Mickey’s POV:

While I had been in a fair share of police offices, I had never been at the Baltimore Police Department. Somehow, I had never been arrested or detained the first few weeks I moved back here. The first thirteen years, I had been a goody-two-shoes, of course I would have never found my way in here.

The feeling of handcuffs wasn’t all too strange to me, though. I was immune to the sharp feeling of the metal by now. Usually, they would be way tighter trying to keep me from moving in even the slightest bit. I had never resisted arrest before, that wasn’t the problem. However, I often did tend to become a bit clouded and a tad violent. I never hurt a cop or lashed out at them necessarily, but nobody really liked being arrested. I guess you could say I was mad at the situation. This time, however, I was delighted to hear that they were looking for Devon.

As good as he was in bed, that guy was an ass. I knew it when I first started dating him, it was what attracted me to him in the first place. Back then, he was the only type of guy I would ever see myself with. I could keep up with him, and he could keep up with me. Anybody else would think I was too problematic or I would think they were too mellow. However, I knew better now. He was a complete and utter dick, to put it simply.

At first, I was going to let him get away with the shit he pulled, but he went too far at the mall. I had been in fights myself before, whether it be between me and a girl or me and a guy, and I was cool with that. But punching Alex was uncalled for. He still had a slightly bruised eye from it. Alex hadn’t been involved in any way, yet he was the one with the worst consequences.

The handcuffs weren’t taken off until I was brought into a room for questioning. It would have been completely empty if it weren’t for the two chairs placed on either side of a desk with a metal bar on my side. If they had been afraid of me getting away, my handcuffs would have been attached to the bar. There was a mirror to my left, which I knew was only one-sided. As far as I knew, there could have been multiple people watching me right now while I was in the room all by myself.

I just stared around and found a camera in one of the corners, recording my every move until an officer came in to join me. He took the seat across from me and placed some documents and a file in front of him. He flipped through them until he landed on a page that had my name on the top.

“So, Monica, is it?” He clasped his hands together and looked up at me.

In return, I leaned back to keep space between us. “Well, I prefer Mickey, but if you have to call me by my legal name, then yes.”

He nodded and proceeded to look further through what was written down. “I see here that you’ve been convicted multiple times before.”

I nodded and crossed my arms. “Yes, but I’ve been trying to get my life together. Plus, I didn’t come here to discuss myself.”

“True, true,” he agreed and turned to another page that was no longer about me, “I’m just trying to find out your credibility. You know that we can arrest you if you lie, correct?”

“I am willing to tell you everything about Devon, he had it a long time coming.”

“Sounds like you have a personal grudge against him.”

“We used to date,” I explained, hoping to show that I could really have valuable information that could help them, “well, 'date' might be a bit far-fetched. Anyway, I broke up with him because he tried to steal a car--I’m not sure if he was successful. Recently, he hit me and punched my current boyfriend. So, yes, he is not my favorite person right now.”

The officer made a short signal toward the mirror that I probably wasn’t supposed to notice, and promptly another man entered with a notepad. He didn’t approach us fully, staying closer to the wall. However, he did seem ready to listen to the entire questioning.

“This is Detective Jones,” the officer who had been the first to approach me at the ice cream parlor clarified, “he’s just here to take some notes.”

“Ok,” I said, but I first needed to know something else first, “but may I ask why you’re actually looking for Devon?”

The two men shared a look before giving a small nod toward each other. Detective Jones was the one to speak up this time, probably being the one person who was fully indulged in the case, “he’s suspected of murder.”

My eyes went wide. Devon? Murder? No way. He was hostile, he took some crazy-ass drugs that changed his judgment, but he never seemed capable of going so far. Maybe he seemed like a guy who could easily kill a man, but I never thought he actually had the mentality to do so.

My shock became even worse when a photograph was pulled out of the file. I stared at the blonde girl in front of me. It was a photo that must have been taken a while before. Her hair was shorter than I remembered it, but her eyes were just as bright. I could still imagine the last time I had really paid attention to her. The fire had been illuminating her clothes and Jack just couldn’t stop staring at her. It was the same night when I had taken Alex to the backseat of my car while Devon was just a few feet away. Theo.

“Holy shit,” I gasped, the shock still bewildering me.

“Her roommate found her dead in her bedroom. Drug overdose and a stab wound. The last person to have been in the room with her was Devon,” the Detective added. “Him running away from us isn’t really helping his case. It happened a week or so ago.”

“I know her…”

“You do?” The officer took over again. “You’re the first to admit so.”

“Yeah, she used to date Devon before I came into the picture. They probably continued to sleep together when Devon and I were in a relationship. I don’t know if they got back together after that…”

“So, we can confirm they’ve had prior indulgences?”

I nodded, still trying to understand how this asshole who always acted so strong actually killed another human being. “Yeah… but… wait. Did you say a week or so ago? When did it happen?”

“Last week Tuesday,” the officer told me.

“That’s when I had the run-in with him. He was acting out.” A theory was starting to form in my head, trying its best to link everything together. “He was probably on some drugs or something if he went this far.”

“Drugs? Could you tell us which drugs?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. He practically took anything he could get his hands on. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was under the influence of a few too many illegal substances that day. You could probably find them at his apartment… he’s never one to take something without knowing he has a stash somewhere.”

They continued to question me on little details as if trying to crack me open even further. It was like they were afraid that I would hold back information just because I used to ‘date’ Devon. However, all I really wanted was to help them out. I just didn’t know exact details like how long he had known Theo, when they started seeing each other again, which drugs he had taken, how he managed to get all the hard-to-find stuff. All I could tell them was where I believed he kept all his drugs and how he had been acting on the day itself. Although he was quite an aggressive guy, it was strange for him to lash out at Alex like that. He wasn’t the jealous type, all he cared about was his pride. After finding a new girl to play around with, his pride could no longer have been affected by my words.

The officers were nice enough to let me use the phone to call somebody to pick me up. Since I had been brought the station and had driven with Rian to work that day, there was no way for me to go home. There was no point going back to the ice cream parlor anyway, my shift was long over.

I only had a few numbers that I had memorized, but we can all guess which one I choose. Calling either of my parents would be a nightmare. Although I wasn’t at the station for something I had done, they would freak the fuck out and give me another lecture. Calling Michael also wouldn’t work. He’d punish me in a way that was worse than just an ‘understanding’ lecture. I felt like Rian’s little heart wouldn’t be able to handle it if he had to come. So, Alex it was.

Just fifteen minutes later, his car came rolling up.

I was sat on the curb when he arrived, already awaiting him in the parking lot. It wasn’t that I wasn’t allowed to stay in the police station and wait, I just preferred not to. So, as soon as he approached and I recognized his car, I stood up and walked up to the door as he came to a halt.

“So, they didn’t find a reason to arrest you as well?” He immediately teased as I got in and closed the door.

“They actually weren’t looking for me, so no.” I rolled my eyes a little and put on my seatbelt. “This is the first time I’ve ever walked out of a place like this and not gotten into some deep shit.”

“But why are they looking for Devon?” He questioned next and slowly started to drive off. “What, did he steal a kid’s bike? Or maybe steal some flowers from an old lady’s garden?”

I shrugged, trying to humor his joke, but not being able to do so. “He murdered someone.”

“What?!” Alex yelped as he harshly braked when we approached a red light.

“Yeah… remember that one girl I hooked Jack up with, Theo?”

“Blonde hair, way out of Jack’s league?”

I nodded in confirmation. “Yep, that’s the one. I don’t know why he did it, but my guess is drugs.”

“Holy shit. That could have been you!”

“I guess so. They did rekindle the ‘fire’ they once had, so… guess I’m just lucky to have gotten away,” I continued without too much emotion. I still too shocked to really know how I felt about it all. “Although, it did happen the day he gave you this…”

I leaned forward to reach out and carefully ran my thumb along the fading bruise on the far side of his face. Since we were stopped, it was anything but dangerous. He turned to look at me, allowing me to inspect the tender yellow skin.

However, ruining our moment was a car behind us that started to honk loudly. Alex snapped his head back forward and saw that the light was on green.

As he quickly started back up, he cursed, “the fuck do you guys want from me?!”

When he calmed down a few seconds later, I piped up again. “Let’s not tell Jack about it, ok?”

He nodded subconsciously before freezing mid-nod. “Wait, why not?”

“I don’t want him to feel guilty,” I explained. “I know he’s only had a one night stand with her, but I’ve seen people beat themselves up about it despite not having anything to do with it. Most act all cool the first few days, but slowly they spiral downward.”

“Ok, ok. I’m just more surprised you’ve been around murders before.”

“Well, suicides, drug overdoses, and yes, alleged murders. But let’s just not tell Jack ok? I’m cool with him knowing what Devon did, just not to who.”

“Ok, promise.”

Notes

Haven't had time to write in ages. I started this last week. Finally got around to finishing it.