Chapter 25

I woke to comfort the next morning, wrapped from neck to toes in about a million blankets and cushioned by the soft, well-padded mattress. I snuggled deeper into my warm cocoon reluctant to so much as open my eyes lest I lose the feeling of utter tranquility.

I appreciated the silence and I could smell the scent of the forest through a partially open window. It was heaven and I wasn’t ready to leave. I let out a sigh, a smile gracing my face as I finally opened my eyes.

Everything came rushing back to me when I realized whose room it was that I was in and whose bed I was snuggled so comfortably on and with that thought my peace shattered and the ache started deep in my heart.

Nathan.

The poor guy had been beyond devastated the night before. I couldn’t remember ever seeing someone in so much pain before, so absolutely hurt that he had practically been paralyzed by it and it wounded me to think of what he was going through.

Last night I had held him for what had felt like hours until there was nothing more he could let out, so that not even the tears could continue flowing, then I’d ushered him to his room and he’d followed, looking lost and empty as I wrapped him in his blankets and climbed in beside him.

We hadn’t uttered a word to each other as we lay there and eventually I had wrapped an arm around him, pressing my face to his chest so I could listen to his erratic heartbeat. It wasn’t until his breathing evened out and I was sure he was fast asleep that I had allowed myself to drift off and now here I lay, still wrapped in his blankets, only now I was alone.

I stretched my hand across the sheets so I could touch the indent he’d left in the mattress but the space was cool, which meant he’d left the bed long ago. With a sigh, I pulled myself into a sitting position and looked around the room; I hadn’t had much of a chance to see it last night. Like every other room in the ‘cabin’ it was decorated with a level of opulence and professionalism.

There were no personal touches just cold beauty, reminding me of a hotel room; built for comfort not family. I wish I knew more about Nate and how he had come by all of this. I wish I understood him; what pushed him to be the kind of person he was and what had led to his incarceration. I wish he would trust me enough to let me in…but I supposed his trust in me the night before was a start.

I finally got out of bed, curling my toes when they touched the cool floor. When I got to the door I took a breath, not sure what to expect but willing to face the new Nathan head on, so I pushed it open and stepped out into the hallway.

My first stop was the room I shared with Kyle, which was empty, and after a quick shower and teeth scrubbing I stepped out into the hallway once more, making my way to the kitchen where I could smell the coffee and frying bacon and eggs. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had bacon and eggs and my mouth watered.

When I stepped into the kitchen though, it was to the sight of said bacon and eggs frying without a cook and I looked around the room wondering where everyone was. Reaching up on tip toes, I pulled a mug from the cupboard and poured myself some coffee, adding the milk and sugar and stirring, while keeping my eyes on the frying pan.

I glanced out the window as I passed it and saw Kyle sitting on the porch railing smoking his stress away and I wondered briefly where he even found the cigarette.

“Hey what’s up?”

Kyle looked up at me when I joined him on the porc only moments later h and he offered me a warm smile.

“Nothin just taking in nature.” He explained, looked at the trees that surrounded us. Then he looked back at me with a knowing smile, wiggling his eyebrows as he stared.

“You didn’t come back to bed last night.” He teased and I shook my head.

“It’s not like that, trust me. Nate just needed my help with something.” I took a sip of my coffee.

More brow wiggling “I’m sure he did.”

I rolled my eyes. “Where is everybody anyway? There’s breakfast frying on the stove with no cook.”

He shrugged. “Nate’s cooking, John’s not up yet, I tried his door this morning but it’s locked.” He explained with a miserable pout and I laughed.

“That’s probably because you keep trying to molest him.”

Kyle rolled his eyes and took another draw of his cig. “Since when do you even smoke?”

“Since always. I just never had any back at the prison.” He removed an entire box of cigarettes from his pocket. “Found this in the bedside table in our room.” he held it up so I could see.

“So what’s the plan for today?”

“No idea, I’m gonna try and convince them to let me call my dad.”

I shook my head. “That’s never gonna happen, don’t bother wasting your time.”

He took another drag. “John will listen.” He said confidently and I dropped into the seat against the wall.

“Where’d you get that?” I jumped and almost spilled my coffee when the voice sounded above me.

Speak of the damn devil.

John stood framed in the door way in nothing but a pair of Jeans and boots. In his hand, he held his T-shirt, which after only minimum fumbling smoothly slipped it over his head and made his way over to Kyle whose face lit up like a Christmas tree.

“Hey Johnn- hey what’d you think you’re doing?” he questioned in confusion when John pulled the cigarette from his hand and dropped it to the floor, before snuffing out the flame under his boot.

“Those thing’s will kill you.” He said simply then turned to survey the forestry much as we had done earlier.

Kyle shook his head. “There’s a million things out there that’ll kill me, I think I’ll take my chances.” And he pulled out a lighter and I watched as he fumbled with the cig box to pull out another.

I chuckled when John grabbed that too and Kyle jumped up in annoyance.

“Give that back!” he ordered, holding onto John’s shirt and stretching around him so he could pull the box out of the big guy’s hand, but John easily held it out of his reach and Kyle cussed at him as he tried to retrieve it.

They were like two big kids fighting over a toy.

“If you guys are just about done making a fool of yourselves, breakfast’s ready.” Nate said and my head snapped around as I turned to stare at him. He stood in the door way, sipping his own coffee and watching the guys; his expression one of boredom.

I swallowed, taking in his overall disposition and surprisingly he looked fine. There was no trace at all that he had lost it the other night, no sign that he was even grieving over his fallen friend.

“Hey Nate.” I said slowly and he finally looked down at me, expression unreadable.

“Hey, you should go get something to eat. We’ve got a lot to do today.” And after another quick glance at Kyle and John who had yet to settle down, he turned to go inside and I drained my mug and followed.

“Are you okay?” I questioned as we stood side by side sharing out our food. He paused and looked at me.

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t be?”

He looked the same as always I supposed. Same old Nathan, always in control.

“No, it’s just that last night-“

“Was a momentary display of weakness.” He said simply and his mouth tightened. “It won’t happen again.”

I shook my head. “It wasn’t weak, it’s okay to grieve for someone you love.”

He didn’t say anything for a while, just continued sharing his meal and pouring himself another cup of coffee, but then he paused and turned to me and I paused too, watching him.

“Thanks.” And the look in his eyes when he said that one word let me know that it wasn’t just for what I’d said, but also for last night. I smiled and nodded.

………………………………………….

When I’d said Nathan had gone back to being the same as he always was I’d been wrong. Yes he was still in control, gruff and virtually emotionless. He still felt the need to boss me and Kyle around and generally he was the same as he always was, but as the morning wore on I began to notice something about him, mainly in the way he looked at me now; almost as if he was seeing a completely different person.

I couldn’t decipher the look in his eyes but every time he glanced at me it was there, as if he was seeing me for the first time, or as if there was something he was seeing that he couldn’t understand and it put me on edge for most of the day. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking and I worried that maybe I wouldn’t even want to know.

It was after all the dishes ad been cleaned and we all sat around the small dining table that the ‘work day’ officially began. John and Nate sat side by side, each holding a writing pad and a pen. I was seated in front of them with my hands clasped before me and Kyle at my side munching happily on an apple.

Then the questions began and once again I was made to tell them every single detail that I could remember about that night, once in a while they’d pause to jot things down and throw theories at each other and I would sit there watching them, thinking that they’d have made good detectives.

“You said that everyone who came through the door that night signed a yearbook?”

I nodded at John, “Yeah it was a ‘done with high school’ party so it was supposed to be fun you know, everybody who passed through the door signed this yearbook they had hooked up on this wall.” I explained.

“And what was the invite list like? Was it exclusively students from your school?” this from John again.

I shook my head. “People could invite their friends.”

John turned to Nate, “So if the real killer was there that night then there’s a chance they’d have signed that year book.”

Nate frowned, “But even then, assuming at least a hundred people went that night, we can’t very well sift through so many names just to find our guy. Visiting every one of them to get a statement would be too risky and time consuming.”

John agreed. “Not to mention our lack of resources.”

Nate ran his hand through his hair a few times in frustration, tapped the pad with his pen then glanced over at me.

“Tell me about your mom’s boyfriend.”

“What’d you wanna know?”

“What was he like? Do you think he has any enemies that you might know? Why exactly was he at the party that night?”

“That’s easy, he was an abusive asshole who spent his money on booze and drugs and lived most of his life drunk than sober. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had enemies, but I don’t know them and like I said before he was at the party asking for my mom.”

“But what could have happened that he had to find you just to ask about your mother? You said they were a couple right? Then why come to you? Why not call, check at your house or at least wait until she got home if she wasn’t in?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, he was drunk like always, he probably just wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“Can you tell us anything else about him that night? Did he seem anxious? Maybe even angry?”

I bit my lip, thinking hard. “No more than usual I guess. I can’t really remember.”

John and Nate looked at each other and some silent communication seemed to pass between them.

“I’ll just go over this one more time then. You went to a house party thrown by some kid you don’t know, your mom’s lover crashed it, he was drunk, and drew you aside, demanding to know where your mom was, you threatened his life, he pushed you, you pushed him and he fell. Then you left?”

I nodded

“Instead of going home you went for a walk in the park alone and by the time you go home it was late and no one was there and there was nothing out of the ordinary that you noticed. A week later, the police came storming in, the murder weapon was found in your room and you were arrested.”

John looked at me and I nodded again. “Then it turned out that your mom had been out with Jerry and some friends that night, which gave her an alibi and left you with none.”

The entire statement made me sound guilty as sin. I sighed, rubbing my hands together slowly.

“I don’t even see what you guys can do that the cops didn’t. They already investigated and they found me guilty, no offence but you are just two normal guys who happened to escape from prison, I’m beginning to think this was a waste of time.” I was feeling sorry for myself and maybe just a bit depressed.

“The detectives on your case stopped investigating the moment they found the murder weapon with your prints. They didn’t think there was anything else out there they needed to know, that was their downfall, we’re about to start our investigation where they ended theirs. We’ll figure this out.” Nate assured me with a smile and I tried but failed to return it.

“So what do we do now?” Kyle spoke for the first time.

“Now we run with the only lead we have.” John said and I looked over at him questioningly.

“We’ll have to pay your mother a visit.”

AUTHOR'S NOTES

John's POV SO FOR ALL YOU SEXY PEOPLE WHO JUST LOVE OUR BIG GRUMPY TEDDY BEAR..PREPARE YOUR BODIES FOR NEXT SUNDAY!

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-unedited.