The doors to the precinct flew open but no one noticed until a man threw himself onto Jake Oakley. There was loud shouting off the new man but Jake just sat and took the abuse, not disturbed at what was happening to him. The gun was shaking at the man's forehead and the younger one was staring at him, frightened.
Lily lifted her gun up, aiming at the new guy. "Get off of him!"
"Dale, stop!" Hattie cried running out of the room, Lucy balancing on her hip as she looked at him with desperate pleas.
"Hattie, how could you do this to me?" Dale spat looking over at her. "How would you even consider keeping me in the dark!"
"I didn't want to give you any bad ideas or false hope."
"I had nothing at all because I knew the murdering bastard was already safely locked away in a prison cell. You're the one who decided to change that."
"He didn't do it, Dale!" The woman screamed at him, handing her daughter to her husband before moving closer towards them. "He didn't do it."
Dale turned to look at her, tears falling down his face as he shook his head. "He said he did. Why would he lie?"
"To protect you. To protect me. We wouldn't have been able to survive knowing the murdering bastard was still prowling the streets. Dad saved us from years of misery!"
"No he didn't, Hattie. You spent years searching. You knew and lied to me."
"Dale, I never lied to you!" She whispered taking a step forward again, her hand resting on his shoulder. "I love you too much to lie to you!" She whispered tears fall down her cheeks as she shook her head. "That's why we didn't tell you anything. We knew you'd react like this."
"We?" He looked over at his shoulder and smiled at Lorenzo. "Ah, hubby is here too!"
"Dale, please don't take away the last part of my family." She whispered looking at him, her eyes showing how much she needed her dad to survive. "I want him to get to know Lucy. I want him to live a life he should have had."
"He deserves to die, Hattie. I actually want to be the one who delivers the lethal injection."
"He didn't fucking do it, Dale!" She screamed one last time before yanking the gun out of his hand and handing it to Lily. "Just stop!" She pleaded shaking her head, her hands taking hold of his cheeks as she looked at him. "It'll soon be over."
"It'll never be over because I'm not with her anymore, Hattie. Do you know what I really wanted to do. I really wanted to press that damned gun against my chin and blow my brains out because it will save me from living in this hellhole."
"Don't say that!" She whispered pressing a small kiss against his lips before pulling him into a bear hug. "I can't lose everyone, Dale."
Lily moved the gun out of the way before looking at Stillman, her hands trembling as she bit back tears.
"We need to solve this case boss."
"You bet we do." He grumbled before wiping his brow with sweat, his eyes never ripping away from the couple. How he could remember the both that day sat on one of the church pews.
Stillman finished quizzing them and stood up, heading over to his boss before noticing something. Hattie took hold of Dale's face in her hands and kissed him lightly, "We'll get through this together."
"I don't know if i can." He whispered back before kissing her cheek gently, pulling her against him so that they were hugging.
Stillman knew that it was the way they showed their friendship. He'd been told by her mother that they'd all been close, you didn't know who was dating who at times because Hattie and Dale were inseperable. He could see the pain in both of their faces and he didn't know what he'd do if he didn't solve this case. He immediately looked way.
Which is what he did that exact moment because it brought back memories of sliding the box on the shelves unsolved.