Protecting What's Not Mine Chapter 2

David Mitchel has always known what he was good at and what he should avoid in his life, and females were an avoid at all cost. However, there was something about this one female that intrigued him. He knew he wasn't any good at relationships, his biggest fear was ruining someone's life, and besides, he knew she was going to be trouble. David liked to keep it simple; no dating, simple chit chat, and a booty call once or twice a month but hell that had been six months ago. Therefore the best advice he could give himself was to forget about her, he did his good deed, and now it was time to get back to the case at hand. David needed to get his head back in the game and focus. David grabbed his gear and started out the door for the Las Vegas Strip, with any amount of luck maybe he could get some answers out of the casino junkie and the lead to cracking the case. "BUZZZZ, BUZZZZ" Lexi perhaps she will have some good news for him. "Lexi- Victim's dental just came back, her name is April Newberry, 19, and parents are Tammy and Frank Newberry. She just graduated from high school and looks like she and some friends may have been out celebrating." None of this was adding up, how did she, David's partner, or should he say ex-partner, and a casino junkie fit in together? "David- Thanks Lex, I will check-in for any updates in about an hour. BTW has there been any updates on the bullet yet?" David was hoping for a good print, but he knew he wasn't that lucky. "BUZZ BUZZ" "Lexi- Nothing yet a chemical analysis is processing on the residue that techs found on the casing. I will update you on the results in an hour.

David started searching all the major casinos when everyone played the "Never seen him before" card, he decided to make a bet of his own. After a few phone calls, a sting operation was underway, and he was sure this would draw him out. While David waits for all the details to be worked out, The detective figured a word with the parents of the victim was in order. They were waiting in the station when he arrived back. He did a quick observation of their demeanor, Mother was what appeared to be very upset, yet at the same time, no tears not even a smear of make-up for someone that just lost their daughter and father was on the cell phone conducting a business call. Either they didn't care, or they had a handsome how in this. "Mr. and Mrs. Newberry I am sorry for your loss. I have a few questions about your daughter, April. First, did you happen to know who your daughter was with when she left and where they were going? Did she have any enemies, ex-boyfriends, a boyfriend that she had maybe had been having any issues? And how was your relationship with your daughter at home?" At first, they just looked at each other, trying to figure out their story, and then they just rolled their eyes at each other. "April left with a bunch of kids from school I told Frank she didn't deserve to go on the trip, but she told her father that she was an adult now and she didn't have to listen to me anymore." Confusion whirled through David's brain, but before anything else could come from his mouth and knock came upon the door. "Mitchel, you may want to come to see this." another officer said. As David entered the lobby, a woman was standing there in tears and barely holding reality in check. "Hello Ma'am, can I help you? Are you hurt?" She looked at David as more tears poured down her face "I am Tammy Newberry, I received a call stating my daughter had died." David's mind had just officially blown. "Could you wait right here, Mrs. Newberry?" He helped her sit on the bench and in his fastest walk and with a pissed-off attitude went back to the interrogation room. "Okay, who are you?" Pointing at the woman that claimed to be "Mrs. Newberry" She looked a little startled, "I already told you I'm Tammy Newberry." David slammed his hands down on the table the one thing he couldn't stand was a liar, and especially one that will lie to you even after they know it's over for them. "Wrong answer! Would you like to try again because Tammy Newberry is standing out in my lobby crying her eyes out over her dead daughter, something the neither of you have yet to do, nor that in my book ends with a guilty verdict? Therefore lying to me will only put you in deeper shit because I will find out the truth. Now, who are you?" You could see her face turn red and she stood up to face Frank Newberry. "I thought you said she would never find out about any of this, that you would handle it all, damn you Frank now she will get everything!" She was screaming before the end of the sentence. David asked one last question and ended the conversation, "Did you kill your daughter or have anything to do with the murder of your daughter?" Okay technically that was two questions, but the conversation was over because Frank Newberry was saying nothing. However his other half you couldn't get to shut up. "She was a spoiled little brat, and she had no respect for us. We had to force her to come out here to visit with us after graduation. I hated her and wanted her out of our lives. Frank was paying eight hundred dollars a month in support, and her mother would let her make her own decision about having anything to do with her father. Did Frank kill his daughter? No, He didn't even have the guts to stand up to her." She had this shit-eating grin on her face. David was trying to absorb everything that she had just said, was this a confession or just another lie meant to throw him off the trail of the real killer, didn't matter he would find out, and they would go down with felony murder. "So you are confessing to murdering your step-daughter?" She just stared at him and said nothing else. Another knock came upon the door, "David the ballistics reports are in." David stepped out into the hallway and looked the report over. "Bullet recovered from the victim was able to pull enough ridge detail to get a match; Carter Taylor." Damn David was hoping he wasn't this far in, but apparently, he was.

After going over the rest of the lab reports and the findings from the medical examiner, it turned out that Carter and the new Mrs. Newberry hatched a plot to take April out of the picture. And collect some life insurance money on a policy that she had taken out six months earlier for one million dollars; promising Carter fifty thousand when the job was done, and the case closed. Mr. Newberry found out shortly after the plot was hatched and at first, was against it all and threatened to have both of them arrested until April refused to go off with him after graduation. He finally snapped and bought a stolen gun off a junkie. Then had Carter follow her and butter her up to leave with him, which she felt comfortable knowing Carter was a cop and thinking he would not hurt her. The team found that Carter was driving his old Chevy pick-up and shot her in the back of it, covered her body with a tarp and dumped her body in the alley, found at his mother's house where he tried to clean the bed and burn the tarp in the back yard. Forensics found GSR on Carter's clothes. In David's book that was hook, line, and sinker.

David punched out for the night; starving and he knew where he could go to grab a bite to eat. He pulled into a parking spot and looked inside not too many inside tonight; it also was eight o'clock on a Thursday, most people were at home eating with their families or at work calling for takeout. The bell over the door rang out as Detective Mitchel opened it and walked in, found that the barstool David sat in the first time was open, and Ms. Minnie Mouse was at work tonight in her gloom of doom face. He found himself giggling at the thought as he watched her taking an order. "Hi there what can I get you tonight?" David's head comes flying toward the voice that was so not the Minnie Mouse sound he was expecting. Instead, it was Marie, the owner's niece that fled from Florida to escape the abusive boyfriend. "Ummm sorry yeah, I would like the Club Sandwich and wheat with fries and a sweet tea please." She wrote his order down and smiled sweetly at him, "Anything else, Officer?" David just shook his head in a dumbfounded way, amazed for some reason that she remembered him because he had nothing on him that said he was a cop. She walked away with his order and brought back his glass of sweet tea. David finally came to terms with himself and opened his mouth "Excuse me, how did you know I was a cop?" She giggled at his awkward stutter throughout his question. "I always remember people that help me. My uncle told me you came by to make sure I made it here safely. Thank You for that. My name is Marie.