9. Gettin' Messy (Part Two of 'Gone') - Full Chapter

She continued to cling on to his big build as he walked them over to the bed, placing her down carefully so as not to wake a sleeping Jacob.

"You ok?" He held her shoulders firmly and looked between her face and Jacob's little body sprawled out under the sheets.

"Well, for everythin' that's happened I guess so." She looked down as he took a seat next to her, allowing their shoulders to rub against one another still. "Did you sort stuff out?"

"Yeah. We just gon' be here for one night, I promise." He took her hand in his and kissed her.

"Promise? 'Cause I need to see Candi. I wanna know she's ok." Her eyes trailed over Jacob's little frame. He needed his Mom more than anything.

"I promise. We're goin' back to your place first thing. I need to clean everythin' up." Rubbing his hands over his face he sighed and lay back gently. Following his movement she settled next to him, facing his body as she trailed her hands over his bruised face. They lay still for a few long minutes with her continuing her actions as he enjoyed the calm feeling she was giving him at that moment, but she quietly broke the silence after a while.

"Can I still not answer my calls? Safaree's been ringin' non stop." Her hand stayed resting gently on his face as he turned slowly to look at her, he looked drained, tired and empty.

"Mmm I guess it's alright...We have to act normal." She nodded in understanding and stood up to go get her phone, as she guessed he was ringing again. Persistent or what? Clicking to answer the call she held the phone to her ear, watching Drake move past her and shut the bathroom door behind him. The shower starting up made her feel more comfortable about talking.

"What do you want Safaree?" Hearing her tired, whisper made his heart relax in utter relief.

"The fuck Nicki?! Why you been ignorin' all my calls? I been ringin' you all day?" Pulling the phone away slightly she winced at the pounding headache she was experiencing.

"Can you please stop screamin'? Why you been callin' me like there's no tomorrow?"

"I been over here shittin' bricks! I went 'round to your place this mornin', nobody was there but you left your door open. There was blood everywhere, I thought that boss of yours had..." He trailed off and sighed loudly. "I thought you were dead." It didn't matter about what he was saying, in fact she wasn't even listening. Her heart was beating so fast she could hardly hear anything else. "Nicki? Nicki you still there?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah I'm...I'm still here." Chewing on her bottom lip nervously she readied herself to ask him a question. "So what's goin' on right now? Where you at?"

"I called the cops first, they all over your place...What the fuck even happened Nic? You alright?"

"Wait, there are cops? All over my apartment?" She started pacing as the panic began to kick in.

"Nic, the hell did you want me to do? Shrug it off? I thought you'd been killed, you understand how much I been worryin' 'bout you? Where are you? And who are you with?"

"No. You did the right thing....And yeah I'm fine, just a lil' overwhelmed right now." She paused shakily, urging herself to end the call. "I have to go, I'll call you later." She heard him yelling for her not to hang up but she had to. She continued to pace and chew at her fingers nervously waiting for Drake to finish showering.

Hearing her hang up quickly he snatched his phone away from his ear in anger. "Shit!"

"S'up babe?" Stef had just come through from the lounge room. Setting her empty bowl on the side she gently ran her hands up a troubled Safaree's chest.

"Nuffin'. Look, I needa head out for a minute I'll be-"

"No Safaree! We're supposed to be plannin' our wedding together! Y'know? As a couple!" With each emphasised word she slapped the back of her hand on to the palm of her other.

"And we will. Soon as I get back." He managed to shrug out of her grip after kissing her forehead and started moving out into the hallway. Her shrieking could be heard growing fainter the farther away he got. Before he had chance to reach for the handle there was a knock at the door. It was the police. Opening without hesitation he looked between the two officers' faces.

"Safaree Samuels?"

"Yeah, yeah that's me. Is this 'bout earlier?"

"Yes sir, you mind if we come in?" He shook his head no and allowed them to walk in. A confused Stef and Mama Samuels were stood watching worriedly. Giving them a quick nod to let them everything was ok he followed the officers through to the lounge room. All three of them took a seat as Stef and Safaree's Mom stood in the doorway intrigued.

"Mr Samuels, you say you saw Miss Maraj...the night before she disappeared yes?" The first officer asked as he flipped through some notes.

"Um, yeah I was over at her place the night before and then the next mornin' when I visited...Well Y'know the rest." He cringed suddenly remembering Stefani was in the room. He could feel her burning holes into the side of his face. Mama Samuels noticed thankfully and offered for the two of them to go make the officers a drink. Leaving Safaree alone with the them.

"You had any contact with her since? Know who she's with? Perhaps where she might be?" The female officer asked softly noticing his obviously worried posture.

"I been callin' her all day, never got an answer but she picked up on the last one-"

"How long ago was this?"

"Ten, fifteen minutes ago. She wouldn't tell me where she was and when I asked her who she was with she hung up." The two cops looked at one another.

"So she sounded alright to you?"

"Well, yeah I guess...She mentioned she was a lil' overwhelmed but thas it. Is there any way you can like, Ion know trace the call or somethin'?" He sat forward some more as he tried to think where she could be. He knew who she was probably with but had a gut feeling Drake would never harm her so didn't want to drop him in it. But if he was a murderer or whatever, surely he should say something.

"Aubrey Graham? You ever heard that name before?" The male officer took over as the woman started scribbling things down.

"Mmm, no Ion think so. Sorry." He wrinkled his brow in thought.

"What about the name Drake? She ever mention him?"

"Yeah, he's her boss or somethin'...I think he's her boyfriend too. Not too sure...Why? Do you think he has somethin' to do with it?" This was perfect, now they knew he was involved and he didn't have to snitch.

"Her boss?"

"Yes sir."

"Did she say anythin' else during your phone call?"

Safaree sighed and ran his hands over his face. "No she just said that she was fine and-" Before he could continue the female officer's phone rang out, swiftly answering as Mama Samuels and Stef returned with drinks. They all listened intently even though Stefani and his Mom had no clue what was going on.

"Mhm, yeah we're talkin' to him as we speak." She paused as the person on the end of the line talked. "Ok we'll head back now, thank you." Hanging up she looked between Safaree and her partner. "They have a guy who says he has some info 'bout the case. We gotta go back and interview him." At that point Safaree remembered Jacob, where was he at?

"Oh before you go, Nicki prolly has a kid with her." As they were halfway out of the front door they turned back to look at him questioningly. "He's not hers but he was there the night before so..." He trailed off and shrugged. They looked a little more worried now.

"How old is the child Mr Samuels?"

"'Bout two at a guess, he's her friend's son. His name is Jacob."

"Thank you so much for you help Mr Samuels, and for the drinks." The both nodded at the three of them before the female added. "We'll let you know of any progress. You're obviously very concerned. If she happens to make contact with you again try and get more answers out of her." He agreed and shut the door behind them. He knew he was going to have a lot of explaining to do now.

***

Nicki continued to twizzle the ends of her hair as she paced the floor. Drake was still in the bathroom, the shower had died down but he was taking a while to reappear. As soon as that thought crossed her mind the door opened slowly, letting all the warm steam flow out.

"Woah, you kay Nic? You look like you just seen a ghost?" Almost immediately his face dropped. Probably not the best thing to say right now. He made his way over to where she was stood chewing her lip.

"Aubrey I-"

"Shh, c'mere." Calmly pulling her into an embrace he felt so bad that all of this was creeping its way into her life too. He'd never seen her looking so vulnerable and sad. Even when she was sat in the bus shelter the night he first met her. "I promise everythin's gon' be fine. Trust me." He pulled her even closer, it felt so good to her just being enveloped in his arms. He was only wearing a towel around his waist and his torso was still covered in beads of water.

"No it's not though!" Moving away from him the tears were clearly visible as she brought her hands up to her face. She was shaking like crazy.

"Nic, what are you talkin' 'bout? I got rid of the body, nobody knows where we are and Imma clean up the mess at yours tomorrow, kay?" He furrowed his brow and moved closer to her when she started shaking her head no.

"Safaree went 'round to my place this mornin'. The door was open and he went in-"

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit." He threw his hands up and rested them on top of his head as he started to pace around too. "Don't tell me, he called the cops didn't he?"

"Drake, the fuck was he 'sposed to do?! He thought I'd been murdered or some shit like that!"

"Wait, you didn't tell him where you were did you? Or who you were with?" Nicki's lip quivered as she shook her head no. "Good, that's good." He nodded to himself and she could see the obvious thoughts running through his mind.

"So now what are we gonna do?" Hearing her sad, scared, little voice he stopped what his was doing and moved over to her.

"You're gon' stay here with Jacob and Imma go meet Lee. He can fix us up with somewhere to stay for a bit-"

"What about Jacob? We can't just take him along with us! We haven't got any of his stuff or whatever! That's like kidnapping isn't it?!"

"Look, I'll sort it. All you have to do is stay here with him, kay?" He pulled her over to him by her hands.

"How long are you gonna be?" 

"Not long, I promise."

"Wait, you're goin' now?" She pulled away from him quickly. "You can't just leave me here!"

"Nicki." Gently grabbing her shoulders he made her look at him. Her face was full of worry. "I'll be an hour at the most and as soon as I'm done Imma be back here with you, I swear." She sighed in defeat as he guided her over to the bed. "You should try and get some sleep whilst I'm gone. Might make it go by quicker too." Kissing her forehead he sat her down and pulled her shoes off before letting her settle under the blankets. Jacob didn't stir once on the other side of the bed. She lay still watching him dry off and throw his clothes back on before he drew the curtains, blocking the moonlight out as he grabbed his keys again. "I'll be back soon. Don't answer-"

"The door or my phone unless I know it's you. I got it Aubrey." Bowing his head he set the door to lock before pulling it shut behind himself, leaving Nicki to lay alone with Jacob silently in the dark with only the faint sound of traffic filling her ears.

*** Back At The Station, 10pm ***

"So you're saying this guy was wired and helped the suspect to dispose of the body?" The male officer bugged his eyes at his female partner.

"Yes sir, the victim was Aubrey Graham's father. The guy who was wearin' the wire was an old friend of his. Looks like Mr Graham didn't quite think through who he was relying on huh?"

"Looks like it. Well, we best go see what this...." He looked back at his notes again. "....A.J. has to say for himself." Stepping out of the vehicle they both made their way inside.

*Ugh I hate this, I'm really sorry! BUT next chapters from hereon should be a bit better cuz by Monday all my assignments will be DONE!! ^_^ Haha thanks for all ur comments guys, hope this is okayish, I know it's not much but hopefully enough to hold out 'til next week :))*