4.

As much as it pains me to admit it, solving this murder case might be a lot more difficult than what I had first anticipated. Without the full autopsy report from the coroner there wasn't much Miller and I could do, especially when our victim had no identification, no past or motive that explains why she was killed, and there was currently no one who was claiming her missing. In order words there wasn't a lot to go on.

That is why as the saying goes, 'desperate times calls for desperate measures' and right now I'm willing to seek help from someone who not only was brilliant in obtaining information, but might be very unwilling to help me since no matter how much he tolerated and come to respect me over time. Monty would always be Clarke's friend and his loyalty was first and most to her. So I guess you could say, I'm on a fishing expedition with hope that despite the issues and loyalties involved he was willing to assist us.

Another good quality about Miller was that he was unbelievably patient with him and didn't even bother to question him about what had happened in the interrogation room with Clarke. For that Bellamy was grateful, especially since he didn't even understand what happened and how the cards had switched between him and Clarke. He thought back the urge to think about Clarke and the altercation, and tried to regain focus on the dead woman in the forest instead as they headed over to the IT-guys on the second floor at the precincts.

It wasn't hard to find Monty Green, considering that he was the youngest person at twenty-five working there and the only person with Asian origins, but nonetheless when the slightly shorter man saw him and Miller a displeased frown appeared on his face.

"Great, what do you two want?" Monty asked, while turning the chair around to face his computer before he stood up and gathered his things that he was going to bring with him home in his forest green bag. "Because whatever it is it will have to wait, since I'm off the clock and was just about to leave for the night."

Bellamy sighed. Okay, time to convince Monty to help. That's should have been piece of cake if Clarke's influence hadn't included making all of her friends into stubborn delinquents towards him and the police.

"Monty, come on." Bellamy pleaded as he began chasing down the younger man, who was desperately trying to get away from him. "Work with me here. We are trying to figure out who are dead lady in the woods are, and right now we have nothing that explains who she is and why she was killed and dumped in there in the first place. Besides having Clarke's name written on her, we got nothing to go on. So please Monty, we are desperate here."

Monty stopped and froze on the spot when he heard Clarke's name being mention and immediately turned around worried and confused about the information he received. "Are you serious? Clarke's name was written on her body. Why would…Clarke didn't do this. I mean there is no motive and she just came back to town."

Wait, what? Bellamy thought he imagined it at first, but it was clear that Monty knew that Clarke was back in town, possibly even before he knew about it. Did this mean that the Princess had remained contact with the others and not him?

Bellamy put his hand on Monty's shoulder, stared him down with hope that the man wouldn't try to avoid or lie him up in the face when he asked him. "You knew Clarke was back? Did you hear it from the locals today or did you already know?"

Monty looked ashamed and awkwardly shifted his weight and gaze on the floor. His actions alone was enough to confirm his suspicion, but his silence was even better proof that he had known and had consciously refused to mention it.

"Monty?"

The younger man finally looked up at him, defeated and strangely enough tired. "I knew. But I only learned about it from Raven. When she heard what had happened in the woods, she asked me to get her Clarke's new address so she could meet up with her. And yes, Raven has been in most contact with Clarke the last three years, although she have e-mailed to me as well a few times but not as much as she has with Raven, and she mentioned it to me a few weeks ago that she received an e-mail from her that stated that she was coming back."

Bellamy scoffed and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. Apparently I'm going to have a 'nice' chat with Raven regarding the long return of my ex-fiancée, and this time she is going to be grilled so hard that she wouldn't think of lying to him again.

And just as those thoughts crossed his mind, the woman in question walked in, shocked to find him and Miller there with Monty and made a hasty attempt to turn around and walk away, but he wasn't going to let her get of the hook that easily.

"Stop." He commanded. "Come back here. You and I are going to talk about a certain blond princess, but before we get to that I'm going to ask Monty once again to help us with our case. So, will you help us or do I have to take extreme measures in order for you to do your job?"

Monty scowled angrily at him, mumbled an exasperated insult probably towards him, but didn't answer his question. Instead he trekked back to his computer and began working up the facial recognition software that might help identify the girl from a photo they had sent earlier on his computer. Miller had followed and was keeping a careful eye on Monty, leaving him and Raven to have that talk that seemed more or less needed.

There was no way that any of them was going to have a early and relaxing evening until they had gotten to the bottom of this. And he was going to make sure that both Raven and Monty talked to him, because he honestly didn't wish any more surprises regarding the Princess.

Although she had promised Raven earlier, before she was taken to the police station, to meet up and have a couple of drinks at Grounders, but after everything that has happened in the last few hours was starting to put quite a strain on her. Fortunately Raven had texted her when she came home that she would have to reschedule due to something unexpected showing up. In Raven's vocabulary that meant that she had been ambushed by Bellamy and now couldn't get out of it.

That man is like a dog with a bone. Stubborn and unrelenting to give up anything till the very end. Clarke thought to herself when she started to remove her clothing and stepped into the shower, in an attempt to wash away her troubles. Hot water fell down and quickly soaked her body from top till toe, however it didn't work quickly enough to rid her of the thoughts that was plaguing her mind.

What Lincoln had said was probably what was the most on her mind, possibly also that tiny bit of information she had blabbed to Bellamy back at the station. It was true that she hadn't worked as a PI in three years, not even tried to take any interest in any cases that would most likely fascinate her despite the normalcy and boredom it might bring. And to tell the truth, it hadn't been easy quit doing it either. In fact it might have been one of the most difficult decisions she had ever made.

Honestly, did you really think that after everything that went down you could continue doing it? What Bellamy had stated before was true, as much as it hurt to admit it. People around me always seem to end up hurt or dead because of me and my meddling. I'm like freaking the Goddess of Death, taking and ruining peoples' lives just by my presence.

She sighed heavily. Her arms were stretched out with her hands against the wall, while her head was turned down facing the bathroom tiles and with her eyes closed. These thoughts were crushing her, suffocating her to the point where she felt unable to breathe and there was nothing or nobody who could help her get the weight of her shoulders. Almost completely dazed by haunting thoughts she at first didn't register the coldness from her necklace against her skin. Once she did she opened her eyes, her left hand went to her necklace and moved it closer for her to see it. The necklace was made out of a silver chain, simple and not at all worth anyone's interest, with a silver ring and crystal star attached to it.

Despite the traditions, Clarke could never bring herself to give back the ring to Bellamy even after they broke up. It was her engagement ring, the ring that Bellamy gave her. The same ring that she had promised that she was going to love and spend the rest of her life with him. And as much as Bellamy hated and resented her for everything she couldn't break that promise with him. That promise was the only thing she had left that pushed and kept her to stay on the path she was on, and not fall into the darkness that was consuming her from within. But what am I supposed to do? Continue on the path I am on now, stop being who I really am and not working as a PI? Or desert my path and start over on a completely new one? Either choice wouldn't really matter, because I would still continue carry on the burden of my choices and my mistakes. More importantly carry the secret that I have kept to myself for the last three years, and unless destiny had other plans I had the fullest intention of keeping it that way, because despite its importance I knew fully well that my secret could also kill everyone I love, and I can't lose anymore more people. I can't.

Clarke felt the hot and excruciating tears build up from the coroner of her eyes, and before she had the chance to force herself to forget or ignore the reason behind her tears, she let out a heartbreaking sob and slowly got down on her knees. With her arms wrapped around her, she once again allowed herself to grieve and feel the never-ending pain she has been through over and over the last three years. When she finally had run out of tears she came to the resolution that this was the last time she was going to cry and feel sorry for herself. It was simply pathetic and besides, she had made her decision and there was no turning backs now.

"How long have you been in contact with her?"

The question was simple and innocent enough, but it was obvious for Bellamy to see that Raven was skeptical about his curiosity and concern regarding the princess. Not that he blamed her for that. When Clarke first left town he had been going out of his way, worried and determined to find her and bring her back home, but when he learned the truth and was unable to reach her he finally gave up on her and allowed his resentment towards her take place.

Raven stared up at him, while trying to appear confident and strong in his presence even though she really didn't have to try since she was already a badass woman in her own right. "She called me a few weeks after she left. After that we remained in contact mainly by e-mails, although she called a few times during birthdays and holidays. But to be honest, I don't know any more than you do. Clarke refused to talk about herself and no matter how much I pushed and prodded she wouldn't budge, and what more she rejected even the idea of coming back, so I gave backed off and allowed her to control our contact because I sure as hell wasn't going to lose my friend again."

"Why didn't you or Monty for that matter tell me?" Bellamy asked, ignoring the intense urge to argue and fight with her regarding the fact that her friend had voluntary left town and has pushed her away ever since. "More importantly, why did she come back if she was dead set against it?"

Raven threw her arms in the air, frustrated and exasperated. "What would you have done? Nobody in town wanted her here once they learned the truth that she had known and hadn't done anything to stop or prevent it from happening. You searched for her until you learned the truth and gave up on her all together. And when you told me afterwards that you had broken things off with her…I just didn't see any reason in telling you about her!"

He wasn't sure whether it was Raven or the conversation itself that frustrated him, but there was something that caused a piece within him to just snap like a nutcracker. His hell-bent anger and frustration was starting to break, and it was strangely enough towards the wrong person, which made him question if Clarke had given Raven the guidelines in how to piss him off in the most frustrating way possible. But that is exactly why he forced himself to shut down his anger for now until he and Clarke dealt with it on a later date, or probably never whichever option was best, and put a tired hand on his forehead as he breathed heavily in order to regain his cool.

Raven obviously saw his distress, looked questionable at him and considered whether she should say something or not. Once she reached her decision she reluctantly and almost gently said, "Look, this conversation is something you should have with our princess. Not with me. Not with Monty, but Clarke herself. She holds all the answers that you seek, that we all seek, but you are the only one she trusts and are at most willing to share them with. I don't know what happened between you two, but despite everything that happened and is currently going on you are still that person to her."

"How do you know?"

"Because the only person she never dared asking about in our e-mails was you. And if my assumptions are correct, which I'm pretty certain I am, she never asked because she was scared of knowing the answer." Raven said, before she turned and walked away from him.

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Thank you guys so much for the reviews, favorite and followings, and I'm glad so many of you got interested in my story. So I hope you guys like the this chapter, and the next one will be out next week.

Clearly I don't own either the series, they belong to their respective owners.

Also I like to add that there are and will be grammar errors in this story, I had forgotten to mention before, and not a perfect writer and I don't have a Beta to fix it for me (which I have no intention on getting anyways), so if people have issues with that then you just have to live with it, okay? I write and release this mainly to entertain you guys as well release some of my creativity.

Review, favorite and/or follow.

xXrebelgirl07Xx