Detective On Duty-Chapter 25: Caught In The Act

Miles and Ethan were stunned by Ava’s sudden, raging departure. Her choice of destination was baffling but revealing: James’s house.

Ava arrived at James’s house, breathless. She knocked urgently. James, disheveled and clearly miserable after his fight with Katherine, opened the door.

"Ava? What are you doing here?" he asked, surprised.

"I just wanted to see if everything was alright," she lied smoothly, trying to catch her breath. "Have you seen Katherine? I can’t reach her."

"No, I haven’t seen her," James replied, his voice soft and clear. "She always work late so I’m just a bit worried."

"Is anything the problem?" Ava asked, feigning deep concern. "Or should I just stay on your doormat?"

"No, no. Come in," James said, stepping aside.

They talked for a few minutes, Ava watching him carefully. James was distraught, distracted, and vulnerable. He suddenly put a hand to his head. "God, I feel dizzy all of a sudden. I must be coming down with something."

"Oh, you look terrible," Ava said, her voice dripping with false sympathy. "You need to lie down. Where’s your room?"

"Upstairs," James mumbled, leaning against the wall. "Come and get me, and I’ll show you."

Ava moved to his side, supporting him as they climbed the stairs. Once in his room, she let him fall onto the bed. "Just rest," she whispered.

She then started her plan on coming here, with ruthless efficiency. She began to undress, letting her clothes fall to the floor in a calculated pile. She then began to undress the increasingly groggy James, whose eyes were fluttering shut. As he drifted into a drug-induced haze, James reached out and pulled her closer. "Katherine," he mumbled dreamily, pulling her on top of him. "Don’t leave me again, Katherine."

Ava smiled, a triumphant, wicked grin crossing her face. He thinks I’m her.

Meanwhile, Katherine had fled her apartment, her mind a whirlwind of shock and rage. The only person she could trust was James. She arrived at his house and rushed inside, knowing she couldn’t face the indignity alone. She raced up the stairs. The bedroom door was slightly ajar. She tried to push it open, but it was locked.

Inside, Ava was straddling James, moving rhythmically. She felt his hand cup her butt and smiled. She’s here, Ava thought, knowing Katherine was just outside the door.

She quickly loosened her brown ponytail, letting her brown hair fall over her shoulders and mask her face in the low light, ensuring Katherine wouldn’t recognize her instantly.

Katherine, however, saw the pile of clothes on the floor by the door. A cold dread settled in her stomach. She slammed her shoulder against the door, bursting it open.

The sight that greeted her stole the air from her lungs. A girl, her face obscured by a curtain of blonde hair, was busy riding her boyfriend. The sound of their moans, James’s muffled cries and the girl’s more pronounced gasps, was a sound of utter disgust and betrayal.

Katherine clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream. Her knees went weak. The man who had confessed his love to her, the man she ran to for solace, was betraying her, too. She turned and ran, the sound of the rhythmic creaking of the bed and the sickening moans driving her out of the house.

James’s head was throbbing, and his senses were slowly fighting through the fog of whatever had made him so dizzy. He saw a few pills scattered on the floor by the bed pills he didn’t remember taking. His eyes snapped open and focused. He recognized the distraught figure of Katherine running away, then looked down. The brunette on top of him was not Katherine, and they were having sex.

"Get off me!" he roared, shoving Ava away with a panicked strength. He scrambled off the bed, pulling his trousers on. "What did you do?!"

He ran out of the room, shouting Katherine’s name, but she was already gone. Infuriated, he stormed back into the room, where Ava was already neatly dressed, though her expression was messy with guilt and lingering triumph.

He grabbed her arm. "You set this up! You drugged me!" he yelled, his voice shaking with betrayed rage and terror at what he had just lost. "I saw Katherine! Why did you do this, Ava?!"

A/N: For clarity, readers should note the following: Ava Is not telling the whole story to the detectives, from the interrogation of Ava from the part where she went to James home was all true but she lied to the detectives because she didn’t know the whole story, the part where Adrian assaulted her, Ava said it, though she wasn’t present or even aware about the assault. Butt it was part of what she told them. But this was supposed to be Adrain story not hers, so it’s now left for them to decipher the hidden truths after interrogating the others to unlock the story of the past.. Support the novel by giving it your gifts and contact me if you can’t share your reviews in the comments. https://discord.gg/4xA7cVBu

James, trembling with a mix of drugged confusion and raw shock, grabbed Ava’s arm. "You set this up! You drugged me! I saw Katherine! Why did you do this, Ava?!" he yelled, his voice cracking with betrayed rage.

Ava looked up at him, her face managing to summon a look of false indignation. "Me? You were begging me to stay! But James, I didn’t come here to talk about me. I came here to warn you about her."

"What are you talking about?" James demanded.

Ava lowered her voice, planting the malicious lie.

"Katherine hasn’t been working late because of her promotion. That’s what she told you. The girls at the office talk, James. She’s been sleeping with the boss. That’s why she got the promotion. Her promotion wasn’t fair since it was supposed to be mine, she slept with the man out of jealousy."

James stared at her, the pieces of the puzzle falling into the wrong place: Katherine was gone, he was just caught in a compromising position, and Ava’s cruel words seemed to confirm his deepest fears. Ava’s lie, combined with the guilt he felt for the scene he created, ignited a blinding fury in him. He shoved Ava aside, his mind fixated only on confrontation.

James, burning with a rage he couldn’t control, drove recklessly to Katherine’s house. He found her just entering her front door.

"Katherine!" he roared, slamming his way through the doorway. When she turned, he shoved her hard, sending her stumbling and falling against the wall.

"You... you slept with other men!" he shouted, his face contorted in disbelief and pain.

Katherine struggled to her feet, tears of anger and betrayal streaming down her face, the memory of Adrian’s violation fresh and searing. "You have no right to be angry! Who should be angry after you slept with a girl while calling out my name, James?!"

He didn’t listen, didn’t care. He was deafened by his own jealousy. He hurled insults at her: "Slut! Whore! You’re just like every other woman!"

"It was all a lie! Who told you that?" she cried, gesturing to the bruise on her cheek a fresh wound from Adrian. She tried desperately to explain the truth of the rape, of the deception, of Ava’s malice. "It wasn’t me! I was going to tell you... Adrian... he—"

"It’s not my business!" James screamed back, interrupting her. "You were cheating on me!" He drowned out her attempts to tell him the truth, the words slut and other offensive words cutt

ing through her like glass. He turned, the accusations hanging heavy in the air, and stormed out, leaving Katherine shattered, alone, and utterly silenced.