Page 101 of Beautifully Broken
“I know,” I whisper back. “But I’m glad youarehere. Still here. Alive. And that should be all Jason cares about if he loves you.”
She turns her face toward me, tears glistening in her tired eyes. “I feel like I’m disappearing.”
I lean closer, keeping my voice steady even though I’m breaking inside. “Then let me help hold you together. Just for a while. You’ve carried this weight for so long, Cali. Let someone else carry some of it, too. When you are ready, tell me who is involved and I will get you justice. One way or another they will pay”
She closes her eyes, and I can see her walls start to crumble, just enough for me to slip my hand into hers and stay there, steady and real.
“I won’t let you fade away,” I promise.
And for the first time in a long time, she doesn’t fight me on it.
Chapter 9
Police Force–Crime Scene Investigation Unit - 2019
I am finally seeing my hard work paying off. Seeing myself heading a unit has been the best success I have achieved so far. It has been many long, tiring, stressful years getting through my masters and doctorate, now Dr. Nova Samsara of the New York City Criminal Investigation Unit. My focus is on biology, DNA, bloodstains, and pathology. This year has been tough, as we have a few cases that are still unsolved and going cold. I do my best to work on them in my spare time to find a lead, but the caseload on active cases is high.
It seems like for everyone we identify and put away, fifty more take their place. It has been a struggle some days to see any good I or the justice system is doing. So many victims never get heard or get to have their stories told. What is the point of being a part of this? Most days I try to remember why I wanted to follow this career path. I try to make a difference. Some days, it’s hard to see how I help that one starfish.
Finishing another late night, trying to find that one piece of evidence to lock up the case and see the criminal get put away. The weight on my shoulders is heavy as I get home and shower. I see a missed call from Cali on my phone, but the clock says it’s way to fucking late to call her back tonight. We talk every other night, ever since she had the incident when I was in Jamaica. Tonight was not a scheduled night which is why I was working late.
***
Cali Mom: Nova, I have bad news. I need to speak to you right away.
Me: I’m in a meeting. Can I call you after?
Cali Mom: It’s important. It has to do with Cali.
Me: I can give you five minutes.
Cali’s mom and I were never close. In fact, I can barely stand her. I resented every breath she took for the life she let Cali suffer through—the years of silence, the way she turned her back while her daughter screamed quietly from the inside out. Sheknew, and she did nothing.
I excuse myself from my meeting. My chest is tight. I dial her number with a sense of dread I can’t explain.
She picks up almost immediately. “Hello, Nova?” Her voice is too calm.
I clench my jaw. “Yes, Mary. What is so important?”
There was a pause. Then: “She’s gone, Cali killed herself,” she said, like she’s reading a recipe. “I found her this morning. I called 9-1-1. They… they tried everything, but they couldn’t bring her back.”
My brain rejects the words before they even finish landing.
No. No, no, no.
The phone slips from my hand, hitting the floor with a thud I barely hear over the roaring in my ears. I slide down the wall like my bones vanished. I can’t breathe. I can’t scream.
She’sgone. And Mary—that woman—let it happen.
My hands won’t stop trembling. I can’t see, the tears come in hot, blinding waves, mixing with a rage so deep it doesn’t feel human. I look down at mycall log, Cali’s name listed in missed calls. Realizing I won’t be able to hear her voice again.
I let out a scream I didn’t know I was capable of—raw, cracked, animalistic. It tears from somewhere deep inside me, a sound of grief and fury colliding. The phone’s already across the room before I even register throwing it.
She’sgone. Cali’s really gone.
My body is shaking so hard. And under the suffocating, soul-breaking devastation—there’s something else rising. Something hotter. Sharper.
Those monsters. Those spineless, smug cowards in their suits and curated smiles. The ones who used her up, drained every ounce of light out of her. And now she’s gone—because hermotherleft her to rot in a house filled with secrets.
