"I've never been this angry." I grumbled when we were at a break for lunch. The jury was practically in stalemate. "I can't believe it's fifty-fifty."
"Well, I'm sure half of the jury is being paid." Harry should his head, taking a bite of his sandwich.
"Who would they be getting paid by if Barker is dead?" I asked. He chuckled lightly and I wanted to be annoyed, but I knew it wasn't that he was poking fun at me. It was probably actually sad to him that this was common knowledge in his world and not in the normal one.
"People like Roger Barker don't just die and disappear. His money doesn't get dispersed into society. People that are that kind of rich always have a chain of people under them. Even the filthy rich know that they're not immortal. They have someone to take over for them when their time comes."
"So it's basically like he didn't even die?" I asked.
"Villains never die." Calum said.
"Then shouldn't we be worrying about what's going to happen to Michael if we DO win the case?" Harry and Calum looked at each other without saying anything. God, I wish I would have thought of this before. I always felt like they were one step ahead of me. But at least I have something on them. But it's probably better if they don't know that. Not now- or ever. They shrugged and continued eating. "I mean, you guys aren't worried at all about the fact that whoever Barker passed his wealth onto is going to want to avenge his death?"
"I mean, maybe not... Whoever it is got a lot of money from him dying. He's probably glad that he's dead." Calum said.
"I guess millionaires don't really have friends." I said and Harry shook his head. I was already plotting in my head. It made me feel guilty though. They didn't know what I was doing behind the scenes. And I can't imagine what it would do to Harry if he knew. Would he leave me? I wondered for less than half a second if he'd kill me, but I forced myself to drive that thought from my mind. He would never kill me. At least not on purpose. He wouldn't be marrying me if he was still having thoughts about killing me. I focused on the ring around my finger to distract myself.
"Are you alright?" his voice suddenly broke me out of my trance. "Michael's going to be fine either way." he assured me. "He has us, after all."
"Yeah," I nodded. "I'm fine." If I was successful, Micheal really would be fine. As well as everyone else. But if I wasn't, this court case wouldn't be number one in the list of their priorities anymore.
When we got back home, Harry and Calum left to go do something with- or for Michael. I'm not really sure because they weren't super clear on it. I left almost immediately after they did to go to the sheriff's office.
"Amelia, I wasn't expecting to see you today." Detective Casey said when I sat down in front of his desk. "You know it's probably not a great thing for you to be coming here while you're in the middle of a court case."
"Technically, I'm not involved in the crime." I answered, setting my purse on the ground. He looked at me like he wanted to say something in response to this, but he didn't. "I have some new information for you."
"What is it?"
"Roger Barker would have passed down his wealth to someone else. People like him have this stuff lined up before they even die." I said, trying to not sound too excited while I divulged this information.
"And who would that be?" the detective asked while clicking his pen.
"Well, I don't know yet." I answered. I realized that this could be an issue.
"I'm sorry to put it so bluntly, Miss Winters, but that doesn't exactly help me. Anyone in my profession, myself included, would have already known that the wealth would be passed down to someone else. Unless you know who it is, there's..." he searched for the right word. "There's almost no reason to tell me."
"Right... I realize that... So, who are you looking at for that?"
"Right now we're more interested in looking out for further crimes. Once a few of those have been committed, we'll have some people to look at. Bring them in for questions..." he was clearly distracted by something on his computer, but at least it was probably part of the case.
"They're not going to rat him out..." I muttered, staring down at my shoes.
"You know what would help me?" I looked up at the detective, anticipating an answer that I hadn't already thought of. "Bringing your friends in that were actually involved in said crime. It would be significantly more helpful for me to talk to them than it is to talk to you."
"You don't think I realize that? I'm trying to be as safe about this as possible. I'm trying to keep my friends and the love of my life out of danger."
"If they've committed crimes, Miss Winters, they need to be apprehended as well."
"That's just it, Detective Casey. They have't. But I can't exactly trust the judicial system right now because it's not doing anything but failing me and my family at the moment. Because they're implying that self defense is murder and cold murder is just the way the world works. They're justifying murder because Roger Barker was rich and Michael is not. Millionaires are not exempt from being criminals."
"Well, unless you're able to figure out who the mastermind behind it is now, that's really our only option. So, be my guest, Miss Winters..."
"Don't think I won't." I stood up, suddenly annoyed. I'm aware that he's probably stressed out with this case and a dozen others, but I would think that this would be at the top of his list. I bit my lip, thinking about what I would do if I were in his situation. Maybe I only think it should be his top priority, because I'm too personally involved in it. At least that's how he would see it. I turned around and headed toward the door.
"You're engaged." Detective Casey perked up just as I was about to be out of earshot.
"I am." I confirmed, firmly.
"It'll be good for you to have something else to think about. Wedding planning and all that..."
"Yeah, that's if my fiancé doesn't get murdered first."
"You must know I'm trying my best, Miss Winters."
"You're not trying as hard as me. And I'm not getting paid for this. So, try harder."
Luckily, I got home before Harry did. I wasn't being particularly careful. It was like I was afraid for him to find out- but subconsciously I also wanted him to know. I don't like having secrets between us, but I couldn't bring myself to tell him what I was doing either. "What's wrong, my love?" he pulled me into his lap when he sat down on the couch.
"Nothing..." i sighed. "I'm just stressed out from the whole court case thing."
"Try not to worry about it too much." he frowned. "Unfortunately, you worrying about it isn't going to change anything. We're just going to have to trust that things are gonna work out the way they're supposed to."
"What happened to your face?" I grumbled, lightly running my thumb over a split in his eyebrow. It was still bleeding a little. "What were you two doing?"
"Well, certainly you didn't think we were going out for groceries..." he gave me a lazy smile. I glared at him and he pressed his thumb between my eyebrows to smooth the crease between them. "It wasn't anything big. Or at least nothing for you to worry about."
"Does it have anything to do with Barker?"
"No, nothing like that. Have you thought about anything to do with the wedding?" I almost flinched when he said this. As if he knew that I had a conversation with Detective Casey about it. Realistically, I knew that it wasn't true, but deep down, I still worried. I had to worry. Because I was always surprised with how much he knew about the behind the scenes of everything.
"Unfortunately, I haven't really had time to think about it all that much. I'm too worried about the case... I can't see how they see what Michael did as murder and Barker as self defense. It's not just hypothetically backward. It's literally backwards!"
"It's ok, sweetheart. Everything's gonna be fine. We'll make sure it's fine... I'm sorry that it's bothering you so much. Why don't you do something fun soon to get your mind off of it? Have you looked at any dresses yet?"
"No..." I sighed. "My therapist said it's because I don't want to admit that I don't want to go dress shopping without my mom. And while that could definitely be part of it, I just haven't had any time..."
"We don't have to go to court every day, y'know."
"I know, but I don't feel comfortable with Michael being there by himself. I think it helps him, knowing that we're there."
"You're probably right. It stops him from doing anything particularly stupid, anyway. You better find a dress soon." he got a stupid grin on his face. "Because I don't know how long I'm willing to wait to marry you."
"I thought you were never going to ask me to marry you and now you want to get married tomorrow?"
"The sooner, the better." he smiled.
"I'm surprised you don't think marriage is just a sheet of paper." I admitted.
"Well, sure it is. But it means a lot to you. And I know that I want to spend forever with you. And if that's what marriage is, then that's what I want."
"That sounds good to me." I grinned. "I want to start forever with you right now."
"For me, forever started the moment that I met you."
"Don't pretend like you didn't seriously consider murdering me in the first few weeks." I said, making him chuckle.
"Just because you thought I was going to kill you, doesn't mean I was actually considering it. Occasionally though, you really annoy me."
"You can't kill me now."
"Why's that?"
"I know how to fight back now." I smiled.
"You hurt me, sometimes, y'know that?" he asked, I raised an eyebrow. "I'm far too in love with you to consider ever laying a hand on you." he said, but he could tell I still wasn't totally convinced.
"It does help knowing your criminal record." I giggled.