Chapter ten; It's going to be alright.
Let me know what ya'll think? I feel really confident about this story.
Jo and Henry along with Hanson sat in the break room with Lucas. He was starting to look like himself again. Only he was still worried how he was going to break the news to his brother.
"I didn't know her all that well, but my brother loved her so much. They've been married for five years now. They have a baby boy that was born a month ago." Lucas said with a sad smile. "I still don't know what she was doing in that apartment. It doesn't belong to her or to Bruce."
"I'm sure we'll get some answers Lucas. We won't rest until her murderer is caught." Jo reassured him. Henry knew loss all too well, but for Lucas's age and who he is he is taking it rather well. He didn't know that this lover of comic books could be this strong. Henry could see and feel all the sadness in his eyes and yet Lucas was being so strong. Granted the young man didn't know her too well, but she made his brother happy and now he had to explain to his brother that his wife wasn't home with him and his child, because she was gone.
"If you'd like, Lucas. I would accompany you on your trip to your brother. I would be honoured to help you through this difficult time." Henry said with a soft and sincere smile. Lucas looked up to his superior from one of the break room's table chairs. His coffee was still burning hot and as he blew over it he broke into a genuine smile.
"I would appreciate that so much, Doc. I think I'll need the support otherwise I'll be the one crying." Lucas joked half-heartedly. "I just wish there was something I could do that could've prevented this. I can't believe I have to tell my little brother that the love of his life will never come home again. I have to tell him his son's mother won't see the kid grow up." Lucas said as a few tears uncharacteristically slipped across his features.
"It'll be alright, Lucas. Don't worry about a thing." Hanson reassured him as he gripped his shoulder reassuringly. Lucas nodded with a weak smile as he took a long slurp of his coffee. Henry and Jo shared a sympathetic look before turning back to Lucas.
"We'll leave you alone for a moment Lucas. When you're finished with your coffee we can leave. Lucas nodded as he turned his head back to his coffee. As Henry, Jo and Hanson left the break room Reece made her way to them.
"I want this case dealt with immediately and solved as soon as possible." Reece started rather on edgily. "The apartment that Rose Wahl was found in belonged to none other than Thomas Morris, a young heir to the Phillip Morris international tobacco company. If we don't finish this case as soon as possible we'll have to deal with an angry spoiled brat." Reece sighed heavily.
"We understand, Lieu. We'll finish this before you know it." Jo reassured her. Reece nodded as she visibly started to relax a bit. "On a side note, you're assistant can not under any circumstances aid you in this case, Henry. He is in too deep." Reece warned.
"Understood, sir. I don't think he is rather capable to do anything in this situation. He is quite devastated, but I'll take care of him." Henry reassured her.
"Alright then. Hanson I want you to start digging into the surveillance footage across town where our victim worked and find out why she was there in the first place." Hanson nodded at Reece's statement and immediately went of to do as he was told. "Excellent, I need some progress people." She reminded them one last time before making her way back to her office.
"Alright, Henry we'll need you to ask Lucas's brother a few questions, but don't push it." Jo warned. "I'll see what else I can find on Mr. Morris."
"Indeed I will, but do be careful darling. Men like him do as they please and don't like other people snooping around in their affairs. I speak from horrible experiences." Henry said as he felt the memory in the back of his head slip into the light, but before he could fall into the pit of it he forced it back into a mental folder and labelled it 'DO NOT OPEN'.
"I know, Henry, I'm a big girl and I can handle myself." She reassured him.
"And that I have no doubt of, but I can't lose you. Not so soon." Henry said with a sad smile. Jo sighed at his antics, but appreciated them nonetheless.
"I know and you won't." Jo reassured him. "Now go. Lucas needs you more than I do at this moment." Jo said as she turned and went on her way to solve this mystery laid out before her.
About twenty minutes later Lucas and Henry showed up at his brother's house. It wasn't anything fancy but it was big enough for a family to live in it. Lucas knew that his brother was home, because he came home a week ago from the army. He was given about three weeks off before he had to return for deployment to Iraq. Lucas took a deep breath before he knocked on the door.
"I'll be right there!" Bruce shouted from somewhere in the house. Henry and Lucas waited until they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Bruce swiftly opened the door and came face to face with the two M.E's. Bruce looked a lot different than Lucas. He was taller and had much bigger muscles than Lucas. He was well built and his brown hair and brown eyes made him look even more handsome. "Well, if it isn't my big brother, Lucas. How did that date go that you couldn't shut up about? And who is your friend?" Bruce asked politely as he leaned against the door frame. Before either of them could answer a baby's cry echoed through the hall. "Gosh I'm so sorry. Rose left for a business trip and left Tommy with me. I can't wait for her to come home. She can handle him much better than me." Bruce's words made Lucas almost faint. He didn't know how he was going to do this.
"It's alright. I hope you don't mind if we come in?" Lucas questioned nervously.
"Ok, where is my brother and what have you done with him? He would never look so nervous around me." Bruce joked as he quickly made his way upstairs. "Make yourselves at home. I'm just quickly going to fetch Tommy. Then you can introduce me to your friend and tell me why you're so nervous." Bruce said with a bright smile.
"This is going to be so much harder than I thought it would be." Lucas said as he closed the door and slowly put his head against the door.
"I'm right here, Lucas. You don't have to do this alone." Henry reassured him with a sad smile.
"Thanks, Doc. I gotta say you changed a bit over the last few months." Lucas stated as he kept his head against the door. "I guess that happens when you let people in." Lucas said with a sad smile.
"I guess you're right, Lucas. It is rather a good thing to open up even if it is not by much." Before Lucas could answer Henry's notion Bruce returned with Tommy in his one arm and a milk bottle in his hand.
"Okay, now I know somethings up. You haven't looked this depressed since I accidently spilled water on your Soul Slasher comic book." Bruce said as worry filled his features. "What's got you down, big brother?" Bruce asked. Lucas slowly turned his head to face his younger brother.
"Rose… Rose isn't coming home, Bruce." When the sentence left Lucas's mouth Bruce immediately dropped the bottle of milk. His eyes widened in horror and he turned his head to Tommy. The young boy was smiling up at his father and fiddling with his military dog tag.
"Who. Touched. My. Rose?" Bruce asked as anger and sadness formed around his features. Before Lucas could answer the difficult question Henry intervened.
"We don't know Mr. Wahl, but we'll do everything in our power to bring justice to her." The brown haired man nodded and then turned his head back to his brother.
"It's alright, Lucas. That must've been quite the burden." Bruce said with a sad smile as tears rolled across his cheeks. "I know how this goes. I am one-hundred percent sure that fucking playboy, Thomas did this. I should've seen this coming." Bruce said as he closed his eyes and even more tears rolled across his cheeks. Henry wanted to ask more, but he knew he would be pushing it.
"I'm so sorry, Bruce." Lucas said almost whispering it.
"No, no." Bruce shook his head and quickly wiped his tears away. "This isn't your fault. Just do what you can to nail that son of a bitch. If you don't mind? Can you introduce me to your friend another time? I just want to be alone for today."
"We'll nail him to the wall, little brother." Lucas said joking half-heartedly. As Lucas and Henry made their way out the door Bruce called after them.
"When you do find him guilty give me a call. My general owes me a favour and he'll gladly bail me out of jail for punching the rich son of a bitch." And with that they left the soldier to revel in his grief.
This didn't turn out so bad. My surprise from Adam is coming soon… Until then…