Chapter 19: Chapter 19

"The heart wants what it wants even that which is worst for it"

***

Diana Barbosa was a very ambitious young woman who fought for what she believed in. At the tender age of twenty-three, she was already an aspiring orthodontist studying hard for her dream job, she hadn't always had it easy whatnot with her sister hating her guts through childhood and her father ignoring her very existent it was no wonder she loathed them to her very core. Life was no easy walk for this young woman with life throwing its worst at her left and right all she asked for was a little break but like all her dreams they remained just that.

"I didn't fucking do anything," Michi frustratingly said gripping the mental bars tightly in both fists, the night before Diana had discovered her sister unlocked her location so it was no surprise she was beyond pissed to find out her older sister was only a mere mile from her. With a rage-filled mind, she stormed to her location only to be bombarded with questions left and right, her sister's phone pinged her to Michi's place and when she asked him why he had her phone he denied all allegations until she raided his place finding her sister's phone in his unlocked safe.

"Why do you have this?" She had asked him angrily

"I don't know how it got there," he was shocked to discover this himself

"Don't fucking lie to me why the hell do you have my sisters phone?" She had angrily pushed him hard on the chest

"How the hell should I know," he said stumbling back surprised by her sheer strength

Diana didn't believe a single word coming from his lying mouth so she searched his place once more finding a crumpled piece of paper with her sister's handwriting.

'Someone help me he's taking to the forest where he's going to kil-'

The words were barely readable by how quickly they were written clearly by someone in a rush and this got Diana shaken to the core. She looked back at Michi with fear in her eyes.

"What?" He had asked innocently, very confused by this intrusion and the phone not belonging to him. He had never taken Veronica's phone so how it got into his safe was a puzzle. Someone was trying to pin something on him but what he couldn't guess, clearly whatever was written on that paper Diana had held was enough evidence to make him the villain in her eyes. Diana dashed out of the house with no further explanation making Michi even more confused. The poor guy was left in the dark unaware of the storm heading his way.

Diana had immediately gone to the police requesting immediate help and causing quite a ruckus. Her mind was frantic with worry for her older sister, they may have not gotten along but family was family and as the humble person she was she cared for hers deeply even if it didn't always seem like that.

Officer Carter took it upon himself to help the worried woman who looked like she had seen a ghost.

"How can I help you?" He asked her

"I think my sister is in trouble," she said with a manic look in her eyes, officer Carter tried to calm her down for her to explain why she thought such an allegation. Diana quickly filled him in by adding on how Michi had such an unhealthy obsession with Veronica and how he was once caught stalking her, officer Carter took note of everything she said and told her to sit tight while he and his coworker went to fetch Michi for questioning.

All the while they were gone Diana took out her phone calling the only true friend she had, Lila Mitrovic. They had been friends since high school and she always had her back so it was no surprise she turned to Lila for comfort in her darkest hour, god forbid she couldn't tell her father about what was happening just yet he would just consider this an attention-seeking ruse. Her father never thought much of her, much of everything she achieved he just assumed it was to get his attention but quite the opposite she did it all for herself to build a future for her future kids as well. Men always assumed she was a damsel in distress by her delicate form but she was nothing of the sort; she was a woman who could take care of herself and didn't ask much, just appreciate what she got and hoped to give back to the world one day.

"Hey," Lila had answered the phone, munching on some chips in Harley's apartment like she owned the place.

"Hey," Diana sounded scared and out of breath which got Lila's attention as she put her chips aside and paused the show she was watching.

"Are you alright?" She asked Diana

"No, yes I don't know I'm scared," Diana answered quickly, tapping her foot repeatedly as she anxiously thought the worst happened to her sister.

"Scared of what?" Lila asked curiously as to what got her friend so shaken up.

"I think Michi hurt Veronica," she whispered into the phone. Lila's heart skipped a beat but she couldn't tell whether in joy or fear. Lila never wanted to hurt Diana in the slightest but now that things were already set in motion and she was involved in Veronica's death she felt unworthy of Diana's friendship.

"Why do you think that?" Lila feigned confusion even though guilt was eating away at her inside.

"I found her phone in his house and a crumpled note in his bin with her handwriting," Diana answered feeling a lump forming in her throat

"What did the note say?" Lila asked even though she knew what it said, she wrote it after all.

"She thought he was going to kill her in the forest, whichever forest is the bigger question," Diana said with a sigh, confused as to why her sister got herself into this mess when she was supposed to be the older responsible sibling.

"Jeez that's hectic, have you gone to the cops yet?" Lila asked

"I'm here already, they've gone to fetch him for questioning," Diana answered

"Oh ok, do you want me to come there for support because I will," Lila said

"No, but thanks I'll let you know if I need you," Diana sighed even though she wanted her best friend next to her holding her hand telling her everything was going to be ok but she couldn't say yes because she could handle this on her own, she didn't need a shoulder to cry on because people around her tended to always disappoint her even though Lila proved otherwise time after time.

"Alright, I'll hold you in my prayers, just know I'm one call away ok," Lila said her heart racing through the roof hating herself for putting her best friend through this.

"Thanks, talk later," Diana smiled even though Lila couldn't see it.

"Ok later then," Lila worriedly said before she hung up.

Diana sighed saying a silent prayer to God praying her sister was alright and this was just a sick joke she was playing on her. Not five minutes passed after her phone call when Carter and his coworker brought in a very distressed looking Michi with handcuffs on his hands.

"I'm telling you I didn't do anything wrong," Michi cried he had no clue what the hell was going on, he was even convinced he might be dreaming because he got pretty high with his friend Bobby earlier in the morning.

"Ya tell it to someone who cares," Officer Carter's co-worker grumbled, pushing Michi into an interrogation room. Diana was called in by Officer Carter who pulled the chair opposite Michi for her while he and his partner stood in the corner.

"Diana help a brother out, I didn't do shit wrong except drinking and driving, selling weed to minors and bribing some officers but I swear I didn't kill your sister," he frantically said hoping she would believe him because he didn't kill her sister but who would believe a guy who just admitted to a few of his crimes.

"Do you hear yourself, young man," the older officer with a grumpy attitude said with a raised brow.

"Yes I'm not deaf old man unlike some people because I keep telling you I ain't kill nobody," He frustratingly said, it was clear they didn't believe him so he assumed they were going to believe the evidence over him or just ignore his truth because he was black.

"Watch your mouth you little turd," the older officer angrily said not appreciating being disrespected but he was only bitchy because his wife recently divorced him and he took out his anger on everyone else.

"Calm down Frank," officer Carter pulled back his co-worker by the shoulder.

"Don't tell me what to do rookie," Frank angrily growled, shrugging off Officer Carter's hand.

"Can you love birds fight somewhere else? I'm trying to tell you I'm innocent," Michi irritatedly said, annoyed by the two officers in the room, weren't they supposed to watch outside of the room through the observation mirror, Michi thought.

"Excuse us," officer Carter left the room with his partner who was cursing this new generation that supposedly had no respect for their elders.

"Diana you have to, believe me, I didn't do anything to your sister," he resorted to begging because he had nothing else to say to convince the cops otherwise, someone was framing him and when he finds out who they are, death will be the least of their problems.

"How am I supposed to believe you when you have her fucking phone you psycho," she angrily said banging her fists on the table, she was furious beyond a shadow of a doubt, problems seemed to be pilling on her plate one after the other without giving her a second to breathe from her father going broke to being retrenched and now to find out her sister might be dead it was too much for one person to handle.

"Why the hell would I kill her? I loved her for christ sake," Michi yelled revealing what was truly in his heart, he did love her in an unhealthy way. His world revolved around her and to hear that she might be dead was tearing him inside but no one seemed to care that he was telling the truth after all why would they believe a guy who uses drugs morning to night and the colour of his skin didn't help him in the slightest.

"So what you fucking flipped out when you found out she was into Liam, remember how you broke her damn phone when she told you she didn't like you?" Diana said through gritted teeth wanting nothing more than to strangle Michi on the very spot but her humanity was holding her back the only question was for how long?

"So what if I have anger issues that don't mean I'm capable of killing someone," he said outraged she would even think he could do such a thing, of all the people he was disappointed to find out Diana would think the worst of him without even giving him a chance to prove his innocence, this is why he steered clear of people he wasn't a hundred per cent compatible with. Sure he was a man of a few words mainly because he was high ninety per cent of the time but that didn't mean he didn't have emotions, he was hurt deeply to not have a single person believe a word he was saying some friends he had.

"Michi if you didn't do it then how the hell did her phone get in your place?" Diana asked with a raised brow feeling slightly bad for going ape shit on him without finding out whether anything he was saying was true.

"How the hell am I supposed to know, I wasn't even home the past three days," Michi explained, he had been by Bobby's place getting high and inviting some ladies over to have a good time as they call it.

"Then where were you?" Diana asked just wishing to find out what was going on so she could get back to job hunting before she ended up having to ask Lila if she could stay with her for a while unbeknownst to the fact that Lila was on the same boat.

"With Bobby and a few prostitutes," he embarrassingly said feeling slightly ashamed to admit it out loud since there seemed to be no woman who could hold his interest for more than a day beside Veronica who apparently might be dead now. Diana scrunched her nose in disgust hating the fact that she was considering being one of those women just to make enough money for herself but she didn't want to degrade herself she was going to hustle for her future without getting that low but she meant no disrespect to the women doing that to put food on the table they sure were remarkable people doing whatever they could for their children or themselves.

"And how can you prove that?" She asked him not trusting the story. It might sound like a great alibi one Bobby would easily agree to so she couldn't trust his story a hundred per cent.

"Check my phone I took pictures and videos not to mention I'm still in contact with one of the women check my messages if you don't believe me," he pleaded quickly even gave her his phone pin just to prove his alibi even though there were unspeakable images on his chat with the prostate.

"Fine, where is your phone?" Diana asked sceptically whether she was being sent on a wild goose chase or that Michi was even telling the truth.

"At my place, I didn't get the chance to get it with the damn cops arresting me like I was a damn criminal," he gritted his teeth, vouching to move out of the damn country the moment he gets free.

"Fine but if you're lying to me I'm going to personally make sure you never set foot in daylight again," she threatened with venom in her voice, Diana was never a violent woman but when it came to people making a fool of her she went off like a raging bull I suppose one could say she had quite a big ego.

"I'm not lying just go check my place," Michi pleaded with her, he was getting annoyed with her reluctance to believe anything he was saying. In her eyes, she already made up her mind that he was a criminal of a sort even though the only crime he committed only involved drugs, not killing people intentionally.

As she left the room she was a woman on a mission hoping to get to the bottom of whatever was going on and get back to fixing her life. While she ventured to Michi's place Officer Carter and Frank went to investigate in the forest with a few men to have more eyes, they had a similar case a couple of years back and coincidentally the killer buried the body in a shallow grave in the very same area so they didn't go far off but unfortunately found nothing of sort. By the late evening, they gave up and headed back to the station to question Michi once more but he spoke nothing but the truth and no one seemed to believe a word that came out of his mouth because in their eyes he was nothing more than just another troubled youth and unfortunately he had failed the drug test so he was put in the holding cell until they figured out what was going on.

Meanwhile, Diana was busy scrolling through Michi's phone cringing at some of the messages and images she had seen. She couldn't believe the things she saw were enough to scare her for life, with a disgusted shiver she sighed in annoyance finally believing Michi's story with the evidence on his phone but then who would want to frame that idiot and what happened to her sister? Agitated by the unanswered questions she decided to play detective and head into the forest before it got too dark to see.

She ventured far and wide tripping over rocks and roots with insects flying around her but that didn't stop her search; it only fueled her, even more, to quickly find what she was looking for. It nearly took her an hour before she found something shiny glinting in the ground and when she picked it up her hands were covered in something black till she realised it was ash and spread her fingers through it seeing quite a large amount of it. Her heart nearly stopped when she noticed the shiny object she found was her sister's ring. She dropped it like it burned her gasping in shock, quickly scanning the area she found a torn piece of clothing. She didn't touch it not wanting to cover it in her DNA. With a racing heart, she called the cops, barely holding her phone still with her shaking hands. She didn't want to know who died here. She wanted to stay naive and believe her sister did go on vacation to Italy not killed weeks ago.

The cops didn't take long to arrive and when they did they immediately closed off the area with police tape and the detectives got to work. Diana was asked what brought her here and what she found, she answered in a meek voice clearly drained and barely standing on her own. The only thing running through her mind was whoever did this was going to pay dearly and preferably with their own lives.

The young woman didn't head back home like the police officers advice she went back to the police station to apologize to Michi and perhaps get a little information out of him.

"Apology accepted but that doesn't mean we are friends again," he bitterly said, still pissed off at her for not having his back.

"Ya I know and again I'm so sorry for being such a bad friend," she sighed ashamed of herself

"It's fine water under the bridge," Michi said with a wave of his hand, he was a very forgiving man but that didn't mean he wouldn't remember this the next time she was in trouble. He could tell she was going through her own issues but that didn't mean she could take it out on him when he did nothing wrong that was just being cold and a bad friend.

"But who the hell would want to kill my sister so badly," she asked even though she knew a lot of people would, Veronica wasn't the nicest human being and she had made a lot of enemies when she was still alive.

"Uhm I don't know maybe the whole damn state," Michi said bluntly thinking Diana was a bit dull to even ask that question, she gave him a dull look like he was an idiot.

"Try Harley the girl nearly ripped your sister to hell and she did threaten to kill her," Michi said with a shrug of his shoulder, he didn't like the thought of Harley getting in any sort of trouble because he considered her to be one of his closest friend who understood him more than anyone in their friend group. He knew she wasn't capable of murder the girl was as fragile as glass and it was a damn shame Liam broke her heart she didn't deserve his sorry ass and he hoped she found someone better but he doubted that because the girl tended to gravitate towards troubled guys for some odd reason.

Diana's eyes went wide considering the possibility, she didn't like Harley all that much and neither did Veronica so what if she did kill Veronica out of pure rage because Liam cheated on Harley with her. The more she thought about it the more sense it made and she was once more fueled with rage to uncover her sister's disappearance.

"Thanks, Michi," Diana thanked him with a small smile

"Anytime now repay me by getting me the hell out of here," he quickly added desperately to get out of that cell that reeked of piss and sweat not to mention the other men in there with him were eying him like he was a piece of steak they were dying to taste.

"Will do buddy hang in there," Diana reassured heading to the front desk to pay his bail, by the time she sighed the papers and paid it was nearing midnight and she wanted nothing more than to rest but where could she possibly go, she wasn't interested in heading to her dad's place and Lila wasn't available.

"Thanks, Di I appreciate the help," Michi beamed glad to be out of the reached cell.

"Uh ya, no problem, can I ask you something?" She was nervous which was a rare delicacy for her but she sucked in her pride and asked Michi to crash at his place for the night and him being the overly friendly guy he was told she could stay as long as she needed granted she stays out of his business. Michi wasn't a bad guy, she noted he just made some bad choices in life but again who doesn't every now and then. As they headed out the police station Diana had one thought and one thought only, to get revenge for her not so beloved sister even if that meant breaking a few laws to do it.