In The Name Of . . . (Sequel to Fault Line) [Completed]

Chapter Fourteen

Richie and Lizzy have a conversation with their eyes before nodding. "Okay," Lizzy speaks, for the first time today. "A week is all you get, then we're finishing up this. I need to know, my curiosity is killing me."

"I feel ya there." I mumble, my hands awkwardly holding onto each other.

After Lizzy continues to tell me "a week and then that's it," Richie finally gets her to leave via the window. He follows right behind her, after nodding to me. I smile a little, watching as they walk away from my house.

I place the screen back into the window frame. Reaching under my bed, I grab the journal and the book. I open the book to the page I'm at and continue reading it.

The book mainly goes over the idea of murder in the year of 1882; the methods people used, how some of the criminals got away, and how some killed themselves afterwards. Also it talks about their death sentences in that time. So really there was a lot of deaths in that year that not many even remember it happened. Wow . . . this author must have done their research . . .

A car parks in Aunt Mallory's driveway around three in the afternoon. Two people in the front seats, an aunt and two sisters wondering and waiting anxiously inside the house, the youngest of the three couldn't help but keep glancing up the stairs towards my room, where I kept one of the biggest secrets I've ever had.

Jordan and Cecílie exit the car. She falls in step behind Jordan, letting him be the first one at the door. Doorbell rings. We all wait for a second before Aunt Mallory opens the door. Megan and I stand behind Aunt Mallory, trying to look over her shoul. The door opens and Jordan stands there wearing casual clothes; a dark colored t-shirt, pair of jeans, his brown hair messy but in the good way. Smiling, Aunt Mallory wraps him up in a hug, breathing in his scent. I don't blame her, I would too if my relationship was distant like that. Cecílie awkwardly smiles and stands behind Jordan. Instead of wearing the professional clothes I saw her in before, she wears more casual clothes but she definitely still does dress to impress. Which is good in meeting-the-family business. She wears a fancier blouse than a normal one would look like, a pair of jeans that shows off her curves, Her blonde hair straight and she seems to have gotten some low lights put in since the last time I saw her, overall, she's the kind of woman I would like to be when I grow up. Pretty, tall, and overly confident with my body and myself. Noticing her distress, Jordan grabs her hand and leads her into the living room, both taking a seat on the couch. Megan sits on the chair in the corner of the room right near the couch. Cecílie sits on the end of the couch nearest to Megan, Jordan in the middle, and Aunt Mallory sitting on the other side of Jordan. I sit in the chair where I was reading my book earlier, near the end table,which stands in between the couch and my chair.

"Aunt Mallory, Lana, Megan, this is Cecílie . . . my wife." Gasps, all I heard was gasps . . . then came the yelling.

"AND WHEN WERE YOU GOING TO TELL US?!" Aunt Mallory grabs Jordan's face.

"WHEN WAS THIS?!" Megan looks between the Cecílie and Jordan.

Cecílie blushes and sits completely still. I make eye contact with her, telling her that it's going to be okay, that they'll simmer down in a moment. I don't know if she got the message though . . .

As I predicted, Megan and Aunt Mallory calmed down after a few minutes. Jordan takes a deep breath and then begins his story. He tells them of his visit with Jane, they didn't take it too well but hey got through it. He goes on with his story, telling them that he asked Cecílie out in memory of Jane. And when he got to the part where he was proposing to Cecílie, he was starting to tear up. Cecílie leans into Jordan, rubbing his hands. Jordan places a hand over hers, stopping the rubbing. Hand in each other's hand, Jordan tells them why he didn't tell them and that remembering how happy we were as a family before made him come back into our lives.

Megan and Aunt Mallory ask him questions, I don't know what about, I kind of zone them out. Not before long the questions are towards Cecílie, she answers them politely, her accent sticking out plainly. By the way Megan looks at her, I can tell that Cecílie is now her new role model. Which is good. Megan needs to turn her life around before she's the newest star of 16 and pregnant. After a good forty-five minute interrogation between Aunt Mallory, Megan and Jordan and Cecílie, they announce that they have to leave.

Saying our goodbyes, I hug Jordan, whispering into his ear; "Thanks for this." He smiles down at me. Man, I really miss this. Jordan, smiling, happy, with us. Would have he still been close to us if Jane hadn't done what she did?

Two days after Jordan visited, I sit in my room. Jane's journal hasn't helped at all. After the third clue the rest of the pages after it are completely empty. I tried to see is she wrote in lemon juice or something invisible to the naked eye, nothing.

All I have left is the book that she had me find, and there's nothing of use inside of it, no information that popped out. Just freaking murder. Dropping the book on my bed, I hold my head in my hands. This isn't going to work, Lizzy and Richie are going to be returning in a few days and I need to wrap this up before we go off on Jane's mystery again.

I observe the front cover of the book. Brown, that if tilted right looks like leather, a bloody handprint which looks pretty cool on the cover. The title and the author's name is orange lettering that is perfect for the kind of book that it is.

"Hold on," I lean towards the book, the wording jumping off the page towards me. How could I not recognize that earlier? Wait, where have I heard that before?