“Yes but, boys are boys, they fight one week and make up the next. They were friends before. I just know he’s not the type of guy who’d kill anyone.”
“I need to go compose myself,” said Jane as she fought the tears now streaming down her face.
As soon as she left Sarah grabbed Jane’s purse and started rummaging through it.
“Got it!” She whispered to herself.
She pulled out Jane’s cell phone, placed it on the table and then took out her own. She hit record and held it above the table. She started going through all the contacts in Jane’s phone as quickly as she could. She heard a door close and Jane’s footsteps, she was coming back downstairs. She placed the phone back in her purse in the nick of time.
“I’m gonna need you to leave,” said Jane with her arms crossed.
As Sarah left she noticed the family pictures on the mantle piece. Black lines were scribbled over Jed’s face in every photo.
“Well I admit it, I was wrong,” said Sunny. “How did it go in there?”
“Not well, she’s still hurting Sunny.”
“If you changed your mind it’s okay, you’ve helped me more than you could ever imagine.”
“No, I’m fine,” replied Sarah.
As they made their way to the local diner, Sarah noticed that every other person was staring at them.
“Murderer!” shouted a man in the distance.
Sarah turned around in a fit of rage but had no idea where the voice came from.
“Coward!” she shouted back.
“Sarah,” said Sunny calmly. “It’s okay.”
“But, bu-“
“All they know is what they hear on the news or read in the papers. If I was in their shoes I would feel the same.”
Sarah was taken back by how calm he was, how gracious and humble, it wasn’t the Sunny she knew back in high school, he’d grown into a man, a good man. The kind of man she could see herself spending the rest of her life with.
“You don’t deserve this, you deserve more,” she said.
“I’m free Sarah, I can go see a game, eat a burger, watch a movie at home in my underwear. If it means that I gotta put up with a few stares and a few names, I’d take it any day of the week. And best of all, I have you.”
She kissed his cheek and they entered the café. She laughed as they stood in line.
“What’s so funny?” asked Sunny.
“A burger? That’s what you’ve been dreaming of? Trust you to reduce freedom to a lousy burger.”
He laughed.
“Trust me of you spend five years inside a burger is like…god.”
She burst out laughing.
“How can I help you today?” asked the clerk.
“Can I get two cokes, two quarter pounders and two fries?” asked Sarah.
Sunny smiled at her.
They sat opposite each other and Sarah pulled out her phone as they ate. She began to jot down numbers and names as she held it.
“You know it’s rude to use your phone while you eat right?”
She smiled then showed him the video she had recorded in Eddy’s house.
“What is that?” he asked.
“Her phone, it’s every contact in her list.”
“Wow, didn’t you tell me that I shouldn’t break the law?” asked Sunny.
“Yup, but you can bend it,” she replied with a smile. “There was something else. The photo of Jed was scratched out in all the frames.”
“Jed?” asked Sunny with a puzzled look on his face.
“Eddy’s dad.”
He thought for a moment. He still felt confused. What Sarah had said about Jane still hurting from Eddy’s death was still on his mind. It felt like a huge weight had just been dumped on his shoulders. He wished that he could take away her pain and loneliness. That someone could just snap their fingers and bring Eddy back to life. He wanted to visit her, to apologize and tell her he didn’t kill her son, but he knew she wouldn’t believe him. He had to prove his innocence before anything else.
He didn’t realize it but Sarah had been staring at him, as he was lost in thought.
“What ‘ya thinkin?” she asked in a childish voice.
Sunny looked up and saw her munching on a chip. He smiled. He brought his hand close to her face and touched her lip.
“You’ve got a little ketchup there.”
She froze. Her heart was pounding and she went bright red, not because of the chip but because of Sunny. Ever since she met him she knew there was something about him, something more than just looks, although she thought he was good-looking too. It was a kind of inner courage, a calm, strong will. And yet she knew deep down that he was kind and caring. She was falling head over heels for him. She began to imagine kissing him, stroking his hair, exploring his body and letting him take her.
While he talked she began to fantasize. About him standing there naked. She let her daydream play out. She imagined him exploring her body with his lips. Groping her buttocks and breasts. Making her moan in a way that she was yearning to for so long. The thought of his big strong hands having his way with her, and the idea of him pleasuring her passionately from behind was too much and she started to become moist at the thought.
She immediately dismissed the images from her mind before they grew any stronger. She flicked through Jane’s phone and then placed it in front of him. He read what was on the screen.
Jed 202-555-0110.
“You know, you’d make a very good P.I.”
She laughed and then dialed the number on her phone.
“Hello?” said a gruff voice on the other end.
“Hi, is this Jed?”
“Yes, who is this?”
“My name is Sarah, I was one of Eddy’s school mates back in high school.”
There was a long pause on the other end. Sarah thought maybe Jed had hung up.
“Hello?”
“…What do you want? Why are you phoning me?” he asked with a harsher voice.
“I…just wanted to check if everything’s okay.”
This isn’t gonna work, she thought. He’s giving me a colder reception than Eddy’s mom; I have to think of something else.
“I’m fine, please don’t bother me anymore. How did you get this number? Look just…just leave me in peace.”
He was about to hang-up. Sarah had to think of something and fast.
“It’s about his death…”
There was another long moment of silence on the other end. Sarah decided to continue.
“There are some things that just don’t add up you see.”
“What things?” asked Jed.
“I think it’s better if I show you.”
“I…I don’t know,” he replied with some hesitation in his voice.
“I’m convinced that the real killer is still at large sir, and I’ll continue digging until I find him. Don’t you wanna stay in the loop at least? He was your son.”
“…Okay.”
“Great!” said Sarah, suddenly perking up. “I’ll meet you at your place, I can leave now, I just need the address.”
“No, no, I think it’s better if I come to you. I’ll meet you outside my, I mean my wife’s house in, say, two hours?”
“Okay” replied Sarah and then hung up the phone.
“Wow,” said Sunny with a look of utter astonishment on his face. “You are one silver-tongued chick you know that?”
She stuck out her tongue, and looked down with her eyes crossed.
“I thunno it ooks kina hink to me.”
Sunny laughed, again.
“God you are so goofy sometimes.”
She smiled and continued eating her fries. They sat there and talked for a while. They talked of old times and the trouble they both used to get up to, the time that Sunny crashed his car into Mrs. Bodily’s garden, about everything. Sarah felt closer than ever to him. That night, in that diner, she finally let go of her inhibitions and kissed him. Sunny could still taste the
ketchup on her lips. He felt himself succumbing to the moment and before it took over, he immediately withdrew from her.
“What the hell are you doing Sarah?”
She looked at him, partly in shock and partly in shame.
“I...I care about you Sunny. I always have. I wanna be with you. I love you.”
He was speechless, he looked out the window, thinking of what to say.
“I love you too, but just as a sister.”
“You’re lying,” she said with confidence.
“I…even if I did love you, it’s wrong.”
“But it feel so r-“
“Stop messing around Sarah this is serious.”
“I am serious. I meant it when I said I wanna be with you.”
Sunny felt the same way. He was getting turned on thinking about her, of tasting the ketchup on her lips. He found his eyes begin to trace her slender neck. He immediately snapped out of it but she had noticed.
“Look, Sarah, let’s just go meet Jed and then we can talk about this later.”
“Oh no, you’re not coming with me.”
“What? What are you talking about? Why not?”
“As far as he knows, you killed his son. The moment he sees you he’s either gonna bail, or try and attack you.”
“Well he has every reason to,” replied Sunny.
“I know but if it’s just me he’s much more likely to be open to a conversation don’t you think?”
“…Okay, but call me if anything happens okay?”
She put her notepad back in her backpack, put it on, and began to make her way out of the diner.
“Sure bro.”
Sunny stayed in the diner and watched as Sarah left. She turned back and saw him staring. She stuck out her tongue and then vanished around the corner.
“…That girl”, he thought.
Sarah waited a few dozen feet away from Eddy’s house. She kept enough of a distance so that Jane wouldn’t be able to see her through the window if she were home. She paced around back and forth while she waited for Jed. She decided to phone Sunny to pass the time.
“Hey,” she said.
“No luck yet?”
“Nope.”
“Don’t worry he’ll show,” said Sunny. “Just give him some time.”
“Yeah I suppose so. I wish you were here.”
“You said I shouldn’t be.”
“I know, I know, I’m just saying I wish you were.”
There was a short pause on the other end.
“Sarah, did you really mean what you said back in the diner, about you and me?”
“…Yes.”
“Well, you were right, I did think about you, I mean I do think about you. The same way I mean. I thought about making love to you so many times when I was inside.”
“ARGH!” screamed Sarah.
“I’m sorry it’s a lot to take in huh?”
“Get off me!”
“Sarah! Are you okay? I’m coming!”
Sunny ran as fast as his legs could take him. Within a couple of minutes he reached Jane’s house and saw Sarah lying on the floor. He rushed to her side and picked her up. There was a bruise on her cheek and dirt covered her forehead.
“What happened are you okay?”
“Yeah I’m fine. Somebody kicked me in the back, and then took my stuff. They took my phone, my backpack, everything.”
She started to sob. Sunny held her in his arms.
“It’s okay, he’s gone. You’re safe now.”
“Thanks but I want that creep to pay dammit.”
“Wow, that was a quick recovery,” said Sunny. “Do you think it was Jed?”
“I don’t know.”
“If we contact your phone company and tell them you were assaulted, we may be able to find out the address.”
“That’ll take ages,” said Sarah. “I got a better idea.”
She marched straight into Jane’s house.
“What do you think you’re doi-“
She stopped once she saw Sarah’s condition.
“What happened to you?”
“Your husband happened. He attacked me.”
“That’s not possible, Jed would never do something like that.”
“Really? I told him where I was, that I had information about his son’s death, he was the only one who knew.”
Jane opened her mouth but no words came out.
“Please leave now.”
Sarah ignored her and kept going.
“Why did you scribble over Jed’s face in all these photo’s? Something’s going on that you’re not telling me Mrs. Thompson.”
“I said get out.”
“Fine, I’m leaving, but if I were you I’d expect a visit from the cops pretty soon.”
“What? You’re not going to the police are you?”
“I was assaulted, of course I am, and I’m gonna tell them exactly who I think it was.”
“Wait…what is it you want exactly.”
Sarah smiled. A few moments later she emerged from the house where Sunny was waiting outside.
“What happened?” he asked.
She took out a piece of scrunched up paper from her pocket and handed it to him.
“Jed’s address?”
“Yup. See much quicker than getting the cops involved don’t you think?”
Sunny smiled. It seemed that there was just no end to Sarah’s bag of tricks. While Sunny was away, she had flowered from an innocent girl into a confident woman, and it was leaving a strong impression on him. More than an impression, he was falling for her too.
“Let’s call it a night,” she said.
“Good idea, we can go to his address in the morning, and this time I’m definitely going alone.”
“No way!” said Sarah. Hey I’m the P.I.”
“I can’t let you get hurt again Sarah, I’d never forgive myself.”
“Then don’t, you’ll be with me right?”
“Yeah but-“
“So it’s settled.”
With that she walked off. Sunny watched her, eyeing her up and down, he wanted to take her right there, in front of every one to see. Even though she was just a few feet away, the distance felt like an eternity for him.
“Wait, at least let me walk you home.”
“Okay.”
As they walked Sunny began to think out loud.
“Sarah, none of this makes sense.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean about Jed, why would he assault you? And what happened between him and Jane? I don’t really understand what it’s got to do with Eddy’s death.”
She looked at her feet and thought as they walked. After some consideration she thought she’d take a shot.
“Maybe Jed killed Eddy? That would explain why him and Jane split up, and why he’s desperate to keep it all under wraps.”
“hmm, maybe, but that still doesn’t explain why he killed Eddy. I mean it’s gotta be something fairly big to make a father wanna kill his own son right?”
“I suppose,” said Sarah, suddenly feeling deflated.
“Also,” he went on, “it doesn’t explain how he got my gun.”
“…Yeah.”
Sarah was enjoying this, she felt like she was involved in some kind of dark mystery. If it didn’t involve Sunny she would have enjoyed it a lot more, but it gave her the motivation to keep digging, to prove her stepbrother was innocent.
“Well, looks like we’re here.”
They had reached her house and were now standing a few feet from the front door.
“Oh,” said Sarah. “I didn’t even realize.
The door opened and Sunny’s dad came out. He was wearing a robe and tried his best to look as masculine as possible in front of Sunny.
“I told you to stay away from him Sarah.”
She ignored him and kissed Sunny on the cheek.
Stepbrother Romance: Stepbrother Accused (Bad Boy Romance) (New Adult Suspense Taboo Romance) Page 2