Blood Ties (8 page)

Jared entered the kitchen, pulled a chair, sat by my side and wrapped his arms around me. I leaned onto him and took a deep breath; I was shocked. Noel’s reaction had surprised me; I’d expected an outburst
like the one he’d had if he’d been drunk…But sober? He was in a deeper denial than I’d thought.

“I’m sorry you had to endure that because of my insistence,” Jared said apologetically, after kissing my forehead.

I shook my head slowly, dismissing his statement.

“I needed to get that out of my system, Jared. The conversation with Noel was inevitable; the fact that it took place now is actually a relief for me; I’m at peace with myself, I’m not carrying the pressure of caring for him
anymore. I know it sounds awful, but he’s quite literally drained me.”

“You don’t owe me any explanations, Sam. I
only care about your feelings; Noel is a big man who should take responsibility over his actions. If he can’t do it and he’s in the denial I think he is, I believe the answer would be a serious therapeutic treatment. But that’s none of my business. Will you be all right?”

I sighed and nodded. His embrace felt comfortable and safe, exactly what I needed.

We remained seated, holding each other for a short while. Neither of us spoke, for we both dwelled in the silence.

Jared’s
cell phone rang and we parted. I decided I’d take a shower, get dressed and go over to Susie’s to carry out my part of her will.

Once I was set to go, I went to the living-room to let Jared know of my plan for the rest of the morning and possibly early afternoon. He agreed but told me he’d obviously join me, so I had to wait about twenty minutes until he was ready to go as well.

At Susie’s apartment, we ran into Ray, who was looking at photo albums, piling up the ones they appeared in together and the others separately. He nodded in acknowledgement at us, but wasn’t very sociable. I guess he was still upset at my interrogation, plus the emotional pain brought by going through Susie’s stuff.

I went to her bedroom and was surprised to find the bed was bare. Then I realized the police or crime scene investigators had probably taken the linens as evidence. Jared confirmed my suspicions.

I took a deep breath and looked around. Where to begin?

I decided to start with Susie’s jewelry
. We’d shared a passion for long, dangly, colorful, eye-catching earrings, so most of them I kept. I separated the ones I wouldn’t be taking back home with me and placed them in a small bag. I moved on to her walk-in closet.

I gazed around at the folded shirts, the hanging pants, skirts and dresses, the lined up shoes an
d boots, the piled up sweaters…Susie’s scent was still there. I had to blink repeatedly to keep tears from running down my face. Jared had realized I’d gotten upset, and he gently squeezed my hand to let me know I had his support. I nodded, took a deep breath in, and started going through sweaters.

Unfortunately, Susie often chose creamy or camel colored clothes; I say unfortunately because due to the fact that my skin color is very light, if I were to wear her clothes in winter, I’d look like the living-dead. I’m not the kind of person to go to a tanning salon in the middle of January, and I wasn’t planning on changing my habits just to keep Susie’s clothes. So most shirts
—except black, blue, and violet ones—were placed in the bag for goodwill.

Susie was skinnier than me, which meant her trousers and most skirts would be donated. Her dresses were magnificent and I decided to keep a couple that were a bit loose on her just in case I ever had the opportunity to wear them. I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense,
but I couldn’t dismiss Chanel and Givenchy.

Next came the boots and shoes. Manolo Blahnik, Christian Louboutin, Pr
ada, Jimmy Choo, Andre Perugia…I gasped. Not because I wasn’t aware of Susie’s shoe collection, God only knows how much she loved beautiful footwear; I gasped because I knew I’d have to let the shoes go…Susie’s feet were larger than mine. I pondered using cotton or thick socks, but I knew it wouldn’t work. Susie’s shoes would find another closet that wasn’t mine.

I grabbed a suitcase and Jared helped me put the clothes I wouldn’t be keeping in it. The shoes required four bags, and after picking only six purses
—Susie had many more, but they were huge, not really my style—, I placed the smallest inside the smaller, then inside the regular sizes, and finally into the biggest.

At around one, the clothes and accessories were packed. Jared, reluctant to leave me alone with Ray, called for Chinese delivery and we had our lunch there. Ray left before the food arrived; he’d already picked the things he wanted to keep, and he showed them to me to avoid me worrying if any of the items he’d taken had gone missing.

We parted on bittersweet terms; I promised I’d call him for the scattering of the ashes.

Jared helped me go over the limited CD and DVD collections; Susie wasn’t much into music
and didn’t have much time to watch movies, so she’d normally rent them instead of purchasing them. As I already had the CD’s and her movie taste was quite the opposite of mine, all those items were packed for goodwill.

I kept on going through Susie’s stuff and by four I was set. I called
Bill Morris to let him know; he thanked me and told me to leave the bags for goodwill in the apartment, he’d make sure they were delivered.

I went through Susie’s computer but found nothing relevant to anything; it was all work stuff. Her laptop, recently released from the police department, was just as useless. Of course, I wasn’t expecting a file filled with clues name
d
who killed me.doc
but some sort of hint might have been good.

Jared helped me carry the stuff I’d chosen for myself to my car, and then I went to Susie’s garage to get hers. A silver Lexus
RX beamed at me. I had no idea of what I’d do with it, but I decided I wanted it at my place. Jared checked for anything that could mean danger for me, and after reassuring me of the car’s safety, we drove over to my apartment, caravan style.

I unpacked the clothes and stuff as Jared spoke on the phone. He seemed concerned and very serious; I gathered he was talking with Aidan, but the topic of the conversation remained a mystery to me, due to Jared’s mumbling and Aidan’s lack of yelling.

After I was done putting everything in its new place, I stared at the new order and hugged myself. I needed the comfort of someone’s arms around me. I needed to feel love. Loved. But I didn’t know where I could find it. I went to the kitchen and prepared a cheese sandwich for Jared and one for me. I set the coffee-maker on, prepared two mugs with their respective spoons, positioned table-mats for two, and waited; Jared was still on the phone.

I poured the coffee, set the mugs and plates on each of the mats, and motioned Jared that
snacks were served. He nodded but looked somber. I could tell something was off, but I had no way of knowing until he told me.

Choosing to enjoy my sandwich and coffee, I pretended not to care; my mind drifted back to Susie’s apartment, now lifeless.

I had just finished my food when Jared entered the kitchen, forcing me out of my reminiscence. He looked at me with reluctant eyes; Jared was stalling the news. I stared at him expectantly, showing the urge I had of being informed.

“Your sister, Kelly, she’s been targeted.”

“Is she dead?” I asked, fear in my voice.

“No, she’ll live. She’s at the hospital now. Aidan’s already there.”

“Let’s go,” I stated before Jared had the chance to say anything else.

I grabbed the keys that belonged to the Focus, tossed them at Jared, and rushed to the elevator. He locked the door and we made our way down to the garage, into the car, and towards the hospital in silence.

Jared led me through the somber, quiet hospital hallway up to my sister’s room. I knew we’d gotten there because Aidan and a young policeman were standing outside the door, gazing around, waiting for Jared and I to arrive.

Aidan nodded at us and I sprang into the room. Jared talked with his brother and the policeman about the accident, while I was left to wonder what had happened; Jared hadn’t uttered a single word on the ride there, and neither had I. The mere fact that Kelly was alive and out of mortal danger was enough information for the time being. I wanted her to tell me what had happened.

Kelly lay on the hospital-bed, with an IV line sticking out of her left arm, her face badly bruised, her right leg in a cast and bandages over parts of her neck and right arm. I crept to her side, kissed her on the forehead and sat on a chair next to her. She was asleep, with a frown on her face. I placed my hand over hers and remained still, gazing at her.

After about half an hour, Kelly opened her eyes. She looked around wearily, confused, dazed.

“Sam?” Kelly asked with a broken voice. “What’s going on?”

“You’re in the hospital; there’s been an accident. Do you remember anything?”

Kelly breathed slowly. She closed her eyes and two fat tears rolled down her cheeks. I wiped them off with my free hand and pressed the other lightly.

“I…
I remember leaving my place in the morning, at around eleven. I was going shopping; I need a black dress for Sandy’s funeral, it’s tomorrow. I got to the garage and when I was a few feet away from my car, I pressed the alarm button, but…”

“But what, Kelly?”

“The alarm didn’t go off, so I pressed again, harder. My car exploded and the blast sent me flying against another car. The surrounding cars were pretty damaged too. I don’t know who could have done this, Sam. I’m scared,” Kelly whispered, looking straight into my eyes, more tears than I could wipe away flowing down her bruised face.

“It’ okay Kelly, you’re safe now. No one can hurt you here. You’re being treated for the injuries you’ve suf
fered; you’ll be as good as new,” I tried to ease her off her worries.

“Why did this happen to me, Sam? What have I done to set my karma off like this? Who could possibly want to harm me so violently? I won’t be safe until the detectives track down whoever did this to me.”

“It’ll be alright Kelly, just try to stay calm, okay?”

“Do you think it’s got anything to do with that package you received? Maybe our whole family is being targeted; we should warn Noel.”

“Kelly,” I said as soothingly as possible, “I’ve got no idea as to who or why could have done this to you; I’m sure the police will carry out the corresponding investigation thoroughly, and they’ll get to the bottom of it, but right now, you’ve got to rest and get better, okay? That’s all you should worry about; your priority has to be your well-being. Understood?”

Kelly nodded, blinking back tears. I could tell she was scared, and she’d probably find a way to turn this into a profitable situation for herself, but I didn’
t care; my sister had almost been killed, and this was a murder attempt too many. The police had to figure out who was behind this shit, whether it was all connected or not.

“I’ll go and talk to the detective now, so try to sleep, okay?” I said softly as I stood up; Kelly grabbed my hand and pulled me down with as much strength as she could muster, which wasn’t much.

“Did you call mom? I need her.”

“I’ll call her
now and make sure she’s here as soon as possible, okay?”

Kelly nodded, let go of my hand, and closed her eyes, attempting to rest. I met Aidan and Jared outside the room; the policeman had been sent to check the nurses’ schedule.

“We should go talk somewhere private. The policeman will guard the room to make sure Kelly remains unaffected. Let’s go over there,” Aidan said, pointing to a nearby door.

We walked quietly and Jared shut the door once we were in the room.

“Kelly told me she pressed the alarm button twice and her car exploded. I imagine that between the shock and medication she’s on, her narration lacks details and there’s probably more that you can tell me, right?” I looked at Aidan.

“Riley is already going over the crime scene. As soon as she’s done, she’ll call me and fill me in,”
he informed me.

I could tell something was off because Jared remained silent and somber; not that I expected him to jump or crack jokes, but the mood was clearly tense.

“What are you not telling me Aidan?” I demanded.

Aidan hesitated, looked at Jared and shook his head. Jared shrugged.

“If you don’t tell me, Jared will,” I stated, and Aidan knew I wasn’t going to remain ignorant about what was going on.

Aidan looked at me, clearly annoyed due to my pushing for information and his reluctant spilling.

“The fact that your sister was attacked and her survival are suspicious under the circumstances.”

“What circumstances?” I asked, confused.

“She’s a suspect in your assassination attempt. She knows Susan not only in a professional way, but on a personal basis. She was also close to Sandra; according to her own words, they were friends who hang out a lot together, and she’s admitted to knowing Sandra’s schedule and routine, which could complicate matters further for her.”

“Excuse me Aidan, but are you implying Kelly blew her own car up, just to make herself a victim?”

“I’m just saying it’s very convenient, Samantha. But that’s a theory; there’s no evidence, and Riley will be able to shine a light on Kelly’s situation, okay?”

I stared in awe. Jared
avoiding my gaze confirmed my suspicions that Aidan’s theory was more than that, it was what they were going after, what they expected was the solution to all the investigations that were going on.

I shook my head, bewildered. Kelly wasn’t one to go to such lengths; she loved herself more than anything or anyone else. The fact that she’d be bruised for weeks was a matter of depression for her, I knew it.

“Sam, listen to me,” Jared finally spoke, gently taking a hold of my arms and forcing me to look at him, “you can’t say a single thing of what Aidan’s told you to anyone. I know you want to clear your sister, but right now, keeping quiet is of the uttermost importance. You’re not supposed to know Aidan’s theories; if someone finds out you’re informed, the whole investigation will be ruined, understood?”

I thought about what Jared said. He
was right; I could blow the case in a matter of seconds, and that would stop Aidan, or anyone, from finding Susie’s killer if, in fact, it was the same person who had tried to kill Kelly. And me.

I nodded, but my ey
es showed my lack of enthusiasm regarding keeping my sister unaware of the police’s suspicions.

“I’ll carry out the investigation and let Jared know how things turn out. Meanwhile, you two keep up appearances. Try to avoid moving your sister to your apartment, it’ll be too risky. She’ll have to stay here for a couple of days but will be released into someone’s care.”

“I’ll call my mom and stepdad; they’ll either move to Kelly’s or move her to their place until she gets better.”

“What about your brother Sam?” Jared enquired.

“What about him?” I replied; Noel was the last person on my mind was on right now.

“Wouldn’t it be a good idea to have him take care of Kelly? If he’s forced to look after someone other than himself, he may sober up, at least for the time being.”

“Jared, I appreciate your efforts at making Noel change his ways, but just as he may sober up, he can fuck it up and end up hurting Kelly much more; Noel can damage her interior as much as her exterior, trust me.”

Jared nodded, understa
nding what I meant. Aidan looked at us; he knew what we were talking about because Jared had briefed him, and he was simply adding our conversation to his knowledge.

After a moment of silence, I sighed; Jared placed his arm around my shoulders, showing his support. I nodded.

“I’m ready to go. I’ll call my mom now and then I’ll stay here, if it’s okay with you,” I addressed Aidan, who nodded and stood back.

“The two of you better leave together; I’ll exit this room in a few minutes, in order to avoid drawing attention to the three of us as a group,” Aidan explained, and Jared and I, after nodding, left.

I phoned my mom and she completely freaked out, as expected. She screeched Rod and her would meet me in twenty minutes, and I tried to ease her fear of Kelly dying before she got there by explaining she was out of danger.

Once I’d hung up, I sat by Kelly’s side, even if she was asleep. Jared got me a cup of coffee and then sat on a chair by the door, gazing at us. And we waited for my mom and Rod to arrive.

I could tell they arrived at the hospital because my mom’s screams demanding to know where her daughter was gave her away. I exited the room; she spotted me and ran towards me. For a sixty-three-year-old, she’s in fantastic shape.

“Samantha! Where’s Kelly? Is she alright?” Rod asked, catching his breath.

“She’s in that room,” I replied, pointing at the corresponding door. “Kelly’s okay now, she’s a bit bruised and her leg’s in a cast, but overall, she’s fine.”

“Oh, my poor daughter! I was so worried when you called me Samantha,” my mom
whined.

“She’s resting now, but you can go in and sit by her side,” I suggested.

Rod led my mom into Kelly’s room and Jared subsequently left it. I’d forgotten he was still in there.

“They totally ignored my existence,” Jared said.

“Don’t worry, they’re simply freaking out over Kelly; in a few minutes I’ll probably have to introduce you to them.”

“I’ll be happy to meet them,” Jared replied, and I was slightly taken aback because he sounded earnest. “Anyway, Aidan’s gone back to the station to get together with Captain Nicholson, he sent me a text message. He’s going to call me as soon as Riley’s done.”

“That’s great news Jared; I only hope she’s rushing with this investigation, I don’t think Kelly would do it.”

“You really believe she’s innocent?”

“Yes, Jared. Do you think Aidan’s capable of committing a crime? Even if you don’t know him to the marrow?”

“But I know Aidan. He would never do anything wrong. Your sister is…”

“Yes, I know she’s superficial and honestly, sometimes I think she’s not the brightest light bulb in the room, but she’s not bad. I can tell you that much about Kelly, and I stand by my beliefs,” I said, not without guilt.

“Okay Sam, I can only hope your intuition is correct,” Jared said,
angst clear in his eyes.

I nodded reassuringly; before further words could be spoken, my mom and Rod exited Kelly’s room. Jared smiled courteously, extending his hand for my stepdad to shake; confused, Rod shook it.

“Hello, I’m Jared Davies, Sam’s boyfriend.”

“Oh, Sammy hasn’t mentioned dating anyone, excuse my
surprise. I’m Rod, Sam’s stepdad.”

“Yes, Sam’s told me all about you. And you must be Sara. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, ma’am,” Jared said, shaking my mom’s hand and flashing a dazzling smile; I think she fell in love with him right then and there.

“Sammy, you should have told us about Jared earlier. How long have you been dating?”

“A few months, mom. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything, I didn’t want to jinx it,” I explained.

“Okay, I forgive you. Now, moving onto more serious matters, what can you tell me about Kelly? I’ll go and get the doctor to fill me in, but it can be a while before I actually find him. Did he, or the nurses, tell you anything?”

“Kelly will remain under observation for a couple of days, but she’ll be released on Monday afternoon. She won’t be able to attend Sandra’s funeral. When she’s released, she
’ll have to go under someone’s care, Sara,” Jared explained.

“Thank you, Jared. Sara, we should bring her home,” Rod suggested. “Sammy is working and can’t take days off after the ones she asked for last week. You can take care of her during weekdays and I’ll help you out at nights, or I can ask for a few days off; either way, we’ll man
age, and it’ll be less of an imposition on Sammy.”

“That’s a great idea, Rod. I’ll help you move Kelly on Monday after I get off work. She’ll be sad because she won’t be able to attend Sandy’s funeral tomorrow; I’d like to go, so can you keep her company during the morning?” I asked my mom, and she nodded.

“I’ll go and talk to the doctor now, to know about the medication I’ve got to get for her,” my mom said, looking around.

“I’ll go with you, Sara,” Rod said, and after smiling tightly at us, they walked along the hallway up to a nurse and asked for directions.

Jared and I entered Kelly’s room and resumed our previous seating arrangement.

“Your mom is very nice,” Jared said, trying to start a conversation; I guess he wasn’t a fan of silence.

“Yes, she’s freaking out because Kelly is her youngest and she’s always sort of been her pet. Anyway, you enchanted her, Jared. Your alluring smile made her like you immediately, which trust me, is no easy task,” I teased.