NOTE: We're reaching the finish line now, so things will start to get more heavy and complicated. The Brazilian version isn't over yet, but it's really close.
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POV Robert Simpson
*Two weeks later*
It had been fifteen minutes since I was waiting for Britt outside the restaurant. The heat in Miami was unbearable, so I decided to take off my jacket. The beads of sweat that trickled down the sides of my face bothered me more than normal.
"Why the hell is it so hot?" I thought out loud, loosening my gray-striped tie.
"Missed me?" Asked Britt's sweet voice in my ear. I rolled my eyes and watched the woman circle me to position herself in front of me.
"Do I look like I missed you?" I asked ironically.
"No, you look like a football player after practice." She said laughing.
"I don't know why you're in such a good mood, when in fact your ass is on the line." I said, and walked towards my car across the street.
"Our ass is on the line. Ours, right?" I heard Britt ask as she followed me in hurried steps.
I got into my car and turned on the air conditioning immediately. Britt got in as well and repeated the question. She was scared, just like I was, however, I couldn't show weakness, or my ass will definitely be on the line.
"Listen here, Britt." I leaned closer to her, and could feel her breathing getting heavy. I held her pale, delicate face with certain roughness, and the woman's eyes widened, I could swear she'd cry at any moment. "Don't be a dumb woman, okay? The cops are already on your tail, just like they are on mine." I squeezed her face harder, and Britt brought both of her hands to mine, but didn't do anything. "But the difference between us is gigantic, because I don't leave traces, you stupid bitch. They will come for you and ask for my head in exchange of a reduced sentence, but I'll give you a single alternative." My breath was now blowing hard against her face, my chest rose and fell at a violent frequency. "You will not rat me out and I'll use all the dirty money we've earned together to get you out of this trouble, because sweetheart, money is what rules in this Astral Plane. Otherwise, if you rat me out..." I inched closer to Britt, our foreheads were touching now. "If you rat me out, I'll have you killed wherever you are."
I released the woman, who promptly touched her chin, groaning in pain. Britt had been an excellent partner, but the end of our partnership had come, I needed to be imposing, otherwise I would be more than screwed.
"We have a deal, Rob." She began. "Walter could be a coward, but I'm not, you know I'm not a rat, never have been."
"I hope so, Britt, for your own good." I said, putting on the seatbelt. "Now get out of my car."
"We need to talk about the breach on the website."
"I already know how that happened. To tell you the truth, I was even expecting it, and I know very well how to handle it. Now get out of the car." I said sharply.
"You're going to keep it running?"
"Yes, I want to know how far this is going."
"You like to take risks too much, Robert." She said, letting out a chuckle.
"I already said everything I had to say to you, Britt, I don't have time to chitchat anymore."
"I'm going, asshole!" The woman opened the door and got out, to then slam the door shut, rising an abnormal irritation in me.
I'm too smart a man to be caught because of such a stupid thing, I'll find a way to make everything go away. There was a lot of work to be done, but I'd do it gladly.
POV Camila Cabello
"Lauren." I said as soon as the call was answered.
"Camila..."
"We need to meet." I said, twirling the pencil that was on my desk.
"I know. When and where?" Her answer had been so direct that I was feeling a little scared by the hurry she had to see me.
I needed to see Lauren, but I was afraid of what she could do to me, I didn't know her, I thought I knew her and look what happened: A serial killer.
"Look, I promised to take Ramon out for a drive, what do you think of us going to that park that has that Mexican food stand and tables?"
"You want a romantic picnic with me and Ramon? Like a happy family?" She mocked ironically.
"No, I want to be in a public place with you, and with a kid as a witness, but take it as you will."
"Are you afraid of me?" Her voice sounded sad, and a lump formed in my throat.
"2PM, today." I said lastly and hung up the phone.
I wasn't afraid of Lauren, was I? I wasn't sure of anything anymore, for these last two weeks I've been trying to find a way to fix everything, but there was nothing, nothing seemed coherent. Lauren had done a lot of bad things, but why couldn't I sentence her? Had my feelings for her blocked me that much from reality?
But that didn't matter now, I still had Rob's case to solve, and that seemed to be a bigger challenge than to sentence Lauren. I felt indeed that Rob was a bad guy, he did bad things to good people, while Lauren did bad things to bad people, there was a huge difference between them, wasn't there? I shook my head to push away all those comparative thoughts. Could things be any more fucked up? My ex-girlfriend was a serial killer, and my ex-fiancé was an enticer of minors. My love life couldn't be more disastrous. Life was such a bad joke.
I grabbed my cell phone again and dialed the number I had from Mrs. Maria. It didn't even ring twice before I heard the old lady's dragged voice.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Mrs. Maria. Here's Deputy Camila Cabello, and-" I was going to complete the sentence when I was interrupted by her.
"I knew that Ramon was bad news, but the cops?" She said seriously, and I fell silent, how could she be talking like that about a child? "It was a joke, sweetie." She said laughing, and after I got out of that trance, I started laughing too. "I know who you are, you're Lauren's girl, right?"
I felt my stomach ache with that sentence. Lauren's girl? God, no, I wasn't Lauren's girl.
"No, ma'am, I'm not Lauren's girl, but that's beside the point, I'm calling you to ask for your permission to go out with Ramon today." I finally said the reason why I was calling.
"Only with you?" She asked.
"No, ma'am, with Lau-" I was going to say the rest of the name when I heard a laugh on the other side of the line. I was feeling like an idiot, and it wasn't for less. She said I was Lauren's girlfriend and I denied it, to then say I wanted to go out with her grandson and Lauren, like playing house. Why was life being so cruel to me? Even in the smallest details?
"It's okay, you don't need to be nervous, I'm sure Ramon will be very excited, just tell me where you're going and at what time I should have him ready." She said, making it easier for me to avoid the other subject.
"Thank you, ma'am, I miss that little pest very much." I said laughing. "Well, we're going to a park today at 2 PM, is that alright with you?"
"Yes, just please be careful and make sure the boy doesn't eat too much sugar."
I laughed for a few instants, remembering the day he tricked Lauren into giving him money so he could eat popcorn.
"Ugh, Camila, please explain to this kid that he can't eat too much sugar." She came towards me yelling, and Ramon was right behind her, huffing.
"But I want more popcorn!!!"
"Camilaaaa!?!?!?" Lauren was squirming, and I laughed at them both.
"Ramon, your grandmother asked Lauren to not give you too much sugar, she said you get restless."
"And God forbid this kid turning any more restless." Lauren huffed as she sat down.
"Alright then, give me the money and I'll buy salt popcorn instead." The little boy held out his little hand towards Lauren, who laughed and handed him some money. The boy ran off, almost stumbling over his clumsy legs.
"I don't want to have children." Lauren said seriously.
"You don't?" I asked laughing. The brunette made a long pause, and then answered:
"Never."
"Alright then, baby." The silence of a few seconds between us was comfortable, whenever we were together it was as if nothing needed to be said.
"That little motherfucker!" She said, drawing my attention, making me turn to see Ramon running past us with a huge bag of sweet popcorn. "I'm going to kill you, kid!" The brunette shouted at that the little who was laughing, running towards his little friends, and I laughed at the fact that a kid could easily trick Lauren Jauregui.
"Calm down, Lauren, it was obvious that he was going to do that."
"You knew?"
"Of course." I said and Lauren huffed, shifting and laying on my lap, snaking her hand inside my blouse, stroking my belly. I felt a shiver run through my whole body with the brunette's daring touch. "He's a kid and he thinks he's smarter than us, and he is."
Did that Lauren really exist? Or was it another projection of my brain?
"Sweetie?" The old lady called, pulling me out of my reveries.
"Hey, sorry, we'll pick up Ramon at two o'clock, thank you for the vote of confidence once again, ma'am, see you later."
"See you later." She said, giving me the permission to hung up the phone. I put it on the desk and let my thoughts wander to that afternoon again.
The sound of the cool breeze as it blew against the leaves of the trees, Lauren's caresses under my blouse, all of it was making me relax, and I allowed myself to close my eyes for a few instants until I was interrupted.
"I think it looks sexy." She said almost like a whisper.
"And I thought you didn't want to talk about it." Lauren was circling her finger around my scar, where I had been shot.
"Camila, I didn't want to talk while we were having sex, I didn't know how you felt about it, if you felt insecure or if you had bad recollections." Lauren slightly lifted my blouse and tilted her head, kissing my scar, a tender kiss. "I think you look much better with it."
"Really? It doesn't look ugly?"
"Camila, it's your story, it's what you are, it's beautiful."
"My story is out there, exposed to you and to many, but I don't know yours, you hide it." I said and Lauren turned impatiently. "I'm sorry if I'm invading your 'space', Lauren, but if you wanted that much space, you should have thought twice before wanting to date me, because wanting to share things is part of it, you know?"
"Camila..." She began, getting up and sitting next to me. "I'm sorry, I know I was an idiot." She made a brief pause, to then proceed. "It's just that there are a lot of things in my story that-"
"That what, Lauren? I want to know with whom I'm getting involved with."
"Camila, my story is full of gaps."
Lauren has always been a mystery, but somehow, she opened up a bit to me, she trusted me. I saw her fragile so many times that I could swear she had some kind of split personality. It was inevitable for those thoughts not to cross my mind, I simply couldn't think about anything else, absolutely anything else, only about Lauren and all the clues she had given me, even if subtle, but she did.
"Lauren!" I raised my voice, making her look at me. "Are we dating?" I asked in a whisper now, and with curious eyes.
"Do you want to?" She asked, lifting my chin so I could look into her eyes.
"Do you want to?"
"Camila, I just know that I will not stand someone touching your body." She said, stroking my face. "I can't stand someone kissing you, because you are mine, Camila, you are mine even if you don't want to." She inched closer and sealed our lips quickly. "Every part of this damn body of yours is mine and... baby, if you don't agree with that, I'll have to kill you." I laughed and then shook my head.
"I would arrest you before that, Ms. Jauregui."
"You would?"
"Yes, I have a nose for criminals, or did you forget?"
"No, but I think I'm much smarter than you, Deputy Cabello."
"You think you're smart? How smart?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
"Enough for you to never find out that I killed all of your former shitty boyfriends." She said, and I opened my mouth in a perfect O, in surprise.
"Even Rob?"
"Oh no, I'll leave him for you to kill him yourself."
"This conversation is morbid, Lauren." I scolded her, to then put my arms around her neck.
"Rob..." I whispered. "Would she kill him?" I thought out loud to myself.
She killed Brow, that bastard, but he really deserved his tragic end. I shook my head, trying to forget that turbulent day in Haiti.
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Parked in front of Lauren's house, I was still reflecting whether this was right. Two weeks ago I had found her killing a man, and today here I was... I was going for a walk in the park with her and a kid. God, but why didn't I feel that that was so wrong like that? Not seen from another angle.
I heard the car door close, Lauren had gotten in, pulling me out of my parallel world, where I make wrong seem right. My inner conflict was stark.
"Camila..." The brunette whispered.
Her natural scent instantly permeated the inside of my car, and a nostalgia hovered over me, I could almost feel the sweet taste of her delicate lips.
"Hello, Lauren." I still didn't have the courage to face her, so I just started the car and drove to Ramon's house.
The whole drive to the boy's house was silent, Lauren just hummed along to the songs that played on the radio as she fiddled with her phone. And God, everything about her was too attractive. When we got to our destination, Lauren got out of the car to go get Ramon.
"Auntie Camila!" Ramon got into the car, holding out his little hand in greeting. "How are you?"
"I'm good, how about you, little guy?"
Lauren entered the car right after Ramon with a silly smile on her lips, and I still didn't have the courage to look into her eyes.
"I'm great!"
"That's good, are you ready to go?" I asked.
"I think we're all ready to go." Lauren said with a more husky voice than normal.
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After we ate in the Mexican food stand, Ramon went to play with some other kids in the park, while Lauren and I remained sitting at the table, facing each other. Twenty minutes had already passed and nothing was said, until she broke the silence.
"Are you still with Robert?"
"Yes."
"And how's that working out? You two going to get married?"
Was that for real? With everything we had to deal with, Lauren wanted to talk about my love life?
"That's none of your business and it's beside the point, Lauren." I said dryly.
"And what's the point?"
I bent down a little and removed my gun from my ankle holster, and put it on the table, to then grab my badge that was stuck inside my blouse to put it on the table as well.
"I want you to turn yourself in, Lauren."
"What? Seriously?" She asked, staring at the gun.
"What do you want me to do? Huh? The entire police force is looking for the Maniac Polaroid, and you want me to just forget it? That's just crazy."
"Camila, do you not believe me? Do you not believe my story? They were all bad men! What the fuck are you doing? Asking me to rot in jail because of men, who if still alive, would be doing harm to hundreds of people."
"You need help, this is not normal, this is not how you solve problems. In the name of our relationship, if it was ever real for you, if at some point you loved me, just stop it, do the right thing."
I finished saying and saw Lauren's eyes water at what I had said.
"You want to talk about love? Do you really? You left me, Camila, you left me to be with Rob, what kind of love is that? What weak love was that? After everything we lived together, how do you think I felt? Huh? Answer me!" Lauren practically shouted, letting her tears fall. Time or another someone would stare at us, but I couldn't care less.
"We're not here to talk about us, Lauren."
"Oh of course! We never do, we never talk about us." The brunette laughed humorlessly. "It's funny how you come here, put your gun on the table and ask me not to be a coward, when in fact, the coward was you, Camila, from the beginning, in your life, in your career, in our relationship, and with the Maniac Polaroid. The only coward here is you!"
"That's enough, Lauren, I'll give you just one more week, a single week, either you turn yourself in, or I'll turn you in." I put my gun and my badge back in their place quickly and got up. "I hope we're clear. And let's leave now, because I don't have anything else to discuss to you."
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"Do we really need to search this site again?" Halsey asked as she rang the doorbell of Troy's house again. It was already late at night.
"Of course we do, Walter is dead, we need to find a new approach, and if we access this site from a place that isn't safe, they may know we're after them." I said, hearing the door open, and coming across a tall blond man with a sleepy face.
"I'm sorry about the time, Troy, but Camila has no scruples and said we needed to check that website again, is that okay with you?" Halsey said, and I rolled my eyes.
"Sure, no problem, come in." The man stepped to the side, and we walked in.
After Troy made coffee for all of us, he sat across from me and grabbed his laptop, and started typing a sequence of codes.
"I honestly don't know why the hell you want to access this site right now." Halsey grumbled.
"I have a feeling, Halsey, and it's not a good one. I wouldn't be able to sleep if I didn't see that website today."
"It's okay, I mean, it's fine by me, I don't mind helping you." The man said, earning a grateful smile from me. "Here you go, what do you want to see?"
Troy got up from the chair so that I could sit in front of the computer, and so I did and looked at the computer screen. I searched the website thoroughly, few things had changed, but they had.
"Their partner dies and they continue the business? Does that make any sense?" Halsey asked as she looked at the screen, focused.
"Nope." I mumbled. I continued looking, and the prices had gone down, new kids were on the 'menu'. I felt disgusted the whole time. I turned the page, already furious with so much depravity, and came across the worst image I could ever see. "It's not possible... Oh my God..."
"What is it, Camila?" Halsey asked worriedly.
"BASTARD MOTHERFUCKER!" I got up from the chair, feeling my hands shake. A few tears rushed down my face, I couldn't breathe right.
"What happened, Camila? What did you see?" Halsey asked again, and I just pointed to the screen.
Halsey stared at the image and zoomed in.
"Is that who I think it is?" I didn't say anything, so the woman just looked at the child's identification. "That's-"
"Ramon Días." I whispered, bursting into tears.
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NOTE: I want Rob to die so fucking badly! I hate him so much! Fucking bastard! Sorry... This chapter just makes me so mad. The next update will only come on Tuesday or Wednesday.