A/N: Meter and a lot of information...be ready! Special S/O to my girl Im A Doctor Not A Writer for her wonderful appreciation towards me and my stories! You are awesome love and I am truly grateful for our friendship.
She couldn't help but to be proud of herself for pulling off this wonderful murder. Tolson didn't deserve to live, not after what he did to her mother. No man could treat her mother like that and get away with it. The perfect crime she thought.
Sipping on a glass of Chardonnay, she picked up her cellphone and dialed her cousin's number. She needed him to help her finish the deed. The police had found the weapon, they knew about the affair, now all they had to do was get rid of the evidence from her home and car and they would get away with the perfect crime.
Sitting on her couch, Megan couldn't believe Lacey had caught her making out with her partner. She had just chastised Lacey about being with a boy, yet she had gotten caught reenacting the same sex-crazed teenage antics. How life repeated itself Megan would never know. She had tried to explain to Lacey what was going on, but Lacey refused to listen. As far as she was concerned, her mother was a big fat hypocrite who couldn't tell her anything.
Peter had excused himself after Megan followed Lacey to her room to explain herself. He didn't want to be there when the war broke out. What was I thinking, what was she thinking Peter asked himself. It was in the heat of the moment. He wanted her as much as she wanted him, but he couldn't go down that road...not right now anyway. He needed to clear her name and make sure she was safe before he officially pursued her.
"Lacey, will you let me explain," Megan asked her daughter as she followed her to her room.
"Explain what mom? Explain how you had your tongue half way down your partner's throat? Explain why you were straddling your partner in our living room, explain that?" Lacey huffed in annoyance.
Megan bit her lip. She couldn't come up with a logical explanation for her actions. She was caught red handed and there was no way she could wiggle her way out of this situation. Finally Megan decided to just tell her the truth.
"Lacey...I'm in trouble. Someone is framing me for murder and I called Peter because I was afraid. He came over, one thing led to another and we just started kissing," Megan told her as she shrugged. "That's the honest to God truth."
Lacey unfolded her arms and sat up on her bed. Her mother never lied to her before and if this was true, then she understood why her mother had called Peter. Her eyes fell to her lap as she played with her fingers. "Sorry mom. I hate this has happened to you. Tell Peter I'm sorry as well; just don't judge me too hard ok."
Megan smiled as she walked over to her daughter. Taking a seat, Megan wrapped Lacey into her arms and kissed her forehead. "Not a chance. Time to go back to bed, I love you." Megan kissed Lacey once more on the head then rose and headed to her room.
"What is it Emily?" Chad groaned.
Emily sighed into the phone, "Wake your ass up, we have to get rid of this evidence."
Chad rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock. It read six am as he fell back onto his pillow. Chad didn't want to do this anymore, he didn't want to hurt Lacey, but he had to stay loyal to his cousin.
"What do we have to do?"
"I'll explain once we are together. Never discuss anything over the phone. I'll see you in an hour."
Chad was grateful for the dial tone on the other end of his phone. He hit the end button and rolled back over. He wasn't in the mood for his cousins bossy attitude...it was too early in the damn morning.
Megan rose early from her restless slumber. She hadn't gotten much sleep after her conversation with Lacey but her body was at rest. Pulling back the covers, Megan placed her feet into her slippers and headed for her bathroom. Forty minutes later, Megan was coming out of her bathroom as she began rummaging through drawers for clothes. A knock at the door was brought to Megan's attention. "Enter."
"Mom, you ok?" Lacey asked as she leaned on the door.
Megan smiled as she motioned for her daughter to come to her. "I'm fine sweetheart. I apologize...for everything. Tell Chad he is more than welcomed to come over, when I'm here. Got me?"
Lacey smiled as she kissed her mother on the cheek, "You may not have to worry about that. I haven't heard from him since that incident."
Megan looked down at her daughter. She hated that she had put Lacey in this situation but maybe it was for a good reason. "Well sweetie, if he was only after one thing then it's a good thing he's gone."
Lacey nodded her head. She knew she was better than that. Lifting herself from her mother's bed, Lacey kissed her mother once more before leaving her room. She grabbed her things and her phone buzzed signaling her friends were downstairs to pick her up for school.
"Bye mom," Lacey hollered before she shut the front door.
Megan smiled. Her daughter amazed her at times. Turning her attention back to her closet, Megan shook her head. She couldn't believe how many articles of clothing she owned but struggled everyday trying to find the perfect outfit. She finally decided that a pencil skirt and an aqua button down blouse would work perfect with her silver and navy blue pumps.
Megan entered the morgue and headed for her office when a strong hand stopped her in her tracks. She froze instantly, but relaxed when she smelled the aftershave and java coffee radiating from his body. Her eyes slowly met his before either spoke.
"We have a problem," Peter said staring at her.
Megan gulped before she pulled her arm from his grasp. "Well let's talk in my office," she said motioning for him to follow.
"Listen to me, we have a problem. We found prints that weren't in the system on your gun," Peter said seeing he had grabbed her attention. "One set is Lacey's and the other ones we have yet to identify. This isn't looking good at all Megan."
Megan's heart began to race as she thought of her daughter even going near her gun. Megan dropped all of her bags in her doorway as she whipped out her cellphone and dialed Lacey's number. The phone rang, but no one answered. Megan tried again until she realized Lacey was in school. Megan grabbed her purse and headed for the elevators. She knew Peter was following her, at this point, he couldn't risk having her leave his sight.
They arrived at the school in record time. Megan had driven like a bat out of hell and luckily no one was hurt. She slammed her driver door as she ran up the stairs to Palmer High School. Storming in with Peter hot on her heels, Megan turn abruptly, flinging open the Principal's door demanding to see her daughter.
"Dr. Hunt, what's going on?" asked the Principal as she picked up her phone.
"Personal, call my daughter down here now," Megan yelled.
"Yes, please tell Lacey Hunt to come to my office please," said the Principal. "She'll be down in less than five minutes."
Megan and Peter walked out of the Principal's office and waited for Lacey in the hall. As she began pacing, Peter took a seat on the bench outside of the office trying to put the pieces together. He couldn't see Lacey with Megan's gun, but she had touched it. Then he thought about the other set of prints, if Lacey had touched the gun, maybe she had showed it to one of her friends.
Megan continued to pace as her heart rate increased. She wanted to strangle Lacey. How could she be playing with such a powerful weapon? Megan was also mad at herself for not locking it away safely like normal people. She quickly stopped pacing when she heard Lacey's voice.
"Mom, what are you doing here? What's wrong?" Lacey asked as she got closer.
Megan didn't even wait for her to get to her as she took off in Lacey's direction. "What the hell were you thinking playing with my gun?"
Lacey could tell her mother was livid. She hadn't asked permission and she had told Chad he could show it off to his friends so they would think he was cool. She was definitely in hot water and Chad would be too if Lacey told her mother that he was the last one who had it.
Dragging her out of the hallway and outside the school, Megan had the urge to slap the taste out of Lacey's mouth. She wanted straight answers and she wanted them now.
"Lacey Marie Hunt, what in the hell possessed you to touch my gun?" Megan asked as she began pacing again.
Lacey swallowed as her eyes drifted from her mother's to Peters. At that moment, she wished Peter would protect her from her mother. "Mom, that was my first time, I swear."
Megan narrowed her eyes at the teen as she pushed air out through her nostrils. "Lacey, I'm not playing with you. Why were you touching my gun? What were you gonna do with it?"
Peter walked up and stopped Megan from pacing. He saw the fear in Lacey's eyes and her mother's pacing wasn't helping the situation. Slowly, Peter bent down in front of Lacey and gave her a slight grin.
"Ok sweetie, tell me what you were doing with your mother's gun?" Peter coaxed her.
Lacey's eyes began to water, "I was just looking at it. I wanted to know what it felt like to hold it, but I didn't do anything else."
Peter nodded as he continued to coax the girl. He pushed her a little more, trying to get more information from her while trying to keep her calm.
"Lacey, did you let anyone else hold your mother's gun?" Peter asked sternly.
Gulping again, Lacey looked down at her feet and away from Peter's sight. She had given herself away without even knowing it. Slowly the tears began to fall and Lacey began to sob.
Being the good cop that he was, Peter knew that was all the information he was going to get from her for now. He had to work with what he had. He gave Lacey a hug before he told her to head on back into the school.
Before Lacey could reach the door, her mother was behind her. "Come straight to the morgue, do you understand me?"
Lacey shook her head quickly, acknowledging her mother's request before slipping back into school. Her heart began to pump at a regular beat. She thought about contacting Chad, but she wasn't sure what she was going to say. He hadn't returned her mother's gun and telling him would either scare him off or he could try and hurt someone. Slowly she walked back to class and continued on through school without a word to anyone. This was her mess and she had to fix it.
"I'm coming," hollered Chad. He ran down the steps and went to open the door. "Damn Em, you are really starting to get on my nerves."
Emily hit her cousin upside the head as she continued her way into the living room to have a seat. "Your parents are gone to work right?"
Chad nodded as he retrieved a glass from the cabinet. He opened the refrigerator and poured himself some orange juice before taking a seat next to his cousin.
"What do we have to get rid of exactly?"
"The evidence you dimwit, what else? You also need to break it off with Lacey; she isn't going to help our case."
Chad sighed, "Why? If I break it off with her, she'll know something's up."
"Dammit Chad. Get rid of her before I do. We don't need her around making matter worse, got me?"
"Got it Em. I'll text her later once she gets out of school." Chad said as he headed for the kitchen again.
Emily shook her head. Her cousin could be so dumb at times. She began picking up in the living room while she waited for him to get ready. They needed to get a move on; they had no time to waste if they were going to get rid of this evidence.
The ride to the precinct was silent. Peter didn't say anything to Megan and Megan didn't say anything to him. Slowly Peter pulled up and parked. He cut the car off and sat there. He turned and saw Megan gazing out the window. She looked like she was in a daze, somewhere far away from their current situations.
Snapping his fingers, Peter tried to get her attention, "Megan...we have to go talk to them."
Megan jumped at the snapping of Peter's fingers. She had been so zoned out that she had forgotten their previous destination. Dreading the precinct, Megan was very hesitant on going in to talk to Sam and Bud. She needed them to identify the third pair of prints that were on the gun so she could clear her and Lacey's name.
Walking into the precinct, Megan subconsciously stepped closer to Peter. She thought that he could protect her if things began to heat up when they start asking her questions. Feeling his hand being pressed into the small of her back, Megan felt breathe begin to regulate again. He always did have a calming effect on her.
Same and Bud were sitting at their desks shuffling through all the information they had on this particular case. Things just were adding up. All evidence pointed to Megan, but deep down, it just didn't feel right. Sam's head popped up first as she heard the clicking of Megan's burnt red stilettos.
"Hey Dr. Hunt, something up?" Sam asked casually.
Megan looked at Peter for guidance before she spoke. He caught her drift and began talking for her.
"Lacey's prints will be on that gun, but I think that she gave the gun to someone and they used it on Tolson."
Sam sat up, now alert and ready for anything to help clear her friend's good name. "Yeah, we got that Peter. Now the question is who could she have given it to that knew about Tolson?"
Bud sat up, taking in the area. He saw Peter's hand gently resting on Megan's back and Megan was rather close to Peter. Its Bud didn't know any better, he would've sworn that something was going on between them. Finally chiming in, he gave an educated guess. "What if Lacey gave it to one of her friends?"
Megan turned to look at him. There was no way her daughter took that gun out of her house. Lacey just wouldn't do something like that.
Peter snapped his finger catching everyone's attention. "Megan, you told me she had a boyfriend? Let's check him out and see if he's hiding anything."
Megan turned her attention to Peter, "What would he need with my gun? What would be his motive?"
Sam spoke first, cutting Peter off, "If would give us some insight on him. Plus he could've taken the gun without Lacey even realizing it."
Sighing, she placed her hand over her face. This case wasn't getting any easier. They were taking information from everywhere trying to make it fit into this complex puzzle. Although they all three knew Megan was innocent, they had to prove it.
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P.S.-Thanks to everyone who reviewed, alerted, or added this story. I'm so glad you guys are enjoying it and it makes me feel better to know I'm not writing in vain!