My Best Friend's Dad

by Bella Winters

  Okay, so Stephen saw something. He saw it on the cruise ship, but the murder didn’t happen until some time after. He saw something so bad that someone needed to kill him off so he didn’t blab to the police. Obviously, he didn’t go right to the police or all of this could have been dealt with a long time ago. Whatever he saw scared him enough to stay silent.

  And then there’s this Katie chick, the barmaid who found him. She might know more than she’s letting on. Of course, she might not, but it won’t hurt to ask. Unless it’s some kind of mafia thing, I suppose. Maybe then she’ll be too scared to say anything at all. It could be some organized crime thing, much as that sounds crazy, I don’t want to rule it out…

  So, I have a lot of jigsaw pieces, but still they don’t quite fit together and that’s the frustrating part. It’s unsettling me, leaving me distressed and annoyed. It’s almost as if it’s right there, but I can’t quite grasp it. There’s only one logical step of what I can do next, and I know what it is. I might not like it but it’s what I have to do.

  I glance at my cell phone screen, looking at the time. It’s almost time for Tia to finish work which means we can hang out. Even with everything that’s going on the thought of seeing her face again lights up my chest and makes me feel really happy. I adore her face, her smile, her sweet nature… if I’m totally honest with myself, I know that it wouldn’t have worked out between Stephen and Tia in the long run anyway, even if he did like her. We might share a lot but we’ve never shared a taste in women before. I think he would have ended up straying and breaking her heart anyway.

  Unless she could have been the one to change him. I suppose we’ll never find out now.

  I shake my head, ridding my brain of those thoughts and I gather up my things to go and meet her. She might not like what I’m about to say, but it needs to be said. I just hope that she understands my plan and she doesn’t get too upset by it all. If I explain it right and I let her know it’s the only way I’ll really be able to move on then, surely she’ll be okay?

  Only time will tell, and now it’s the time to go and find out. I need to be brave.

  ***

  I tap my feet anxiously as I wait outside of Tia’s work for her appearance. The more time that passes the more anxious I get about everything. I don’t want to now talk myself out of the plan that I’ve been working on all day long… all week long. It’s the only thing I’ve got.

  Eventually she appears arm in arm with another girl. I assume this is her best friend, Ashely. She looks like the fun-loving girl that Tia described. I’ve yet to meet her, but that’s something I understand. Me and Tia have mostly kept to ourselves, we haven’t brought the rest of our lives into our little relationship thing because it’s so fragile. No, fragile isn’t the right word, we’re strong really. I have a lot of trust in her and I think she does me, it’s just the fear of what everyone else will think. Once we let others in, we open ourselves to criticism and I don’t think either of us are ready for that yet.

  I still need to consider how this will affect my parents, and that’s the scariest ides of them all. Maybe me and Tia could pretend that we just met randomly and that nothing happened with her and Stephen, but I don’t want to erase him from her history like that. I still want to keep him alive in every way possible. I need to address it when we finally take that step, but now just isn’t the time for that. Of course, they’re still healing for their son, just like I’m still grieving for my brother. I just hope that this helps to overcome that.

  “Kian!” Tia’s eyes widen with surprise as she spots me. She pulls away from her friend and moves across to me. I can tell that there’s panic behind her eyes, she’s freaked out that I’ve just turned up like this. Maybe I should have warned her, it wouldn’t have been too hard to send a text, would it? “Are you okay? What’s going on?”

  I ignore the people bustling behind us and I zone in only on Tia. My breaths start coming in short and sallow, I don’t know where to start. “Can we go somewhere private?” I gasp out desperately. “There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

  “Of course.” She runs her eyes all over me as if she’s trying to work me out. I can tell she’s searching for something that I can’t give her just yet. “Come to mine.”

  She links one arm through mine and waves goodbye to her friends. I feel bad for dragging her away from all the people she loves, but I hope that it’ll be worth it when I explain everything to her. I put my head down and focus my eyes on the ground and allow Tia to just drag me. I can’t look up again, not until we’re away from the crowds. I just can’t deal with people right now, there’s only one person I want to be with.

  Finally, we reach her home and I let out a breath I didn’t even realize I was holding. When it’s just me and Tia I can relax just a little bit. “Sorry for the dramatics, I know that was unnecessary. I’ve just been thinking a lot and…”

  She claps her hand loudly across her mouth. “Oh my God, you want to end it,” she declares. “I mean, I should have known that this was coming because it is hard, but oh my God. I still feel really shocked.” She stares at me with eyes swimming with pain. Much as this is a horrible moment it’s quite sweet too because I get to see just how much she really cares about me. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be so crazy it just…” She grips her chest, giving my cue that I really need to step in before she has a heart attack or something.

  “No, no this isn’t that.” I do my best to reassure her but she still looks blown away. “It isn’t that at all. I just… well, it’s Stephen.” Again the color drains from her face as I mention my brother. “I’ve been thinking about him and the mystery that’s surrounded his death. I want to find out more, I need to work out what happened to him and why.” She nods slowly, getting it more than anyone else in the world would. “I need to figure it out, I don’t think that I’ll be able to move on if I don’t. Especially with…” I sigh loudly, hating myself for saying this. “Especially with us.”

  “Yes, of course,” she rasps. “I understand that, I want to know what happened too. It’s all very strange. There’s something there that doesn’t quite fit.” She’s clearly been thinking about it too. “Someone knows what happened, and I just know that if we could get to that person then it would be okay.”

  As she gives me an imploring look I feel compelled to continue on. “Well, I’ve thought about that a lot and that could work. There was some bar maid named in the article wasn’t there? She could know something… but at the same time I think that if it’s all related to organized crime then maybe she won’t speak. Maybe, if they like getting rid of witnesses, she’s gone too. You never know.” I don’t like that option, but I can’t deny it’s possible.

  “Oh yeah, of course. I guess I never thought about that.” Her eyes flick towards me under her eyelashes, making her look absolutely adorable. “But you are going to America, right? That’s your plan? I mean, that’s all you can do, isn’t it?”

  Of course, she knows that, she understands me well. “Yeah. I am. And I have a plan of what I’m going to do.”

  “Okay shoot.” She gets more comfortable and stares at me, waiting for me to explain. “What are we doing?”

  “We?” I don’t mean that, I mean this is something that is just for me. “No, just me.”

  “Kian.” She takes my hands in hers. “You aren’t going through this alone. You know as well as I do that this is a journey that we need to go through together. You know that it affects me just as it does you. I need this mystery solving just as much as you do.”

  “But it’s dangerous…” I try to let her know just why I’m not including her.

  “I know it’s dangerous.” She rolls her eyes at me. “I know what the stakes are, but I also know that I need to do this. This means a lot to me, I need this mystery solved. And at the same time, I’m not letting you go into something dangerous alone either.” She pulls me to her and wraps her arms around me. “I cannot lose you. I just can’t. You get that, r
ight?”

  “I do get that,” I do my best to reassure her. “But reserve your judgement before you agree to this. I want you to hear my plan before you make a decision.”

  “I’ll listen,” she warns. “But I’m coming.”

  Chapter Eighteen - Tia

  This is insane, I think to myself as I pace up and down backstage. I should not be here, why the hell am I doing this? I mean, I know the reasons that I’ve given myself but really? Is there any way that I can get out of it now? Can I turn back and change my mind?

  “Are you okay, babe?” Kian asks while placing a gentle kiss on my shoulder. “You look nervous, is there anything that I can do?”

  My ragged breaths get even shorter and sharper as I turn to look at Kian. The green and gray eyes of his are still and calm. He’s the one about to put himself on the line here but he looks cool, calm, and totally collected. How is it possible that I’m the one who’s a hot mess here? I turn to face him ad grip onto his arms, trying to soak in some of his calm.

  “I should be the one calming you down,” I gasp. “Are you okay? Is there anything that I can do for you?” I glance towards the curtains, listening to the roar of people on the other side. “It’s really busy out there. Are you going to be alright?”

  He breathes deeply and nods. “Yeah, I think so. I mean this is the biggest crowd that I’ve ever played for but then I’m not being me, am I? That, plus the reason I’m actually doing this, is driving me forwards, getting rid of any anxiety.”

  When Kian first told me his plan I thought he was insane, but now I can see that he’s right. His crazy ass scheme might actually work here. Pretending to be Stephen, letting the press know that he didn’t die in the attack and that the police got it wrong certainly drummed up some attention. As far as I’m aware everyone has heard about the gig. It’s the sort of fame that Stephen could have only dreamed of. If it’s got the attention of everyone, then it must have got the attention of the killer too. If Stephen saw something that they’re scared of the cops finding out then this should draw them out. And if it does, the authorities will be waiting. It’ll put an end to a very long winded mystery that needs solving.

  I just desperately hope that it works. There is so much that’s riding on it. Including us.

  “I’m glad you’re okay,” I reply while pushing myself up onto my tiptoes to kiss him gently on the lips. “I’m glad you aren’t scared, but don’t be reckless. Please be careful.”

  Maybe I have attachment issues when it comes to Kian but I really can’t just lose him. After everything that’s happened up until this point, it’s hardly any wonder that I’m clinging to him like there’s no tomorrow. He the source of my happiness, he gets rid of my loneliness. I’m not ready to say goodbye to that now… maybe not ever.

  “I will be,” he whispers to me, placing his hand on the small of my back. “I promise you. I’m only going out there to sing a few songs anyway. It’s the cops doing the hard work.”

  I mold into his body, allowing his embrace to comfort me. With his arms gripping onto me I feel a little bit safer than I did before but I’m not sure that it’s enough. I just want to cling to him and not let him out there. He’s mine, I want to wrap him in a bubble and keep him close. New Zealand feels like my bubble, our bubble. I feel much more exposed in the US. Maybe it’s because I know that my family is here and so are all the problems that I left behind, but since I’ve been back I haven’t had any involvement with any of them and that’s how I intend it to stay. I don’t want to see my father again and I’m quite happy to keep it to odd phone calls with my mother. It’s just easier that way.

  “Have you heard the people out there?” he says with a chuckle. “It’s mad, isn’t it? So many people. They all want to see the dead guy.” His expression falls but he quickly regains himself. “I guess I’ll just have to give them the show of a life time.”

  I step back as we hear the announcer calling out Stephen’s name. It’s weird to hear him mentioned like that, it stirs all kinds of sadness inside me. Despite what’s happened since I’m still sad that he’s gone. I really don’t think he deserved to die at all, no matter what he saw. He was a good guy, at least he seemed that way to me, and I’m sure he had so much more to offer the world. His life was cut needlessly short which just isn’t fair.

  Still, hopefully if this goes to plan, and me and Kian fix this then everyone can move forward safe in the knowledge that we have the answers we so desperately need. Kian needs it, I need it, I’m sure his family desperately needs it. Without these answers, no one can move forward. We’ll all be stuck in a limbo forever, never moving on.

  “Good luck out there,” I whisper sweetly to him. “I’ll be in the crowd waving up at you.”

  I want to tell him that I love him because I’m pretty sure that I do, but I don’t say it yet. One, it’ll feel much too much like a goodbye, which this isn’t, and two I don’t want to freak him out. I know that he likes me, but I don’t think that he loves me and I don’t want to put the pressure on. Things are already strained enough between me and Kian. Not with our relationship but with the external factors surrounding us… this for example.

  Instead, I will have to be content with just thinking it while pressing my fingers to my lips an shooting out continual kisses to him.

  I love you, Kian Jones, You are my everything. I really don’t want to lose you right now, not when I think that you could honestly be the one for me. The happy ever after that I never thought I would get. I love you, I love you, I love you. I just can’t wait until I can tell you that for real. I will eventually, just when the moment is right.

  I move backwards as Kian grabs his guitar. He nods at me does a silly little salute, which admittedly makes me laugh a little, but I do so with tears in my eyes. This has all moved too quickly, the plan came together too fast. I feel like we need just a little more time. I blow him a kiss and let him go, wishing it didn’t have to be this way.

  Once I hear him up on the stage I push my way through the backstage area out towards the crowd. I see the undercover cops everywhere as I go which reminds me just how serious this is. It wasn’t easy to get the police to agree to such a hair brained scheme but once we convinced them that Stephen’s murder was part of something much bigger, which we both really believe it is, then they started to come around. I really hope tonight produces results for them too or they won’t be so willing to help us again. This cost the force a lot of money and man power, I don’t want it all to be for nothing.

  “Excuse me,” I mutter as I push past people. “Scuse. Thank you. Excuse me, scuse.”

  Eventually I make it as close to the front of the stage as I can manage. It seems that Kian was right about one thing, people really do want a piece of the guy who’s seemingly risen from the dead. It sickens me a little, but maybe I would have been the same if I wasn’t bang smack in the middle of this situation. Maybe I would be with everyone else, with my camera phone held high taking pictures of the man that one small newspaper once reported had been killed.

  As I watch Kian, I think back to the moment we went to the bar where Stephen was actually killed, trying to find Katie. I wasn’t keen to find her, I didn’t know what it would be like to find the woman who saw his dead body, but it was an avenue we had to at least try… but of course we got nowhere. The bar is no more, it’s too fire damaged to be anything at the moment, and no one around seems to know a girl called Katie at all. Kian thinks that her vanishing act is all part of the bigger picture, the mafia as he thinks it is, but I’m not so sure. I would much rather think that she’s just gone somewhere else to start a new life.

  My eyes focus on Kian and I lose myself in the moment because it’s preferable not to worry about anything else. As I do, I remember the magical moment I saw Stephen playing for the first and only time on the cruise ship. As I watched him up on the stage, singing his heart out to people that were probably way too old to really appreciate his music, I felt happy for the first time in a very lon
g time. He awoke something inside of me that I’d put to sleep long before.

  Stephen Jones had such an impact on me that I ran all the way to New Zealand just to be near his memory. Somehow, even after all of this, I want to find a way to keep his memory alive. He doesn’t deserve to just be forgotten, it really isn’t right. I don’t know what I’m going to do just yet, but I’ll definitely do something. I owe him that much. Maybe it was only one night, but if it wasn’t for that night then none of this would have happened. I would probably still be in my parent’s home feeling miserable about my directionless life.

  I hope you’re watching this, Stephen, I think while glancing my eyes up towards the sky. I hope you see how much your brother loves you. As an after thought, I add, I hope you don’t mind me and him either. We didn’t mean to fall in love, we just did. It just happened, but it’s the best thing for the both of us. We make each other happy. I hope you can understand that.

  I don’t know if I imagine the warmth that circles me at that moment or not, but I choose to believe that it’s a sign. I choose to take it as a blessing because that’s what I need it to be,

  The crowd goes wild as Kian rocks it, some of the girls even chant Stephen’s name. From my brief meeting with Stephen and everything that Kian has told me about him, I just know that he would have loved this. For Stephen, this would have been a dream come true. It’s just a shame that he had to die for it to really happen. Maybe if he’d remained alive he would have got here eventually but I suppose we’ll never know now.

  His dream died with him.