His Undoing

Chapter 9

SURPRISE!

Kia Brown

THE human heart is pitiful. It was impulsive, over-emotional, and gullible. And Kia experienced it all the time. She had never been the type to do irrational things, to act without thinking. However, these last couple of weeks had her acting as if that was her true personality.

When she helped Dylan run from the police, she realized it was best if she proved him innocent right away so she could go back to her regular, normal life where she was the fierce and independent lawyer who everyone was afraid of. Dylan scared her because around him, he broke that hard exterior and when she was in his presence, she felt an odd aura of tranquility. Around him, she didn't have to prove anything or hide her pain. She could just be Kia and he wouldn't judge her.

She didn't like that he broke down the walls she built up. She knew it was wrong to think like that but she could care less. She liked feeling strong and being so vulnerable was her weakness. A weakness she vowed to never have, especially around a man. She had taught herself better. So as soon as Dylan ran away, she ran her hands through her hair as she paced back and forth through her house.

She didn't regret helping him. She regretted getting so emotionally involved because as she said before, the human heart was so pitiful and so was she. She finally calmed herself down enough to look at Dylan's case. She needed to find whoever was responsible and she needed to do it right away.

The next day, Kia went down to her former law firm who had a specialty for cold cases. She knew Dylan's case wasn't a cold case as he had been wrongfully accused. But she knew that she needed professionals by her side who were better at investigating the past rather than the present. And her former law firm- Forbes and Hans- did just that. In the couple of months that she had been there, they had been dealing with a very abundant number of cold cases. And to top things off, they worked with some of the best forensic scientists and detectives in the country. And speaking of detectives, there was one particular one who could tell her about this Givanno and why he had his mafia running all around the United States. The detective was named Gloria and she was going to pay her a nice visit.

When she had finally greeted all her former coworkers, she quickly asked the location of Gloria and they happily obliged, pointing down the hall to where she resided. When she walked into the office, she immediately heard Gloria's squeal from across the room.

"Miss Brown? What are you doing here? I've missed you so much, I haven't seen you around here in years. Anyways, what can I do for you today? I heard someone say you were asking around for me," she inquired, her face very serious. Gloria was always a quiet woman. Unlike her best friend, Gloria was serious, quick to work and eager to get down to business. A lot of her coworkers disliked her for that because it made her seem cold. However, Kia admired her for having that attitude. It took a lot of time and dedication to gain respect, and she saw that motivation to get respect from others in Gloria. In a weird way, Gloria reminded Kia of her mother in her happy days. She reminded her of when her mama was independent and as fierce as a lion. But of course, those days were long gone now and she may be forced to deal with the harsh reality that her mother would always be a broken and damaged woman.

"Miss Brown?" Her former coworker's voice brought her out of her reverie.

"Yes, I am so sorry. I have been distracted all throughout the day. I came back here because I've been working on this case. You might have heard about it and it's pretty old, to be honest," Kia admitted.

"Which one is it?"

"Dylan Robinson, the man who was accused of killing his entire family about five years ago. Does that ring a bell?" She asked, scratching the back of her neck.