Amy drove us to the police station, it was a 20 minute ride. Cari was sitting next to me and never let go of my hand. Claire had fall asleep on my lap a couple of minutes ago so we had to wake her up cause we had to go inside.
" Should I wake her? " I asked Cari.
" Yeah, she can sleep later. " she gave me a warm smile and opened the door to get out of the car.
" Hey, little one. " I kindly shook Claire to wake her up.
" Wake up sleepy head. " I caressed her back when she started moving. " We're here. "
" Where's mommy? " she asked me after she rubbed her pretty eyes with her tiny hands.
" She is waiting for us right there. " I pointed out of the window to where Cari was standing so Claire can see her. " C'mon let's go. " I told her and opened the door. When I thought she was gonna walk with me inside, she got ahold of my neck and wrapped her legs around my back.
My heart started beating like crazy, the kind of affection Claire shows me these past days is making me feel emotions I've never felt before and I really don't know how to explain it. It's something out of the world, just like this little human.
I wrapped my one hand around Claire's back to hold her and closed the door behind me. Cari was having a convo with Meghan and Amy and when she saw me and her daughter approaching them, the most beautiful smile appeared on her face.
" Ready? " Amy asked me.
I took a deap breath. " Let's do this. " I replied. I pushed the door of the Los Angeles Police Department open and walked inside first, with the rest of them following behind me.
" Hi, could you tell me where I can find Lieutenant James Hunter? " I asked the girl at the front desk.
" Yeah sure, his office is right down the hall. " she replied and pointed at the hall.
" Thank you. " I smiled at her and walked through the hallway.
Claire removed her head from the crook of my neck to look around her. She removed her head but never her hands. She was still holding me tight.
I kept looking at every door we were passing by until I found the one with the name of the Lieutenant. I looked over at my friends and they all smiled at me to give me courage. I took a deap breath and knocked slightly on the door.
" Come in! " a male voice was heard from inside of the office.
" Good evening Mr Hunter. You called me a couple of hours ago, my name is Shannon Beveridge. " I said.
" Oh, please come in. " he immediately stood up and walked my way. " You brought company, excellent. " he smiled at the girls. I expected him to be older but actually, he seemed to be at the same age as me. Claire seemed to be a little uncomfortable or shy around the Lieutenant, she held me tighter.
" This is my girlfriend Cari, these are my best friends Amy and Meghan and this is Claire. " I introduced them to him and Claire hid her face in the crook of my neck when she heard me saying here name.
" Nice to meet you ladies. I am James Hunter, the Lieutenant of this department. " he shook their hands. " Nice to meet you too little lady. " he turned to Claire.
" Claire, say hi to Mr Hunter. " Cari told her daughter.
Claire is always listening to Cari and do whatever she says. Even if she is shy, like she is at this moment, she will listen to what Cari says. This shows how much she trusts her mother.
" Hello Mr Hunter. " she said shyly but kindly. Mr Hunter smiled at her and caressed her hair and then returned to his chair.
" Please, take a sit. " he said to all of us. We sat at the multiple chairs there were in the office and we were now ready to listen to what he had to say. " As I told you earlier today, it is possible that we have found the driver that caused your tragic accident 18 years ago. " he started explaining and when he was ready to continue, Claire stopped him.
" Did someone hurt Brownie? " she asked him, still sitting on my lap.
" Claire honey, this is not the perfect moment to ask questions. " Cari told her.
" No Mrs Cari, it's totally okay. We can explain to Mrs Claire what has happened, if that's okay with you of course. " he said.
Explaining to Claire what happened to me at the accident right at that moment, was perfect. She is just a baby and won't understand much but it won't be bad for her to know. It's not something that I hide and it's not something that Claire shouldn't know. It happened and now I'm here.
" Mr Hunter is right baby. " I turned to look at Cari.
" Shan, you don't have to. " Cari became worried, I could understand it by the tone of her voice.
" Do you want me to tell you what happened? " I looked at Claire and she immediately nodded.
" Well, when I was a little girl- "
" Like me? " she asked me.
" I was a little older than you. "
" How old were you? "
" I was 9 years old. "
FLASHBACK
9-year-old Shannon
I am so bored. I can't do this homework, it's difficult and I'm 9 years old. Why do they make us solve such difficult math problems?
I left my bedroom and went downstairs. I heard screaming voices from the kitchen. Mom and dad are fighting again?
" No, that's your fault!!! " dad screamed to my mom.
" It's always my fault!! " Mom turned her back to him.
" Don't you dare turn your back to me! " he screamed, grabbing mom by the shoulders.
" Dad! " I stopped him.
They both turned and looked at me.
" Hey, honey why don't you go upstairs? " dad said coming to me.
" No, don't touch me! " I screamed, running at the door. I got out of the house, crossing the rode running.
" Shannon!!! " I heard Casey screaming from the balcony.
It was too late.
I felt the heavy metal of the front of the moving car on my chest, I feel like my lungs are crushed. I laid down on the ground, my head hit hard on the road.
" Shannon!!! " Casey hysterically screamed again coming to me. I see her, it's just blurry. I can't breath, there's no air.
" What the hell?! " the driver said. " Shit! " he hissed and turned the engine back on. I could hear him mumbling and cussing, he then turned around and drove away.
" She is not fucking breathing!!! Dad!! " Casey screamed once again and then everything went black.
END OF FLASHBACK
" Did they find the bad man that hurt you? " Claire asked me. Her expressions had changed, she was clearly sad.
" That's why we are here. To find the bad man. " I explained once again to the little girl.
" I do not like it when you are hurt Brownie. When you are hurt, I am sad. And mommy is sad too. She do not like it when you are hurt too. " Claire melt my heart once again.
" I know baby. " I hugged her small body, she was literally crushing my bones.
" And now that every question has been answered, let's get into the case. " Mr Hunter said and started looking for something in his drawers. Amy's ringtone got my attention.
" Excuse me. " she said and went outside to pick it up.
" So, this is the file of the case. " he left a big folder on the desk.
" How do you have this after all these years? " I asked him. There are pictures of the accident in that folder, like graphic ones. Claire is definitely not ready to witness something like this and I don't think that Cari is either.
" I made some calls to the police department in Texas amd got my copy. They actually kept the case open since they were trying to find the man in these 18 years. " he explained.
" Hey guys, sorry to interrupt, Ally is on her way to pick us up Meg. I'll give you my car keys so you can come back home. " she said.
" Can you take Claire back home too? " Cari asked them.
" Of course. " Amy said. " Come on Claire. " she motioned her.
" But I do not want to leave. " she said sadly.
" Baby, me and Shannon will be back soon. Go to sleep, you will see both of us in the morning. I promise. " Cari said to her daughter. Claire nodded and climbed off of my lap, walking to Amy and Meghan and leaving.
" How do you know you found the driver? " I jumped back right into the point.
" Authorities did some research and tried to find all of the drivers that drive the same car as the one that driver had. Your father claimed at the report that he saw what car it was but I would like to have some words with him. " he said.
I didn't spoke, neither did Cari. I felt my insides burning but I don't have time to do this now. I have to be strong, I can do this.
" My father has passed away. " I simply said. Cari stood up from were she was sitting to come and sit next to me. She caressed my back and held my hand, just like she did in the ride.
" Oh, I'm really sorry to hear that Mrs Beveridge, I had no idea. " he excused himself.
" It's fine really, it's not your fault. And please, call me Shannon. " I finished with a smile.
" You have the report, you have the kind of the car but how many people did you find, if you found any? " Cari asked him.
" We found 7 men that own the same car as that one, so that means 7 suspects. The man might have bought another car, well it's been many years but we'll consider that only if all the suspects are out of the list. Do you thing you can recognize him Shannon? " the Lieutenant asked me.
" I saw his face seconds before he hit me but not very clearly. He had a beard and there was a rosemary at the inside mirror. And I heard his voice after he knocked me down but it has probably changed since then. "
" That'll do Shannon. I have 6 men around L.A. and Texas to find and bring the suspects here. I'll give you a call as soon as they'll be in my hands. " he said and stood up.
" That's perfect. Thank you Lieutenant. I never thought that this moment would come. Thank you. " I stood up too and shook his hand. Cari did the same.
" I will do my best to finally find justice for you. " he assured me and gave me a warm smile. " Have a great night ladies. " he walked us to the door.
" We're looking forward to hear from you again Lieutenant. Have a nice night. " Cari replied and grabbed my hand, we walked out of Mr Hunter's office and left the department. We walked to the car in silence.
" I'll drop you home and ask Amy to drive me and Claire back to mine okay? " she told me, ready to turn the engine on.
" Come over. " I'm too exhausted, there's no way I can go through this night alone. I had already told Amy that I will go back to the apartment and not my house.
" What? " she questioned.
" Please, come over. I need you. " I begged her. " I'll drop you and Claire home tomorrow morning. "
" Okay. " she replied, with no hesitation and turned the engine on.
" I have something to show you. " I smiled at her.
" Should I be worried? " she asked.
" No, you dick. " I laughed. " You'll see. "
The ride back home was too short or I was too tired. When we got in the house, Claire was already sleeping in Meghan's room with Meghan and Amy was fast asleep in Ally's arms on the couch. We walked quietly to my room and closed the door.
" I'll give you some clothes to wear. " I told her when we were getting undressed.
" I don't need them. " she simply got out of her clothes and collapsed on my bed in her underwear.
A stunning view.
It's funny what happened in just a day. I had sex with Cari, I got informed that there's a chance that the driver that was responsible for my accident was caught and got in the hospital.
" What did you want to show me? " she asked me when I changed my clothes and got into my shorts and t-shirt.
I walked over to the way and sat next to her. I grabbed the box that I had left under the bed and held it.
" What's that? "
I looked at her and smiled.
I opened the box and searched for the thing I wanted to show her. When I found the photo at the bottom of the box, I took it in my hand and handed to her.
" What is t- " she was ready to ask but stopped mid sentenced when she realized what I had just gave to her.
" Are you fucking kidding me?! " she looked at me with a huge smile on her face. " You still have it?! "
FLASHBACK
some days after Shannon and Cari first met
She is still next to me. I woke up with Shannon's hair tickling my face. Should I wake her up? I.. kinda like her sleeping this way next to me.
It's so complicated. I don't know how to explain my feelings for her. I don't know how she feels either. The only thing I know is that I want to spend more time with her, just me, her and her hilarious jokes. Shannon is the most hilarious person I've ever met.
I heard a knock on the door. I couldn't say anything cause I didn't want to wake her up. After a second knock the door opened and Alex appeared in the doorway. I immediately brought my finder on my mouth to tell her not to speak.
" Oh. My. God. " she mouthed and left. Seconds later she came back with Amy and Meghan.
" Stay quiet, she's fucking sleeping! " I whispered. Amy god her phone out of her pocket and took a pic of us.
" Amy, I swear to God! " I whispered again. Shannon must have heard me, she moved a bit and brought her hand on her head. She sleeps weird, I tried not to laugh.
I made them leave and close the door behind them. I tried to sleep again but Shannon's touch and scent keep me awake.
END OF FLASHBACK
" Of course I still have it. " I smiled at her.
" Oh my god, that was like 5 years ago. " she kept looking at the photo with the smile that I love so much.
" It took me some time to realize why you and Amy were fighting that morning. " I said, having the memory in my mind.
" I was so embarrassed. We had just met. " she turned to look at me and then looked at the picture again.
" Can I keep this? " she asked me.
" Of course. " I replied. It felt nice knowing that I make her smile like that.
She left the picture on the nightstand and climbed on me. Her skin was warm, and she was not wearing any clothes. She took my face in her hands and leaned in to kiss my lips. The kiss was slow and quick.
" Thank you, I love you. " she said and kissed me again, deeper this time.
" I love you. " I said between kisses.
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