If Only She Knew

25. "What I've Done"

Unknown Point of View
Two years ago, Cairngorm Mountain, UK...

What I've done? What did I do?, Tay was washing his face with cold water in the sink, letting the water freeze his skin as it fell, but clean it from deep within.

They'll never catch him anyway, he knew.

How could they catch him if he could just take away their memories of him? No one could beat him at his game.

Pulling a smock of his own hair in the mirror, he smirked at himself.

There was no forgiveness for someone like him, he knew.

No one could ever erase away what he's done. Maybe he doesn't deserve it, but he'll go free. An d if he ever were to get caught, it'd be only because he wanted it to end like that.

He washed his face with cold water leaving it spotless, and dressed up quickly in layered clothes. He had to go away now, far away. They'll soon discover Derek's body down the slope and he couldn't be here then. He was the one who killed him, after all.

Having him on his mind, he went on and pulled out Derek's travel journal. He then scribbled his goodbye note while carefully copying Derek's handwriting as faithfully as possible:

"Hi, it's me Derek,
If you found this it means I really took my own life...Well, you probably want to know why and why I didn't return home. I am a coward and I just couldn't go to jail and ruin Dominique's life.... I committed an atrocity, a mistake while I was here... One night while I was here someone, I think they were from a mafia organization, put a gun to my temple to kill this detective. I think they followed me up here on purpose since I am a famous mountain climber, hoping this could cover up their steps. I believe there's something strange going on somewhere in this mountain... But my crime is unforgivable, I had to die. I killed detective Archie Carolan.

I had to die, I'm sorry Dom, forgive me."

Tay made sure the letter stayed vague overall and tried to make the writing look as if it was scribbled breathlessly, in a rush, by a desperate guilt-ridden person.

Then Tay paid a visit to Derek's cabin, where he was lodged. He made sure he hadn't been followed or seen as he entered the misty atmosphere, as if someone died there.

The floor creaked underneath his feet as though it was rusty. Tay entered the thick, asphyxiation inducing atmosphere and left the note underneath Derek's travel journal which he had previously stolen, gingerly.

No fingerprints, no evidence. He made sure to wear Derek's shoes while he wasn't there, so no footprints either.

As he left the room, Tay murmured under his breath in a spicy tone: "How dare you kill my brother, you little shit?"

*

Later that evening, Ariana drove almost aimlessly through the Northern Yorkshire county, almost angry with her life. She hadn't solved anything that day, her friend's husband was dead and it was ruled out a suicide already.

Dominique was broken and she wasn't even there by her side. She wasn't even home to spend Christmas Eve night, one of the most magical moments of the year, with Joseph and Simon. She was out there in her car, not knowing what she was doing.

When it came to Derek's goodbye letter even she didn't know half of it. She was driving through an almost forsaken area as she turned on the radio to hear the news.

Her teammates were in holiday for Christmas, as well as most of BB police. She was driving up to London.

Virgo Styles was missing; Dominique was broken. The entire country was caked in snow making them all sleepy.