"So you called the hospital to tell them you weren't coming in because of a family emergency? Please, you just wanted to stay at home with your man," Haruto's voice crackles through the speaker.

"No, I also wanted to spend time with his nephew," I argue rolling my eyes.

"Ah, but you're not even denying it that much. Did you guys have a hot date?" he snickers.

"Shouldn't you be taking care of patients right now, Doctor Sato?" I ask deflecting his question.

"I'm on a break, why do you think I called you? Besides, you were gone for the weekend so you weren't here during all the shit that happened," he tells me, all the fun dropping from his voice.

"What happened?" I ask pushing my chair back from my desk. I eye the clock seeing I only have ten minutes left before the final bell rings.

"Cora, my fucking god she came in like hurricane yesterday," he sighs.

"You mean she came all the way to the hospital?" I ask incredulously.

"The hospital? Oh no, it didn't start at the hospital, started from my fucking house," he says and I hear the frustration coming from him.

"She followed you from your house?" I ask breaking out into laughter.

"Oi, don't laugh you little shit. By the time we reached the hospital security had to hold her back from coming in while she kept shouting we were still meant to be and that we would have a future together, or how it's your fault we broke up," he tells me.

"Whatever she did is on her and no matter how hard she tried to hide it, even if she never told me or if you weren't there that day, you would have found out. No matter how hard someone tries to hide something, one way or another it gets known by people," I say to him and I can hear the annoyance behind my words. You can't blame me for the shit you pulled, who told you to go opening your legs for other men?  "And what a load of bullshit, it's not like I told her to go sleep around."

"Unless she has an emergency she can't come to the hospital for a social call and I know you'll ask well what if she starts coming and says she's injured and such," he continues.

"We don't turn her away because even if she's acting up we help anyone no matter what race, sex, gender, etc they are," I say finishing what he was going to say.

"You got it, and I hope this is just a wakeup call for her that I don't want anything to do with her," he sighs again.

"She might have made a stupid and selfish mistake but know she'll know reconciling with you now is a lost cause," I say reassuring him. my phone starts beeping and I glance at the screen seeing an unknown number calling me. "Hey Haruto, I'll call you later, someone's trying to call me, don't know who though."

"Alright, call me back later or I'll see you at the hospital the next time you're in," he tells me. I accept the other call and take my phone off of speaker pressing it to my ear. 

"Is this Ms. Victoria Marshall?" a male's voice asks through the line.

"Yes, who is this?" I ask suspiciously. 

"This is Officer Nash, I'm working on your car crash case from three weeks ago. Would it be possible to come into the station today and also bring in Oli Carson as well? Chief Carter informed me that you have custody of Oli after school hours," he tells me.

"I do, we'll come right over," I tell him.

"Glad to hear that. When you reach the station ask for me or the chief or Officer Beckett, I heard you knew him also," he informs.

"I'll do that," I tell him before he hangs up the phone. Did they already find the men that almost killed Oli and me, does that mean they're a step closer to finding Eiichi? I hear the school bell ring and I don't even waste a second putting my papers away and grabbing my jacket. 

I lock the door behind me and quickly walk to Oli's classroom to get him first before the whole class goes outside to meet their parents. Grace sees me hovering at the doorway and I hear her call Oli's name before pointing to me and saying a couple of more words to him before letting him go with me. 

"Tori! I have to tell you something super big," Oli exclaims jumping into my arms.

"Hey kiddo," I chuckle ruffling his hair. "We have to get going right now but I'll listen to everything you have to say when we're in the car," I tell him.

"Where are we going?" he questions pulling back to look up at me.

"We're going to your uncle's workplace," I say to him with a smile.

"We get to see Uncle Jason?" he gasps. "Let's go," he says jumping away from me and grabbing my hand to drag me down the hall.

"Woah slow down, your uncle won't be running away," I chuckle as we walk out of the school and he continues leading me to my car.

"But I want to get there really fast," he tells me as we stop outside my car.

"How about this, I'll drive as fast as I can to the station," I say to him as I unlock the doors. Well as fast as I legally can.

"Deal!" he tells me before hopping into the back. A huff of laughter passes through my lips at his excitement as I close the door behind him. I get into the driver's seat starting the car and pulling out of the school lot.

"What did you need to tell me Oli?" I ask him my eyes flickering to the mirror to look at him for a second before looking back at the road.

"We had a math test last week on addition and subtraction and I got everything perfect, I was the only one," he says in excitement.

"Really? That's so amazing! Maybe we can have a celebration with your uncle later and maybe he can hang your test up," I tell him and I feel a sense of pride wash over me because even though I have no relation to Oli besides my connection with Jason, this adorable kid, who wouldn't be proud to hear his accomplishments.

"I want to have pie, apple pie," he says to me, his voice brightens after hearing about a possible celebration.

"If that's what you want then I think that can be arranged," I say to him as I turn into the precinct. "And I like apple pie too."

"Really? Uncle Jason doesn't like it, he's missing out," he says and I can hear the pout in his voice.

"Where did you hear that?" I chuckle as I park the car and turn to face him.

"From Aunty Charlotte. Uncle Jason told her he doesn't like it and she said he's missing out," he says with a matter of the fact voice. 

"You're right, your uncle is missing out," I say agreeing with him as I try to keep a straight voice at how serious he is.

"I'm going to tell uncle you agree with me," I hear him say as I step out of the car and open his side. 

"Go ahead and tell your uncle we both say he's no fun," I say with a smile as I lock the car and Oli grabs onto my hand. We walk inside the building and I walk straight to the counter, a different officer this time instead of Jax.

"Hi, I got a call from Officer Nash to come in as soon as possible," I tell the woman that's in front of me.

"Victoria Marshall? And that's Oli Carson?" she questions looking at the two of us.

"Yes, do you know why we brought here?" I ask. 

"Let me take you to where Officer Nash and the chief are, they'll be able to explain to you what's happening," she tells me as she gets up and waves for us to follow. We go past other officers, closed rooms before stopping at a gated door. She pulls out a keycard and waves it in front of the sensor, pulling it back and letting us pass first before shutting it behind us.

"We're going to an interrogation room aren't we?" I ask as we walk by what looks like a common room and people on computers, some looking at files.

"You're right," she says stopping in front of a door and giving it two knocks before opening it. "Chief, they're here."

"Thank you Natalia," I hear Jason's voice tell her. Oli drops my hand and pushes past her running inside the room straight to his uncle.

"Uncle Jason!" he shouts jumping onto him.

"Hey buddy," he says holding onto him. I walk past Natalia as he straightens and moves towards me kissing my cheek. "Hey sweetheart."

"Hey, mind telling me what's happening?" I ask looking him in the eyes hoping he can answer.

"I can't tell you anything since I'm not actively involved in the case but he can," he says turning to look at a man who's watching the two of us. He looks to be close to our age with piercing dark eyes, skin a shade darker than mine and dark red hair. He stands up from his chair stopping in front of us.

"Officer Nash, we spoke on the phone not too long ago," he says holding his hand out to shake.

"It's nice to meet you," I say shaking his hand. "I'm hoping you'll be able to tell me what's happening."

"We'll be getting to that in just a moment. Natalia what room are they in?" he questions looking at the female officer who was watching the whole exchange between Jason and me.

"They're in room three," she tells him.

"Thank you, you can go back to the front desk," he says dismissing her. "Ms. Marshall, if you'll follow me we'll start with you first and Jason, I'm asking again, we have your permission to ask Oli correct."

"Yes, and even though I can't be there with him I'll be watching the monitors," he says in a rigid voice.

"Very well, Ms. Marshall if you'd please," he says motioning towards the door. I step out as he closes the door behind us and I follow him down the hall towards another gated door. "We brought the two of you in to identify the people who attacked you and Jason's nephew," he explains as the gate unlocks.

"Where did you find them?" I ask in wonder. "And are you the one in charge of looking for Eiichi?"

"I can't say too much right now since we're still at the beginning of the investigation regarding Eiichi but I can tell you they took a boat to the Toronto Central Islands where they hid there for the last couple of weeks," he tells me. Wow, they really prepared for everything. 

He stops in front of a door and uses his keycard to unlock it opening it for me and I step in to find two officers sitting at a table looking at something through the glass in front of them. I turn my head and I see the men that shot at us, both sporting faces of anger.

"From your reaction you recognize them," Nash says looking at my face. 

"How could I forget them? I don't have nightmares but every time I think of what happened their faces flash in front of my eyes," I tell him, my voice tight. One of them an Asian man, I'm not sure if he's Japanese like Eiichi or if he comes from a different background. The tattoo for the yakuza clear as day on his face. The other man, with light brown skin, and a scar running down his cheek.

"So we can confirm that these two were the ones that shot your car and also caused that accident in the street," Nash says looking at me for verification.

"Yes. The one with the tattoo on his face is the one that was operating the guns and the other was the driver," I say with determination. It's chilling to have them just standing right across from me even though I'm the only one that can see them.

"Alright, if you can step out, we'll bring Oli in now," he says opening the door to where Jason and a nervous Oli are waiting.

"Don't worry buddy, they just want to ask you something," Jason says crouching down to look him in the eyes. He nods head and looks at me and I try to give him a smile to ease his nerves.

"We'll be right outside," I say hugging him. I walk out and Nash leads him inside closing the door behind him. My hand slips into Jason's and we both watch the television pasted onto the wall.

"Oli, do you know who those people are?" we hear Nash asks pointing at the glass. Oli looks to where he points and he immediately starts shaking his head and steps back.

"He's the bad man, he hurt Tori," he whimpers. "He hurt Tori, he hurt Tori." The pain is clear in his voice and maybe they still have more to ask him but not right now. I drop Jason's hand and whip the door open and Oli turns, tears running down his face.

"Come here sweetie," I say kneeling on the floor opening my arms for him. His body is on autopilot as he runs towards me, slams into me and holds onto me as his body shakes. "It's okay, you're safe, I'm safe, we're okay," I whisper running my hands through his hair. I feel another pair of arms encircle us holding us tightly. 

"Nash, do you mind if we continue questioning another day?" Jason questions and I hear the anguish in his voice at the fact his nephew has to go through this.

"We can do that," he says agreeing to the request.

"Hear that sweetie, we can go home now," I say pulling back a bit to wipe the tears from his face. "You're okay," I say kissing his forehead softly before giving him one last hug. I stand up and he instantly holds onto me. Just before we walk away, a voice speaks up and I freeze on the spot.

"Hey, you fuckers. What's taking so long? Don't tell me, that girl is here ain't she? Her and the brat? Tell her Eiichi is coming and he won't be letting her get away a second time."

✘✘

A/N Hey everyone, before going into my usual author's note I thought I'd put here what I wrote on my message board yesterday and add some other things: What's been happening the last couple of days has been so heartbreaking. I never shared it here, but like millions of others, I am also black.

Racism is real, and even though it's 2020 it's still here but like myself and so many others, we all know it needs to change. Instead of progressing forward we're regressing. Change starts with ourselves and we need to change the social injustice in our world. From a young age and even now as an adult my parents still talk to me about the colour of my skin and the racism I could face outside of my house. My wish one day is that it's erased, we understand one another and as I said before, things need to change.

I want to support other black authors here on the platform by making a reading list and adding their works here, so send in the link of their story on my post on my message board. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

And now onto my normal author's note, I felt like this was one of my more intense written chapters besides when they got into a crash. Haruto had some trouble with Cora but hopefully, she can finally leave Haruto. Victoria and Oli just identified their attackers and my heart breaks for Oli. And the threat is real now, they don't want to make a mistake again.

Be sure to leave your thoughts on the chapter in the comments! Stay safe everyone, stay healthy, and stay strong♡