Blood Ties (10 page)

“Your mom and Rod will take care of Kelly, and you know it. And all I’m saying is, we should just go and check on Noel, to make sure he hasn’t harmed anyone else or set his place on fire.”

I shook my head. I was done with Noel.

“Come on Sam,” Jared insisted, “you won’t even have to talk to him. I’ll help him out, all you have to do is guide me to his place and help me make sure he hasn’t robbed a bank or something.”

I sighed and grunted. What Jared was proposing, if I indeed avoided speaking with Noel, was barely tolerable. Plus, I had the feeling that Jared wouldn’t let the subject
drop unless I relented. Kind of like when I’m being stubborn too.

“You know what, Jared? I’ll do it. I’m pretty convinced Noel will somehow manage to hurt me. I’ll be crushed and will require a serious psychological treatment as well as a shitload of ice-cream and plenty Bloody Mary’s in which to drown my grief.”

Jared breathed and his look showed he was seriously considering my words. Maybe I could get out of the visit…

“I make amazing Bloody Mary’s,” Jared replied and winked at me.

I rolled my eyes. Crap, I was going to Noel’s.

I finished the cigarette and briefly closed my eyes, hoping that when I’d open them, I’d find myself waking up from a very bad dream.

No such luck.

Reluctantly
, I walked back to Kelly’s room, informed her, mom and Rod that Jared and I would be going to Noel’s for a moment. Kelly lit up due to the idea of having someone else hovering in a spoiling manner around her. Mom smiled hesitantly because her youngest was happy. Rod, being fully aware of Noel’s drinking situation, refrained from expressing any sort of emotion, as he was sure his dubious air would hurt mom.

Jared led me to my car; he drove, convinced that if I was behind the steering-wheel, I’d go anywhere but Noel’s.

As I gave him directions, Jared followed them, carefully driving down the streets, making sure we weren’t being followed and keeping a sharp eye on the surrounding traffic.

Jared parked, but I refused to budge. He gave me a stern look and, after huffing, I got out of the car.

Jared dutifully followed me as I made my way through the bushes and onto the veranda. I removed a key from the base of a dried plant that seemed to weep on an urn. I unlocked the door and walked ahead of Jared down the hallway, up to the worn down door.

I knocked gently, looked at Jared, shrugged and turned around, but before I could take off, Jared firmly
—but softly—held my arm. With his other hand, he knocked with much more force than I’d used, and smiled defiantly at me. I grimaced back at him, and we both heard Noel making his way to the door, as his feet dragged and he stumbled against furniture.

Scared, worried, jumpy eyes stared into mine. Honestly, I’d never seen Noel in such bad shape. Even if relief swept over him when he realized Jared and I were standing in front of him, the fear didn’t leave his eyes.

“Come in!” Noel ordered, and we did.

His place was a mess. Magazines covered the floor, ashtrays
loaded with cigarette butts lay scattered around the dining-room table, piles of dusty books sat on chairs, and half-filled glasses—with beer, vodka or whisky—stood in whatever empty space there was. A horrible smell of confinement made my stomach quiver. There was also a very distinct scent coming from Noel’s bedroom, but I wasn’t one hundred percent sure of what it came from; I hoped my intuition was wrong, otherwise…

Unfortunately, my
perception wasn’t wrong. On Noel’s bed, covered by a blanket, a body lay motionless. Noel twitched with fear, and Jared moved to clear the body’s face to check if it was someone we knew.

I gasped in horror as the big blonde curls fell and bounced, and Olivia’s dead eyes stared into space.

“You have got to be kidding, Noel!” I spat, anger erupting from my skin.

Noel looked ashamed, scared and confused. I couldn’t help but wonder what had him
perplexed; he’d killed someone, period.

“Do you know this woman, Sam?” Jared asked, and I nodded.

“This is… was Olivia, one of the readers of Orchid Books. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe you, Noel! What the fuck is wrong with you? How the hell did you kill her? Why did you do it?”
“I don’t know! Samantha, I seriously do not know!” Noel shouted, at first mad, but his anger turned into fear, a shitload of fear.

Right then and there, I hated my brother. I really did. I absolutely loathed him. Yet the tremor in his voice, his body’s involuntary
quivering, the panic in his eyes… My gut told me he wasn’t lying. Could Noel have murdered a human being and not remember?

“We’ve got to call the police,” I stated, suddenly realizing we were in a crime scene and that a murder had taken place.

“But Sam—” Noel started, but I dismissed him by shaking my head.

“You won’t make us accomplices.
If you murdered someone, you are to be held responsible for your actions. And don’t even start talking about me and my righteousness or moral superiority or whatever you feel like berating me about!”

Noel looked helpless and frustrated; he’d been stopped before he could go ahead with one of his
philanthropic rants, and he didn’t like it.

I looked at Jared and he nodded; he understood instantly I wanted him to call Aidan, so he left the bedroom and I heard him talking with his brother.

“Sam…” Noel mumbled, trying to be articulate and calm.

“Save it,” I cut him off and left the room.

My eyes wandered aimlessly through the dining-room as Jared finished his conversation. He closed the lid, placed his cell phone in his jacket pocket and looked at me hesitantly.

“Aidan will be here immediately. Your brother will be arrested. I’m sorry Sam,” Jared whispered, being careful so as to not be heard by Noel.

I shrugged and shook my head.

“Whatever he did, he has to pay for. I’m just surprised because he looks completely baffled,
aren’t you?” I replied in the same low voice.

“Could he be acting?”

“He’s not good at faking anything.”

“Okay; I understand what you mean, Sam. Noel could either be in shock or denial, or maybe he was too drunk to even remember what he did.”

“I know, Jared. And I’m not defending him or anything like that; if he goes to jail, I won’t pay for his attorney. I simply want to know that he’s really guilty.”

“I know. We’ll let the crime scene investigators and forensics doctors analyze the evidence and prove whether Noel is
at fault or not.”

“That’s all I want, the truth.”

“It’s going to come out, don’t worry,” Jared said softly, gently caressing my arm; it felt comforting. “I’ll go and make sure he doesn’t tamper with the evidence, okay?”

I nodded; Jared left and I wrapped my arms around myself, attempting to find solace in them but failing miserably.

I waited for Aidan and whoever he’d be coming with standing in the dining-room. I didn’t budge until I heard a forceful knock on the door and Aidan yelling “Noel Pearson, it’s detective Jared Davies from the Memphis Police Department, open the door!” and I sprang forward with Noel and Jared rushing behind me.

I opened the door and said my name, just in case. Aidan looked at Jared, who turned around and walked to the room; Aidan went behind him. Samaire nodded at me as she entered and made her way to the corpse. A couple of crime scene investigators followed her
, and an officer stood by the door, making sure no one crossed the threshold or left the place.

Aidan joined us again, and as he handcuffed Noel, he
listed him his rights. My brother cast me a sorrowful and frightened look as he was led by Aidan. I avoided eye contact and stared at the door. Jared joined me.

“Aidan is taking Noel down to Tillman Station, and he’ll question him there. Do you want to be there, like during Kelly’s interrogation?”

I thought about it, then nodded. I wanted to see exactly how fucked up my brother was, how much he’d lied to me, and whether he’d actually managed to fake his dazedness or if it was for real.

“The team will take care of the scene; Samaire has been instructed to call both Aidan and I when she’s done with the autopsy.”

“Jared…Samaire knows? Isn’t that blowing our cover?” I asked, baffled.

“Samaire, Riley, the Cap
tain…and a lab technician, Benjamin Edwards, are in on it.”

“Okay, you’re the detective, you are the one who knows about this stuff, not me.”

“Yes, and keep this to yourself, Captain Nicholson decided who’d be told, I didn’t.”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“Great. Shall we?”

I nodded and Jared briefly disappeared into the bedroom to let the
analysts know we’d be going to the station. He reappeared and we walked to the car.

“Are you alright?” Jared asked, without taking his eyes from the road as he drove.

“Let’s see…My best friend is dead. Apparently, even if I don’t buy it, my sister tried to kill me and then staged an attempt on her own life; my brother seems to have murdered a woman I work with. Sandy is also dead. Jared, I feel bloody jolly right now, don’t you?” I replied, sarcasm crystal clear in my voice; I breathed deeply. “I’m sorry, I hate being a bitch, but you should really avoid making stupid questions.”

“Fine Sam,” Jared said and turned on the radio, indicating the
conversation was over; I didn’t mind.

We got to Tillman Station and walked directly to the room adjacent to the one where Noel was being interrogated. I stared at my brother, who held his head in his hands and couldn’t raise his gaze. He certainly seemed broken.

Aidan sat across Noel and, as usual, got his notepad and pen from his pocket. Without removing his eyes from my brother, he started scribbling a few words. Then he stopped and breathed deeply, his stare turned expectant, waiting for Noel to explain the situation.

“I…” Noel mumbled, but he was at a loss for words.

“Let’s start with last night, shall we Mister Pearson?”

My brother nodded; he inhaled, exhaled and nodded again, convincing himself he was ready to talk. Aidan placed the
tip of the pen on the pad; he’d write every single word Noel would utter.

“I went to Brody’s bar. Brody is a friend of mine, I’ll give you his address if you want it.”

“In a little while. At what time did you go there?”

“At around eight,” Noel said after thinking for a moment.

“Wasn’t it a bit early to go drinking?”

“Why the hell do I have to justify that to you? I went early because
there are less people and I can talk quietly with Brody without being disturbed by clients.”

“You got to your friend’s bar at around eight; what happened then?” Aidan asked, ignoring Noel’s small outburst.

“We just spoke and drank beer. I met a woman who turned out to work with my sister. We talked for quite a while. She took off for a few minutes, during which time I got invited a drink by another woman, whom I don’t know. I thought it was my luckiest night ever, I hit it off with two women,” Noel said bitterly.

“What drink did the second woman get you?”

“A gin and tonic.”

“Okay. What happened next?”

“Olivia, the first woman, returned and the one who had bought me the drink disappeared.”

“She disappeared?”

“I was sitting on a stool, at the bar. I talked with Olivia, she went to the bathroom. The woman sat on a stool next to me, handed me the gin and tonic, we chatted for a few minutes. Olivia returned, I turned to face her; when I was going to introduce them, I looked back at the second woman, but she was gone.”

“Right. Then?” Aidan asked, and I could tell his
roughness was due to doubting the honesty behind Noel’s words.

“Olivia and I continued talking for while, and then we left together. We got to my place, fooled around for a bit, and that’s it, I can’t remember anything else. The next thing I recall is waking up with a headache and Olivia’s cold still body by my side. I freaked out and Samantha’s boyfriend called me at that moment, so I had him come over with her.”

“At what time did you wake up?”

“I guess at three, or around three. I barely glanced at my
cell phone watch when I hung up.”

“Okay. So, you were kissing Olivia and you blacked out?”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t have intercourse?”

“I don’t think so.”

Aidan looked skeptically at Noel. I assumed he wasn’t really buying my brother’s very convenient memory loss. I didn’t want to believe him; it would be much easier shutting him out of my life completely, and if he was a murderer, I certainly wouldn’t feel guilty; but for whatever reason, my intuition
budged me into trusting his memory loss.

“Did Noel know Olivia from the office?” Jared asked me as Aidan made questions regarding time and a few details.

“No, he’s never been to my workplace, and I’ve honestly dreaded the possibility of having him meet anyone from my professional life. He’s…”

“An
embarrassment?”

I blushed a bit but nodded. I don’t consider myself to be a gift from the gods, but I
do think my brother is better kept in the dark.

“Sam, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. You’ve got your reasons for feeling like you do, you don’t have to justify how you think to anyone.”

I nodded slowly but didn’t meet his eyes.

“Why doesn’t he get himself a lawyer?” Jared wondered aloud.

“Even if he can’t remember, he must think he’s guilty, I guess. The evidence is overwhelming, isn’t it?”

“Yes Sam, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, you didn’t kill Olivia. So, what will happen now?”

“Noel’s questioning will continue until Aidan’s done or Noel asks for an attorney. Then, he’ll be put in jail.”

“I have to tell my parents and Kelly. Fuck!”

“I’ll be with you, don’t think about it now. We’ll tell them tonight, once everything’s set.”

“Okay, thanks Jared,” I said, smiling tightly at him.

I looked back into the interrogating room and was surprised to find Aidan leaving. Two seconds later he entered the room Jared and I were in.

“He’s asked for a lawyer,” Aidan explained before we managed to ask. “Noel said he’ll be getting in touch with Kelly because he knows her attorney is the best.”

“Will that make matters complicated for you?” I asked.

“This isn’t one piece of circumstantial evidence; it’s a corpse, so no matter what, the charges will stick. The district attorney will have to decide what specifically they’ll be, but Noel won’t get away with murder.”

I nodded and gazed at my brother fidgeting as he spoke nervously into a phone. I heard a buzzing sound and Aidan grabbed his
cell phone, opened the lid, and talked, turning his back on Jared and me. I tried making out what Aidan said, but to no avail. I suddenly decided to question Jared.

“Did they find any more evidence in Susie’s place?” I asked, and Jared shook his head. “Nothing in her computer or phone records?”

“Not really. I mean, on Saturday, at around midnight, she received a text message that asked to meet her at her place, but the message wasn’t signed and the number was tracked to a cell phone bought six months ago, in cash. After the murder, it wasn’t used anymore, so we assume whoever bought it either dumped the chip or simply destroyed it.”

“Can’t you track it down with GPS or something?”

“Not if the phone is off.”

“Oh. Was it the only message she received from that number?”

“No, she’d gotten others, but the content was basically always the same, to meet at her place at a given hour.”

“Did she answer them? I don’t recall Susie texting anyone on Saturday.”

“No, she never replied the messages.”

“Do you think it’s the killer?”

“It’s a possibility we’re still checking.”

I nodded, hoping they’d find the chip on the person who’d killed Susie. Yes, I know it’s very optimistic and naive on my behalf, but one can always hope, right?

Aidan hung up and turned to face us. His serious face was more somber than usual.

“That was Samaire. She did a general analysis and will now proceed to carry out a more detailed examination. The basics are that Olivia was killed by asphyxia, like Susan.”

“Were there any fingerprints?” I asked Aidan.

“The crime scene
unit is going through everything. That will take a bit longer. Samaire will carry out a toxicology exam to check if Olivia was drugged before being murdered.”

“Did you do that for Noel? I mean, a blood analysis to confirm or deny his version of the evening? Maybe he isn’t lying and he was given a
roofie or something like that,” I asked.