Page 63 of Petals & Promises

I felt bad for changing plans on her, but this was important, and we could always come back.

It was noon by the time we got to the police station, and we found a disgruntled Eli, along with a smiling Crew, waiting for us. Crew hugged Rosie, picking her up off the floor in his excitement. Then he and I bro-hugged it out before Detective Vogal and Detective Kelsen came out to greet us.

“Thank you guys for making the trip back, especially on the last few days of your leave,” Kelsen said. “We’re all set for the lineup if you are, Mrs. Thatcher?”

Bailey-Rose nodded as she tugged the sleeves of her dinosaur sweater over her hands. Yun-Sun cupped the back of her neck, offering her his support as we were led down a hall into a room with a large glass window. The area the men would walk into was empty, but Detective Vogal walked up to the intercom and notified them we were ready.

“Now, Mrs. Thatcher, five men will enter the room, each holding numbers. I will ask them to step forward one at a time. Once you have seen all the men and the person who attacked you is there, just tell us the number he’s holding,” Vogal instructed. “Mr. Lee, are you acting as her legal counsel in this matter? I want to make sure we have all the details flushed out so there’s no surprises later.”

“Yes, I am her lawyer in this matter and will act as a witness to this lineup,” Yun assured the detective.

None of us had ever seen Randall in person, only on the video recording from the studio. However, the second he entered the room, Bailey-Rose stiffened, and her anxiety shot through the roof. Rosie and Yun-Sun stepped closer to the window, and Vogal called up each person.

“It’s number three,” Rosie announced once all five had been called forward. “The man who attacked me in my studio, Randall Steele or Chambers, whatever you want to call him, is the one.”

“Thank you. Please clear the room,” Vogal ordered, and all five men were escorted out.

Kelsen offered Rosie a chair, but she declined and chose to lean into Yun-Sun instead. “You have been an immense help, Mrs. Thatcher. Now that you’ve ID’d him, there are no grounds to the argument his lawyer has been trying to use.”

“So it’s all over now?” Eli questioned.

Kelsen’s gaze flicked to Vogal, who shoved his hands into his pockets. “There’s one last request that we’d like to make. You are not obligated to say yes. You’ve more than done your part to help put this man in jail for a solid ten years, maybe fifteen. However, Randall has indicated to us that he’s willing to admit to an assault on another Omega if he can explain it to Mrs. Thatcher.”

“I’m sorry, are you asking if our Omega, who’s been through hell and back, is willing to be in the same room as that fucking bastard?” Gareth demanded, getting right up into Vogal’s face. “Are you out of your mind?”

“Sir, I would please ask that you take a step back,” Vogal requested, but his tone didn’t give the impression he was asking.

Rosie grabbed Gareth’s hand and drew him back. “Gareth, we talked about this. If I can help put him away for longer, then I should try, right?”

I think we all regretted agreeing to any of this now that the situation had changed. Having her stand in a room with Randall on the other side of the glass was one thing, but having her breathing the same air as him was a whole different ball game.

“Baby girl, you don’t need to do this,” Gareth argued. “You did what you said you were going to do, and the fucker is going to jail.”

“Yeah, but what if they find a way to get them to drop the charges?” she countered. “The woman hid her son from the police for weeks. Do you really think she couldn’t find a way for him to avoid jail time?”

“I hate to interject, but Mrs. Thatcher isn’t wrong,” Detective Kelsen said. “If we have him on two accounts of assault toward an Omega, it will seal his fate for good. Omegas are a protected classification, but we need to prove there’s a pattern of behavior, and it’s not a one-time occurrence. Not to mention, if Mr. Chambers admits guilt himself and signs a confession, they can’t just throw it out.”

“How do you expect this confession to happen? There’s not a chance in hell his lawyer will let him confess,” Yun-Sun challenged

“If she asked him to fire his lawyer, he would. I’ve never seen a man more desperate to clear the air than he is about talking to Mrs. Thatcher,” Vogal muttered.

“Fine, if we do this, then she’s not going in alone,” I announced.

“The guard dog can’t accompany her… it’s too big a risk,” Vogal countered.

I shrugged and crossed my arms. “All right, then two of us will go in with her. We’ll stand near the door, but there’s not a chance in hell I’m trusting anyone but us to keep her safe.”

The detectives looked at each other and nodded. “We can work with that, but it can’t be him or the brother,” Vogal said, glaring at Gareth. “The last thing we need is for this to turn into a counter-suit for brutality in the police station.”

“I can agree with that,” I answered. “It will be me and Yun-Sun. This way, we make sure none of us do something they can legally use against us.”

The detectives left to get things sorted, and the moment the door was closed, Eli was slamming me against the wall. “What the fuck are you thinking? How dare you call yourself an Alpha.”

There was a lot I could take from someone who I considered family, but he crossed the line. “Eli, you better get your damn hand off me before I do something both of us will regret.”

Eli started to say something, but Bailey-Rose beat him to it. “Eli Bartholomew Thatcher, if you don’t back the hell up and find the marbles you’ve clearly lost, then we’ve got a bigger problem than Randall to deal with.”

More than the words coming out of Bailey-Rose’s mouth, I think the tone is what shocked us the most. If flames or rage could have come out of her ears like in cartoons, they would have. One thing that was never talked about as often as it should be wasn’t a pissed-off Alpha but an enraged Omega. I would rather fight a bear or a lion than face off with Rosie right now.