Guilty By Association

Chapter 12 - The One Who Got Away

Uncalled for? Kelsey’s lips were still tingling from his touch and she could barely feel the aching of her head anymore. No, everything in her was solely focused on the FBI agent who had just…kissed her? Kelsey was beyond confused and she didn’t know why.

“I…” Kelsey’s voice trailed off, having no idea what to say, and thankfully, she didn’t have to because they were interrupted with the return of the paramedic followed by a very powerful-looking man.

He was tall, Kelsey noted. Aged, but still very authoritative, like Professor Abram, the head of the math department at Long Beach. “Agent Gary Burke.” He introduced himself, holding his hand out to shake. Kelsey took the icepack off her head and slipped her ice cold hand into his.

“Kelsey Winters.”

“You’re quite lucky, Miss Winters.” Agent Burke said. “Not many people run into Caleb Rocha the way you did, and survive. Just look at Agent Granger.”

An image of Dylan flashed through Kelsey’s head as he came through the window. He saved her life. “Is…Is he okay?” Kelsey’s eyebrows furrowed with concern. “He…saved my life.” The words slipped out before Kelsey could stop them. “He got shot. Kara shot him. She was going to shoot me.”

“Can you give me a report of everything that happened?” Agent Burke glanced over at Alex. “Agent Diaz will write it all down. Will you do that, Agent Diaz?”

“Yes, Sir.” Alex obeyed. “I’ll do it right now.”

Agent Burke nodded and left. “Good.”

Once he was gone, Alex turned to me, taking out a piece of paper to write her statement down. “What happened, Kelsey?”

At his question, Kelsey delved into the story, starting with the photograph she’d found in Kara’s wallet. She pulled out her cell phone, which was still in her pocket, and showed Alex the photograph. “Then, I put the photo back in the wallet and I decided to return it to Kara.” She told him how she drove back to their dad’s house just in time to see Kara leaving. So then, she told him how she followed her. “I called you while I was following her, but you didn’t answer.” She added, accusation seeping into her voice.

“You called me while you were driving?” Alex asked, disapproval clear in his voice.

“I was careful.” Kelsey defended herself. She told him how she parked her car a few streets down and buried her keys. That had been when Alex called. “They were having a party in there. I wasn’t going to go inside. I just needed to see what was going on. I wanted to make sure Kara was okay.” Then, she told him about how Tiger caught her and thought she was Kara and dragged her inside when he heard the police sirens. At this point, her voice started shaking as vivid images started flashing through her mind. “I saw him.” Kelsey said. “Caleb Rocha. He was with Kara.” Her voice cracked as an image of Caleb and Kara together flashed through her mind. “She told me she was in love with him and then…” Kelsey gulped, as an image of Kara holding the gun up towards Kelsey flashed through Kelsey’s head. “Caleb told her to shoot whichever one of us she loved less.”

At that, Alex’s grip on his pen tightened and Kelsey thought she saw his hand twitch towards his gun. “Then what happened?” He urged.

Kelsey realized that she was crying. She reached up and wiped her tears, trying to get a hold on her sobbing when Alex’s hand held her shoulder in a comforting gesture. Kelsey took a deep breath and continued. “She raised her gun and pointed it at me. She chose him over me.” Kelsey was shivering at this point. This was undeniably the most traumatic experience of her life and what set it off was that her own sister had caused it. “Then, Dylan came crashing through the window and Kara shot him, instead.” Kelsey’s throat tightened. “He saved my life, Alex. They said he’s in the hospital. Is he okay? Is he…is he going to make it?”