Gabby.
"Felix?" I blink back tears as my head shakes frantically. "No way Jax, he's an asshole but he would never hurt Zo. Or Courtney..."
His knuckles are completely white as he clutches the varsity jacket. I didn't even know Felix owned one of those. He was on the varsity team and it was in his closet. The patch of green felt that they found stuck to Courtney's ring, it was a pocket. The pocket of my brother's jacket.
Oh my god Felix, what the fuck did you do?!
"Gabby, give me your phone." He holds his hand out and motions his fingers for me to hand it to him.
The voicemails continue to play but I'm not even listening to them anymore. I hold the phone to my chest with hesitation. "Why? Jax, what are you going to do?"
"Just give it to me." He takes a deep breath and I know he's trying to keep his anger at bay. I don't argue. I hand him the phone. Felix is my brother and I love him, but if he did something go Courtney, Jax or our child he needs to be caught.
This isn't happening.
Jax holds the phone and begins texting from it. I sit on the bed and bury my face in my hands. What the fuck is happening? My brother killed my best friend? Why? How could he do it? How could he kill his own girlfriend? Why would he try and hurt Jax and Zooey?
"Here." He hands my phone back and kneels in front of me taking my hands into his.
"What are you going to do?" I hiccup due to my crying.
"I need him to admit it. I texted him as you and told him your car wasn't working and you needed a ride. I need you to record him Gabby. Everything he says you get it with your phone. If he makes any type of move toward you I will drop him, do you hear me? I won't hesitate."
"Don't hurt him, Jax. Please." My entire body is shaking in fear. Am I afraid of Felix? He's my brother, I really don't think he would hurt me. I know I'm not afraid of him. I just don't know what to think.
"I need to hear him say it. He took Court from me. He took my baby sister. He held her under the water until she couldn't breathe Gabby..." He begins to cry. We are both going to lose a sibling out of this. I set my head against his and we stay like this until we hear the door downstairs open and close.
"Gabs? You ready? You're like an hour late!" Felix's voice calls up the stairs. Jax's body goes rigid. "What's with all the mud? Mom's going to be pissed!"
"Keep calm Alfie, please keep calm. I'll record it and then we will turn him in."
He nods and pulls away. "Get him up here."
I swipe away my tears and stand from the bed. "Felix, come up here for a second!" I call out the door to him. Immediately I hear the familiar sound of him taking the old wooden stairs two at a time. My chest begins to heave as I hyperventilate.
"I won't hurt him unless he tries something." Jax rubs my back. I don't feel very assured by that. I know what he did to Courtney's rapist. It terrifies me to think of what he would do to her murderer.
"Why are you in here?" Felix walks into the room. "Holy shit." His eyes immediately go wide at the sight of Jax. "You're alive! Holy fucking shit where have you been?! Gabby did you know?!"
His questions don't stop. It's as if he's actually surprised to see him. He's a better liar than I thought. Jax stands in front of him, quiet. I hit the record button on my phone and don't answer him.
"What the fuck you guys? Are you still together? Does Kane know he's alive? Does dad?"
"How could you do it?" Jax picks up the jacket. "You murdered my baby sister. You said you loved her..."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Felix stands there confused. His face scrunches as he looks between Jax and I. "I would never hurt Court. Why would you even think that?"
"You tried to kill me! What did I do to you? And my daughter? A six year old, what did Zooey do to you?!" Jax's anger is increasing.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Felix is shaking his head. "I wouldn't hurt Zo, or you. Fuck Jax, I didn't know you were even alive!"
Jax tosses the jacket to him. "The pocket is missing. That's because Courtney tore it off her murderer. The only piece of evidence they actually found."
I can't stomach this. He's my brother. I can't even watch what is unfolding before my eyes. Felix killed my best friend. I feel as though I'm on the verge of being physically sick.
Felix looks at the jacket confused and then lifts his eyes to me. "This isn't mine?"
"The fuck it isn't. Varsity football and in your closet!" Jax yells. His face is red, veins are appearing in his neck and forehead. He's losing his temper quickly.
"Oh my god." Felix's eyes fill with tears. He turns around and swings open the closet door to begin digging through boxes along the top. He pulls down a small plastic black box and tosses it to me. I open the box and pull out his senior pictures.
"What am I supposed to do with these?" I begin sorting through them. They are familiar, mom has most of them hanging up on the wall with mine and Sydney's. Then I see what he wants me to see. I look back up to him. "Yellow?"
"My jacket was yellow and it is currently hanging in my closet at my apartment with both yellow pockets still attached. They alternate colors each year. That is not my jacket."
"Whose is it?!" Jax demands.
Felix looks to me with eyes filled with tears. No words needed, I know who's jacket it is and so does he. One other person occupies this room. "Oh my god" I put my hand to my mouth. "No... no, no, no..."
"WHOSE IS IT?!" Jax yells.
Only two words fall from my lips before I begin to vomit.
"It's Kane's."
<><><>
My entire body is shaking so hard it's painful as Jax speeds our way to the rehearsal dinner. He's got my car going well over 100mph. The rehearsal dinner is being held in the basement of a restaurant twenty miles outside of town.
The jacket belongs to Kane. My Kane. The Kane I've been in love with since I was a little girl. The Kane I've been sleeping with for two years. The man I trusted with me and my daughter. The Kane I was supposed to marry tomorrow.
I haven't seen Kane wear the jacket in years, likely since the night of Courtney's party. He always wore it to Luxberg games or in this case, a Luxberg High graduation party. But do I remember seeing him wear it at the hospital later that night? I don't remember. I was so traumatized by seeing Courtney and almost losing Jax that I wasn't paying attention to what people were or were not wearing. I know that jacket wasn't in Minnesota with him. He's been emptying his childhood bedroom, that's where it came from.
What was his motive? It makes no sense. He was her boss and that was really the only time I had seen them together. The only other connection was that he was Tyler's brother and he had a sticker in the book. Even I had a sticker though.
Jax's hand stays firmly gripped in mine as he speeds to the rehearsal. He weaves between cars on the highway, flying past them. They become nothing but specks in the rear view mirror within seconds.
"We need to talk to Lily." It comes out in panic. "I need to know what the stickers mean! Kane has a sticker. Somehow this ties in, it has to. I need to know."
"Lily?" Felix asks from the backseat. "What stickers? Are you talking about my yearbooks?"
"You know about those?" I turn in my seat to Felix.
"How do you know about those?" His eyes go wide.
"We can deal with those later!" Jax grits through his teeth as he puts the car into park. "We're here."
It feels like there is an elephant on my chest, it's tight and hurts to breathe. I'm not sure I can go in there and look Kane in the face. I trusted him, I loved him.
I step out of the car and immediately Jax's hand is back in mine. The three of us are practically running into the restaurant and down to the basement that is booming with the voices and laughter of friends and family. That laughter completely diminishes when people see me walk in with the formally-deceased Jackson Parker attached to my hand. That's when the whispers and gasps begin.
My eyes scan the room for any sign of Kane but I don't see him. My parents stand near the head table and my dad's eyes finally catch mine as we barrel towards him.
"What the hell? What are you two thinking?"
I clutch my dad's arm in my hand and drag him as my mom begins to scream at the fact my dead boyfriend is here. I push open the bathroom door, drag my dad in and Felix and Jax follow. Jax locks the door behind us.
"Dad, where is Kane?!"
He looks between Jax and I and sighs. "I paid for a wedding that isn't going to happen, right? Gabby, I'm glad you picked Zooey's dad and that you will be happy, but you put us all in so much danger. Now what do we do?"
"Dan, we need to find Kane... RIGHT NOW!" Jax yells.
Dad looks to him with confusion and begins to stumble his words. "He got a call that he said he needed to take care of it quick and Zooey was getting antsy. He- he ran her back to the house to get some books and run some errand since you were late anyways. Why?"
"Oh my god!" I look to Jax and he shares the look of complete horror on his face. The call had to have been from Mike. Everyone else is here. "Jax he has Zooey..."
"What's going on? He said they would be right back. They just left."
Felix hands him the jacket. Dad rubs his hand along the green felt and where you can see the stitching was pulled, causing his eyes to light up.
I pull my phone back out and select Kane's name. I tell everyone to shut up and put it on speaker. The bathroom becomes silent.
"Hey, babe." Kane answers calmly. Thank god, he doesn't know we know.
"Hey handsome." I try and keep my shaky voice settled. Jax cringes at my term of endearment. "Felix got my car to start. I'm here and ready to walk down this fake aisle with you. You almost here?"
He begins to laugh. A laugh that I've never heard before, almost... sadistic. It gives me chills.
"No. I think I'll skip it. I'm hanging out with Zo."
I begin to cry. He has my baby. He knows I know and he has Zooey.
"Oh, where at? I'll meet up with you. We don't have to do this rehearsal. I can marry you without it."
"Somewhere I know thug can't follow."
The line goes dead and I fall into Jax's chest and cry. "He has our daughter. We need to find him."
"Dan..." Jax's voice cracks. "Kane killed Courtney and he has your granddaughter..."
"Where is he taking her that you can't follow?" My dad clutches his arm in panic.
I look up to Jax, pondering the same question. His eyes widen at the same time as mine. Raspberries.
He's taking my baby into the woods.
To the lake where he killed Courtney.
He's making my worst nightmare come true.