A Past Uncovered (Levihan AU)

Chapter 5 (Davenport's POV)

"Okay," I say as we get into De Cruz's car. "Remind me again why Gevanni and Armani couldn't have gone to Olivia's house to talk with her husband while we talked with Damien? It would take up much less time."

"Because," De Cruz says irritatedly. "They're at headquarters going through stuff about the victims, their family member, and other people who were close to them."

"Strange to think that a blue ribbon school like Montgomery High would have such scandalous things going on," I say with thought. "Hey, you attended that high school right? Did you hear anything weird?"

He stays quiet for a moment, worrying me. "No," he says quickly. "I don't think you've realized, but I'm a year older than your friend over there. I don't know anything about that stuff."

"Okay," I say turning away. He's definitely hiding something. I just can't put a finger on what it is.

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The ride to Olivia Tennison's house took longer than expected. Both because it was on the outskirts of the city and because of the heavy Sunday morning traffic. 

"Hate working on weekends," I groan loudly and annoyed. 

"Well live with it," De Cruz says. "You signed up for the FBI. It's a job that's inconsiderate of our free time."

"Whatever," I mumble as we pull into the driveway of Olivia Tennison's house. It was a large mansion with nautical themed paint on the exterior. "She was a high school teacher, right?"

"Yeah," De Cruz replies. "Why?"

"Nothing much," I answer. "It just seems strange that a high school teacher has a salary high enough to afford a huge mansion like this. I mean, most high school teachers with ten or more years of experience make at least about seventy five thousand dollars per year, which is grossly underpaid."

The detective's only response is a small shrug. "We still don't know what her husband does. His job's probably much higher in pay than her's."

"Ya think?"

He glared at me before ringing the doorbell. The door is opened by a man in his late sixties dressed in a wrinkle free blue dress shirt and black dress pants. "Yes?" he asks with a raised eyebrow and heavy Italian accent.

"Hello," I say in a somewhat approachable and soft tone. "I am Dr. Davenport and this is Detective De Cruz, we both work for the FBI. We have some news regarding Mrs. Tennison. Do you mind if we come inside?"

He nods and ushers us inside the house and towards the living room couches. "Have a seat," he says with a smile. "Would you like anything to eat or drink?"

"No thank you," Detective De Cruz says. "We're not allowed to eat or drink on duty."

"Very well," he says smoothing out his shirt. "You were saying that you have news about my wife? Where is she? Did you find her? She was missing from last February. Please tell me you've found her!"

"We have found her," I say as softly as possible. "But unfortunately, it pains us to say that Mrs. Tennison is no more."

"What?"

"She was found murdered last night by a soon-to-be-declared serial killer," De Cruz says while I grab a glass of water from the jug on the bar counter. "Her murder is connected to Wally Patron, a high school dropout running Wally's Diner. We need your cooperation in order to find out who was responsible."

"Okay," he says with a sniff as I hand him the glass of water. He gauged it down before wiping the tears in his eyes and finally speaking. "What do you want to know?"

"Was Mrs. Tennison ever accused of being involved with something illegal in Montgomery High School?"

"Not that I know of," he says while taking his grey hair with his fingers. "But I do know that there were plenty of things going on with that school. Things that were wrong. I asked Olivia before, but she never told me. She retired from there about a year ago."

The school, it's gotta be that school.

"Pardon me for asking," I say cutting in. "But was there ever anything wrong with her before her retirement?"

"Yes," he says furrowing his brows. "We got news that our son was mugged and killed while on a foreign exchange trip to New Daringson. We tried so hard to keep our marriage together. We even attended counseling sessions in an attempt to move on. But then, a month before she disappeared, she asked me for a divorce. She said it just 'wasn't going to work,' and that she couldn't move on from Tommy's death."

It's hard, I say to myself in my head. The loss of a child can either bring a couple closer together than ever, or it can completely tear them apart. The latter is exactly what happened to Olivia and Blake Tennison.

"Thank you for your cooperation." I look over to De Cruz and he nods. "You have our condolences. Please do take care."

He stops me before I head out the door. "Please," he begs. "That bastard should get what he deserves. Promise me you'll hunt him down."

"We'll take him down," is the last thing I say before running out the door behind me.