Promise To Love Me, Even When You Hate Me.
Chapter 24.
The next morning Lisa had been called into N.I.I.D HQ to discuss her next role. She sat in an office with Shaun and her new potential boss, he flicked through her file glancing up periodically meeting her nervous face.
"So, McDonald, why do you want to transfer to intel work? Seems like you've been smashing it out on the field."
Lisa held her tongue, she was sick of defending her decision, why couldn't people just be supportive? Surely these people knew what it was like, how hard it was to have a normal life. She placed a smile on her face and snapped into professional mode.
"To be honest, Sir, I just want to have a life..."
He raised and eyebrow as he continued to read her file.
"Right...well, there's nothing wrong with that, I just don't want you to get bored."
She was relieved that he seemed to understand, and that there weren't anymore questions.
"I won't, Sir, I promise..."
"Well, I don't think this will be an issue, Shaun has plenty of great things to say about you, and he's an old hand so... welcome to the team!"
She smiled with relief and shook his hand as he rose from the chair.
"Thank you so much, Sir!"
Shaun and Lisa exited the office, he pulled on her arm a little.
"Are you sure this is what you want?"
She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow.
"Boss, I've gotta start making decisions for what's best for me..."
"While were on that, I'm gonna be all fatherly... Warren..."
She shook her head and walked off, she didn't want to hear what he had to say, but he quickly followed behind her.
"Boss, I'm not discussing this with you..."
He ignored her request and re gripped her arm.
"Are you sure you're not jumping in too fast?"
"I said I'm not discussing this…"
She pulled her arm away and walked off, he wasn't going to drop it, he continued to follow.
"C'mon Lisa, I saw how you were with Dylan, I think you actually had..."
She stopped abruptly, he nearly ran into the back of her. She spun round with a stone cold expression on her face.
"I'll stop you right there, none of that was real, Warren is real, and he cares for me..."
Shaun could see she was overwhelmed, he placed a hand on her shoulder trying to calm her but she immediately shrugged it off.
"Yeah, but is he really what you need right now?"
She hesitated ever so slightly.
"Yes, it is, he makes me happy! What happened to not arguing with me cos you know you wouldn't win?"
He let out a sigh and dropped his head a little knowing he needed to back off.
"Okay... as long as you're happy..."
"I'm more than happy, Shaun!"
Lisa scurried off before she burst into tears, she knew she had something special with Dutchy but she couldn't think about it, she needed to deny, deny, deny, she was moving on, it was best for everyone.
Lisa drove back to her house, she unlocked the door and flicked on the lights, it felt so empty and cold. She wondered weather it had always felt like this, but she didn't notice because she was always busy with work. Walking into her room she wrapped her arms around herself, It was quiet, too quiet, she could her hear thoughts. She ran to her wardrobe and grabbed her suitcase, gathering up some of her clothes and toiletries she shoved them into the suitcase. She stopped at the front door and turned, letting out a sigh she slowly closed the door and drove back to Warren's house.
Lisa struggled with her suitcase through the front door, the wheels caught the lip of the door, Warren smirked watching her battle with it.
"You want help?"
She shot him a death glare, he ran to her side and lifted the suitcase over the lip of the door.
"Ah, what's all this?"
"So, you know how you said earlier that we were both adults and there were no rules?"
"Yeah?"
"Ah, how about I move in?"
Warren was stunned for a moment.
"Seriously? Are you sure you want to do this? You said you wanted to go slow."
She frowned slightly, he had spent the past couple of weeks trying to convince her that his feelings were real, and now he was questioning her?
"Of course!"
Later that night they sat in bed reading, Lisa's her head was spinning, her spur of the moment decision was sinking in. She placed the book on the bedside table and let out a huff.
"Why did you ask me if I was sure?"
Before he could answer his phone rang, he looked at the caller ID and rose from the bed, Lisa grabbed his arm stopping him.
"Where are you going?"
"It's work, need my computer."
Lisa picked up her book and Warren headed downstairs, he answered the phone as he opened his laptop.
"Harris?"
"I can't get it Warren…"
"Why not?"
"They're going to trial in a couple of days… it's in the evidence locker, under surveillance."
"I've got an IT guy, he can shut off the cameras…"
"I dunno, I could get canned for this, or worse."
"C'mon, it's fine, my guy will shut off the power, he's not traceable. You owe me, remember, you wouldn't have this job if…"
There was silence on the other end of the phone.
"Harris, please…"
"Okay, but if I get caught you're going down with me."
"Thanks, tomorrow, we'll get it done tomorrow…"
Warren hung up the phone and ran his hand through his hair letting out a sigh.
"Shit…"
The next afternoon Dutchy's phone rang waking him, her rubbed his hands over his face and picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Dylan, it's Jack, umm, just letting you know that there's been some developments..."
Dutchy sat up in bed hearing his lawyer's concerned tone.
"What? They've found something? Someone has confessed?"
"Ah, no, it seems that a piece of the evidence has gone missing."
"What?"
"Yeah, the gun is gone..."
"Does that mean the trial is cancelled?"
"No, the evidence was still logged and the paperwork trail I still valid, and there's the ballistics report, so they can still proceed with the trial."
"Oh..."
"I just thought you should hear it from me, I'll keep you updated."
Frankie knocked on the door hearing him on the phone.
"Dylan, hun, you okay?"
"Yeah.."
She poked her head in the door.
"Who was that?"
"Ah, that was my lawyer, apparently some evidence had gone missing..."
"That's great! If there's no evidence then..."
"No, apparently they can still go through with it."
She sat on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on his knee.
"Well, it has to help doesn't it?"
"I dunno, it may just make me look more guilty."
"Listen, ah, why don't I get some of your crew mates around, have some lunch, catch up."
"What, like a last supper?"
Frankie whacked him on the shoulder.
"Dylan, the truth comes out, it always does."
"No, I can't bring them into this."
That afternoon Warren had shut himself in his office, Lisa sat on the couch watching TV. There was a knock on the door, Lisa called out to Warren.
"Want me to get it?"
"Yeah, it's your house now too!"
His words caused her to freeze for a moment, her actions were still sinking in. She ran to the door and swung it open.
"I have a package for Warren Delaney..."
He held out the PDA for her to sign.
"Ah, sure..."
She signed her name on the screen and he handed her the package and gave her a nod. She placed it on the table and sat back down on the couch still in a semi-daze.
Warren walked down the stairs curious about the door knocker.
"Who was that?"
Lisa pointed to the package on the table and turned her attention back to the TV, Warren let out a scoff.
"Now we're like an old married couple."
She snapped her head round to face him.
"What?"
He laughed at her stunned reaction and shook his head.
"Grunting and pointing, no communication..."
Lisa rolled her eyes and got up and retrieved the package and handed it to him.
"Here, this came for you..."
They sat on the couch as Warren peeled open the plastic satchel, he pulled out a rectangle object covered in bubble wrap.
"What did you order?"
"I didn't order anything."
He carefully peeled off the stick tape to reveal a photo frame with a note.
"Mr Delaney,
We found this in your room after you left.
Royal Sunset Villas Hawaii."
Lisa took a sharp breath in realising what it was, the photo of her and Dutchy. She took it from Warren before he could see it and walked into the kitchen and placed it in the bin.
"Hey, what did you do that for?"
"It was mine, I put it in the bin in Hawaii, they must have thought it was a mistake..."
Warren joined Lisa in the kitchen, placing a foot on the bin pedal it popped open. He reached down and retrieved the frame and turned it over to see the picture.
"Oh..."
He dropped the frame back into the bin and removed his foot from the pedal.
"You okay?"
Lisa walked back to the couch and avoided his concerned eyes.
"Yeah, fine... umm, what are we doing for dinner?"
"Dunno, what do you feel like?"
"Don't mind, something that doesn't make a lot of mess, I'm back at work tomorrow and don't want to come home to a trashed kitchen."
Warren nudged her and let out a chuckle.
"I've told you a million times before, clean as you go!"
Lisa headed to the bathroom, Warren frowned at her reaction to his comment, he was joking. He lept up from the couch and spun her round giving her a kiss.
"You sure you're okay?"
She rubbed her hands over her face, he approached and held her hands in his.
"Ah, yeah, just nervous about work tomorrow I guess..."
He gave her another kiss on the forehead.
"You'll do great!"
She flashed him a halfhearted smile and closed the bathroom door.
Exhaling loudly she lowered herself onto the edge of the bath, turning on the taps she sat there fixated on the water falling from the tap. Her mind flashed back to the day Dutchy took her to Windin Falls, she felt herself smiled and quickly shook the picture out of her mind. She exhaled sharply and took her phone out of her pocket and unlocked it. She hesitated before opening Facebook, she had lasted this long without checking up on him, did she really want to undo all her progress? She typed in Dylan Mulholland, her finger hovered over search, she closed her eyes and pressed it.
His was the first profile to appear, she tapped on his name, she had come this far, she wanted to prove to herself that she could see his face and be okay. She frowned seeing no recent updates, scrolling further down the page the smile returned to her face seeing a picture of Reason on the first day they had got her.
Placing her phone on the side of the bath she reached for the bubble bath and poured in a cap full. She sunk into the bath closing her eyes, she wished she knew how to meditate, or clear her mind, it never stopped. She glanced over to her phone, she had opened a can of worms, she needed to know more. She snatched it off the edge of the bath and opened Google, she typed in his name again and pressed search.
The first article read: Hero turned Murderer. She frowned and scrolled past, it couldn't be the same person. The next few articles had similar headlines, she frowned and added to her search, Dylan Mulholland HMAS Hammersley, but the results were the same.
Propping herself up on the side of the bath she held her breath as she pressed on the article. A picture of Dylan appeared in handcuffs, she let out a loud gasp nearly dropping her phone in the water. She leaned over the side of the bath frantically scrolling through the article.
Dylan Mulholland was released on bail last Friday and is restricted to his neighbour's home. He has been charged with the murder of his girlfriend, and work colleague Kate McGregor.
Hear heart raced and her phone fell from her hands, she couldn't believe what she was reading. She stumbled out of the bath and wrapped herself in a towel and sat on the bath mat, re-grasping her phone she continued to read,
The murder weapon, a 38 calibre gun, was found in Petty Officer Mulholland's house during a police search. His arraignment was held earlier in the week where he plead not guilty, the trial will bring tomorrow, in Cairns.
Warren knocked on the door startling her, she jumped up her feet and opened the door ever so slightly.
"Umm, I'll just be a sec..."
She stared at her phone, suddenly a gut wrenching thought popped into her head, did Warren know? Was he responsible for this? He was in charge of wrapping up the case, how could he not know? She got dressed and made her way downstairs.
They ate dinner in silence, she didn't have the guts to ask him, she was afraid of the answer. What if he admitted it? She didn't know what she would do or how she would react. She finished her food and put her plate in the sink, she just wanted to switch her mind off.
Shuffling around in the kitchen drawers she looked for any type of sleeping pills. A letter caught her eye, it was on NAVCOM stationary, addressed to The Delaney family.
She stared at if for a moment and quickly shoved it into her pocket as Warren approached.
"What you looking for?"
She ran her hands over her face trying to steady her mind and act normal.
"Oh, umm I'm not sleeping too well, thought I saw some tablets..."
"Nope, why don't we have an early night?"
She nodded and followed him up the stairs.
She lay there wrapped in his embrace staring into space, she waited for him to fall asleep and gently peeled his arm off of her. Creeping into the bathroom she grabbed the letter from her dressing gown pocket and unfolded it.
She flipped it over to read the sender's name, she took a sharp breath in as she read it, Dylan Mulholland, sliding her back down the wall she dropped on to the floor and pried the letter out of the envelope and began to read.
"My name is Petty Officer Dylan Mulholland, I was an officer on Will's boarding the day he died. I would like to express my deepest condolences, Will was a great leader and an amazing friend. I know there is nothing I can say that will ease the pain of your loss. I live with the regret every day that I left his side, I could have done more, I should have stayed with him."
Tears streamed down her face as she continued to read, she flipped over the envelope, it was posted marked a week after they had started something. Taking a deep breath in she picked herself up off then floor and tiptoed back downstairs and replaced the letter in the drawer.
The next morning she paced up and down in front of the airport doors.
"What are you doing? You can't go back…"
She took a few steps towards the taxi rank and stopped.
"He's going to jail, for your murder, you can't let that happen…"
She clenched her fists and grabbed the handle of her suitcase and walked through the doors. She was deep in thought when she heard a commotion, voices calling out, flashes of light. Looking around for the source she knocked into someone, her handbag went flying, scrambling to pick up her belongings she looked up at the person she had run into.
"I'm so sorry, I wasn't concentrating…"
The woman lifted her sunglasses as she handed Lisa back her wallet, Lisa's eyes widened recognising the woman.
"Oh, my, god,, you're Ellen Pompeo…"
She pressed her index finger to her lips.
"Please, I'm trying to lose the reporters!"
Lisa fumbled her things back into her bag trying to process the person standing in front of her.
"I, umm, I'm Lisa…"
They shook hands.
"I'm Ellen…"
"Yeah, I know… look, I'm sure you get this every second of every day but, I love Grey's…"
A smile appeared on Ellen's face.
"I do but, I appreciate people taking the time to tell me…"
"Ah, can I ask you one thing?"
"Sure…"
"Do you really believe in all those monologues you do in the show, I mean, sometimes my life feels like a drama and…"
Ellen let out a chuckle and placed her hand on Lisa's arm.
"You know, Meredith, no matter how dark and twisty she is, is very wise. Give me an example of a drama that is currently bothering you?"
Lisa hesitated, her story was crazy, it belonged in a TV show, she didn't know if Ellen would believe it.
"Umm, it's a long story, a long, complicated, unbelievable, story."
"Hmm, okay, well how do you feel about the situation?"
Lisa thought about it for a second.
"Ah, scared…"
"Okay, this isn't a Meredith piece of advice, but from someone much wiser, the chief… Sometimes it's good to be scared, it's means you still have something to lose. If we had nothing to lose then what's the point? Does that help?"
Lisa nodded, she stared blankly in Ellen's direction for a moment.
"Oh, sorry, I kinda can't believe I'm talking to you about my crazy life, and you're being so polite trying to give me advice…"
"Hey, it's the doctor in me! Anyway, I gotta run, it was lovely to meet you!"
"You too! And thanks!"
Lisa walked to her gate in a daze, not believing she had just met Meredith Grey. She sat at her gate as Ellen's words repeated in her head. She pulled out her phone and sent Shaun a message.
"I'm sorry, I need more time, I have to tie up some loose ends."
He immediately rang her, she answered, her hand shook as she lifted the phone to her ear.
"McDonald? Are you there? What's happening?"
She took a deep breath in before answering.
"Did you know?"
"Know what?"
"That Warren knew Dylan."
"What?"
"Dylan served with Warren's brother."
"McDonald what are you talking about?"
An announcement came over the PA.
"This is the final boarding call for Virgin Australia flight 374 to Cairns."
"I want to be scared, I want to have something to lose…"
Lisa hung up the phone and boarded the plane and found her seat, plugging in her head phones she opened Netflix.
Meredith voiceover: Sometimes the past is something you just can't let go of. And sometimes the past is something we'll do anything to forget. And sometimes we learn something new about the past that changes everything we know about the present.
End Chapter 24.