Meeting
"I would like for this to stay between these four walls." Karen nodded, sitting in a conference room in the station with Sean, Cassie and Theo.
"Why? Cause everyone would be surprised that you made an error?" Sean questioned as Cassie rolled her eyes a little.
"Last time I checked, you weren't even employed to this precinct." Karen looked at him, "You don't have to be here."
"She's my wife. And you fucked up." Sean nodded.
"Sean." Cassie scolded.
"No, it's ok, Cassie. Sean here has clearly had a perfect career." Karen nodded, looking over at him, "Right?" She looked at Sean who stared back at her. No cop had a perfect career, they all knew that.
"What's next?" Theo asked, breaking the awkward tension in the room.
"I'd like to talk to Jude." Karen nodded.
"No." Sean shook his head, "I don't want her anywhere near any of this."
"You don't speak for her." Karen said, "If she doesn't wish to speak with me, that's fine. But I'd like to ask her myself-"
"What? So you can pressure her into it? And you can ask her to relive it all again? Ask what she remembers? As if it wasn't bad enough for her the first time?" Sean asked whilst Cassie turned to Theo with concern. Sean promising to keep his cool hadn't really been a promise well-kept so far.
"I would like to ask her about Vincent and what she knows about him, if she'd had any encounters with him previously-"
"I know she hasn't." Sean said.
"Sean this isn't going to work if you keep her in the dark." Karen said.
"This happened almost ten years ago. Ten. She does not need to go back to square one after all this time." Sean shook his head.
"I'll be contacting Jude myself. First and foremost this is about her feeling safe and getting justice-"
"Ten years." Sean nodded to her, "Should have given her the justice ten years ago."
"I also want to speak with Mark. I'd like a little more information on how he came to learn about this. How Vincent told him. Did it just come out? Was it spoken to him directly?" Karen wondered.
"It sounded like he maybe overheard Vincent talking about it." Cassie nodded.
"Well, I'd like confirmation from him. I'm gonna leave you two in charge of getting him here to the station tomorrow morning." She nodded to Theo and Cassie.
"It was his house, Karen. How'd you not think?" Sean shook his head as Karen looked at him.
"You were also a cop at the time, Sean. If it was so obvious, you could have brought it up to me back then. Ten years." Karen looked at him.
"I was a little preoccupied being there for my girlfriend, forgive me." Sean scolded.
"Look, he had an alibi. His mother. He said he was out of town with her for the holidays, we called her and she confirmed. It seemed legit. There was no evidence of him in the house that night. Only Jackson. It might just be the case that he knew what happened to Jude was going to happen. This doesn't imply that he… was there or that he… raped her." Karen said as Cassie sighed, sitting back on the chair.
"He was a shady guy who had history with Rio, Jackson's son. He'd had multiple prison visits with him before Jude was attacked. It should have been obvious. Then he went and played hero with April and Phil, probably just to clear his name even further." Sean said.
"I know you're angry. I would be too. I am." Karen said, "But this won't help Jude. In fact, you being here right now isn't even helping her. You should be with her at home." Karen suggested, "For now I can just order Theo and Cassie around to do my work. I don't need you." She assured him as Sean looked at her, "I'm sure the NYPD is a better place for you to be right now."
"You just want me out your hair." Sean shook his head.
"You're right. I do." Karen nodded, turning to Theo and Cassie, "Mark, in here by tomorrow morning." She told them both as they nodded.
"Yes ma'am." Theo said, watching as Karen gathered her things, leaving the room as Cassie turned to Sean.
"She's right, you know." Cassie said, "You should go be with Jude. We'll keep you updated." She nodded as Sean sighed to himself.
"I'm going to get a coffee." Sean said, standing up and leaving the room as Cassie turned to Theo, sighing as he nodded in agreement with the sigh.
"I felt like I was in detention there." Cassie shook her head, "If she slapped me, I would apologise." She shook her head as Theo chuckled.
"She's been around for a long time. Sean's got balls to challenge her." Theo said.
"Well I can understand why he is." Cassie nodded, "He's just worried about her. Trying to protect her." Cassie said.
"I know, I don't blame him." Theo said, "You want me to get a hold of Mark?" He asked her.
"We can do it together." Cassie nodded to him as he smiled, leaning in and kissing her head.
"You good?" Thea asked, meeting Sarah outside Chrissy's house later on.
"I'm not sure." Sarah admitted.
"Me too." Thea agreed with her answer, "Any idea on how we're gonna approach this?" She asked, walking towards the door to the house.
"No clue." Sarah gulped nervously.
"Me neither." Thea nodded again, knocking on the door.
"I think we just gotta ease into it lightly." Sarah nodded.
"Yeah." Thea said, watching as a light switched on in the hallway, the door unlocking as Chrissy slowly opened it.
"Hey." Sarah smiled.
"What's going on?" Chrissy asked, looking at them both, half standing behind the door as Thea looked on at her.
"We just… thought it'd be nice to stop by and have a coffee. Me and Sarah were just saying how ridiculous it is having to grow up and become an adult, not being able to see each other as much." Thea said as Sarah nodded, "Are you free?" She asked as Chrissy looked at them both.
"Y-Yeah." Chrissy nodded hesitantly, "Yeah, come in." She stepped aside, letting them into the house as they headed through to the kitchen.
"I wish my kitchen was as clean as this." Thea laughed a little, "I feel it just constantly has cereal and milk on the surfaces." She shook her head.
"That's what I got to look forward to?" Sarah turned to her.
"Oh, that's not the worst thing, don't worry." Thea chuckled, sitting down on the stool at the kitchen.
"You guys can't stay too late. I've got a busy day tomorrow so I wanna catch an early night." Chrissy told them, making some coffee for them.
"That's fine." Sarah nodded, "We actually did come here to speak to you about something." She said.
"What?" Chrissy asked, walking over and taking a seat across from them.
"Well you know that… you can tell us literally anything." Sarah nodded, "Especially me, I mean… I'm your sister. Sisters can tell each other anything." She said as Chrissy looked at her.
"Of course they can." Chrissy whispered, looking down.
"Chris, where's Brandon?" Thea asked curiously as she looked up.
"He's at work." Chrissy said as Thea nodded, "He finishes at 8." She looked at the clock to double check it wasn't close to that time.
"Is something going on with you two?" Sarah asked her as Chrissy looked across at her, fidgeting with her hands and shaking her head.
"No… no, what-what do you mean?" Chrissy shook her head, looking away from them.
"I haven't seen him in so long and… I don't know, you just seem really off lately. And that cut you had on your head, the bruises you had on your wrists-"
"I just fell." Chrissy said quickly.
"You don't have to lie." Sarah shook her head.
"I'm not." Chrissy shrugged, "Nothing is going on." She said.
"Is that what he tells you to say?" Thea questioned as Chrissy looked across at her.
"I don't know what it is you're both implying here." Chrissy shook her head.
"Is he hurting you?" Sarah questioned whilst Chrissy looked at them both, eyes glistening as it became harder to shrug off. She'd never been confronted so directly by it, and that's what made her feel like she was going to break.
"I…" Chrissy stopped as she heard the front door opening, looking out of the kitchen and panicking, "Please don't say anything. Please." She begged frantically once realising her husband was home early.
"I'm home." Brandon announced, walking into the kitchen, noticing Sarah and Thea sitting.
"Hey." Chrissy smiled as he leaned down and kissed her cheek whilst Sarah watched angrily. It was hard to act calm.
"What are you guys doing here?" Brandon asked with a smile as Thea looked through him.
"Coffee." Thea said bluntly, "And a chat."
"Women love to chat." Brandon hummed, walking over to open the mail that was sitting whilst Chrissy looked at Sarah and Thea, shaking her head desperately as they both just nodded.
"I was telling them I was catching an early night tonight anyway so-"
"So you're kicking them out?" Brandon smiled as Chrissy smiled back.
It was haunting to watch from Thea and Sarah's perspective, knowing that what they believed to be true, was indeed true, and to see the act that was being put on for them.
"I thought you were gonna come back to my place and help me with planning the baby shower?" Sarah asked. It was her sisterly instinct to get Chrissy away from this man, right now, "I mean… it is your expertise right?" She smiled as Chrissy looked at Sarah, shaking her head discretely.
"Oh, she's got a big day for work tomorrow." Brandon chimed in.
"Well… I'm sure she can decide for herself." Sarah nodded, "It's my first baby shower so I really want it to be special." She said as Chrissy looked at her.
"I'll swing by tomorrow after work." Chrissy nodded to her, followed by mouthing 'it's fine' without Brandon noticing, "I'll walk you guys out." She said as they stood up, heading out of the kitchen as Chrissy followed.
"You're not staying here." Sarah whispered, turning to her desperately, "Just come with me."
"It's fine. I'll talk to you tomorrow. I can't just leave." Chrissy shook her head.
"We can call dad." Sarah nodded, as if she was a child and looking to one of her parents for help.
"No." Chrissy said immediately, "No, he doesn't need to know anything. I'll be ok. It's not… it's not as bad as you think. It's fine for the most part-"
"Chrissy." Thea shook her head, "You don't have to put up with this anymore. He doesn't control you. You can walk away." She nodded.
"You guys need to go." Chrissy nodded worriedly, opening up the door as they stepped out.
"I don't want to leave you with him." Sarah said worriedly.
"I'll be fine. I am fine." Chrissy shook her head, "I'll see you tomorrow." She nodded to her, "I have to go." She said, closing the door over on them, taking a deep breath and walking back into the kitchen where her husband was. She somehow felt more terrified now that her sister and cousin knew what was going on.