Jimmy and I sat in the waiting area of the police station, waiting on Heather to finish giving her witness statement against Rob. She'd insisted on driving us with her as moral support. She was sad about doing this, and I couldn't really blame her. It was hard for me to turn in my brother. I did spend that night he admitted he did it wondering if I really should, but I knew I had to see it through to the end. I always have been and always will be someone who has to finish whatever they start. 

Which is why I felt a surge of confidence when I took Jimmy's hand and told him, "We need to set a day soon."

He looked at me in surprise. "It takes a lot to plan a wedding, you know. We can't just do things on a whim. It needs a lot of planning."

"Which is why we need to decide when to do it now instead of waiting much longer."

He pulled his hand away to put his arm around me. "Why is that?"

I leaned into him and played with the hem on my jeans. "Because it won't be much longer until Ben and Rob will be arrested, probably, and then there's my father's trial. I want to leave right after that."

He absentmindedly drew circles on my shoulder with his thumb. "Okay, so what date were you thinking? It's November, so January, maybe?"

I pulled out my phone and we began debating the date. By the time Heather was ready to leave we had settled on January 12. She dropped us off at Lilly's house and we got out. I stopped Jimmy at the door and turned to him. He faced me and took both of my hands. His smile faded when he saw my face. "What's wrong? I thought you were excited to tell Lilly about our decision," he said.

"I am, honestly, but it's just that I know I have to tell her about Ben." I glanced at the door. "I don't know how."

Jimmy hugged me. "Just do it gently, okay?"

I took a deep breath and nodded. I reached for the door and opened it. The TV was blaring. I pulled Jimmy into the house and called, "Lil? I'm home and I've got Jimmy with me!"

"I'm in the den!" I pulled Jim behind me into the room she was in and she muted the TV. "So, what have you been up to this morning?" Her eyes sparkled and I felt the familiar sensation of guilt and sadness crash over me. 

I forced a smile as me and Jimmy sat on the couch. "Well, I have to tell you something. Two somethings, actually. One something is good and other something is bad. Which would you like to hear first?"

Lilly frowned and gave me a serious yet scared look. "What did you do?"

I glanced at Jimmy and found him giving me an encouraging smile. "Well, we set a date for our wedding."

"When?" She didn't smile, though she did grow slightly less serious. 

"January twelfth."

She gave us a small smile before growing serious again. "What's the bad something? It's not Ben, is it? Is he okay?"

I frowned and swallowed. "He's fine," I said in a slightly high-pitched voice. I was silent for a moment before letting out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding and just doing what I knew I needed to do. "I mean, he's not physically hurt. But, um, it is about him." I felt like I needed to take full responsibility here, and that meant telling her that it was me who uncovered what the police needed. So I steeled myself and said, "Ben helped Rob steal his own money in hopes of getting even more money. Rob let him take the fall and told Ben he'd pay him later. I found the security video from that night in Rob's office and told the police about it."

Lilly's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Her eyes glistened with tears and a few leaked down her flushed cheeks. She looked mad, but, unlike I initially thought, she wasn't mad at me. "That idiot!" she screamed, standing quickly and pacing. "That was the stupidest way to get money!" She tugged at her hair so hard that I worried she'd begin ripping it out at the roots by the handful. She let out a frustrated noise. After a few paces she stopped and glared at me. "Are they arresting him right now? Are they? You seem to know so much more than I do about my own husband."

I was taken aback by her tone. Knowing she didn't want to hear anything besides what she'd asked for, I pulled out my phone and found a text from Kev. Got a search warrant for Rob's office and heading over to search it now, he typed. Will let you know what we find. 

"Um, they're only just now searching Rob's office. He might be back in custody by tonight." I found I couldn't look at her. Instead, I closed my eyes as I heard her storm down the hallway and presumably into their bedroom and begin throwing things around. Jimmy tightened his grip on me. "I hate myself," I whispered, turning to him and pressing my face into his chest. "I hate my life."

"Shh," he said into my hair. His hands rubbed up and down my back in a comforting gesture. "I love you, and I'm so glad you're here," he murmured as he peppered my hair with kisses. "You're a wonderful person that wants to always do the right thing, even when it's hard. You're amazing and I love you more than anyone, okay?"

My heart swelled with love for this man even as waves of sadness and guilt threatened to drown me. I wrapped my arms around him and held on tight, feeling like he was the one thing helping me keep my head above that dangerous water.

The noise from the bedroom was dying down and broken sobs were coming from it. As much as I didn't want to, I pushed Jimmy away gently and kissed his cheek. "I need to go take care of Lil," I whispered. "She needs someone, too."

Jimmy kissed me full-on and nodded before pressing his forehead against mine. "I'll be right here," he responded. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

I kissed him back and stood. One last glance at him and I made my way to the bedroom. Lilly sat on the floor, back against the bed, and her shoulders were shaking with silent tears. "You okay?" I asked, knowing the answer already. 

She sighed shakily. "I will be," she answered, looking up at me with red-rimmed eyes. "It's just a bit of fraud, right? Theft? He won't be gone for too long. I don't really have a right to be so sad and angry, do I?"

I sank down in front of her and rested a hand on each of her shoulders. "You have a right to feel how you feel, and if you're sad and angry, then, yes, you have the right to feel that way." I paused for a brief moment, weighing my words. "When Dad killed Louis, I felt so guilty, did you know? I still feel like it was somehow my fault, but it's really not. I know it's not. Someone once told me that I was wrong in that, but just because that's someone's opinion that doesn't mean you stop feeling those things." 

She sniffled and gave me a very sad look. "I had no idea you felt that way."

I nodded, blushing. "Yeah, well. It's something I have to deal with. I'm getting better about it. And, yes, Ben's going to get a few years at most, but that doesn't mean you should't be hurt or angry or sad. It's not something good he did. He can't ever escape from his actions, either. It's going to come up every time he applies for a job, you know."

She nodded. "I know. It hurts, but mostly because no one told me anything."

"He wanted the money to help pay for the house. He told me you guys were having trouble making ends meet."

She nodded again, wiping her eyes. "We are, but I never thought he'd do something like this."

I shifted to sit next to her, pulling my knees to my chest and resting my chin on them. "I don't think he planned it. I think he somehow found out what Rob was going to do and decided to help him, though I think the arrest wasn't part of the original plan."

We fell into silence for a long moment. Eventually, I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked at Lilly. "We're going to be just fine, Brenda," she said quietly. "We're going to be fine." She slid closer and leaned on me. "Tell me what you've planned for your wedding."

I began telling her what colors and decorations I want, working my way around to a point of debate I'd had with Jimmy about budgets. After a little while I glanced over and saw Lilly was asleep, head tilted back against the bed. I stopped talking and pulled out my phone, knowing I felt it buzz against my leg at some point.

Kev had given me an update. They'd searched the office and were getting arrest warrants for Rob, Ben, and David, who had all somehow disappeared. He said he'd let me know when they were found, which may take a little while.

I slid over a little and slowly, gently, slid Lilly up so she wouldn't fall over. Once I was sure she would be okay, I got up and quietly made my way back into the den. Jimmy was still there and he was on his phone. "Hey," I said. "Lilly fell asleep."

He looked up at me, setting his phone aside right away. "Any news from Officer Jarvis?"

I nodded as I dropped onto the couch next to him. "Yeah. He said that they're looking for them now. Shouldn't be too long and it'll all be over for them." I rested my head on Jim's shoulder. "I don't know how I feel about everything right now." I turned so I could press my face into his arm. "Is it weird if I said I feel kind of numb right now?"

"Not at all," he said, turning too so that he could wrap his arms around me and my face was pressed against his chest. My arms hung limply at my sides and I found I didn't have the energy to lift them, nor even the desire, if I'm honest. We sat there for a long while like that - Jimmy just holding me while I felt nothing.

My phone buzzed. "I got a text," I said and he loosened his hold so I could get my phone out. "It's Kev." I opened it, read the text, and showed it to Jim, unable to say the words. It wasn't a complex text, or even that long. It was only two words, but they carried so much weight and felt so final.

Got them.