by M. R. Polish
“Sweetheart, calm down. I’m on your side, remember?”
Grimacing against the pain, I stood up. “If you’re on my side, then take me to Vahn’s place. There’s got to be something there that can clear him of charges.”
“Keeley, his house holds evidence. They aren’t gonna just let you walk in and do what you want. You should know that.”
“Then we won’t ask permission. We’ll sneak in.”
He chuckled. “Sometimes I wonder if you got any of your mother at all because you act just like me when I was your age.”
“So you were stalked and dated someone wanted for murder? Wow, Dad, I had no clue.”
“Okay, you know what I mean.” He let out a deep resounding sigh. “Fine, but I’m switching what I said and doing this as your father and not a man of the law. Oh, and for the record, I think this is a bad idea.”
My dad helped me into his rental car and started driving until I knew where we were headed. It wasn’t Vahn’s house—but his parents’.
“Why are we going out here?”
“You wanted to be driven to his house, you didn’t say which one.”
“Dad, you knew what I meant! I have to find something to help him. I’ve been to this house; there’s nothing there but dust and cobwebs.”
“I’m disappointed,” he said while turning the last corner and pulling onto the property. It was hard not to look at the wall. So many emotions filled me at that moment. “I taught you growing up not to place all your ideas on one paper. What if you lost it? What then?”
I let my head fall against the window and growled. “What does that have to do with this?”
“Keeley Moison, you need to suck it up and be the young woman I raised. Do you think if Vahn killed Alison he’d leave evidence in the home in which he lived?”
Immediately I understood and sat up straight. “You’re right. There’s has to be something here.” I opened the car door and as quickly as I could, climbed out. My side made my actions slower, but at least I was moving.
Already the sun was beginning to set, making the house look just as daunting as before, but at least this time my dad was with me. The porch creaked under my weight and I held on to the railing with a death grip. What if I was wrong about Vahn—about everything?
The wood moaned again as my dad joined me. “It’s okay, you know. If you find something you don’t like, I’m here for you.”
I nodded. “Thanks, Dad.”
The house looked just like I left it, and I was surprised that the police hadn’t ransacked it yet.
“Look,” my dad said as he pointed to the stairs. Footprints in the dirt led up the steps.
I hesitated for more than one reason; I didn’t want to climb them with the pain I was in, and I didn’t want to know what was upstairs. What if something I didn’t want to see was hiding up there?
“Follow me.” My dad took the first stair and I followed close behind.
It was hard not to imagine Vahn growing up here, taking the same steps up to his room, day after day. It was a part of his life I wish I could’ve been in; to see who he was before all the crap hit and life became more of a way of surviving than living. I gripped my side and cringed with each jarring, painful step.
We finally made it to the upstairs hall, and then followed the tracks to a closed door. I wasn’t sure what we’d find on the other side, but there was no turning back now. Vahn needed me to help him and I was certain that whatever we’d fine would be what could free him.
My dad opened the door and went in first. My jaw dropped when I entered. Nothing would’ve prepared me for what I saw: pictures plastered on the walls like some crazed person—like a killer. Red Xs marked over faces I never saw before.
“Oh my God, what is this?” I touched the corner of a black-and-white picture of a young girl, probably not much older than me. She was beautiful, with light curly hair and oval eyes that shined with life. A red X marked her face.
“Don’t touch, Keeley. Don’t touch anything yet,” my dad warned.
“I don’t understand. I thought we were here to help him.”
“I’m not sure we can. This doesn’t look good for him. You understand that, right?”
I stared at the picture of the girl a little longer, then something caught my eye. It was a picture of Alison with a bright red X on the desk. I gasped and darted over to it.
“Here,” my dad said, handing me white latex gloves from one of his cargo pant pockets. “I always have some with me. Job hazard. If you must touch something, don’t leave any prints, and if you move it, take a picture of where it was before you do it. I don’t need to bail you out of jail as an accomplice if they find your prints all over this crap.”
I nodded, and with shaky hands slipped on the gloves. I pulled out my cell phone and began taking pictures of everything. Finally, I lifted the picture of Alison and stared into the vibrant color photo that allowed me to see her brown eyes once more. I set the picture back down on the desk and scanned the room. Something was off. This wasn’t Vahn’s behavior or personality. Or was it? The walls don’t lie and right now they screamed conviction.
I couldn’t imagine the man that I love being a killer. He was so passionate, so sweet and caring. I shook my head. No, there had to be a logical explanation for all of this.
“Keeley, come over here. You should see this.”
I walked over to my dad, not sure if I really wanted to see anything more. He held out a stack of pictures for me to take.
I flipped through them, but each one brought a stab of pain to my heart. I couldn’t help but stare at myself on sheet after sheet of photo paper. I stopped at one in particular that caught my eye. It was the first day of school and I was on a bench. I thought back to the memory I held on to.
That was the first time I saw Vahn. I remember it because I wanted to find a way to say hi but he disappeared before I could make a move. I smiled with the thought.
“What’s got you looking like that? I thought you’d have the opposite look seeing all those.”
I shook my head, then moistened my lips. “This picture. I didn’t think he even saw me that day. I wanted him to, but he just left.”
“Keeley, I know this is hard, but you have to face the fact that he might not be innocent.”
I took a quick gasp of air. “I know.” That just wasn’t something I wanted to believe just yet. We shared something special and giving in to the accusation would dissolve all that. Vahn deserved for me to at least try first.
“Okay, well, we need to see if any of this mess will help him or convict him, but right now, I’m thinking it’s gonna be the latter.”
“Dad, I love him. Don’t be negative, we have to find something that shows his innocence.”
He let out a long groan. “You know I don’t like this right?”
I nodded.
“Okay, fine. Let’s prove them wrong.”
We dug around the tiny room for what seemed liked hours. Neither of us could find anything to help Vahn. There had to be hundreds of pictures and notes scribbled in almost incoherent gibberish. I tossed a paper down and sighed.
I scanned the room searching for something we hadn’t seen. Papers, pictures, a desk, a bed with nightstand, a box… Other than the psycho red marks and the whole stalkerness of the whole room, nothing was out of place.
Wait. I glanced back to the box. “Dad.”
“Hmm? What you got, kiddo?”
I spun around the room and giddiness crept up inside me. “It’s not him.”
“You’ve been saying that, but you have to prove it.” He set down a photo of the whole football team and looked up at me.
“Look around. How much dust is covered over everything?”
He glanced around. “A lot. Why?”
I picked up a photo. “But what about on the pictures?”
He picked the photo of the team back up and really looked at it. “There isn’t any.”
“Right. And the footprints
leading up here? Only one set right? Dad, if the pictures just got here, then they haven’t been up here collecting dust like everything else. Also, there’s a box over in the corner that doesn’t have dust on it. Isn’t that a little odd? I think he’s being set up.”
My dad stood up and looked at the box. “I think you’re right. I don’t know how or why I didn’t see that first.” He rubbed his chin in thought as he continued to look around. “Keeley, I need you to stay here.”
I stood up quicker than I should have and winced. “What? Dad, no. I’m so not being alone right now.”
“Look,” he whispered. “When we came in, we saw one set of prints that led up stairs, but there wasn’t one heading back down was there? Besides, you’re already hurt.”
I gulped and grabbed his arm. “Dad, you don’t think?”
He held his finger up to his mouth. “I didn’t think anything of it earlier, I must be too tired or distracted, I don’t know, but either way I was off my game. That could have cost me you. Now I need you to stay here while I check it out.”
I bit my bottom lip and nodded. I didn’t want to be alone, and I didn’t want my dad to go traipsing through a house where the real killer could be hiding.
He quietly closed the bedroom door behind him as he left me alone. I couldn’t breathe. What if whoever planted these pictures was still in the house?
My side ached even more from all the exertion and I knew it would be a matter of time before it had me down and out of commission. I was fighting through the pain as it was.
A loud clanging made me jump. I darted from the room at the same time I heard yelling. As quickly as I could, I limped down the stairs.
“Keeley, get out of here! Now!” my dad yelled from the kitchen.
I hesitated, but I couldn’t leave him. I would never forgive myself if I left him with a killer. I already had too many deaths on shoulders; I wouldn’t let one of them be my dad’s.
I scrambled to the kitchen, where Brick wrestled with my dad. “Get off him!” I screamed at him, but he barely flinched at my voice.
“Keeley,” my dad yelled in between grunts of exertion. “I said run!”
“No, I can’t leave you.” I desperately looked for something to hit Brick with. I dashed from the room and found an old broom stowed away in the hall closet. I grabbed it and hurried back.
Brick held my dad down on the floor, a skillet in his hand. Before I could stop him, he swung it down hard against my dad’s head.
The world around me froze as I watched my dad stop fighting. Brick got up and dropped the pan. He sneered at me as he sauntered closer.
“You stupid bitch. You ruined everything. I liked doing things for Steve; the beatings, the fires, the killings. You have no idea how fun it is to plan someone’s death and watch as it unfolds before your eyes.” He came closer. “Steve supplied me with what I needed and return I did what he asked, happily. You took away my perfect world. I was getting away with murder—literally.” He chuckled. “It was so easy to set up your boyfriend to take the fall for me. But explaining yours and your father’s deaths and blame him are gonna be a bit harder.”
I backed up with each step he took forward. I chanced a side glance at my dad. His chest still rose so I still had time to save him. I grasped the handle of the broom tightly and held it out, ready to swing.
“What are you gonna do? Hit me with that? Honey, I’ve had harder hits on the field.” He stopped moving and stared at me, tempting me to do something.
I held my ground and didn’t lower the broom. I wasn’t going down without a fight, although the increasing pain in my side told me it wouldn’t be a very long fight.
He rushed toward me and I swung, hitting him across the head. It was enough to make him back off but it also ripped something in my side, and I was sure my stitches popped open, making me cry out and grasp my side.
A shadow crept past the window and I froze. Who had Brick called to back him up? I couldn’t take him on for long; two of them would be out of the question.
“Is that all you got? If you wanted to dance, you should’ve just said something. You know, I watched as you danced with Steve that first night. I watched you the first day of school. All those pictures you saw upstairs… Yeah, those are from my camera. I took those.”
I gulped.
He grinned wickedly. “That surprises you. You thought lover boy took those? I even have some I left in my private stash. I like to look at them when I’m plotting.”
“You’re sick,” I spat.
“No, I’m not sick, I’m angry! Angry that you took everything away from me!”
“That wasn’t me, Brick. I didn’t take anything away from you. You and Steve both had issues and coming off the drugs can’t be easy, but I’m sure they can get you the help you need.” I tried to reason with him even though I hated it.
“I don’t need help. I just need a hit, just one fucking hit. I need to feel it; it’s driving me crazy.”
I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. I gasped when I saw Vahn standing behind the kitchen door. He raised his finger to his lips.
I glanced back at Brick before he followed my gaze. He started pacing small steps back and forth in front of me. “I need to find someone who has some. It’s killing me. I know you know where to find some.”
I shook my head. “No. I don’t.”
He rushed at me again in rage. “Liar!”
I swung the broom again and Vahn barged through the door, grabbing Brick around the arms and waist, preventing him from moving. I dropped the broom and rushed over.
“Call nine-one-one, Keeley,” Vahn said as he fought to keep his hold around Brick.
I did as he said and gave the dispatcher everything she needed. Minutes later sirens filled the air. I watched helplessly as Vahn struggled with Brick, barely winning the fight. I knew his ribs still had to hurt so it wouldn’t be easy holding down someone like Brick.
Uniformed officers came in with guns drawn. They helped take Brick down and handcuffed him. Vahn ran over to me and checked me up and down. “Are you okay? You’re bleeding.”
“I’m fine, but my dad…” We shot over to where he lay on the floor. A paramedic was already attending to him, giving him smelling salt to wake him. “He was hit on the head and went limp. Will he be okay?”
“We’re gonna take him to the ER. They can better help him there. Right now I just need to make sure he’s stable.”
I nodded and stood up to get out of the way for more paramedics to come help him. One of them stopped and looked at me. “You’re bleeding too. Let me look at it.”
I raised my shirt enough for him to see my wound.
Gently, he touched it with gloved fingers. “Looks like you popped your stitches, all but maybe one or two of them. Definitely something that needs checked out.”
“I’ll take her in right now.”
The EMT nodded.
I grabbed Vahn’s arm. “Wait. I want to be with my dad till they load him in the ambulance.”
“Okay.”
“Keeley? Where’s my daughter?” my dad asked. It was the most beautiful sound ever to hear his voice.
I rushed over to him. “I’m right here, Dad. I’m okay. I’ll meet you at the hospital.”
They loaded him into the ambulance and Vahn helped me to get into his car. I placed my hands at my side to help slow the bleeding that hadn’t subsided.
“How did you get here? I mean, you were arrested,” I asked in between gasps of air.
“I was released. Actually, it was a set up to draw out the real killer. Your dad and I knew who ever it was, would be watching so we set up a scene with me being arrested earlier today when I went to the cop shop the first time with him. We thought we’d have more time before he’d show up, but when I got back to your place I knew that you’d go somewhere no one else would to help me.”
Fury erupted inside me. “How could you? Neither one of you told me anything and I kept thinking you were really ar
rested!”
“I know, I’m sorry. We just wanted it to be believable.”
“I was so worried, and I’m not gonna lie, for a moment I was beginning to believe it was true. It scared me to death. I hated that feeling. I’m sorry. Ugh!” It was so bad that I didn’t want to remember the feeling.
“Keeley, I’d be worried about you if you didn’t think that. It would be hard not to second guess everything. I’m not sure what you saw, but just know that this was the first time since my parents died that I was even in that house. None of what you saw was me.”
“I know. I do, really. It was just a weak moment.”
We got to the hospital and with my luck, Dr. White was on call in the ER. He raised his brow and ushered me to the table. “We really have to stop meeting like this.”
I laughed, but it hurt. “Sorry, next time I’ll make an appointment.”
“There better not be a next time. No offense, but I’m married and it seems like I see you more than my wife lately so I’m gonna have to decline.” He looked up from stitching me back together to Vahn. “Same goes for you.”
“Yes, sir.”
After Dr. White declared me fit, stitched, and ready to go home, I went to see my dad before leaving. He was doing well and his doctor said he could probably leave in the morning but they wanted to watch him the rest of the night to make sure.
Vahn walked with me hand in hand in the parking lot to his car. Lightning lit up the midnight sky.
“We better hurry before we’re drenched.”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
The ride was quiet. Both of us had far too much to think about. I was grateful one of the world’s longest days had come to an end. Just like the horror, it was all gone.
“Wait, can we stop at the cemetery? I want to see Alison’s grave.”
“Right now? Keeley, it’s after midnight, we’ve both had a long day, and getting ready to pour.”
“I know, but it’ll only take a minute. Please?”
“I can’t refuse a pretty girl like you. Besides, being locked up in the slammer changes a guy. I might have to do nice things now, ya know.”
“Hahaha. You were in there for like five hours, if that.”