“Yeah, we are.”
We sat in silence for a few seconds.
“Well, I’m at home, and Brad is here with me so I’m gonna go. I’ll see you tomorrow, Marc.”
“Okay. Bye, Vanessa.”
“Bye,” I replied, and then hung up and got out of the car.
Several minutes later, Brad and I were up in my room holding each other as we sat and looked out the window. He sat behind me as he had his arms wrapped all in front of me as I held on to them as I rested the right side of my head against his right arm. “Brad, I honestly don’t know how much more of John’s shit I’m gonna be able to take; it’s really wearing me down. Every time I see him I think he has something in mind about hurting us.”
“He’s the one that should be worried about getting hurt.”
“I know, but it’s like he thinks he has this control over all of us, and in a lot of ways, he does.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because we haven’t been to the cops about him killing Natalie.”
“That’s because we don’t have his DNA to prove that he did it, Vanessa. Without that, there’s really not much we can do right now. I kick myself in the ass every day for at least not keeping that damn can. But then again, I thought he was dead; we all thought he was dead.”
“Brad, you can’t continue to blame yourself for that — we just have to find another way to get it. My first attempt failed when I tried to get it from him when he was sitting right over there at my desk. I knew it was a useless attempt because he knew what I was trying to do by asking him did he want something to drink.”
“Yeah, I know. I can’t believe that bastard came over here like that, and if he does it again I’m gonna kill him myself.”
I grinned. “No, we don’t want that — Marie tried that and he survived — we want him to go to prison where he rightfully belongs.”
He chuckled. “I agree with that,” he said, and then held me tighter and kissed me on my forehead.
“Brad, let’s do something on Saturday — just the two of us. Let’s go out and have fun. I just need to get away from here. This shit about John is just really stressing me out. You know I haven’t been to Sparkle in over a month? I was going there all the time with Ava at one point.”
“Yeah, I know. Things have changed a hell of a lot since then, Vanessa, you know that.”
“Well, we don’t have to go there; I just wanna go somewhere.”
“Well, think of something and that’s where we’ll go.”
“Thanks, baby,” I said with a smile. “How about we go to Desert Cliff? You know, it’s that lounging/rest area that has that parking lot with that view that overlooks the city? It’s so beautiful up there!”
He smiled. “Okay, that’s perfect, then. I was gonna drive my red car but since you wanna go there, I’ll drive the SUV. I wouldn’t wanna take a million-dollar car there and have it too close to a cliff, you know? I’ll pack our favorite foods and throw a cover in the back as well as some pillows — how does that sound?”
I laughed. “Sounds great, baby! Can’t wait!”
We began kissing and all the while, I thought about how much I was looking forward to our night out together, hoping that at least for one night we could take our minds off of everything that had been going on and really enjoy each other as we once did before all of this had happened.
CHAPTER 22
The rain came down at a steady pace on a cold Saturday night. John was driving to a fast-food restaurant when all of the sudden, he saw Brad’s SUV going the opposite way. He quickly turned around and as he did, he almost lost control due to the rain-slicked road. “Whoa! That was close!” he said. He sped up as he tried to catch up to him, but he had a hard time doing it because he didn’t want to lose control again.
Brad’s SUV was stopped at a stoplight, and John slowly pulled up behind another car that was right across from Brad’s. He didn’t honk because he didn’t want Brad to know that he was following him. Suddenly, the window rolled down on the front passenger’s side. He saw an arm reach out of it but couldn’t see who it was since the windows were deeply tinted and she had only rolled down the window just enough to stick her arm out of it, as she had the palm of her hand turned up as she felt the rain come down on it. He saw the glow of red nail polish when she put her hand back in the window — he knew exactly who this was.
“It doesn’t get any better than this!” he said with a mix of excitement and wickedness. The light turned green. He continued to stay behind Brad’s SUV at a comfortable distance since he didn’t want them to see him at all. They continued to drive for quite a distance as he tried to figure out where they were going. They took a few turns and that was all it took for him to know exactly where they were heading. “They’re going to Desert Cliff! PERFECT!”
Once Brad’s SUV reached Desert Cliff, it slowed down. John got himself in position right behind it. The SUV was still over a hundred feet away from the cliff. Suddenly, John began to ram his car into the back of it, pushing it closer and closer to the cliff! The SUV’s break lights suddenly came on, as it was obvious that he was trying to stop it from going any further, and since it was raining, the traction was hard to grasp.
John backed up and then ran into the back of it again . . . and again! “GO, MOTHERFUCKERS! GO OFF THAT FUCKIN’ CLIFF!” he shouted. The wheels on the SUV spun in a fast motion as it tried to maintain ground on the very slippery surface. He rolled down his window and could hear screaming coming from them; he laughed. “YOU SCARED, MOTHERFUCKERS?!” he shouted, and then backed up again. This time, he floored it and slammed into the back of the SUV, sending it over the cliff!
It went over the cliff in what it seemed like in slow motion, and then crashed several hundred feet at the bottom and burst into flames!
John got out of his car after seeing the thick smoke and red and orange flames shooting up into the rainy night sky. He walked slowly over to the cliff and looked down as it looked like a raging pit of hell. The SUV was completely engulfed in flames. He knew that they were gone. “So long, motherfuckers! It looks like the secret of me killing Natalie will forever stay with me . . . after I get rid of Ava, Marc, and especially Marie. But the main two are gone. Two down, three more to go!”
He walked back to his car as he laughed, got in it, and left.
It was hours after the accident, and John laid in his bed as he stared up at his ceiling with a wicked grin on his face since he knew that he accomplished something major in his quest to keep his secret of killing Natalie a secret.
Suddenly, his phone rang; he jumped at being startled by it. He looked to see who it was and saw that it was Zac — he knew what he was calling him about. Well, let me get my tears ready, he thought, and then answered the call. “Zac! What’s up, man?”
“John, did you hear, man?” Zac said in a very upset tone.
“Did I hear what?” he asked in a calm tone, but at the same time, tried to sound concerned.
“Ken is dead, man! He’s fuckin’ dead! So is Veronica!” Zac informed him.
John got a very sick feeling inside him. “Fuck, man! What the fuck happened?!”
“He was driving Brad’s SUV and it went off of the cliff at Desert Cliff and it exploded in flames, man! Fuckin’ shit! My Uncle Stan said that Ken and Veronica’s bodies were burned beyond recognition! They had to be identified through DNA and their dental records!”
John sat with his head hanging down. He could not believe that it wasn’t who he thought it was! He tried to maintain his composure. “So they’re saying that it was just a single car accident? Do they know what caused him to go off the cliff?”
“They said they don’t know. It could’ve been the weather since it was raining very hard. Damn, man! Natalie first, now Ken and Veronica! This is crazy, man! And Ken loved that SUV! Brad told me that’s the first time he let him drive it because it was his first date out with Veronica. Fuckin’ shit, man!”
John sat in silence. “I�
�m so shocked about this that I’m just speechless. This is fuckin’ crazy, man. I thought it was Brad and Vanessa.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, since you said it was his SUV?”
“But you didn’t know Ken was out with it? Or did you?”
“No, man, I didn’t know anything about it,” he replied, as he was surprised that Zac caught on to what he’d said.
“Oh, okay. Well, I gotta go. We’re all going over to Ken’s house to be with his family tomorrow. Are you gonna be there?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there, man.”
“Okay, see you there.”
“Okay, man,” John said, and then hung up. “FUCKIN’ SHIT! FUCK, FUCK, FUUUCCCKKK!!!” he yelled to the top of his lungs as he slapped himself upside his head several times. He knew that he had just added another secret on top of the one that he already had!
He left the house, got into his car, and drove to Brad’s house since he wanted to see for himself if it was Ken and Veronica that he’d really killed.
Once he approached Brad’s house, he noticed that there were at least five cop cars in Brad’s driveway. He drove past slowly as he saw Brad’s parents talking to the cops outside. “Well, I’ll believe it’s not them when I see them, until then, Zac’s full of shit!” he said, and then turned down another street and headed back home.
CHAPTER 23
The next day, Brad, Ava, Marc, Zac, Marie, and I stood out in the driveway of Ken’s house. I still couldn’t believe that him and Veronica were dead, and I knew that just by what Brad had told me, his parents, and the cops about the phone call that he’d received from Ken minutes before the SUV went off the cliff, that this was no accident.
Brad and I had our arms around each other as I wiped tears from my eyes.
“This seems like a fuckin’ nightmare, I swear, and it just doesn’t seem like an accident to me. But there is nothing that we can prove right now,” Brad said as he held me.
Marc looked at him. “You think it was intentionally done?”
We all looked at Brad.
“Yeah, I think it was intentional. I just can’t get myself to believe that this was an accident,” Brad said again. “Everyone knew that was my SUV; it stood out miles away. I hate to say this, but I think John had something to do with it.”
We all gasped!
“Please don’t say that, Brad!” Ava said, and then started to cry.
Marie and I embraced her.
“Ava, I hate to say it, but this is what I believe. John is fuckin’ ruthless, and he wants us all dead so we don’t tell on him or try to get his DNA from him for killing Natalie. If he was the one who pushed Ken and Veronica off that cliff last night then it was obvious that he thought that it was me and Vanessa in the SUV — I’ve said that a million times since last night. Fuckin’ shit!” Brad said, and then put his right hand on his forehead and shook it slowly.
We all stared at him.
“By the way, where is John?” Marc asked.
“Well, I told him that we were all gonna be over here today and he said that he would be here,” Zac replied.
“I think it was him who did it; I really believe it was,” Marie said.
We all nodded in agreement.
“Well, I told the cops about the call that Ken made to me and told them to not assume that this was just some horrible accident. They asked me why, but I just couldn’t get myself to tell them the real reason. I just said that I’ve been dealing with some haters and they’ll stop at nothing to hurt me, but I just didn’t think that they would go this far. I know the story that I told them was so vague, but I just couldn’t tell them what I really thought because I just don’t have any proof that it was John. And Ken said to me that he didn’t know who it was, either, and that he was trying to stop my SUV from going over the cliff,” Brad said.
We all shook our heads as we saw a car stop on the side of the road across from Ken’s house. It was John. He got out of the car and then walked across the street as he shook hands and hugged people.
“Don’t say anything,” Brad told all of us.
John walked up to all of us, but it was the way he was looking at Brad and me that gave me chills, like he couldn’t believe that we weren’t the ones who were killed last night. “What’s up?” he said to all of us.
We all looked at him, but kept quiet.
“I think you can see what’s up, man,” Marc finally said.
“Well, I’m going inside to talk to Ken and Veronica’s families. See you all later,” John said, and then walked up the driveway and inside the house.
We all looked at each other.
“If he did it, he has absolutely no fuckin’ remorse for it!” I said while I held on to Brad.
“Let’s go. I can’t stand being around here with him being here,” Brad said.
“Then I’m going, too,” Ava said.
“Me too,” Marc said.
“I’m staying since Lisa said that she’s gonna be here soon,” Marie said.
“I have to stay as well because my Uncle Stan told me that he’s gonna be here as well to keep a watch out on the house since Ken’s family requested it,” Zac said.
Brad nodded. “Okay, man. Well, let me know what goes on with John, okay?”
“Of course,” Zac replied.
Brad and I got into his million-dollar car that was parked in the driveway, and Ava and Marc got into their cars and we all left to go to Brad’s house since we planned on doing it after we left Ken’s.
Several minutes later, we all sat in the recreation room of Brad’s house as we passively watched TV. We were all undoubtedly in a somber mood and rightfully so. Now three Rosemont students were dead and it was all because of John’s secret relationship with Natalie and ultimately killing her, and with Brad and I knowing that he killed her, he thought that he’d killed us — but he didn’t. Two more innocent people had to die because of this shit — this had to stop.
“I just can’t get it out of my fuckin’ head that John pushed them off that cliff last night thinking that it was me and Vanessa. Sorry that I keep saying it,” Brad said, while he had his arm around me.
I shook my head. “Don’t be sorry, honey, because I can’t get it off of my mind, either. And what other reason would anyone else have to do something like that, you know? It’s just so unbelievable that he saw them out last night if it was him who did it . . . and I think it was. It was all set that Ken and Veronica were gonna take the SUV on Friday since Brad and I had previously planned to take it there on Saturday. We switched days with them since Veronica had to work on Friday at the last minute to cover for someone who was sick.”
“Yeah, and he asked me could he borrow the SUV since like us, they were going to Desert Cliff — and I said it was no problem. There is no reason in this world for me not to believe that John obviously thought it was us last night. He was probably out cruising around like he said that he always likes do and obviously saw them,” Brad said.
“It makes a hell of a lot of sense to me, too,” Marc said. “I just couldn’t fuckin’ believe it, Brad, when you called me last night and told me that they were killed in your SUV and not only killed, but went off a fuckin’ cliff . . . damn!”
“I just sat in a horrible shock when Vanessa told me,” Ava said with her head down.
“This is all just too unbelievable for words. Now we have to add two more people to being killed because John doesn’t wanna go to prison for what he did to Natalie. It’s gonna be hard enough to attend that walk for homicide victims of last year in memory of Natalie, and now we’re gonna have to attend one next year for Ken and Veronica because I believed that they were murdered by John, too,” Brad said.
“I can’t get it off of my mind that John didn’t have anything to do with this, either. This is proving just how fuckin’ dangerous he really is, and that he means what he says about keeping his killing Natalie a secret. I’m really fuckin’ scared now more than ever. It was obvious that he thought
it was me and Brad last night in the SUV, and it just proves that he is doing everything he can to make sure none of us ever tells on him and/or get his DNA for what he did,” I said.
“I just feel like going to the fuckin’ cops right now and telling them that it was him!” Ava said.
“With what proof, Ava? Remember, that son of a bitch fixed the fuckin’ computer system where I can’t uncheck his name under DNA SAMPLE SUBMITTED; I honestly don’t know how he did that shit,” Brad said with a sigh.
“John has his ways of doing a lot of things, but there is no way that he’s gonna be able to uncheck anything when it comes to getting his DNA because we’re gonna get it . . . I don’t know how, but we’re gonna get it,” I said.
Brad, Ava, and Marc nodded in agreement.
Later that night, as I sat at my computer looking at high-end designer website, the chime on my phone snapped me out of my passive browsing . . . it was a secret text. So you’re still alive, huh? I was very upset about this, and grabbed a towel that I happened to have just sitting around, put it in my mouth, and screamed as loud as I could since my parents were home. I didn’t wanna think about what I wanted to do to this person who was sending me these texts, but I put it on the same level of what I wanted to do to John since I know that it was him who killed Ken and Veronica last night thinking it was Brad and me.
CHAPTER 24
On a Saturday afternoon, after the walk for homicide victims, Brad and Marc were at Brad’s house playing video games.
“Damn, that was rough today seeing all of those pictures of people who were murdered in this city. So many people of all ages, races, and backgrounds. I haven’t been to anything so sad and depressing before in my life besides going to funerals, you know?” Brad said.
“You’re damn right about that, man,” Marc replied.
“I strongly believe that John had something to do with Ken and Veronica’s deaths as well, and if he did, we’ll all be right back out there next year walking for them like what we did for Natalie today,” Brad said, while he continued to play video games.
School, Sex and Secrets II (School, Sex and Secrets #2) Page 15
