Page 10 of The Raven
I Never Gave Up
The Raven
Mason didn’t bother checking his apartment when he made it home. Not that he would have seen me, I made sure to stay well hidden. The man needed to sleep, and as much as I was riddled with questions about what I’d seen through his eyes, I knew they’d have to wait.
He crashed face-first onto his bed without undressing, and within seconds, light snores erupted from him. I watched him sleep, entranced by the gentle rise and fall of his chest, while enjoying the peace washing through me that only Mason seemed able to bring.
Even when I’d been reliving his memories, the pain didn’t consume me. Instead, there was an odd comfort in knowing that he was with me, anchoring me to the present.
Needless to say, my curiosity about Detective Mason Roberts had grown to epic proportions.
After several hours, I decided to take a look around his apartment to see if I could find any clues about his life.
He had been the first person to find me after the Vipers fled the crime scene, and I wondered if that was why I felt the strange pull to him.
But something inside me said it wasn’t. It went deeper than him just being with me as I took my dying breaths.
Heading into the kitchen, my attention snagged on the papers spread across the breakfast bar. I scanned my eyes over the mess, quickly realizing that it was a collection of case files related to my investigation.
A lump of dread formed in the pit of my stomach.
The corner of a glossy photograph caught my eye, and unable to resist, I picked it up, a piercing agony shooting straight through my chest when I took in the image.
The picture was a close-up of the fatal wound across Eric’s neck. The blood had begun to congeal, and the cut was so deep that his vocal cords were exposed.
Bile crept up my throat, and anguish so powerful it felt like it would swallow me whole seeped into the marrow of my bones.
Dropping the picture, I picked up another photo lying on top of the papers. This time, it was an image of a woman, her face black and blue, and so swollen, you could barely make out the person underneath the injuries. A tube was down her throat, a machine breathing for her.
Breathing for me.
Tears pricked my eyes, and I tore my gaze away, unable to look any longer. Mason’s memories that I’d witnessed earlier in the night began playing in my head, and I watched them as if I were hovering above the scene, reliving the nightmare as he saw it.
Mason kicks the door in, pulling his shirt up over his mouth and nose when he’s hit with a faceful of smoke. In the other hand, he holds his gun.
He charges through my apartment, pausing for a fraction of a second when he takes in the mess of my living room, and Eric’s body lying in a pool of blood.
“Raven!” His panicked cry reverberates around the room when his gaze lands on my body, and he leaps over Eric’s body to reach me, ripping the bag covering my face open. “No, fuck no, you’re not dying, Raven!”
He pinches my nose and tilts my head back, placing his mouth over mine and blowing. My chest rises as he transfers breath into my lungs before they slowly deflate. He does this once more before he interlocks his fingers and starts pressing up and down on my chest with ferocity.
“Come on, Raven. Fucking breathe,” he urges, desperation in his voice.
He pumps up and down before blowing more air into my lungs, seemingly oblivious to the smoke growing thicker behind him.
“Fuck,” someone else says from the doorway. A uniformed cop stands frozen, his face draining of all color as he observes the mess. Snapping out of it a second later, he bursts into action.
He presses the button on his radio and starts talking into it, asking for ‘more units,’ and ‘ambulances.’ The whole time, Mason continues pumping my chest.
With a tear leaking down my face, the scene in my mind changed.
Paramedics hover over me, placing two paddles on my chest.
“Clear,” one says. Everyone moves so they’re not touching me as the machine the paddles are connected to fires a shock into me, my body lifting off the floor.
The machine lets out a long beep, the screen showing a line that only spikes when the machine delivers a jolt of electricity.
“Again,” the paramedic instructs as Mason towers over the paramedics, tears streaking down his anguished face.
Helplessness crawled through me, and my fingers released the photo. It fluttered back to the bar, landing on a paper reading, ‘Autopsy report for Eric Mills.’ I didn’t need to read it. I knew how Eric had died.
I surveyed the rest of the documents, and my interest piqued when my watery gaze landed on one titled, ‘Final investigation findings.’ I snatched it up, a mixture of hurt and fury rampaging through me as I read over the final paragraph of the report.
Conclusion-
Based on the evidence gathered, the investigation finds that upon discovering his partner was having an affair with multiple men, Eric Mills murdered Raven Blackwood in a fit of rage before taking his own life.
No further persons are sought concerning the deaths of Mills and Blackwood, and this investigation is now closed.
My tears fell, silently gliding down my cheeks like a waterfall.
I had limited memories of my life with Eric, but I knew how happy we had been in the moments before Grim broke in and destroyed us.
I could feel the love we held for each other, and I knew without question that Eric would never have hurt me.
Like I was in tune with Mason, my body relaxed when I sensed him lingering by the door. I brushed my tears away, but there was no brushing away the words that were now etched in my brain.
I put the report down and turned to face him. He was leaning against the jamb, watching me. His shirt and pants were rumpled from where he’d been asleep, his hair mussed, and dark shadows circled his eyes. He looked just as exhausted as he did before falling asleep.
“You think Eric was responsible?” I accused.
“No. I never thought that,” he replied. He met my eyes, his warm brown orbs filled with sympathy.
“My boss wrote that report.” I glanced down at the report, finding it signed off by Lieutenant A.
Brenner. “Brenner is a coward. He took the easy option of blaming Eric so he didn’t have to risk dealing with the Vipers. ”
“Why didn’t you fight against it? If you never thought Eric was to blame, why didn’t you fight for the truth?” My words choked as the betrayal flowed through my veins.
Mason sighed, his shoulders slumping as if the weight of the world had just landed on them. “Can I show you something?”
I held his stare, unsure if I could deal with any more heartache. But I wanted to understand how the hell justice hadn’t been served. If I understood that, maybe I’d understand why I was trapped in this nightmare.
I prowled toward him, his wary eyes tracking me as if I were a predator he needed to be afraid of. When I reached him, I raised my hands, ready to put them against his temple to see what he wanted to show me.
“No, I mean, show you,“ he said, stepping out of my reach, but gently taking one of my hands.
Warmth gathered where our fingers connected, spreading up my arm and through my body, making it feel like I was being bathed in sunlight on a hot summer day. For a second, neither of us moved; instead, we stared deeply into each other’s souls.
An image flashed through my head. A snapshot of two young children: a boy with brown hair, the color of Mason’s, and a girl with straight, jet black hair like mine, the two of them were running on a beach, kicking up sand and giggling as waves crashed behind them.
It didn’t feel like a memory, and it didn’t make sense. The children were no part of what had happened on Halloween almost a year ago, so why were their smiling faces seared into my brain like I knew who they were?
Shaking my head, I tore my eyes away from Mason, breaking the trance we’d fallen into. The image receded into the far corner of my brain for me to worry about another time. If it was relevant at all, I didn’t know how this memory-reading ability I possessed worked.
Mason led me down a small hallway with my hand still clasped in his. When we reached a closed door, he paused, looking at me before returning his gaze to the door. “Hopefully this can explain everything,” he said cryptically.
He dropped my hand as he pushed the door open and stepped aside, allowing me to enter. Stunned into silence, I studied the room, my brows almost disappearing into my hairline from how wide my eyes had grown.
The walls weren’t visible because they’d been plastered with police reports, crime scene photographs, mug shots, and what looked like surveillance pictures of the Vipers.
Various lengths of string were pinned to the wall, linking documents to other pieces of information, while sticky notes with questions in bold red writing were placed sporadically across the reports.
The evidence board looked like something right out of a TV show, and I raked my eyes over every inch of the walls, trying to make sense of the information pinned there.
“What is this?” I asked with awe in my voice.
Mason moved to stand next to me, his arms brushing against mine.
“Everything I could find out about the Vipers. Every crime I’m certain they committed and got away with.
Every witness they’ve intimidated to stop from giving evidence.
Every cop I believe is in bed with them, helping them to get away with every single crime they’ve committed. ”
My mind whirled as I gawked at the walls. It must have taken Mason months, if not longer, to gather all the information, and I wondered how much of it had actually been obtained while he was on duty.
“I never gave up, Raven,” he said softly.
I turned to face him, my gut twisting at the helplessness in his eyes.
“I never gave up on getting justice for you, and for Eric. And I was determined to never give up until I saw all six of those cunts behind bars for the rest of their lives, but I guess I don’t need to worry about that now. ”
His lips lifted into a small smirk, and even though there was a hint of humor to his tone, it didn’t lighten the somber mood.
“Why?” I asked, needing to know why he was so determined to solve my case when it seemed every other cop in Hadleigh Peak had agreed so easily that Eric was responsible.
Slowly, Mason raised his hand and lifted a few strands of my hair from where it was draped over my shoulder. His gaze focused on where he rubbed it between his fingers, almost as if he was convincing himself that I was really there.
Butterflies went crazy in my belly as I watched him, and without meaning to, my eyes dropped to his lips, wondering what it would feel like to have them pressed against mine.
Pulling his focus away, he tucked the hair behind my ear. “Because-” The shrill ring of his phone from his back pocket cut off whatever he was about to say. He closed his eyes briefly and muttered a curse. “One of these days, I’m going to throw that fucking phone out the window.”
I smiled even though disappointment was thrumming through me, but I wasn’t sure if it was because he hadn’t answered my question or because of the loss of contact as he stepped away to answer his phone.
“Roberts!” whoever was at the other end of the phone barked, loud enough for me to make out his words clearly. “I expect you in my office within the hour to discuss your insubordination last night!”
Mason’s body tensed, his jaw clenching. “I’ll be there soon.” He hung up and repocketed the phone. “Fucking dick,” he hissed.
I raised a brow; the tense atmosphere that had descended moments ago had once again lifted. “Friend of yours?”
“Fuck no. That was my boss. The one who signed off on the final report for your case.”
I snorted. “He is a fucking dick.”
Mason grinned, and the butterflies that had just settled down in my stomach began flapping again.
“Listen, we can talk more about all this. And I have a fuck ton of questions about how it’s even possible you are here, ‘cos quite honestly, I’m still a little convinced I’ve finally gone doolally,” he said, beginning to unbutton his shirt.
Without meaning to, my eyes dropped to the exposed golden-tanned skin of his chest before I quickly looked away.
Thankfully, Mason didn’t seem to notice.
“Can we talk later? I’ll be a few hours, but you can hang out here and do… well, whatever it is ghosts do.”
I couldn’t stop a chuckle from breaking free. “Maybe I’ll put some bedsheets over my head and go haunt your neighbors.”
“Yeah, do that. The neighbor below is a real pain in my ass; he’s always banging around down there. Give him a scare and teach him a lesson,” he replied. “Just maybe don’t kill anyone for a bit. I’ve got enough paperwork to sort as it is.”
A devious smirk crossed my lips. “I can’t make any promises.”