Chapter 28
Serenity
I felt a sudden feeling like someone is watching me, but when I turned around all I saw were the cars on the street. The one that I clued in on was a tinted out town car. There wasn’t a way that I can see who was in that car, but it still didn’t help the uneasy feeling that I was getting. After the car drove off, I headed inside.
After I got the food put away, I sat and started to think about everything that I learned today. Pretty sure Claire killed both her husbands. She used something that couldn’t fully be traced. Theo had suffered major trauma from his car accident. He was also going to be a doctor—I could see that. Still didn’t know a whole lot about Simon.
I grabbed my computer and started to search for things that wouldn’t show on toxicology screens. There were so many things. Holy shit.
I started to think about what was next because I was hitting a dead end. I needed to get into her house to see what I could find. I also needed to find Theo and tell him to stay away from her. But he didn’t have his phone. I took my computer one more time and started to search for her address.
After about twenty minutes of searching, I thought I found it. It was not too far from here. I did a search on Google and realized it was about a thirty-minute walk. I didn’t want to take a cab because I didn’t need any evidence about what I was about to do. I grabbed what I needed—which wasn’t much—then I headed out. I got outside and I paused. I started to feel uneasy about this whole thing, but I knew what I needed to do. I needed to catch this psycho so she didn’t hurt anyone else. I took a deep breath and started to walk in the direction that my phone was taking me when it rang. Goddamnit. I saw that it was Simon.
“Hello?” I heard some sort of sound on the other end of the phone. What the fuck was he doing?
“Serenity? It’s Simon.” Obviously.
“I know, what’s up?” I heard something crash.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I heard mumbled words now.
“We need to find Theo. I got a call from one of my CIs and he said that Theo overdosed earlier today. Shit!” There went another crash.
“Okay? Do you have an idea where he might be? I don’t think he has his phone. What the fuck are you doing?” I waited for him to answer.
“I’m looking for my files on Claire. I had them earlier, but I don’t know where they went.” That didn’t sound right. He didn’t sound right.
“Are you drunk?” There was another long pause, then a heavy sigh.
“I may have had a drink or two. I’m fine. I need to find that file so I can tell you what I found.” I couldn’t deal with this guy right now.
“You need to get some rest. I got this. I have a lot of information on her so far. I just need to find one more thing. I’ll call you later with what I find.” I needed to hang up with him. I already had enough shit with his brother.
“I’m not resting. I need to help my brother. I can’t lose him.” I sighed this time.
“I get that more than you know, but you can’t help him in the state that you’re in. I think you need to dump the rest of your drink and rest. I will call you if I get anything. Okay?” I heard what sounds like something draining.
“Okay. I can’t lose him Serenity, please promise me that you will find him.” I couldn’t promise him, because I didn’t know if I could save him.
“I’ll do what I can.” I hung up before he could say anymore. I started to get flashbacks of my brother on our last days together. I remembered telling myself then that I could save him and that everything would be all right. I was so naive back then. Life doesn’t work the way that you want it to. You have to be able to make life the way that you want it and accept that things will not go the way that you want it to. Death happens just as much as life. Sometimes more. You just have to be able to be okay with that. Something in my stomach turned at the thought of losing someone else that I cared about. I didn’t lie when I told Simon that I would try my best because I would. That”s what I did.
I wiped my hands down my face and breathed in the night air. Time to get focused again. I got this. I grabbed my phone and looked down at it to see what direction I needed to go. I looked up and had to force myself to move my legs. I looked at the time and realized by the time that I get there she might be asleep so that I could sneak in. This was the most drawn out walk I had ever taken. It was as if I was dreading what I might find when I got there. Get your shit straight, I told myself.
I always felt so calm and collected in the courtroom but here and now I almost felt broken because I didn’t know if I was doing the right thing but something in my gut told me I was. This was definitely not the wonderful vacation my boss intended. Or was it? I fell for the guy with some serious damage. And now I was trying to figure out if there was a serial killer running around and trying to kill said damaged man I was in love with. I was in love with him. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around that.
I knew I was getting closer when I started to see these houses that would put my house back home to shame. What did you do with all of that space? I sure as shit wouldn’t be cleaning it, that was for sure. I took another turn and saw the house that I was looking for right in view. I saw the numbers right on the front. There were a lot of lights on her front step, so I couldn’t go that way. I kept my eyes clear to make sure that no one was watching me stalk around this house.
When I made it to the back, I saw some lights on upstairs and glanced up. Holy shit. Theo was standing in the window, looking out into the dark. He had this blank expression on his face that made him look like a robot.
Fuck! Why is he here? My stomach was knotting up and I felt like I was about to get sick. If she so much as put another mark on him, I swear I would kill her myself. I had to force myself to look away. I went for the back door, hoping she was up there with him. Yet there was a part of me hoping she wasn’t. I almost tripped over a planter that was near her door and I looked down.
“Purple berries?” I said out loud. I kept looking at them because I had seen them before but couldn’t place them. Whatever. I grabbed the handle and lucky me, it was already open. Time to get this party started.