Forest Lake

Chapter 33

Emma POV

My heart was pounding like crazy.

Detective Peters needed to talk to me? Why?

I stood up and started walking toward the police officer.

Mason grabbed my hand and stopped me.

“I am going with her.” he said, staring at the police officer.

“Detective Peters requested only Miss Richardson.” the police officer said politely.

“I don’t care.” Mason said angrily, standing up and pulling me to him. “I am her brother, and I am going with her.”

The police officer sighed and nodded. “Okay, Mr. Richardson. You may come with us.”

Mason grabbed my hand in a tight grip. We started walking. I could feel Hazel’s and Chris’ worried eyes following me as Mason and I left the room. I didn’t look at them, I couldn’t. They would only freak me out even more.

“It’s going to be okay, Em.” Chris whispered softly as I walked past him.

“Thank you.” I mumbled, giving him only a small glance.

Mason was staring at the police officer with a murderous look on his face.

I squeezed his hand, making him look down at me.

“Stop staring at him like that.” I said quietly. “He is going to arrest you.”

Mason sighed and looked away from me. He didn’t look back at the officer. He kept his eyes on the floor. The murderous look didn’t go away, though.

We arrived in front of the principal’s office, and the police officer opened the door. Detective Peters was sitting inside with two men I didn’t know. There were an additional three police officers scattered around the room.

“Miss Richardson, please come inside.” detective Peters said as soon as he saw me.

His eyes went to Mason, and he frowned. “And you are?”

“Her brother.” Mason said coldly. “You are not talking to her without me here.”

“She is not a minor.” detective Peters sighed. “Please wait outside, Mr. Richardson.”

“No.” Mason said stubbornly, sitting down on one of the chairs. “I am not leaving this room. I am not leaving her alone with you.”

Detective Peters glared at Mason and my stomach twisted painfully. I really didn’t want them to put Mason in jail.

“Mason, maybe you should…” I started talking, but Mason interrupted me.

“No, Emma.” he said, staring at the detective. “I am not leaving.”

Detective Peters was looking at Mason with a stern expression on his face. He looked at one of the other two men in the room and nodded. I froze. What did the nod mean? Were they going to throw Mason out of the room forcefully? I held his hand tighter.

“Okay, Mr. Richardson.” the detective sighed, looking back at Mason. “You may stay.”

I sighed in relief. I was so afraid that they would hurt Mason.

Mason nodded and pulled me to sit on the chair next to him.

“Miss Richardson, as you may already know, my name is Joshua Peters.” the detective said. “These are my coworkers, detective Adam Price and detective Ross Perry.”

Detective Peters pointed at the two men sitting next to him. They both nodded at me, and I gave them a small smile.

“It’s nice to meet you.” I said politely.

“Likewise, Miss Richardson.” detective Price said.

“Is it okay if we call you Emma?” detective Peters asked me.

I nodded. “Of course.”

Mason’s grip on my hand tightened. I squeezed his hand, trying to tell him that I was here for him. I could tell how nervous he was.

“Okay, Emma.” detective Peters nodded. “I will move on to why we called you here. There is no easy way to say this, so I am just going to do it, okay?”

I nodded, and he lifted some papers on the desk. I saw him grab a couple of pictures before he looked back up at me.

“We have reason to believe that you are our unsub’s main target.” the detective said, making my heart stop beating.

“WHAT?!” Mason shouted, jumping up.

He was glaring murderously at the detectives.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” he yelled, clenching his fists.

I grabbed his arm, afraid that he would punch one of them.

“Sit down, Mr. Richardson or I will have you removed.” detective Peters said sternly.

“If you…” Mason started yelling, but I stopped him.

I needed him here, not locked up somewhere.

“Mason.” I called him quietly. “Sit down, please, let them explain.”

He looked down at me, and the anger in his eyes turned into terror, making my stomach twist in fear.

Mason pulled me up and made me sit on his lap. He wrapped his arms around me and glared at the detectives. I tried to wiggle out of his hold. I could tell that the detectives weren’t really happy with our seating arrangement. But Mason locked his arms around me, making it impossible for me to move away from him.

“Explain.” he said coldly, his voice shaking.

He was shaking from top to bottom, and he was holding me so tightly that I couldn’t move even if I wanted to.

I wanted to calm him down and tell him that it was probably a mistake. I wanted to tell him that I would be fine, but I was too shocked to speak.

“As you probably know, two deceased victims were found wearing a white dress.” detective Peters said, looking down at the photos in front of him. “We sent the dresses to our forensic team to be processed. We were searching for any kind of fingerprint or DNA, but, other than the victims’, we found nothing.”

Detective Peters looked up at us and took a deep breath.

“Our forensic team did find something else.” he continued. “Upon a more detailed search, we found your name sewn into both dresses. Our forensics almost missed it because it was very small.”

The detective picked up the photos in front of him and gave them to me.

Mason grabbed them before I could, making detective Peters frown.

I looked down at the photos and gasped silently.

My name was sewn in with a black thread. I couldn’t see anything else, just my name sewn on a white fabric.

“Motherfucker!” Mason exclaimed loudly.

I took the photos from his hands because he almost tore them apart. I gave them back to the detective. My hands were shaking, and the lump in my throat made it hard for me to breathe.

“Did anyone ever call you “doll”, Emma?” detective Price asked me.

“No, Sir.” I said quietly, trying to stop my voice from shaking.

“She is not the only Emma in this fucking school!” Mason said loudly before they could ask me anything else.

“She isn’t.” detective Peters nodded. “But she is the only Emma who matches the physical description of his victims. Caucasian female, around 18 years old, around 5’1, with blue eyes and brown hair.”

Mason let out a strangled sob and buried his nose into my hair.

“I will be okay, Mason.” I said, rubbing his arms soothingly. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Did you at any point since you came into this school wear a white dress, Emma?” detective Price continued with his questions.

I started to think back. Did I ever wear a white dress? The weather wasn’t really warm since the school started. I don’t really have any white dresses that could be worn on a cold day. I do have a white dress, but it is really only for sum…

Shit.

I looked up at the detectives and nodded.

“I wore a white dress when I first came here.” I said quietly, making Mason’s arms around me tighten even more. “It was summer, and I came with my mom to enroll in the school.”

Detective Price looked at the other two detectives and nodded. He wrote something down in a notebook in front of him.

“Do you have that dress here, Emma?” detective Perry asked.

I took a second to remember. I did have it. I packed it with me in case the weather would be warm enough for me to wear it.

“I do.” I nodded.

Detective Peters gave me a small smile. He leaned back on the chair he was sitting on and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Would you like to help us catch this guy, Emma?” the detective asked me.

“Of course.”

“Not a fucking chance.”

Mason and I said at the same time.

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Whose POV next? Emma's or Mason's? 😁