Chapter 18
Keisha stared at him in shock. “You’re saying that Kelly was driving?”
“No, I’m not saying that. I’m saying that, according to Cameron’s father, before he passed away, Kelly was driving.”
She stared at him. “Good God.”
“According to Richard, it was deemed an accident at the time. And I guess road conditions were not the greatest, or at least there wasn’t any reason for anybody to suspect anything else,” he clarified.
“The accident scene was a mess, as people had been busy trying to get them out of the vehicles because a fire had started. There also wasn’t a whole lot of information available, plus the scene had been rearranged, and it was just deemed an accident,” he reported.
She stared at him, and he could see that she was trying to process it. Then she started to shake her head, and he could see that some of the truths were starting to land.
“That”—she shook her head again—“that makes no sense.”
“Why is that?”
“Because, if Kelly was driving, that means she was at fault.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Jaxon clarified. “The weather was bad that particular evening. Maybe it was still just an accident, and maybe it was no one’s fault. I don’t know how old Kelly was back then, but I remember her as young. Would your parents have let her drive?”
She stared at him, grimacing. “She was trying to get her license. She had her learner’s permit at the time but didn’t have …” She shook her head. “Wait, she did have her license.” She frowned, as she corrected herself. “She had her license but didn’t drive very much.”
“And potentially maybe your dad had a drink at a meal wherever they were,” he suggested. “I don’t even know where they had gone that night.”
“I’m not sure I ever knew either. I just know they were all together.” She stared at him and muttered, “That really changes things, you know?”
“Does it?” He lifted his head.
The waitress arrived just then with their check.
He immediately placed his credit card on the tray, knowing Keisha was already too stunned to even contemplate what he was doing.
“I guess one of the questions that needs to be asked is what she meant when she was talking about guilt with you earlier.”
“But that would imply she remembers the accident,” Keisha noted, staring at him.
He just nodded. “She continually tells me that she doesn’t remember a thing.
Why wouldn’t she tell me?” He looked at her, raised one eyebrow, and she winced.
“Right, she wouldn’t tell me the truth because, in her mind, she would be forever guilty, and there would be no getting over that. ”
“I don’t know about not getting over it,” he added, “but it would certainly be a much harder prospect.”
She sucked in her breath and said, “I need to go home.”
He immediately got up and motioned for her to head out to their vehicles, just as the waitress came back with his card. He held up his hand to stop her, quickly signing for the charge to go through, then followed Keisha to the exit.
She just waved her hand. “I’ll go home and talk to her.
” When he hesitated, she looked at him and nodded.
“I know. I know. I need to wait until I’m less emotional.
I don’t want to accuse her of anything, but, if she was driving, the least she could have done was tell me.
I get that, in the end, it doesn’t matter because of her circumstances, but I also lost my parents that night,” she declared.
Jaxon heard the first note of bitterness from Keisha in relation to her sister. He nodded. “And that’s one of the reasons I wanted to find out the truth. We also need to find out if this is connected to those threatening phone calls.”
She nodded. “Good God,” she muttered, hanging her head. “Isn’t Kelly in a wheelchair punishment enough? How does this shit happen?”
“Because people don’t tell the truth, but then it starts to eat them up from the inside.”
She stopped at that, turning to him, her eyes widening. “You’re right. That could explain her behavior.”
“It might,” he conceded, with a nod, “but it’s still something that we’ll have to deal with.”
She gave a broken laugh. “I think everything is something I have to deal with. I just never quite get clear from one problem to the next.” He didn’t say anything, and, once they were at their vehicles, she looked at him and said, “I can’t have you there when I’m talking to her.”
“I understand that,” he noted, with a smile, “but just prepare yourself, as it’ll stir up an awful lot of issues for her.”
She winced at that and nodded. “And she could end up back in the hospital. She’s not far from ending up in the hospital anyway,” she pointed out. “She’s definitely not as stable as I would want her to be.”
“Maybe this is at least partly why. I doubt if she’s ever told anyone.”
“No, I doubt if she has either,” she whispered.
And, with that, he got into his vehicle and waited until she left, then followed her all the way, knowing it was for his own sake and for her safety.
He just couldn’t shake the feeling that, somewhere along the line, something had shifted, and there would likely be more of an awakening happening here than any of them anticipated.
When he got to her house, she waved at him as she pulled into her driveway. He waved back, and, seeing that she was safely home, he returned to the Haven.
As soon as he got inside the main cabin, Timber was still up and sitting in front of their scheduling whiteboards.
Timber turned to face him. “And?”
“I don’t know.” Jaxon shrugged, then explained all that he’d learned, including his visit with Richard, the call with Cameron, and his dinner talk with Keisha. “She’ll speak to Kelly about it.”
“Is that wise?”
“No, it’s probably not wise, but a lot of unfinished business is here.
Keisha even pointed out that, in all of this, she’s never been able to really deal with the loss of her parents because she’s never had a chance to grieve, not with all the Kelly antics,” he shared, with a shake of his head.
“Everything has always been about Kelly.”
“Right,” Timber muttered, with a nod. “That makes perfect sense.” Then he frowned. “I’m not liking this phone call thing though.”
“No, me neither. The fact that it’s likely a burner phone, which the police and Gregory both cannot trace, means that I’m just not getting anywhere.”
“Do you think the son had anything to do with it?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Jaxon stated. “Cameron’s still …
I don’t want to say angry, but he is bitter.
He didn’t seem to hold it against Kelly though, as she’s already got enough to pay for and to live with.
So, if she did have anything to do with the accident, or she had some responsibility involved in all three deaths, I think Cameron felt she has probably been punished enough. ”
“I’m not sure I’m against that either,” Timber muttered. “It’s just a shit situation all around.”
“It is, and we can’t make it any better until we figure out the truth.”
“It’ll be pretty ugly for Kelly to confess if she was driving because, up until now, it’s been believed that her father was at the wheel.”
“I know, and, if that’s not the case, I don’t know if the police would change their position or not on the accident report findings.”
“Hopefully it would still be deemed an accident, but I can’t be sure,” he acknowledged. “The repercussions of naming Kelly as the driver could be pretty horrific.”
Jaxon didn’t say anything to that. When his phone rang shortly thereafter, he looked down and saw it was Keisha. “Hey, Keisha. Are you okay?”
“Not really,” she declared, anger in her voice. “I’m back at the hospital.”
“Oh no, what’s going on?”
“She tried to commit suicide,” Keisha replied.
“I didn’t even get a chance to talk to her.
I came inside and thought she was in bed.
I decided to just leave it until tomorrow and wanted to take the dogs out, but they wouldn’t leave her door.
So, I went in to talk to her and found her on the floor.
She’d taken a bunch of pills,” she spat.
“So, here I am, back at the hospital, and this time we need to get to the bottom of it.”
“And this time,” Jaxon declared, “if she’s gone that far, you have grounds to make sure she gets some professional help.” He heard Keisha now crying through the phone. “I’ll come stay with you.”
“No,” she immediately replied. “I’ll end up here at the hospital the whole night.”
“No need to do that since the doctors will have her well in hand. She’ll be under constant watch, on suicide watch.”
“Yes, but I don’t feel as if I can leave her.”
He didn’t say anything and looked over at Timber and shrugged. Timber just nodded. “Okay, but call me if you need anything. Please, just … call me.” She thanked him between sobs, and then he disconnected.
Timber muttered, “That didn’t sound good at all, and I only heard your side of the conversation.”
“Kelly took all the medications she had at home,” Jaxon explained. “They’ve pumped her stomach, and, for now, she’s—”
“That was a cry for help,” Timber stated immediately. “Now maybe she can get it, in spite of herself.”
“I hope so. God, I hope so.” Jaxon stared at Timber. “What the hell is going on?”
“I know this is a tough question to ask and is even more insensitive now, but is there any chance that Kelly’s the one behind all these phone calls?” Timber asked him.
“I … don’t think so,” he muttered, frowning at him. “Yet I don’t really know that. I don’t know that she would even know how to pull it off, with the altered computerized voice and all.”
“If she didn’t know how, does she have anybody, any friends?”
“I have never seen or heard about a friend,” he replied. “So I don’t know if she does or not. Particularly after the accident. She’s been holed up at home all this time ever since.”
Timber pondered that for a long moment. “What about online accounts? That would be important to know about and to look into.”
Jaxon winced. “I don’t think Keisha would take kindly to that.”
“Maybe not,” Timber noted, “but, if you asked for permission, you can check if there’s something nefarious in her computer or her phone.
The fact that she’s already done what she’s done means that she could have an online group.
If she is as isolated as she appears to be, it’s quite possible she’s got somebody in an online group who isn’t doing her any favors. ”
“Crap,” Jaxon muttered, pulling out his phone. He walked several steps away, and, when Keisha answered the phone, he began, “I know this is an imposition and something that will sound absolutely horrible, but—”
“Cut to the chase, Jaxon.”
“Okay. Have you considered that Kelly could belong to some group online that’s doing her more harm than good?”
“I have considered it,” she admitted. “I just don’t know how to do anything about it.”
“You won’t like this, but what if I checked her computer and her phone?” Keisha gasped at that. He continued. “I know. It’s a total invasion of privacy, and I wouldn’t ask if we didn’t have such a major problem.”
“I don’t even know what to say to that,” she cried out. “She’s in the hospital.”
“And, for all we know, she could be in the hospital right now because of some online group.” Keisha started crying softly. Jaxon shook his head and sighed. “I’m not trying to put you on the spot, but there is a reasonable potential that she’s getting some really bad advice online.”
“It definitely sounds as if you’re trying to put me on the spot,” she replied, with some force in her tone, “but I do understand.”
He added, “I don’t know what to say or how else to get to the bottom of this, but we do have a major problem with Kelly now.”
“I get that, but she is just so very unhappy, that’s all. And considering her situation, it’s understandable. Maybe she just needs some time,” Keisha suggested. “Shit, what am I saying? Do you really think that’s possible? Jesus, what next?”
“In this case, we have a way to find out one way or another. For sure.”
“Some actual facts would be nice,” she agreed.
“Meet me at the house. You’re right. … We do need to get to the bottom of anything we can, and, if anybody will go through her stuff, it’ll be me.
She can hate me all she wants, but having done what she’s just done, I can’t ever leave her alone again, not without checking this out,” she stated.
“I’ll be back there in thirty minutes. Oh, shit.
Her counselor was supposed to come see her at home today.
I’ll call him before I forget all about it. ”
With that, he disconnected.
Timber nodded. “Not an easy row to hoe,” he said, “but you and I have both seen the results of these kinds of injuries.”
“I know,” he murmured. “And there’s been something so off about Kelly’s behavior this entire time.”
“And her responsibility for the accident could easily be a part of all this. Guilt is like that.”
“But then”—Jaxon turned to him—“who the hell is making all these phone calls?”
“Does she have access to your phone number?”
“I’m sure she’s had access to it somewhere along the line. She would only have to get a hold of Keisha’s phone to see it. And she’s bound to have done that.”
“So, keep that in mind.”
“Right, and that’s about the last thing I want to think about.”
“I get it, but still … keep that in mind.”
On that note Jaxon turned and walked out, heading straight back to town.