Nadia watched from the other side of the interrogation room with Shante as the intruder had been finally unmasked and was refusing to cooperate. She studied his rough face and realised she didn't know him from anywhere making her wonder who sent him to harass her.

She knew it was the same intruder that broke her arm in Jordan's room because of his distinct cologne but her mind couldn't place his face at all. This made her wonder what Kane and Shante had warned her about, pissing somebody off.

The question was who though?

Who would want Nadia to stop what she was doing?

Who would want her to leave this alone?

" Maybe, Jordan did something to him," She thought out loud.

" What do you think he could've done?" Shante enquired, watching the guy too.

" Given how everything has gone, I'm not sure because it seems like I didn't know my brother as well as I thought. Maybe he was involved in something" Nadia pondered sadly, this investigation so far has led her to understand that Jordan definitely had a double life that he didn't want her to know about.

" To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if maybe he did. Was there any other info that you got from his laptop?" Shante asked.

" Nah, other than what I told you, there isn't much else. I'm not sure where to go from here" Nadia expressed.

The door opened and DC Isley came in to give some good news finally.

"Ms Asante, unfortunately, this guy isn't going tell us why he is after you or who at least sent him but we do have good news on the knife you brought in. First, the blood was a 100% match with your brother's DNA. This is the weapon used to kill your brother, the reason we thought the initial weapon we had was the murder weapon is because both knives have similar shapes so the stabbed wounds seemed to match the first but the one you brought in was an exact match based on the autopsy report. We apologise for not doing our due diligence to get the weapon in the first place, you say you found it where Jordan's body was found, right?" DC Isley explained.

" Yes, I did. Were you able to get the prints and a match?" She asked hopefully.

 " Yes, I'm happy to say we might have a potential suspect and we can bring him in straight away" DC Isley responded confidently.

"Him?" Nadia was nervous to hear the answer because, in a way, she had hoped that he wasn't really involved like he had been telling her. 

" Yeah, erm...Kane Bailey, age 24. Has been caught a few times with drug possession but never charged. Has an older brother, Kevari who is currently in prison for a ten-year drug sentence, his mother is dead and his father is nowhere to be found." DC Isley read out the information.

Nadia felt her heart fall to her stomach, she had let this man into her home as well as sleeping with him and trusting his alibi was good. He stood in her face, claiming to be innocent and dismissing any accusation she made. And all along, he was the one who killed Jordan and had the nerve to show up at his funeral as well as pretend to comfort her in her time of need.

Her initial disdain for him was correct, he could not be trusted and this proved it. She hated that she had fallen for his charm and ultimately for him, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself for sleeping with the enemy who had taken her brother away from her.

She was so utterly disgusted with herself that she simply broke down. She let out a loud sob as she thought about how stupid she had been for letting this man into her life in this way and now she had to pay with it living on her conscience for the rest of her life.

At least, this meant she was one step closer to the nightmare finally ending and Jordan getting the much-needed rest.

" Ms Asante, I understand that you are feeling quite emotional and hopefully, we can find out if Kane is the reason for his death. We still can't rule out any other suspects but for now, we can get a warrant for his arrest and get him now. You're welcome to come or you and your friend can wait in my office as we go get him." DC Isley suggested, gesturing out to the main part of the station to his office where they sat on a two-person sofa.

"Will I be able to talk to him?" Nadia knew that it was a stupid question but she needed to see his face when she asked why he did it.

" Honestly, Ms Asante it wouldn't be wise for me to do that but I will see what I can do" DC Isley saw the desperate look on her face and could empathise with the poor lady.

"What about the intruder guy?" Shante asked curiously.

" Well, if you're happy to do so, you can file harassment charges given what just happened to you." DC Isley advised.

" I think I will do that now, he really won't say anything?"

" No, Ms Asante, whoever he is loyal to is making him less inclined to reveal any information. He even mentioned he would rather take a charge than snitch so safe to say we won't get that info out of him any time soon."

" Understood" Nadia responded quietly.

DC Isley took this sign as an opportunity to get the warrant and arrest Kane immediately. Meanwhile, the intruder was charged with harassment as filed by Nadia and she was happy that this one thing was solved for the time being.

...............................

Somewhere else, Kane was still annoyed by what Maya had done. His little cousin had always embodied the characteristics of an idiot and now he was paying for it, he couldn't even get close to Nadia right now without her telling him to leave her alone.

But he simply couldn't do that, he needed and craved her for his sanity. She was now his lifeline, his reason for being and she couldn't just discard their relationship over a silly argument.

He realised Kevari was right, if she doesn't know everything, there is no need to tell her. He almost slipped a couple of times out of guilt but he didn't kill Jordan so he had no reason to be guilty.

He planned to give her a visit so they could talk through their issues like a normal couple and ultimately reconcile. This space between them was driving him mad, he needed to see her but also had to make sure that she would stop all her investigating.

That's where Ricardo came in, he was loyal to Kevari and a friend of the family who was always willing to get down and dirty if it meant that the family was in trouble. At first, he didn't want to use him but he knew that he needed to keep Nadia fearing for her life a little so enlisting Ricardo was the sensible choice.

However, it had been a while since he had updates from him about what she was up to and that was making him worry about it. He didn't want to think the worst and I assume that he hurt her again like the last time.

Checking his phone, there were no new messages other than Ricardo telling him that Nadia was at the salon with two men and her friend which made his blood boil. He hoped that she was not thinking of stepping out on him.

Even though he hadn't made her his girl officially, she still belonged to him in his mind, she just didn't know it yet.

He called Ricardo but the phone went straight to voicemail. Dismissing this, he went back to fixing his car in his mechanics' garage. He needed some sort of outlet to deal with all that was happening and fixing a car always gave him a great relief.

He got up from under the hood to see multiple flashlights pointed at him and a plethora of officers telling him to get down. He was reluctant but one of them tripped him, making him fall face-first as they detained him with cuffs.

An older man in a trench coat came up to him with a sheet, most likely a warrant. He wasn't sure what it was for but he knew that Ricardo wouldn't snitch, so it had to be something else but he didn't know what.

" Mr Bailey, you're under arrest for the murder of Jordan Asante. You have the right to remain silent as anything you say or do can used against you in court. I suggest you get some counsel" He stated as they took him away.

His whole body had gone cold, no way could he be charged for this because he distinctly remembered that he barely touched the weapon so he didn't know who to blame. He chuckled darkly as he thought about Nadia probably being happy that he was being arrested for this.

In her mind, he had been the killer to her no matter how many times he told her that he wasn't but he knew that this was easily solvable. He cockily sat at the back of the police car, already thinking of who to call.

The lawyer in question managed to reduce Kevari's Class A drug trafficking sentence to ten years despite him being in a leading role and moving Category 1 weight in drugs. His lawyer was a beast in the court and Kane had watched first-hand how brilliantly she had defended her brother. He knew she would be able to do the same for him.

Finally arriving at the station, he was dragged to the interrogation room not without seeing Nadia watch him being taken there. He smiled at her arrogantly because he definitely had something for her ass when all this was said and done.

Cuffing him to the table, the older man sat across from him as they awaited the presence of his lawyer, Barrister Wallen. A lithe golden brown woman walked in with a slicked-back bun and two-piece skirt suit as she sat next to Kane.

" Evening DC Isley, it is a shame we are meeting again under such terrible circumstances but I digress, are we ready to get this thing started then?" She sat patiently.

" Ready" DC Isley pressed record on the voice recorder.

" So you have my client, Mr Bailey on charges of murder, what evidence do you have to indicate this?" She queried as she and Kane watched the detective pull out the report on the murder weapon.

" We found your client's fingerprints on the handle of the murder weapon, which strongly suggest of usage of this weapon in a harmful manner. I mean given his past, it's not far-fetched to believe that he is a dangerous individual" DC Isley eyed the younger man who remained quiet and unfeeling.

" Given what my client has told me, he did hold it but he never used it in that way so how can you prove that he did? He might have simply found it and stupidly touched it but it is wrong to insinuate that his past makes him more likely to do this when Mr Bailey has consciously moved away from that life and works as a mechanic. Plus, Mr Bailey and Mr Asante were very close friends, almost brothers and he attended Mr Asante's funeral. None of that seems to indicate motive so how can you prove it was him?" Barrister Wallen counter-argued.

" Well, a confession would be helpful even if it wasn't him. At least, we'll be one step closer to finding out who stabbed Mr Asante, no?" DC Isley flipped his pen up and down.

" All he can confess to is holding the weapon and also he has an alibi as he was at a bowling alley with his friends at the time of the murder. I believe the time was 10:45 pm that Mr Asante was reported to be killed and my client was still at the bowling alley according to multiple witnesses including his friends. So again, I ask how could he have done it?" Barrister Wallen knew that she had the detective by the balls as she saw him clench his jaws in frustration.

" Do you know who killed him, then, Mr Bailey? Surely it is way too much of a coincidence that you would find the murder weapon that killed your friend but be conveniently in a place where it would be impossible for you to have killed him. You obviously know who killed him and this is a great time to have these charges dropped if you tell us who." DC Isely handed him the opportunity to save himself and out whoever it seemed he was protecting.

" Like my lawyer said, I wasn't there so how could I know?" Kane answered quietly, knowing that this would be over soon.

"If there is nothing else, detective, I suggest that you let my client go and drop these false charges" Barrister Wallen stated.

"On what grounds?" DC Isley questioned, feeling more and more frustrated.

"Because Mr Bailey simply didn't have the motive to kill and was not able to do so whilst being at a bowling alley with his friends at the time of the murder. Since you can't disprove what we have said, I believe we are done here." Barrister Wallen stood up.

DC Isley uncuffed Kane's wrist, watching as they both left the room. He slammed his fist against the table before pressing stop on the recorder.

As for Kane, he was beyond happy that this didn't last as long as he thought. He maintained that he didn't kill Jordan and now Nadia had no ground to stand on if she accused him again. He walked past the office again, seeing the horror slowly etch on her face as if she couldn't believe he was free.

A part of him was furious at her because he knew this was her doing but another part of him that was so much stronger, was saddened that she would really believe that he would kill Jordan. 

Whatever the case, he was more ready to show her that there was a price to pay for screwing him like this and he wasn't willing to take the nice approach to show her that.

.............................................................................................................................................................. 

The story continues!

Let me know what you think and vote as always.

Love, Tam xxx