Alibi
"You are my favourite grandbaby." AJ smiled, sitting on the couch with James who she was lifting up and down, blowing kisses on his little tummy, doing all she could to see that adorable little smile, "Yeah, my favourite grandbaby." AJ nodded as Punk walked into the room.
"He's your only grandbaby." Punk reminded her.
"And he's my favourite." AJ smiled, kissing James' cheeks before holding him back against her chest, turning to Punk as she noticed he had his jacket on, "Hey, where are you going?" She asked.
"Just going to the store." Punk nodded, "You need anything?"
"Phil." AJ said suspiciously.
"April." Punk replied in the same tone, "What?"
"We don't need anything from the store." AJ said.
"Correction. I would like some graham crackers." Punk said.
"A real emergency, huh?" AJ nodded, "Ok, well… just don't be too long." She said.
"I won't." Punk said, leaning over and kissing her sweetly, kissing his grandson whilst he was at it, "You behave yourself with my wife." He warned James jokingly as AJ chuckled.
"He always behaves." AJ nodded as Punk smiled.
They were babysitting James for the night to give Thea and Dominic a chance to catch up on sleep. And sweet baby cuddles from their grandson was really needed at this time.
"Ok, won't be long." Punk said, leaving the living room and heading out of the house as AJ scoffed, looking down at James.
"He thinks I'm stupid, James." AJ rolled her eyes, "Known him for thirty years and he thinks he can lie to me? He's a dumb dumb." She hummed, tapping James' nose playfully as the near six month old smiled sweetly.
"What'd you tell AJ?" Dean asked, fixing his beanie hat on his head after he met Punk out in the streets, blowing into his cold hands as they walked down the street.
"That I was going to the store." Punk said.
"Ain't no way Mendez believes shit like that from you." Dean chuckled to himself.
"She did." Punk said, naïve of course.
"Yeah, right." Dean nodded, "Just be prepared for the questions when you return."
"She'll be asleep by the time I get back. We're babysitting James tonight." Punk said.
"Yeah you're doing a real good job of babysitting." Dean nodded.
"You got a problem?" Punk paused in the middle of the street, turning to his brother who looked at him.
"No, I don't. But… I think you gotta think about this, man. You don't know what you're walking into. This isn't for us to handle." Dean shook his head, "I don't want you getting in trouble."
"Yeah and what if it was Chrissy or Sarah?" Punk asked, referring to his two nieces, "What would you be doing?" He asked as Dean stayed quiet, "Yeah, that's what I thought."
"I'm just trying to think of what Jude needs right now." Dean said.
"She needs her family to protect her and keep her safe." Punk nodded, "I can do this on my own. I have other people who will help me."
"Oh, yeah? Like who?" Dean scoffed.
"Hey." Thea pulled up in her car, getting out as Dean watched.
"You're kidding, right?" Dean turned back to Punk.
"She wants to come." Punk shrugged.
"Yeah and look what happened the last time she wanted to come somewhere she shouldn't have? She was shot." Dean said, "I know your brain might be a little bit hazy right now but you better send her ass home."
"I'm not going anywhere." Thea made clear, closing her car door over.
"This isn't a game." Dean looked at Thea.
"I am not a little girl." Thea looked at Dean who placed his hands on her hips.
"Yeah, I know. You were a lot nicer when you were little." Dean shook his head.
"Can we just go?" Punk asked them, walking down the street as they followed behind.
"Hey, how is she doing?" Dean asked Thea.
"Not good." Thea nodded truthfully, "She's not leaving my bedroom. She's not eating." She said as Dean sighed.
"Is it this one, Thea?" Punk asked, coming up to a house on the street.
"Yeah." Thea nodded as Punk walked up the steps, knocking on the door, looking around the street to make sure no one was around.
"Just let me deal with this part." Punk told Dean and Thea.
"What are you gonna do?" Thea asked quietly, listening as the door opened up.
Punk turned around, looking at the guy who answered the door, his blood already boiling.
"Jeremy?" Punk questioned.
"Yeah." Jeremy said cautiously as Punk punched him across the face hard, knocking him out.
"Are you sure you don't want anything to eat?" Sean asked, sitting in bed with Jude who really hadn't been saying much of anything. He knew she wasn't sleeping, but he could see she was constantly closing her eyes shut. He just wished he could take her pain away.
"I'm not hungry." Jude shook her head, "How long do you think it will take before they drop my case and just put it down to me being too drunk?" She asked.
"That's not going to happen." Sean shook his head, "Trust me. Karen knows what she's doing. She's one of the top detectives in the city." She nodded.
"I gave her no information. All she knows is the house I came from." Jude shook her head.
"Yeah, the house, which potentially could have a shit load of DNA and evidence inside." Sean nodded.
"Or it could be someone who knows what they're doing. Someone who doesn't even live there." Jude shook her head.
"You just gotta be hopeful." Sean nodded as Jude sighed, leaning her head back against the wall, sitting against the headboard beside him.
"She took so many pictures of me." Jude shook her head, replaying the examination in her head over and over again. Continuing to hear the sound of the camera clicking, the flash going off.
"It's just to build up the case. The more evidence they have, the better chance they have of finding this person." Sean nodded.
"The nurse suggested these are rope burns." Jude said, looking at both of her wrists which had burn grazes around them, "If I was unconscious, why was I tied up?" She shook her head.
"You don't… you don't have to think about that-"
"It's all I'm thinking about!" Jude said, getting off the bed, "I want to know what happened to me." She cried as Sean sighed, "I can't… I can't live my life and not know what happened that night, what was done to me…" She shook her head, "All I keep thinking about is scenarios. I can't stop it. I want to but I can't." She said.
"Jude-"
"Was it one guy? Was it two? Was it a group? Would I recognise him? Did-Did he hit me? Was I crying? How long did it last?" Jude asked fast paced, her brain bursting with painful questions she had been stripped from knowing.
"Jude." Sean sighed, walking over to her.
"No, don't." Jude backed up, "I'm fine." She said, not even bothering to wipe her tears anymore, letting them run down her cheeks and face, "You didn't ask for this."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Sean shook his head, "I am here for you. I'm not leaving. I hate that this happened to you. I hate it. I want the bastards head who did this to you." He said, "And I hate that I can't do anything to help you right now."
"No one can." Jude assured him, "I just… I want to be alone." She shook her head.
"You shouldn't be alone right now." Sean shook his head.
"Please." Jude shook her head, looking across at him, "Please just go." She nodded.
She just felt like she was ready to explode. It wasn't anyone's fault and she knew that. It was just her way of dealing with this. She couldn't handle the constant questions, the stroking of her hair and the hugs. She knew it was her family's show of support but all she really wanted was to be on her own.
"Ok." Sean put his hands up, realising she was getting extremely anxious and apprehensive, and he really didn't want to be the cause of anymore distress for her, "Ok, I'll go." He nodded, "I'll… I'll come by tomorrow."
Jude just nodded, drying her face and watching as he left the room. She wasn't an idiot. She could see the people around her hurting for her, but she had enough of her own hurt to be dealing with. As soon as he left the room she got back into bed and under the covers, where she felt protected, where no one could see her, where she didn't feel exposed.
Sean walked downstairs, running his hands over his face and sighing, opening up the front door where he saw Kirsty standing, about to knock on the door.
"Hey, Kirsty." Sean nodded, drying his teary eyes a little.
"Where is she? Oh my God…" Kirsty walked into the house, "Is she here?"
"She's… upstairs." Dominic said. As far as he knew, no one else knew apart from him and Jude's family, "How… how do you know?"
"Because a detective came by the our apartment and asked to take a look around. She didn't tell me what happened so I had to… ask around-"
"Ask around?" Sean shook his head.
"I have friends in the police." Kirsty nodded.
"You have friends everywhere." Sean shook his head, watching Kirsty dump her stuff down, about to rush upstairs, "I wouldn't go up and see her right now. She wants to be on her own." Sean nodded.
"God… I can't… I can't believe this." Kirsty shook her head, running her hands over her hair, "Is Thea here?"
"No but Dominic is in the kitchen." Sean said, "I should get going."
"Ok." Kirsty nodded, walking down the hall and into the kitchen where Dominic was sitting filling in some paper work, "God, I need a drink." She shook her head as Dominic looked up.
"Hello person who I do not know that well and who does not live here." Dominic shook his head with confusion, watching Kirsty opening up the fridge.
"Hey." Kirsty sighed, "Do you have alcohol in here?" She asked.
"Not unless my son has a stash somewhere." Dominic hummed, looking back to his paper work as Kirsty shook her head with confusion, causing Dominic to look back up, "Oh, hi… I'm Dominic… alcoholic, my wife… also an alcoholic." He made very clear as Kirsty ran her hands through her hair.
"Shit, I'm sorry." Kirsty shook her head, sitting down at the table.
"You just found out?" Dominic wondered as Kirsty nodded, shaking her hand and placing her hand over her mouth, tears welling in her eyes.
"I can't believe this happened to her." Kirsty shook her head, "I should have been there. I should have went home with her and made sure she was safe." She shook her head.
"You can't think like that." Dominic shook his head.
"Well I should have." Kirsty said, "I can't… I can't believe this happened. She's my best friend. I should never have left her."
"Kirsty, you can't think like that. You didn't know this was gonna happen. And presumably when you left, she was fine." Dominic nodded, "Don't beat yourself up."
"She's gonna get a kick out of it when she finds out who I went home with." Kirsty shook her head as Dominic chuckled.
"Who?" Dominic shook his head.
"This creep in our class. Jeremy." Kirsty shook her head as Dominic's face changed immediately, "I should have been there for her."
"Did you say… Jeremy? You… you went home with him?" Dominic asked.
"Yeah, ok, don't make me say it twice." Kirsty shook her head.
"Excuse me." Dominic stood up, walking out of the kitchen and calling Thea who, of course, wasn't picking her phone up, "Come on, Thea. Pick up your phone."