Page 57 of Under Ground

“Her parents are distraught and very apologetic. They had no idea.”

Lana blows out a long breath. “Fifteen.”

“She says that she only wanted to ask Casey who her father was. And she knows she took it way too far.”

“So, what happens now?” Lana croaks. It was screwed up enough that someone attempted this—even more so that it’s a kid.

“That’s up to you. Her parents are making her write an apology letter to you. We can charge her, but—“

“I don’t want that. But I do want the fear of God put into her so she doesn’t do anything so stupid again,” Lana says.

“Don’t you think—” Gareth speaks.

Lana holds up her hand. “She’s a kid. And I will do my best to stop Casey doing anything stupid in her life, but she just might do something dumb in the future too.”

“Are you sure?” I ask her.

She turns her head to look at me. “She’ll be punished by her parents. Lord knows I did some reckless shit when I was a teenager.”

I reach for one of her hands and squeeze it. “Whatever you want. I’ll support you.”

Gareth snorts.

Detective Carsons looks between us as if she’s missed something.

“Thank you, Detective,” Lana says.

She hands Lana a card and a slip of paper. “I’ll co-ordinate delivering this apology, but call me in the meantime if you need anything. There’s your case number, too, with the details on how to contact victim support.”

“Thank you.”

Looking between Gareth and I, she fixes her gaze on me. “I don’t know what’s happening between you two, but Casey and Lana need your support right now.”

I nod. “Agreed.”

Gareth just grunts.

“Goodnight.” She steps out of the door.

Lana closes it, turning back toward us. “Fifteen. I just—”

“This wouldn’t have happened if you were more responsible with who you dated.”

I gape at Gareth while Lana sets her jaw.

“I beg your pardon?”

“This is your fault, Lana. I—”

“Enough.” Lana yells, holding up her palms on either side of her head. “Go home to your wife, Gareth.” Lana knits her fingers together and sits on the couch beside me.

Gareth’s eyes meet mine. His stony expression tells me he’s not too happy about it, but he stands. “I’ll leave you to it.” He shifts his gaze to Lana. “Don’t worry about coming into work tomorrow. Take a few days off. I’ll make sure you’re paid for them.”

“Thank you.”

He glares at me. “You’d better have a plan on how to unfuck all this.”

“Just go.” Lana doesn’t even look at him. “This has nothing to do with you.”

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