
"Or girlfriends," Lauren says. I squint my eyes at her response. "What? I'm just crossing my t's and dotting my i's."
"That'd be an interesting twist, but yes, you're right - girlfriends too. And also any girl...friends that could possibly have been jealous of her."
I start to think a little to deeply into our conversation when I overhear some loud footsteps and humming down the hall.
"Hola, my beetches," Dinah grins widely, approaching our desks.
"You do realize that that is not bitches in Spanish, right?" Lauren says.
"Are you sure? It sounded right... whatever," Dinah says with a wave of her hand. "Anyway, what's up ladies, and WHOA Camila, what the fuck happened to you?"
Before I am able to formulate any sort of response Lauren looks over my shoulder and mutters, "What the hell is a narc officer doing in the detective unit?" I turn around and see a young male officer I had met one of my first few days here approaching the three of us.
"Oh, that's Jacob - Officer Whitesides. He was actually one of my first friends when I got here," I reply.
"Hey Jake! What're you doing over here?" I ask with a smile.
"Hi, Camila," he says with a shy grin before looking past me and greeting the other two women, "Detective Jauregui, Officer...Hansen?"
"Yeah, that's me," Dinah flips her hair dramatically with her hand. "Anyway, I was just about to head out for my patrol shift... bye bitches... and Jacob." As Dinah starts walking away I see her cock a questioning eyebrow at Lauren who simply shrugs in response.
"So Camila, I'm heading to a scene in a couple of minutes, but I just wanted to know whether or not you'd be interested in grabbing a drink when you finish up for the night," Jacob asks.
"Oh, yeah of course! I'm not sure what time I'll be done tonight, though."
"Well you have my number, so just text me and I'll swing back here to pick you up," he says, as a full smile breaks on his face.
"Oh, duh! Thanks, Jake... I'll text you later. Good luck on your drug bust." Jacob smiles as he starts backing away and bumps into a table and I hear Lauren hide a laugh with a cough behind me.
Jacob's face turns pink. "Watch out for the table, it really sneaks up on you," I smile at how flustered it seems Lauren's laughter has made him and wonder if she's having the same effect on him as she does on everyone else. With that, Jacob turns and heads out of the unit.
"So how the hell do you know Baby Face?"
"Baby Face?"
"Yeah that's what Mani, Dinah and I refer to him as because we never knew his name... he's fresh out of college, I think."
"He does have a baby face, I guess, I never really thought of that."
"You're a regular old cradle robber, huh?"
"What does that mean?"
"Well, you're going on a date with one of the youngest officers here," Lauren says with a snarky tone, "...robbing the cradle."
"Who ever said that it's a date?" I question.
"Who ever said that it's not?" Lauren shoots back quickly.
"It's definitely not a date. Why does everyone think a man and a woman can't just be friends?"
"I never said they can't..." Lauren adds, "but he was nervous enough to back into the table." Lauren points behind me, "Mind you, he didn't even fix it."
"Last I checked, clumsiness wasn't a crime... Jacob was actually the first person to really give me the time of day here. I was eating lunch alone in the break room-" Shortly after watching one of your conquests divulge every detail of her night with you. "on my second day here, and Jake came and sat with me," I say.
"I wouldn't exactly say the first person, because if I recall correctly, I had attempted conversation with you, you just had some weird thing against me," she says, matter of factly.
"Well, that was then. Get over it," I say, smiling before opening the case files. "Anyway, get to work, Jauregui." Lauren lets her mouth hang open and eyebrows furrow in feigned offense, but she opens her files, and we continue in silence.
--
Three hours later, Lauren and I wait in the interrogation room for Mary Burke. I have all of my papers scattered around me, waiting to ask her the questions that we've been discussing. Lauren sits with a pen in her mouth and a blank notebook in front of her.
Officer Thompson calls from the doorway, "Detectives, Mary Burke is here for you. Can I send her in?"
"Yes, please do. Thank you Officer Thompson," Lauren says.
Mary Burke enters the room, unsure of where to sit. She politely smiles in our direction, smooths her shirt and pants, and takes a seat opposite of us. I could tell by the look in her eyes that she is apprehensive to be speaking with us again, and it makes me wonder what John has already told her.
"Mary, thank you for meeting with us today," I say.
"Of course," Mary sighs.
"So, tell us a little bit about Gabriella, if you don't mind," I ask. "Any interests, hobbies, what her personality was like. Anything you can think of."
"Well..." Mary pauses to collect her thoughts. "Gabby was our youngest child. She was a free spirit, but it was something that everyone loved about her. She could be in a crowded room, and everyone would notice her." Mary starts to tear up. "Gabby loved her job at the coffee shop. She had a lot of friends there, and they were really good kids."
"Do you think any of them could have been jealous of Gabriella?" I ask, wondering how a girl who was so well-liked could have ended up like this.
"Not that I know of - she had a group of girlfriends that she had been close with since middle school. I can tell you that I know each of them and their parents personally and I would be shocked to hear any of them envied her in any way."
We didn't think that Gabriella had any jealous friends. In fact, we both agreed that it was most likely a man who did this - and one who did this for a bigger reason than being envious of her.
"Did she have a boyfriend?" Lauren asks, while glancing back at me.
"She did, Matthew - really sweet guy."
"What was their relationship like?" I start to probe.
"They seemed very in love. They met about a year ago while working at The Bean. They both started working there around the same time and became close very quickly. He was always over the house, but never intrusive, just a nice person."
"What did John think of Matthew?"
"You know, I'm not exactly sure they ever met. John travels a lot for work."
I could tell that there was something she was not telling us, which is why I had to ask the next question.
"Did he know that Gabriella had a boyfriend?"
Mary pauses for a moment to collect her thoughts before speaking. Her voice is almost too soft when she does speak, leading us to believe she is remorseful about the topic. "I knew that he wouldn't understand... I just couldn't bring myself to tell him. He didn't want Gabby to end up like one of those single mothers; he had really high expectations of her. I just didn't want him to be disappointed in her."
Lauren is furiously taking notes now, and I'm just watching her bring her pen from her mouth and to the paper multiple times and scrunching her face when she writes something.
"Matthew was good for her. He actually had her thinking about going back to school, oddly enough to become a veterinarian. She had always loved animals; she would have been very good at that."
I found this interesting considering John's strong wording about how unmotivated he made Gabriella out to be.
"Did she ever share those ambitions with your husband?" Lauren asks.
"She tried to once or twice, but he told her if we were going to help her pay for a doctorate that it would not be just for her to work with animals. They never really saw eye-to-eye when it came to career choices."
"When we spoke with John at the scene he mentioned Gabriella was very musically gifted?" At this, Mary has a smile of pride that is laced with something else - guilt?
"Oh. Yes, she was very gifted. Classically trained. She loved it when she was young. We would hear the likes of Chopin and Beethoven from the moment she got back from school until we had to pry her away to finish her school work," Mary is now staring unfocused at the air.
"He mentioned that she stopped playing, as well... do you happen to know why that was?" Now the look of guilt is evident all over her features.
"Well, John has always been a very driven man. He knows his strengths and plays them really hard," she begins, "he also knows how to bring the best out of other people's strengths, but Gabby didn't appreciate it."
"He entered her in many competitions, and set strict practice schedules for her leading up to them, and somewhere along the way she lost the passion she once had. I noticed that she started keeping her eyes open as she played, when she used to close them and immerse herself. That shifted into playing the latest radio hits, which shifted into some of those beginner tunes, that I think she did, just to spite him. Eventually, she just stopped altogether." Mary glances down to her hands that are now wringing together on her lap as a tear escapes her glassy eyes.
"Thank you for sharing that with us, Mary, I know this has not been easy for you and your family," Lauren says, with genuine concern.
"Mary, we are going to ask you a few more questions about you, John, and your other two children now if you don't mind. We'd like to paint a full picture for ourselves to help us find who did this to Gabriella as soon as possible. If you would like, we can give you a minute to collect yourself?"
Mary simply nods, pulling a tissue out of her purse and Lauren and I stand up and move outside of the door, allowing her space.
The door closes behind us.
"So, what are your thoughts?" I say, anxious to hear Lauren's take on the relationship between John and Gabriella.
"It sounds like their relationship was far more strained than anyone has fully disclosed. How can you not know your daughter is dating someone, who is a frequent visitor for about a year, and not have the slightest clue?"
"Well looks like Matthew is next on our list of interviews."
We continue to talk about the John and Gabriella dynamic for another few minutes until we can see through the one way mirror that Mary has calmed.
"Hey, Mary - if you're ready we can get started and get you out of here," Lauren says putting a hand on Mary's shoulder and she nods in response.
We take our respective seats and I open my folder, "Alright, Mary. What does John do for a living?"
"He works for a chemical company - he is a sales manager."
"How many weeks out of the year, if you had to guess, does he travel?" I ask.
"Well... he used to not travel this much, but the last three or so years I would say it's somewhere around 30 weeks a year?" Mary looks utterly disheartened in sharing this news.
"Oh wow, that is a lot of time spent away. Has that strained your marriage at all?" Lauren questions.
"It isn't easy, but I wouldn't exactly call it a strain. I always had Gabby at home with me, so it was never an issue of loneliness," I can see her brave face beginning to slip again and I know we've got to move this along.
"Have you and John taken any vacations together?"
"He doesn't really take time off anymore like he used to. Once he became a manager he doesn't like to miss what is going on, and even if he does, he is attached to his phone - which to me doesn't count as time off." As Mary finishes I get a flashback to the crime scene when John first arrived. I remember seeing his phone attached to his belt, and his hand never leaving the object on his side for more than a minute or so. What a weird time to be preoccupied with a cell phone.
"Can you remember the last time you and he went away together?" Lauren continues, shaking me from my flashback.
"I think it was maybe two or three years ago... it was just shortly after Gabby moved back home with us, John wanted to get out for a week so we went down to his parents old house in Florida."
"Oh that sounds like a nice break," I begin, "I am actually from Miami, Florida. It is beautiful down there," I say, prompting her to give a location.
"Oh yes Miami is gorgeous, we aren't too far from there either, the house is in Fort Lauderdale."
Lauren looks at me like, let's carry on.
"So, the day that Gabriella was found, when did your husband's flight take off?"
"I believe it took off from Philadelphia around 3 AM. I couldn't reach him until he landed at JFK. He usually took flights home around that time, though, because he could easily go back to work after he landed.
"His usual flights were at 3AM? That's unusually early. There has got to be a bunch of flights later or earlier that he could have taken," I say, finding this a bit peculiar. She still has no idea he was home the night before.
"I'm sure he could have, but he was very stubborn about timing and liked to be punctual. He landed at around 6AM, he would have had an hour to come home, get dressed, and head back to work. Until what happened with Gabby..."
Mary starts to break down now and we realize that we have to wrap it up before she decides to be resistant to further questions we may have down the line.
"Thank you for all of this Mary. And, we truly are sorry for what happened. We're trying really hard to catch this guy. Thank you for being so cooperative." Lauren gives a gracious smile.
And with that, Mary exits the interrogation room and the station. We watch her as she makes her way to her car, waiting to see if she will call her husband, but she doesn't. All she does is cry.
--
I am feeling good about what we accomplished today, and we now have an interview with Matthew Davis, Gabriella's boyfriend, in two days' time.
Lauren and I decide to call it an earlier night than our usual, and wrap up around 7:00PM. I shoot Jacob a quick text as Lauren and I discuss plans for tomorrow's dinner.
We are in the parking lot and Jacob is already waiting, car parked against the curb at the end of the walkway. He is leaning against the passenger side door, looking at his phone before he hears us approaching. He looks up with a goofy smile. Fuck, I hope Lauren wasn't right about this.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Detective, and we can go over the rest of the plans for dinner with the girls," I tell her before turning toward Jacob. "Hey Jake," I greet. As he opens the passenger side door, Lauren passes his car while making her way toward hers a couple spots away.
"Aw, look at that!! Chivalry ain't dead, after all!" Lauren rolls her eyes and Jacob doesn't seem to notice. I swear as I am about to lower myself into the car I hear Lauren mutter, "fucking loser," under her breath before unlocking her own car door. What the hell is her problem?
--
Jacob pulls up to Ally's a few hours later. Jacob is super easy to get along with, and the conversation came really easy. It was nice to feel like I actually had options of friends to surround myself with which was making my stay here better with each passing day.
"I had a great time tonight, Camila," he says, lowering the volume of the stereo.
"Yeah, me too... Thank you for being my first real friend here, Jake - having friends makes home-sickness much more bearable," I reply.
"I know, I'm awesome," he jokes, running his hand through his hair. "And for that, you're welcome."
"Yeah, you're alright, I guess." My hand reaches for the car door.
"Wait, Camila, I have a question." I turn to face him, without relinquishing my hold on the door handle.
He then reaches over to kiss me, his face coming inches from mine and I can feel his breath on my lips. In that moment, I turn my face away, just as he lands a kiss on my cheek.
"You're a really great friend...Jake."
And with that, I exit the car and make my way up the steps to my apartment.