Chapter Fourteen - Nick

“I’ll do it,” Minerva says quietly.

“I don’t want you anywhere near him,” Eliot says protectively. “If he did shoot Oasis that means he’s already hurt one of daughters I don’t want him to have the chance to hurt another one.”

“I have to do this dad. I have to help the police catch him. For my sister,” Minerva says in a calm voice.

“I’ll go with her if you want,” I say without hesitation knowing that Oasis would want me to protect her sister.

“Are you sure?” Eliot says looking at me wearily.

“Yes, it’s what Oasis would want,” I say feeling certain that what I’m saying is the truth.

“I’ll let her go as long, as you make sure that she is safe,” Eliot says looking back and forth between me and the officers.

“We’ll make her as safe as we can,” Detective Langford says while Detective Carroll nods. “We should get going.”

I stand up and give Olivia a hug and promise that I’ll keep her daughter safe. I follow the Detectives and Minerva out of the hospital. I climb in the passenger seat of Oasis’ truck and we set out for the address that Taylor gave to Minerva. I sit quiet, wrapped up in my own thoughts of Oasis and I watch out the window at the trees that go past us.

“Nick,” Minerva says gently, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah, Minerva,” I say looking over at her.

“Oasis really likes you, you know that right,” Minerva tells me quietly like she’s unsure of how I’ll react. “She does a lot, I could see how excited she was when she asked for my help to get ready for your date,” she says when she sees me shake my head.

“I knew how I felt about her and I hoped that she liked me but I wasn’t sure,” I tell Minerva truthfully.

“She may kill me for telling you this, but she told me about your date when she came home. Not the whole of it, but she did tell me the important parts like how she felt when you kissed her and I knew she was happy. That’s the happiest I’ve seen her with anyone other than family and her horse Marina,” Minerva tells me with a slight smile.

“Thank you for telling me that, it makes me happy to know that,” I tell her with a smile.

“I have to do this for my sister, Nick, she deserves justice,” Minerva says with an edge to her voice. “After everything he put her through I can’t let him get away with it.”

“He won’t,” I say as assuring as I can.

“We’re here,” Minerva says as she pulls up out the front of a small coffee shop called Viva la Coffee and waits for the Detectives to come over to the car. “He isn’t here yet, so we better move quickly, if you sit up in the back in a booth, I’ll sit near the front in your line of sight,” she says to me and the Detectives.

“That’ll be fine,” Detective Langford says with a nod as he pulls something out of he’s pocket that looks like a headband. “This has a tiny mic on it so we can record what he says to you.”

Minerva takes the headband and puts it on before we head inside. We find a booth at the back of the café and Minerva takes the booth next to us and orders a chocolate frappe. We sit quietly waiting for Taylor to arrive. After about five minutes, he arrives, he scans the café and when he finds her, he makes a beeline for her. I clench my fists to stop from getting up and punching him in the nose.

“Hey Minerva, How are you?” Taylor says.

“My sister was shot this morning. How do you think I feel?” Minerva says sounding offended.

“Sorry, that was a stupid question. Is she okay?” Taylor says, trying to sound concerned and failing miserable.

“She’s in surgery to remove the bullet,” Minerva says with a hitch in her voice like she is trying not to cry.

“What about her horse?” Taylor asks still trying for concerned.

“How did you know about Marina? No one but my family, the vet and Juliet know about Marina,” Minerva says sounding suspicious. “What did you do Taylor?”

“I taught your bitch of a sister a lesson,” Taylor says with a grin.

“You shot her. Why? Because she rejected you over a year ago. Because she didn’t let you ruin her life,” Minerva says getting upset and raising her voice. “You’re a psychopath.”

“We should grab him now,” Detective Carroll says quietly to Detective Langford.

Langford quickly nods and they both stand up and move to where Taylor is sitting. I quickly stand up and move to stand near them.

“Taylor Stokes,” Detective Carroll says. “You’re under arrest for the attempted murder of Oasis Josephine Summers.” He says, when Taylor nods and he puts his hand on his shoulder.

“What?” he says, looking back and forth between the Detectives and Minerva questioningly, before realising what is going on. “You bitch. You set me up.”

“You shot my sister. This is a warning don’t mess with my family,” she says with authority.

“I’ll get you,” he says jumping across the table at her.

I quickly grab Minerva and move her out of his way, as the detectives grab him and handcuff him. Detective Langford drags him out of the café towards their car.

“Thank you,” Detective Carroll says to Minerva, as she passes him the headband.

“We’ll make sure that he doesn’t get away with this,” Detective Carroll says before walking out of the café.