NIP 31

I slow down for just a second to help Lizi comfortably into the backseat. I flinch startled at the sound of scores of sirens racing by. My eyes shift to locate the whereabouts of this alarming sound. Swiveling lights are no where to be seen.

“Get in Sari! We gotta go.” Orders Brad without explanation.

I leap in the front. With the slam of my door Brad peels out onto a dark and desolate road.

“Shouldn’t we tell the police Lizi is okay?” I ask trying to make sense of everything.

“No. I have a plan.” Casually announces Brad.

“Me too.” I begin dialing my phone. “Sam…”

”No!” Brad snatches my phone out of my hand and disconnects the call.

“I’m putting this on the air and flushing out Hughes!” I blurt.

“Hughes?” Lizi murmurs. “You mean Hayes?”

“Lizi, it is so much worse then we thought.” I hang my head devastated to shed this light on Lizi. “It seems Detective Hughes and Dan Staley are involved in this.”

“Mark’s stepfather?” Lizi doesn’t miss a beat.

“Yeah.” I sigh. “Ed Hayes is innocent.”

“Oh.” She stares out the window obviously attempting to digest this information. If that is even possible.

“Brad, I can do this. I can write this story.” I plead.

“You can’t. We need more answers.” Brad rests his hand on my leg to calm me. “And we cannot tip off Hughes until we have them. Follow?”

I sit and ponder for a moment. Brad’s hand stays on my leg. His touch relaxes me. It is as if by osmosis I get what he is saying. Brad’s right…we do not have the glue in this story. We have the pieces but how do they all fit together? What connected all of these people to each other…my mom, Ed Hayes, Hughes, Dan. What and why???

“I follow.” I softly smile as a token of thanks. “You are so patient. Is this what they teach you at the Police Academy?? So not like in the movie.”

“Ha.” Brad’s chuckle soaks up the stale and dreary air in the car. “You have a knack for making me laugh at the most peculiar time.”

“Oh so the ‘Detective Straight Face’ is a class too?” I giggle.

“You betcha babe!” Brad grins ear to ear.

“Ah, what is going on up there?” Lizi’s voice catches me off guard. She already sounds like herself. Guess my baby sister is not quite the baby I take her for.

“We are trying to determine next steps…” As I attempt to sugarcoat the situation Lizi cuts me off.

“No, I mean between you two.” Her hand gesture is her punctuation. She is pointing out the space between us. She knows the space between us not longer exists. She knows we have been intimate. Though not as intimate as I would like. Ugh…focus. I have to throw her off our trail. I am her role model after all.

“Nothing.” I fold my hands in my lap and squint my eyes at her. God, do I literally wear my heart on my sleeve!?!

“Oooooookay.” Lizi rolls her eyes then winks at me. I cringe watching Brad smirk into the rearview mirror. Awkward! “So since you guys are not flirting up there…where are we going?”

“Dan Staley’s.” Brad casually spits out.

“Dan’s?” I question. “Shouldn’t we take Lizi to the hospital or find her assailant before conducting further investigation?”

“I’m fine.” Lizi butts in.

“Are you Lizi?” Brad’s compassionate eyes shine in the rearview mirror. “Tell us the truth Lizi. We do not want to risk your health. Dan can wait.”

“I’m fine.” Lizi curtly responds. “Truly. Let’s get this bastard.”

“Do you remember anything about who did this to you?” I ask as one last ditch effort now that Lizi seems comfortable.

“All I can remember is that he seemed oddly familiar.” Lizi’s eyes pan left in thought. “But I can’t place it.”

“It’s okay Liz. We will get to the bottom of this.” I attempt to sound confident.

‘You betcha. And that time is now.” Brad announces as he throws the car into park.

We are here. We are at Dan Staley’s house. I know this house so well. So does Lizi. We have spent many holidays at Mark’s stepfather’s house…with Aunt Clara. How come she never said anything?

“How come Aunt Clara never mentioned knowing Dan?” Lizi’s tone is as muddled as her expression. I jerk my head in her direction…I’m really starting to wonder if there is a thought bubble above my head. How do these guys know what I am thinking!

“Geez…I was just thinking that. I have no idea and it bothers me.” I shake my head in disbelief.

“I have a feeling this to is about to come to light.” Brad shuffles towards Dan’s front door. Lizi and I shrug and blindly follow.

Brad rings the doorbell. We stand in silence. This is surreal. I could cut the air with a knife.

The door slowly creeps open. The thickening air is suffocating me.

“Oh boy.” Sighs Dan with a grin of disgust. His appearance is disheveled and his presence is cold. This is not the charismatic man I know. Without another word Dan shuts the door in our face.

“Not so fast.” Brad quickly wedges his foot in the door and knocks it open…shoving Dan out of the way. Brad’s poise fills the foyer. Lizi and I clumsily enter and like deer in headlights we hover behind Brad. Brad clinches his jaw with an intensity I have not yet witnessed in him. “Let’s talk.”

With a cocky tilt of his head, Dan opens his mouth to protest just as Brad holds up the picture containing Dan, Hughes, Hayes, my mother and Aunt Clara.

Dan’s gulp echoes in the foyer. Shivers crawl up my spine. This is it. The truth is here.

“Ok.” Dan calmly lowers his head as if raising a white flag and gestures to his study. Dan’s posture is slumped and at 6’5 this is a sign of defeat. Brad has proven himself the alpha dog in this house.

Brad confidently strides into the study. I take Lizi’s hand and together we step into the study. It is dimly lit. Immediately I am drawn to a bottle of scotch on the coffee the table. It is the only object glowing in the room. That is except for the glass of scotch next to it and the one in….Mark’s hand.

“Mark!” I exclaim. I am not sure what I am feeling other than shock. All sorts of emotions swirl in my mind. “Why are you here?”

“Sari.” His eyes soften. “I’m so sorry.”

“For what?” I murmur. The wind has been knocked out of me…yet again. Mark IS a part of this? Oh god.

Mark cowardly breaks our eye contact. Instead he stares blankly into his glass of scotch. Go ahead Mark…keep hiding.

“I will tell you everything.” Dan’s voice is crisp yet heavy. “I knew this day would come.”

I gasp for air. Here it comes. The truth. I need to be pinched. I look to Lizi who is one shade whiter than when we arrived. So I pinch her before I look to Brad. He doesn’t meet my gaze. His eyes are locked on Dan. I notice he is fidgeting in his pocket. Oh my god, he is a genius! I force a straight face as I watch Brad turn on his radio mic. Little does Dan know he is about to go live with his truth!

“We’re waiting Dan. Tell us everything you know about the death of Ainslie Clarke and all the others.” Brad’s sentence is thorough yet delivered so casually only I know what he is up to. Now the entire CPD know exactly what they are listening too. I stand mouth agape.

“First you need to know Mark is an innocent bystander. I assure you.” Dan turns his attention on me. “When Mark brought you home the first time I did everything in my power to sabotage your relationship. I knew who you were. Once I realized your love was real Clara and I met in private and determined keeping the past hidden was still the best option…for everyone.”

“I need to know how my Aunt was involved in this?” I interrupt his monologue in hopes of skipping to the part of the truth I need. Selfish…perhaps…but I am on the verge of tears. I cannot bare the thought that Aunt Clara was somehow a part of murder…murders.

“She too was an innocent bystander.” Dan swallows hard. To my surprise, Brad waits patiently as Dan organizes his thoughts. Definitely not the scene I was expecting. For some reason, I expected Brad to slam Dan’s head into the wall and then on his desk forcing him to speak. Just like in Law & Order. Guess not.

“You can do this Dan.” Mark encourages from the sidelines. Apparently he has already been briefed.

“Your mother, Sarah Jane, was an incredible woman. I swear she could light up any room and let me tell you men noticed her. She was the most alive woman and never without a smile and she had such grace and yet could be so uncouth. She was every guys dream and every guys fantasy. But she was not without her flaws. She so terribly wanted to be loved. A real, true, big love. She fell hard for Ed Hayes after he rescued her in that fire. But Ed was not for her. He could never be who she wanted him to be. Ed was…is…rough around the edges. He’s a typical blue-collar raised Chicago police officer. The relationship was passionate and intense but short lived. I do believe Ed was Sarah Jane’s true love. It hurt her terribly that her dream could not survive in the real world.” He closes his eyes in what seems like pity for my mother. “Through Ed she met Hughes.”

I suck too much air in and choke. Hughes.

“Hughes loved her. He was madly in love with her. The way she always wished Ed would have been. Hughes was no Ed Hayes. And she didn’t want to be a police officer’s wife. Hughes was of a different breed but she didn’t care. Her mind was made up. They did, however, have a steaming affair for years. Sarah Jane needed to be loved…it was like a drug. In this time, she met and married Evan. Evan was perfect on paper. The ideal husband, father and man. Finally she would have the life she always dreamed.”

“She was still sleeping with Hughes after she married my father?” Lizi quickly asks Dan as if she is talking to a girlfriend.

“I’m afraid so.” Dan sips his scotch then rubs his temple. “Until she called it off.”

“The rest. What is the rest? How did Sarah Jane and Evan die?” Brad is becoming impatient. I sense he is afraid of the answer. “A crime of passion?”

“Hughes and I booked Hayes on the murder of Sarah Jane and Evan. We made sure he would get life in prison. We made sure everyone thought him a monster.” Dan has shame written all over his face. “Hughes and I did this sort of thing to get a higher conviction rate in the past.”

“You made people look guilty?” Brad looks disgusted.

“Or guiltier. Anyway, Ed played along because he knew what he was up against. And little did we know how passionate Clara was going to turn out to be. She told him she was going to protect Amanda…Sari…because what an awful thing for a child to grow up with…’a father behind bars for murdering her mother.’ So Ed gave up. Just like that he accepted his fate and kept quiet. For you Sari, he didn’t fight for his life.” A look of remorse crosses Dan’s face. I want to spit in his face.

“Did you murder them!” I am consumed with rage.

“No.” Dan answers point blank without hesitation. “I am guilty of covering for the real murderer.”

“Why?” Tears track my cheeks.

“Hughes had me by the balls. My career would have been torched. I was protecting myself. And then I tricked Mark into protecting me after I left office.” Dan speaks of himself like he is talking about someone he doesn’t know.

“I found out all on my own. I pieced it together and went to Clara. She never wanted you to know about Ed. She believed he murdered them. We were determined to keep him behind bars for life. He was never supposed to get out. I was seeing to that.” Mark chimes in. “But right under my nose he was falling in love with Marcy. From what I have gathered their relationship inspired him to get out of jail and begin a new life.”

“Then how come Ainslie was murdered? And Aunt Clara? And Marcy? Why?” I beg for resolve.

“Hughes lost it when Ed was released.” Dan quietly explains. “He wanted to frame Ed once again.”

“Who is the murderer? Who murdered all of these people?” Brad demands.

“Detective Allan Hughes. Hughes and his cronies. Ed Hayes is innocent.” Dan articulately announces as he raises a….

“Gun!” Brad shouts. He throws his body over Lizi and I. We collapse to the ground with Brad as our shield.

I look towards Mark who eyes turn a murky shade of blue before he covers his frightened face with his trembling hands.

The gunshot is deafening. Every muscle in my body is jolted. I squeeze my eyes shut and hug Lizi as tight as I can. Where is the bullet? Who did Dan shoot? Courage. Where is my courage? I find it…I cannot resist…I have to see what is happening.

“Ohmigod!” I scream so loud my veins rattles. My soul rattles. My entire being rattles.

Mark drops his scotch. The shattering glass sets my equilibrium. I steady my breathing…I just witnessed Dan Staley blow his brains out. The sight is gruesome. My heart bleeds. My heart bleeds for everyone…

“Don’t look Sari.” Brad hugs my head into his chest. “Don’t look.”

I stroke Lizi’s hair while we cry over yet another violent death. This one…we witnessed.

I catch Mark’s stare. He is barely recognizable to me. Like a pile of bricks, it hits me. He cannot stomach another man stepping in to soothe me. Suddenly, my heart rate picks up. I scan the room for the gun. What will Mark do?

“Ed Hayes is hidden in the basement.” Mark’s tone is stone cold so is his expression. He footsteps are heavy and pronounced. The opening of the front door announces Mark’s exit. He is met by a dozen blaring sirens coming around the bend.