Chapter 42: Break Down
Nick froze as he hear him say. While her curiosity roused in just a snap.
“Who?” She was too distracted by the sudden problem and forgot about the evidence taken. How it was taken? Who gathered all of this? She realized that her gun was in her apartment and the only person who could enter her apartment was…
“Nick Kingston Hernandez.”
“No!” Nick suddenly shouted, she took her hand off him and look into his eyes. “I did not- I mean. Let me explain. I was investigating, yes but-”
“You are trusting the wrong person here, Miss Fuentes.” He cut him off and Fera felt betrayed.
“What? Of course not. It was stolen from me!”
“So you gathered all of it!” Fera lost her cool, she was beyond furious and he couldn’t look at her eyes straight.
“I was trying to help you, but then this happened.”
“BEHIND MY BACK!” She screamed. He flinched as she snapped him out. He couldn’t speak more ‘cause she might shout again. Policemen came and they made him leave. They said it's enough for today. Fera was sent to her temporary cell, she was emotionless and alone. She sat in a corner while hugging her knees. Until she saw that the lights were turned off.
Her stone face started to soften, her eyes went glistening, and soon she bit her lips to suppress the noise from her mouth while her tears were carelessly falling. She wasn’t thinking of anything. She only couldn’t contain her tears from falling. She could manage to block all her thoughts but the feeling was still there, killing her softly. It was the unexplainable pain. A total emotional breakdown.
She was blocking all her thoughts of what was her problems, now she couldn’t think of a reason why she was crying. She was just crying endlessly. She took a long breath and slowly let it out, while her shoulders were shaking. She kept wiping her face and she looked up.
How did I end up in a prison cell? This is too much!
***
“How are you?” Fred asked while standing at the doorway in his usual boss clothes. A black long sleeve and trousers while his blazer in his hand.
“Do I look fine?”
“You don’t,” and he closed the door of the interrogation room. He walked to her and stand across her. Fera on the hand was sitting on the chair with cross arms leaning on her chair.
“How did I end up here in the first place?” Her raspy voice sounded helpless and weak. It wasn’t her signature cold tone.
“That’s the question here, why are you HERE?” He emphasized the word HERE and even pointed to the table between them. She looked at his eyes and saw the cold eyes of her father in him.
“Do you believe them?” She saw his face turned into stone and placed his hand on his hip.
“I don’t know, what do you want me to think? You never denied the evidence and that evidence was found in your apartment. Now tell me what to think.” Her mouth fell open as her tears trace down her cheeks.
“Unacceptable. This is unacceptable, Fred! You are my cousin, I could never do that!”
“Tell me the truth, tell me what happened back then.” But she shook her head.
“Nothing happened!”
“What is stopping you to speak? NO ONE WAS THERE, IT WAS JUST YOU AND YOUR FATHER!” She continued shaking her head. She clasped her palm tight and looked up at him.
“I did nothing, I promise. Believe me, please. Help me, help me out.” He sat and held her hands.
“Tell me what you saw, just tell me.” He whispered but her tears kept falling like rain. “If you didn’t kill him then there is nothing to fear of. Tell them the truth and you can easily get out. You are the one who’s making this hard.”
“It’s not that EASY AS YOU THINK!”
“Then tell me so I could help!”
“It was…” she took a gulp and inhaled. “It was a fine night and…”
“Come on, tell me.” But she only cover her face and shook her head.
“I can’t, I can’t, Fred. Help me out. I don’t want to be here. I promise to go back home and face my responsibilities, please. Lora, I need to talk to her. She can help me. Ask her to meet me here. She can fix this, right?”
“She worked enough,” he removed his hand from Fera’s and stood. “Tell them what happened, honestly and I’ll work the rest. You are not telling us something that happened that night. I will not force you to speak but you pay for it.”
“Fred, I am telling you the truth, I can never do that to my father. You know how much I love him.”
“That evidence screams otherwise, what do you want me to believe? That evidence that you never denied or you who claim to be innocent when you’re not telling me anything to hold on?”
Her palm flew on her lips to stop her from crying. The police escorted her to the cell. The day went so fast and she couldn’t think of what to do. She was once again alone in gray walls that never failed to make her feel caged and restrained.
She sat in the corner while holding her head.
“Never ruin our reputation, Fair.”
“Are going to cry? Does crying in front of the crowd fun? They will only make fun of you.”
“You are my daughter, cat got your tongue? If someone would stand across you making you feel small. Show them who’s the boss.”
“You are a Fuentes, do it correctly. Walk with grace, a lot of people will be there.”
“If someone would make you cry, make them kneel down to you begging without ruining my name.”
“Never put dirt on my name, Fair.”
“Make me proud, I can’t see any effort. You’re my daughter.”
“You can be anyone in this house, but you know who you are outside. Take care of my reputation.”
“Where were you? When did you learn to sneak out? What would people think if they ever saw you out there, doing what? Playing with those rats?”
“Never do something stupid, Fair.”
All those words kept ringing in her head. All their words will forever lie in her head. And she never crossed it until now. She never dares to do something stupid in public.
“I can’t ruin their image. I should not.”