Her jaw dropped. “It’s a small town,” she replied.
“Yes, it is, but isn’t it true you two were in the same grade?”
When Tara didn’t respond, Officer Jessup continued. “I do my research Ms. Matthews.”
She looked down at another picture and then Officer Jessup’s eyes found their way back up to Tara’s.
“Do you know Missy Drexler?”
Tara shook her head to confirm. “She used to work at Richard’s Bakery, until she was murdered one day leaving work.”
Officer Jessup pushed the picture toward Tara and Tara couldn’t bring herself to look at it.
“You used to work at Richard’s Bakery, right?”
Tara stared at her. “What are you trying to get at?”
Officer Jessup pulled the pictures back and put them away and then closed the folder. “I’m not trying to upset you over these disturbing murders,” she said in a softened tone. “That’s the last thing I want. I’m trying to get some answers and up until this last murder, we were stuck. We haven’t had any suspects and things looked grim. Don’t you want some answers, Ms. Matthews?”
Tara nodded. “I do, but what does Jake have to do with these other people?”
“Well, I highly doubt we’re talking about two different people. There are similarities between Ms. Watters’ murder and these other deaths. We have not shared everything with the public, but one example is the burn mark on her chest. We’re looking for a serial killer. We don’t want a criminal to be on the loose when they could kill again at any time. Which is why I’ll have to ask you again…are you positive he was with you?”
Tara had to admit it. Officer Jessup had a point. She didn’t want to be partly responsible for another murder. But then again, Jake was with the hooker. It couldn’t be him.
“You can’t pin the blame on someone just because you want to wrap up a case. Jake was with us and that’s all there is to it.”
Officer Jessup looked frustrated as she closed up her notebook and stood up.
“If you’re not telling me the truth or leaving something out, it would be a huge mistake.”
“I’m telling you everything I know,” Tara answered, not faltering.
“Okay. Thank you for your time,” the Officer replied, walking to the door and opening it for Tara to leave.
Tara slowly stood up and moved past her.
“Thank you,” she added, before leaving the room.
She promised to be Jake’s alibi, sink or swim. She stuck to it. There would be no way Jake shouldn’t be released now. They had to do what it took. After all, he was innocent. She hoped to God he was innocent.
* * *
Their plan had worked. Jake was released the next day. After Kevin and Tara gave their statements, and as there was no proof at the scene, the police had little choice but to release him. Kevin couldn’t believe it had worked. His brother was back home where he should be.
“I don’t know how to thank you…both of you,” Jake said to them.
Kevin and Tara sat on the couch, facing him as he stood. Kevin knew Jake was grateful. More importantly, he believed Jake had nothing to do with it.
“I really want to thank you, Tara. You’re not even family and you went out of your way to help me. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”
Kevin smiled, turning to Tara. He was also grateful she had been so willing to help.
“That’s alright,” she answered. “I didn’t want the wrong person to have to spend time in jail.”
Jake nodded and then stepped back. “I’ll give you some time to be alone. I need to reflect.”
He left the living room and Kevin heard the front door open and close.
“He really is appreciative,” he said slowly and then turned to face her. “So am I,” he continued, leaning in and drawing her close to him.
They kissed, but as he was deepening the kiss he sensed her pulling away. He pulled back and looked at her.
“Is everything alright?” He asked.
She nodded quickly, but her face told a different story. A labored sigh proved he wasn’t reading too much into it.
“I don’t know,” Tara said slowly. “It’s been a rough time for all of us. I guess I have a lot on my mind.”
He frowned. She suddenly seemed so distant. He hadn’t seen her shut off many times before. They used to be able to talk about everything.
“Talk to me, Tara. We have been friends for too long to have something separating us. You know you can tell me anything. Come on, tell me. What’s going on?”
She looked away. His heart wrenched, but the best thing he could do was be patient and let her share when she was good and ready. When their eyes met, he saw something was different. Her whole demeanor changed.
“I have been thinking about the deaths…a lot,” she remarked. “Doesn’t it make you wonder who’s doing all this?”
He nodded. “Of course, but the police will figure it out…eventually.”
She shot him a look. There was fear all over her face.
“I know, but how many more people have to die?”
Kevin had never seen her this emotional. He didn’t know how to handle it. She was always so strong.
“I have thought about the victims. Officer Jessup pointed this out to me and it worries me. We have Gregory. We knew him, maybe not that well, but we knew him. Missy…”
He opened his eyes wide. Tara didn’t know her well, at least not to his knowledge. He saw her reaction to the look he gave her.
“Yes. She was the one killed outside Richard’s Bakery,” she confirmed. “We both worked there.”
“It was a long time ago,” he pointed out. “Not to mention, a coincidence.”
“I know and it probably is, but then we have Amy, and we worked with her,” Tara added. She paused, thinking. “She didn’t mention the one at Iron Horse State Park. We were there at the time of the murder too.”
“Again, it could very well be a coincidence,” he stated, but he had to admit, the thought of how close they were to so many of the deaths was eerie. “Plus, there is no evidence what happened at Iron Horse State Park is even connected with what’s been going on here.”
She sighed, shaking her head. “You can’t believe it’s not connected. It would be such a coincidence if it were otherwise. I mean, the way that man was burned. It was such a grisly death. And do you remember the tent? What more evidence do you need? Doesn’t it make you wonder if all of these things are happening specifically around you and me?”
Kevin was baffled in one moment, and in the next, he couldn’t help but laugh. Tara was just overreacting. There was no reason to believe this had anything to do with them.
“That’s a stretch, don’t you think?”
“Is it?” she asked, moving back a little. “The only suspect is your brother. Just another sign maybe this isn’t just coincidental.”
He stood up to look at her. “Are you saying you believe he had something to do with this?” he whispered. “Are you telling me you think my brother is a murderer?”
He made sure not to raise his voice so that no one heard what was going on. The mere suggestion in his house would wreak havoc with his parents.
“No,” she said, standing up and reaching for his arm.
Kevin quickly pulled away. He saw it on her face. She wasn’t convincing enough.
“I’m just saying,” she started, dropping her hands back to her side. “Something is going on here and there are a lot of coincidences. Maybe we should have thought things through completely before we went and gave Jake an alibi. Maybe there’s more.”
“Maybe we should have thought things through before I protected my own flesh and blood? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?” he said, enraged that Tara of all people would suggest it.
“I didn’t mean it that way, Kevin,” she pleaded as her face turned red. “I don’t regret helping Jake. You’ve got to know that. I’m just saying we don’t know what happened that night
.”
He looked away from her. He was growing irritated because he could tell she was backtracking.
“You’re right…we don’t know what happened on any of the nights people were murdered, but I do know my brother wasn’t involved.”
“How do you know?” she asked.
Kevin couldn’t believe he had to defend Jake to Tara. For the first time, she revealed her doubts. Now he was questioning everything she had told him before.
“Call it intuition. Call it whatever you want. I just have to believe it,” he said. He swallowed hard. There was a lump in his throat. “Look, I’m not feeling too well, Tara. I think you should leave.”
He turned to look at Tara and quickly looked away. The pain in her face was gut-wrenching. He walked to the front door and opened it to let her know she needed to leave now. If either of them said anything else, it would only make things worse.
“I don’t want to argue, Kevin” she appealed, moving closer to him. “I wish I had no doubts, but…”
“Yeah, I get it,” he said. “You can’t fully accept the idea that Jake is innocent. I don’t want you to feel you have to stay somewhere you aren’t comfortable.”
His words were harsh. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her approaching him. She put her hand up on his shoulder, forcing him to look at her.
“I’m sorry, Kevin.” She hesitated. A hint of tears were shining in her eyes. “We’ll get past this, right?”
He nodded slightly, but only to get her to leave. If Tara had doubts, there was no place for her near the Crawford family.
“I’ll call you later,” he lied.
She removed her hand from his shoulder and walked out the door. Kevin looked at her as she got into her car. Their eyes met before he shut the door. As much as he hated to see her go, he had no regrets about taking his stand for Jake.
* * *
Jake hid behind the bush as Tara left his house. His eyes followed her to her car and when she got in, he admired her long legs. He watched her intently. Tara was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He groaned as she drove out of the driveway. He would have given anything to follow her, but he needed to wait.
Kevin and Tara’s fight was exactly what Jake had hoped for. He wanted Tara to see that his brother wasn’t the man for her and Jake would do anything to get Tara to believe it. He turned back to the living room window where Kevin sat, looking like he was in agony over their fight. Jake felt relief, but a wave of guilt temporarily overcame him. He shouldn’t be this excited when Kevin was clearly distressed.
Jake stepped back from the window. He needed to work on his next step to reach Tara’s heart. She cares about me, he thought. Why else would she have lied for me? A strange peace fell over him at the notion. A smile crept up Jake’s face as he moved away from the window. Everything was going as planned and he was one step closer to having Tara Matthews for himself.
Chapter 13
Time marched on. It was torture for Tara. She and Kevin weren’t speaking to each other. She glanced at the phone one more time and read his last text.
Kevin: I have been doing some thinking and I feel we need take a break for a while.
She tossed her phone to the side. That was all he wrote. The message was from a week ago. Even when she attempted to talk to him at work, he would walk away. They were in turmoil was because she voiced her concerns about Jake. She wanted to put everything out there, but now that she had, she lost what mattered most to her.
She reached out and grabbed her phone again, quickly dialing up his number. It went straight to voicemail.
“Hey, you have reached Kevin. Please leave a short message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Thank you for calling.”
She took a deep breath and started talking.
“Hey, Kevin. It’s me…again. I know you have been ignoring me and I understand why, but I really want to talk to you. Please…please, call me back. Otherwise, I’ll see you soon at work and hope you’ll talk then. I love you. Talk to you soon.”
She hung up the call and stared at her phone.
“Please…just call me.”
She went to work the next day and he wasn’t there. There schedules seemed to be different lately. She spent a week waiting for him to call her back, and three days hoping he’d give her the time of day at work. Kevin was taking it to a whole new level.
At the end of the third day and having no answers, she went into one of her boss’ office. Zoe looked up and gave her a smile. “Hello, Tara.” She turned away from her computer. “Something on your mind?”
Tara nodded. “I was wondering, can you tell me when Kevin will be at work next?”
“Oh…” She frowned. “I just assumed you knew. Kevin took a couple of weeks off. He said he had some family issues to deal with and he also had a major test he needed to study for. So, he won’t be back until the middle of October.”
“I had no idea,” Tara replied, feeling sorry she wasn’t able to be there for him, or to help him study. She missed him dearly, but didn’t regret being honest with him. How could he hate her for being true to herself?
“I guess I’ll have to stop by his place. Thanks Zoe.”
“Sure thing,” she answered. “Have a good day off tomorrow.”
Tara left the office and headed outside. She got in her car and sat there thinking. She had two options. She could either go home and sulk, or stop by his house and hope she could get him to talk to her. As she started the car, there was only one option. She missed him and no matter what the outcome was, she needed him to hear her out. She needed him.
* * *
“Raccoons are native to North and South America. They have a dexterity that some compare to apes. There are seven…” Kevin paused. “…Or is it six different species?” he groaned, looking down at his book. “Shit. It’s six. Why can’t I remember this?” he muttered, fumbling through his book and reading over the section. Studying wasn’t easy anymore. It was getting more difficult. He had been doing so well, but that was when Tara was around. Now, he was struggling to stay focused.
Kevin sighed and closed the book. It was no use. He had taken time off work for a few reasons. He was committed to spending the time studying, but made no progress now that Tara wasn’t helping him. He just needed more space. Why, Tara, why? He thought, still disappointed that she would suggest Jake had something to do with the murders... Thoughts flooded back to their last conversation, and the text he had sent her. It was the most difficult thing he had done. He contemplated calling her back after her last few texts. It tormented him to ignore her voice messages. It would only complicate things further, so he didn’t.
“I need to stay motivated and push through this work,” he murmured, grabbing the book and opening it back up. He read through another page on North American animal life. He absentmindedly tapped his pencil as he read. His thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell.
Kevin waited for a minute, expecting Jake to get it. However, when it rang again, he got up. He glanced up the stairs and saw no sign of Jake coming down. He was surprised when he opened the door and saw Tara. She was the last person he was expecting to see. Why was he so relieved to see her?
“Hello Kevin,” she said before he could greet her. “Am I interrupting anything?”
He had to admit…she was determined. He did his best to not let on how badly he missed seeing her beautiful face.
“No,” he replied. He hesitated before opening the door enough to let her in.
She graciously accepted the subtle invitation.
“It’s getting colder out there.” She pulled her coat tighter around her body and entered the foyer. “What were you doing?”
“Just studying,” he replied. “How have you been?”
As much as he disliked what she said, he cared for her desperately, and needed to know she was alright.
She smiled, but it was strained. “It’s been okay.. I heard you’re taking some time off work.”
He
nodded, but did not say anything else. She looked around the house.
“Anyone else home?” she asked.
“I think Jake’s upstairs. Haven’t heard him for a while though,” he replied with a stern look.
He wished he could show her how glad he was to see her.
“Oh…” she replied. Her body language stiffened up. “I don’t have to stay, I…”
Kevin didn’t like knowing it had come to this. One of his biggest fears if they ever got into a relationship was that things could get awkward if they ever had an argument. He saw the change first hand and it bothered him. It was worse because the reason for the argument was his own flesh and blood.
“You don’t have to run off. You obviously came here for a reason.”
“I did,” she admitted. She glanced toward the stairs and his eyes followed. “Can we sit down to talk?”
“Sure.” They headed into the living room, further away from the stairs, and took a seat on separate chairs.
The strain was palpable. Kevin hated how it made him feel.
“I just want to say I’m sorry things turned out the way they did,” Tara said. “I’ve done a lot of thinking and I do understand why you feel the way you do.”
He sighed. “We don’t have to agree on everything as a couple, but this is a pretty big thing.”
“I know,” she stated.
He wanted to grab her into his arms and hold her close to him, convince her everything would be all right, and just let fate take its course. He wanted love to be enough, but knew it was foolish to get caught up in his emotions.
“Where do we go from here?” she asked.
He silently thought about her question. He would have given anything to get her to believe that Jake was not a cold-hearted killer. Yet, she expressed her doubts, and he couldn’t force her to change her mind. He had an obligation to support his brother; and would defend him to the bitter end. A relationship with Tara would only jeopardize things. It wouldn’t have been good for either one of them…or, that’s what he kept telling himself.
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