Chapter 2
Straka National Bank. Carmilla peered up at the enormous tower from behind dark sunglasses, tightening her grip on the key her father had left behind. She had held onto the anger for so long, turned to drugs and partying in an effort to get back at mother and now that she was getting everything that she had wanted, she couldn’t even will herself to enter the building.
“Carmilla?” A well-dressed man approached her and placed one hand on the small of her back, gesturing to the doors with the other. “I knew we’d be expecting you.”
Carmilla stepped forward, subtly avoiding his touch. “Hello Theo, I see you went to work for daddy after school.”
“I know you’re hurting right now Carmilla. Losing a parent isn’t easy, and here at Straka National Bank we hope to make the grieving process as painless as possible.” He answered smoothly, ushering her into the building. If that were true, they wouldn’t have hired you she thought dourly, following him through a set of locked double doors.
Rows of safety deposit boxes lined the walls and Theo led Carmilla to the one she was now in possession of.
“You have your key?” Carmilla nodded silently and both of them slipped gleaming silver keys into the proper slots, pulling the box out of its little chamber. “I’ll leave you with the contents. Please come find me in the lobby if you have any questions or concerns. It was nice seeing you Carmilla, and again, I’m sorry for your loss.” Theo made a swift exit and she was finally alone.
Her father had passed away when she was six. It was hardly enough time for her to really know the man, but plenty of time to fantasize that she did. When she was eighteen and one of her mother’s many henchmen had revealed that Commissioner Karnstein had left behind a letter for his daughter, Carmilla had thrown a wild fit when her mother decided to withhold it by blackmailing her into submission. She tore through Silas City in a storm of sex and booze, resulting in multiple arrests for underage drinking and public indecency, dragging Mattie and Will through the tabloids with her. She had cooled down soon enough when their mother had threatened to disinherit all three of them and leave the family fortunes to her alma mater, Silas University.
That was all eight years ago. She had grown up, gone to school, started her own business. But none of that helped quell the anger that brewed restlessly inside her. Carmilla lifted the lid to the security deposit box and pulled out an envelope.
My dear Carmilla,
I am writing this letter as I stare into your bassinet, and if you are reading these words, then I have passed away. I have done many things in my time as commissioner that I know may have influenced my early death. There is no easy way to tell your daughter that you are a criminal. I have not upheld my duties as police commissioner. I have accepted bribes, covered up crimes, and ultimately caused a lot of people a lot of grief. But I want to atone for the sins I have committed against others. I am working to redeem myself so that the city will be safe for you. Should I fail, I have included a list of people and families that I have wronged so that you may look in on them. I am sorry that I am leaving you with such an atrocious legacy, but I hope that I can change that. Enclosed you will find a key to my old haunt where you will find plenty of information about me and the people that I have harmed. Hopefully you will never receive this letter. Hopefully I have successfully revealed the corruption and misdeeds that pervade our justice system. But if you are reading these words, please know that I tried to be better, to be good, for you.
With love,
Your father
Carmilla felt her entire body go numb. In the twenty years that she had the opportunity to imagine the kind of person her father was, it had never crossed her mind that he would be as much of a disappointment as her mother. Maybe even more. She dug through the envelope, revealing a list of at least a hundred names. The names on the top looked newer, added to the list soon before his death. Walter Jefferson. Derek Stratham. Angelica Pewter. Danielle Lawrence. Just four of the many people whose lives she was supposed to… what? Fix? Carmilla Karnstein was a professional photographer, not a fairy godmother. She stuffed the envelope into her jacket and left the bank with even more anger than she’d had going in.
A week later she had crossed three people off of the commissioner’s list. No matter how hard she tried to ignore the negativity, the names were burned into her mind and every thought filled her with more rage. So she tried doing what her dad asked. Visits to Walter, Derek, and Angelica painted bleak pictures that Carmilla tried to brighten with mystery deliveries of groceries, anonymous checks, and toys for the children. None of it had helped to relieve the buildup of anger that kept flushing her system.
She was on the verge of burning the list and figuring out another way to escape the guilt. Perhaps a trip to Amsterdam was in order. But before she resorted to vanishing from Silas City, she decided to spend one night tailing the fourth person down.
Currently, she was sitting in a car, bored out of her mind waiting for Detective Danielle Lawrence to get off of a ten-hour shift. This one seemed to be doing much better than the others. Graduated the police academy at the top of her class, became the youngest detective the department had seen in years, currently seeing the police commissioner’s daughter. Her life was firing on all cylinders.
A lithe redheaded detective exited the precinct with her partner and Carmilla checked the photo she’d pulled up on her phone to confirm. The woman was much taller than she had expected but there was no denying that they were one and the same.
“Night Melanippe!”
“Danny, so help me god I will Taser you.” Mel replied sharply, flipping off her partner in lieu of a goodbye. Danny chuckled mirthfully and ducked into her car.
“Danny Lawrence…” Carmilla tasted the name on her lips. “You might be more interesting than I’d originally anticipated.” She mused as Danny drove off. “Where are you going at this hour? Your apartment is in the opposite direction…” Carmilla started her engine and trailed after the detective.