- APRIL -
Axel left in the morning, hangover and sleep-deprived, but happy. I hated to admit that I had been a little apprehensive over last night. It'd been years since Alex had spent the night. We'd barely been teenagers last time, and we certainly hadn't had that fateful night of his sixteenth birthday hanging over our heads. But it had been surprisingly easy and comfortable with Axel there, and I'd slept like the living dead.
I got dressed at around noon, pulling on a pair of jean shorts and a black t-shirt, unsure if Kellan and Dad were back from wherever they’d had to go to so early in the morning.
I padded downstairs, needing to find some painkillers. Desperately.
Dad and Kellan were both in the kitchen when I walked in, looking weary and tired. The weather was equally gloomy today, the sky looking grey and overcast. I grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and used it to swallow down an aspirin.
"How're you feeling today?” Dad asked me. He was at the kitchen table, perusing a sheet of paper with a list of numbers and highlighting things as he went.
Kellan sat across from him, doing the exact same. It looked like they were going through someone’s phone records.
I noticed that Dad’s holster was on the table next to him. He hadn’t put it away in his safe, which meant that they were probably leaving again soon.
"I'll live," I told him, turning on the coffeemaker. I’d be needing a strong dose of caffeine today.
"Any plans for today?" Dad asked, glancing up from the papers.
"Not really." I shrugged.
"Not sneaking your way into any clubs tonight?" Dad asked, leaning back in his chair. Ah. I'd been wondering when he'd get to that.
"Nope, my partner in crime is going back to college today," I told Dad sheepishly. Kellan grunted, but didn’t look up.
"Just as well," Dad said, a twinkle in his eyes. "Your fake ID has seen better days." He nodded towards the counter top a few feet away from me, and I noticed a small pile of what looked suspiciously like my ID cut into lots of tiny pieces. A pair of scissors lay next to the pile.
“You’ve lacerated it,” I said sadly, realizing it was my ID. I’d had it for years and it had been the source of many fun memories.
My words caused Dad to burst into laughter. “Hopefully it’ll keep you out of trouble.” His face turned stern. “I don’t have to tell you that it’s illegal to use false documents, April. You could have gotten yourself into very serious trouble.”
I shuffled my feet, looking down at the floor. I was a working adult – he couldn’t very much ground me – but I might have preferred that to the disappointment in his voice.
“It was stupid,” Kellan said bluntly.
That sent my chin flying back up. “Like you probably haven’t done worse?” I scoffed.
“Regardless,” Dad interjected, “it doesn’t change the fact that holding false ID is illegal. I don’t want to find out that you’ve procured another one. Am I understood, April?”
“Yes. I won’t get another one,” I told him, feeling guilty.
“Good.” He stood up, grabbing his holster as he glanced out the window. "It looks like it’s going to start raining soon. I'll go and pay Mrs. Hale a quick visit," Dad said, looking meaningfully at Kellan.
Kellan glanced up at Dad, face turning stubborn. "I thought we agreed that I’d go?”
"No offence, son, but you aren't exactly tactful when it comes to getting information out of a Judas," Dad said. A ‘Judas’ was a person that had been wronged by the fugitive and was all too willing to rat them out. "It'll be better if you stay here.”
"Why don't you both go?" I asked curiously, pouring myself a cup of coffee. They usually went everywhere together when it came to a case. “Why do you want Kellan to stay here?"
“We think it would be best if one of us stayed here with you today,” Dad said carefully. “Besides, there’s really no need for both of us to go.”
“Because of that guy? From the club last night?” I asked. Dad had maintained yesterday that there was nothing to worry about.
“Archie Chambers, yes. He’s holding a grudge, that much is obvious,” Dad said. “It’s entirely possible that he sought you out just to send a message to me, but I can’t take the chance that it might be more than that.”
“I can–“ Kellan began.
“We need Mrs. Hale. I’ll have a better chance of getting information out of her,” Dad said, giving me a kiss goodbye. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Kellan followed him out into the hallway, still protesting, while I settled onto the couch with my cup of coffee.
A couple of minutes later, Kellan, looking pissed, came into the living room. I turned the volume up on the TV, not looking at him as he settled down next to me.
Five minutes passed, and he propped his feet up on the coffee table. Another five minutes later, he’d begun to tap his foot in impatience.
Giving up all pretense of watching the TV, I turned to him. “Will you stop that?” I finally snapped.
“Stop what?” He raised an eyebrow at me.
“That.” I gestured towards his feet. “It’s distracting. Plus, that coffee table is brand new.”
He scoffed, but withdrew his feet and stood up. "I need a smoke," he muttered, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, as he made his way towards the back yard. I shook my head at him, but kept my mouth shut. He’d been trying to quit for years, but so far, I hadn’t seen him try all that hard.
He was only outside for about five minutes. He came in quickly as it started to pour down with rain. He settled back on the couch, running a hand through his hair where there were little dots of rain. "Can't all be perfect, princess," he said, not looking at me.
"I didn't say anything." I glanced away from him, back towards the TV.
"The disapproval on your face says it all.”
“If you want to damage your lungs, that’s none of my business. You won’t hear a word of complaint from me,” I said, crossing his arms. Before he could respond, I changed the subject, “I’ve been wondering actually. About this Archie guy. How did he get bail when he'd previously jumped it?"
No judge would set bail for a criminal if they had a history of running.
"He didn't. Your dad was working a case, looking for another guy. When he found him, he also found dear old Archie there in the house. Mario arrested both of them, though Archie wasn’t a fugitive,” Kellan told me. “Archie got out last year, but he was arrested again recently for selling drugs. He was set bail – which he skipped. And your dad took the case to get him back behind bars.”
"Why did Dad arrest Archie the first time round, if he wasn’t a fugitive?" I asked, my brows furrowing.
Kellan paused a moment. “He was raping a girl when your Dad broke into the house. Lucky for the girl, not so lucky for Archie." Kellan said, rage in his eyes.
I shivered, disgusted and horrified. That poor girl. Archie suddenly became even more sinister in my mind. I'd been feet away from a rapist last night.
“That’s horrible,” I said softly. What that girl went through... it was awful. He should never have been allowed out.
"We'll find him soon enough, and he'll be back behind bars," Kellan said reassuringly. “You don’t ever have to worry about him hurting you, April.”
I paused, surprised. He hardly ever called me by my name. It was always ‘ballerina’ or ‘princess’, and if he was feeling particularly condescending it was ‘baby’.
"Yeah, for a few years, until he's back out again," I said bitterly. Our justice system was whack.
The rain fell even harder outside. The sound of the downpour beating down on the back porch reverberated across the room. I jumped when a flash of lightening passed over the window, followed by the sound distant thunder several seconds later.
Kellan smirked at my skittishness, and I mustered a half-hearted glare. I hated thunderstorms – absolutely hated them.