Guilty By Association

Chapter 9 - Quandary

Chapter 9 – Quandary

 

The atmosphere in the room seemed to shift as soon as Alex made his presence known. Dylan immediately straightened up, taking a rigid, alert pose and the small smile that had appeared on Shay’s face vanished. Kelsey, on the other hand, smiled as soon as she heard Alex’s words.

“Really?” She asked, looking at Alex, expectantly. “You believe Kara’s innocent?”

Alex’s expression didn’t change. In fact, Kara slowly noticed, he wasn’t smiling. “She hasn’t been proven guilty.” He said, efficiently wiping the grin off of Kelsey’s face and ruining her sudden good mood. She just didn’t understand why Alex was being so difficult. Kara had told Kelsey everything. She believed her, too, and believed that Alex would too. She would have never brought her sister to him if she didn’t have faith in her innocence.

“Are you saying that you don’t believe that my sister is telling the truth despite having proven her innocence?” Kelsey dared to ask, despite being fairly certain that it was exactly the case. She felt a foreign anger growing in her chest and her eyes narrowed on Alex, noting that he was growing less and less attractive the more he talked.

“She’s only innocent until proven guilty.” Alex responded. Out of the corner of her eye, Kelsey noticed Shay and Dylan wordlessly slipped out of the door, leaving Alex and Kelsey to continue their discussion, privately. Kelsey was fuming, now.

“You think she’s guilty?” Kelsey questioned Alex with shock. “Didn’t you talk with her? Didn’t you listen to what she had to say?” Kelsey demanded to know. “You’re judging her because of something she had no control over. She doesn’t choose who she gets associated with.”

“I’m doing my job, Kelsey.” Alex said, breaking into Kelsey’s rant. Her eyes were wide and alarmed, but the way Alex looked at her calmed her a little bit. “Kara may be your sister, and you trust her, but trust me, you did the right thing by bringing her to me. Thank you.”

“She’s my sister, Alex. She can't be wrong.” Kelsey said, as Shay’s words slipped into her mind. People you trust tend to betray you more often than not. Kelsey shook her head, but she came to the short, sudden, and shocking realization that she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince Alex.

“You can't know that.” Alex’s voice was gentler than it had been. His eyes searched for Kelsey’s but Kelsey carefully maintained distance.

“Where is Kara?” Kelsey asked, ignoring Alex’s previous statement. His mouth slightly hardened in disapproval but he allowed Kelsey the space she was asking for, much to Kelsey’s relief. The more she tried to stay away from Alex, the more some invisible string seemed to pull her towards him.

“She went downstairs.” Alex responded. “She didn’t want to stay up here.”

Kelsey silently watched Alex for a little while, before uttering the question that was on her mind. “Why don’t you trust her?” Kelsey softly asked, not wanting to respond abrasively to Alex’s gentle approach. “You said you’re doing your job. Why do you think that Kara isn’t telling you the truth? Why do you think you know my twin sister better than I do?”

Kelsey came to the conclusion that there had to be a reason and she wanted to know what that reason was. Alex was surely no fool. He was a special agent. He was intelligent and it was his skill and intelligence that got him where he was, just like how Kelsey’s talent and hard work got her where she was.

This was his job. He was a professional. Instead of fighting with him, Kelsey needed to know why he said what he did.

“Can I ask you a question, Kelsey?” Alex asked, slipping into the chair Dylan had previously occupied. Not knowing when exactly she had gotten up, Kelsey returned to her chair, giving Alex a nod. “Did you see that black car come when they shot at you?” Kelsey’s eyes widened at the memory and her heart sped. “Don’t worry. Just focus on the event.”