A/N: WOW! Thank you all so much! I hope you enjoy this new chapter! :-)

Disclaimer: Richelle Mead owns Vampire Academy.

RPOV:

"Oh, come on. The foreigner is back?" I threw my hands up dramatically. "Couldn't they get anyone but cheap outsourced help to do the job? Man, I guess anyone can work at the police station these days."

The detective ignored that. After reading me the Miranda rights and pressing the button on the recorder, Dimitri took a seat across from me.

"Mornin', Cop."

He arched a brow. "Good morn-"

"When am I getting out of here?" I interrupted.

"Not for a while. So get comfy."

The room was pretty much bare. Awful cream-colored cement walls, one metal table, two metal, uncomfortable as hell, numb your ass chairs, and a rectangular sheet of glass that was no doubt a one-way window. Earlier I had felt eyes on me and promptly flipped off the people I couldn't see.

Glancing up, I spotted a black camera zooming in on my face, and on habit and impulse, I raised my hands and gave the sleek device two birds.

"This interview is being taped, recorded—"

"Duh."

"—and may be given in evidence if your case is brought to trial. The time is 1600 hours on Thursday, August the seventeenth, 2011. This interview is taking place at Charleston Falls Police Department."

"Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah. Is all are hear. Hey, are you going to finish that?"

Rolling his eyes, he slid the chocolate glazed donut with one bite taken out of it towards me and continued on.

"My name is Dimitri Belikov, I work for Charleston Falls Police Station as chief of police and a part time homicide detective. My role today is to interview you in relation to the offenses you've been arrested for."

I'd been cuffed for a minor warrant and some lousy misdemeanor. BFD. It was perfect for Dimitri. Get me under custody, and he got to interrogate the main suspect in Mason's murder case. Try and break me down. Make me crack. Confess to the crime.

Whatever. I wasn't going to.

"I will be making notes during the interview purely for my reference." The cop said.

"Okey. Dokey." I licked the remaining chocolate off my lips. His gaze followed the movement before his eyes snapped away and he grabbed his pen and notepad.

"State your full name, please."

"Rose Hathaway."

"Full name."

"Oh, yeah. Rosemarie."

"Full name."

"Rosemarie Hathaway. There. You happy, dick?"

"Date of birth."

I gave it to him.

"Can you confirm for the purpose of the tape that there are no other persons present in the interview room?"

"Yep. This room is about as empty as my stomach and soul."

Dimitri arched an eyebrow and pointedly looked down at the empty plastic wrapper with the smudges of chocolate.

"What?" I leaned back and crossed my arms. "I'm still hungry."

"I can give you something to do drink..."

"You can give me a whole lot of shut-the-hell-up. Or give me the keys to get out of this shit hole and I'd be delighted."

"Unfortunately, I cannot do that." I could tell by the way his lips twitched that he was fighting the urge to smile.

"Whatever." I muttered. "It's your world. I just live in it."

"I need to warn you," Dimitri sat forward, braced his strong forearms against the table. "You have the right to remain silent, but it may harm your defense if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do or say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?"

"Crystal clear, baby." I drummed my thumbs against my thigh, trying to keep my cool. I may have been the perfect picture of I-don't-care on the surface, but underneath, my blood was boiling with worry and anxiety. God, if they found me guilty of killing Mason...I'd have to spend the rest of my life in prison for a crime I didn't commit. Or worse, I'd be sentenced to the death penalty-

No.

I had to stop letting my thoughts get out of control. Even if they did find enough evidence, the trial could be years and years away.

Take it one day at a time, I thought with a deep breath.

"This is your opportunity for you to give your version of events." Dimitri said.

I declined the offer, not wanting to relieve that day ever again. The nightmares were bad enough.

Dimitri's eyes were cold as stone as he leaned forward, face only inches from mine. He meant business. "Are you sure? Off the record? I wouldn't recommend that you do that, Hathaway."

"Off the record?" I scooted closer to him, putting our mouths just centimeters apart. Jesus, he smelled delicious. "You're a fucking asshole and I want to punch you in the face right now."

"Fair enough," his lips curled. "Anything you say in court may—and will most likely—harm your defense. The court may also draw an inference from your silence-"

"Wait," I pondered the thought, then decided to tell him. I described, in vivid detail, everything about that night only a little over a week ago. The shouting. The gunshot that had awaken me out of sleep. The ringing in my ears. The smell of gunpowder. The blood. And how I had only seen the back of a man in all black jumping out the window.

After I was done with the gruesome tale, I leaned back, the pins-and-needles feeling buzzing all over my skin from being in such a close proximity with the detective was completely foreign to me.

"You have the right to free and independent advice. Do you require the services of a solicitor?"

"Nope," I said, popping the 'P'. It was little things like that that irritated the hell out of Dimitri, I'd learned. And boy, did I love pissing him off. Just to pour gasoline on fire, I pulled a piece of bubble gum out of my pocket, tossed it in my mouth, and chewed like a cow.

Dimitri's jaw clenched and I could tell he was fighting to stay in control.

I laughed obnoxiously.

He wrote something down on the notepad. "Any reason you choose not to have one?"

"Nope," Chew. Chew. Chew. Chew. "No reason."

"Okay," The cop drew in a deep, collective breath. "Tell me why you think you've been arrested."

And the interrogation went on and on and on and on…

For six damn hours.

I'd never herd the words, what, where, why, how, and when, so many times in my life. Apparently, the police department had some spanking evidence against me, and it continued to build. By the time it was over, I wanted to shove screwdrivers into both of my ears and eyes. I had also managed to dump a cup of scolding black coffee in to Dimitri's lap, kick him in the balls, and moon the one-way window several times.

"Is there anything you would like to add or clarify?" he finished.

"How many bullets would it take you to kill me?" I got up from the floor and stretched my aching muscles, cracking my shoulder. "Because if you have enough in your gun right now, just do it. Shoot me. Empty your clip in my chest and put me out of my misery."

Dimitri smiled as he pulled the handcuffs from his pocket and locked them around my wrists. "Let's go, Hathaway."

"When am I being released?" God, did I want some cheese with that whine? My voice was so nasally.

"Next week."

We didn't say anything else as he escorted me back to my cell.

DPOV:

There was a knock on the door and I glanced up. "Mikhail, come in. Please."

"Boy, that girl is a handful, isn't she." He walked into my office and took a seat across my desk with mountains of paperwork and folders.

"Yeah, she is." I rubbed my eyes, trying to ease the stabbing pain in my skull. It didn't work. I had been up all night investigating the leads on the Ashford case. After Rosemarie's interrogation, my gut was telling me that she was speaking the truth when she refused she had anything to do with her boyfriends death.

The teenager was extremely hard to read—at least for other detectives. However, she was like an open book to me. And when she lied, she was terrible at it. Never met my eyes, twitched, rubbed her hands together, and talked rapidly— all signs of deceit. But there was something in her eyes that just made you feel as if you could trust her. There was hopelessness in there. She was just a lost young woman, crying out for help.

All of that was completely irrational. She was a criminal, and no matter how innocent I assumed her to be, I never let my guard down. I would look at the situation from a professionals standpoint, and treat her as a suspected murder until I could prove otherwise. One thing I didn't do in my business was give special treatment.

"Someone's here to pick her up,"

My lids snapped open, "What? No, I still have seventy-two hours left with Hathaway."

"Apparently not," Mikhail said. "Some boy just came and bailed her out. She's getting released right now."

"Why wasn't I informed of this?"

"The rookie didn't tell you? Shit. He was supposed to. Anyways, you know I've been meaning to ask you this for awhile boss, I've got a lot of extra vacation time—"

"Take as much time as you need," I jumped up from my chair and headed for the door. "Tell your wife I said hello. More importantly, both of you have fun and enjoy yourselves."

"Thanks, boss. We really appreciate it. With the baby on the way, Sonya and I just need some time to relax for awhile…"

Mikhail's words faded as I ran down the hallway—

And stopped dead in my tracks.

A real flashy man in his early twenties had his arms wrapped around my suspect, and she was hugging him back just as eagerly.

"Adrian!" she screamed. "Thank you! Thank you! You are a saint! I don't think I could have survived another minute in that rat hole."

"Of course you couldn't," he pulled back, grabbed her hand, and pressed a lingering kiss to her knuckles. "That place is filth and you deserve the best of the best, Little Lady."

Rosemarie smiled and smoother her fingers through his bronzed-colored hair.

My fingers suddenly ached and I glanced down. They were balled so tightly into fists that my knuckles were about to snap right off the bones. Strange, I thought, as my insides filled with something burning hot…and very angry.

I stalked straight up to the two of them. "Hathaway. Can I speak with you for a moment?"

RPOV:

Glancing up at the bowl of eye candy that called himself Detective Belikov, I tucked my hair behind my ear and said, "Excuse me? In case you haven't heard, I just got bailed out. I'm out of here."

Adrian's devil-may-care smile was at complete odds with his emerald-green, icy gaze.

"I'll drop two charges if you come to my office." Dimitri said gruffly. "Right now."

My mouth dropped open. "Which ones?"

"Assault against an officer and resisting arrest."

"You strike a hard bargain, Cop." I tapped my nails against my teeth. "All right. Let's go."

After placing a kiss to Adrian's cheek, I followed Dimitri to his office and dropped down into a chair as he shut his door and closed the blinds.

"I take it this is secret business, correct?"

"You bet." he eased down into the seat behind his massive, mahogany colored desk. "Where is he taking you after you leave this station?"

I snorted. "Like I'm going to tell you that."

"You should."

"Why? So you can follow me around a bit more and continue to build a case against me for a crime I didn't commit? You know what, screw you." I started to get up-

He was over in a flash, gripping my bicep.

"Let me go," I bared my teeth, growling. "Or I will scream so loud every window in this building will shatter."

"You think they'll come running in here for you?" Dimitri shook his head, eyes frighteningly intense. "Not unless I tell them to. You're not the first one who has screamed in my office."

"You're crazy." I eyed the cup of pens on his desk, thinking the sharp tips would buy me some time if I stabbed his eyeballs-

"I'm not going to hurt you, Rose," His gentle tone shocked me, because I didn't think the hard-ass was capable of being soft. "I just want to talk to you."

"Then let go of my damn arm, sit down in your seat, and let's have a nice chit chat."

"I prefer to stand," The detective leaned slightly against his desk. "And as for what you said earlier, I don't believe you murdered Mason."

"Really?" That surprised me.

"Yes," he said. "I believe all suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law."

I slumped in the chair, disappointment swelling my heart until it ached painfully in my chest. Worst than the three cracked ribs I had. "Bastard." I muttered under my breath.

"I need you to listen."

Leaning forward, I mocked being extremely interested in what he had to say. "I'm all ears!"

"I want to make you a deal."

"Okay..."

"Do not walk out of here with that man."

I had to laugh. "You're insane, you know that. Completely delusional."

Dimitri simply shrugged, completely unaffected by the insult. "You haven't even asked what the deal is yet."

"I don't care what it is."

"Are you sure about that. I'm positive you'll have a change of heart once you hear what's in it for you."

The tone of the detective's voice had me overwhelmingly curious, and I found myself asking questions, in spite of the fact that my brain was screaming at me.

"I am still suspicious of you being Mason Ashford's murder, as I am with my other suspects, but I can no longer hold you."

My insides filled with smug. "Go on, officer..."

"I am also afraid that once you get released, you will disappear off the face of the planet and I'll never be able to find you again. My main point is, I want to keep an eye on you." Dimitri crossed his arms and his brows came together in concentration. "So I have only two options. I can pop you back into foster care, which you are likely to escape-"

"You got that right."

"-and then I will likely be doomed in the investigation and the case will run cold."

"Gotta be honest here, Pig, this deal isn't sounding too appetizing for me. It only seems like you're trying to trap me so that when you do have proof, or possibly staged proof against me, you can throw me in jail without breaking a sweat. Haven't you ever heard of someone being wrongfully accused and spending their whole life in prison for something they didn't do? I like to be a free bird, thank you very much."

Suddenly he got down on his knees in front of me and grabbed my hand. I gasped at the electric current that went through me at his warm, confident touch. "I want to make this clear, Rose. On the contrary to what you might think, I'm not the bad guy here. I only want to find the person who killed your boyfriend and fast. I promise that if you didn't do this, I will do everything in my power to prove you innocent and find the person who really did. I'm trying to help you."

Staring at Dimitri for the longest time, I found only truth in his dark brown eyes, and for some absurd reason, I trusted and believed him whole-heartedly. He may have been a hard-ass, but he wasn't crooked or evil. He only wanted to bring justice for Mason, and so did I. "Okay." I said. "I accept your deal."

The detective got to his feet, arching an eyebrow. "But you haven't even heard the rest of it."

"Don't need to. I trust you."

In spite of my protests, Dimitri decided to tell me everything about his deal, and by the time he was finished speaking, I felt my stomach knotting. Oh, gee. I had already agreed to it. No backing out now. We'd shook on it.

Dimitri had told me that he was going to do something completely unheard of and out-there: offer me to come live at a police academy called St. Vladimir's. Turns out, his father had owned the place before he'd died - something he hadn't gone into details about - and now Dimitri owned it. It was a private thousand acre resort- or at least, that's why I liked to call it - located in the Montana mountains and wilderness. To make a long story short, it was hell on earth. A place where Dimitri trained only the most badass cops. Okay, he hadn't used the term "badass", but it sounded cooler than all his bland and extra long words.

Lucky for me, he was taking new recruits.

"It's hell on earth," he repeated as we concluded.

"Good thing I like challenges than, huh."

"I'm not kidding you, Hathaway." Dimitri met my eyes. "It's a six week program. Once you're in, you're in. No getting out. The training is brutal. Absolutely no drugs. No alcohol. No smoking. No sex. And no stealing. You have to try your hardest and give it your all, or else I kick you out."

I thought of all the reasons I should do it. Number one, I was homeless. Number two, I had no job. Number three, I was broke. And number four...

"Do you want to change your life? Do you want a fresh start? Want to wipe the slate clean and clear that criminal record of yours? Well, here is your opportunity."

If I had felt any doubt earlier, this was all the encouragement I needed. I was going to do this, whether I liked it or not. I hadn't realized it until now, but my life was going down a dangerous path. I didn't know where I'd be ten years from now, or if I'd even make it to see my next birthday. Besides, I had nowhere else to go. Avery wasn't going to welcome me back. She didn't want or need the attention of the police. And now matter how good of friends we were, she wasn't going to risk her freedom for me. Adrian had rich parents and he adored me, but he was expecting me to pay him back for the bail money. That or...give my body up to him. Which was something I would never do.

I stared up at Dimitri and all his yummyness. That silky hair. Blazing dark eyes. Incredible physique. And pantie-dropping accent. "When do I start, Comrade?"