RAVIEL (TWELVE)

“Good evening, Mr. Marshal.”

“Evening, gentle men. She’s Claire Osborn, my stepdaughter.”

They looked at each other before one of them, the higher-ranking one, stepped forward to express his condolences to Claire.

“I’m sorry about what happened to your mother.”

“Is what Raviel said true? My mother was killed in a robbery?”

“We’ll explain the details. But before that, can those people leave this place?”

“As I told you on the phone, I will throw a party to celebrate our wedding anniversary. And before you came, I already told them about the difficult situation I am facing. I wanted to send them home, but I waited for you to come because you are the one who has the right to decide whether they should stay or leave this place.”

“Yes, they can leave now. Can we talk somewhere private?”

“Sure. Follow me.”

Claire’s palms were ice cold. She didn’t resist when I held them and led her to Cooper’s office. I had asked his permission to use his office before the police came because I was sure they would interrogate me and Claire before allowing us to move on to the next stage. The funeral.

“I can’t believe this. My mother is dead,” Claire whispered beside me in a hoarse and wet voice.

“This is a shock to all of us. I hope you’re strong enough to handle it, Claire.”

“I don’t know. This is the first time I’ve lost a family member. I was so young when my father died, I didn’t feel the pain. But now, I feel like I’m suffocating.”

“Everything will be okay. Trust me. You have me.”

She was so shocked by her mother’s death. This poor girl didn’t know what her mother had done to deserve such a cruel murder.

“Have a seat, gentle men. Would you like something to drink before we start?”

“We’re fine.”

“So what really happened to my wife? I was still talking to her on the phone a few minutes ago. She said she was close. Claire and I had planned to surprise her when she arrived.”

“We found the car a kilometer away. It was another driver who first reported it to us. He saw your wife’s car in the middle of the road. When he got out to check, he was shocked to see your wife’s body covered in blood with a gunshot wound to the chest.”

“Shot? My mother was shot after being robbed?” Claire screamed hysterically.

I tried to calm her down by pulling her into my arms.

The cops were watching us intently. I knew what they were thinking about us. A widower and his stepdaughter. Huh, fuck them. I wouldn't let them interfere with my life and Claire's. They had to stop tonight.

“Are you sure it was a robbery?”

“Her purse is gone. She was left completely alone in the car. Was your wife wearing any jewelry on her body?”

“Yes. Earrings, an emerald necklace, and a bracelet. Claire must have seen her mother wearing those jewelries this afternoon, right Claire?”

“Yes. Mom was wearing an emerald necklace and a gold bracelet. She said they were gifts from Raviel.”

“We did a quick investigation before we came here, and it was indeed a robbery. Our staff at the hospital will send the autopsy results tomorrow morning to confirm our suspicions that it was indeed a robbery.”

Yeah, it was a fucking robbery. Who fucking cares about it?

I wanted to kick these two cops out of my life and Claire’s as soon as possible. Even though I had expected this little commotion and had prepared for it, it still sucked. I didn’t like being questioned by the police. This was the first time in my very dark career. But I had to do this to play the role of a husband who was grieving over his wife’s death due to a robbery.

Geez, that’s disgusting.

“How long is this going to take? I need to get my wife’s body back to LA for burial.”

“We’ll do it as soon as possible.”

“I need a specific time,” I growled.

The sooner, the better. I was hoping to take Karina back to LA tonight and throw her in a hole. Done.

“We’ll do it in two days. We need to file a report for our investigation.”

“My wife was just shot dead by a robber. She is not your research subject.”

“I’m sorry, sir. We know you and your stepdaughter are grieving her death, but we’re just following procedure.”

Fuck the procedure.

“Okay. I don’t want to cause trouble with law enforcement and I will try to understand your assignment. What about the perpetrators of my wife’s robbery?”

“Our team is checking all public CCTV footage to track the robbers. We will let you know when we find the perpetrators.”

She was no longer crying, but her face was puffy, and her gaze was blank. I kissed the top of her head and held her close.

“My wife will never come back to us again. You’re just wasting my time with your investigation.”

After some more nonsense, the police finally left me and Claire alone. She was still struggling with her sadness. She just daydreamed while squeezing her icy palms.

“Do you want to go back to the resort or go to the hospital to see your mother’s body?”

Claire sighed softly. She lowered her head, her tears dripping onto her palms. “Mom and I had a fight this afternoon. We yelled at each other. I was angry with her. I hated hearing her humiliate me. But I never wanted her to leave me forever like this. She may not have been the best mother in the world, but at least she didn’t leave me while she was busy dating her boyfriends.”

“I know you’re sad, Claire. But we have to move on. We’ll go back to the resort if you don’t want to go to the hospital to see your mother’s body.”

“You have a lot of money, right?”

Claire stared at me straight in the eye with tears filling her eyes.

“What do you want with my money?”

“Find my mother’s killer. I’m sure you can pay great people to find those robbers.”

“Then what are you going to do about those robbers? It’s not that I don’t want to send people to look for those robbers with my money, but it’s just useless because your mother will never come back to us. She’s dead.”

“But she was your wife.”

“Not anymore.”

“Why are you like this, Rave?”

“I’m just trying to be rational. Don’t push me too far, Claire. Your mother is dead. You have to accept that.”

“But...”

“Stop it,” I snapped at her. I regretted it immediately when I saw her lips begin to tremble. She was about to cry.

“I’m sorry. It’s been a tough day for both of us. I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

Claire slapped my hand away as I tried to touch her face.

Okay, she was mad. I could understand that. I was just being an asshole in front of her.

"Let's go back to the resort and get some rest. We'll talk again in the morning."

Claire didn’t say anything, but she got up from the couch and followed me to the parking lot.

Good.

The last thing I wanted was for her to cause trouble with me and ruin my mood.