Chapter 6 - The Second Copy
The apartment had been empty for eleven months.
Sophia stood across the street with Dominic and Detective Walsh.
“You’re sure he’ll come?”
Sophia nodded.
“Trevor knows I never throw anything away that belonged to my mother.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You stay outside.”
“No.”
“Sophia.”
“He won’t search properly unless he thinks I’m inside.”
Walsh interrupted.
“She’s right.”
Dominic looked at the detective.
“That doesn’t mean I like it.”
Sophia said, “Nobody asked you to.”
He turned toward her.
“That attitude is becoming a problem.”
“You like my attitude.”
Dominic stared.
Walsh looked away to hide a smile.
Sophia entered the apartment.
The police waited nearby.
Dominic waited closer.
Five minutes passed.
Then ten.
The front door opened.
Trevor stepped inside.
Sophia’s pulse jumped.
He looked exhausted.
Nothing like the charming man who had convinced everyone she was unstable.
“Soph.”
She stood beside her mother’s old dining table.
“Trevor.”
“Where is it?”
“No hello?”
“Don’t do this.”
“Do what?”
“You always make things difficult.”
Sophia almost smiled.
There he was.
The old Trevor.
Everything was her fault.
“Where’s the second drive?”
“Safe.”
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
His expression changed.
“Sophia.”
“You can’t use that voice anymore.”
“What voice?”
“The one that makes everything sound reasonable.”
He stepped closer.
“I protected you.”
“You used my identity.”
“For us.”
“You isolated me.”
“You were overwhelmed.”
“You lied to police.”
“Because you weren’t well.”
Sophia shook her head.
“You still believe you can talk your way out.”
“I can.”
“No.”
Trevor smiled.
“Yes, I can. Because when this is finished, people will remember who you are.”
“And who am I?”
“The unstable girlfriend.”
Sophia stared at him.
Then smiled.
Trevor frowned.
“What?”
She touched the small microphone beneath her collar.
“The witness.”
Trevor froze.
The apartment door opened.
Detective Walsh entered.
Trevor turned toward the back exit.
Dominic was already standing there.
Trevor stopped.
Dominic said nothing.
He didn’t need to.
Trevor looked between them.
Then at Sophia.
“You did this.”
Sophia shook her head.
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“You did.”
Walsh placed Trevor under arrest.
As he was led away, Trevor twisted toward Sophia.
“You think he loves you?”
Sophia’s face remained calm.
Trevor laughed.
“Dominic Moretti doesn’t love anyone.”
Dominic’s expression didn’t change.
Sophia looked at him.
Then back at Trevor.
“Maybe.”
She shrugged.
“But the difference between you and him is simple.”
Trevor waited.
Sophia said, “He never asked me to be afraid of him.”
The door closed behind Trevor.
Silence filled the apartment.
Walsh left to join the other officers.
Sophia remained by the table.
Dominic approached.
“Where’s the second drive?”
Sophia pointed toward the framed photograph of her mother.
Dominic lifted it.
A tiny flash drive was taped behind the frame.
He stared at her.
“You actually had another copy.”
“I told you.”
“You also climbed into a stranger’s trunk.”
“I was having a complicated evening.”
Dominic laughed quietly.
Sophia took the photograph from him.
Her fingers brushed his.
Neither moved away.
Dominic’s voice lowered.
“Trevor asked whether I love you.”
Sophia’s breathing changed.
“You don’t have to answer him.”
“I’m not answering him.”
“Dominic.”
“I’m answering you.”
She looked up.
He paused.
“I don’t know what this becomes.”
Sophia said nothing.
“But I know I want you safe.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“I know.”
“And I don’t need another man deciding my life.”
“I know.”
“And I’m not some woman you rescued.”
“I know.”
Sophia studied him.
“You say that a lot.”
“Because you make several excellent points.”
She smiled.
Dominic stepped closer.
“So decide for yourself.”
“Decide what?”
“Whether I can take you to dinner.”
Sophia blinked.
“That’s your move?”
“It’s what normal people do.”
“You’re asking me on a date in the apartment where we just trapped my fugitive ex.”
Dominic considered that.
“Tomorrow?”
Sophia laughed.
May you like
“Tomorrow.”
---
