Book 2 of 2, sequel to Alaska's Illicit.
In which Mikaere returns to Alaska, but upon arriving realizes that she has a new problem: Vaughn, Darren, or should she just stick with Jared?
Vaughn's past and life are revealed, and also a serial killer mi...
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CHAPTER FIFTEEN: DROOL-DRENCHED SMILE
Vaughn stares blankly at the man, and the man stares back with exhaustion in his empty, green eyes. They narrow in his direction as he studies the long, fading scar that falls across the man's left cheek and his combed, dark brown hair. And then he puts his back to the rectangular mirror and walks out the door.
It's the morning of the funeral - Wednesday, September 2nd, and his black suit is the only one he owns, but it feels like an anachronism when he wears it.
It's a cold morning, the fresh air immediately starting to bring a pink coloring to his cheeks and ears, and the cut lawn has a layer of dew that waits to be displaced.
The drive to the site is short, but Vaughn hardly takes any note. All he can think of is his father's Sunday night confession at the dinner table when he told Siara and Vaughn that he heard Katelynn's last breath.
"I was on the phone with her, when she died," he told them. "And it was faint, but I heard him. I heard the man, I heard him in the background as he was- as he was...killing, strangling her. And he just kept repeating the same word over and over."
The silence between the three of them stretched on, the two siblings not daring to say a word.
"Wire," Ivan finally said. "He kept saying wire. But the thing is, I've heard that voice before. I know it. I know I have. I can't place it, but I know I've heard that voice before."
And as Vaughn felt his stomach drop, he watched as Siara frowned, tugging at her hair.
Maybe his father is delusional. Maybe he's just doing what he's always done - taken it personally because of course someone must be out to get him and he's the true victim. Or maybe his father really has heard the man's voice before, and it's simply just chance that he'd be affected twice.
The priest giving the eulogy sticks out his cleft chin and paces with a sharp limp. Today he wears a weathered watch and a fervent countenance as he begins to speak, attracting the audience's attention at once. He holds a loud, clear voice that's littered with a light lisp, but his speech shares his sorrow.
Vaughn scans the crowd occasionally, noting the many who are crying for Katelynn as he learns things he never knew about her.
When it is over, he stands off to the side with Tommy, watching through the light fog as person after person gives his father their deepest sympathies. Anxiety shows in Vaughn's hands as he flexes and relaxes them. The last funeral he was at was Penny's, and the last burial was Moose. Thankfully, Tommy's conversation keeps him grounded.
Two younger teenagers are nudged forward by their parents in Ivan's direction, and Vaughn and Tommy watch as they whisper to each other and trudge over to him.
"You remember those two?" He asks, and Vaughn shakes his head. "The Garrett's and the Barnes' kids. They're the ones that always acted like cousins who never listen to their parents and always get into the most trouble when they're together."
