The Bet

Chapter 21

Nicole's POV

"It's about the man that was arrested in your school."

"What about him?" I asked.

Instead of answering me, he turned to Michelle. "Remember the multiple homicide case that we got last month?" She nodded. "It was him. He's our guy."

"Okay... So we basically helped you get your guy. What more do you need from us? I already told everything to the arresting officer."

"I will explain but you need to get Emilia."

I nodded and walked towards the bedroom. It was slightly ajar so I took a peek and was relieved to see Emilia awake. I knocked softly to get her attention and to prevent Maddy from waking up. "May I come in?" She gave permission so I went in. "Detective Simmon's here. He requested your presence."

Emilia's POV

Detective Simmon's here? I wonder what on earth happened. "It's not about your mother. It was about the guy who attacked you. He said he'll explain but he needed your presence."

"Okay... I'll be out."

We walked out to the living room to see Detectives Simmons and Torres having a conversation with Natalie. I overheard earlier that Detective Torres and Natalie were dating.

"We're here." Nick said to them. "So the pizza guy finally arrived."

We sat on the couch and when everyone's comfortable, he began. "Do you know the person that attacked you?"

I wanted to lie but I knew they will find out sooner or later. I nodded. "I only knew him as Richard."

"What's your connection with him." It was the topic that I was dreading to tell. It was sensitive and was not to everyone's ear to tell. So I just shook my head.

Nick must have felt my uneasiness so she tried to comfort me and helped divert the issue. "What's this all about?"

"We just needed some information from her."

"Can you see she's hurting?"

"We'll go first then. Richard Stevenson is wanted for multiple homicide. A month ago there were was a mass killing at a certain bar. No one survived. Five people dead. No clues, no witnesses, no prints on the scene. However, we managed to pull a partial print on one of the shell casings. It was his print." Detective Simmons explained as vaguely as possible. I heard about that incident in the news. It was cruel. They were killed execution style.

"We managed to have a hit on the print since Stevenson had a previous rap sheet on possession of drugs. But he was released earlier due to the deal he cut with the D.A. Office. It was very unusual for him to just randomly attacked a girl therefore, I knew that your case was special."

"Okay. I understand." Nick said and looked at me. "Natalie and I should probably give you more privacy." She offered.

They were about to stand when I stopped them. "No... It's okay. It's time that I tell someone about him." I saw hesitation on Natalie's eyes but I assured her that it was okay.

I'm ready to tell my story.

It was probably best for both Nick and Natalie to know in order for them to understand why I refused to begin a relationship with Nick.

"Richard is Madeleine's father." I started.

"He's your father?" Nick and Natalie both asked.

I shook my head no. "He was Madeleine's father, not mine." I looked at them and they all motioned me to continue. "My parents and I used to have a normal and happy life. But it changed when my father got scammed. We went bankrupt in an instant. My parents then fought a lot until my father left us to be with some rich old woman."