Chapter 21: Start Talking

Time is running out. Are you going to save the next one... or let them die like poor Meghan?

Chyler stared at the message again, the words blinking and echoing in her head like sirens. She could feel the rhythmic pattering of her heartbeat coming back to her distant and fast but the world around her had gone completely silent. Then, her gaze shifted.

Caden was frozen mid-stance, one hand bracing the back of a pew, his face leached of color. Pale and panic stricken. As if some joules of adrenaline had been pushed into her system, Chyler didn't think. She moved forward, approaching him.

"You want to tell me something about this?" she demanded, loudly enough to cut through the chaos. People stopped and turned to watch but she didn't pay attention.

Caden blinked at her, confused and defensive all at once. "What?"

"You were with her yesterday— last night. I saw you two at the restaurant then the hotel!" he went on.

"You are crazy!" he snapped. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Oh, don't I?" Chyler pulled out her phone, flicked through her gallery and then held it up to him, showing all the pictures she had taken of them.

Caden's face twisted with fury. "You were following me? What the fuck is wrong with you bitch? Why the hell—"

"Because something about you stinks!" she spat. "You get involved with two of the victims, both of them end up dead right after. You don't think that's a little suspicious?"

Caden shot up, his eyes flaring. "We are done here!" He turned and grabbed Capri's hand. "Come on. It's time to get out of this loony bin."

Chyler stepped in before he could take two strides away and blocked his way. "So she can be your next victim like every woman you have been involved with?"

"Oh my God, Chyler! Are you insane!" He reeled back, fists clenched and for a moment, he looked like he might hit her.

Capri didn't flinch. "Maddie Howard," she stated. "She had something against you and that's why you killed her too, right?"

Capri gasped and staggered back almost hitting a pew but Brye caught her fast. The words cut through her chest like a sledgehammer. "What the hell are you talking about?" she asked shakily. "Chy?"

A crowd had gathered. Murmurs rippled like turbulent waves. Caden's jaw worked as he glanced around, panic buried behind his eyes. He stepped forward, getting into her face. "You better watch whatever you say next or I swear to God..." he growled, his clenched fist shaking violently at his side. "You are making enemies you don't want."

Sirens filled the the air from a distance, getting closer with each tense second that passed between them. Then, Caden turned to leave but before he could, officers rushed in shouting commands. Captain Navarro stormed down the center aisle like a furious god of war.

"Chyler goddamn Lee!" he bellowed. "You want to tell me what the hell is going on here?" Chyler didn't respond. Her gaze remained firm and hard on Caden who was being cuffed across the hall. "Great!" Navarro snapped. "Better yet, come tell me down at the station. Cuff her!" he shouted a command, snapping her back to reality.

"What!" she exclaimed but didn't have a chance to protest her arrest as Navarro was already walking away, securing the crime scene.

★★★

Chyler sat stiffly in the hard seat in the interrogation room, her jaw pressed tight and arms crossed firmly. The flickering light of the fluorescent bulb above annoyed her almost to the point of getting up on that table and crashing it. Her feet shook constantly beneath the table, anxious. It had been almost an hour sitting in there alone but she was sure they were watching her which annoyed her more.

Then, the door opened and Captain Navarro walked in. He dropped a file on the table with a thud.

"Start talking!" he commanded.

"Why the fuck was I arrested?" she demanded, leaning forward.

"Everyone in that room was arrested but maybe I wanted to have a little bit of fun dragging your ass to the pit, Lee!" His face twitched with anger. He leaned down slowly, facing her square. "How many times, Lee?" He breathed through clenched teeth. "How many times so I have to tell you that you are not a goddamn detective!"

"I'm a cop who wants to dig out the truth," she fired back. "Suspended or not, I just uncovered more in two days than your whole task force has in weeks!"

Navarro slammed his fist hard on the table that Chyler flinched. "You think this is a game? That you are some rogue hero? You are this close to obstruction of justice and blowing this whole thing up!" Chyler's gaze remained steady. "I warned you," he growled, wagging a pointer finger in her face. "Get in my way again and I won't hesitate to have your ass dragged to jail. Do you get that?"

"Yeah. Got it." She looked down and bit back her words knowing that he wasn't playing.

"Good," he said after a pause. "You are free to go."

"What about Caden?"

Navarro raised a brow. "What about him?"

"Don't tell me you are just letting him walk. He is a suspect!"

"We questioned him and his alibi checks out. He was with Meghan yes, but they separated before midnight. Footage backs it up. He went straight back to the hotel and never left. The staff confirmed it." Chyler shook her head, not sure she believed that. "He is clean, Lee. And he is filing for a restraining order for you so you better ground yourself."

"Great! So who killed Meghan then and made sure to rub it in our faces at the memorial?" she exhaled sharply.

"That's for us to find out," Navarro said. "Go home and stay home until we need you. And you better listen to me this time, Lee."

★★★

Chyler stepped out of the interrogation room, her mind so far away that she nearly collided with Caden in the hallway. They both stopped, eyes locked on each other with pure loathing.

"Is that how dirty you are willing to play just to get into my wife's pants?" he asked, his tone dripping with hatred. "You are pathetic, Lee!"

Chyler eased out a long breath then looked up as Capri appeared two doors down the hall. Her face was torn between confusion and betrayal. Chyler opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.

"Let's go," Caden said to Capri. Capri didn't move or look at him. Her gaze was on Chyler, long and hard. "Capri?"

"No," she stated simply.

"What?" Caden froze.

"I'll drive back with Chyler."

Chyler blinked in shock. Capri didn't wait for his response or talk to Chyler. She just walked past both of them and took a headstart to the door. Caden fixed a long hard glare and her but without saying a word, Chyler walked off after Capri.

The drive to Capri's house was drowned in silence. Neither said a word, both lost in their heads about what had happened. Then the gate loomed ahead and Chyler drove up, stopping the car like she had no intention of going in.

Capri turned to her. "Aren't you coming in?"

Chyler hesitated. "I... didn't think you wanted me to."

"Don't you think you owe me an explanation? Because what the hell was that back there?" she asked, her features drawn in pain.

"Yeah," Chyler nodded. "We should talk."