Warning: Strong Language and Sexual References!
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When they got to Haven two hours later things seemed to have calmed down a bit. The fires had been put out and now it was just the deputies and volunteer fire department combing the area for clues. The house was still mostly intact, besides for a huge hole in the side, where the kitchen used to be. There were burn marks going up the side of the house and you could see that the inside was charred up a bit. Soot had mixed with the snow on the ground. The blackness of it made the scene look all the more eerie.
Thankfully, Ary's Aunt Charlotte wasn't at the scene. She hated Ary on normal days. There was no telling how much anger she would be feeling after her home had been completely destroyed. Even if it wasn't Ary's fault, everything was Ary's fault. Ary didn't blame the poor woman. She did have a bad habit of showing up when shit hit the fan. It was one of her least charming qualities.
The only family members that were there were her dad and Maddie. Things had been okay with her dad. They'd mostly just ignored everything that had happened with Garrett and she was perfectly okay with that. Admittedly, things were still awkward between them. Neither of them were big talkers and neither knew what to say to the other so most of their time was spent just mentioning the weather and what sports teams were doing well.
"Hey," Ary went up to Maddie.
Maddie turned around and immediately hugged Ary. Ary would like to say that she was capable of behaving like an adult, but that wasn't entirely the case. She didn't know how to return a hug to her sister so she just gave her an awkward pat on the back and let her arms drop to her sides. Maddie didn't seem to notice the awkwardness.
"Our family isn't bad, right?" Maddie sobbed on her shoulder.
"Um..." Ary didn't know how to respond to this.
"I mean. What did we do to deserve all of this? People are trying to kill us!" Her voice rose an octave as her last sentence turned into a hearty sob.
Ary still didn't know what to say. She could tell her sister that it was probably all Luke's fault for getting involved with a gang and then hooking up with their leader, but that probably wouldn't go over well. She could also make a snide little comment about their mother and aunt being nutcases, but somehow now just didn't feel like the appropriate time to be slandering her own family.
"Everything will be fine," Ary assured her. "I promise. We have everyone working on this."
"You do?" she sniffled, wiping at her nose.
"Yup. Sure do." Ary shot her a big smile, hoping Maddie wouldn't notice that she was lying.
It was believable that Chicago cops could be working on a bombing case in the middle of nowhere, right? It did pertain to gang related cases back in Chicago, didn't it? She honestly didn't know. She just didn't want her sister to cry all over her anymore.
"So, do we know anything at all?" she asked her dad.
In all honesty she would have liked to have avoided talking to him, but Maddie was too distraught to get any answers out of her.
"Same type of bomb as used at the Sheriff's Office," her dad answered. "Your uncle was the only one home at the time. He inhaled some smoke." It was all formal and efficient relaying of information. She appreciated that, even if she did wonder if it was because he didn't like talking to her.
"Poor Aunt Charlotte," Ary said and she meant it. Kinda.
The woman was already a high strung, nervous basket case. Then she had to deal with her son getting shot, her little brother being blown up, and now her husband. She didn't like the woman on good days, but she wouldn't wish this kind of stress on anyone.
Ary didn't stay to chit chat with her dad. He wasn't in the mood. He was just standing there, arms crossed, watching the emergency workers do their thing. His expression was unreadable. She liked to think she inherited that trait from him. Not being overly emotional and able to dissect a situation with a clear head. That was something that could be learned, wasn't it?
"You think they'll let us snoop around a bit if we say we're working with the Chicago PD?" Ary whispered as she walked back over to Rave.
He watched the firefighters and police deputies as they worked around the house. Every so often one of them would glance back to where Ary and Rave were standing. More than once one of them gave Rave a disgusted look and shook their heads. He didn't like to assume what people were talking about, but he figured it was safe to say that when they grouped together and nodded in their direction, they were probably talking about them.
"I think I'd love to see you try," he answered back.
"I went to school with one of the firefighters. He might talk to me," she mused.
River County didn't have a designated Fire Department. They had volunteers. The entire county had a total of two fire trucks and two ambulances. There were a total of fifteen volunteers scattered across the county who all took turns being on call. Five of the fifteen volunteers were out here, along with all four deputies from the Sheriff's Office. This was a big deal.
Ary approached the youngest person there. "Hey, Ben, how's it going?" she asked, in an overly cheery voice. She was acting like they had just ran into each other on the streets. Not by a house that had just had the kitchen blown out of it.
Ben had been in hers and Luke's class. He'd grown up in Haven too. She'd thought he had been cute. He had that boyish charm to him and brown eyes that reminded you of a puppy dog. He still looked like he was about twelve though. Hopefully he was still just as nice. He had kind of run around with Luke when they were in high school, but he went off to college and Luke didn't so they had a falling out. Still, it was hard not to know what was going on in everyone's lives in a town that small. You had to actively try to avoid someone to not see them or hear about their lives.
"Hey...Bella," he slowly answered her. He glanced around him to see if there was anyone watching them. He focused on someone over her shoulder. "Um, why are you here?" he asked, still staring over her shoulder.
"It's my cousin's house, isn't it?" she laughed. It was an obvious fake laugh. She was trying too hard to be casual.
"We can't really talk to family yet," he told her. "We don't know anything right now." It was a line that had probably been drilled into his head. The only thing he was allowed to tell family members.
"I'm not just family though," she said, as she dug through her pockets. She produced the badge that Detective Wilcox had given her a few weeks back. "I work with the Chicago PD. This is kind of one of our cases."
"Well, I'm not a cop so you'll have to talk to Greg. He's the one who's in charge," Ben said, nervously. He took a deep breath, glancing back behind her, before dropping his head and walking away from her.
Ary turned around. Rave was standing about ten feet away. His arms were folded across his chest, his mouth set in a frown, and his jaw tight. He looked very intimidating with his steely gaze. She could just imagine what other people were feeling when they saw his face. All she felt was annoyance, but she was used to his pissed off attitude.
"What are you doing?" she mouthed to him, throwing her hands in the air. He was scaring everyone away and making them less likely to talk to her. Even though she'd grown up with them. Rave just shrugged.
Ary was shaking her head and muttering under her breath as she stalked over to Greg Nordham. He was a fifty-year-old short, fat, bald man. He was the quintessential cop if she ever saw one. He only needed to be holding a donut to complete the image. He had lost against her uncle for sheriff in the last election. He sometimes seemed bitter about that. If this were any other day she'd have accused him of setting off the bombs, to get back at Jack, but she didn't think her conspiracy theories would be welcomed.
"Get out of here," were the first words out of his mouth. He's clearly a people person. "This is a crime scene."
"I just happen to be a cop," she replied. She brandished her badge. It was actually getting pretty fun to bring this thing out.
"This isn't your jurisdiction," he scoffed at her. He had the audacity to roll his eyes at her.
"It is if it pertains to the Bloodbath case," she challenged him, folding her arms.
"There's no indication that it pertains to those bastards so you can just leave," he dismissed her. He actually waved his hand in a 'shooing' motion.
"I get that you don't like me, but you can't block me from this case. Whether you like it or not, I am a cop," she lectured him. Okay, she wasn't quite a cop yet, but she didn't think it would hurt to embellish in this situation.
"If you're a cop, then you can call your superior and let him know you want to be notified if and when we call them for help," Nordham said, before walking away from her. He'd given her a very condescending look before he left.
"That bastard," she hissed as she walked back over to Rave. "Making me go through all these stupid channels. You'd think he'd want help with a high profile gang case. He doesn't have experience with that." She scoffed. He didn't have experience with anything. She never even saw him out on patrol. He was always sitting at his desk.
"He might be right," Rave said.
"What!?" Ary's eyes were huge. Rave didn't even know the man. Why was he agreeing with the fat bastard?
"Mason just text me. Garrett showed up at the club," he told her. He was watching her closely, a look of sympathy on his face.
"What?" Ary felt her heart stop. Then when it started up again it was like a jackhammer in her chest. She struggled to keep her composure. She glanced over to where her dad and Maddie were still standing. She wondered if they could hear Rave from all the way over there. "Why would he show up there? I thought I made it clear I didn't want to see him again."
"It has something to do with the bombings. He told Mason that he knew Jack when he was in the army," Rave shrugged.
Ary could feel herself starting to panic. Her heart was beating fast, she felt like she couldn't suck enough oxygen into her lungs, and her fingers felt tingly. Her whole body was starting to go numb. She was going to pass out. That's how she felt.
"Hey." Rave took her hand in his, bringing her back to reality. She looked up at him. His expression was kind, something she didn't see often. "We'll get through this. Everything will be okay," he assured her.
"What if this is all just a ruse? What if Garrett is just using my family's tragedy to try and weasel his way into my life?" she asked, panicking. She was starting to spiral a little bit.
"If he is lying then I'll beat the shit out of him," Rave promised her. "If you don't want to see him, I can have Mason kick his ass out of the club. You don't have to see him or talk to him."
Ary looked back at the charred house. The people combing the scene. Then she looked back to her dad and sister. Her dad had an arm wrapped around Maddie's shoulders. She was leaning against him, probably crying. She had been crying a lot in the last few months. Even more than usual.
Ary was the strong one in the family. Even when she wasn't, she had to be. Her dad wouldn't know what to do in this situation. He was an office guy. Her uncle was out of commission. Her mom had just disappeared, not that she'd be much help in a crisis anyways. It was up to Ary to take care of this. Garrett was her dad and she'd already been risking her life for the past few years. There was no need to bring her sisters deeper into it.
"No. We need to go talk to him," she finally admitted. "But I might still hold you to that offer of beating the shit out of him," she added as they got back into Rave's car.
"Okay," he smirked. "Do you want to say goodbye to your sister?" he asked, nodding in her direction. Maddie was watching them now.
"No. I can't talk to her right now. Besides, I'm sure she'll call me again," Ary sighed.
She needed to focus on Garrett right now. Focus on not losing her temper, on not crying. She was confident it was the temper part that she'd have the most trouble with. She was already thinking about punching him in the face. She wished he would just disappear like her mother had. That would make her life so much easier.
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A long awaited update. Sorry for the wait!