Page 36 of Vermilion Desire

“Ms. Addison’s family should never have to go through the trial, and I truly wish they do not have to revisit the pain that he had caused.” Berkshire Senior knows the criminal system well to know that if he doesn’t say his son’s name, then the police can’t use his words in court without cooperating evidence.

“Fighting crime is their job, prosecuting is the lawyer’s, but my job is to research within the realm of my Hippocratic Oath.”

The old man smiles, but he’s smiling too early as Uncle Cal clears his throat. Mr. Wolf’s hand snaps around my wrist, but I am not done with this family as they have caused more harm than good as they claim they have done.

“I will not go out of my way to save your son, and I can ignore that oath within the best of my ability without breaking it.”

Berkshire’s face is not old, but when he frowns, it’s filled with wrinkles. This is one of the symptoms of that disease, and it further solidifies the best guest of the disease that the doctor had come to the conclusion of.

“Do you want money to—”

I roll my eyes, passing back the clipboard to the doctor. “I don’t want anything from you, but I do prefer one thing.”

“Anything,” he readily agrees. “Anything you want, I will provide it. My family’s legacy must continue down generations.”

If he’s worried about his son, he’s not showing it in the most affectionate way. Though, I don’t know how people in this world works. They probably wipe their tears with freshly printed money and fish whales with gold bars.

“You cannot support your son in any way.” I hold a finger up. “That’s the only condition. Leave the rest to me as I will see him behind bars as he deserves, and this way, he wouldn’t have the resources to leave the country.”

I sign as the hand around my wrist tightens. I cock my head, finding Mr. Wolf’s eyes with my amber ones. “It’d be a pain to chase after a fugitive when we could be on our honeymoon.”

His eyes darkened at my smile. I intend to marry him and have a month-long vacation to submerge myself in his love. I can’t wait to put all of this behind us so we can take the next step into our future.

“Alright, I’m going to need a deal from the prosecutor.” I turn to Uncle Cal. “Can you call him?”

I know he wants to ask questions from the way his eyes glare at me, but I simply smile and wave for him to quickly dial the number.

“Then, Mr. Wolf. You need to get Mr. Berkshire Junior to the district attorney’s office.”

He cocks an eyebrow, but he does what I request when he pulls out his phone to dial some numbers to get Berkshire and his lawyers to the designated spot.

“I can’t promise your son’s life in the hands of the illness, but I can promise that the facility and I will do our best.” I pause, eyes flickering to the lawyers that want to say something. “Only if you honor my condition.”

“You have my word, Miss. Scarletta.”

Chapter Ten

Wolf

“Are you sure this is a good idea? She’s a civilian, and she has no experience in interrogation.” My captain scratches his head, eyeing the room, separating Scarletta and the prosecutor as they spoke privately.

“I don’t need trouble when I’m just this close to retiring,” he says as he puts his fingers together.

Cal drinks his coffee with a grimace. “She’s a bit abnormal—rotten on some parts, but she’s a smart girl.”

I look down at my own cup of coffee. The taste is bland and washed down from the cheap brand that the station provides, but it does the job at making me stay awake.

It took a lot of manpower and time to find where the hell Braxton Berkshire was hiding. His family has a lot of real estates, and they’re all spread out in the state, so we had to ask the reluctant area cops to check since we would be crossing jurisdictions.

No one needs a pissing competition this late into this night as if the FBI isn’t enough. They did try to take the case from us because of seniority reasons, but everyone knows that they just want the credit.

As if our captain would let those FBI agents take a case that happened in our backyard. He may be old, but his experience and friendly relationship with people above got us this case.

“I’m trusting you on this one; don’t fuck it up.” The captain groans, squinting at Scarletta through the glass.

“I’m trusting you on this,” Cal says as he raises his cup to me. “She listens to you more than she does to me.”

I resist rolling my eyes. “She is your daughter.”

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