Disclaimer; I do not own "Las Vegas" the series or any of its characters.
Notes; I know it's been a long time. Nearly two months. I apologize. But good news is that the next chapter should be the last. Thanks again to all my feedbackers!
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"Ok, Mary", the detective paused to extinguish his cigarrette, "I want you to tell me why we found your prints on the gun. There's no one here but you and me."
The redhead shifted in her seat back again in the interrogation room. "I thought you quit smoking years ago, Luis."
"I did", he smirked. "But now seems as good a time as any to start up again."
She sighed. "My prints are on the gun because I struggled with my father for it and was able to knock it out of his hands at one point." He just nodded. "You don't believe me?"
He gave her a doubtful look. "It's not that. Why didn't you mention this before when we questioned you?"
Mary shrugged. "I don't know. It didn't cross my mind, I didn't think it was worth mentioning."
"So which is it?"
"Damn it, Luis!", she snapped. "Don't treat me like I'm some lying common criminal."
"I'm sorry, Mary. But I can't make this personal. I have to be objective here", the detective rubbed his face in frustration.
"I understand that. But I am not lying."
Luis looked into Mary's eyes and could see the sincereity shining through them. How could he ever doubt her? She was the most honest, gentle person he ever knew. "I believe you, Mary." She sighed in relief. "But...", he added, "I gotta tell you. It doesn't look good."
Mary crossed her arms on the table in front of her and rested her chin on them. "What's gonna happen to me?"
She sounded so much like a scared little girl, that it broke Luis's heart. "I don't know yet. We're trying to track down his wife. Maybe she has some answers that can fix this whole mess."
"Where is Mary Connell?!", they suddenly heard a loud voice boom outside the room causing them both to jump.
"Who is that?", Luis wondered and opened the door to find Danny McCoy and Ed Deline storming through the station. He walked up to them and held his hands up, trying to calm them down. "What's going on here?"
"Where's Mary?", Danny repeated Ed's earlier demand with only slightly less anger.
"She's in the interrogation room", they moved to pass him, "woah, wait. You can't just force your way through a police precinct."
"You gonna stop us?", Ed taunted.
"Ed, don't so this, please. Don't make this ugly."
"You've arrested the sweetest girl in the world. You know she didn't kill her father. This is bull shit!", the older man raged. Luis said nothing in response.
"Is she okay?", Danny asked worriedly.
Luis chuckled lightly. "As okay as she can be in a situation like this."
"Did you question Mary without a lawyer present?", Ed asked threateningly.
"Yes, she said she didn't need one."
"I need to see her, Luis", Danny demanded more than pleaded.
The cop could see the desperation and barely controlled rage behind the young man's eyes. Danny was a ticking time bomb. There's no telling what he would do if he was denied seeing Mary. "Come with me." Both men followed Luis down the hall to the room that held her.
"Danny!" Mary stood up from her chair and ran the few feet that separated them. She threw her arms around his neck and cried. He held her tight and stroked her hair with one hand. "Shh. Everything's gonna be okay", he murmured. They held each other for a few more moments. When she finally, but reluctantly, pulled away, she greeted Ed.
"Hey, sweetie. How are they treating you in here?"
"Fine. Luis has been a real friend", she assured them and wiped at her eyes.
Ed looked at the detective dangerously, making him squirm in discomfort. "Glad to hear it."
Danny kept his arms aroud Mary. "Don't worry. We're gonna take care of everything. Right, Ed?"
"Of course", their tough but kind hearted boss confirmed. "We know you're innocent. I'm gonna get the best lawyer in the country for you."
She smiled gratefully, when another cop entered the room. "Det. Perez, we found Laura Connell."
"My father's wife?", Mary asked stunned.
"Well bring her in", Luis scolded.
"She's already here", came a strange feminine voice from behind. "You're Mary." It was stated as a fact.
The redhead forrowed her brow. "Yes. How did you...?"
"I've seen pictures. Your father showed them to me."
"He did?", Mary scoffed as Danny kept his arms wrapped protectively around her.
The slightly older woman with the long brown hair nodded. Luis interrupted. "Mrs. Connell, we'd like to ask you a few questions surrounding your husband's death. If you'll come with me?"
"We can discuss it right here. After all, Mary is his daughter. I think she has a right to be here."
"Mrs. Connell, it's procedure to..."
"Det. Perez, is it? My husband committed suicide. I have his suicide note right here." She fished through her purse to retrieve it. "You can analyze it, or whatever it is you do. It's his handwriting", she said as she handed it to him.
Luis looked through it quickly, then gave it to the other cop in the room with them. "Send it to the lab. Mrs. Connell, we'd still like to get a statement from you."
"That's fine."
"Come with me."
"Wait!", Mary proclaimed and walked up to the other woman. "I'm sorry about all this. I feel like it's my fault."
Laura shook her head. "No, dear. You don't have to apologize to me. I should be apologizing to you. After I got your call, I didn't want to believe that Frank..." she trailed off as her voice shook with emotion, "he just wasn't the man I thought he was. I wish we could've met under different circumstances."
Mary gave a small smile. "Me too."
"Oh! There was another note from your father", she rummaged through her bag once again, "it's addressed to you."
Mary stared down at the envelope. "Me?" She reluctantly accepted it.
"What about Mary?", Danny asked.
Luis paused before leaving with Laura. "I think in light of new evidence, Mary is free to go." The detective smiled then left with Mrs. Connell.
"Yes!", Danny swung Mary up in his arms and peppered her face with small kisses as she smiled and laughed. "Are you ready to go home?"
She clutched the letter in her fist. "More than ready."
