Nick drove as fast as he dared. He was afraid that this might happen. "Damn it," he thought. "God, what if this makes her really mad at me? I shouldn't think about that now." He pulled into the police station, and ran in.
"Nick!" Cassandra said running up to him. "I'm glad that you're here." She led him into the room where everyone else what. He sat down next to Angel, and took a deep breath.
"Nick, we were talking about you today," Angel said giving Cassandra a look, and the two of them laughed.
"That's nice," said Nick, "but I'm afraid that I have some explaining to do."
"What are you talking about?"
Nick stood up to face Cassandra. "I hired that guy to follow you. He's a private investigator, he's my cousin, and he owed me a favor."
"But why?" Cassandra asked.
"Because last night when you told me that you had nothing left to live for except me, I was so afraid that you would go out and kill yourself. I know everything that you've been through, I've been through it, too, and it's not easy. So, I called my cousin." Nick looked in her eyes and tried to figure out what she was thinking, because she wasn't saying anything.
"Oh Nick," she finally said shaking her head. "Nick, Sweetie, you worry way too much!" She put her arms around his neck. He wasn't sure what to do, so he just stood there. She took his arms and put them around her. "It's okay. I just can't believe that you would do something like that."
"Okay," said the police officer, "but we still need you to identify that this guy is your cousin and not somebody else." Nick nodded his head. Cassandra turned to Nicole, Angel, Emalia and Mercedes.
"You guys go on ahead. We'll catch up with you at home. Will you guys put my stuff in my room?"
"Yeah," they all said, and walked out.
"Well, let's go," said that officer and lead Nick and Cassandra down a hallway and to a cell. "Is this the guy?"
"Yeah," said Nick. "Sorry, Andre." The officer opened the cell and Andre stepped out.
"No, it's okay," said Andre. "I'm used to it." One officer escorted Andre down the hallways and into a room to fill out some paperwork. Just as Nick and Cassandra were walking down the hallway, they stopped.
"Hey, you guys remember the last time you were here?" the remaining officer asked. "Was it your sister that had died? Or was it her husband's child that died? Or was it both?"
"Man, shut up!" Nick said coldly.
"Oh that's right," the officer continued. "It was both, then her husband kicked the bucket, then you two almost died in that house. Man, you two must be pretty fucked up!"
"That's it!" Nick yelled and jumped on the guy, knocking them both to the ground. An officer rushed by Cassandra and grabbed Nick.
"Book this ass hole!" said the officer getting off of the ground and touching his hand to his cut lip. The other officer put Nick in the cell that Andre was in.
"Wait! No wait!" pleaded Cassandra, but they slammed the door shut. "You can't do this!"
"Oh yes we can! Now, come Mrs. Carter, we have some things to discuss."
Cassandra went up to the bars and made sure that the officer weren't listening. "Give me your keys," she whispered. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and silently handed them to her, and she slipped them in to her purse. "I will be back. Hang tight here and I will get you out of here. I promise."
"Just be careful," he said.
"I will be fine. They can taunt me or pick a fight with me, but no one messes with my husband! I love you."
"I love you, too."
"Let's go, Mrs. Carter!" Cassandra quickly gave Nick a kiss and ran out of the hallway. Nick sat down and began to stare at the wall.
"So why did you do it?" Jonathan asked as Nicole sat on his couch in his room.
"Do what?" Nicole asked.
"Come on Nicole. Why did you cheat on me?" he asked abruptly.
"Oh." Nicole stood up and started to pace.
"Well?"
"Jonathan, brace yourself."
"Why?"
"Because if you think that it can't get worse, it can." Nicole took a deep breath.
"Look, I want him out of there," Cassandra said slamming her hands on the officer's desk. The officer leaned back in his chair and grinned.
"It's gonna cost you," he said.
"How much?"
"Five hundred dollars."
"What? Are you kidding me? You can't be serious!"
"I but I am. Or there are other ways-"
"Just stop right there! You're enjoying this aren't you? Well I have news for you. I will be back here, with enough money to get him out of here faster than you can pull that stick out of your ass." With that, she turned and ran out to Nick's car. She jumped in and moved the seat up so she could actually reach the steering wheel. She already missed him, but she dismissed the thought from her mind. She now had a mission him, so she rushed home.
She parked the car. Leaving it running, she ran inside the house. "You guys, I need as much extra money as you can give me." Everyone looked around at each other.
"How much is extra?" Kevin asked.
"Like five hundred is extra."
"I don't think we have that much extra," said Emalia. "What's it for?"
"Oh, Nick is, kind of, um, in jail."
"What?" they all said.
"Yeah. One officer fucked around with us so Nick took him out. Anyway, I gotta get back to him." Cassandra ran back out to the car and was gone before anyone could say anything.
She pulled up to the police station and ran in. She prayed that she wouldn't run into that other police officer, and she was in luck. There was a different on there, and he was much nicer.
"Yes Miss? May I help you?"
"Yeah, I need to see my husband," she said.
"Oh. Right this way. If you don't mind me asking, what's he in for?"
"This one cop starting saying some bad stuff on a touchy issue for us, so my husband attacked him."
"Was this officer kind of tubby, slow witted, and have a cut on his lip?"
"Yeah, that's the guy." The officer started to laugh.
"Oh that guy's had it coming for a long time! Tell your husband that this whole station commends him!"
"Oh, gee thanks." Cassandra ran down to Nick and grabbed the bars.
"Cassandra." He went up to the bars and put his hands over hers.
"The good news is that the whole station commends you for taking that guy, but, the bad news is that no one has any money."
"Wait a second. I remembered something. I overheard some officers talking about going to A.J.'s to do more looking around."
"So?"
"So, you can ask them if they've found a box with a large amount of money in it because I don't know where it is. I only remember A.J. telling me about it."
"Nick, you think?"
"I dunno."
"One way or another, I'll be back, okay?" She gave him a long kiss good bye and then ran out to his car and headed to A.J.'s house. Nick sat down and began to stare at the wall, again.
Cassandra into A.J.'s house and just like Nick had said, there were two police officers looking around. "By any chance did one of you come across a box?" Cassandra asked them.
"No, but by any chance are you Cassandra?"
"Actually, yes."
"Well then this is for you. We found this note by a knife and it's addressed to you."
Cassandra took the note. "Uh, thank you." The note that she read to herself, had a couple of drops of blood on it.
"Jonathan," Nicole started, "when I realized that I had the perfect life, it upset me. When I realized that I had the perfect boyfriend, the perfect sex life even, and I didn't have the serious problems that my cousin Cassie was, it bothered me. I lost all feeling of want. I had no reason to want anything, because I had everything I ever wanted. So, I set out to change all of that, and boy did I succeed. Because now, I want back everything that I've lost-"
"Shh," Jonathan said. "I don't want to talk anymore. Let's just sit here for a while. I-I just want to think."
"I thought we were back-"
"You said it yourself. You needed to feel want, and now you want everything back that you've lost. Well I am going to grant your wish. You can want all you want." Jonathan didn't say another word. He just sat there.
Cassandra read the note to herself.
Dear Cassandra
Listen, I don't know where to begin, but know that ever word comes straight from my heart. I was so wrong and I never meant to hurt you or Isabella. I'm sorry for everything I've put everyone through. I wish that I could have one more chance, but that isn't possible. Isabella and I shared a lot together, each other was all we ever needed. I took out love for granted, and not I'm paying for it. now it's just a matter of time until I can feel her touch again. Just a matter of time until she'll let me back into her world. I never meant to hurt her or cause her pain, and now I just want my name cleared. I want to be cleared from being the bad guy. Those days are over, I've changed my ways. I can' deal with anything know that I am hated.
Upstairs in my nightstand drawer, are the keys to the cottage in Ireland and the key to a safe deposit box in the town's bank. The number is 544. We had been saving to buy that cottage and to fly out there, and to live out there. I want you to have everything, I don't have anyone else to give it to. Isabella I can handle, but now, all I ask is for your forgiveness. Please.
A.J.
Cassandra clutched the note to her heart. "Oh A.J., I forgive you. I forgive you." She ran up the stairs and pulled open the drawer to A.J.'s nightstand. She found three keys. She put them in her purse and casually walked out of the house and back into Nick's car. She drove to the bank and walked inside.
"May I help you?"
"Yeah, I'm here to open a safe deposit box."
"You're name, please?"
"Well my name is Cassandra Carter, but it may not be under my name-"
"This way please." Cassandra was a little surprised but figured that A.J. must have had it put in her name. The man led her to the vault. "May I see some identification please?"
"Oh, of course." Cassandra showed the man her driver's license and he unlocked the vault.
"What number is it?"
"It's number 544."
He lead her to the box. "May I have your key please?"
Cassandra pulled out the three keys. "Well I'm not actually sure which one it is."
The man looked over the three keys, then picked out one. "It's this one." The man turned the key and handed her the box.
"Thank you." She opened the box and almost dropped it. She didn't want the man to get suspicious, so she hid her emotions. "Do you have a bag I can empty this stuff into?"
"Uh, yeah." He left for a second. When he came back they emptied out the contents of the box, then he replaced the box.
"Thank you, very much," she said and left the bank.
When she got back to Nick's car, she screamed. She looked inside the bag. "The deeds to the cottage, and there had to be at least two hundred thousand dollars in here! Now we can pay off our house, we were running low on our inheritance-" Her thoughts were running wild, but they soon came to a halt. "Nick!" She threw the bag onto the passenger's seat and took off for the police station.
When she reached the station, she ran in and saw the evil police officer that she so hated. "Well, well, well, Mrs. Carter, back so soon? Well I'll let you in to talk to your husband-"
"No," said Cassandra. "I'm here to get him out. I want my husband back."
"Oh, so you've given in to my demands-"
"No! Not that one! I'm here to pay."
"Oh yes? With what?"
"I'll give you two choices. Paper or plastic?"
"Uh-"
"I thought so." She handed him a credit card. "Charge it, and make it fast. My time is very valuable." The look on the officer's face as he took her credit card, was priceless.
"I'll be right back." Cassandra smiled to herself.
About five minutes later, he walked back in and handed her back her credit card. "Right this way, Mrs. Carter." He lead her down to Nick's cell and opened the door.
"Thank you, that will be all. We will be out to fill out the paperwork, and all of the charges will be dropped."
"Y-yes ma'am." Cassandra watched the officer leave, and as soon as he did, she dropped the act and hugged Nick.
"Cassia! What's with the rich act?"
"We are rich!" she replied.
"What?"
"I'll explain in the car. I've missed you!"
"Oh Cassia, how'd you get me out of here? You didn't-"
"Nick! Of course not! I gave him a choice of paper or plastic, and he took the plastic credit card." She gave him a kiss. "Now come on, let's go home."
When Nick and Cassandra walked into the house, they went and sat in the living room. They sat on the floor since Emalia and Kevin had the couch, and Angel and Howie had the love seat.
"What happened?" Howie asked. "We heard that you were in jail."
"I guess that I was, but thanks to Cassie, I got out and all of the charges were dropped," Nick said.
"How? What did you do?" Kevin asked.
"This police officer started saying some bad stuff about Isabella and A.J.'s deaths and told us that we must be pretty fucked up, so I kind of, attacked him."
"Kind of?"
"Yeah I guess."
"So how'd you get him out, Cassie?" Emalia asked.
"Let's just say that I scared the officer a little bit. Nobody messes with my husband!" Everyone laughed, but just then, the phone rang. "I'll get it," Cassandra offered getting up off of the floor, and running over to the phone.
"Cassandra?"
"Mr. Johnson?"
"Yes. I just wanted to inform you that your sister and her husband's private funeral, has to be paid by either you or someone else. But, Lucy and Adrian-James' funerals will be taken care of."
"Oh, thank you. And what about Austin's?"
"His will be taken care of also, by his mother."
"Thank you, for everything, Mr. Johnson."
"It was my pleasure, Cassandra. Give your husband my best."
"Thank you, I will." Cassandra hung up the phone, and walked back into the living room.
"Who was that?" Nick asked.
"It was Mr. Johnson."
"What did he say?" Kevin asked.
"He told me that Isabella and A.J.'s private funeral we have to pay for, but Lucy and Adrian-James' funeral will be taken care of."
"Oh that's good," said Emalia.
"I don't think that I'm going to go to the wake tomorrow night," said Cassandra.
"Oh," said Emalia.
"I almost forgot, Mr. Johnson also said that Austin's funeral would be taken care of by his mother."
"Oh," said Nick. "I guess that's-"
"Austin's funeral?" Kevin asked.
"Oh," said Cassandra, "I guess that we didn't tell you guys."
"Tell us what?" asked Angel.
"Austin was found hanged in his cell," Cassandra started, "and across the wall said, I will come back and get you Cassandra." The four people gasped at this new information. "And the night before, I dreamt-" She stopped when she saw Nick shaking his head at her, so she didn't finish her sentence.
"What were you saying?" Howie asked her.
"Oh, nothing," said Cassandra looking over at Nick. "Nothing."