Chapter 33
THIRTY-THREE
Liam
“Where is my ‘I told you so’ cake?” I ask the instant I walk into the department.
It’s been over two weeks since I’ve worked here.
Gabriel isn’t back full-time but has come in with me today to talk to Michaels.
At least that’s what he said, but in actuality, I believe he’s convinced that I need a babysitter.
“Assholes don’t get cake,” Matthew mutters.
I slowly turn to look at the man who has chosen to speak. “I’m sorry, did you say something?”
Jesse is standing behind Matthew, who is seated at his desk, and boy, do they both glower at me. Their anger is quite apparent, and I’m left standing here feeling rather awed by it. I approve of their anger.
“You know, Gabriel, when you suggested making friends with those two… creatures, I disapproved… but I’ve changed my mind,” I decide.
“Because they’re mad at you?” Gabriel asks with a raised eyebrow.
“Because they’re sticking up for you. Now drop the shit, you both owe me your lives. Where’s my cake?”
“In the freezer,” Matthew says, caving automatically. “I thought we’d have it this afternoon.”
I look over at Jesse, who cocks his head at Matthew. “We promised we’d at least hold out for a bit.”
“I know… I know, but look at him. He really wants his cake, and he saved your life and… I mean… I’m still mad at him, but he did save your life.”
Jesse is now in a stare-down with me. He’s weighing the fact that I saved his life against me leaving Gabriel. He’s holding out and I approve. Gabriel must always come first.
“I approve,” I say, making him look slightly confused.
“How is Lacey doing?” Gabriel asks Jesse, since she’d lost her boyfriend.
“She’s… a bit of a wreck, but I think she’s also very relieved that Whitaker is gone. She wants to thank you, Liam. I told her the best way to thank you would be to not contact you because you hate humans.”
“You are very correct,” I tell him.
Gabriel says, “I feel so bad for her, but yes, it’s a relief to know the person who terrorized you or hurt someone you love can never hurt another again. And tell her that if she wants to see Liam, I’ll make him go.”
“Nope,” I say, planning to head to my desk to sweep some mines, but before I get anywhere, Michaels stops me. “Paige, a word.”
“One word. Lunchtime.”
“No. One word, get in my office.”
“That was way more than—”
The look Gabriel is giving me tells me to get my ass in his office, so off I go.
“You have that man whipped,” Jesse comments.
“As he should be,” Gabriel says as he follows me into Michaels’ office.
Michaels sits behind his desk and waves toward a chair. “Sit.”
“I’d prefer a fast escape.”
“Sit.”
I grudgingly sit while Gabriel sits in the other chair.
“I take it this means you’re not quitting.”
“At the moment.”
Michaels stares at me. “You’re lucky I didn’t file your resignation. I could have filled your spot and gotten you out of here so I wouldn’t have to deal with your messes.”
“I would have if I were you,” I say.
He leans back in his chair. “This whole mess… all of it… I can’t complain about any part of your writeup, but Liam, you take risks.
Risks that are hard to account for. I know you did what you had to in order to protect Jesse, but these risks…
you need to be careful. You need to call things in.
You need to tell others what you’re doing and when you’re doing it.
You told me you were stepping out, you were going to the hospital. I should have known better.”
“I’m aware I took more risks than I should have. But I was confident.”
“Confidence can’t always save you. Just… be careful. You’re going to have to go through a mandated stress debriefing with a licensed psychologist.”
I cock my head. “Excuse me, what? Why?”
“It’s now mandated. Anyone in an officer-involved shooting is required to do a one-on-one session where a psychologist will check your fitness for duty.
Chief Taylor believes that you went through a very stressful situation and will not take no for an answer.
You will not bully your way out of this. It’s one session. You will survive.”
“I might not,” I grumble. “What if I claim that it’ll cause me more stress to go?”
Michaels ignores me. “Neither of you were here for the debriefing, although I’m sure you’ve heard it from Pérez or Nye.
What was supposedly Whitaker’s body was exhumed, and it was found to belong to one of his past victims. At this point, we have been unable to determine how many victims were Whitaker’s and how many were killed by the people working with him, like Richard, Zach, and Tate.
While we believe that all of the people working for Whitaker have been accounted for, at least based on what Richard has told us, we can’t be certain.
I fear this is a case that will likely stay open for a while as we determine how many were involved.
“There are also uncertainties, like the reason why Whitaker would have had Zach killed. Nye has suggested that maybe Zach was going off course, killing on his own and Whitaker didn’t permit it, but we’re unsure at this point. I’m just relieved that everyone is safe.”
We’d been concerned that Richard would say something about Jesse’s past with Whitaker, but he never has.
My guess is that Whitaker never shared that one of his got away, that someone would choose to leave him.
Jesse has expressed this worry to us as well, but for now, we have to keep moving on like we know nothing about it.
“Honestly, Gabriel is our only concern,” I inform Michaels.
“Not just Hyde. Everyone.”
“Mostly Gabriel,” I say, and Michaels gives me a look. I ignore the look since I care very little about any of his looks.
“Is that all?” I ask.
“For now. Let’s see what we can do about tracking down Whitaker’s other victims.”
“I have my doubts you’ll ever find them.
The man himself was extremely calculating and intelligent.
Where he failed was that I don’t believe it was the killing that thrilled him, it was the control over other people, whether they were the men he’d manipulated or his victims. Have you talked to his mother? ”
“I haven’t, but I saw the recording of Nye speaking to her. She’s quite the woman.”
“Was she surprised by his tendencies?” I ask curiously.
“Let’s just say she wasn’t the easiest person to talk to.
No matter what we asked, she’d brush us off, get irritated by us, or say something shitty about us.
Nye has the patience of a saint and managed to get a few decent words out of her, but I’m afraid the rest of us would have simply gotten cussed at more.
When he asked her about identifying the body, her explanation was that it’d been so long since she’d seen Whitaker that she had no damn idea what he really looked like anymore and assumed it was him. ”
“I wonder why he faked his own death. Was he close to being found out by someone else?” Gabriel asks.
“Not sure, and no one has come forward. The only person we can ask about that is dead.”
“If you find a way to resurrect him, I’d like to kill him again since I’m still not over him hurting Gabriel,” I announce.
“And this is why I wouldn’t have said no to you having a counseling session, even if it wasn’t required,” Michaels says. “Don’t say that shit in front of the chief, you hear me? She hasn’t been around your sarcastic ass long enough to know when you’re making the darkest of jokes.”
“Wasn’t a joke,” I mumble under my breath because of the way Gabriel is looking at me. “We done? I have claustrophobia and this room is too small.”
“Your office is the exact same size,” Michaels says.
“Huh.”
“And yes, we’re done.”
“Oh good,” I say as I stand up and open the door for Gabriel.
“Paige?”
I look back at Michaels. “Yeah?”
“You did good. You saved a lot of lives.”
“It was just so I had more people to keep harassing,” I assure him.
“Take the compliment,” Gabriel says.
“I don’t want to. If these people begin thinking that I’m out here doing good deeds, they’re going to start expecting things from me. I’m expecting that I’m going to play Minesweeper until lunch.”
“You came in late. Lunch is in fifteen minutes,” Michaels says.
“Perfect timing,” I respond as I walk out.
“Well, why don’t we grab lunch before I head to the doctor, and then you can come back and minesweep this afternoon?” Gabriel suggests.
“Sure.”
“Good. Matthew, Jesse, we’re going to lunch. Liam’s buying.”
“Who invited them, exactly?” I mutter.
“The person you vowed to listen to for the rest of your life.”
“Ah yes, you’re very handsome when you’re bossy. Boss me around some more.”
Gabriel grins.
“This… all of this… disgusts me,” Matthew says.
I grab him and look at Gabriel. “Can I throw him away, please?”
“He’s our friend. We don’t throw away friends.”
“I’d toss this one and we can find a new one. I like Margaret. She’ll sleep through everything,” I say, referring to the other medical examiner.
Jesse rolls his eyes. “Her name is still not Margaret. You’re getting close, though.”
Gabriel grabs my hand, pulling me into the elevator. The moment he catches me looking at him, his smile lights up his face.
I don’t know that I deserve this man who is so kind, caring, sweet, and funny.
But I do know that I’m going to love him, fight for him, and cherish him until the day I draw my last breath.
And there’s no one who’s going to stand in my way.
“What’s wrong with Liam’s face? It looks like he’s trying to use his brain and it’s hurting him,” Matthew declares.
My glower shifts up and lands on him.
“Starting with you,” I state.
“Starting with me, what?” Matthew cries, looking slightly concerned.
“I guess you get to find out.”
Jesse and Gabriel just laugh, and I find myself smiling as I watch the happiness radiate off Gabriel. There really couldn’t be a more special person in the world.
And I’m never going to forget that.