Reborn In a Murderer’s Embrace

"Phoebe..." His voice trailed off, the words lost in the panic that seemed to seize him.

I was feeling irked, turning away to seek a moment of quiet.

Colin's cell rang - it was Finn calling.

"Melody's gone missing, no leads, just as you figured, a diversion. There's been trouble at the hospital, Robin's injured, but the good news is the assailant's been caught. Get over here. Dexter's causing a scene at the station, insisting we find Melody ASAP. Come help me out." All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

Colin ended the call with Finn abruptly, making it clear he had no intention of engaging. He just wanted to clear the air with me.

I waited for him to speak.

"Phoebe..." He started to say, but the phone rang again.

Still Finn.

Colin, clearly agitated, hung up once more, ready to block the number.

I reached out to stop him. "Take the call first. You took such a big risk getting close to Damian at the psych ward. Don't let it all be for nothing."

Colin fell silent and answered the phone.

"Caleb! You're burning bridges, throwing me under the bus now?" Finn's voice was a roar on the other side, the background noise just as intense.

I could hear Dexter's angry accusations, berating the police for their inaction.

Saying that Melody, a person under police protection, could vanish right under their noses!

Colin hung up again.

"Phoebe..." Colin started again, his phone ringing once more.

He turned it off completely.

"Phoebe, I'm not saying the culprit isn't important. I'm on it, and all these things are connected. I just... can't be certain, my theories might not be spot on." Colin stumbled over his words, clearly not adept at lying.

His theories might not be accurate, but he definitely had a prime suspect in mind, and he was keeping it from me.

I didn't know why he was withholding it from me, but from all the evidence we had, it almost seemed like he was 'protecting' the culprit.

"Caleb." I broke the long silence. "Death to me is like a dream. Before I died, I always thought you were the killer because there were too many things that made me doubt you."

Taking into account everything on the evidence wall, I was pretty sure Colin wasn't the killer, but he was deliberately hiding something.

"Now, I believe you're not the killer. But if you help the killer get away with it or clear their name, then you're one of the people responsible for my death." My voice was hoarse but firm, a warning to Caleb not to let me find out he had ever assisted the killer.

Colin looked down in panic, his hands clenched helplessly. "Phoebe..."

"If I can forgive even the person who brutally killed me, what does that make me?" I let out a bitter laugh, stepping back to survey the wall of photos and clues, my voice somber. "Colin, if it ever comes to that, let's get a divorce. Let me go."

Now that there were no children, there was nothing to bind us.

I had come to believe he wasn't my murderer.

"Phoebe, I don't want a divorce." Colin shook his head frantically, opposed to the idea.

"But from where I stand, the killer seems to matter more to you than I do." My fingers pointed to the center of the serial killer case area on the wall, where two question-marked papers sat.

Meaning, Colin's investigation had all but confirmed the masterminds at the top of the serial killings: one the planner, the other the executor, the so-called executioner.

Dorian was a rank below them, merely a pawn used by the two, and Colin, even knowing Dorian's link to the serial killings, had taken him in.