Chapter 81-Nice Guys Finish Last

“Go home Sandi,” Caleb told his sister-in-law, “I can handle this from here.” The two had been working on solving the Dahlia Goodfellow murder case for many years now and Caleb knew that Sandi was way past retirement age. Dahlia was Sandi’s birth mother and even though they didn’t have a loving relationship, Sandi felt she owed it to Dahlia to see justice served for her brutal murder. Now that Pip had been arrested for the crime, it was time for her to retire. Her age was beginning to show and she owed it to herself to spend her golden years with her husband.

“Not until I see the final nail hammered into Pip’s coffin,” Sandi said. Sandi was a good detective and very thorough with her work. When she on a case she was like a dog with a bone as she wouldn’t give up until the case was solved. Caleb was really going to miss having her for a partner. Sandi was more than just a partner or a sister-in-law to him in fact he had come think of her as his real sister. “I want to see when that ballistic report comes back on the gun” she said. “This is my last case and I want to see it through to the end.

Caleb knew that it was pointless to argue with her as she was stubborn as the day was long but yet he had to give it a try. “You and my brother lost so many years together due to the Goodfellows don’t let them take anymore” Caleb said. His brother Dylan was missing for 12 years and the Goodfellow family were responsible for his kidnapping. Nothing could ever make up for those missing years but Caleb didn’t want these two wasting one more precious second together. “With the gun, the testimony of Tennille and Pip's own henchman he is going away for a good long time,” Caleb said, “It’s an open and shut case he will not wiggle his way out of this one.”

“I already put in my retirement papers but I want to wait for that final ballistic report to come in. I don’t know why but my sixth sense is telling me that I need to be here when it does.” Sandi said. Caleb knew that it was pointless to argue with a werewolf's sixth sense.

“It should be here any minute now and as soon as it comes in you are out of here.” Caleb said.

“I promise the minute I finishing reading that report I will leave this place for good,” Sandi assured him.

“If you don’t I will throw you out of here myself, bodily if I have to,” he said.

“No you won’t.” she said. “You are too much of a gentleman to throw an old lady out on her keister,” Sandi explained. “And I’m not just any old lady. I’m the old lady who taught you everything you know on the art of sim fu so you won’t be able to.  HI-YAH!” Sandi said as they both laughed.

A few minutes later there was a beep on Sandi’s computer that served as an alert to when he received a message. The message was from forensics with the ballistic report.

“If that is it,” Caleb said, “Start clearing off your desk, Detective. And that is an order.”

“Bossy today aren’t you?” Sandi answered back with a laugh.

Caleb walked around the desk and stood behind Sandi.   He looked over her shoulder to read the message as he was as anxious to read it as she was.

Now Sandi knew why her sixth sense told her to stay as neither one of them ever expected to read those words on the report.  Many years back Caleb told Sandi the story of how he was abandoned. This was a tale that was not shared with many people at all in fact Sandi was sure only her, her husband Dylan, and Caleb’s wife Hope knew of it. At the age of 5 in Riverview, Caleb’s mother brought him to a mall and told him to wait for her but she never returned. Caleb was found by a police officer named Trevor Wilcox who brought him to the group home that he met Dylan in. The officer took a special interest in Caleb and would visit him often. One day the visits stopped and Caleb learned it was because Officer Wilcox was killed in the line of duty while working a mob war. That was Caleb’s main motivation to become a police officer to stop the families involved in that mob war and to continue the good work that Trevor had started. We had already stopped one of them but now it appears that we are going to stop them both. Caleb never dreamed he would ever find the actual gunman who murdered his mentor and she could only imagine the thoughts going through his mind.

Caleb stood up and slammed his fist on his desk and shouted, “I’ll kill that fucking son of a bitch!” He stormed out of the room as he slammed the door. Sandi was alarmed as she never seen her brother-in-law act this way. No matter what situation he was in he always kept his cool and handled the situation without letting his emotions get in the way. Even when force was needed to be used Caleb always knew how much to use and when it was absolutely needed. That is what made him a natural at his job.

Sandi started to run after Caleb when she realized this was a situation she couldn’t handle alone. She picked up her cell phone and hit the speed dial for Dylan. She told him to hurry up down to the station and to bring Hope with him. She made sure to tell him that everyone was physically fine but that there was an emergency that she needed their help with.

Caleb locked himself in the interrogation room as really just needed a little while to absorb it all and most of all calm down. Pip was denied bail and was transferred to Simcatraz to await his trial. Luckily for Pip he was far out of Caleb’s reach when the rage hit as even Caleb didn’t trust his self control at that moment. For years he had wanted to get justice for his mentor’s death and ironically that gunman had been right under his nose all the time. Pip was never going to see the light of day with all the evidence they had against him for sure. How could he have not seen this one coming at all had him second guessing himself and his ability at his career?

Sandi sniffed around the station for Caleb until she was finally able to figure out which room Caleb was in. The door was locked so she knocked several times but all Caleb said was that he needed to be alone. Caleb was the type who knew how to take care of others during their time of need but found it difficult to accept help when he needed it. Dylan and Hope soon arrived Sandi filled them in on the recent events. Dylan decided to knock on the door and try to talk to his brother.

“Bro open the door let’s talk about this” Dylan shouted to the closed door.

“I should have guessed that Sandi would call you right away,” Caleb said.

“Sandi is worried about you as am I,” Dylan said. “Hope is here too and she is also worried. Why don’t you open the door and come home with us?” Caleb didn’t answer his brother at all. “Bro you know how much I hate to use magic but I will.”

“I just need some time by myself” Caleb yelled back.

“No that is not what you need. You need the love and support of your family, “Hope yelled back. “Come on hun just open the door for us.”

“Stand back” Dylan said to the women. Dylan rarely used magic but his undeveloped powers never failed him when he needed them the most.

Tears to Fears, Fears to Tears

Cheers to Jeers,Jeers to Cheers

Now we know Four is the score,

 All we need is to Open that door!

Sparks flew from Dylan’s wand towards the door. He walked up to the door and turned the knob. The door opened without any problem. Yep he magic never failed him whenever he needed. As he stood there ready to walk into the room he knew this was not his job to do anymore. Dylan was old and wouldn’t be around much longer but Hope would always be there for Caleb. Dylan looked at Hope and stepped aside.  He held the door open as he motioned for her to walk in.

"I don't want to talk about it," Caleb said.

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Hope explained. "I just don't want you to be alone right now.  It's times like these that family sticks together to support each other.  You have done it for everyone in both of our families and now you need to know that we are here for you."

"Why?" Caleb asked.  "I don't deserve it.  I should have known all along that Pip was the one.  I can't even do my damn job correctly."

"And how could you have known that?" Hope asked.

"Isn't it obvious!" Caleb snapped back.

"You had no reason in the world to suspect that Pip was the one to kill who shot Trevor." Hope answered.

"Are you sure about that?" Caleb asked sarcastically.  "My brother doesn't even like to use his powers yet they work for him."

"Hold on there one minute.  Are you blaming the fact that you didn't use your powers?" Hope asked.  "Mind reading is a power that can be abused if not handled correctly.  It's so easy to cross that line between right and wrong with an ability like that.  That is why none of us use it and it's an invasion of privacy.  You said yourself that the only time you use that ability just a tiny bit is to determine when someone is lying to you while you are questioning them. "

"So instead I was a nice guy who respected Pip's right to privacy.  He was free all this time causing trouble for MY FAMILY when I should have put him in jail a long time ago. You know what they say about nice guys,"  Caleb said.

"Stop talking nonsense!  What happened to Trevor was tragic and you found his murderer no matter how long it took.  How many others would have just left the case dormant after a while? You seen it through until the end.  You are one of the best detectives on this force. You inspired your own son to follow in your footsteps and it wasn't because of your powers.   You solve your cases using your own brain and skills. All the supernatural powers in the world pale in comparison to your skills and knowledge." Hope explained.

"I don't feel like the best detective right now," Caleb said "I still feel as if I should have done more."

"I know this had to be difficult to learn so maybe you should take some time off until the shock wears off.  You do have some vacation time accrued so why don't we go to Roaring Heights to spend some time with our grandchildren?" Hope asked.

"Hey we could use a vacation and would like to see the kids too" Dylan said as he walked in with Sandi.

"Why not after that we head on over to Isla Paradiso," Sandi said "Chrissie just found out that she is having a baby girl and I'm sure we would all love to spend some time with Bae."

"This does sound like a great idea," Hope said "The four of us on a long vacation.  What do you say hun?"

Caleb thought about it for just a moment and he knew he wouldn't be able to do his job correctly with these feelings of doubt and anger inside of him.  He also could use a vacation since he would always be a workaholic.  Seeing all the kids would be good for him and he definitely wouldn't regret spending some extra time with his brother.

"OK you convinced me.  All of you are right.  I need some time away from here." Caleb said.

Caleb's vacation turned into a very long and much needed leave of absence.  He needed the time off for himself but it also was for family emergency reasons. Trevor had just turned Carissa and she wasn't handling the change well and she felt very ill.  She needed to rest and Trevor welcomed the extra help with the kids.

It was about time that they spent some quality time with the kids anyway.  Aiden was already a teenager and the two little ones Ava and Ashley were growing up faster than they could imagine.

The four of them decided to go to Isla Paradiso right after they received word that Chrissie just delivered a healthy baby girl who she named Morgan. Bae was already accepted at Sim State University in the fall and wanted to join the Navy as an oceanographer after he graduated.  He wouldn't be moving back in with his parents so they thought it best for Morgan and themselves to move back to Aurora Skies to stay out of the hot Isla Paradiso sun.  Bae did promise to visit his parents as often as possible while he was traveling.

They stayed until Bae graduated high school and they spent the summer there until Bae left for university.  While Chrissie & Mickey was busy packing Sandi and Hope fussed over the baby and two brothers spent the day relaxing. Thankfully they had a large supply of vampiric sunscreen that Holly made on hand.  It was decided that Chrissie and Mickey would move in with Sandi and Dylan as their house was already willed to them.

By the time they finally arrived home Caleb had cooled down and was ready to go back to work again.  The time off did him good and he realized that skill and knowledge is more important than supernatural powers could ever be. This was something his brother knew already and it was about time that he learned the same lesson.  Science was always Dylan's preferred source of magic.

Caleb sat at his desk waiting for his new partner to arrive.  He was already missing Sandi and he knew he would never find another partner like her.  It was ironic that those two became so close when they hated each other when they first met.  Now he didn't know how he would do this job without her.

Taylor's boyfriend Heath walked in and shook Caleb's hand.  Caleb noticed the difference in him right away as Taylor must have turned him.

"So what brings the FBI down here to our station?" Caleb asked.

"You mean formally of the FBI,"  Heath said.  "Taylor and I talked it over and we decided to move back to Aurora Skies.  That meant I needed to leave the FBI and I joined the Aurora Skies PD.  Meet your new partner."

Caleb did like Heath so he knew this would work out but he was still the new guy. "So partner,” Caleb said with a smile on his face as there was no way he would go easy on the new guy especially a new guy who was dating his niece. "Would you mind telling me when you are going to make an honest woman of my niece instead of just shacking up with her?"