"Excuse me?!" Erin replied, extremely surprised.
"What's going on?" Amber asked as she and the rest of the group entered the main hall.
"Terri Gunn, Alexis Black, Becca Reems, and Amber Lyons?" Detective Cotsworth asked.
"Yes." Alexis replied.
"You are all under arrest by the Virginia State Police Depart on charges of first degree murder in the case of Jonathan Satterfield." The detective stated.
"What?!" The guys were totally shocked.
"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney and you may consult your attorney before speaking…" The officer with the Detective told the girls.
"I'd like some answers." AJ told the officer and detective down at the police station.
"First may I ask you some questions?" The detective asked, sitting down on the other side of the desk.
"Fine." AJ replied, frustrated.
"How long have you all known the suspects?"
"About three months." Nick answered.
"Do you know anyone from there past, family, friends, anyone?"
"No ma'am." Howie answered, pacing the floor.
"How did you meet them?"
"We visited my old church in Kentucky, where Terri Gunn was singing, and we arranged a get together with her and her friends." Brian replied, sighing as he took a seat.
"What are your relations, exactly?"
"Boyfriends." Kevin replied, getting anxious to know what was going on.
"Do you know where the suspects were exactly two nights ago?"
"On their way from Northern Virginia to meet us at a house we all rented." AJ replied, tapping his fingers on the arm of the chair.
"So basically you know nothing of their past?" The detective asked again, skeptically.
"Not much." Nick admitted reluctantly.
"Why?" Brian asked, not sure if he really wanted to know.
"Who shall I start with?" The detective asked with a sigh.
"Alexis." Nick spoke softly, after a moment of silence.
"Alexis Black. Caught with heroin, none in her system at the time, misdemeanor. Involved in other small crime such as unarmed robbery, she was the get away driver, and others such as that." The detective finished her sentence and you could hear a pin drop, no breathing was heard…but you could hear Nick's heart beat steadily with remorse.
"Next?"
"Erin…" Howie sighed, staring out the window.
"Erin McDougall…also caught with heroin, but also had cocaine, ecstasy, and marijuana. Again, there was none in her system. Also known to get drunk and prostitute among acquaintances for drug money." Detective Cotsworth, Shannon, continued. Howie's eyes began to water with boiling tears, not being able to believe a single word.
"…Next?"
"Becca…" Brian could barely get out her name, he was in such shock from the other two.
"Rebecca Reems… caught with cocaine and heroin, involved in small misdemeanors, and was a suspect in a major drug bust, found not guilty, but DID have drugs in her system, cocaine."
"Terri?"
"Ah, Terri Gunn…Hmm. Well, she was also a suspect in a major drug bust, but this time as the head honcho, her boyfriend was found guilty on charges of second degree murder, smuggling drugs, and usage of those drugs. Terri was not though. She was however a tool to get drugs around, or so we thought. We've never been able to prove it. She was also involved in small misdemeanors, but only one, in which she threw off police."
"My God…" AJ muttered as hot tears burned down his face.
"Well, Amber Lyons is the only one left…" Shannon told them, Kevin sighed heavily and sat down. "Amber Lyons is Terri Gunn's long time friend, also thought to have been involved with the drug bust, again, never proven guilty. Caught with ecstasy and marijuana, but there was none in her system." The detective finished, leaving permanent blows in the guys' hearts.
"If you want to get them out of here, it'll cost you $50,000." Shannon told them.
"We'll pay it…"
"Gunn, Black, Reems, Lyons, McDougall, you all are out." The officer called to them, letting them out. The girls walked sluggishly out to where the guys were standing, and by the look on their faces the girls knew they had found out their past. Terri didn't even want to make eye contact with AJ, and just walked past him and out the door as the other girls were enveloped in a warm hug from their boyfriends, who were trying to comfort them and act as though everything was alright.
"What's wrong with her?" AJ asked, watching Terri walk out the door.
"It was her ex-boyfriend who was killed…and she feels as though it's her fault this happened…I think." Amber told AJ, she was clutching Kevin with all of her might, never wanting to let go.
"Go after her, nimrod." Becca told him. AJ walked out the door and Terri was fifty feet ahead of him.
"Hey, I just bailed you out and you can't say anything to me?!" AJ called after her.
"Thanks." She called back and kept walking. AJ stood there, not sure what to do. He was frustrated with the situation, but didn't know what was going on, or how to handle her. AJ began to jog quickly and caught up to her.
"Hey, honey," AJ pulled in front of her and saw that her face was turning crimson from crying, "oh…Terri, come here." AJ pulled her into a hug and just held her. "Shh, it'll be ok."
"No, AJ, it won't. All of us had a reason to kill him, and we'll all be found guilty. I never should've gotten into a relationship with you…I should've known better, I knew it would just hurt you." Terri replied, pulling away, "I wish this had never happened, that I hadn't been there that day at the church…I wish I hadn't met you. None of this would've come in contact with you." Even though her words meant well, it pierced his heart. AJ wanted to be with her and be a part of her, even if it did mean going through this.
"Terri, I don't care about this, I just want you to be here with me."
"Oh, but you do care, I know you do. I could tell by the look of disappointment in your eyes back there. I made so many mistakes, just because of Jonathan… I brought my friends into it. It killed my dad when he went to go to my trial. I was the perfect child. I had good grades, I didn't sleep around, I didn't use drugs, I got along with my parents…" Terri finished before beginning to cry again. AJ again pulled her into a hug.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine…we'll get you the best lawyer there is." AJ told her, pulling her to his chest again.
"You can't…my dad is the best and there is no way I'm gonna let him go through that…" Terri sighed.
"We'll get you the second best then." AJ told her with a smile. Terri looked up at him, smiled, and nuzzled back into his chest.
"I love you AJ." She sighed.
"I love you too." That was the first "I love you," from a boyfriend she had heard since Jonathan…
"Ok, where were you all that night?" Their lawyer, Heather Morris asked as she sat in her office chair.
"We were all over the place, in separate cars." Lexi replied, upset and confused about all that was going on.
"Where were you all coming from and going?"
"Uh, all different parts of Northern Virginia, except me. I was coming from Southern Maryland. And we were all going to North Carolina." Terri replied with a sigh.
"Is there anyone else who you think could have done this?" Shannon Cotsworth asked, the girls had requested her present.
"What about some of his employees or people he worked with?" Amber suggested.
"Yeah! What about…oh, I can't remember his name…Andy! Andy Stroh! Jonathan screwed up deals with him all the time, got Andy in some major trouble with his clients." Terri exclaimed, sitting up in her chair.
"We already checked him, he died two months ago of lung cancer." Shannon replied.
"Are you sure? I didn't think he smoked." Terri replied, losing what little hope she had just gathered.
"I don't think he did." Becca added.
"Well, he must have according to the doctors we talked to, they said that they didn't even know he had the cancer until the autopsy, his lungs were charcoal gray and black." Shannon informed.
"Gosh…." Lexi sighed…this meeting seemed to be going nowhere fast, her eyes were heavy and circles cascaded her eyes from lack of sleep…She also missed Nick. The guys had to leave to go to New York. They didn't want to leave the girls, but they had no choice, and the girls couldn't leave.
"Is there anyone else?"
"There are so many possibilities…no one sticks out in my mind…" Terri sighed, extremely tired and frustrated.
"Hey, how'd the meeting go?" Howie asked over speakerphone at the house in North Carolina. The girls groaned, saying nothing.
"That bad, huh?" Brian asked.
"Worse." Amber replied, resting her head on a pillow.
"The one person I thought would've done it for sure died two months ago." Terri sighed, wanting to crawl under her bed and die from all the pressure and pain of all this.
"Gosh…don't worry…" Nick told them soothingly.
"Easy for you to say." Erin piped up…she hadn't said a word since the meeting.
"Well, we'll be back tomorrow. Our plane arrives around 9AM and we should be at the house by noon if there is any traffic." Kevin told them, trying to brighten things up a little bit.
"Thank god, I miss you." Amber replied, not being able to think about anything but the fact that she needed to be with Kevin so he could just make the world melt, disappearing forever.
"I miss you too, hon." Kevin replied with a smile, his green eyes twinkling.
"Can I talk to Terri off speaker phone?" AJ asked, his raspy voice full of concern.
Lexi picked up the phone and handed it to Terri.
"Hey, Bone." She greeted, her voice lifeless and dry.
"Hey T, I need to tell you something…The detective called today and told us that there was a call made to Jonathan from an untraceable phone. He didn't pick up and a message is all that was left. The person said to meet them where he died, and then said it was you. It sounded just like you, and Erin's voice was traced in the back round." AJ told her grimly.
"Are you serious?!" Terri asked, barely able to get out the words.
"Yeah honey…I am." AJ replied. Terri couldn't speak, her muscles refused to function, and every nerve ending in her body went numb. She couldn't think…she just blacked out in a sense. "T? Terri? Babe, are you there?" AJ asked, not getting a response. Terri dropped the phone and curled in a ball, not doing anything. The girls immediately went over to her, trying to snap her out of whatever zone she was in.
"AJ, this is Becca. She's numb! What did you tell her?"
AJ told Becca the same story he had told Terri, and suddenly all hope that was ever there, in it's slightest entirety was lost…
Chapter 2
Chapter 4
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