Too tired

Too tired
Dante had sent everyone who could be lingering around his office away. He wanted some privacy in order to really think about a few things.

Across from him stood Shadow. He was holding a file in his hands. His face was serious. That told Dante everything he needed to know before Shadow even opened his mouth.

“These are the records,” Shadow said. “About Rex’s parents.”

Dante’s eyes moved from Shadow’s face to the folder. He could feel his heart beating a little faster. This was information he had been both wanting and dreading.

Shadow placed the folder down on the desk carefully. 

Dante opened it slowly. The first thing he saw were crime scene photographs. Black and white images that showed too much and dug through his memories. He had seen plenty of dead bodies in his life. But these felt different.

Dante’s jaw tightened as he looked at the photos. At the police reports. At the witness statements that said nothing useful.

Shadow continued talking. “The nature of the murder wasn’t random. This wasn’t a robbery gone wrong or a home invasion. They were targeted specifically.”

Dante kept reading. The details painted a clear picture.

“No signs of forced entry,” Shadow went on. “No break-in. The front door was unlocked. Like they knew whoever was coming. Like they trusted them enough to let them inside.”

Dante found the photos of the kitchen. The stove was still on. Pots with food half-cooked. Plates set out on the table. Two glasses of wine waiting to be drunk.

“They were preparing for a meal,” Shadow said. “Getting ready to sit down and eat dinner like a normal family. Someone came to their door and they let them in. Someone they knew. Someone they trusted.”

Dante listened while his brain thought of a number of reasons why anyone would target a random couple like this.

“Targeted,” he repeated quietly.

Shadow nodded. “Execution style. Professional. From the police reports and the way the bodies were positioned, there’s no doubt about it.”

Dante was quiet for a long moment. He stared at the photographs and tried to remember that night. It had been years ago but some memories never fade completely.

He could recall fragments. Walking into that house. Seeing the bodies. Though the memories felt distant now. 

“I recall some things about that night,” Dante said quietly to himself. “But that will be all, Shadow. You can leave me now.”

Shadow bowed his head slightly. “Yes, sir.”

He walked out of the office without another word. Dante was alone with the file and his thoughts.

He stared at the photographs for a long time. Thinking about Rex. He thought about his words from that drunken night. He couldn’t even imagine what Rex had been carrying in his heart all these years. 

And now he understood why Rex had hesitated to get into anything with him. It wasn’t all the sexuality debate. No, the thought of getting with his parents’ murderer must’ve driven him mad. 

Finally, Dante reached for his phone. Found Rex’s number and called.

“Come to the office,” Dante said when Rex answered. “I have something for you.”

“What kind of something?” Rex asked..

“Just come.”

Minutes later, Rex stepped into the room. He was much better now, a few weeks spent in the hospital has made it possible for him to be able to walk around. 

His eyes moved between Dante and the folder sitting on the desk. His eyebrows knitted slightly like he couldn’t really think of whsg to say right now

“What is this?” Rex asked. He didn’t sit down but he came closer to the table. 

“Your parents,” Dante said quietly as he rose to his feet. “Their case. The police files. The truth about what happened to them.”

He pushed the folder across the desk toward Rex.

“The truth is they were targeted. Murdered by someone who knew them.”

Rex hesitated before sitting down. His fingers trembled as he reached for the folder. He opened it slowly, like he was afraid of what he might find inside.

The first thing he saw were the photos. His parents. Not as he remembered them. Not alive and laughing and normal. But as they had been found. Dead.

The breath caught in his throat. Tears pricked his eyes immediately. His body went stiff with grief and rage. The pain came flooding back. The guilt he felt assaulted him. He was standing in the presence of their murderer, even having feelings for him.

His voice broke when he spoke. “It was you.”

Dante’s eyes lifted to meet his. They were calm but at the same time filled with something.

“You’re the reason.,” Rex whispered. Tears were blurring his vision but he kept staring at Dante. “The reason I started all this. The reason I became a cop. The reason I hunted you down was because you killed them.”

His voice got stronger. Angrier.

“It was because of you. You killed them. I saw you there that night.”

Dante didn’t flinch. Didn’t try to deny it. He just nodded slowly. 

“So that’s what you remembered,” he said.

Rex felt something break inside his chest. “Don’t you dare act calm about this!”

Dante took a deep breath and walked to stand in front of Rex. His voice was steady. “Rex, I was very young then. Barely out of my teens. I was working under my father but I wasn’t a killer. I was nobody. Just an errand boy.”

Rex stared at him through his tears. “What?”

“They sent me to clean up after it was done. That’s the truth. I wasn’t there for the killing. I was there for the aftermath.”

Dante’s voice got softer. More careful.

“There’s no way I could have killed your parents. I had no power then. No authority. I was insignificant. I didn’t even understand what was happening until I walked in and saw their bodies.”

Rex’s mouth fell open. But no words came out. He just shook his head back and forth like he was trying to shake loose the thoughts in his brain.

“No,” he said finally. “No, you’re lying. You’re trying to confuse me again. You’re trying to make me believe something that isn’t true.”

Dante stood upright, he watched Rex intently, understanding the whirlpool of feelings inside of him. 

“I know I have killed innocent people, but never unjustly. At most, they were just at the wrong place at the wrong time, but I’m not that kind of person. I don’t kill who doesn’t deserve it on purpose.”

Rex shot to his feet. His chair scraped against the floor. “No! You don’t get to do this to me again!”

He shoved Dante back with both hands. Dante stumbled but didn’t fall.

“You don’t get to play games with my head!” Rex shouted. “You don’t get to twist everything around until I don’t know what’s real anymore!”

His voice was getting higher. More frantic. Tears were streaming down his face.

“I’ve spent years hating you. Years planning my revenge. Years believing that you were the monster who destroyed my family.”

Dante tried to step closer but Rex backed away.

“And now you’re telling me it was all a lie? That I’ve been wrong this whole time? That I’ve wasted my entire life chasing the wrong person?”

“Rex,” Dante said. His voice was gentle but Rex couldn’t hear gentleness right now. He could only hear more lies and manipulation.

“Stay away from me!” Rex screamed. His voice cracked and broke. “Just stay the hell away from me!”

He turned and ran from the office. 

Dante stood there in the silence. Alone with the file that contained the truth. 

The cemetery was quiet when he finally arrived. He walked between the rows of stones until he found the one that mattered.

His parents’ grave.

Rex’s knees gave way and he sank down onto the ground. His hands reached out to touch the stone. It seemed to be the only thing that was real right now. His captain had been fake. The person who he thought murdered his family was fake. 

The tears came hard then. Breaking past every wall he had built. 

“I thought it was him,” Rex whispered to the stone. “All these years I believed it was Dante who took you away from me.”

He pressed his forehead against the cold marble.

“And now he’s telling me it wasn’t him. That I’ve been wrong this entire time. That I’ve been chasing shadows and lies.”

Rex sobbed loudly.

“How am I supposed to accept that? How am I supposed to live with that? What am I supposed to do with all this anger I’ve been carrying?”

He looked up at the sky. The tears sliding down.

“I don’t know who killed you anymore. I don’t know who to blame. I don’t know what’s real and what’s a lie.”

Rex cried until he had nothing left. Until his body was empty and too tired to feel anything anymore.

Then he just sat there in the darkness. trying to figure out who he was supposed to be now that everything he believed had turned out to be wrong.