Falling for You - Chenford

Part 14

Trigger Warning: short mentions of abuse and sexual assault towards end of chapter. Nothing too extensive. Please skip this chapter if this is too much for you.

Two months later...

The couple had decided to take Tamara on a much needed vacation. She had always wanted to visit Hawai'i, and so they did. The three rented a beautiful cottage and spent their time at the beach basking in their definition of heaven.

Coming back from their getaway, Lucy was about 24 weeks pregnant and was becoming more uncomfortable.

The couple had been receiving more and more questions about their situation, such as if they were married yet or what the baby's sex was. And, all of the unwarranted advice they got set Lucy off sometimes. She was already stressed, but that added to it.

The two had decided to wait until birth to find out the baby's sex, but already had some semblance of a name picked out. It was pretty much just a middle name, and it was definitely set-in-stone.

As Lucy walked into work on her first day back from vacation, she was met with congratulations. She had been promoted to detective a month before, and some people who weren't there when the results came in had only heard it a short time ago.

"Detective Chen," Angela called from her desk. The two sat across from one another with Nyla not too far away.

"Lopez, hi." Lucy was happy to be back with her ladies. Not so much for the cases and endless paperwork, but she dealt.

"We have a new case. Missing persons,"

"What do we have so far?" Lucy asked.

"Missing persons is a 22 year old woman, married, no children, who lives in Eastwood. She was reported missing yesterday at 14:51 and hasn't been seen since Friday around 12:00 pm."

"Had her husband been brought in? Has she had any contact with anyone else?"

"None of her friends have heard from or seen her since a work dinner last week, and her husband was brought in, but has a solid alibi and no known connection to her disppearance."

"What's her name?" Lucy realized that she was never made aware.

"Mae Abenanti," the new detective nodded and sat down. Rubbing her growing bump, Angela noticed the gesture.

"How is my little nephew?" Lucy smiled at Lopez, and Nyla joined in.

"I was wondering about my niece, too." Nyla said smiling, putting emphasis on what she thought the sex was.

"Well, he or she is pushing on my ribs and bladder. And I have to pee now. I'll be back in a minute," the other two detectives chuckled at the similarities between their pregnancies and Lucy's.

After he brunette walked back and sat down, she began digging. She found a second address that was only under Mae's name and may have been hidden from her husband.

Giving all of this new info to her coworkers, the three decided to chase their lead.

The address was an apartment in a desolate area of the city. The victim and her husband weren't bad off, having jobs that they made a good amount of money.

"Her job can't pay her enough to afford this place. The place of employment didn't have a rate of consistent pay. He bank records didn't hide that," Angela said.

"Could her boss or someone working with her have coerced her into doing something for them for more money?" The three thought on that. Finally, after searching for the woman, the next three days proved helpful.

After hitting another few leads, Nyla and Lucy found Mae alive and safe. She had been sent to the station for questioning.

"Mae, can you tell us about the apartment that you have listed solely under your name?" She swallowed and looked down.

"I went to an open house one day after work. My husband was out of the state for a business trip. I realized that I may only ever be safe if I get that place and move there,"

"What do you mean by that? Did something happen with your husband?"

"We got engaged when I was 20 years old, and he was 23. After about a year, we got married. He was amazing in the beginning. After our wedding, he was becoming increasingly more controlling, and so I thought maybe it would stop. It didn't,"

"Did he hurt you?" Angela asked. She nodded her head yes.

"About a month after we married, he began to get physical, pushing me into the wall, choking me. He broke my rib one day after kicking me around the living room floor."

"So you thought that if you weren't living with him, you'd be safe. But, with your job, how could you afford it?"

"I had life savings from when I was a teenager. I was only allowed to save my earnings and couldn't spend them,"

"Is there anything else he did to you that might be used in court? Only if it comes to that," Lucy wondered.

"One night---actually, it was our wedding night---we stayed in a hotel an hour outside of the city for a little night away. He wanted to have sex and I didn't. So, he got his way, held me down on the bed, and raped me. I said no as many times as someone could, but he didn't listen. I had a kit done, but I requested it not be run."

"I'm so sorry, Mae. Okay. That's all we have for now, but we'll call you if we need more," Angela said and walked the woman out.

After the day was over, Lucy went to the house to find Tim waiting for her.

"Hi, babe," he said, planting a kiss on her lips.

"You're home early; it's not like you."

"Well, we closed two Metro cases today, and we didn't have any others, so we all left,"

"That's great. Since you are home, I thought maybe we could discuss baby things? Like the nursery, and maybe their name," Tim smiled and put a hand on her thigh.

"Well, I'm thinking a gender neutral room, maybe yellows and greens,"

The two continued to talk, and soon, they had a wonderful idea for their baby's room, name, and all.