Cassie finally walked up. She and Laura shared a look before turning their heads to Marissa. Laura almost fell over.
“Whoa! Are you okay?” Cassie asked.
“My foot.”
“Go sit down over there.” She pointed toward the house that had boulders near the end of their driveway. “I’ll stay with Marissa. An ambulance will be here soon.”
Laura nodded. She turned around and slowly limped her way to the large rock, taking a seat. After examining her foot, she watched Cassie and Marissa from afar. She also watched as the driver who hit her stood comatose by the car. A few people had walked up to the scene, huddling in prayer, offering themselves comfort.
How did it all come to this?
* * *
Cassie knelt by her aunt. She didn’t know if she should hold her hand. Wipe her tears. Or simply let her be.
Marissa looked at her without twisting her head. She winced in pain. “I’m…so sorry.” She took in a labored breath.
“Shh, you shouldn’t talk. Help is coming.”
“I’m not…the…only…one.”
Cassie cocked her head and furrowed her brows. Not the only one? What did that even mean? She briefly glanced at Laura. Someone was now sitting by her, which was good.
Looking back at Marissa, tears started to drip from her eyes. She might be mad at her, but that didn’t stop her from caring about her. Seeing her aunt like this broke her heart. She hated to see her life slip away. Taking her hand, she said, “Save your strength. Just know I’m here.”
Was that a small smile she saw? Or was she just in further pain? Cassie couldn’t tell. She just wished this wasn’t happening right now.
Marissa took a couple more labored breaths, gasping a couple of times. Then she stopped.
Cassie saw how her eyes suddenly seemed empty. They were open, but lifeless.
“Marissa? Marissa?” Cassie asked, crying. She gently nudged her aunt.
No response.
“Marissa?”
Nothing. Her aunt was gone. She covered her face with her hands, sobbing.
The ambulance’s siren got louder and louder. It turned off as soon as it reached the scene. EMTs immediately attended to Marissa. Cassie stepped back a few feet, witnessing them check for a pulse and do other measures to see if she could be resuscitated. But she knew there wasn’t any hope. Her aunt was hit hard. She didn’t survive.
After Marissa was wheeled into the ambulance, it took off without any lights and sounds. There was no need to rush.
Tears dripped from Cassie’s eyes as she watched the ambulance until it was out of sight.
* * *
Laura carefully wobbled to Cassie. She put a hand on her shoulder, startling her. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Cassie looked over. Wiping her eyes, she sniffed. “It’s okay. I just thought you would have stayed seated with your foot hurting.”
“I felt like you needed me.”
Cassie threw her arms around her, burrowing her head in her hair, sobbing. Laura let her. She held on tight, crying tears of her own.
Some police officers were making their rounds, asking bystanders what they saw. Two of them were questioning the driver, who was understandably a mess. The detective was just arriving as well. Laura knew it wouldn’t be long before they’d get interrupted.
Cassie broke free, wiping her eyes again. “Thank you. I needed that.”
Laura smiled half-heartedly, drying her own tears.
“I can’t believe she’s gone.”
Sighing heavily, Laura said, “I know.”
The two of them stood side by side, taking everything in.
“Can I ask you something?”
“What?” Cassie asked.
Laura looked down. She really should sit down. “I was just wondering why you came to Marissa’s house in the first place.” She peered over at the woman who had at one point been her student but had always been a friend.
“Today was my last day interning. I had to put some things away, one of them being a video shown at your trial.”
Laura’s eyebrows raised.
“It was the feed from Tommygun Tavern. I saw the part where the killer led Trey to the bathroom. And that’s when I noticed something above the woman’s ankle.”
Laura kept listening, intrigued.
“When I enlarged it, I realized it was the thin ankle bracelet I had gotten for Marissa for Christmas one year. The one with a charm on it.”
Laura gasped. “Really?”
“Yeah, so as soon as I saw it, I knew you were probably in trouble. I came right away.” Cassie brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Thank you.” Laura rubbed her hand along Cassie’s back, trying to smile.
Cassie turned to face her. “There were other small things, too, that made me question it was her. But nothing definitive until that video. I’m so sorry I didn’t find out sooner.” Her shoulders started to shake as more tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay. I’m just glad you got here when you did.”
Wiping her tears, Cassie stood up tall. She had a far-off look. Laura followed her gaze. The detective was making his way over.
Before he got to them, Cassie asked, “I take it you found something? That’s why you were running from her?”
“Under the bathroom sink. All the stuff used in the murders.”
Looking into Laura’s eyes, Cassie asked, “Why would she do this? This isn’t like her.”
Laura shrugged. “I tried asking. All she kept saying was I deserved it. Something about killing someone.” She shook her head. “I have no idea what she’s talking about. I really don’t.”
“Good morning, ladies,” Detective Kojak cut in.
“Hi,” they both said in unison.
“I’m sorry you had to witness this. But I’m hoping I can get a word with both of you. Would that be all right?”
Laura looked down again. Her foot was throbbing horribly. “Can we sit over there?” she pointed to the rock she sat on earlier. “I rolled my ankle, snapping something. My foot is killing me.”
“Oh, sure. That’s fine. I’ll make sure an ambulance gets you to the hospital to have it looked at.”
“Thanks.”
The detective and Cassie helped Laura get to the boulder. She took a seat, wincing in pain. Looking around, she noticed the scene had quieted down a tad. The people that had been out before had mostly retreated to their homes.
“So, what’s this all about? What happened?” Detective Kojak asked, looking from one woman to the other. Stopping on Cassie, he asked, “And why did you leave so abruptly from the station without help?”
Cassie replied, “I found out who The Margaret Killer was. It was my Aunt Marissa.”
“How did you –”
“I saw the video,” she interrupted. “The woman with Trey that night had an ankle bracelet on. It matches the one I gave Marissa a few years ago.”
“So, you came to her house?”
“I knew Laura was staying there. She might have been in trouble, so I came to get her.”
Detective Kojak looked at Laura. “Were you in trouble?”
As she felt around her sore foot, Laura said, “I found her stuff. Once she knew I did, she tried to kill me. As I ran outside, Cassie pulled into the driveway.”
“I take it she was running after you when the accident happened?”
Laura nodded.
Cassie added, “She never checked both ways before crossing the street. She was too focused on getting Laura. There was a car, and, well, now she’s gone.” She almost didn’t get the last word out. Her voice started to break.
The detective sighed, giving both women a moment. “Is the stuff still in the house?”
“Yes. In the bathroom,” Laura answered.
“I’m going to go check things out.” Looking at Laura, he added, “The ambulance should be here any minute. I hope everything’s okay.”
“Thanks.” She allowed one corner of her mouth to smile at him.
The detective asked one last question. “Are you going to stick around, Cassie?”
She thought for a moment. “Maybe. I don’t know.”
“Well, if you need anything, a couple of officers are over there,” he said as he pointed in their direction.
Cassie merely nodded.
“Both of you take care now.” He smiled.
The women watched him leave, making his way to Marissa’s house. Neither of them said a word to each other at first. Everything that just happened was still too surreal.
Suddenly, Cassie spoke up. “She said something to me, you know, right before she died.”
“Yeah?”
“Something about not being the only one. Do you know what that might mean?”
Laura shrugged. “Maybe she was talking about me. She thinks I’m guilty. Maybe she was saying she’s not the only one that’s guilty.”
Cassie’s eyes squinted. “Yeah, I don’t know. I just found it odd.”
“Everything about this is odd.”
“Yeah,” Cassie stated sorrowfully.
An ambulance came into view. In no time, the EMTs were at Laura’s side, helping her get onto the gurney.
As they wheeled her to the ambulance, Laura said, “Hey, Cassie?”
She looked up from her foot she had been fanning in the gravel. “Yeah?”
“Go home. Leave Crimson Shores.”
Cassie’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why?”
Laura was placed securely on board the ambulance. The EMTs were getting ready to close the doors. She made them pause for a moment, not being quite finished with talking to her friend.
“You’ve graduated now. Why stay here? You have no family, and this town will forever be a negative place for you. I think it’d be good for you and your future to go home. Or, at the very least, go somewhere else.”
Cassie nodded slightly. “I’ll think about it.” She brushed another strand of hair behind her ear as the wind seemed to be picking up.
The EMTs started to close the doors.
“Wait, wait, wait!” Cassie blurted, holding out a hand.
The doors reopened. The one EMT was growing frustrated.
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“No, it’s okay. I’ll be fine.”
“Can I at least come see you soon?”
“Of course,” Laura said. “But I need time to process things so let’s wait until I get out of the hospital. Okay?”
Cassie’s shoulders fell.
Laura hoped to cheer her by adding, “Look, I promise I’ll get a hold of you as soon as I get home. It shouldn’t be long. We’ll figure out then when to get together.”
“Okay. Sounds good.” Cassie began to smile.
Laura smiled back. “Yeah? Okay. I’ll be in touch.”
The two of them waved. The EMTs were finally able to close the doors, and off they went.
Chapter 24
“O
nce we get this set up and the doctor checks in on you, you’ll be ready for surgery,” the nurse stated, putting an IV in.
Laura smiled at the older lady wearing scrubs with cats on them. “Thanks.”
She tried to appear calm on the outside. But inwardly, she was a nervous wreck. She had heard too many horror stories of surgeries gone wrong. Thankfully, it was just to repair her foot and not anything more major. She was told it would be a breeze and all would be fine. Hopefully that was true.
The nurse put a hand on Laura’s. “Just do your best to relax. The doctor will be in momentarily. In the meantime, if you need anything, feel free to press the call button.” She pointed to the small remote-looking device on the other side of the bed.
Laura looked over, right away seeing the red, rectangular button with the word ‘call’ in big, white letters written on it. “Okay.”
With a smile, the nurse walked out. She closed the door, leaving just a crack.
Laying her head back on the pillow, Laura released a long, deep breath. Though concerned about the upcoming surgery, it still felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. There were still more questions than answers at this point regarding Marissa being The Margaret Killer, but she was confident the whole truth would come out at some point. Even if it didn’t, at least it was over. No one else would be dying. Others would know who was really behind it all so they wouldn’t look at her as the guilty one anymore. They wouldn’t avoid her, discriminate against her, or treat her like the plague. She could finally start rebuilding her life.
But did she really want to do it here in Crimson Shores? She had the perfect life until her so-called friend screwed it up. Could it even be perfect again? She didn’t think so. There was too much damage. Too many scars. Too much loss. Laura knew that in the days and weeks to come she would have a lot of thinking and planning to do in order to get her life back on track. Where would she even start?
No matter how much Laura tried to think of anything aside from what happened that morning, her thoughts eventually gravitated back. There was one thing that kept nagging at her. Something that didn’t make sense. It was all about what Marissa said regarding killing someone. She blamed Laura for killing him. Who was him? And if she was guilty, why didn’t Marissa just bring her to the police? Or why didn’t she at least confront her sooner than this? Why did she go through the whole hassle and mess of killing others just to frame her? Better yet, why didn’t Marissa just kill her herself? There were plenty of opportunities! Even more so now that she had been living with her!
Once again, Laura blew out a bunch of air. She had to stop thinking about all of this. It simply didn’t make sense.
A quiet, firm knock helped her to avert her line of thinking. She looked over as the doctor made his way in. Her lips slowly slanted. What was he doing here? How did he find her? Her heart immediately began to pound. She could no longer breathe. She wasn’t safe. She had to get out of here! Laura tried to remove her IV so she could leave.
The doctor raised his hands in surrender. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Relax. It’s me. Garrett. Garrett Richards. You remember me, right?”
Laura clutched her chest. She panted.
He chuckled. “Did you think I was my brother, Charlie?”
Flashbacks of the man who said he loved her, but then turned one hundred eighty degrees around to rape her, started racing through her mind. Her recurrent nightmares of that fateful night began plaguing her. She couldn’t get the image of Charlie out.
“Laura? You okay? You look pale as death.”
She couldn’t respond. She was shaking.
Sitting down at the edge of the bed, Garrett put a hand on top of Laura’s. “Laura? It’s okay. I’m Garrett. Take a deep breath with me.” He modeled how he wanted her to inhale and exhale.
A few breaths in, Laura started to mimic him. Eventually, she regained control of her body and mind. The shaking subsided. Her heart returned to a mostly normal rate.
Garrett sat looking at her. “Wow. It’s been a long time! It’s good to see you.”
Laura offered him a crooked smile. “I didn’t know you were here.” After she spoke the words, she almost wished she could have taken them back. They sounded a little rude.
“Yeah, it’s a long story.”
Garrett got up to examine her foot. He turned it in all directions; pressed on her skin. A few times Laura winced in pain.
As he continued poking and prodding, he began to tell Laura how he got to Crimson Shores. “After my brother, Charlie, went to prison, he became a totally different person. He grew more and more depressed, and eventually started making suicide attempts.”
“He did?”
Dr. Richards stopped what he was doing to look up at Laura. His gaze reached beyond her as if he were staring through her. Sighing, he said, “People didn’t treat him right. He felt like he lost everyone. He knew he lost you.” His eyes stared coldly at her. “He should have been taking medicin
e for his depression but didn’t. Or wouldn’t, rather.”
“So…” Laura didn’t even know what to ask. Thankfully the doctor picked up on the trail.
“He eventually succeeded in killing himself,” Garrett stated bluntly.
Laura’s eyes widened. “Charlie’s…dead?”
Could it really be that her attacker was no longer alive? Her eyes looked at Garrett. How could he be so calm about this? Then again, a small part of her was almost glad Charlie was dead. She felt he almost deserved it. Realizing her own truth, she tried not to be too judgmental. But weren’t those two brothers close? Surely, he must have some feelings toward this!
“Yep.” He looked as if he were deep in thought. “And it was really hard on my mom and me at the time.” Resuming his examination of her foot, he added, “But then Mar reached out. Something totally unexpected.”
Laura cringed at the pressure she felt. Mar? “Who’s Mar?”
Garrett chuckled. “You know, Marissa.”
“Marissa reached out to you?”
He nodded. “She called me in tears one day. She was so upset that the love of her life was no longer here.”
Did he really say what she thought he said? Confused, she asked, “Wait, what?”
“Apparently Mar had the hugest crush on him when you were with him. But, of course, she didn’t do a thing. She respected the relationship you had with my brother.”
“Um…” Before she continued, Garrett did for her.
“Before she moved here, she was doing some volunteer work as a prison psychiatrist. When Charlie started dealing with depression, he saw her. At some point she told him about her feelings. The two of them started seeing each other more often.”
“But…”
“With therapy sessions.” Garrett stopped to look at her. “They got real close, if you know what I mean.” He chuckled, nudging her good leg.
Laura rolled her eyes. Yes, she caught his drift, but she didn’t quite believe it. “Are you sure we’re talking about the same person? This doesn’t sound like Marissa.”
A Kiss Revealed Page 17
