Lies that Destroy

Disclaimer: I do not own Good Luck Charlie

A/N: From this point on Teddy will go by her given birth name, April. To avoid confusion, it will change to that within both the narrative and dialogue.

Chapter 26 (New Home)

"So what do you think of New York, Ted-April?" April fidgeted with her pants for a second and glanced to PJ, they were both riding in the backseat of their father's car together. In the front seat, Skyler was tagging along for the ride. She opted to stay up front and let PJ and April sit next to one another, seeing as how they hadn't seen each other in a week.

"It's big, it's frightening, overwhelming, but I think it'll be all right." She smiled and glanced out the back window where Opal was following with her parents. Skyler's family was behind them. "I can't wait to see the house. You've not seen it yet, PJ?"

"Nope, I just got out of the hospital this morning and I've been getting all my stuff together. Dad's been getting the house ready in the meantime." She nodded and leaned back a bit, thinking of the trip everyone had to make into Manhattan. It was a little over twenty minutes there from Queens, New York, New York. Aunt Martha had to go into Manhattan for her job, Henry had to go in for the construction jobs, Uncle Leroy was a broker on Wall Street.

"How come no one lives in Manhattan, or wherever they work? Everyone lives out here in Queens, or Long Island…" Skyler was the one to answer, glancing back with a knowledgeable expression.

"There are no real homes in Manhattan, just apartment buildings and stuff. Most everyone lives outside of the city if they want an actual house. Like me, we lived in the city for a couple weeks until Dad was able to find us a nice house out here in Queens. The good thing is, it's not so far from the city, so it's fun to go and do stuff like window shopping or dining out. I've seen the Statue of Liberty a million of times, but I prefer the empire state building." She often wondered what the empire state building involved, perhaps now was as good a time as any to find out.

"So everyone commutes? Hey Skyler, have you ever given thought to what the empire state building was actually used for?" April rolled her head against the window and waited as Skyler lifted her shoulders and glanced back at her. "So what is in it?"

"It's really only used for tourism. I know it does rent out some spaces for businesses, but that's about it. Besides it being one of the tallest buildings in the world, there's nothing else special about it…I'll show you the place when we do our tour of NYC, if you're still interested."

"Of course!" She wanted nothing more than to spend some time with Skyler. She was almost a part of this whole family anyhow, and surely would help her get used to this large place even sooner.

Once they made it to the house, April and PJ stood in awe. The front yard was separated only by a sidewalk leading from the front door to the mailbox, and on either side it had vibrant green grass flowing out like an ocean. The house itself was a large, beautiful two story home with a wonderfully crafted crème oak door. Henry opened the door and smiled at his two children. "We're home…"

PJ looked to his sister and smiled as she gripped his wrist and started pulling him into the home. Inside, they were astonished by the clean crème carpeting and desert sand walls with a milky smooth texture. The second floor balcony could be seen over the living room, it had a white wood railing from wall to wall so anyone could look over and see the living room.

The living room itself was spacious, rectangular, with a couch and television on their right. To their left was an oval brown oak table with four chairs surrounding it. There were two open passageways, one before the table, and one closer to the couch, both led into the kitchen. Beside the entrance near the couch were two desks with computers that had been turned off.

Making their way into the kitchen, their eyes drifted to the mellow peach colored tiles on the ground. The kitchen was rectangular as well, to their right was a sliding glass door leading out into the side of the house and backyard, facing a fence. To their left was a long kitchen counter with a beautiful marble top. Next to the start of this counter was the stairwell leading up to the second floor.

They walked in between the stairwell and a doorway that led into the master bedroom, and came out to where the main, bigger living room rested. The ceiling was high, almost like a palace, and there was a large television in the right back corner. The left wall, and the wall where the stair railing rested, both had two three seat couches. The couch near the railing had two recliners, one on either side.

In the corner between the two couches were several shelves with movies and books. Beside these shelves was another passageway that led into a hallway where one of the guest bedrooms, and a bathroom were located. On the opposite side of the couch against the flat wall was a door that led out into the large backyard.

The second floor held the second guest bedroom, and outside of the bedroom where the balcony overlook was, was a long pool table.

Both bedrooms had been cleaned and fresh sheets had been put down on what were full sized mattresses. Behind PJ and April were all their relatives. "What do you think?" Henry asked with a slight smile. "The guest bedrooms are now yours, they can be decorated any way you like." April liked the thought of being on the second floor, but either room was fine when it came to actually having a room that wasn't a basement.

The upper bedroom was larger and more spacious than the one on the bottom, and it actually had a bathroom connected to it. It was a little bigger than she would have liked. "I think I prefer the one downstairs, what about you PJ?" Her brother scratched his head and glanced out at the balcony.

"It does seem nice. I don't have any problems with it, I can play my music up here and at least it'll be a little quieter than if I were practicing down there." Plus, he needed space to put his drums and all. She only needed the bed, dresser, and computer desk. "You sure you don't want this room, T-April."

"Yeah." She moved over to her father and quickly hugged his neck. There was no doubt the connection was there. Henry smiled and hugged her back. "I can't wait to tell Deputy Dooley that I've made it! I actually forgot that I was supposed to call him." It actually had been several hours now, they'd gone to eat before really heading home. "I'm going to do that…"

"All right, and tell Mr. Dooley I said 'thank you'." She nodded and quickly danced down the steps. She had set her phone down on the kitchen counter. Thinking fast, she grabbed it up and started to dial the detective's number. She hadn't really thought about Bob and Amy since she'd been there, but she knew it was only a matter of time before they would creep into her thoughts again. She truly hoped the nightmares would go away, however.

When she looked up to the front door, she saw a person standing behind it. The doorbell rang and she rushed to answer, it was Deputy Dooley. "Deputy Dooley? When did you get over here?" He frowned and closed his eyes, heaving forth a heavy sigh. She looked back over her shoulder as the rest of the family made their way down the stairs and into the room.

"I'm glad to see you made it here safely, Teddy."

"Thank you. I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't for your help." He smiled vaguely, which concerned her. Was something wrong? "Anyway, I'm going by my given name now. What are you doing here?"

"I'm afraid I have some bad news…" Her heart started to sink as his gaze met Henry's. "Mr. Booth. If you have a minute…" Henry nodded and led the detective into the main living room. Everyone gathered around and sat in various places. Deputy Dooley wiped his brow with a small piece of cloth and leaned back. "I had to be sure to get over here as soon as I could…there's some new information regarding Jasmine…" April froze and shifted her eyes over to Henry, who looked very confused. She felt PJ, who was sitting beside her, start to tense.

"Well. What is it?" Henry asked with a fearful whisper. "What 'new development' are you talking about?"

"Her case has been moved to a homicide." She wanted to scream, but couldn't find the strength to even budge her lips. Her mother was murdered? Henry clenched his fists as Deputy Dooley bowed his head. "A witness came forward, saying she no longer was afraid to speak out, but we have reason to believe Bob Duncan and Dr. Rupert Singh are behind your wife's death. She was pushed from that rooftop, Mr. Booth."

"You've got to be kidding me…and Amy had nothing to do with it?"

"We believe she doesn't know…"

"I understand…" Henry leaned forward, gripping his hands together and closing his eyes. On the coffee table in front of him was a framed photo of his wife. He started to tremble and a salty tear escaped his eye. "In high school, Jasmine and Amy were best of friends, inseparable. It wouldn't make sense for Amy to have ever killed her…no matter what, even if Amy took our children, she'd never want to seriously hurt Jasmine…even in those final years, Jasmine always talked positively about her."

"So they had a good friendship?" The deputy rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes. He seemed to be thinking about something. A silence descended upon everyone in the room, tension was so thick that no one dared to disturb it. "How much from your high school years can you remember?"

"Plenty. I remember Rupert…you say he had something to do with my wife's death?"

"Yes. He was also harboring Bob and Amy, we believe. He confessed to having been involved…he took his life, along with several of my officers…" Henry tensed and opened his eyes halfway. He grit his teeth as Deputy Dooley continued on, "We're a bit at a standstill in our investigation. If you can remember anything, then you could help us. How long did you know Bob?"

"I personally never knew him, but we went to school together since at least the fourth grade. He was the devil even then…" Deputy Dooley's eyebrows rose sharply as Henry smacked his hands down onto his knees. "He hated having a police father, so he rebelled constantly, I remember that much. He had lots of friends growing up and was very manipulative with women…in junior high, I remember hearing him say that women were 'weak' so they were 'easier to control'…these were reasons I stayed away from him. I know he was bad with women, he did things that were really…really bad…My only hope is he never touched Jasmine." The Deputy grimaced for a split second and brandished his hand in the air.

"These friends of his, we need to investigate all of them. If you remember any names…some of them could be hiding him."

"I can remember several people he hung out with. If you have a piece of paper handy, I'll give you those names." Deputy Dooley nodded and reached into his suit pocket, pulling out a small notepad. "Anything to help. Find that bastard, Deputy…if you have to, put an extra bullet in him for me, would you?" He took the notepad and grabbed a pen off the table, then furiously began writing down various names. The Deputy gave him a knowing nod and waited patiently. "Off the top of my head, I remember a Bob Diddlebock, that's actually one of his longest friends, and in Junior High, that man was the one who provided some of his drugs and alcohol."

"I see. Don't worry Mr. Booth, we'll find him."

"Get that monster off the streets…no matter what it takes." Henry took a deep breath and let his eyes drift over to his wife's picture. "I remember Jasmine told me many years ago, Amy changed when she met Bob. Jasmine hated both of the Bobs, said she didn't want Amy to date them. When Duncan started dating her, that's when Jasmine noticed more of a change…she was worried about her, she didn't think Amy knew just how bad of a man she was with…now it just seems…Jasmine's worries were more just than we thought." He bowed his head as the deputy put a firm hand to his shoulder.

"We'll get him. I guarantee it. I won't rest until he and Amy are brought in."

So tell me your thoughts.