A big thanks to Vikki, sn0zb0z, X-Kate-X and Hannah
im glad i cheered you up Kate lol
Chapter 16
"Did you call him?" Stacie asked as soon as Danny returned to the room. Danny shook his head,
"No, I ran into Mickey. Had to pretend I was on my way up here."
"What took you so long? You were away for ages."
"Not really…"
"It doesn't matter anyway. I'm still not sure if I want to go through with this plan. Mickey's right, it's an accident waiting to happen."
"If I get hurt, I won't blame you at all."
"And if you get killed? Men like Hendon are capable of anything."
"It wouldn't be your fault." He said firmly
"Do you think that'll be any consolation whatsoever? You'd be dead. And everyone else would blame me. They wouldn't say it to my face, but I'd know. And why is that copper Phil Hunter doing it? He has children you know. If he gets murdered what do you think'll happen to them?"
"I didn't know." Danny said, the possibility of the copper getting killed only occurring to him now.
"We can't do this Danny. Too many people are at risk."
"He volunteered, and he's a cop. He knows the dangers. He could be killed any day, hell he could fall under a bus."
"If he fell under a bus, it wouldn't be my fault." Stacie said firmly, although Danny could tell that her resolve was beginning to waver.
"Please Stacie, I need to…" he began
"No Danny. Don't do that little speech again. For once in your life, do the right thing and tell the truth. You didn't kiss me because you want me. You did it so you could get your way as usual. For some reason, you've decided that you need to bring Hendon down. Don't make this about me. For you, it never was." She said somewhat coldly.
"It was always about you." Danny argued, surprising himself with his honesty
"Whatever. Just call the cop. I'll agree to whatever you want me to say. And if either of you get hurt, it's your problem, not mine." She said coolly
"Fine." Danny snapped back, storming out of the room, letting the door slam behind him. Stacie watched him go, feeling a little guilty. She knew she was being hard on him, knew that he did care, of course he did, but sometimes he cared too much. She thought a little tough love would have made him back away from this foolhardy plan, but she was wrong. She now knew it would be best to just let him run with his idea, and hope for the best.
A few minutes later, Danny returned and sat in one of the chairs, facing away from her. A stony silence fell over them, and Stacie felt the need to break it,
"So… is he coming?"
"He'll be here in five minutes." The silence befell them again.
"I'm sorry." Stacie suddenly blurted out, "I know you care. I'm just worried."
"It's okay." He said begrudgingly "and I'm sorry too. You're right, I did kiss you to get you to agree."
"Oh." Stacie said, surprised to feel her heart sink a little at his words. She was confused. Danny was the one who liked her, not the other way round. Why did everything have to become so confusing?
"It wasn't just about that." He corrected himself almost immediately
"Okay" she replied, once again surprised at how disheartened she sounded.
"No really" he began, but was interrupted by a knock on the door, and the entrance of DS Phil Hunter.
"Not interrupting anything am I?"
"No." they both sighed simultaneously, making it clear that he actually was.
"Okay then, let's get started." He said, taking out a notebook, "So where were you when the crime took place?"
Danny watched Stacie's statement being taken with a mixture of emotions. He was of course relieved she was finally revealing the truth about what happened to her to the police, so they could get their revenge, however he was filled with rage as he saw the terror in her eyes as she recalled her ordeal. At one point, when she was recounting the actual stabbing, she was shaking slightly
"I thought they were going to kill me." She said, in a hoarse voice, "Then they stuck the knife into me, and they said I couldn't tell anyone or they'd kill my friends. And I couldn't let that happen. They're the closest thing I have to family." She broke off, looking warmly at Danny. He didn't respond. He hadn't heard that part of her story before, but he knew she was telling the truth and that made him even angrier.
Did Mickey know what they'd said? Was that why he wouldn't let the con go on any further? Was that why he was reluctant to let the police do their job? Had he known about this the whole time and had kept it a secret from everyone else? The new knowledge didn't scare him anymore. It only made him more determined. He was going to get the man that stabbed Stacie and had threatened his family.
Mickey walked towards Stacie's room, assuming that Danny would have had plenty of time to cheer Stacie up by now. He was about to go inside, when he noticed someone else inside the room. Someone he recognised… Then suddenly he realised that it was the policeman he and Danny saw earlier outside the hotel. The one that Stacie had spent so long chatting to and he entered the room, wondering what he was doing there,
"Hello." Mickey said, in a tone that told the policeman his presence was not at all welcomed.
"I'm DS Phil Hunter" the man introduced himself, confirming his identity to Mickey
"And what are you doing here?" he asked, getting straight to the point
"Stacie wanted to make some edits to her statement."
"What sort of edits?" Mickey asked in a dangerously low voice.
"I'm sorry Mickey" Stacie said, "We need to get Hendon off the streets; I'd never forgive myself if he hurt someone else because I hadn't gotten him arrested." Mickey looked at Danny, convinced that he had something to do with this,
"It was her choice." Danny said, before asking the policeman, "Are we done here?"
"I think so." He said, scanning the statement, "If you could just sign here…" he indicted a place on the bottom of the page to Stacie.
Stacie hesitantly looked between Danny and Mickey, knowing that this was the inevitable choice between them that she had always known was coming,
It's funny she thought as she signed the dotted line, I always thought I would've chosen Mickey.
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