“What is happening here?” Tim looked at his bedroom in shock.
Sam and that man with him covered up pretty quickly, the man quickly donning his clothes.
Sam’s face had morphed into a cold, emotionless mask as he looked at Tim calmly with no panic. The only panic, Tim could sense was from the dead. He hurried pass Tim, a small sorry, dude crossing his lips as Tim glared at him. He shut the door behind him.
Sam was wrapped in the sheets.
“Sam, what is the meaning of this?” Tim asked him, a slight anger and pain coursing through him. His love was in bed with another man. In their house.
“I didn’t do anything I wouldn’t have done. You have no claims on me anymore, Tim. I’m leaving this house, and you. You know that. You can’t argue with that,” Sam said with the cold mask still on his face.
This wasn’t him. It was like a demon was manipulating him.
“Why are you doing this, Sam? Why do you want to hurt me like this?” Tim asked him, vulnerability slipping in his voice, betraying all his emotions.
Sam’s expression softened slightly and then hardened again. Sam laughed humorlessly. “I’m the one who’s hurting you now?” He shook his head and laughed.
“Sam. I know I have a lot of flaws, but…” Tim started, but he cut him off.
“Yes, you do. You are a self-centered egoistic jerk whose selfish nature has destroyed the both of us. You’ve destroyed my life, Tim. Three years of life, wasted. Over you,” he said.
His words held power. He knew what to say to hurt Tim. He knew what could get him hurt. Pain seared through his body as he looked at Sam. Tim was at his mercy.
“Baby, we could try. Give me one chance,” Tim pleaded. He loved Sam. Tim couldn’t let him go. He was going to fight for him. Sam laughed again. The malice in his laugh scared Tim. What had he ever done to deserve all of this?
“You lost your chance, Tim. We have nothing to fight for, anymore. However, there is one thing I can ask of you. If you want me, you’ll have to choose me over your career.”
Tim looked at him in shock. Sam didn’t ask him what Tim thought he asked of him, did he?
Tim couldn’t do it. His body dropped to the bed. “Are you serious?” Tim asked, his voice cracking.
Sam nodded, looking at him straight in the eyes. Tim felt like his whole world was crumbling before him. He had lost Sam. He expected him to do something that Tim couldn’t do. Tim couldn’t leave his job. He just couldn’t.
Tim glanced at Sam, his eyes dropping to the floor almost immediately. Tim couldn’t meet his eyes. “I see.” Sam said, and as he gathered the sheets around him tightly, he stood up. As he towered over Tim, Sam looked like a dark angel. Beautiful, but deadly.
Tim could see the lines of a tattoo saying “For You, Always” on his neck. He had gotten it for him. Sam looked at Tim, and shook his head in distaste. He walked toward the bathroom.
Before he went in, she turned back to Tim. “Oh, and by the way, I wasn’t the one who destroyed us. You were.”
*******
The question then had been actually very simple – was Tim ready to try and be happy again? Will he find in someone else the treasure he had never found in Sam. Too long he had made himself believe that Sam was all he ever needed in his life, and when that ALL left him, Tim had neither the strength nor the desire to fight anymore.
Life, as he knew it was over for him, so Tim decided to start anew.
Chapter 36
At the same time, Detective Wilson was finally able to solve the mystery of the disappearance of Stanley Douglass. The extended search with dogs and helicopters had given results. The dogs had been able to find the car and the body of the boy inside it. The position of the car and that of the body told the whole story. Stanley Douglass had been run off the road and then killed in a sadistic way. After ten years, it was difficult to remove the body from the car without disturbing the bones, but they did everything in their power.
David Wilson supervised the whole operation, already thinking about the next step. How was he going to give the news to Charles and Vivian? They had suffered so much already and deserved some good things to happen in their lives, but David hoped that at least he could give them closure.
The same night, the police officers in Savannah burst through the door of the dilapidated apartment, Timothy was hiding in. The police rush into the building and found the Timothy Sands hiding place. The man did not try to escape and the police placed him under arrest for the murder of Stanley Douglass. They hauled him into one of the police vehicles and immediately called Detective Wilson to inform him of the arrest.
The look on the Detective Wilson’s face was one of concern. After so many years he had finally found out the truth about the disappearance of Stanley Douglass and that hasn’t made him feel better. Slowly, he took out the phone and dialed the number of Charles. “Hi, it is David,” he said into the phone, when Charles answered it. “I have some news for you.”
“What is it now, did you find him?” Mr. Douglass answered from the other end.
“Yes, we did,” David sighed. “Charles, we finally found your son.”
“Tell me that he is okay?” The father asked in a concerned voice.
“Charles, where are you?” David changed the subject.
“I am in the hospital. Vivian still needs care.”
“Okay, I will come there to speak to both of you,” Detective Wilson said.
“Why don’t you tell me on the phone?” Charles asked reluctantly.
“It is better if we speak face to face,” David explained. “I will be there in ten.”
Wilson closed the phone and headed for the hospital. On the way there he called Lydia and asked her to meet him there, after explaining to her the reason for his visit. “I will need your help once they hear that their son is murdered and that the man, who claimed he was their son, is actually his killer.”
Together, Lydia and David walked into the hospital and asked for the room of Vivian Douglass. Vivian was still at the local hospital, recovering from exhaustion. Charles was waiting for them in the hall way and refused to let them in, before they explain what was going on.
“We found the body of your son, Charles,” David said carefully.
“Stanley is dead? But how?” Charles said in a soft, painful voice.
“He was dead for the last ten years, Charles.” The detective explained. “We found his car and his body inside it. The car had been run out of the road inside a pit. The examiners, noted that Stanley was still alive, when the car ended there, but someone went after him and killed him.”
“Oh, God…”
“All this time, Stanley had been dead,” David continued. “We never found the car till now, because the killer covered it with branches and the place was well-hidden from passersby. To discover it, you almost have to fall over it.”
“My son is dead…”
“Yes, we found his bag, with his ID inside…”
“Who killed him?”
“Timothy Sands…he is the man who we all thought to be Stanley for the last few weeks. Timothy was arrested for the murder of Stanley. We found him hiding in an apartment in the city. There is enough evidence that he followed Stanley during that rainy night, ran him out of the road, climbed out of his car, killed Stanley and then covered the car to hide it from sight. The rain did the rest, by covering all the traces and helping the grass to stand up.”
“Why, why did he kill our son?”
“We don’t know yet, but after we interrogate him, I promise you, you and Vivian would be the first ones to know.”
“How am I supposed to tell her this?” Charles asked and almost fell onto the nearest plastic chair.
“I can help you to speak to her…” Lydia spoke for the first time.
“You, you are going to help us?” the man asked angrily. “Didn’t you do enough? You have ruined our lives. And now…now you are taking away our only hope of having our son back. Even if it was all a
lie, it was better than the truth.”
“Charles,” David tried to calm him. “We are only trying to help you.”
“Just leave us, please leave us for now…” the man asked through tears.
Lydia tugged David away, knowing too well that it was not a good time to try and reason with Charles. The news they had brought him had been devastating, and he needed time to process them. He was probably worried how to tell his wife about the dead of their only son. They needed time and Lydia was going to give it to them.
Chapter 37
“What now?” David asked Lydia, when they walked out of the hospital.
“We have to speak to Timothy Sands,” Lydia said firmly. “The only way for Mr. and Mrs. Douglass to have closure is to give them the truth. We have to speak to that man and make him confess everything.”
David agreed with her and together they returned to the precinct, where Timothy was held behind bars. So far, no one had spoken to him and the police officer, who was keeping guard told Wilson that the man looked very nervous.
The detective gave the orders and Timothy was escorted into the interrogation room, where Lydia and David were waiting for him. The young man walked in the room calmly, but as soon as he saw who was waiting for him, he stopped and tried to get out again.
“Come in, Mr. Sands, come in,” Detective Wilson invited him ironically. “For so long you lied to us, don’t you think that it is time to tell us the truth?”
The police officer who was escorting him, used some force to shove him into the chair and then chained him to the table. Timothy sat with his eyes cast downward and his mouth shut.
“You have to speak now,” Lydia spoke for the first time. “We already know what happened, what we want to understand are the reasons behind your actions.”
“You have me, isn’t it enough?” Stanley aka Timothy asked sarcastically.
“No, it is not,” Lydia put her hand on the table. “You played the police and Stanley’s family for more than ten years. You own them that much.”
For five long minutes, Stanley stayed silent, and then… “Okay,” he muttered and adjusted his position on the uncomfortable plastic seat.
“I was Stanley’s friend for many years and all that time I was jealous of him. He had everything I wanted and wasn’t even aware of the fact. He had a loving family, everyone was his friend, and although Stanley had learning disabilities he was the best in everything he was doing. My family was cold, indifferent and not interested in me, I had only one friend, Stanley, and he already had everything. I was feeling like a charity case.”
“And that was the reason to kill him?” Lydia asked, disgusted by him and his behavior. How could a man be so selfish and cruel, and able to take someone else’s life, just because he had something more than him.
“When Stanley came to my home that evening, he was so proud of his new car that I became insanely jealous.” Timothy continued. “When he drove away, I followed him, but I had no intention to kill him. I just wanted to see how he was doing on the road, and then…it started to rain, Stanley started to stop for every person, who wanted to pass the road, or was too close to a puddle of water. His actions made me angrier. So, I ran him out of the road with my car and then went to see, how he was doing. My anger had taken over my good sense, so I killed him and hid the car.”
“Then you disappeared from the town, so that the police would not interrogate you,” David continued for him.
“Yes, I went away and started a new life. Everything was okay for a long time, to the point that I forgot about my old life. But, then my boyfriend left me, I lost my job, started to drink, all my friends started to turn away from me, and I was once again all alone. That was when I remembered my old life and Stanley’s happy family. I made a few calls and found out that they were still searching for their son. The body was still undiscovered and Mr. and Mrs. Douglass hadn’t lost hope of finding him. So, the craziest idea came to my mind. I was aware that we looked a bit alike, some people in college even called us brother, so I decided to use that fact.” Timothy stopped speaking for a few minutes. “The rest you know.”
“Why did you run away?”
“You were too intrusive, I could tell that you would find the truth sooner or later. And what was more, Stanley’s parents started to look suspicious.”
“Do you even realize the trauma you caused to the Douglass family?” Lydia almost yelled at him. “You gave them the false hope that after ten years their son had returned to them. You made them believe and then killed their happiness for good.”
“I did not want them to suffer. All I wanted was to have a happy family, like Stanley did.” Timothy tried to excuse himself.
“But, you killed their son and then went to ask for their love?” Lydia exclaimed. “Do you have any idea how cruel that is?”
Timothy listened to her, but everybody in the interrogation room could see that he was feeling little remorse. Lydia thought that although he was never diagnosed, Timothy must be suffering from some psychological disease. There was no way for a sane person to act that way.
Timothy watched them leave the room and thought that everything was over for him now. Only the memories would stay behind. It was those memories that plagued him. Those memories were bound together strongly at the back of his head. These memories were held together by a thin ribbon, dangling around until they resurfaced like floating objects on the water’s surface.
Timothy had tried to forget. He did try hard to wipe those memories out of his head. But, those memories were stubborn and obstinate. Faces appeared before him. Insulting words floated in his head. Those glares served as a reminder of his failure. Those sneer whispers reminded him of his past.
Those memories reminded him how he was a murderer. A monster. An abomination of the dark. With no light in his path to guide him.
What was the future holding for him? Will he ever be able to rebuild his life, overcome all this pain, find love again and heal all the pain he had caused?
Will he ever find happiness?
Chapter 38
A few weeks later Lydia, David, Charles and Vivian were standing on the very spot where the body of Stanley was found. Charles had called the detective and Lydia, asking them to accompany his wife and him to the site, where their son was murdered. “Vivian is still too shaken by the news and I am afraid for her health.” He had said softly.
“Don’t worry, we will come,” David had answered warmly and promised to call Lydia. They drove to the site in David’s car, mostly in silence, but now that they were standing on the place, Charles wanted to talk.
“Tell us everything…” he had asked them, holding his crying wife.
David looked at Lydia and silently asked her to do the talking. Lydia cleared her throat and started carefully. There was no need to cause any more pain to these two good people.
“Timothy was so jealous of what Stanley had and of how good he was doing that he wanted to hurt him. Everything that followed were acts of madness that could not be described any other way. Years after, when Timothy lost everything in his life, he thought of the only happy family, he had ever seen and came back as Stanley, hoping to feel for the first time in his life what love really meant.”
“Oh, God,” Vivian exclaimed, and Charles put his hand on her shoulders.
“He wanted only one thing from you: unconditional love. And I am happy to say that you gave him more than he had ever expected.”
“But, he killed our son!” Charles pointed out.
“Yes, he did,” Lydia agreed. “I haven’t had the opportunity to speak to him, but it seems that Timothy has some psychological problems, caused by his unhappy childhood.”
“If he had told us, we would have loved him as our own son,” Vivian commented through tears.
“I know that now,” Lydia said sadly. “But, I don’t think that Timothy knew how to ask for your love.”
The four of them remained on the site for long hours, crying and making thei
r peace with Stanley and each other. More than anyone, Vivian Douglass was overcome with grief, and they all were afraid for her health. The grieving mother cried most of the time, finally able to let her son go, by accepting the fact that he was dead. Charles stood by her side, trying to support her and be there for her.
Both of them said they were sorry for being so angry at David and Lydia. Charles explained their actions as a defense mechanism against the horrible truth. “Don’t worry, we understand.” Lydia interrupted him. “We never blamed you for your actions. That was why we kept coming back.”
“Thank you, for never giving up on us.”
Both, David and Lydia vowed to stay with them as long as they need counseling and support. “We will never leave you alone.” David promised.
Timothy Sands was convicted for the murder of Stanley Douglass and for his impersonation. During the trial, Vivian and Charles refused to attend the hearings, but David and Lydia kept them informed. They needed another year, but by the next Christmas the Douglass family was considering becoming a host family for an autistic boy. Lydia had helped them with the paperwork and now they all were waiting for the arrival of the boy, who was bound to bring them all happiness.
“They are doing it for Stanley,” Lydia said to David that night, when they were lying together in bed.
“I am sure he is watching them from Heaven and smiling,” David smiled at the very thought of the happy little boy running through the house.
“We did a good job.” Lydia kissed him on the cheek.
“Yes, we did…”
Thank You
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Mystery: The Coming Back: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery) Page 13