A/N: I don't own any of the Cold Case characters and I am not making any money from writing this.
Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.
This is the final chapter! Sorry about the wait! I hope you enjoy it!
Alan shifted in the chair. He was sitting at the table in the interrogation room, opposite to Lilly and John. Slight drops of sweat reflected on his forehead. The camera near by was running. "Yes, that was my gun. But I reported it stolen."
"Yeah, you did", John admitted, opening the file on the table in front of him. "But you did so a month after Danny was murdered, claiming that it had gotten stolen the day before."
Alan smiled nervously. "Well, that is when I noticed that it was missing."
Lilly calmly put the file, that she had been holding in her hands, down on the table. She opened it, revealing several copies of the photographs inside.
The first one showed Alan embracing a young brunette, in her mid teens. It was taken in some sort of a park. The second featured that same girl, a bit older, sitting on the bed, obviously in her room.
Alan gulped, his lips quivering. Lilly tilted her head to the side. "We spoke to the neigbhbors. This is your daughter, Bridget."
"It turns out, you two had been fighting a lot. She dropped out of school in the tenth grade. Soon after she turned eighteen, you kicked her out."
Alan flinched, trying to remain calm. "Bridget was a troubled girl. We had the problems, I won't deny it." He sighed. "Man... you are really scrapping my bottom." He straightened himself up. "I won't admit to something I didn't do."
John leaned over, fondling his hands together. "Bridget was more than a troubled girl, Alan. We made a few called. The day you kicked her out, a month before Christmas, you actually moved her to the rehab facility on Long Island. From where she escaped on December 23rd 2005."
"So what?", he muttered.
"Do you want us to pick her up right now?", Lilly suggested. "Book her? Or we can simply charge you with murder. You lived near by, your gun was used."
(Baby It's Cold Outside by Holiday Wishes)
Alan was bouncing back and forth on his bed, unable to sleep. He eventually stopped to lie on his back, staring up at the ceiling. He sighed, thinking of the things that could have been.
He stirred upon hearing the loud banging on the door. He remained still, listening carefully, hoping that it was all some sort of mistake. But soon, he heard two more loud knocks.
He glanced at the phone, thinking about calling the police. But what if the guy would escape by the time they got there? What if there was no real danger? They would give him the hard time at the end. Not to mention the neighbors.
Alan took a deep breath, reached into the bedside drawer, and pulled out the gun.
He started walking down the stairs carefully, listening attentively, analysists every noise, as he moved down the stairs, into the hallway, and toward the front door.
The knocking, hanging, didn't stop. Somebody outside was breathing heavily. He saw a petite siluete through the small, blurred window on the door.
Alan stopped mere inches away from the door, barely breathing. He wrapped his hand around the lock, feeling himself shiver. He slowly unlocked the door and pulled it half open, keeping the gun half raised.
And then he saw her.
His daughter, standing at his door.
Her face was pale, her long brown hair a mess, her big brown eyes widened and watery. She was shivering, gripping at her forearms. "Dad", she exclaimed, trying to smile. Her eyes trailed down to the firearm in his hand. She took a step back. "Wow..."
Alan looked at his gun, shuddering. He struggled to wrap his mind around that whole situation. "There's been some burglaries lately", he commented before looking her in the eyes. "You shouldn't be here", he said sternly. "I know that they wouldn't have let you go." He put the gun, almost absent-mindedly, down on a near by window shelf.
Bridget grinned, tapping with her foot against the ground. "Come on, dad... it's Christmas time!"
Alan took a deep breath, trying to control his emotions. "It's time for you to get clean!" He looked around: all the windows on the neighboring houses were still in dark. "And they still haven't called me", he mumbled.
"Oh, yeah, there is some sort of a blackout there now", Bridget commented. "You haven't heard."
Alan rolled his eyes before turning to face her. He lowered his voice. "I will not give you more money! I will not allow you to steal money so you could get high! I will not look away anymore! You need help."
"Just a few days, dad", Bridgete almost begged, tears in her eyes.
Alan took a deep breath, taking a step back from Bridgete. He did his best to appear calm. "Six months is six month." He looked around. "This is all... a temptation for you." He looked at her, accusingly. "How can I know that you didn't get high before coming him, huh?"
"Do I look like that?", she spat out.
Alan just stared at her, disappointment evident on his face, as well is in his eyes. "I will now drive you back, right away, and won't see you until you're done." He sighed. "Maybe not even then."
Bridget just stared at him, and he went back inside, closing the door behind. And leaving the gun on the window shelf.
Alan sighed, pale, running a hand through his hair. "When I returned, she was gone, and so was the gun. I was freaked out. I contacted police stations, hospitals... got nothing. I eventually found out that she returned and that she was fine. She now lives in Brooklyn. I reported the gun stolen a month later and never talked to her about that." He shuddered, burrying his face in his hands. "What have I done?", he cried.
Lilly observed him, pain evident on her face.
#
Christina actually looked pretty well. Healthy. Her skin was a bit lighter than usual but that was about it. She was wearing a white T-shirt, a bit baggy, and the washed-up jeans. The visiting room always reminded Lilly way too much of prison visiting rooms, but maybe she was just imagining things. The two of them were sitting at the small table, facing each other: there were a few other tables in the room too, all unoccupied.
"Doing well?", Lilly asked.
Christina smiled a bit. "We'll have a turkey dinner today, so... yes, I guess."
They exchanged a brief chuckle. "How's yoir job?", Christine asked, kind of awkwardly.
"Good", Lilly answered. "We are about to close a big case, so... we'll have some time off these days."
"That's good."
"You haven't told me about the rule", Lilly said, making Christina flinch. She waited for a moment, making sure her emotions were under control, before continuing. "That I can take you home for Christmas if I want to."
Christina blushed, looking down at the floor. "I didn't know how", she admitted.
"But you wanted to", Lilly questioeds.
Christina looked up at her, her lips quivering. "I miss you", she admitted under her breath. "But I am not sure... even with you around... can I trust myself."
Lilly smiled and squeezed her hand.
#
Bridget smiled nervously, trying to think of the right words. She was sitting at the table in the interrogation room, opposite to Lilly and Scotty. Her hair was now more of a shoulder length, with bangs, and she was a bit thinner. "I took that gun, yes", she admitted. "I don't know why. I was sad, scared out of my mind... but I came to my senses. I threw it in the dumpster a few blocks away. I don't know what happened to it after that. Is that why you dragged me all the way from Brooklyn to here?"
"Bridget, we have two witnesses who saw you in the close proximity of the crime scena around that time", Scotty informed her. "They both identified you in a line up. One even confirmed that you tried to rob him with the gun of the matching caliber?"
"You're buying that thug's story?", Bridget scoffed.
The color immediately left her face, eyes widening as she realized that she had incriminated herself.
"We do, now", Lilly exclaimed.
Bridget gulped, looking down at the floor.
"Your father basically abandoned you", Scotty said, making Bridget Summer flinch. "You were alone, sad, angry. Wanted to get high. But you had no money. You took the gun. You wanted to somehow obtain drugs from that dealer, but that didn't work. After somehow getting your gun out of that gutter, you went to that diner. Maybe you've seen Dan s before, collecting money. You probably planned to rob a diner, but eventually decided to focus on a single target, Danny. You went in the diner, observed him, followed him outside, and things got out of hand."
"No", Bridget whispered, avoiding to look at them.
A long, tense silence followed.
"You can talk", Scotty said, matter of factly. "Or we can call the DA. Let him take over. Murder one, twenty five to life. If you're lucky."
"I want a lawyer", Bridget demanded.
"Fine", Lilly agreed. "I hope you know the one who can make the gun and those witnesses disappear."
Scotty shrugged. "Of course, if this goes to trial, your defense will have no choice but to try and pin everything on your father."
"No!", Bridget cried, tears in her eyes.
Lilly leaned over, glaring at Bridget. "Late on December 24th, you came back to the rehab. Refused to undergo a drug test." Bridget bit her lower lip, looking away. "But you staid there for the remaining three months and got clean."
Bridget shivered, clenching her fists. "I finally realized what the drugs made me become", she muttered.
"A killer?", Scotty commented, raising an eyebrows.
Bridget looked down at the floor again, her shoulders hunched and her breathing shallow. Tears were running down her face.
"Aren't you tired, Bridget?", Lilly asked softly.
Bridget nodded her head. "Yes", she whispered.
She looked up at Lilly and Scotty, her eyes watery and cheeks flushed. "I'm so sorry", she groaned.
Bridget was following Danny into the alleyway, feeling her heart beats in her throat.
He never noticed her. He just kept walking away, whistling some Christmas song. Holding a triphold in his hand.
Bridget shivered and took a deep breath. Her hand tightened around the gun handle.
Few more steps. They moved close to the sidewalk. Bridget looked around; there was no people near by.
She took a deep breath and pulled out the gun.
That was it...
She ran in front of Danny, instantly pointing the gun at his head. She stopped about a feet away from him. He gasped upon staring down the barrel, the triphold falling out of his hand.
"Give me the money!", Bridget demanded, her body tingling with jolts. "Now!"
Danny slowly raised his hands up, a scared look on his face. His lips slowly formed a grimace. "No..."
"The triphold", Bridget said, a bit calmer. "Pick it up and just give me the money. That all."
"They need the money...", he tried.
"I need it!", Bridget cried, her finger sliding down the trigger.
"You have problems", he said softly.
"No shit", she spat out.
Danny smiled nervously. "I can help you. It is never too late."
"Just give me the damn money."
"Try to think rational. How long will this money last? What will it bring you?"
"Ugh!", Bridget groaned. She leaned over, trying not to disrupt her aim, and reached for the triphold herself.
In the next moment, she heard Danny quickly taking a few steps closer to her, and felt his hand gripping her right wrist. She groaned, straightening herself up right away.
And then Bridget pulled the trigger.
She stopped like frozen, with eyes wide, and watch as the bullet penetrated Danny's cheek, dark blood splattering all over his skin.
He let out a blood quirling scream, putting a hand over his wound, and started to lose balance.
The terror rushed to Bridget's core, tears blurrying her eyesight. Before she even registered what really happened, she pulled the trigger again.
This time, the bullet hit Danny straight in the forehead.
His hand falling back to his side, coated with blood, he stared at Bridget lifelessly, and then fell down on the ground, face up.
His beloved photograph fell out of his pocket and slipped into a near by gutter.
Bridget let out a sob, the gun falling down on the ground.
She ripped the bag off the tripod, pressed it against her chest, and ran away, sobbing, without looking back.
(White Christmas by Bing Cosby)
Bridget didn't say a word as Lilly and Scotty led her, handcuffed, toward the holding cell. They ended up walking under the mistletoe about half way to there. They exchange a look and withheld a laugh before continuing on their way...
Lilly, Scotty and Kat walked over to the table placed in the middle of the main workroom, followed by John and Nick. The table was filled with plates full of cookies, and there was a bowl of non alcoholic punch and a small break basket. Will placed a plate containing some ham and cheese on the table before they all exchanged smiles...
Bruce sighed and leaned his head against the hard grey cell wall tiredly. Who would have thought that something as trivial as moving the corpse from point A to point B and dispose of some evidence would have such serious consequences...
Keith stood at the street corner, looking around. Somehow, the business wasn't going well lately. He saw a patrole car driving by and quickly walked away...
Bridget was sitting on her bunk, looking down at the floor, now wearing a baggy orange jumpsuit. She looked toward the cell door upon hearing the footsteps approaching.
Alan stood there, wrapping his hand around one of the bars, struggling to even look Bridget in the eyes.
Bridget just stared back at him for some time, her eyes wide and her cheeks blushed, before standing up and walking, slowly, over to her father.
She looked him in the eyes for a moment, and then gently put her hand over his.
And formed a small smile.
Thus making him do the same...
Amy handed the cupcake to a young buy at her bakery story before storing the money in the cash books. She watched him walk away with a smile on her face, remembering how long it had taken her to make her dream come true...
Nick straightened himself up and put a green Christmas ball on the Christmas tree, bear the top, while, standing by his side, adjusted one of the Christmas ornaments wrapped around it. They stopped and exchanged a warm smile.
In the next moment, she leaned over and kissed him on the lips. He was so surprised that it took him a few seconds to realize what had happened, and then he kissed her back...
Scotty smiled at his mother and father, sitting at the dining room table surrounded by his family members, before handing his sister a gravy...
Lilly filled all three food bowls, placed on the floor near the Christmas tree, with cat food, but only saw and around. After looking around, she walked into a near by hallway and spotted Christina standing near the stari case, holding in her hands and parting him. Two sisters exchanged a smile...
The soup kitchen was full as ever, with barely any seats left. Stephen exchanged some words with Tracy before giving her a grocery bag containing the plastic containers filled with food. She smiled and took it.
Somehow, at around the same moment, they both looked through the large window near by and saw Danny standing out front, still dressed in a Santa Claus costume, with a triphold in his hand.
He smiled warmly at them, his eyes sparkling with happiness, before turning around and walking away, slowly, into a pure, bright light.
~THE END~