Promise to Love Me, Even When You Hate Me
Chapter 17.
Present time.
Dutchy stared blankly into space unable to register what had just happened. He closed his eyes as the breeze picked up, feeling a cold sensation as his shirt flapped against his stomach he reopened his eyes and he looked down. Running his finger along the seam, a pool of blood gathered, he flinched as it dropped to the ground. His eyes refocused on his hands, they were red, covered in blood, her blood. Something in the distance caught his eye, he turned his head slightly, the sheet that covered her body fluttered above the ground exposing her face. He couldn't stop staring, not believing she was gone. Two paramedics lifted her lifeless body onto a gurney, he ran over to them and placed his hand onto her arm
"Where are you taking her?"
"Ah, to the hospital, the coroner is done, but because this is suspicious they do a postmortem."
Dutchy stood there refusing to let go of her arm, Mike saw the awkward exchange and and walked over and led him away.
"Dutchy, the police need to speak to you..."
Mike squeezed his arm as two police officers approached.
"Do you want me to hang around?"
Dutchy nodded as the detective took out his note pad.
"I'm Senior Detective Harris and this is Constable Taylor, your name, Sir?"
Dutchy's gaze were focused on the ambulance as he spoke.
"Petty Officer, Dylan Mulholland."
"And what was your relationship to the deceased?"
He focused back on the officers for a split second, deceased, she was dead, why didn't they just say it like that?
"Kate, her name is Kate..."
"Ah, yes, what was your relationship to Kate?"
He hesitated for a moment, she was a lot of things to him, looking over to Mike he decided to go with the simplest answer.
"She was my, umm, my superior."
"Okay, and how did you come to discover her here?"
Dutchy looked up to Detective Harris' face, his eyes were glaring straight back at him.
"I, umm, I followed the trail of blood..."
"Right, and you found her here?"
"Well, yes..."
Dutchy's focus was distracted as he heard the ambulance door slam shut, he went to walk off to follow it, but Detective Harris stood in front of him blocking his path.
"Sir, I need you to stay here, we need your version of events..."
Dutchy ignored him and tried to push past him but he grabbed his arm, Dutchy glared at his hand on his arm and shrugged off his grip.
"Excuse me? Events? I found her here, dying, what more is there?"
"I don't know, you tell me… what led you here? How did you know she was in this exact position?"
Dutchy was sick of being treated like the criminal, he stepped towards Harris and raised his voice.
"I told you, I followed the trail..."
Detective Harris raised an eyebrow and wrote in his notepad. Dutchy's frustration increased, why was he answering pointless questions when they should be looking for a suspect? He hesitated for a moment realising the undertone of the detective's questions.
"Wait, am I a suspect?"
"Sir, were just trying to eliminate you from our inquiries, you were found with her body, you disturbed evidence."
His eyes widened, he was a suspect, he couldn't believe it.
"Disturbed evidence? Are you kidding me? I was trying to stop the bleeding! This is ridiculous!"
Constable Taylor held up his hands trying to calm him.
"Sir, just calm down!"
Dutchy shook his head, he couldn't listen to their theory, he went to walk away but Constable Taylor grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
"Sir, are you refusing to answer our questions?"
Dutchy wrinkled his face and shrugged off his grip.
"No, I'm refusing to listen to your bullshit theories!"
He went to walk away again but Constable Taylor grabbed his cuffs and wrapped them around one of his wrists.
"Sir, we will detain you..."
"You can't detain me, I have answered all the questions I'm legally required too."
Detective Harris gave Constable Taylor a nod, and he wrapped the other cuff around Dutchy's wrist.
"Then I'm arresting you on the suspicion of murder..."
Dutchy attempted to resist and tried to struggle out of the cuffs.
"You can't be serious?"
"Sir, you were seen with the victim, you have her blood all over you, there are no other suspects and you are agitated and refusing to answer questions."
Mike tried to diffuse the situation, he could barely believe what was happening himself.
"Senior Detective, please, of course he's agitated, he has just witnessed one of his friends die."
Detective Harris closed his notepad and put it back in his pocket.
"I'm sorry, Commander, I'm just doing my job. "
They led Dutchy to the police car, Charge ran over to Mike as they placed Dylan into the car.
"Boss, what the hell is happening?"
"Ah, they just arrested Dutchy..."
"For what?"
"Kate's murder."
The crew stood there gob smacked as Dutchy was driven away in the police car.
Dutchy sat in the dim interview room tapping his fingers on the table. Constable Taylor and a different Detective walked in carrying a folder.
"I'm Detective Summerside, Senior Detective Harris has been called to another case."
He sat down and pressed play on the tape recorder beside them.
"Recorded interview between Constable Taylor, Detective Summerside and Dylan Mulholland at Cairns Police Station on the 16th of November 2019. So, Mr Mulholland, you were friends with Ms McGregor?"
Dutchy refused to make eye contact with Detective Summerside and focused on his leg that bounced up and down.
"Yes..."
"And you went to her house because?"
"She sent me a message saying, help."
"Right, and you arrived at her house, and then what?"
Dutchy's leg bounced faster, he closed his eyes trying to calm himself. Clenching his fist in his lap he exhaled.
"I got there, her front door was wide open, and the place was trashed."
Detective Summerside flipped through his folder and glanced back and forth from Dutchy to the papers in front of him.
"Okay, well I have a statement from a neighbour saying she heard a male
voice arguing with Kate earlier, and later on something that sounded like 2 gun shots..."
"Okay, what's your point?"
Detective Summerside leaned over the desk and stared him down.
"Was that man you?"
Dutchy glanced up to him for the first time and leaned over and held his glare.
"No! I'm telling you, I got to her house, it was trashed, I saw a trail of blood, I followed it, then found her on the beach."
Detective Summerside sighed and pulled out a plastic evidence bag which contained Kate's phone.
"So, we have possession of Ms McGregor's phone, we can't find any text messages like you've described."
"What?"
Dylan took out his phone and searched through the messages, they weren't there either.
"Wait, something's happened... I, I think I need to speak to a lawyer..."
Detective Summerside slammed the folder closed with a satisfied look on his face, he glanced at Constable Taylor and let out a scoff.
"I thought as much."
An hour later Dylan stepped out of the interview room escorted by a lawyer and Detective Summerside.
"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr Mulholland, now, you are restricted to the Cairns area while we conduct our investigation, so that means shore work only."
Dylan rolled his eyes and walked out of the station, Mike had waited out the front for him.
"Dylan, are you okay?"
His mind was a mess, they asked so many questions that he couldn't answer, they made him feel guilty.
"I don't know, umm, I just, this all feels like a bad dream…"
Mike sighed and led him to his car.
"Why don't we go back to mine and we'll have a stiff drink."
Dylan sat on Mike's couch with his head in his hands, Mike placed a glass in front of him.
"Here..."
Dylan swiped the glass off the table and swallowed it in one mouthful and replaced his head in his hands.
"She's gone..."
Mike sighed and sat next to him taking a sip from his glass
"Did you tell them you were together?"
Dutchy cringed as he shook his head and poured himself another, Mike raised an eyebrow surprised at his answer.
"Why not?"
Dutchy spun the glass around in his hand.
"I just didn't… didn't think it would help my case…"
"But Dutchy, you're not guilty…"
"I know, but they don't have anyone else, I know how these things go."
Mike understood to a point, but he wasn't sure that it was the best idea, they sat there in silence for a moment. Mike jumped as Dutchy slammed his glass on the table.
"It's gotta be related to the case he was working on..."
"Dutchy, we need to let the cops do their job, I had mentioned our discussion and they're looking into it."
"And in the meantime I just accept that I'm a suspect?"
"We just need to trust the system."
Dutchy let out a scoff and grabbed the bottle and poured Mike another glass while swallowing his.
"Trust the system? She was working for the system, and look where it got her..."
Dutchy leaned back on the couch as a tear rolled down his cheek, he couldn't sit there and listen to Mike's reasoning. He rose from the couch and headed for the door, Mike immediately followed.
"Where are you going?"
"Home…"
"You can stay here…"
"No, Reason is home by herself."
Mike tilted his head, he had no idea who or what Reason was, Dutchy sighed and picked up his keys.
"Our dog…"
Dutchy headed for the door, Mike chased after him and grabbed his keys.
"I'll drive you home…"
The next day Dutchy awoke to Reason licking his face, he opened on eye and let out a groan feeling like death. He winced realising he was on his lounge room floor, rubbing his eyes he heaved himself off the floor and fell back on to the couch. The previous day's events flooded into his mind, he shook his head trying to get Kate's face out of his head. He glanced over to to the bottle sitting on the table and dragged it towards him, he took a deep breath in and took a swig.
Later that afternoon Maxine sat in her office, her phone rang, she let out a huff and picked it up.
"White… What? Yeah, okay, just let him in…"
She slammed the phone back on the receiver and stood from her desk and opened her office door waiting for her unexpected visitor.
Dutchy stumbled into the door frame, she shook her head and pulled him into her office. She led him to her desk and forcefully pushed him into the chair.
"What do you think you're doing?"
He let out a scoff and rolled his eyes.
"More that the cops, that's for sure…"
Maxine sighed, she didn't want to be angry with him under the circumstances, but he was making it hard. She sat down next to him trying to put herself in his shoes.
"Yeah, Mike told me what happened… but do you really think getting drunk and turning up here is the solution?"
Dutchy hunched himself over his knees and rubbed his hands through his hair.
"I know, but, I just needed to know what you know…"
Maxine's face wrinkled as she tilted her head.
"What do you mean? I barely had a conversation with her."
Dutchy scoffed, why was everyone lying to him? He straightened himself and looked Maxine in the eyes.
"You're seriously telling me that you had no idea?"
"About?"
"Mike really didn't say anything?"
Maxine was now getting frustrated, she returned to her side of the desk, she didn't have time for guessing games.
"Petty Officer, what are you talking about?"
"Kate was undercover, well, she was in the Navy but working for the Drug Squad, or something, and no one seems to care… surely this could be linked to her murder?"
Maxine hesitated and her brow furrowed.
"Murder? Dutchy, I think we just need to let the cops do their job."
Dutchy jumped off his chair and paced the room unable to contain his frustration.
"It's ridiculous, there's more too it! There has to be!"
Maxine was concerned at his reaction, but this was not the time or the place to discuss his suspicions.
"Dylan, why don't you go home and I'll find out what I can… please."
Dylan sat on his couch drowning his sorrows, he wiped the tears from his eyes and took out his laptop and searched N.I.I.D. Only websites with vague descriptions appeared, he shoved the computer aside and picked up the bottle of scotch. Reason jumped up on to his lap and snuggled into his legs, Dutchy sighed and picked her up and held her close.
"It's only me and you now..."
He glanced around the room the picture of him and Kate from their hike up Windin Falls caught his eye, he rose from the couch and shoved the photo into the closest drawer.
There was a knock on the door, he sighed and swung it open, Maxine hesitated at the smell of booze that seeped from his skin.
"Ah, Dylan, hi…"
Dylan walked away from the door leaving Maxine standing there unsure whether she was welcome inside. She cautiously entered the house and sat on the couch, she tried not to let the judgement read over her face. Dutchy flopped on to the chair next to her as Reason scratched at her leg.
"Oh, I didn't realise you had a dog…"
She picked her up and gave her a pat.
"She's adorable…"
Dylan cleared his throat, he didn't feel like making chit chat.
"So, did you find anything?"
Maxine placed Reason back on the ground, she wasn't sure how she should approach her discovery.
"Ah, yeah, I got confirmation that Kate was undercover…"
"Yeah, I told you that, Mike and I met her boss… Have you heard anything about a funeral or will there be a service?"
Maxine's eyes wondered around the room, none or her answers would make him feel any better.
"Umm, well, there won't be one."
His body stiffened, did he hear her correctly? He shifted closer.
"What?"
"I'm sorry, Dylan, it's her wish."
"But, how do we get any closure? There were people that, that cared for her, that loved her, she wouldn't do that…"
His reaction confused Maxine, this was already an awkward conversation, so she decided to speak her mind.
"Dylan, not to sound insensitive, but from all accounts you two weren't that close…"
He sat there for a moment contemplating his answer, the truth wasn't going to get him in to trouble anymore, he didn't want to lie, it was like he was disrespecting her memory.
"We, we were together…"
Maxine wasn't sure how to respond, of course it agitated her that they had broken the rules but there was no point punishing him more, he had already been through enough. The information she needed to tell him was now a lot more difficult, she exhaled sharply and ripped the band aid.
"Dylan, there's more to her undercover work…"
He sighed and hunched himself over bracing himself.
"What?"
"She umm, she wasn't working for the drug squad."
He immediately brought his eyes up to meet hers.
"Huh?"
"Well, the good news is that she was in the Navy, her active service wasn't as long as first thought. But, by all accounts she was a great officer…"
"With all due respect Ma'am, can you just get to the, but…"
Maxine exhaled sharply and met Dutchy's distressed eyes.
"But, she wasn't working for the drug squad, it was a cover, she works, worked, for the N.I.I.D, she was investigating dodgy sailors."
Dutchy froze for a moment trying to make sense of the sentence, a few seconds of silence passed and he wrinkled his face.
"What?"
Maxine nodded unsure how else she could expand on her point. Dutchy grabbed the bottle and poured himself a drink, Maxine looked over to him disapproving. He rolled his eyes and got up to get her a glass, pouring her a drink he waved it in front of her face.
"C'mon, don't tell me that after that bombshell you don't need a drink?"
She reluctantly took the glass and took a large gulp.
"I didn't really believe it myself."
He sighed and leaned back on the couch.
"So she was lying, about everything…"
Dylan sat there with his thoughts, he couldn't believe that after everything they had been through, all the arguments they had about telling the truth, she had lied until the very end. He wondered how far it went, how could someone lie about things like her parents being murdered? And what upset him more was that he would never get an explanation from her, no closure.
He got up from the couch and retrieved the photo from the drawer, he walked into the kitchen and shoved into in to the bin. He returned to the lounge shaking his head.
"I think I need to be alone…"
Maxine didn't want to leave him alone, she took out her phone and sent a message.
"I don't think that's a good idea, I'll go but I'll send someone else…"
Dutchy didn't reply, he couldn't, he was still questioning every interaction that he and Kate ever had. Maxine rose from the couch and gave his shoulder squeeze and left.
Thirty minutes later 2Dads walked into his house without knocking, Dutchy barely look up, he sat beside him and cleared his throat.
"So, you wanna talk about it?"
Dylan's eyes darted up to 2Dads face then back down at his glass.
"What's there to talk about?"
"Ah, you were arrested for Kate's murder?"
Dutchy shook his head and filled his glass.
"I didn't do it…"
2Dads frowned and snatched the bottle from his grasp.
"Okay, you need to stop this, if you think you have to tell me you didn't kill your girlfriend then…"
Dutch froze for a moment and sheepishly looked over to 2Dads.
"Yeah, I know, well, Mike told me, but still, I know you didn't do it…"
Dutchy covered his face with his hands and shook his head.
"Did he tell you she was undercover?"
"What?"
2Dads eyes widened and took a swig from the bottle.
"Explains a lot…"
Dutchy rubbed his hands over his face and leaned back on the couch.
"Commander White just told me that she lied, she lied about everything, 2Dads. She was in the N.I.I.D. she was investigating one of us. She had us all fooled, how could someone just lie like that? Every day, to our faces. She told me things that, I mean, I can't even imagine coming up with some of those stories. It makes me feel sick that I believed her, I thought I loved her, but now, I can't feel anything but hate for her."
Meredith Voice over: The dictionary defines grief as keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss; sharp sorrow; painful regret. We're taught to learn from and rely on books, on definitions, on definitives. But in life, strict definitions rarely apply. In life, grief can look like a lot of things that bear little resemblance to sharp sorrow.
Shaun sat with his legs crossed over one another reading the paper in a stark white room, medical machinery beeped around him. Periodically he glanced over to the bed, checking the patient hadn't awoken.
Suddenly, she bolted upright gasping for air, panic stricken, she clutched her chest and took a few deep breaths in and out. Shaun calmly folded the newspaper and placed in on the chair beside him, he rose and stood beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled.
"Welcome back, McDonald…"
End of Chapter 17.
