Rach stands and grabs another bottle from the wine rack by the counter, “She never came back to see you because she died, probably before she even had a chance to help.” Her hands are shaking, and I watch as she gulps down half the contents from the glass.
“You need to go easy, Rach. I don’t think I’m gonna be able to look after the two of you in the morning,” I tell her, and tilt my head over to Zach, who’s currently doing solo vodka shots on the decking outside.
“Brandon?” her lips are starting to quiver, and she grabs a hold of my hand from across the table. Shit. She looks like she’s about to cry. “Brandon there’s more. It gets worse. Much, much worse.”
“Why do I have a feeling that I’m not gonna like what you’re about to tell me, Rach?” My stomach rolls just from seeing her work herself into such a state. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her like this.
She lowers her head until our eye contact is fully broken, and then passes me a newspaper cutting, “What’s this?” I ask, but she shakes her head, and I hear her let out a small sob. “I’m so sorry.” She’s sorry for what? I narrow my eyes before looking down at the piece of paper that’s now in my right hand.
Rose Alice Harper of Seattle, Washington, passed away October 18, 2011 in Olympia, Washington.
Funeral service will be held at St Michaels Funeral Home on October 24, 2011 at 11:00 am with Reverend Charlton of St. Michael’s Church officiating. Burial will follow at Beck Hill Cemetery.
Looking up from the paper, I see Rach eyeing me warily, and I start shaking my head, “Rach, I believe you, alright? If you say she died then she died. I don’t understand why—”
“Here! Look here, Brandon!” She points back to the paper.
Rose was a doting mother, loving wife, and will be missed by all the lives she touched …
Born in Seattle on April 22, 1974, she is survived by her husband, Paul Ray Harper, and only daughter, Alexis Rose Harper.
What? No fucking way. No, it can’t be. My throat feels blocked, and my stomach jolts like it’s just been catapulted one hundred feet in the air. No. It’s … I drop the newspaper from out of my hand, and watch it drift to the floor while I take a couple of steps back, shaking my head and refusing to believe any of this.
“No,” I rake both of my hands through my hair, and turn around while still trying to breathe.
Alexis’ mom? Well, this just got a whole lot more complicated.
Alexis once told me that her mom had lost her life in a car accident. We didn’t talk about her that much. In fact, we hardly spoke about her mom at all. All the times she sat with me and listened as I talked about Holly, with me telling her how hard it was to lose her, I never once thought to ask her how she was doing. Not a single damn time.
The boyfriend of the year award? Yeah, it doesn’t look like I’ll be the front runner for that anytime soon.
“Do you think this could have anything to do with the break in at her father’s house?”
“Well, I didn’t until you just asked.” Alexis’ mom was the detective working on my case. She believed I was innocent and promised she would help. But, she never showed up, and now we know that it was because she died not long after she swore she’d help me. Rach could be onto something here, but it doesn’t make any sense. “Why would they break into her father’s place?”
“Maybe it was a warning for you to back off. Perhaps it was their way of telling you that it doesn’t matter where she is, they’re watching her and they know you haven’t given up.”
Does it sound like something they would do to get their message across? Yeah, it does. They’re not gonna stop.
Well, neither am I.
Chapter Eighteen
I haven’t stepped foot outside the cabin in two days. Not since I got back from seeing Alexis in her room, “This is driving me nuts.” I say as I head through to the living room.
“If you’d have gone with him then don’t you think that it would have made the situation a hundred times worse? You need to let Zach do his thing, and he’ll let you know if he manages to speak with her.”
“I’ll get it,” I say, and head straight for the landline when it starts sounding out. Rach reaches over, and grabs a hold of my arm before I manage to get anywhere near the damn thing.
“No. No, you sit down. You’re already stressing yourself out and taking it out on him. Let me.” She loosens her grip, and steps in front of me, throwing me a sympathetic smile before answering the phone.
She’s right. I’ve been snapping at the both of them over the past couple of days. Frustrated doesn’t even come close to describing how I’ve been feeling. If I’d have stayed for just a little while longer then she’d know things, not everything, but just enough to believe that I wanna be with her and that I haven’t really left. That this is just temporary. He should’ve let me stay with her.
I slouch back on the couch, watching Rach pacing back and forth across the floor with the handset held up to her left ear. She’s not talking, so I’m guessing he is. I tap my fingers impatiently on the arm of the couch, and my foot on the floor while I wait for something … anything.
A few minutes pass before I see Rach pause her steps, and I watch as she turns around to face me. Oh, this is not good. Whenever she stares at me with an emptiness in her eyes, and an unreadable expression crossing over her entire face, I know that something’s up.
“What?” I sit forward, keeping all of my attention on her.
“Okay.” She speaks down the phone before allowing it to slip away from her ear, and that’s when I see a glazed look seeping into her eyes.
I immediately stand and head straight over to her, “What? What is it? Is Alexis okay?” I ask. She looks vacant as she slowly takes a seat on the arm of the couch, keeping her gaze focused right ahead. “They found your ID at the house.”
“Huh?”
I kneel down beside her, not giving her the option to look away from me, “Your ID card. The cops … Brandon they’re looking for you.” Her voice is shaking, and she closes her eyes while rubbing her fingers over her temples.
“But, I don’t have my ID card. I left it behind when … oh.” They’re after me? “What did he say, Rach?” Desperation fills my voice, and my gut’s starting to turn itself inside out. They’ve made a mistake. I didn’t go out there. I don’t have any reason to break into her father’s home, or anybody else’s home for that matter.
“Zach’s staying out there for a while,” she says, letting out a defeated sigh. “He said the cops are at the campus, and he wants to find out what’s going on before he heads back.”
“But, it wasn’t me. I didn’t do anything. Rach, why—?”
She runs her fingers through her hair and comes to stand in ahead of me, her eyes sorrowful, “Brandon, don’t you see? They planted it there. They must have. They broke into the house and made it look like it was you so you’d get—”
I slump against the couch and rest my head back, “So that I’d get put back inside.” Do I feel like I’m gonna hurl now? Kinda. The phone rings again, and I manage to answer it before Rach this time. I need details. “Yeah?”
“Hey, man. Listen, I just followed the cops into the building and they headed straight for the fourth floor,” he sounds a little breathless. “They’re with Alexis.”
“Dammit!” They beat me to her. “Do you think they’ve made the link between my case and her mom?” I grind my jaw, hoping that he won’t tell me the answer I don’t wanna hear.
“It’s hard to say, but if they have then they’re bound to say something to her, and I’m sure you can imagine what thoughts will be running through her mind if or when they do.”
She’s gonna think I used her. That I only saw her as a way to clear my name. No. Shit, no. I didn’t. I wouldn’t. I just wanted her, “Zach, you gotta get back here to get me. I need to see her. I need to tell her and make her see that—”
“No, that’s not going to happen. Did you not understand me just now?
They’re after you, and whoever did this was one clever son of a fucking bitch!” He’s practically growling through the earpiece now.
“Dammit, Zach! Get back here and—” Fuck! I throw the handset across the room, and watch as it hits the opposite wall, smashing into pieces as it hits the ground. Shit.
Rach comes straight over to me, and rubs my arm with her right hand while grabbing my chin with her other, “What?”
I rake my hands through my hair, squeezing my eyes closed, “He cut me off. He won’t come back and get me. The cops are with her, Rach! She’s gonna think I used her!”
“No, she won’t.” Rach’s voice is soft, and I can already tell that she believes what she just said, but she really doesn’t understand.
“You don’t know Alexis. She doesn’t have a lot of confidence when it comes to guys. Her ex made sure of that. Rach, I need to get over there and sort this out with her,” I walk by her with pure determination, and head straight to my room to grab my wallet. If Zach’s not gonna come and pick me up then I’ll get to Seattle some other way.
***
“Zach’s back,” Rach says as she peers out of the kitchen window.
It’s close to nine o’clock in the evening, and because this is the only cabin around here for a couple of miles, she would presume that it’s him. But, she’s wrong. I grab my jacket from the counter, and head through the hallway toward the main door.
I spent most of the morning and afternoon in my room while I tried to follow their advice and let Zach deal with things, but I already feel like I’m starting to lose my mind. I can’t stay here and do nothing. No way. I’ve given him long enough to get back here, or at least call with more news, but so far he hasn’t done either.
“Where are you going? Give him a chance to come inside before you start interrogating him,” her voice is getting louder so I know she’s following me. “You need to take a time out, Brandon. You’re tired. He’s tired. God, I’m tired, but—”
“It’s not Zach,” I call over my shoulder and make my way outside. “I’ll be back when I’ve gotten this whole thing cleared up.” Jogging over to the cab I ordered about a half an hour ago, I can feel her eyes burning into my back when I open up the passenger side door.
“Brandon!” Nope. I can’t hear you. The only thing I can hear is Alexis, and she’s calling to me. Yeah, sounds weird, right? Well, I know how these cops work, and if they’ve linked me and her mom then she’s gonna be wondering what the fuck’s going on. Nobody else can explain the same way I can. I need her to listen to me. I need her to trust me again.
My cell phone is going crazy in my jacket pocket. That’s the fifth time Rach has tried to call me, but there’s no point me answering her because I’m not gonna change my mind on this.
“Did you have a fight?”
“What?” I turn toward the driver’s, and see that he’s chuckling. “Am I paying you for a conversation, or am I paying your wages so you’ll take me to where I need to go?”
“Yeah,” he keeps his eyes focused on the road ahead, but I see the way he’s shaking his head from his own amusement. “You had a fight.”
Striking up small talk with a complete stranger is not one of my priorities, and every time the driver tries to speak with me, I turn away and stay silent. I’ve got far too many things running around in my mind to have to accommodate mundane conversations about the fucking weather as well.
For the ninth time, my cell vibrates in my hand, but this time I see that it’s Zach calling me. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Rachael called and she’s worried sick!” Hello to you, too.
“I asked for your help, but you declined,” I say quietly, keeping my focus out the window.
“Where are you?” When he asks, I glance at one of the signs ahead of us, and see we’re just entering the outskirts of the city. “In a cab and a couple of miles away from campus.”
“You’re coming here? No. Brandon, you need to stay away from here for a while. The cops are still hanging around the site.” Dammit! Still?
When we veer to the right, and are only a couple of minutes away from the campus grounds, I see a couple of cop cars in the near distance, “Just here’s fine.” I swallow as I tell the driver. Yeah, it’s likely that they’re not the ones looking for me, but I can’t risk it. They’ve probably pulled over a drunk driver or something, but either way, I know that I need to keep the hell away. I throw a few dollar bills his way, and then climb out as soon as he parks up by the sidewalk. “Alright, so what’s the deal?” I ask Zach, and turn to head in the opposite direction to the cops.
Once the call ends, I head down a small side alley to wait for him to get here. He told me that he’s gonna meet with me at midnight before he takes the both of us back to the cabin. I wanted to see her. Earlier I was adamant that I wasn’t gonna leave this time, not before she knew my side of the story, but when I saw the cop cars up ahead, I realized that Zach was right. I was stupid to think that I would be able to get past them without being recognized.
And so now? I wait.
I’ve been waiting for around sixty minutes for him to come and meet me, and when I hear footsteps approach, I jump straight back on my feet. The gate swings open, and I’m confronted with the look of Hitler himself, “I said that you need to stay the hell away for a while.” Yeah, he just hissed at me.
I rake my hands through my hair and shake my head. It’s obvious that he doesn’t do the whole love thing, because if he did, then he’d understand why it’s not possible for me to do that, “I tried to stay away, I did, but it’s not fucking easy, Zach!” He lets out a sigh, and I take a couple of breaths myself, trying to calm myself back down. There’s no point in the two of us arguing about this. I close my eyes for a brief second, but as soon as I reopen them, I see movement to my left. My head snap up and—oh fuck!
My eyes are stinging from becoming so wide, “Alexis?” Shit. She’s shaking.
I stand forward and reach out to her. Her eyes widen, and her whole stance becomes hesitant. I take a step closer, and then feel a burning sensation covering my left cheek. Ouch.
Closing my eyes, I lift my hand up to my face. She just hit me. They must’ve told her about her mom … and she believes them. Shit. She believes the cops over me? My face has fallen some, and I feel like I’m gonna throw up right here.
“You told me she was a feisty one bro but shit!” Zach starts laughing by my side, but I don’t take my attention away from Alexis. She turns, and I notice her narrowing her eyes on him before she fixes her glare back on me.
“Is it true?” her voice is shaky and almost a whisper. “Is it true that my mom was working on your case?” Her eyes are filling with tears, and her hands are shaking down by her sides. I can’t lie to her, but I can explain. My chest becomes heavy, and I notice her eyes becoming dim. She shakes her head and takes a step away from me. No. No. No. Don’t be scared of me. I’m not the one you need to be afraid of.
“Alexis, please.” I take another step toward her, but she takes another back.
“Why? Why would you do this?” She asks, gazing down to the ground, and closing her eyes. She thinks I did this? No, she knows me. She fucking knows me! “You let me fall in love with you.” She thinks I used her. Fuck, no. I need her to hear me out right now. She thinks that I didn’t want her, and knowing this is making my heart feel like it’s being ripped from my chest and stamped on a million times over.
“It’s not what it looks like,” I take another step closer. “I need to explain, please?” My voice is throaty, and she keeps backing away from me, but she can’t leave yet. She can’t. Not until she knows. I start to follow her into the alleyway. She can’t leave me. Not without knowing the truth. “Alexis, I didn’t …” I close my eyes, and lower my head before quickening my steps. “Beautiful, I swear I didn’t … I didn’t know any of that until a couple of days ago, I swear to you. You’ve gotta believe me. You need to understand what’s been going on and why I …” Can she hear me
? Her eyes are passive, and it’s like she can’t see or hear me anymore. I’m trying to tell her. I’m trying to explain. I need her to know how much she means to me and that I didn’t know!
Zach places his hand out in front of me, stopping me from getting any closer to her. What the hell is he doing? “Zach?”
“Leave her. You can’t go after her in case she was followed. We need to get outta here.”
Time and time again I tried to show her how much I’m in love with her. How strong my feelings are, but it wasn’t enough. It can’t have been because if it was then she wouldn’t have acted the way she just did. She looked at me with her eyes full of hate. I thought I did enough to prove to her that I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life; to have a forever with her. What am I supposed to do now? If she doesn’t believe me over the cops then what’s the point in any of this? What’s the fucking point in anything?
Chapter Nineteen
I open the bedroom door, and head straight over to sit down on her bed. Should I be here? No, probably not, but I have to see her. She needs to understand that I’m not the bad guy. I’ve never been the bad guy in any of this. It’s been a couple of days since she followed Zach and saw me and him together. Has it been a hard two days? Yeah. The worst.
I saw Alexis head out a little while ago, and used the key Zach managed to flirt off of the girl in Student Hall to let myself inside. There were a few cops around the place, but I made sure I wasn’t seen. You could say that I’m getting pretty good at playing the role of the villain these days.
My cell phone has sounded a couple of times since I left the cabin, but I don’t need to check to see who’s calling me. I already know. Yep. Zach. He’s been refusing to bring me here himself because of what happened the other night, and I’m guessing that he’s just woken up and realized I’m no longer at the cabin. He thinks that me being here isn’t one of the greatest of things to be doing, and he’s insisted that he’ll try and talk with Alexis again when things calm down. I don’t have time to wait for things to settle. I don’t. I don’t ever want her doubting me, but she already does, and now I’ve gotta prove to her that she’s wrong.
Misguided Truths: Part Two (Misjudged #4) Page 23