Note - The following chapter contains mentions of sexual assault, rape, underage drinking and drug abuse. Reader discretion is advised.
***
November 29, 2012
Thursday
8:35 p.m.
Dear Janet,
I finally called Amara's parents. I wasn't sure what they were gonna say or if they were even willing to help me out. Well, they can't help me out. Yet. Here's what happened by the way.
I told them my side of the story — how you changed after coming to Sacredmore, Ethan and his four friends, the videos I found on Thomas' phone, everything! They listened to everything I had to say and let me know that they can't help me until I give them solid evidence regarding my theories. However, they are willing to dig further and that's what counts, right?
They also suggested I infiltrate Ethan's friend group. My skin crawls at the thought of befriending that horde of vile, immoral human beings but I have to do everything to get the dirt on them. Evil fights evil, and to defeat them, I need to be twice as evil as they'll ever be. I need to keep my enemies closer and trust me, I've already started working on that.
The Annual Basketball Championship is in three days, and that will mark the beginning of their terror. They won't see it coming; I won't let them, and when they finally notice the threat, it'll be too late for them. I'll make things right Janet. Just trust me on this, okay?
I love you.
Your brother,
Jeremy
***
"You know who sent you this box, don't you?" I ask Archie as he sits across from Aiden and me. The box with presumably Thomas' severed hands in it has been sent to the lab for examination and identification. The fact that it's way past our shifts ended doesn't bother me. I need answers, and if I don't get them, I'll extract them from Archie however needed.
"Mister Gardner, just answer the question," Aiden follows. "Do you have any idea who could've done this?"
Archie swallows the lump in his throat and looks at Aiden and then at me. He is scared to look at me, perhaps because he recognizes me from Sacredmore High. Then he knows I'm not here for lies.
"Janet Holloway," he mutters, "I think she's behind this."
"Who's Janet Holloway?" Aiden asks just to lead him on.
Archie gulps before beginning the explanation. "Janet was dating Ethan back when we were juniors at Sacredmore High. She was friends with his three friends, one of which was me."
"Friends don't send each other dismembered body parts, do they?" Aiden says, raising an eyebrow, trying to force the truth out of Archie.
"No," Archie says, "but...things didn't end on good terms between Janet and the four of us before she took her life ten years ago."
"Janet didn't die by suicide," I raise my voice at him. "You killed her. The four of you killed her!" I was about to get up from my seat to yell further but right then, I felt Aiden's hand on my knee as he gave it a light squeeze. The expression on his face told me to calm down. He's the senior. He knows better, which is why I decide to control my anger...for now.
"You're right," Archie says quietly, "the four of us killed her."
Aiden lifted his hand from my knee and leaned into the conversation. "Mister Gardner, that seems like a confession."
"Because it is one!" Archie emphasizes. "I'm sick of pretending we had no role in Janet's death when we were the ones who caused it."
"Tell us everything," I order. Archie looks at me for a fleeting moment with an apologetic gaze which I'm still not sure is quite real, before finally beginning his tale.
"Ethan was Janet's knight in shining armor when they first met. He defended her against bullies who insulted her for her background and hence came across as her savior. She was instantly smitten by him," Archie explains.
"Did Ethan feel the same way for Janet?" asks Aiden and Archie shrugs.
"It was difficult to understand at the time. I had never seen Ethan be so happy and...in love!"
Damn good of an actor he was, I think to myself.
"He even asked her out by making her a bracelet made of roses!" Archie says and Aiden and I share a look. Ethan's wrists had ligature marks on them, resembling those of thorns. Janet must've been sending a message!
"So, they started dating after that?" Aiden asks and Archie nods.
"Thomas and I became best friends with Janet and her friend Paul," he continues.
"Paul?" I mumble. "He wasn't a part of the original group?"
Archie shakes his head. "Paul and Janet were the two scholarship students that joined Sacredmore that year. Paul was happy that Janet was happy to have us around. He was her only friend at Sacredmore before the three of us came in. Before we knew it, we were hanging out more often than not. Sneaking out and going on long midnight drives, getting high in our rooms, smoking joints, and blacking out, life was good, man!" He looks exhilarated for a second as he reminisces about the past, before falling quiet out of nowhere. Like there was an intervention in his perfect life.
"Something went wrong, right?" Aiden asks him and a pause later, Archie nods. "Tell us," Aiden insists.
Archie takes in a long, deep breath and starts again. "It was New Year's Eve, another one of the nights of getting wasted, but things went a little too far this time..."
He pauses again, longer than before. I know what's about to happen, and yet, I need to hear it from the bastard.
"Talk!" I snap. He shudders against my voice and from the corner of my eye, I can see Aiden looking at me.
Archie swallows and then begins again. "The alcohol knocked Janet out that night and Ethan took that opportunity as one of his conquests. He passed a signal to Thomas and...they had sex with Janet while she was unconscious."
"I don't think sex is the right word, Archie," I say, clenching my jaw, picturing how horrifying it would've been for Janet. How her body was taken advantage of that night by people she trusted. And to think this is the reality for thousands of women every day is what sickens me the most. How women are the ones to suffer for these monsters' actions, while said monsters roam around freely, unscathed, unharmed.
"Where were you and Paul when that happened?" Aiden asks with a hardened jaw and folded arms. His face is reddening just like mine.
"Ethan asked me to record as they..." Archie stumbles again.
"And where was Paul?" Aiden asks.
"He was...watching."
"With interest?"
"No," Archie answers, "he was frozen seeing what they were doing to his best friend."
"Did Janet find out what you four did to her?" I ask.
"Yes," Archie says. "After Janet woke up that morning, she realized what had happened. Ethan threatened to leak the sex tape if she ever told anyone about it."
"So, Ethan never went on to violate Janet anymore?" Aiden asks.
Archie meets his eye and shakes his head. "Things only got worse."
"How?"
"Ethan would use the recording to blackmail Janet into giving him what he wanted. He didn't hesitate to drag us along," Archie explains.
"If you were so repulsed by all of this, why didn't you back off? Why didn't you take Janet's side?" I ask.
Archie looks at me and sighs. "It wasn't as easy as it seemed. If Ethan found out I was conspiring behind his back, he wouldn't have hesitated to kick me out of his friend circle."
"So you let an innocent woman suffer just because you were afraid to lose your posse?" I scrunch my eyebrows, wondering how oblivious of an accomplice he is.
"Not just that!" Archie exhales before turning to look at me. "Ethan was evil. He'd brainwashed everyone into believing he was the good guy. If I turned on him, the world would turn on me. That's how powerful he was. Besides, he came from the kind of wealth that I can only imagine. His parents were...are billionaires, and it's a fact that that sort of wealth can't be earned by moral means."
"But one person did go against Ethan, right?" Aiden asks, tilting his head to the side. "Jeremy Holloway, Janet Holloway's brother?"
Archie gives us a surprised gaze like he didn't expect us to bring Jeremy up. "Ye...Yes, he did."
"And what happened to him? So far as we know, Jeremy's family perished in a car accident and his body was never found. Did Ethan or Ethan's parents have anything to—"
"Look Detective, I'm not sure about what happened to Jeremy that night..." Archie says. Archie fiddles with his fingers, not meeting either of our gazes. It's a white lie that both Aiden and I can see through.
"Mister Gardner, if you're worried about going against Ethan's parents, I'd like you to know they aren't the threat in this scenario. Janet is, or at least that's what seems like it, and if don't tell us everything, we can't guarantee your safety," Aiden explains in a calm voice that produces a shift in Archie's features.
"Given you're definitely next on her hit list," I say, adding fuel to the burning fire.
Archie contemplates for a second, taking his face in his hands and taking deep breaths, before finally raising his head and answering, "I'm not sure what happened because Ethan wouldn't tell me anything about it but it was senior prom night when the incident occurred."
I recall being at their senior prom. Diana was Ethan's date and she brought me along as a plus one.
"I noticed Ethan and Paul missing from the crowd. Thomas had no idea where they were either and he told me to brush it off. But I had a gut feeling that something wasn't right. It was only the next day that I found out what happened to Jeremy's family."
"So Ethan and Paul never told you where they were that night?" I ask and Archie answers with a shake of his head.
"Wait, why Paul? Why not Thomas, his best friend, or you? Paul was the last to join your group, then why did Ethan trust him over you both?" Aiden asks and that even puts me in a state of confusion.
Archie shrugs. "Ethan had seen the way Paul betrayed Janet. He was willing to do everything just to be in Ethan's good graces, so Ethan exploited him. Paul was his closest buddy now."
And that is pretty much all the information we needed from Archie. Aiden lets him know he'll try to put him under police protection, which not gonna lie, irks me just a little bit. I know I'm supposed to be on the side of the law, but a part of me wishes him to pay for his actions. I can't stand Archie knowing what he's done.
"Thank you for your cooperation," Aiden says, shaking Archie's hand as the three of us get to our feet. I walk into the elevator without saying goodbye to the friend of two fucking rapists. It's unprofessional, I know, and I know I'm letting my emotions get the best of me, but who cares? It's not like Archie is in a position to demand better reception.
A minute later, Aiden joins me in the elevator and soon, I'm in his car as he drives me back to my apartment.
"So what should we do about him?" I ask Aiden who glances at me for a second before turning back to the road.
"About Archie?" he asks.
"Yeah."
"What about him?" he asks and I give him a bewildered look.
"Well, we can't just let him go that easily, right? He is one of the people behind Janet's death and he even confessed to everything. We need to do something about that, right?"
"What do you expect to do in this case, rookie? You want to file a case about a death that happened ten years ago?" he says.
"No, but, I mean—"
"Janet is gone, rookie, and so is her family. The only reason we're looking for her is because someone is pretending to be her and is doing these murders in her name. My bet is on Jeremy. Moreover, we're assigned to the case of Ethan's murder, not Janet's suicide."
"It wasn't a suicide!" I interject.
"Fine! I get it. It wasn't a suicide, but that doesn't change anything! What happened is behind us now, and the only thing we have control over is the present and that includes finding the killer and bringing them to justice," Aiden yells the same nonsense to me that I know against my better judgment, but that doesn't mean I'm the one to listen.
We drive the rest of the way in silence and when we finally pull over to my apartment and I get out of the car, I say to him, "No one ever fought for Janet." With that, I slam the door shut and march over to my apartment's elevator.
Behind me, I hear Aiden unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out of his car but before he can catch up with me, the elevator door closes and I start ascending.
Inside, I recall the only person who fought for her. Jeremy Holloway, her brother. Jeremy and I weren't exactly friends, nor were we, enemies. However, I always wanted him to investigate Janet's death because no one else would. He once asked me for my parents' number just to ask them for help on Janet's case. They wouldn't tell me if they agreed to it or not, but I secretly knew they did. They wouldn't let go of a case like this one. They had a daughter after all. They would understand the pain of another daughter as well.
If digging into Janet's case was what led to their deaths, I want to honor them by discovering the whole truth myself. It is what Janet deserves. It is what my parents would want from me.
I look for my keys in my bag just as the elevator dings to a stop. Getting off, I walk towards my apartment when suddenly, a hand grabs my wrist.
I turn around, clutching the keys in my palm and aiming to claw at the face I'll get to see, except doing so might get me fired.
"Aiden?" I yell, loosening my hold on my keys. He must've taken the stairs to come up to the fourth floor, but why? "Wha...What do you want?"
"Look," he says, still panting and trying to catch his breath, "I'm not heartless, okay?" He gulps. "I want to find out what happened to Janet and Jeremy, but I feel we should handle what we have on our hands right now."
I gawk at him. "You climbed all those stairs just to tell me...this?"
He furrows his eyebrows at me. "Yeah?"
"You couldn't have said it over a call?" I ask.
His jaw hinges open and he scratches the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well—"
"Begone, Satan!" The door to my apartment suddenly bursts open and out comes a raging Sadie, holding a saucepan up to hit Aiden but she stops just as she sees Aiden hand gripping my wrist even now.
Aiden lets go of my wrist when he notices and shoves his hands in his pockets. Sadie takes turns looking at the both of us with wide eyes before saying in the most threatening voice she can conjure, "Get away from my sister right now or our three brothers will come for you, you understand? They're inside watching the game." She motions to the ajar door behind her and on the other side is playing a Taylor Swift song from her latest album. Definitely not 'the game'.
I sigh before introducing the two of them to each other. "Aiden, this is my roommate Sadie, and no we're not sisters. Sadie, this is Aiden, my partner at work, and no he's not some intruder."
Sadie nearly drops the saucepan as she registers my words. She looks up at Aiden who reciprocates her confused gaze. A second later, however, she has heart eyes in place of regular ones.
"Oh, I..." she stutters, "I didn't know that..." A long pause follows as Sadie stares at Aiden with stars in his eyes like he's the most marvelous thing she's ever seen.
"It's...okay. I understand how you could've been mistaken," Aiden says, smiling at her, two small dimples forming at the lower corners of his face.
Out of nowhere, Sadie grabs onto me. "I'm sorry but can you please wait here? Amara and I have something to talk about in private." She gives him a wide grin and before Aiden can respond, she drags me into the apartment and closes the door, keeping only a thin gap between it and its frame.
"When you told me your partner invited you to an opera, I was expecting some sixty-year-old dude with white hair and four grandchildren and not some..." she pauses and turns to the gap in the door, through which Aiden can be seen pacing back and forth, "smoking hot chicken pie straight out of a fucking oven!"
"Okay Sadie, you gotta get better at your metaphors," I say, taking her by the shoulders and making her face me again.
"Oh shut up about metaphors, you have to shoot your shot!" she squeals.
I narrow my eyes at her. "There's no shooting shots here, Sadie."
"Oh please, I was whoring myself out at your age."
"Sadie, you're only a year older than me and have been dating Javier from the time you were in high school!"
"Fine, I was whoring myself out to one person, but you haven't even done that!" she raises her voice and crosses her arms against her chest. "I don't think I've ever seen you holding hands with someone."
"Okay, that's enough. Now, I want you to go out there and apologize to Aiden, alright? He nearly avoided a concussion for fuck's sake!"
"Ooh, a little over-protective, aren't you?" Sadie whistles, teasing me like a kid.
"It's called humanity; I suggest you search it up," I reply.
Sadie groans, slumping her shoulders before saying, "Promise you'll shoot your shot?"
"No shooting shots."
"But—"
"No buts. Come with me and apologize," I say, stern as ever. I feel like the aforementioned kid's mom.
Sadie huffs and frowns at me but gives in anyway.
"I'm sorry about almost hitting you with my saucepan," she tells Aiden once we're standing outside our apartment. "I thought you were a burglar, or worse, a murderer, haha!" She laughs and Aiden joins in with an awkward chuckle.
"I get where you're coming from," he says. "Crime rates are soaring every day."
"Oh my god, you're so right," she says and laughs a little too hard. Sadie is laughing forcefully, there's no denying that. She does that when she's nervous, I have no idea why because it only makes the conversation more awkward.
Once the laughs die down, Aiden speaks, "I think...I should go now." He then turns to me, "See you tomorrow morning, rookie?"
Sadie squeezes my hand, digging her nails deep into my skin just as she hears Aiden's nickname for me. Her face is the reddest shade of red I've ever seen and she's struggling to keep her swoons to herself.
"Yup," I say.
Aiden waves us both goodnight before disappearing into the elevator. Sadie gives him a never-ending wave till the elevator doors close with a ding. She then turns to me and gives me a death glare.
"I'm giving you pick-up lessons starting tomorrow."
"Sadie, no—"
"I'm not hearing a word," she says, turning on her heel and walking back into the apartment.
I follow her inside and lock the door as Taylor sings from the other room.
"What if I told you none of it was accidental..."
***
The next day, I go to church to meet up with Father Eddard. I look up to him when I'm faced with tough situations like these. Back when he was a counselor at Sacredmore, I reached out to him for help after Janet's death. We talked and I remember for the first time, I felt heard. For the first time, someone truly understood what I was going through. Looking back at it now, I don't even remember why I reached out to him in the first place. It was because I was affected by Janet's death but I don't remember any particulars.
"Amara, good morning!" he greets me as I walk in.
"Morning, Father," I reply, forcing a smile that he notices as well.
He squints and says, "You look worried. Is everything okay?"
I clear my throat and look around, trying to come up with an appropriate response. "What is your opinion on revenge murders?"
The question takes him by surprise. He lets out a low chuckle. "Whoa uh, I certainly wasn't expecting that."
"Too direct?"
"No, it's fine," he says and takes in a deep breath. "Well, I certainly don't condone them. Murder is a sin despite whatever leads up to it."
"What if the murderer has every right to commit such a sin?" I ask.
He glides his thumb along his chin which has a slight white stubble growing on it. "No one has enough of a good reason to commit such a sin," he answers and I sigh.
"What if their entire life has been—"
"Proverbs 20:22," he interrupts, "Do not say, 'I'll pay you back for this wrong!' Wait for the Lord, and he will avenge you."
I have never believed in God as Father Eddard does. I gave up on Him years ago. Religion gives people something to put their faith in and wait for someone to salvage them, but if I were to be like them, I'd have to simply spend my whole life waiting. I refuse to sit around and wait for the perfect opportunity to come to me. Perhaps that's a point of difference between him and me.
"Is it wrong that I believe revenge murders don't always have to be sinful?" I ask. A corner of Father's lips rises in a smirk as he shakes his head.
"We're all free to believe what we want. And as for you, Amara," he says, following it up with a short pause before continuing, "you have a fierce soul. You've had it all your life. Maybe it's what you got from both of your parents. They were just as fierce as you are, you know?"
I smile, knowing very well what he's talking about. "I do," I answer.
He nods, walking down the aisle. "And within that fierce soul, is hidden anger. A lot of it," he says, his voice reverberating in the empty church. "You're still hung up about your parents' accident and given how no one wanted to look into the accident, you feel that it was no accident, am I right?"
I part my lips in hopes of denying everything he just said but I can't form words.
Father Eddard turns to me now, tilting his head slightly to the side and throwing me an empathic gaze. "I don't know if you let your emotions determine the choices you make at work, but all I want you to know is that I have faith in you, Amara. Your parents do too. A part of their soul lives on in you, and that part wouldn't want you to make a choice you would regret."
I breathe in slowly, taking in everything he's just said. He's right, I shouldn't let my emotions push me away from finding the truth and helping the ones in need. That's all that matters to me. I don't want to have any regrets.
I thank Father Eddard and walk out of the church, feeling a little better about myself when I hear a familiar voice call out my name. Turning around, I notice Diana standing in the shadows next to the church building. She's wearing an oversized hoodie and sunglasses that make her nearly unrecognizable.
"Diana, what are you—"
"I have to tell you something about the Covingtons," she whispers and I walk towards her.
"You can come down to the station if you have any information about the case," I inform her and she shakes her head.
"I can't!" she sneers and scans the area for any people. It's still quite early in the morning for people to be bustling the streets. "Look, I can't let anyone know I'm helping you out by going against the Covingtons, alright? And unless I'm losing my mind, I can feel people following me everywhere I go, people looking at me through my apartment windows and I know it's people hired by Ethan's family, okay?"
I widen my eyes at her, my jaw opening in shock. "Diana, you're being stalked."
She shushes me and asks me to keep it low. "It's fine, I'm used to paparazzi following me around so it doesn't make much of a difference but I came here to tell you that the Covingtons are planning to sell their Valenchester house and move to Texas."
"What?" I gawk out of bewilderment. "Where did you get that news from?"
"A friend of mine is a real estate agent. The Covingtons contacted him a few days ago regarding their property and how they're planning to sell this house," she explains.
It makes little sense at first glance, but the more I think about it, I realize Ethan's death may not be as simple as a revenge murder. His parents are billionaires, I remember Archie's words, and it's a fact that that sort of wealth can't be earned by moral means. The question remains, where does that morality end? And what does it have to do with how far they are willing to go to hide their secrets?
***
AUTHOR'S NOTE
What are your thoughts on this chapter? Let us know in the comments section down below!
Sorry for the late update. This was a pretty big chapter hence it took longer to complete. Who do you think is behind Ethan's death? Janet, his family or both or neither? Whose side is Amara going to take? Keep guessing and reading on!
Until then, goodbye,
-Adrianna