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Chapter 4
Alden and Vaughn were both sat in the kitchen when Beanie walked through the door; both men looked very rough and tired. Vaughn was once again hitting the bottle.
"You come to arrest him?" Vaughn asked barely looking at his wife as she entered the room. "Or to ignore more of my phone calls." Beanie rolled her eyes at him and went to sit next to her son.
"There were some problems with the DNA and we're waiting for the official ones to arrive but I had them run mine against the victim's and there was no match." Beanie told her son who asked if that was good and she responded that it was very good, if the DNA had been his there would have been a match.
"That's fantastic." Vaughn exclaimed wearing a smile for the first time in 24 hours. "But what have you come home for? Surely you could have called with that?"
"They have a few more questions to help them find the killer." Beanie replied.
"And what proud momma bear came to collect her son?" Vaughn asked, "Is it for the director to save face?" He stood up and came face to face with his wife who as usual didn't back down to him, she was the one person he couldn't intimidate.
"No I'm trying to make this easier for our son; going in voluntarily in my car is less intimidating than going with a Detective in a squad car." Beanie replied before turning to her son and telling him to go and get changed out of his pyjamas. "And you," She said turning back to her husband in a stern voice. "Pull yourself together before the rest of our children come home because you're not the only one hurting in all this. Tell Alden I'm in my car waiting." She finished storming out of the kitchen and slamming the front door behind her. When she'd gone Vaughn took a look at the bottle of scotch before pouring it down the sink.
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"Mr Monteagle thanks for coming in again." Don said as Beanie and her son walked into the interview room. "We just have a few more questions for you about the night of the murder." Don added and the younger man nodded in understanding before taking a seat next to his mother. "But firstly Mac just called," Don looked at Beanie as he spoke. "DNA results from the FBI show that you're not a match." Alden nodded at that relieved that his mother's words had been confirmed, an hour later Alden and Beanie were on their way out of the PD.
"Ma go back to work, I'm going to take the subway home." Alden said as his mother started leading them in the direction of the car park. She protested but he insisted. "Go catch the bad guys; I just need some time on my own to think things through." She nodded in understanding and he kissed her on the head, just like his father always did, before leaving.
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She arrived back at the lab to find Danny sat waiting with Mac outside of her office; she apologised for being late and showed them into the office. She was exhausted and didn't feel like dealing with the argumentative detective but she knew she had too; she and Danny needed to make peace once and for all.
"Dr Monteagle I want to apologise for my behaviour last night, it was uncalled for and extremely unprofessional of me." Danny said the moment the director had sat down in her chair, he was surprised at how weary she looked; he guessed she'd really gone through the ringer in the last 24 hours.
"It was, and so was I." Beanie admitted. "But what you accused me of was unacceptable, I pride myself on the credibility of this lab and the people in it; and for you to accuse me of tampering with machinery were out of line."
"I know, I'm sorry." Danny said feeling very guilty.
"Your attitude towards me ever since I joined the lab has been poor and now I want to clear the air for good." She looked at the younger man as she stood up to sit on the desk so she was closer to him and Mac. "For the record I never have or never will use my husband's name or money to help me get further in my professional career, this, " She said gesturing around her office, "Is all my own work, all my husband ever did was buy me office warming gifts do you understand?" Danny nodded and she said if he couldn't accept that it was his problem and he needed to deal with it before telling him to get back to work. Mac gave her a sympathetic nod on his way out of the room with the younger detective.
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