The Truth of Yesterday

by Josh Aterovis

  Rosen was scribbling furiously. He paused when I stopped. “I'm assuming this is the reader's digest version?” he asked dryly.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You still haven't explained what you were doing at Black's house.”

  “I was getting to that. The guy that was unconscious behind the couch is a friend of mine. His name is Jake Davis. He used to be Jake Sheridan; maybe you remember the Sheridan murders a few years ago.” I could see in his eyes that he did, although he refused to comment. I continued, “I knew he was involved with Black and...well...it's a long story...”

  “We've got all the time in world.”

  I took another deep breath. “I guess I felt I owed him a favor, so I wanted to warn him to get out before the police arrived.” I finished up in a small voice.

  “Exactly what do you mean by involved.”

  “I don't know all the details. I've heard that Black was something of a pedophile; he liked his boys young. I think Jake was his...boyfriend. I'm pretty sure he was supplying Jake with drugs.”

  “So you went to warn him that the police were coming?”

  I nodded miserably, sure I was going to be charged with something now. I realized just how stupid it had been.

  “What happened when you arrived? I want a detailed step by step account of your movements so we know where you went and what you did.”

  “I parked up the road at a dead-end turnabout.”

  “How'd you know it was there?”

  “A reporter friend told me.” He nodded and I went on. “I walked back and found the gate open. I was trying to decide whether or not to risk going in when a car came along so I went inside to avoid the headlights.” He quirked an eyebrow but I ignored it. “Staying hidden as best I could, I made my way to the back of the house and went in through the garage.”

  “It was all unlocked?”

  “Yes.”

  “And that didn't strike you as odd?”

  “Maybe a little. To be honest, I wasn't really thinking very clearly. I was going on a serious lack of sleep; I'd been functioning on adrenaline all day. All I could think about was finding Jake. Anyway, I went inside and it was dark and very quiet. I went down the hall and I saw a light on in the kitchen. I went in and found the guy. He was...dead.” I stop and gulped. “I called the police right away.”

  “But you didn't leave your name and then you stayed.”

  “I don't know why I didn't leave my name. I guess I didn't want anyone to know I was there. Especially if there was a chance I might still be able to find Jake and leave. I told you, I wasn't thinking clearly.”

  “What happened next?”

  “I searched the rest of the first floor and then went upstairs. The door to the sitting room was closed, but I saw a light on so I opened it. There was one guy in the middle of the floor. He was dead too. The door to the bedroom was open so I went in and turned the lights on. That's when I found Fenton Black. I was about to leave when I saw Jake behind the couch. And that's pretty much when you came in.”

  “Do you know of any reason why someone might want to kill Fenton Black?”

  I almost sighed with relief. Maybe they didn't suspect Jake after all. “I imagine people were lining up for the privilege. He was a drug dealer, he ran an illegal escort agency, he was involved with the mafia, and he was behind the corruption with the land deals here on the Shore.”

  “Let me be more specific. Do you know of any reason why Jacob Davis would want to kill Fenton Black?” My heart sank again.

  “Jake isn't a killer,” I protested, but it sounded weak even to me.

  Rosen didn't comment, just sat there staring levelly at me.

  “I really don't think he did,” I repeated softly.

  “I'm sure we'll take that into consideration,” the detective said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. He stood to leave, signally the end of my interview. “Ballistics will be able to tell if the gun in his hand was the same weapon that killed the two bodyguards and Black. If it is, I'm afraid your opinion won't carry as much weight as the evidence.”

  The mention of the gun brought something to memory. “Did the gun have a silencer on it?” I asked.

  “What?” I'd clearly caught him off guard.

  “The gun in Jake's hand, did it have a silencer?”

  “No, it didn't. May I assume there's a reason behind your seemingly random question?”

  “Think about it,” I said. “Three people were shot, all in the same house. Two of them were trained bodyguards. They all looked to me as if they'd been caught off guard. The house is huge, but you would still hear the gun shots, unless maybe the sitting room and bedroom were soundproofed. The only other option is that the shooter used a silencer.”

  Rosin looked down on me with a new respect in his eyes. “I'm going to go check on your story now. If any of it doesn't check out, you're going to be in very deep shit. I'll be back. You can wait in here.”

  As soon as the door closed, Ilana breathed a deep sigh. “That went a lot better than I had feared,” she said.

  “Really?” I asked. Not knowing what to expect, I hadn't known if it had gone well or not.

  “Definitely. He didn't take you back to the cell, which means he probably believes you're being level with him. You are aren't you?”

  “Yes. I told him the truth.”

  “Good. That was definitely the best move in this situation. You could still be facing some serious charges though Killian. What were you thinking?”

  I shrugged helplessly. “I just wanted to help Jake. I've failed him in so many ways as a friend. I felt I owed him this. If I'd been a better friend to start with maybe he wouldn't have even been in this mess.”

  “Killian, you can't blame yourself for the choices other people make. Maybe you did play a part in all this, but he made the decision to get involved with Fenton Black. You didn't force him to do that.”

  I sighed. I knew she was right, but I still felt guilty. “So you think I could still get in a lot of trouble?”

  “It all depends on how generous Detective Rosen is feeling. That last bit about the silencer might be helpful. If you have any other flashes of brilliance, it wouldn't hurt to share.”

  “What do we do while I wait for a flash of brilliance?”

  “We sit here patiently.”

  We sat patiently for about an hour, while neither flash of brilliance nor Detective Rosen came. Finally, the door opened again and the detective came back into the room. He didn't look quite a sour as he had before. I took that as a good sign. I stood up to face him.

  “Alright, Mr. Kendall. Your story checked out and several good men have vouched for you. I should be charging you on several counts, but since you have a clean record and this isn't usual behavior for you, we're going to let you go. But. If I ever catch you interfering with official police business again, or even hear that you've gotten in the way of an official investigation, you will face serious charges.”

  “I'm free to go?” I said, barely able to believe my luck.

  “You're free to go.”

  “Thank you, Detective Rosen,” I said sincerely, holding out my hand to shake.

  “You're welcome, Mr. Kendall,” he said shaking my hand. “By all accounts you're a good investigator. Don't ruin your chances by screwing up.”

  “I won't.” He turned to leave but I had one more question. “Sir?”

  He turned back.

  “Was I right about the silencer?”

  He paused for a second and I thought he wasn't going to answer, then he shrugged. “Let's just say the rooms aren't soundproofed.”

  I hugged Ilana and then she held me by the shoulders at arms length. “Now if you thought that was bad,” she said with a smile, “you ain't seen anything yet. The hardest part is yet to come.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked in alarm.

  “Adam, Shane Novak, and Micah are all waiting in the lobby.”

  I gulped. I knew she was right. I squared my shoulders an
d lifted my chin. “Well, it's been a good life. Let's go face the firing squad.”

  She chuckled and slipped her arm through mine. “Any last requests?” she asked as we walked into the hall.

  Adam and Micah leaped to their feet as soon as we came through the door. It was a race to see who could get to me first. Adam won by a hair, enveloping me in a huge hug. He gripped tightly for a long time, then stepped back abruptly and shook me by the arms. “Don't you ever do something that stupid again!”

  He let go of me and Micah quickly moved in for a hug. He held me close even longer than Adam had, then whispered fiercely in my ear, “I love you, Killian Kendall, but I swear, if you ever do something like that to me again I will leave you and never look back.”

  I jerked back to look into his eyes and saw that he was very serious.

  “I've never been so scared in my entire life,” he said hoarsely as a tear rolled down his cheek. “I couldn't stand to lose you.”

  “I'm so sorry,” I said, wiping away the tear. I felt as if my heart was being ripped out. “It's ok now though. It's all over.”

  “I'm still furious with you. Why didn't you wait for me?”

  “If I had, you would have been arrested with me.”

  “At least I would have known what was happening. And you lied to me, Killian. You said you'd wait.”

  “I'm sorry.”

  “Can we continue this later?” Novak asked, walking up. He gave me an unreadable look. I had a feeling I'd be hearing from him later. “I'd like to get over the hospital to sit with Judy.”

  “The hospital?” I asked.

  “Jake was admitted for a drug overdose,” Adam told me.

  “Oh my God! Is he ok?”

  “He's still not regained consciousness last I heard, but they expect him to be fine,” Novak reported.

  I turned to look at Adam and Micah. “Can we go over there too?”

  They both nodded. “Of course,” Micah said.

  “Are you going?” I asked Ilana.

  “Well, I was really only here as a family friend. I'm not a criminal lawyer, so I won't be much help to Jake, but I can give some advice and if things look bad, I have a colleague who is an excellent criminal lawyer that I can recommend. So, yes, I'll come too.”

  We all left together, but drove to the hospital separately. Adam, Novak, Ilana, and Micah had all driven their own cars to the police station. I rode with Micah, but the drive over was mostly silent. I could tell Micah was really hurt.

  “Micah, I'm really sorry,” I tried at one point. “I just felt like this was something I had to do by myself. Promising to wait for you was the only way I could get you to give me the address. I'm sorry I lied to you. I promise I won't ever do it again.”

  “Not now, Killian,” he'd responded and turned on the radio.

  At the hospital, we found a Judy I hardly recognized. She looked so lost and alone sitting in the hospital waiting room. I'd never seen her look so defeated and, well, old.

  She brightened a bit when she saw us, however. Her eyes caught and held mine, sharing the knowledge of the fulfillment of her vision. I could see the fear in her eyes that Jake would be the final loss.

  There wasn't much to say. Nothing had really changed in Jake's condition, but the doctors were still being positive. We sat and waited in an uneasy silence, while sick and injured people came and went around us. I dozed fitfully, snapping awake as images of the dead bodies I'd seen floated up before my eyes over and over. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a doctor approached Judy, whose eyes I hadn't seen shut for the entire time we'd been there.

  “Ms. Davis?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said snapped to attention, her back straightening.

  “Jake is awake now. The police have been in and talked to him and now he's asking to see you. They've said it's ok if you go in.”

  She was on her feet immediately. “If you'll show me the way,” she said.

  “Of course. Just follow me.” He led her off beyond the doors. The rest of us sat waiting.

  “Do you think they'll charge him?” I asked.

  “They'll probably hold him in custody at least,” Ilana said. “Unless they have more than they told us, they won't be able to actually charge him yet. The ballistics tests won't be done today, even with the rush they'll put on it because of who it is. We can probably get him home by tonight assuming they set his bail.”

  “I can't believe this is happening.”

  “Believe it,” Novak said shortly and we fell back into silence.

  It wasn't too long before Judy was back out.

  “Killian, he wants to see you.”

  “Me?” I gasped.

  “I told him what happened. He has no memory whatsoever of the killings. He can't tell the police anything. He can't even say for sure he didn't do it.”

  “Drugs?” Novak asked.

  “Possibly,” Judy said with a weary shrug. “He could also be blocking the memory. Or maybe he's lying. Who knows anymore?”

  “The police said it's ok if he sees me?” I asked after an awkward pause.

  “Yes. They're hoping something will trigger his memory. They're recording everything, of course, so be careful what you say.”

  I nodded and stood up nervously.

  “Just go through those doors and a nurse will be waiting to show you the room.”

  I almost turned around when I saw Jake. He looked so pitiful lying in that big hospital bed, pale and sunken in. There was something black all around his mouth.

  “Charcoal,” he said in a frail voice.

  “Huh?” I said as I drew closer to his side.

  “The black stuff. They pumped my stomach and then gave me charcoal just to be safe. It's supposed to soak up any poisons in my stomach or something like that. I think it was just to torture me.”

  I stopped next to him and reached out a tentative hand. He took it in his, his grip weak.

  “You came for me,” he said after a moment.

  I bit my lip, not sure what to say.

  “You risked your life for me...again. After everything I said to you the other night.”

  “Actually, it was because of everything you said to me the other night. It made me realize what a terrible friend I've been. I wanted...to make it up to you somehow. I wanted to help you.” I looked down at him. “What happened Jake?”

  “I...I don't know.”

  “I don't even mean just tonight. I mean...what happened to you? How did you end up with Fenton Black?”

  He looked away and a tear rolled down his cheek. “When I first came back,” he said in a voice so soft I had to lean in to hear him, “I told you how messed up I was in California. That's part of the reason Mom wanted to move back here. I was having sex with anyone who would supply me.”

  “Supply you?”

  “Drugs. I got into drugs. Mom moved me back here and I guess she thought that would stop it. It did for awhile; even I thought things might be different. But then, it wasn't. I started using again. Small stuff at first, weed, maybe some pills now and then. That stuff is easy to get. You can get it at school. It kept progressing. There was this one guy who supplied me for sex. His name was Julio or something like that, I don't even remember. Isn't that disgusting? He told me he knew someone who would like to meet me. It was Fenton.”

  “And he offered you drugs for sex?”

  “More than just drugs. It was clothes and presents and cash. I felt like a prince. I felt like someone actually cared about me for a change. He didn't of course. All he cared about was the sex, but I could fool myself, lie to myself enough that I didn't think about that.”

  I squeezed his hand. “Did you kill him?” I asked softly.

  His eyes welled up. “I don't know.”

  “What happened after I left the Ball?”

  “He was furious. He screamed at me for talking to you. He said that I had ruined everything, that I was a stupid drug addicted slut, and that I had single-handedly brought down
his empire. I told him I didn't know what he was talking about, that I hadn't told you anything. He didn't believe me. He took me home and then knocked me around a bit.”

  “He hit you?”

  Jake nodded. “Then he gave me some drugs, I don't even know what. I didn't really care. I think he was hoping that I'd OD and take care of his dirty work for him.”