As he thought of Clare, she pulled both him and Kate closer and headed for the car.
“I met Nathan’s mother. Looks like she hasn’t slept since the party. It must be unbearable for her.”
The two didn’t even bother looking at each other. If Kate looked back at Charlie, Clare may have gotten suspicious. They left it at biting their lips and ignoring Clare altogether.
Everyone but Clare made their way into the house. Kate held CJ. Clare attempted to fix the damage done to the garden, but hardly moved. She gradually realized it was a waste of time.
“Well we know his name now,” Kate said as she put CJ down.
“Why didn’t he talk to mom, if he knows her?”
“No idea. Something still feels weird about him, and what’s even weirder is how mom never mentioned him to us.”
Clare entered the room with a bath towel in her hand.
“I’m taking a shower, make sure you guys don’t wrinkle those clothes,” she said.
Part of them said Clare had overheard the last portion of their conversation, but the other part said they had bigger things to worry about.
“We need to go over there, too.”
“At his house? Don’t you think going over to Meredith's made things more complicated?”
“Charlie, we are getting closer, I just know it. This is the next piece of the puzzle. You told me where Meredith said he hides his key. All we have to do is sneak in when he leaves.”
“Wait, you want us to break in? We didn’t do that with Meredith,” Charlie argued.
Kate’s plans seemed to never stop. Charlie didn’t feel like getting arrested for murder and breaking into the man’s house.
“What if this guy is dangerous, Charlie? Yeah that makes it risky to go over to his house, but do you want him to hurt mom?”
“Don’t go there, Kate.”
“I’m not kidding Charlie, you never know with what’s been happening. Please, for mom’s sake.”
Kate walked to the curtains, noticing how dark his house was kept, even in broad daylight. His car had been parked in the driveway, so it wasn’t like he wasn’t home. Charlie saw a faint shadow pass through the window, but couldn’t truly see the man.
“Let’s keep an eye out and go over there when the time’s right. This could be what could keep us out of jail, Charlie. If he killed Vivian, there will be less of a chance of us being charged for Mr. Jones’ death, and I don’t think we need to worry about Meredith even remembering seeing us.”
Charlie looked at the ground, thinking of what Meredith had said when he told her there was a body found.
“Listen to yourself. You were so convinced Meredith was the killer; now you're set on Victor. It's only a matter of time before we get caught. We can’t just obsess over all of this stuff.”
After several comebacks by Kate, and refusals by Charlie, Kate stormed out. She watched Victor’s house for several hours, glancing to see if his car was missing every once and a while. Finally the lights in the house powered off, and Victor stepped outside and locked the front door. He didn’t leave with his car, though. He walked out of the driveway, and made his way down the road. Kate ran to put her shoes on, making noise outside of Charlie’s room on purpose. Maybe he had changed his mind. She waited one more moment as she slipped her left Nike sneaker on, but he didn’t come out of his room. She made her way across the street, and snuck around the back of his house to make sure nobody would see her. She didn’t; however, notice the woman walking her dog near Victor’s home who clearly saw Kate. She stopped walking and pulled out her cell phone, but Kate didn’t see anything.
22
Putting The Pieces Together?
Charlie watched Kate through the blinds, noting she did an impressive job of getting in. She turned on a lamp in what looked like a kitchen. What caught his eyes as he nearly closed the curtains was a figure walking towards the home—it was Victor. He dug around in his pocket as if he left something. After mentally debating with himself, Charlie decided to put on his shoes. Since Kate left her phone in Charlie’s room, he sprinted to Victor’s home, trying his hardest to beat Victor. He couldn’t let Kate go down and be caught like this, he just couldn’t. Kate continued to look around the rundown house. The carpet had several stains, and on the kitchen table two wine glasses and two plates.
She made her way to the bathroom, the mirror still foggy and the curtain still wet. Kate began to look through the cabinets in the room, and her jaw dropped. Inside one was a gold earring that she recognized in an instant. It was the exact same one Kate’s father had given her for her birthday, the day he died. How had he gotten a hold on this? Kate was scared to touch it, and memories of her father flooded in the back of her brain.
Victor continued walking, now even closer to his home. A man with baggy shorts and an athletic top took out his earphones and stopped him. Victor smiled at the man and then began a short conversation even though Victor looked desperate to get something from home he forgot.
Kate built up the courage to touch the earring, and put it in her pocket without looking at it again. Outside the bathroom, on a dresser, stood a picture of Clare. What the hell is with this guy, Kate thought. It was like this man was screaming he’s the killer all over the house with this evidence, in Kate’s eyes. Victor finished his conversation and waved to the man, now headed closer to his house. He walked faster than before, looking at his watch. Kate figured the earring and Clare’s picture alone was enough for right now, so she headed towards the door. However, yet something else caught her eye. In the trash can in the kitchen was another picture—but not of Clare. It was of Vivian, and had a large crack through the middle, where her lips were. She dared to pick it up, seeing something else wrinkled underneath it. There was an invitation for Vivian’s party that was also ripped.
“Bingo,” she whispered.
She heard footsteps approaching. The sound of branches and leaves breaking filled her mind. A glimpse of a figure caught her eye, but they were gone. The footsteps sounded closer, and closer. She was too far from the door—she needed to hide. She put the pictures back in the trash bin, and turned off the lights, realizing a second later she probably just showed Victor she was in here by doing that. She hid and ducked below the kitchen island. She held her breath due to her breath being unsteady and making too much noise. She waited for the door to stop squeaking open before looking, and she took a huge sigh. It was Charlie.
“What are you doing?” she said.
Kate startled Charlie since he hadn’t seen her, but didn’t respond. He walked over to her and motioned for the door. The next sound was Victor’s keys, and the two saw the doorknob turning. Charlie wished he hadn’t gotten closer to Kate, because now both of them were too far from the door. Charlie grabbed her hand and rushed into a small, cramped closet next to the kitchen. The man walked in, his shoes dress shoes sounding like high heels. Charlie could feel Kate’s hot breath on his neck as they crammed into the tiny space. Kate’s hand shook, and she regretted coming over here. Charlie was right—she hated that. It was like she was always wrong, even though she was older. Victor noticed and found his phone sitting next to his house phone near the kitchen table, and put it in his pocket. Kate watched through the crack in the closet, and didn’t remember seeing his phone anywhere, otherwise she would looked through it for sure. Victor walked towards the closet, making them both hold their breath. Except he stopped just short of the closet to check his reflection in the full-length mirror that hung next to them. They continued watching through the crack, having to squint to see anything. Finally, he walked away and left the house, locking the front door. They both let out huge sighs. Kate opened the closet.
“That was close.”
“Yeah, just what I was afraid of,” Charlie said.
Kate couldn’t help but feel like an idiot, but she had found some evidence, possibly.
“You're lucky I came. He would have caught you, for sure.”
“Thanks,” she mumble
d.
“We need to get out of here.”
“First, look at what I found.”
She started with the earring, not being able to explain much before the risk of crying about her father kicked in, but she tried. Then she guided him to the trashcan.
“That’s not a coincidence,” said Kate.
Charlie didn’t look too interested. For all he knew Kate could have smashed that picture herself before he got there. Overtime he thought about who this killer could be, Kate ruined it for him. Now that she was obsessed with exposing Victor as the killer, he didn’t think the same anymore. But something about him was still weird—he could just feel it. At this point his attitude was whatever happens, unlike Kate.
“Come on, you know this is weird.”
“Yeah, it’s weird, but that doesn’t mean he killed her. And there’s no broken picture of Michelle,” he pointed out.
“Well obviously he and Vivian weren’t great friends. Something must have happened between them. That wouldn’t explain why she would invite him to the party, though.”
“Okay, whatever. I don’t see any other pictures, let’s just leave before we get caught again.”
Kate was quick to show him the pictures of Clare, trying everything to convince him. It looked like he had finally given in, at least a little.
“Pictures of mom?” he said, raising his eyebrows.
Now he felt like Victor was weirder than he thought, and he felt scared. Kate suddenly realized a possible explanation.
“Think about it, Charlie. He only has pictures of women- one of which he probably killed. Both people that were murdered have been women.”
That did sound convincing. Kate went and grabbed both the invitation and the cracked picture from the trash.
“Are you crazy? Now he will know someone was in here.”
“Not if we prove he killed Vivian and Michelle first.”
Charlie wasn’t going to win this battle, he knew that much. He let her be and they closed the back door, sprinting back home.
23
You’re Seeing A Killer!
Clare sat on the couch at home next to a police officer.
“Thank you for everything. I just wanted to know if you guys had any leads so far. Now, can you tell me more about Jason?”
“Clare, I shouldn't say more than I already have,” the police officer said.
“Please, Bill. I need to know who to protect my family from.”
He could sense the fear in her voice. He paused for a moment, and made her promise everything he said would be off the record. Besides, Bill had been a friend with the family for quite a while.
“All that sob story stuff about his parents—it's all BS. His parents are dead, but he lied about who his parents are.”
“Well who are his parents?”
He paused once more, licking his lips.
“Please, Bill.”
“Nathan and Vivian are,” he said.
She backed up from him and shot a confused look his way.
“No, there’s no way,” said Clare firmly.
“He's not her cousin. Vivian loved him so much, and did everything for him. All that shit about nobody caring is an act.”
“Why didn’t I ever see him at Vivian’s house?”
“Story is he landed in juvie over and over, then jail, and eventually moved away.”
“And I’m guessing he just came back to town?”
“Actually he was just released from prison—I’m not sure why he was there this time—a couple of days before Vivian’s party. Rumor is he killed her for her money.”
“I didn’t even see him there,” she argued.
“Nobody did, which makes him more suspicious.”
The sound of the door interrupted their conversation. Charlie and Kate walked in, their minds thinking the worst when they saw Bill. Police officers hadn’t meant good news lately.
“I should get going,” he said.
“Thank you, again.”
He shut the door. Kate realized she would need a bigger purse soon with all the things she stuffed in it. She put the things from Victor in the bag, realizing it now had her fingerprints on it.
“Lately I've realized how careful we need to be. We can't trust anyone, and have to be careful about who we talk to,” Clare said, mainly directing herself towards Kate.
Charlie nodded his head in agreement, noticing her staring at Kate.
“Is that clear?”
“Yes, okay. Whatever,” she said. CJ began crying, and Clare went to his crib.
In the family room, the television blasted. The news was on: WOMAN FOUND DEAD the screen read. Charlie did a trouble take when he noticed the picture next to the caption. How was this possible? This has to be a mistake, he thought. Kate was equally as shocked, but for a slightly different reason.
“You were right about her,” Kate whispered as her gaze stood on the television. The picture of Meredith was one Charlie hadn’t seen before, she looked younger and happier. Something about her looked familiar, though. He couldn’t place his finger on it, but was too shocked to think further. Meredith was dead. The woman Kate was so hung up on getting arrested was no longer alive. Charlie felt around his pocket, which still held the note Meredith had given him. All of a sudden, Charlie’s throat dried. His skin became warmer, and his veins tensed and popped out. He shook his legs in a nervous, angry fashion and looked at the aged carpet below him, becoming furious. What did killing an innocent woman do for anyone? He felt like hitting something. He knew Kate hadn’t felt the same way, either. All she did was smash Meredith’s windows, nothing beneficial. On the other hand, he was forming a genuine relationship with her. She began to teach him things Clare and Kate never could. He began to feel like a better person with Meredith, even with all that he was guilty of. It was like she had everything he was missing. Now she was gone.
“I didn’t even get to say goodbye,” he said.
“This is what I'm talking about, Charlie—nobody's safe. And think about it, it's another girl murdered. It's making more and more sense. Maybe Victor had some broken pictures of Meredith, too.”
Charlie wanted to smack Kate. He couldn’t care less about all of this anymore. All he wanted was to talk with Meredith, just one last time.
“Kate! Charlie!” Clare shouted.
She pounded her feet against the floor and charged for Kate’s purse. She tore through it, finding everything from Victor’s. Luckily she hid the knife away in her room.
“Where did you get these? Don’t think about lying to me. I already know the answer.”
Charlie hadn’t seen his mother this mad in a while.
“Mom...”
“Lindsey down the street called and said you went into Victor Jenkins’s house.
“Mom, I...had to,” Kate said.
She thought about ratting out Charlie for being there to, but he was why Victor didn’t catch her himself. Clare crossed her arms and waited for a true explanation.
“We think he killed Vivian,” she said.
Kate surprised herself as she let that out. Clare looked disgusted. Charlie shrugged when he heard Kate say we. He was done with all of this—she was on her own.
“And what makes him so convincing?” Clare asked.
Kate glanced at Charlie, seeing that he was waiting for her to talk. She really was on her own.
“Look at those pictures. He probably hated Vivian. And we found a knife that he probably stole from her, too.”
“So that makes him a killer?”
Kate wished once, just once, Clare would listen to her. She was right this time, she could feel it—but reasoning with her mother, or convincing her of anything was close to impossible.
“You can't break into people's houses, Kate. It's up to the police to figure all of this out.”
“The police aren't doing anything, Mom. Or they aren't doing things fast enough. Another murder just happened.”
Charlie hated to feel sorry for Kate, but
he did a little.
“That’s true,” he said in almost in a whisper.
Kate smiled at him, and then continued arguing with her mother.
“He has pictures of you at his house too, Mom! He's dangerous. Who knows who could be next?”
“This conversation is over. Promise me you won't go over there anymore.”
Kate rubbed her cool arm and looked at the ground.
“Kate.”
“Okay, I promise,” she said, still looking at the ground.
Kate walked to her room, furious that her mother hadn’t believed her. Charlie turned off the TV.
Later that night, Charlie knocked on Kate’s bedroom door. She opened it, acting surprisingly happier.
“Did you change you mind? Realize I’m right about Victor?” she said in a bragging tone.
Charlie remained still, not cracking a smile.
“What were you trying to accomplish smashing Meredith's windows? Why would you go over there again? Especially after the car accident, which you were lucky you survived. What—were you going to kill her?”
Kate’s smile disappeared. How had he found out about that? She took her hand off of the door handle and took a seat on her unmade bed.
“Here we go again. I already got mom's lecture, I don't need another one, Charlie.”
She motioned for him to just leave, but he didn’t budge.
“I deserve an answer. What could have made that mad? And did you think nobody would see you? I thought you would have learned that lesson by now, Kate.”
“Oh my God, Charlie,” she said.
The Girl That Was Obsessed With Murder Page 8