The Broken Ones: Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight: Idle Threats

(Adam)
I couldn't get Sarah out of my mind, the past twenty four hours had been kinda crazy! Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her green eyes staring back at me, I smelled her sweet scent, and I felt her skin next to mine!

Wrapped up in my daydream, I jumped when the door flew open and a very angry looking Detective Caldwell stood in front of me. "Got a minute Masters?" He grunted at me. Karen looked from me to him with a puzzled look on her face.
"Y-yeah, sure!" I nodded.
"Use my office!" Karen gestured to her private room.

Inside, Mark was pacing like a wild animal. Finally he looked at me with rage in his eyes, "Are you fucking my little sister?" How did he know?
"Sarah told you? Not that it's any of your business..." He spoke over me.
"She didn't tell me anything, I have eyes Masters!"
"Are you...spying on her?" I felt sick, I knew he was obsessed with her, but this?

"You went in late yesterday afternoon, and you didn't come out until after 6am this morning!" My God he was spying on her!
"You're sick, you know that?" His eyes widened, that look that triggered my dream a couple of weeks ago.
"I'm just looking out for her, she's a young widow! She's vulnerable!"

"No Mark, she's a grown woman who knows her own mind!" Fucking deja-vu with this guy!
"It's Detective Caldwell to you! And I don't appreciate you sniffing around my sister, or her dead husband's case!" He seethed at me, and I saw red.
"Is that so, Caldy?" The veins in his neck started to bulge and I thought he was going to have a stroke.

"Who the FUCK do you think you ARE?" He yelled, as Karen looked in from the main office.
"A guy who wants the truth, a guy who keeps coming up against a brick wall named MARK CALDWELL every time I talk to someone involved in John's case!"

He looked rather sheepish and his eyes darted from side to side, "Look it's...complicated! You don't wanna get involved!"
"Why do I get the feeling that you know more about your brother-in-law's death than you care to admit?" He didn't suspect me, why? What was he hiding?

"Look, Adam, you seem like a pretty decent guy. One that my sister is very fond of! So do yourself a huge favour and drop your snooping!" Snooping?
"And if I don't?" He looked me square in the eyes and said quietly,
"It would be best if you did!"

I kept pushing, I didn't care! "Why did you have Jim Browning taken off of the case?" His face went a bright purple and he muttered,
"Fucking hell, will you give it a rest???"
"No!" I answered him defiantly.

"He wasn't up for the task, he was sloppy! I wanted someone on the ball, so I put forward Roy Harper, we were pals from our days on the beat. He could run rings around old Browning!"
"Did you ever see witness reports about a red Nissan Juke being the vehicle that hit John?" I pushed even further, and a look of shock washed over his face, then it was gone and he cleared his throat.
"Um, no...where did you get that?" I looked him in the eyes and said a name that drained the colour from his face.

"Alison Payne!" He gripped Karen's chair for support, then scoffed.
"Pah, she's a crackpot, you don't want to listen to a word she says!" But he looked worried. He was definitely hiding something. "Just...drop it! Okay?"

He walked out of Karen's office with sweat dripping down his face, this guy was one to watch! And as Karen came in and asked me "You okay hun?" I nodded mechanically, thinking what Mark could possibly be up to.

(Sarah)
Adam said he would call when he finished work, and we could do something. After last night, all I could think about was him. I'd taken down John's photos, I don't know why, but it felt right. I closed my eyes and imagined Adam's warm and firm body against mine, how his skin smelled of a subtle soap and something else I couldn't put my finger on, but I liked it! Oh God he was so handsome, so sexy...so...mine! My body tingled at the thought of him, and when I heard a knock on my door, I jumped!

Adam was standing there, looking a little pained. "Sarah I have to talk to you!" I nodded and allowed him inside, oh please don't break things off!

"It's about..." He began, but seeing the blank space on the wall, he stopped. "Your...photo of John..."
"I needed a fresh start!"
"Oh!" He shook his head to clear the fog and took up where he left off, "Sarah your brother came to see me today!" I groaned and gave him an apologetic smile.

"I'm so sorry, he's..."
"Listen Sarah, he's been watching us!" I wasn't at all phased by this.
"Of course he has!" I muttered.
"Sarah, he knows we...slept together...and he's mad! He thinks I'm bad for you..."
"Then he couldn't be more wrong!" I stopped him, "Because you are exactly the opposite, you've helped me so much!" He frowned and looked down at the ground.
"I think it's best if I...keep my distance for a while, just until he calms down!" Oh no, no please Adam!

"Last night..." He went on, and my heart began to ache, "...I crossed a line! You're grieving and I should never have taken advantage of you like that!"
"But you didn't! I wanted you, Adam I wanted you and I loved it, being with someone and feeling something again...so no you did not take advantage of me! I wanted you so much!" I felt the tears sting my eyes as he grabbed hold of me and pulled me close.

He kissed me, and I felt like I was floating, then he knocked me back down to earth...

"I wanted you too, still do! But let's get Mark off of our back, let's take some time to think!"
"I don't want to think, I don't need to!" I wept.
"Sarah there are things that I need to...sort out! There are things about me that you may not like, things that seemed so certain a while back but through recent events...don't seem so clear after all!" What was he talking about?

"I'm doing a piece for the paper, I hope Karen will accept it, it's about John's murder and I...well I want justice for you, no matter what happens!" What?
"Adam..."
"No I have to go, last night was wonderful but we need to take a step back for now...let the dust settle!"

He walked out on me, and it broke my heart! He was talking in riddles! And since when did he want to get involved with John's murder? Was he doing it for me? Or for his acquaintance and ex-colleague? I had gone from feeling so happy this morning, to feeling devastated this afternoon...

...and the thought of not seeing or touching Adam for a while was too much for me to bear!

(Adam)
I waited in the park for Detective Jim Browning to appear. He'd agreed to meet me that evening, and after Mark's behaviour I was even more determined to get to the bottom of things. It killed me to distance myself from Sarah, and it made me feel sick confessing some truths to her, like my non existent article that was quickly becoming existent...if Karen would take me seriously.

The more I thought about things, the more I realised that there was a chance that I was innocent. Which didn't explain why I felt so connected to the crime. Jim Browning appeared and waved to me, "Adam Masters?" He called out.
"Yeah, yeah that's me!" He smiled and made his way over to me.

After an initial introduction, Jim started from the beginning, and ended with him being dropped from the case. He did indeed feel a paternal pull towards Sarah, "She is so like my daughter Lauren! I felt for the girl, really!" He seemed like a genuine gentleman, and not at all sloppy, in fact he was very much on the ball!

"So I caught Caldy rifling through the case files, I challenged him and he went berserk! He put in a formal complaint about me and how I conducted myself around his sister. She vouched for me of course, but the damage was done. Roy replaced me, and the rest, as they say...is history!"
"What was Mark looking for?"
"I have no idea, but he had been breathing down my neck since day fucking one!" Jim seemed angry about this, "He caused so much damage to the investigation..." He trailed off, clenched his fists and let out a deep breath.

"I retired soon after, I became a copper to help people, for justice! Mark Caldwell is in it for himself, justice isn't even in his dictionary!" He grunted and sighed, "That guy is a weasel! A philandering little shit! His wife deserved better, his sister deserved better...and John Wallace deserved better. I can't understand why they were ever friends."

"I remember John, he was a laid back, kind young man who went out of his way to help people! When he got in tow with Caldy, I couldn't believe it! I was a young constable when they were in high school, I caught them doing things they shouldn't a few times, and believe me I was surprised when Caldy applied to join the force!"

"I remember about ten years ago, I was out looking for a young girl who'd gone missing, I'd been out for over 12 hours. We eventually found her, she'd run off with her boyfriend but had second thoughts half way to Willow Creek, she called her parents to let them know where she was and to pick her up at Windenburg. Anyway, as I headed back to the station I heard raised voices, two young men, under the pier."

"I had a look, it was Caldy and John. They seemed to be having an argument, then suddenly they were...God I don't know if I saw right, it was early in the morning and I was tired and cold...they were...I don't know they were pretty close, I could've sworn I saw them kiss!" Jim shook his head and screwed his eyes shut, "And I heard Mark say to John 'don't do it Johno' and he was crying, shortly after that John married Caldy's sister!"

"I must have seen things, there was no way Mark Caldwell and John Wallace were...John was married to Sarah! And Caldy is the biggest lady killer in Brindleton Bay and San Myshuno, he's had all the girls!" He shook his head again, this time in disapproval, "I never forgot that morning, because I always doubted what I saw, you know?" I didn't know what to say, I sat there the whole time he was talking, and just took in everything he told me.

"Did you ever receive witness reports about a red Nissan Juke killing John Wallace?" He nodded,
"Yes, that was the vehicle witnesses saw. Then someone, likely the perp, burned it to a crisp near an old abandoned warehouse. Same model, red paint flecks on the ground by the burnt out shell. We just put two and two together and assumed that it was the same vehicle. Look it's all in the case files!"

"No, it's actually not!" I shook my head sympathetically.
"But...but I interviewed the witnesses myself..."
"Well, someone has made those statements disappear!" I shrugged. "And the only person who seems to hinder me in my own investigation..." I looked him straight in the eyes.

"...is Mark Caldwell!" Jim Browning looked shocked for a long time, then after a few moments a flash of realisation crossed his face.
"Look son, don't tell anyone you met with me. I think we can get to the bottom of this together, I can get closure and you can get your article, but most importantly we can get that little widow the justice she deserves..."

"...just wait for my call! I'll be in touch!" He saluted me, stood up, and was gone.

I now had an ally, someone I felt that I could trust. But in order for us to go forward, I had to be completely honest with him...I had to tell him about my flashbacks and why I was really investigating John Wallace's murder! It was a risk, he might shop me, but it was a risk I had to take!

To Be Continued...

Previous Chapters:
The Broken Ones