Inner And Outer Demons

|29|

Tris's POV

"Are you feeling any better?" I ask Tobias as I walk with him back to our desks. Exhaustion is hitting me right about now, as the late night hours are closing in. But I try my best to keep my eyes open and my mind alert, since we have work to do.

Tobias looks over at me, and shoots me a faint look. "How long are you going to hold this over my head?"

He looks tired too, but he also looks annoyed with himself for letting his fear of heights show in front of me. But I'm glad I know. Just one more little detail that makes Tobias... Tobias.

I hold my hands up in defense, "I'm not, I swear. I'm genuinely asking how you're doing."

The edges of his lips twitch, as if he wants to smile but nods his head instead. "I'm alright, just glad that C.S.I. took plenty pictures of the crime scene. Because I don't think I'll be revisiting anytime soon."

I nod, as we reach our desks and just as I'm about to sit down like Tobias had, I spot someone walking into the squad room.

"Tris!" Tori Wu calls me over and I walk over with a small smile on my lips.

Figuring she's here to talk to me about something, we move into one of the empty interview rooms down the hall. Once I close the door, she speaks up again.

"I heard you and Four got called in tonight."

"Yeah," I say with a sigh. "It's definitely going to be a long night."

Tori nods, "Well, I figured since you were here, that I could drop on by rather than wait till Monday morning."

"Yeah, what's up?" I ask her, and lean against the wall behind me.

"I took a look at Amy's arrest, and your case report." Tori tells me, and I can feel the anxiety automatically begin flowing through me.

"Can you get the charges dropped?"

Tori sighs, "If the charge was homicide, I could easily get that thrown out. There isn't any evidence that could convict her in the death. However, the charges include obstruction of justice, and when she continued to be anything but cooperative with the investigators, that paints a negative picture. And they can take that picture and call it obstruction because she failed to come forward with the information pertaining to the crime."

"She was scared, and she had just stood out on a balcony nineteen feet up! She was shaken and in shock when the man who saved her fell to his own death. You can't blame her for closing up."

"No I don't Tris, and I think the fact that she was unstable when the questioning from officers happened, may help the case."

I nod my head, and wrap my arms around myself. Feeling nervous all over again for the poor girl. "Do you think you can get the charges dropped Tori? Be honest with me."

Tori looks at me for a moment, before responding. "I've not given up, and I say that because I truly believe that Amy does not deserve to be charged with anything."

"Thank you." I tell her, and she sends me a small but reassuring smile.

I know that if anyone can prove that Amy is innocent, Tori Wu can.

| | | |

"Was that about Amy Lewis? "Tobias questions once I reach our conjoined desks. He stands up from his seat instead of still seated like he was when I left. His eyes look up from a manila colored folder laid open in his hands.

I nod my head, "Tori wanted to update me on how it's going."

"And...?"

I swallow the anxiety that had been beating throughout my body like a second heartbeat, "And she's doing all she can for her."

"That's good news, right?" Tobias asks, his eyebrows bending faintly.

"It is. I just wish Amy didn't have to go through any of this to begin with."

Tobias nods his head, and taking a deep breath I realize I need to focus in on something else.

"So," I release a breath. "What did I miss?"

"Nita called, like three minutes ago."

My eyebrows raise, "Really? What'd she say?"

I've actually been anxious to see what her findings were on the body.

"Take a look for yourself, she just sent this over."

Tobias hands me the folder, and sitting down for the first time in over a couple of hours, I read Nita's findings.

As my eyes skim over every word typed on the page, my heart sinks further for what this poor man endured. This man was beaten to a pulp. Lacerations up and down his body, more broken bones than I've seen before and internal injuries that make me cringe just reading about it.

"Cause of death, tension pneumothorax." I read aloud. "Caused by the puncturing of the left lung due to a broken rib."

"Nita said that if they had called 911 when he sustained the injury, that he might've made it. But she said he was there for hours."

I look up from the pages, and meet Tobias's gaze. "He laid there alone, unable to breathe, bleeding out till finally he died from the intensity of his injuries."

Tobias nods, "And based on the beating this man took, we're looking for more than one assailant."

"Do we have an I.D. yet?" I ask Tobias, and flipping the page there is a picture of the man. He lays still on the silver table I've seen many time in the medical lab, and even cleaned up his flesh is discolored by the bruises and cuts covering him.

"Wesley Hunt, age 23. He lived in the apartment complex with his two older brothers and mother, before she was moved to a nursing home down the street."

"Were the brothers there at the scene?"

Tobias shakes his head. "I asked the officer who called us in about that, he said that they weren't home. A landlord called the police after finding him up on the roof."

"So no witnesses?"

Tobias shakes his head.

"How does a twenty three year old boy end up ravaged and left for dead on the roof of his apartment building?"

Tobias lets out a breath, as he sits down in his seat. "Looks like that's the question we'll have to answer huh?"

I nod, and setting the file down I pick up the picture of Wesley first. Staring at the face of a boy who was completely attacked.

"Going to be a long night." I mutter to myself, releasing the picture and I watch as it flutters back down onto my desk.

A/N: Hey all! Hopefully this chapter isn't as bad as I think it may be. We're back to case work, in this one. Not so much personal drama... but don't worry... there's still plenty of that to come!🙊🙈😊