Truth comes out a little at a time

The next day I walked around the apartment like I was walking on eggshells. I crept past his door making sure not to wake him as I made coffee before we left. His room was eerily still. Not allowing myself to go in and cross that line again, I went back to my room. Throwing on cargo pants, a Foreston polo, and my steel-toe boots, I was ready. Locking what Bryson said in the back of my mind I brushed my hair into a ponytail.

Looking at the key rack on the wall I debated driving myself ahead of him. Would that seem weird? Would that hurt his feelings?
"I'll drive." I nearly jumped out of my skin, I hadn't heard his door open.
"Okay." Faint dark circles that mimicked mine fell under his eyes. Apparently, neither of us slept well.

For a moment I was mad at him. I was mad he told me that I kissed him. He changed things. He hurt me, despite me hurting him first. I liked it better when I didn't know what happen. Before I knew I hurt someone, more than just one person. I felt less shitty about myself before then. The anger was quickly replaced with guilt.

The car ride, as to be expected, was quiet and uncomfortable. The radio was the only sound, but most of the way was just commercials. I wanted to run from the car. I wanted to run from this problem. I wanted to run. This was too much information to be processing in such a short period, solving a case and fishing back a drunken memory.

Crossing the threshold at Forestons I went from Rene, the girl who found out she kissed a boy she can't have to Lawrence, a secret agent who cracked a case with her partner. I had no other choice but to put last night's conversations away.

"Good morning." Mr. Gold handed both Bryson and me mugs of coffee before we reach the bottom stair. "No time to waste, six eggs to crack." I smiled and followed in tail.
"Are they all separated?"
"Yes, we didn't have enough rooms so we had to make due." The hall was packed with the remaining agents.
"So, the run down, there are six people; three females, three males. Not sure on their full connections yet, they won't talk so far. All of their names showed up in the systems for wedding stuff all over, the weddings were legit." I shook my head, swallowing the coffee in my mouth.
"If I'm correct, they are married. Three couples. Weddings aren't legal but the victim doesn't know that, they sign papers, yes but those people don't exist." Joe looked at his notes then nodded.
"Okay, I can see that." He confirmed.
"The paperwork was real but never filed and even if it had been, these people don't exist." Gold nodded.
"Thank you, Lawrence. Henry attempted to make rounds this morning with them. None of them had any interest, care to take a shot?" He looked between Bryson and me.
"Both of us?" My voice squeaked.
"A little good cop, bad cop?" Joe added in.
"Exactly." Drawing in a deep breath, I nodded. What did we have to lose?

The first room was Jan. The second she saw us, she rolled her eyes.
"You might as well move on, I won't talk to them, I most definitely won't talk to you." I sat down across from her.
"You gave me red flags immediately," I told her.
"I have zero interest in talking to either of you."
"What about Kimberly?" Her eyes flickered eyes to mine for a moment. She remained silent. "She was a bit much, but she had a good heart. She trusted you. She believed in you and she loved you. Here you are, relishing in people's despair."
"That's part of the job!" She snapped. "People get hurt, big deal!"
"But it is a big deal. You steal people's lives, you ruin them. You take what you have no authority to take! The money you didn't earn, all at the expense of someone else who trusts you!" I shook my head. "Poor Kimberly." The room fell silent, a heavy tension nestled in.
"That's why we avoid spending time with people outside of our victim, so we don't get attached," Jan said softly. "That's all I'm going to say." She crossed her arms and looked away. Standing up, I walked to the door to poke my head out.
"Pen and paper?" I whispered to Henry. Knitting his brows together, he handed me a notebook and pen. Taking the items, I slid them across the table to Jan.
"I'm not writing a confession." She turned her nose up.
"I'm not asking you to. Honestly, I'm not asking you to do anything. This is just in case you find the heart to tell Kimberly what happened, I think she deserves that much." Lightly touching Bryson's arm, I pushed him to the door. Jan sat silently behind us, not moving a muscle. Just before I was completely out the door, I turned to look at her. She stared at me, guilt and regret started to color her features. "You are under surveillance and there is an agent literally outside this door, don't be stupid." Jan nodded.

In the next room was a guy, the guy at the cake place who I found immediately suspicious. I sat down across from him.
"You must be Bobby, well, Bobby is your alias." His jaw clenched. The room remained silent. "Oh come on, you have to be the mastermind of this operation. You're smart, you're cunning." He continued to stare at me, not saying a word. "Fine, have it your way. Silence." I smirked. "But Jan's writing a confession so, we will find out soon enough."
"No, she isn't."
"She's got pen and paper right now." His jawline hardened. "Well, see you later. Remember to smile in your mug shot."

Henry stopped me from going into Marcia's room.
"You're kind of zooming through these." I smiled, still holding my mug.
"I'm glad you're worried about my interrogation process. I have an idea, I promise." His brows knit together in concern and his gaze flickered back to Bryson. For a moment my heart squeezed.
"I trust her. She already has Jan basically writing a confession."
"I don't know."
"Well, if they think they are all turning on each other, hence the jumping around quickly. They will start to break thinking the others have." Henry opened his mouth to talk but a knock stopped him. It was from Bobby's door. Slowly, Henry opened it.
"I want you to show me Jan giving her confession." He growled.
"Gladly." Henry took one arm and Kurt jumped in to take the other. They walked him the observation window to Jan's room.
"Fucking bitch." He grumbled as he watch Jan. She was on her second page to Kimberly. "Never would have pegged her for the weak kind."
"You think she's the only one caving?" Bobby's head turned towards me slowly. "A house divided against itself, cannot stand." I quoted Abraham Lincoln. As I took another sip of coffee, the realization sank on his face. He was truly caught and his team was crumbling.

Marica sat with her head down on the table. Her room was by far the smallest.
"My family thinks I'm an honest woman. They think I'm a vet." She looked up, tears pouring down her face. "She thinks my husband is in construction." I plopped in the seat across from her.
"I can try and help you work out a deal with the police, but we need full cooperation." She took in a shaky breath.
"Okay." Henry opened the door, holding a pen and paper.
"I will take over. Ralph said the cops will honor our deal." I nodded, getting ready to exit the room.
"Rene?" I looked back at Marcia. "Is that your real name?" I nodded again. "We were just kids when this all started, I didn't know any better. I was just trying to make some quick cash for fun." I believed her.
"I'm sorry that this happened to you." Which wasn't a lie, I did feel sorry that she somehow got tangled in this mess.
"For the record," she choked on her tears. "You saved me." Goosebumps covered my entire body.
"We all get lost sometimes, what matters is what happens after we are found."

Greg paced his room, walking back and forth like a lion. With no warning, we entered the room. His olive skin color was overcome with the red from his anger. Both cheeks and the small piece of his chest I could see were pink, warming to red. He drew his arm back as if to punch me. I didn't falter or waiver, I just stared at him. Bryson tensed next to me.
"Do it. I got a bad attitude and a death wish." I cocked my head to the side, the rest of my body set in stone. "Oh, I should warn you, you'd be assaulting a secret agent so you'd be arrested for that too, so. Do with that information what you will." Slowly his fist lowered and he sank into his chair. "So, care to share any information?"
"Why should I? I'm sure someone caved already." Smart man.
"Could be helpful to you," Bryson said from over my shoulder. I just stared Greg down.
"How long can I really go away for? I mean, what do you have?" Arrogance sprinkled his words.
"Well, your business is a crime. I'd like to believe we can get most of you for about 30 years or so." The color drained from his face.
"30 years?"
"What, did you think it was a slap on the wrist? A honey, no no situation?"
"You're not as pretty when you're in cargo pants and a polo." Deflection, I rolled my eyes.
"This has nothing to do with Lawrence. We are here for you and your crimes. Lawrence is beautiful either way, just like you're guilty whether you confess or not." Bryson's venomous words floated over my shoulders.
"Well, I think that's enough." I stood from my chair. "We have other people who will confess." Swinging the door open, we both exited.

I stopped at the door of Cindy's room. Bryson nearly plowed into me.
"Thank you, for what you said," I spoke just loud enough for him to hear.
"Of course." Taking a deep breath, I pushed into her room. Her head snapped to us. Taking the pen and paper I had in my hand, I slammed them down on the table.
"I need a list, of all of your fake names and real names." Cindy clenched her jaw. She went from being bubbly to malicious real quick. It was crazy how different they all were. "You're all in custody, we can run fingerprints. You're not going anywhere. Might as well cough it up."
"You lied at the beach." She snapped. I nodded in agreement.
"You're right, I did." I leaned in closer to her. "I lied to do my job, to protect people. You lied to get money so you don't have to work. We are not the same. You take advantage of people, I help people."
"Help people." She scoffed. Bryson's figure appeared at my side, he lifted his tucked-in shirt.
"Do you know what that is?" He pointed to a spot on his abdomen I dare not look at again.
"A scar?" She rolled her eyes.
"Yes, from a bullet laced with a kind of nut oil to kill me." He dropped his shirt to put his hands on the table. Our pinkies were touching. "The only reason I'm alive is because of her. She does help people, she saves people." Her eyes dropped to me.
"Did you really save him?"
"More than one." He confirmed.
"The picture you showed of you two,"
"It was a mission, I actually saved him that night."
"From the bullet?"
"From almond flour. For someone who is deathly allergic, he sure does consume a lot of nuts." She studied the two of us in silence. Neither of us moved.
"Why are you telling me this?" She finally questioned.
"I give a little, you give a little." I slid the paper over. "Names and relations." Slowly she picked up the pen.
"Okay." Nodding, Bryson and I left.

"I was worried that wouldn't work." He said as we made it to Peter's room. Gold and Joe were already inside.
"Was worth a shot. I mean, what information did she really get from me? You're allergic to nuts. I know how to use an EpiPen." I shrugged.
"Fair enough. Now what?"
"I want to see if Bobby will crack. He has sat long enough and seen Jan writing what he thinks is a confession."
"It is, it's just not written to us." He had a point.

We went back to Bobby's room, Bryson close on my heels. I opened the door and entered the room.
"Oh look, Captain Know Nothing is back with her silent minion." He smirked, proud of himself.
"If I needed training in stupid, I ask. But that's not what we're going here, is it." I stared down at the man who made the phone call at the cake tasting. The man who gave me my biggest lead, Bobby. "Listen," I lean onto the table. "The rest of your little clan gave some pretty good details of what your plan was, why don't you just give us the full rundown." I lied. No one had spilled anything really. I was hoping he was dumb enough to believe it and spill. Making hard eye contact with me, he rests his jaw.
"Fine." He started to crack. "We would marry people, not legally of course. But when we were married, we'd take loans out in their name. Huge loans, then dip."
"So that's how you all lived, off these loans."
"Yeah. For some people you could get only thousands of dollars, for others you could get hundreds of thousands. You'd be surprised how easy it is. The things people will do to be loved." Anger laced through me. To pray for people who were lonely and desperate. They ruined love and gave it a bad taste all just to make a little cash.
"You're disgusting." I spat.
"You're telling me, someone can't charm you into marriage." I leaned on the table so our noses were inches apart.
"No, I hardly doubt I will marry anyone. I don't trust people. You, a scum bag, are the perfect example of why."
"Shame, I would have married you." He angled his face, almost as if to kiss me. I stood up, towering over him.
"I don't date married men who can't support themselves. I'm afflicted that you would think I would ever go for a lemon like you." With my venom burned lips, I exited the room.

"I don't know who took over your body in there but that was one hell of a line!" Joe snapped his fingers. "I could feel the heat from over here!" I smiled.
"I don't know, it just rolled off my tongue." I looked back at Marcia's door.
"She will get the best deal possible." I nodded.

Joe and I were standing in the room looking into Bobby's Interrogation room. Turns out his real name is Mick Ford and he was married to none other than Bell Ford, or Marcia. Cindy, aka Suzanne, had laid out who was who and married to whom, just as I asked. I was correct in three couples.

Bryson entered the room. Joe gave me a knowing look then made himself scarce.
"Hey." He shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Hi."
"Listen, I'm sorry about last night."
"No." I stopped him. "You're not wrong, I do like you. I maybe even," I shook my head, instead of finishing that sentence. "But they are also right, it would get messy. Too many moving parts."
"Are you sure?" He asked. "There is nothing I could say or do to convince you otherwise?"
"How do we live? We are only a couple at home and then at Forestons, we are just working partners? What if I get pregnant? Do we ever get married? What's the point, our friends won't come because they can't know. That's not a life to live Bryson. We have to remain platonic."
"But you kissed me." He was nearly begging.
"I know and I am so sorry. I should have never, in any state of mind, done that." I blinked back the tears trying to escape. "Bryce, I am so sorry, but I just can't," I whispered. The door swung open and my gaze dropped.
"Care to send off the loser?" Henry beamed.

We stood outside Forestons as each person was put in the back of a cop car and taken to the station. Each person got in the car, refusing to look at me. I didn't mind. I stood between Joe and Bryson.
"Bell." I blurted out. She turned to me just before getting in the car. Her eyes were still wet with tears. "File for divorce," I advised.
"I hope it works out for you." Her eyes flickered to Bryson before the cop forced her into the car. The squad cars peeled off towards the jail.
"How what works out?" Henry asked.
"Life." I turned and made my way back into Forestons.

On the car ride home I was silent. Exhausted from the past week. Bryson opened the car door for me and the apartment door. The apartment seemed to be our love life battleground. Too many lines have been crossed to uncross.
"Rene, I love you." He stopped me in my tracks.
"What?" I turned to him.
"I'm in love with you." I shook my head. This wasn't happening, right? He wasn't telling me he was in love with me, right?
"No, I-I-I-I no. You can't say that." I gathered up all my strength. "No, you don't get to tell me that. You know the rules." The conversation with Dustin clicked into place.
"What if the rules didn't exist. Then what?"
"No. The rules do exist. We can't play the what-if game!"
"Why not?" He pushed.
"Because we'd had the same answer and you know it but we can't."
"You know I don't care about rules, I care about you." I didn't know how to answer. My heart was screaming to run into his arms. My brain was telling me to run in the opposite direction. Them opposing is what left me stuck in place. "Rene, come on. Why not?" He pushed harder. I couldn't pick if I was more hurt or angry.
"We're so tumultuous!" I nearly roared in frustration. Bryson chuckled.
"No, we are not. We go together like peanut butter and jelly." Crossing my arms, I rolled my eyes.
"You're allergic to peanut butter," I grumbled.
"Alright, fine. We go together like chips and salsa, Mickey and Minnie, apple and cinnamon." He took a step toward me, and my body stiffened. "You know I'm right."
"No. We fight all the time."
"No, we don't. What was the one thing we fought about? Delilah. That's because I wasn't supposed to be with Delilah, I was supposed to be with you." My heart melted. The electric current pulsed. I loved him and have forever. Do we break the rules or ignore them? This can't last forever, we just live in secret? My shoulders curled forward in defeat.
"I'm sorry, I can't. I can't risk my job. It's all I have of who my dad was." Tears started to prickle in my eyes. "I'm really sorry," I whispered before retreating to my room.

I thought I had known heartbreak before, but nothing tops what I'm feeling right now. So desperately I wanted to say yes. He confirmed what we both felt. I had to say no. I can't risk what I have. I can't risk losing this job, I can't risk losing him in my life. My answer had to be no.

I lay in bed, tears trailing down each cheek into my hairline as I looked up at the ceiling. My body felt numb to absolutely everything. Bryson knocked on my door from time to time but I didn't move a muscle or make a sound. I just laid there looking at the ceiling with wet eyes and cheeks.

The lighting in my room had changed from midday to nighttime. Bryson knocked on my door. This time after a moment of silence he came in. Quickly, I closed my eyes. He crept into my room and pulled a blanket over me. My heart broke even more. Can a heartbreak even if it's already in pieces?
"I'm sorry you had to make such a tough decision." Gently he kissed my forehead and left. Once I heard the door close, I rolled onto my side and truly broke down. The snot, the blurry vision, and the wet pillow case.