CHAPTER 36

"M arin Smith belongs to me," Theo said as he stood up.

"Sit down, Theo. We're just talking here. Tell me what you mean," Dylan said calmly and motioned for Theo to sit back down.

"Look, I wanted Marin, okay? I wanted her, and my entire life, I never got anything I wanted." Theo sat.

"What do you mean by that?" Dylan asked, sounding more like a therapist now than a detective.

Kieran pressed her hands on the ledge of the two-way mirror that she was watching this interaction through, and Carina's hand moved to the small of her back.

"Friends, huh?" Kevin teased.

"It's new," Carina replied to him. "And shut up."

Kevin laughed softly. Kieran heard their exchange but did nothing to join in because she was right. She'd been right about Theodore Samuel. He did this. He'd done all of it, and she'd figured it out.

"What do I mean? I mean my mother had me at fifteen and tried to raise me for four years, but she was addicted to a bunch of shit, and this fucking system took me away from her at four years old. Pulled me away from my mother. What the hell is that? How do you expect a kid to grow up after being taken away from his mother?"

"Did she petition to get you back?" Dylan asked.

He looked surprised by the question and said, "Yeah, of course."

"Really? Because I looked you up before our meeting today, Theo, and I didn't see any record of that. I did find your birth certificate, with no father listed, and her death certificate. It looks like she died of an overdose when you were about five."

"So what? She's gone. Whatever. My point is that I was yanked away from my mother and then shifted from home to home."

"You were only in three foster homes, and one family tried to adopt you, Theo. That's a pretty good situation for someone in your shoes. I know people who never settled into a home, and no one offered to adopt them. Marin May, for one."

"Stop calling her that, or this interview is done," he seethed.

"Okay. Marin. Marin was in a lot of homes."

"Mine. She was in mine, and I wanted her. She didn't want me, but I wanted her. And I didn't want any of those fucking homes or families. I wanted my actual family to take me home."

"But your mom was dead."

"And I've got a father out there somewhere, don't I? She didn't knock herself up at fifteen. And her parents were dead, but where were his?"

"Maybe he didn't know about you."

"Yeah, well, he should have. But I didn't get anything I wanted. I wanted Marin, and she didn't want me back. She said we were foster siblings, but we're not blood-related, and that kind of shit happened a lot."

"Did it in your homes? It looks to me that in the three homes you found yourself in, the first couple had two other foster kids, and you had your own room. Those girls were sixteen and seventeen when you were only five. They tried to adopt you, but–"

"Changed their minds."

"Yes, but only because one of them got cancer and passed away before the process could be completed. Her husband couldn't keep up with everything. He wanted to keep you, though, Theo. He just couldn't. He was grieving his wife."

"What about me ? Who grieved me? They tossed me back."

"To a new home, where you lived until you were twelve. That's when your record gets a little interesting to me. Seems like you started making trouble then, and they had to move you because they had three other fosters, and they were worried about you endangering them."

"I didn't hurt them."

"No?" Dylan asked. "You didn't walk into your foster sister's bedroom every night to watch her sleep? You didn't scare her one morning but did it the next night anyway?"

"What does that have to do with this stupid case and Marin? I liked watching the girls sleep. They were my age. I'm not some pervert."

"After that, you only had one more home until you aged out. That's where you met Marin."

"Yeah, and I was tired of getting in trouble for wanting what I wanted and not getting it, and Marin wouldn't give in."

"You tried to get physical with her?"

"I tried to show her how good it can be, yeah," he replied. "What the fuck is wrong with that? She would've liked it if she'd just given in. The stupid foster parents put a lock on my door and window at night. I had a bathroom in there, so they'd just lock me and my foster brother in there because they were afraid us teens would fuck each other all over the house. They locked her in, too, though; her and the other ones sharing her room."

"So, when Marin wouldn't put out, what did you do?" Dylan asked.

"Tried to convince her. She still wouldn't, though. And yeah, I got a little aggressive about it because I loved her, you know? She got pissed, and I got pissed, so I burned myself. I told them that she did it, and she got in trouble."

"Why'd you do that? That had to hurt."

"Like a motherfucker. But it was worth it."

"Because she got in trouble?"

"Because of that, but also because I thought she'd finally just let me have her already. What the hell was she holding out for, anyway? It's not like she was a virgin. And there wasn't some rich doctor waiting for her out there. She was mine."

"Were you hers ?"

"What?" Theo looked confused again.

Kieran recognized what Dylan was doing, and it was working, too. By continuing to let him talk and tossing in questions to move his brain from one thing to another, Dylan was keeping him on track but also messing him up a little. He was spending so much time trying to figure out what she was doing and where she was going with something that he hadn't yet asked for an attorney. Maybe it was arrogance, pride, or narcissism that was getting in his way, but Kieran was grateful.

"Do you belong to her?"

"Sure. Yeah. I mean, whatever. It doesn't really work like that. I've been hers forever. All she had to do was accept that and let me have her."

"But Nick had her," Dylan said. "I mean, Nick was her husband, so he had her whenever he wanted, probably."

"Shut up! He fucking hit her!"

"How do you know that, Theo?"

"Because I fucking saw it! I couldn't be there all the time, but whenever I was, I fucking saw him beat her. She just put up with it, but I couldn't anymore. I'd seen too much and had enough."

"You were watching Marin?"

"Who else was going to protect her?"

"But you let her marry Nick May?"

"I just told you: I couldn't be there all the time. I've had jobs over the years, and sometimes, she'd move before I could get my last paycheck, which I'd need to take with me so I could live on something before I find another job wherever she'd decided to live."

"Sounds like she's been a real pain in the ass for you."

"Yes, she has. And I got there after she married Nick. She changes names and stuff, too, so it's hard to find her unless I follow her directly, but that's not always possible. Anyway, I'd had enough on her behalf when I saw him hit her in the head with a fucking board."

"You saw that?" Dylan asked.

"He just put himself there the night of the murder," Carina said, rubbing Kieran's back.

"Yeah, I did. He left. She was just on the floor."

"Did you go in and check on her?"

"Not at first. I thought he'd be right back, but I went around back, and she had a pulse, so I knew she'd be fine. He came back then, though, and went outside to smoke or something, but I'd found the gun she'd bought and took it. I ran and waited around the corner, but I missed him going back inside the house. I assumed she was still there. I got back inside and smacked the bastard over the head with the same damn board. Then, I shot him and went looking for Marin because I figured she'd be scared at the gunshot."

"Marin wasn't there, though."

"No. And I knew she took the bus because she didn't have a car, so I burned down the house first to get rid of the evidence, and I left to look for her."

"Didn't find her?"

"No, I missed her. And it took me a few more years to find her because she'd changed her name and moved again. She couldn't wait for me to get her and take her away from fucking Nick May? Stupid." Theo shook his head.

"What happened then? When you found her again?"

"What do you think? She was working, and I checked in on her like I'd done before."

"Did you talk to her?"

"No, because I wanted her to talk to me. Is it really that hard? I was around. She had to see me. And she never said anything. Bitch."

"Sometimes, we don't see what's right in front of us," Dylan said.

"She ran off with that guy, okay? I followed them. They fucking got married in Atlantic City, and I had to watch through their motel room while he… defiled her."

"You watched them have sex?"

"Good God," Kevin let out.

"He has more issues than I can count," Kieran added.

"How did he get missed in all of this?" Kevin asked. "Carina?"

"Hey, don't blame me," Carina said. "I only had the Nick May case. I had no way to connect the girl to Marin. And when we found out about Cory, we started working with Miami, but I got pulled."

"No, I meant… How did he get through the system without anything major on his record? He's watched Marin for her entire adult life; having sex, apparently."

"The best part to me is that he watched her get hit, too," Kieran said. "Over and over, apparently, and he didn't do anything to stop it. He just watched her in pain. And he talks about how he was meant to rescue her, but he didn't really do anything, did he? On top of that, he talks about Nick beating her, but he tried to force himself on her all the time while they were in the house together. He's nobody's hero."

"She was mine, and he was fucking her," Theo replied to Dylan.

"Did you watch Nick with her, too?"

"Yes. And she didn't like it. I could tell. She didn't like either of them."

"She didn't?" Dylan asked. "But she married them."

"I mean sex. She didn't like sex with them. They didn't fuck her right."

"But you would have?"

"Fuck, yes," he stated. "I know what Marin needs. I always have. But she never let me show her. Why are you women like this? Just let us tell you what you need, you know? It's not that hard."

"So, you watched her have sex with different men; Cory included. What happened then?"

"I killed him, too. They fought, and I could see that she didn't want him, but I knew she'd just do the same thing she did with fucking Nick May. So, I took that Cory guy out to save her. She left and moved to Tampa. I kept an eye on her."

"That makes sense, Theo. You were just trying to look out for Marin when she clearly couldn't do that herself," Dylan said.

"Yeah, obviously."

"So, when we arrested Marin for Nick's murder, you were there?"

"Yeah, I was around."

"You knew that we had her in custody and that she'd be going to trial."

"Yeah. So?"

"And you love her. You love Marin."

"I told you that. Why do you think I've–"

"But she's being charged with two murders that you committed and, likely, a third one, too, because of the poor girl who you stabbed. She's going to lose at trial and be locked up for the rest of her life."

Theo leaned over the table, smirked at Dylan, and said, "That's what the little bitch deserves. I'm tired of this shit. She didn't give me what I want. She doesn't get what she wants. Let her be in there with all those women. They can't fuck her. She'll never have another guy touch her again. And I'll visit her and finally tell her that I'm the one that saved her all these years."

"Oh, I assure you, Theodore, women can indeed fuck other women," Dylan said as she stood up. "And you're under arrest. I'm booking you for Nick May, but Miami PD will want you for Cory, and I'm sure the town down the ways will want you for that teenager you murdered in cold blood."

"What the fuck are you talking about? We were just talking in here."

"You were read your rights. You said as much when you walked in this room. We've been recording this whole conversation. Now, I'll give you that phone call. I'd suggest you use it to call a lawyer," Dylan said and left the room.

"Well, we can't have two people charged for the same crime when there's no conspiracy or evidence that they shot him together, and I can't see that happening here, given this confession," Kevin said.

"You're letting Marin go?" Kieran asked as she turned to him.

"I can't do that, Kieran."

"What? Why not? He just–"

"Kieran, there are still some fraud charges. The fake name and social security stuff," Carina reminded. "He can't just drop those. But maybe he can give her a deal?" She looked at Kevin.

"I'll talk to Jason and see what we can do, but he's not going to just give her probation."

"Shorter sentence and credit for time served," Carina replied. "Each count to be served concurrently instead of consecutively. Two years. Out in one. Probation after that."

"You're not Jason," Kevin said as he laughed. "But I guess you probably will be soon enough." He picked his briefcase up off the floor and turned to Kieran. "Amazing. She would've been in prison for life. No one would've put this guy to these crimes, Kieran, but you did. You saw it. And now, we can lock up this sick prick and get your sister out. If you're ever looking for a job, I'm sure Carina would hire you as an in-house investigator for the DA's office."

Kieran laughed and said, "No, I'm good with my code. I like my job and don't plan on needing a new career path anytime soon."

"Just as well. I don't know if they'd let Carina hire her girlfriend." Kevin nudged Carina's shoulder with his own and left the room.

Kieran turned back to see that Theo was now pacing in the interview room and said, "I didn't know he'd be that sick."

"Well, it takes someone that sick to do all this," Carina suggested. "But Kevin's right: you figured it out. You did it."

"Dylan did it. I can't believe she got him to confess like that. She really is that good, isn't she?"

"There's a reason she's about to be Captain Easton. She's really good at this. But you did the work that got her in that room." Carina took Kieran's hands into hers. "You did the work that got that sicko arrested. Everyone else just thought he was some kid Marin burned with cigarettes, but you knew better."

An officer entered the room and told Theo to turn around before he put handcuffs on him.

"And now, we'll close three cases, and he'll never hurt anyone ever again." Carina leaned forward and pressed her forehead to Kieran's. "You're amazing."

"I don't feel amazing."

"You should. And you know what I think we need to do right now?"

"What?" Kieran asked, thinking Carina couldn't possibly be talking about sex.

"Call Frank and give him the good news."

Kieran laughed.