They got to the police station a bit late because of traffic that they had not expected. Ophelia was shocked to see her dad still waiting for them, even though he hated those who came late for things.
“You are here,” Carter said, trying to hold himself from grilling them about coming late.
“So sorry we are late; we were stuck in traffic for quite some time.” Ophelia apologized immediately before her dad could make a big deal out of it. She had seen a lot of people lose out because they had been late to appointments with her dad. It was one of the things he never tolerated.
“It is fine; traffic can happen.” Ophelia could not help the shock that climbed her face. Her father understood them? Was that possible?
“Dad?” she asked, stepping forward so she could look at his face properly. “Are you sick?” she asked because that would be the only explanation that made sense; it had to be that he had been diagnosed with some kind of illness and it was making him change so much.
“What nonsense are you going on about?” Carter asked, throwing his head back.
“Are you sick?” She asked again, unable to accept that her father, who had been so heavy on tardiness, was just going to let them off the hook after being ten minutes late. He was supposed to be telling them how much he could have achieved within the wasted time and why they did not deserve his time.
“Sick? Did you hear something?” He asking that and not refuting her question put her on the edge the more; she and her dad never got along, but she would be devastated if anything happened to him. Unlike her mother, he was at least present in the way he knew how to be. She just disappeared without a word. He was her only family for now, so she could not bear to lose him. The thought alone was so scary she tried to stop thinking about it.
“Did the doctor say anything?” she asked, and he shook his head.
“Ophelia, what is this? You keep asking these strange questions, wasting time,” he said, and she nodded, taking steps back so she was in the same line with Cade again. “Why are you here anyway?
“Never mind,” she muttered to herself. ‘He must want to make a good impression; he seems to be holding himself so well,’ she thought to herself with a smile.
Carter leads them into the station and straight to the office of the commissioner. The man is delighted to see them, even though he was the one who asked them to come in.
“Mr Frost, it is such an honour to have you here,” he said, going from his table to the sofas he had in his office. He gestured for them to sit down and sit as well. “What can I get you to drink?” he asked.
“Water,” Cade said.
Ophelia looked at him and leaned into him. “I will have the same.”
“Green tea for me,” Carter said, causing him to earn a concerned look from his daughter. ‘Maybe it is because he is old,’ she thought to herself. For as long as she could remember, her father lived on coffee because he always seemed to have a lot of work and such little time that he had to extend his days.
“Okay,” the man said, pressing the button and calling in his secretary. “Get two bottles of water, a cup of green tea and a cup of black coffee.”
“Black coffee?” Carter asked, and the man nodded.
“It seems like the crime rate peeks this time of the year. I have not been able to go home in two days now.”
“And you still made time to see us? Thank you,” Carter replied.
“I have to see you; it is a crime after all.”
“What is?” Ophelia asked.
“Well, after running checks on the location and details of the number, we realized that the messages were coming for a number belonging to one Ms Valeire White. Do you know anyone like that?” The commissioner asked as the secretary brought in a tray for them and placed their orders in front of them.
“Thank you,” Ophelia murmured as she took up the bottled water. Cade took it out of her hand and took off the bottle cap before handing it over to her. She looked at him to see that his eyes had not left the commissioner yet, yet he had taken care of her like that. She wants to tell him to be careful, or she might end up falling for him.
“I do not know anyone by that name,” Cade replied.
“Well, I thought as much. She is unknown, and we barely have anything in her name. We are going to be calling her in for questioning. You can come as well if you would like to meet her.”
“Do I need to come?” Cade asked, looking at everyone in the room one after the other. He had been so interested in finding out who it was. Now that he was so close to finding out, he grew cold feet because what if who he had been obsessing over finding was just a random woman who had decided to make his life a bit uncomfortable, even if it was just for a moment?
“If you want to sit it out, then there is nothing I can do, but I always advise the victim to meet the preparatory in case there might be a need for settlement.”
“We would not settle,” Ophelia let out before anyone else in the room could say anything.
“What?” Cade said, turning to her.
“I mean, she has caused serious mental harm to my husband. How can we think of settling? Please make sure she gets the maximum punishment,” Ophelia said like her words should be considered final.
The commissioner looked to Cade as if he were waiting for him to affirm what she had said. “Well?” he asked when Cade did not say anything to either approve or disapprove of what she had said.
“Let us do what she says.”