by L A Walton
Laci didn’t know what to believe. She loved her brother and up until Veronica made a tearful confession next to the bell peppers, she had always trusted him as well.
“Why is this stuff in your room, Declan?”
”I don’t know. Maybe somebody put it there?” Declan shrugged.
“Who could possibly be able to come into your room and hide this in your closet?”
Just then, they both heard Robert from downstairs, “Declan! Laci! I’m back!”
Laci gulped as she looked at her brother who signaled for her to be quiet. “I’m upstairs!”
They could hear Robert slowly walking up the stairs.
“I want you to run downstairs and call the cops,” Declan whispered to his sister.
She nodded and they both waited for Robert to reach the top of the stairs. Once he reached the top, Laci ran past him, surprising him.
“Whoa, what’s wrong?” Robert asked.
“She knows the truth,” Declan answered.
“The truth?” Robert asked, not understanding what was happening.
“About Veronica,” Declan insisted.
“Who?” Robert asked as he looked down to see Laci looking for her cellphone.
“Declan what the heck is-“His question was cut off as Declan pushed him. Robert lost his balance and stumbled down the stairs.
Laci gasped, “Robert!” She ran over to him and groaned. It looked like his neck had been broken in the fall. “Declan why did you push him?”
“I didn’t push him. He fell.” Declan calmly started walking down the stairs, causing a shiver of apprehension to trail down her spine.
“Declan, I saw you push him. Even if you didn't mean for him to fall, he’s dead!”
Laci was having a hard time keeping herself under control. She wanted to cry but she was too scared. “Where’s your phone Declan? I can’t find mine.”
“Don’t worry sis, I have your phone right here,” Declan said as he pulled it out of his back pocket.
“What are you doing with my phone Declan?”
“You left it in your purse when you went upstairs to look through my personal belongings. Don’t you remember?”
It was as if the world had stopped for Laci as everything seemed to make sense. She thought of Veronica’s explanation of why she was upset. Veronica had said, “That guy you call a brother is abusive. He used to hit me and threaten to kill me. I trusted him and he abused me. You call yourself a psychologist? How can you not know that your own brother is some kind of sociopath?”
“No,” Laci whispered as the thought of Declan being anything other than her sweet brother tore at her heart. “No!” she screamed louder as she covered her ears in hopes of stopping herself from hearing the thoughts that began playing through her mind.
Before he could speak, Laci shook her head, “No. I don’t believe it. Is this one of your stupid jokes? Because it’s not funny Declan.” She could feel tears coming out of her eyes.
“Well I guess you figured things out. It’s too bad Laci, we made a good sister-brother team.”
“No! You’re my baby brother! You’re sweet and sensitive and you cheer me up when I’m sad. No! You cried when you ripped the wings off a butterfly. Remember? You couldn’t do something like this.”
Declan began laughing, “You still remember that butterfly? I wasn’t crying Laci. I was laughing. Didn’t you noticed that tears weren’t coming out of my eyes?”
Laci took a step back and shook her head again, “No it can’t be you. My stalker sent me a picture of you.”
“I asked a friend to take a picture of me from far away. I was surprised you fell for that one Laci. I thought you were smarter than that.”
“What about when you got that black eye?” Laci said as she began to slowly take another step back.
“I purposely hit my face on one of your stupid knickknacks. Laci are we going to do this all day? Ask me something good,” he smiled at her and she shuddered.
“Something good?”
“You know…like why? Why did you do this Declan? Why?”
Laci was afraid she was going to start hyperventilating, “Why?”
“I’m so glad you asked,” he said as if they were discussing something mundane like the weather. “I guess you could say I did it for revenge.”
“Revenge?”
“All my life I’ve never had anyone love me Laci. No one. Not even my biological parents. Suddenly I got adopted and I have new parents and a sister. But I t didn’t feel real to me Laci. None of it. I felt like a stray dog someone took in.”
“What are you talking about? We loved you Declan. We all loved you.”
“No!” Declan shouted, his face contorting in anger, “You pitied me! I have always had to look out for myself. I never had someone to look up to or someone that loved me back! I deserve better!”
Laci was horrified by his expression. She couldn’t help but think he had gone mad.
“I tried to let it go Laci. I really did. I went off to college in a different state and I thought I could start anew. I thought things would be better. Do you know what happened to me?”
Laci didn’t answer but took another step back.
“I met a woman. A beautiful woman. Her name was Daci and I thought she loved me. I thought, ‘Wow, I’m finally finding someone who loves me because they want to.’ It was amazing Laci.”
“I don’t remember a Daci,” Laci whispered.
“Well Daci made a big mistake Laci. She cheated on me. So I had to get rid of her,” Declan took another step closer to his sister.
“Get rid of her?” Laci asked.
“C’mon Laci! Stop acting stupid. Get with the program here! You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand what I’m talking about.”
“You killed her?”
“No her cheating killed her! I found another girlfriend I was serious about. That was Veronica. I didn’t want her to cheat on my so I tried to keep her in line Laci. It’s funny how they say it’s a small world after all. She started listening to your show. Your stupid show where you spew love advice. She dumped me Laci. She left me all alone and I hated her for it.”
“Declan, this is no-“
“Shut up! I’m not finished! I met another woman. Marie. I loved her too Laci but guess who she just loved to listen to on the radio?”
Laci stayed quiet, as she tried to figure out how she could escape.
“That’s right! She listened to you. But this time I wasn’t going to let her go. No one is ever going to leave me again Laci. At least not while they’re breathing,”
“That’s no reason to kill Declan! Other people break up every day!” Laci was starting to hiccup in fear.
“I don’t care about other people Laci! I care about myself! I deserve someone to love me. Don’t you understand that? I deserve it!”
“You’re crazy Declan!”
“Well if it’s coming from you it must be true.”
She needed to buy more time to get closer to the door. “So why pretend to stalk your sister? That was your revenge? To scare me?”
“Oh no sis. I love you. You’re the only family I have. I just decided to let you know what it feels like to lose someone you love. Why else do you think I pushed you and Andrew together?”
“You wanted me and Andrew to date so that you can break us up?” Laci took another step closer to the door.
“Not just that. I wanted you to lose your career. The picture to your workplace was a nice touch, wasn’t it?” Declan began giggling and Laci could feel herself growing queasy.
“I loved you Declan. How could you do this to me?”
“Because you did it to me. It was destiny. Andrew suddenly began working on your show. He seemed attracted to you. I could feel the super power couple crap going on. I moved too fast though. You were starting to drift away from him because of the picture I sent to your workplace. I get that. Now that you found out the truth, that plan is all shot to heck.”
“So now what?” Laci whispered.
“I guess I’ll clean up loose ends. I found Robert killing my sister. I ran upstairs and he chased me. Then I shoved him away and he accidentally fell down the steps and broke his neck. I don’t know what I’m going to do without my sister. I loved her so much.” Laci was shocked by how genuine Declan sounded while he gave her his fake explanation.
“You really are insane,” she muttered.
“And you really are a bad psychologist!” Declan advanced forth and reached for Laci who turned around to run out the door. He caused her to fall and he pulled on her ankle.
“Stop it Declan!” Laci was shouting at the top of her lungs.
“Say hi to mom and dad for me Laci.”
Laci gave a final scream as the door burst open and Officer Tracy Stewart rushed, gun drawn, followed by Officer Joe Bishop.
The next few hours were a blur to Laci. She remembered Officer Bishop tackling Declan to the ground and arresting him. She remembered a paramedic talking to her. She even remembered Officer Bishop scrounging up an “I’m sorry.”
“Laci are you okay?”
Laci looked at Andrew, who had his hands on her shoulders.
“Where’s Declan?” she asked, looking around.
“They’ve taken him into custody Laci.”
“It’s not true. It can’t be,” she whispered in a quavering voice.
“I’m sorry Laci. Your friend Amber dropped off some of Robert's things at the office for me to deliver. I happened to see a picture of Veronica Watson, an old patient of mine. She was with Robert and Declan. Declan was kissing her cheek. I don't remember if I told you but she was the patient of mine that used to listen to your radio show. She always talked about her abusive boyfriend Nick. I didn't realize her Nick and your Declan were the same. I tried calling you but couldn't get through to you so I called the cops and we got here around the same time. They heard you screaming and they found you and your brother struggling. He’s confessed.”
“He confessed?”
“To everything. At least that’s what Officer Stewart told me a few minutes ago when she called. Laci, I don’t know how to tell you this, but-“
“He killed my friends,” Laci said as if she were a zombie. “He’s a murderer Andrew. He killed Robert. I saw him do it. It was like it was nothing to him.”
“Laci, he confessed to two other murders.”
She began weeping in Andrew’s arms, “That’s not Declan. It can’t be Andrew. He’s my brother. There has to be a different explanation. I can’t…I can’t deal with this.”
“It’s okay Laci, we’ll figure things out. Everything’s going to be okay.”
“No it’s not. Stop acting like you know when you don’t know. You know nothing Andrew!” Laci continued to sob into Andrew’s chest as he soothed her and kissed the top of her head.
Two hours later, Laci was sitting outside the police station. Declan had refused to see her. She didn’t understand what was going on with her brother. She didn’t understand how he could live a double life without her knowledge. Her job was to read people.
“Soda?”
Laci looked up to see Officer Joe Bishop standing next to her. He had an arm extended offering her a Coke. She shook her head and he shrugged. He opened the can and began drinking the soda as he sat on the bench next to her.
“So…I’ve been a butt,” Bishop said.
Laci didn’t respond.
He continued, “At least that’s what my partner keeps telling me. She said I should apologize. I did earlier but you were kinda out of it. So I’m saying sorry.”
Laci held no expression. She felt numb, “You’re apologizing because your partner told you to?”
“Yes. No. I mean…not really. I’m sorry I was such an ass and that I gave you a hard time. I’m also sorry about your brother. He seemed like a good guy. He made fun of cops but he was looking out for you.”
Laci scoffed.
“When I was going through the Academy, we had to take a victims course. The instructor was some fancy psychiatrist. He gave us each two slips of paper and told us to write down the most horrible crime we could think of. I had too many to list. Rape…murder…you name it, I thought of it. I ended up putting down molestation.”
Bishop looked at Laci who still hadn’t responded to his story. He continued, “So anyway, this professor…he keeps talking and talking about what victims go through and how hard it is for them to speak up and stuff. We all totally forget about the pieces of paper until the end of class. He tells us to write down the name of the person we trust the most on the second piece of paper. Can you guess who I wrote?”
Laci still didn’t respond. Bishop cleared his throat, “I wrote down my father. He was a navy man. A good provider and role model. I remember feeling proud to be able to write my father’s name as the person I trusted the most. Well guess what the professor said next.”
Laci closed her eyes.
“Well, he said, ‘Now that you wrote down the name of the person you trust most, I want you to imagine what you would do if you found out they committed the crime you abhorred the most? What would you do?”
Laci opened her eyes and looked at Bishop who was staring straight ahead.
“What would you do?” she asked in a low voice.
“I’m not gonna lie. I felt sick at the thought of my father doing something like that. I remember feeling doubt. There’s no way that would happen. No way. Then I wondered what would I do if it was proven? Would I start hating him? He’s my father. The man I loved and looked up to all my life. Maybe I couldn’t look up to him anymore but should I stop loving him? I thought about it even after the seminar and I think I’d still love him. Not the bad side of him…but the good side. The side he showed me.” Bishop looked at Laci, “I’m glad my situation wasn’t real. My father never did anything horrible but I know what you’re going through has got to be tough. I’m sorry it’s happening. Your brother did some bad things. I don’t really know why. A shrink is going to talk to him later. I’m sure you know all of this already but it’s important to talk to someone if you’re feeling upset. Don’t hold it in. Even if your brother did bad things, he’s still your brother. It’s okay to still love him.”
Laci didn’t say anything to that so Bishop stood up, “Okay well…I thought I’d just say that to you.”
As Officer Bishop walked away, Laci called out, “Hey Bishop!”
He turned around, “Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
He gave a quick nod and headed back into the police station to let Laci sit with her thoughts. Andrew came out of the station a few moments later, “Laci, he still won’t let us see him. Are you going to be okay?”
Laci thought about what Officer Bishop had told her. She thought of her baby brother always cheering her up, making her laugh, and sticking up for her. He did bad things but there were still parts of him that were the Declan she knew and loved. Laci looked at Andrew and gave a weak smile, “I think so. It’ll be tough…but everything’s going to be okay.”
Epilogue
One year later
The newest article clipping was lying on the desk ready to add to the wall of news.
“Brother of Famous Love Guru Found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity.”
“He’s not her brother! How dare they use that title for a woman who did nothing to save Declan. She even married the man who helped declare him crazy.”
She put down her glass of champagne and picked up the latest newspaper and flattened it out carefully. Turning to the Celebrity News page, she noticed a picture not so much the picture but the heading.
“Dr. Laci Cummings and Dr. Andrew Brett Expecting First Child”
Her knuckles turned white with anger as she looked at a smiling Laci and Andrew while thinking of Declan locked away from the world.
“It’s time for me to avenge you, my dear Declan. Laci never has and never will be a sister to you. She is let you get locked away from th
e world. Everything is going to be ok, though, my sweet Declan. It’s time for someone to bring you the revenge you deserve.
Your big sister is coming home.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
L A Walton is the author of innumerable books including children’s and adult novels. She lives in Alexander City, Alabama.