Police officers gathered around their bakery. Someone came out to escort Casey back inside, guiding him over to a table so he could tell them everything that had happened. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't believe it. All the blood pooling in that dumpster bin should've been proof enough, but Casey wanted his mom to still be alive.

Maybe she still had a pulse and would miraculously live. Maybe it was all a nightmare he'd soon awaken from.

A red-headed detective with freckles sat down across from him. He gave him an empathetic smile as he pulled out a small notebook and pen. Casey glanced at the nametag on his uniform. C. Bailey. He was one of his mom's colleagues, but he didn't know the detective very well. Casey had only heard his name a few times from his mom.

"Casey, do you have any idea who would do something like this to your mom?" Detective Bailey asked him.

Casey shook his head. "I-I don't. Maybe it was a culprit from one of her cases? I'm not sure. Mom didn't talk about her work all that much. She didn't like bringing it home with her."

"I understand, and I'm sorry for your loss. I can't imagine how you must be feeling," Detective Bailey said. "I worked on a few cases with Detective Lockhart and she was an amazing woman. We will look into her current cases and see if any of them might've held a grudge against her."

Casey nodded. "Alright, thank you. Have you told the rest of our family yet? My sister, Lani, is home with my son and Dad had gone out to the station earlier to figure out what's been going on. I'm sure he's filed a missing person's report or been hounding you with questions all this time."

Detective Bailey frowned, brows knitting in a tight scowl. "Your dad did? Do you know what time this was?"

"Um, probably around seven-ish?" Casey replied. "He'd already left before I woke up. Lani told me about it. He hadn't opened the bakery yet either, like he was supposed to and when I tried calling him, it went straight to voicemail." Casey froze, swallowing the lump that formed in his throat. "You don't think... Dad isn't.... He isn't dead?"

"Let's not jump to any rash conclusions yet," Detective Bailey said. "I'm sure he's just been out trying to find your mother. We'll do everything we can to help you find him, too. I'll see if my partner heard anything about him coming to the station. It's Daniel Lockhart, right?"

"Yeah." Casey nodded.

"Okay, I'll be right back. I'm just gonna have a quick word with my partner over there." Detective Bailey gestured to a dark-haired detective, who sat at another table with Xavier.

From beyond the glass windowpane, Casey noticed curious civilians had gathered on the sidewalk across from the bakery. Some officers guarded the perimeter, ensuring nobody slipped through and tampered with evidence. Casey always hated going into that back alley to take out their trash, but now, he wasn't sure he could ever step foot there again.

Casey tried to calm his pounding heart. Every inch of his body resembled Jell-O. It had to be a misunderstanding, right? That couldn't actually be his dead mother in their dumpster. Who the hell would do such a reprehensible thing? To toss her away like trash?

Cold shivers rattled off his bones as he folded his arms across his chest, wishing he had his family there with him. Xavier was being questioned off to the side at another table with Detective Bailey's partner. He'd seen his mom's body, too. While Casey had frozen, Xavier could be rational and called the police. Xavier had been the one to guide them to her body because Casey couldn't dare utter the words out loud. He didn't want to believe it himself.

Someone murdered his mom.

Soon enough, Detective Bailey came back over to his table. He explained how they needed him to give his official statement down at the police station, considering he'd been the one to find his mother's body. They would escort Xavier down with them, but in separate cars.

Casey wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible so he could return home with his son and sister. Has anyone told Lani yet? Casey considered calling her, but decided against it, not wanting her to hear about their mother's death over the phone. She deserved to be told in person.

The ride to the police station had Casey on edge, despite how kind Detective Bailey had been. He expected to be led into an intimidating interrogation room, but Detective Bailey opted for another room that had a lot of kid toys spread out on the table and comfy plush chairs. Casey took a seat, placing his hands in his lap. His restless leg bounced a few times as he gazed around the pine scented room, wondering if that's where they interviewed children who witnessed crimes or, god-forbid, were part of a crime.

"Just make yourself comfortable," Detective Bailey said. "Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Soda?"

"No thanks," Casey politely declined.

"Okay, then let's get right into this." Detective Bailey pulled out a recorder, placing it on the table. He documented the date. "For the record, can you please state your name and home address?"

Casey told him all the mundane questions he needed to know, leading up to the discovery of finding his mother. Something else came to mind while he retraced his steps yesterday, and it brought a horrible theory to his mind. Was it possible that the August guy killed his mom? He'd been nice enough and even paid for the cupcake he desired, but had it all been a ruse? Perhaps the real reason he visited the bakery was to scout the place out to kill her.

"There was a weird man who came into the bakery the other night," Casey said. "He'd been injured. Shot, I think. He asked me to bandage him up with our first aid kit. We offered to call him an ambulance, or the police, since he'd been attacked, but he wanted none of that. We told our mom about it right away."

"What did this man look like?" Detective Bailey asked. "Did he give a name?"

"He was tall, white, and had dark hair," Casey replied. "He said his name was August. Didn't give a last name."

Detective Bailey nodded. "I see. Do you think one of the gangs could be responsible for your mom's death?"

"I... I don't know. I mean, it's possible," Casey replied.

"Have you ever had any run-ins with the Black Vipers or Voiceless Rebels before?" Detective Bailey asked.

Casey bit the inside of his lower lip, looking down at the floor. "Yeah, I have."

"Can you tell me about it? Was it another incident like with that August guy at your father's bakery?"

"No. Wyatt's mom, Veronica, worked with the Black Vipers," Casey replied. "Just this year, I got full custody of him."

"Do you think Veronica might've had something to do with this?" Detective Bailey asked.

"I doubt it. But if so, she had help on the outside. She's been in New Syracuse county jail for over a month now."

Could August be responsible for his mother's death? Was it possible he had some kind of connection with his ex-girlfriend through the Black Vipers? He had seemed nice enough, just wanting to stay out of jail and get himself patched up after a fight. But maybe his mother confronted him and things backfired on her.

"Um, I'm not sure if you guys have checked yet, but we've got cameras outside that alleyway. It doesn't face the dumpster, unfortunately, but maybe it caught the culprit," Casey explained. "I could even identify August if I needed to."

"We haven't seen that yet. Wasn't aware of it actually," Detective Bailey replied. "You wouldn't mind sharing that footage with us, yeah?"

"Well, um, I don't have control over it. It's done on my dad's computer, but I'm sure when you find him, he'll share it with you," Casey said.

Detective Bailey nodded. "Alright, I just have a few more questions for you and then I can take you home. We've already sent some officers to your house to inform your sister and we're looking for your father now."

"What do you want to know?" Casey asked.

"Tell me about the day you last saw your mother," Detective Bailey said. "Was she behaving oddly? Anything that showed something might be wrong?"

"No, nothing like that. Dad woke up early that morning and made us all pancakes. They told Lani and I that Dad's not gonna let us close the bakery by ourselves anymore. Cuz of the incident with August. After breakfast, we cleaned the dishes, and she told me I needed to be more cautious around people," Casey replied. "Again, nothing out of ordinary since she was referring to the guy I bandaged up at the bakery."

Detective Bailey nodded. "Okay, I think that's all I have for tonight. Thank you for your time. I'll get you back home."

"Okay, thanks." Casey stood up, heading for the door with Detective Bailey trailing behind him.

"Again, I'm so sorry for your loss, Casey. We're going to do everything we can to get justice for your mom," Detective Bailey said.

Casey was ready to leave, not wanting to spend another minute in that small room. Despite how they designed it to make victims feel safer, it did nothing to ease his troubled mind. He wanted to wake up from this living nightmare.

🧁

Familiar residential houses bypassed in a blur. Casey could barely focus on the road ahead of them as Detective Bailey drove him home. He'd messaged Lani to update her on everything and that he was finally coming home.

Detective Bailey pulled up into their driveway, where Casey noticed a flicker of movement from the curtain. Probably Lani. Or maybe their father got home.

"Thanks for the ride," Casey told him.

"Of course. No problem. It's the least I can do," Detective Bailey replied. "Before you go, I'll give you my personal number. Call me if you ever need anything, okay?"

"I will." Casey nodded, accepting the slip of paper he handed him.

"Be safe. Again, I'm sorry for your loss. You and your family have my condolences."

Casey stepped out of the police cruiser, closing the door behind him. Snowflakes alighted on his cheeks and in his hair as he made his way up their driveway, crunching through freshly fallen snow on the ground. The moment he reached the porch, the front door walloped open and Lani embraced him in a tight hug.

"Oh, Casey."

"She's gone," Casey murmured. "I can't believe it... Had I not seen her myself... I don't know. Where's Wyatt? How's he doing?"

Lani closed the door behind them, folding her arms across her chest. She wiped at her eyes, keeping the tears at bay.

"I've got him in the dining room coloring," Lani replied. "He was with me when the detectives came by. I know you probably wanted to explain everything to him, but I had no choice. He wanted to know what happened to his Nana."

"I understand, don't worry. How'd he take it?" Casey asked.

"He cried at first, then he told me he hates the person who hurt her," Lani explained. "Where's Dad? Is he still down at the station?"

"I don't know. I didn't see him," Casey admitted. "When I told Detective Bailey that Dad went down to the station questioning them about her, he seemed confused. He told me he'd talk to his partner about it, but then he never brought it up again. He has answered none of my texts or calls either."

"Yeah, he hasn't responded to me either. That's really freaking weird," Lani said, lowering her voice. "You don't think something's happened to him too, do you?"

"God, I hope not."

Lani rested a consoling hand on his shoulder. "Dad's absence only makes it worse. He should be here with us. I don't understand where he's gone off to or why he isn't answering us."

"It's almost like how Mom wouldn't answer my texts," Casey pointed out.

"Jeez, now I'm getting more worried." Lani took a load off on the couch, raking a hand through her messy chestnut brown hair.

"All we can do is wait for him to answer us. Maybe the detectives found him already and took him in for questioning?" Casey gave a hopeful suggestion.

"Maybe."

"I'm gonna check on Wyatt real quick, okay?" Casey said.

"Yeah, okay."

Casey made his way through the kitchen and into the dining room. Several papers with colorful doodles covered the mahogany table where his son colored. Only when Casey came and sat down beside him did he take a break and look up at him.

"How ya doing?" Casey asked. "I know today's been scary. But Aunt Lani's been taking care of you, hasn't she?"

Wyatt nodded. "Me and Aunt Lani had donuts for lunch."

Casey smiled. "Sounds good. I heard some detectives dropped by earlier. They spoke with me too."

"A bad man hurt Nana," Wyatt said, shaking slightly. "Will he come here?"

"Well, you don't have to worry. I won't let any bad men get to you, okay?" Casey told him. "The police will find the person who hurt Nana, too. He won't ever hurt anyone else."

If only Casey could truly convince himself of that.