18
Vanessa stormed into the interrogation room, her movements sharp and deliberate. Without hesitation, she raised a file folder and brought it down with a resounding smack across the leader’s face.
The sharp crack echoed in the room, and a thin line of blood appeared on his cheek.
Her voice trembled with controlled fury. “It was you! You and your crew did this to my son! I should kill you all right here!”
The man blinked, stunned. His smirk disappeared as he realized Vanessa’s unrelenting
rage.
“Hey, what the hell is this? She’s hitting me! Aren’t you cops going to stop her?!”
But no one moved.
Bound to the interrogation chairs, they couldn’t fight back. They could only feebly raise their arms to shield their faces as Vanessa lashed out. Blow after blow, the file folder cracked against their skin, splitting lips, bloodied noses, and loosening teeth.
When the folder finally tore apart, Vanessa didn’t stop. She dropped it and swung her fists, each punch landing with unrelenting force.
Her expression was blank, eerily detached, yet the violence in her movements was terrifyingly precise–like a reaper delivering judgment.
The gang of thugs cowered, some crying out in pain, others frozen in shock. One even wet himself, the acrid smell filling the room.
The rest of the officers stood by, watching silently. None of them lifted a finger to intervene.
“Help! She’s going to kill us!” the leader screamed, his voice cracking. “Aren’t you
Mar 13
supposed to stop her? Aren’t you afraid of losing your jobs?”
Detective Boone snorted. “Who told you she’s a cop?”
The gang froze.
Suddenly, it clicked. They remembered the others calling her Dr. Sterling–Hartman. She wasn’t a police officer.
“She’s not one of us,” Boone added coldly. “She’s a civilian. Sure, she’ll get a slap on the wrist for what she’s doing, but you? You’re not walking out of here alive. So scream all you
want.”
The gang’s bravado shattered utterly.
I hovered above, torn between satisfaction and sorrow. Seeing them finally pay they’d done felt good, but I’d never seen my mother like this.
for
what
Vanessa didn’t stop until she’d worn herself out. Her punches slowed, and her breathing came in ragged gasps. She stepped back, looking at the broken, bloody men slumped in
their chairs.
“Killing you would dirty my hands,” she spat before walking away, her back straight but
trembling.
She didn’t look back.
Vanessa returned to the forensics lab, clearly intent on taking my remains. But just as she reached for the gurney, someone stepped in her path–my aunt, Rachel.
“What are you doing?” Rachel demanded, her voice trembling.
Vanessa hesitated. “I’m taking Elijah home.”
“To do what?!” Rachel’s voice cracked with anger. “Do you even remember what you said
before?”
Vanessa froze. The memory surfaced immediately. She had sworn, in a moment of rage, that if something happened to me, she would relinquish my remains to Rachel and the
Hartman family.
“…” Vanessa began, but Rachel didn’t let her finish.
“Elijah was your son, but where were you when he needed you most?” Rachel’s voice grew louder, tears glistening in her eyes. “Where were you when he called, begging for help? What were you doing?!”
Vanessa’s face crumpled, and she faltered.
“I didn’t mean to ignore him,” she whispered. I thought… I thought he was just trying to
manipulate me. I only wanted him to give up on the academy. I didn’t mean for this to happen… I didn’t know…”
“You didn’t know?” Rachel’s voice was shrill with rage. “What difference does that make
now? He’s dead, Vanessa! Dead because of you! And now you want to take his body? Not.
His remains belong to the Hartmans.”
Vanessa’s hands clenched at her sides. “No… He’s my son. He’s my son!”
“Was he? Was he?” Rachel shot back. “When he called you, you turned him away! You
refused to help! Don’t you dare claim him now, not after everything you’ve done?”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears, but Rachel pressed on.
“This is your fault! You killed him as surely as those thugs did. And now, you think you
can just take him back? No! His remains are going with us. Back to the Hartman family, where he’ll finally be treated with the love and respect he deserves.”
Vanessa’s knees buckled, but she didn’t fall. She looked at Rachel, broken and desperate,
but Rachel’s resolve didn’t waver.
The room fell silent, the weight of grief and anger thick. I could only watch, helpless, as the two most important women in my life stood on opposite sides of an unbridgeable
divide.
All I wanted was to bring them peace, but instead, I had left them with nothing but
heartbreak.
