Deconstructing Bridges

Chapter Twenty-Four

Nichole couldn't believe it. Her friend, who had always spoken of his dislike for his older brother and his best friend Freddie, was now working with them?

"What are you trying to do, Cole? You want to bring him down? You want to kill him? What is your aim here?"

"I just want to know. I want to know for sure that she's dead, and I want to know where she is. If there's a chance that she's alive, I need to know. I need to see her again."

She grasped the front of his shirt, her eyes shimmering with tears.

"Owen, please. Please tell me the truth. What happened to her? Is she alive?"

He looked at her as though pained.

"Owen! Is Lex alive? Please, please God, tell me she's alive!"

His hands briefly covered hers.

"She's alive."

Nicole's legs gave way from beneath her.

Shaking the memory free, Rose reached forward to press 'rewind' on the small monitor in front of her.

Considering the basket case she had become lately, Rose was impressed with herself. Completely dry eyes throughout the entire video. Perhaps it was because instead of sadness and grief, she felt pure molten fury.

At first, Jeremiah the man himself had been the object of her fury. A young man, mid-twenties with an estranged wife had recounted his early business meetings with Frederick Marshall. They'd gotten along well, gone for a couple of business drinks. Casual conversation led to him talking about his troubles at home. Marshall had offered to introduce him to some friends for 'fun conversation, that's all'.

So he had been invited to a party.

The party location had surprised him - what looked like a partially-converted warehouse. The downstairs basement had been renovated into living quarters, where the party was held. There he had met a girl, heavy make-up with a messy black mane of curls. She'd been sexily clothed in some kind of scant dress, and she'd been slightly intoxicated. But she had spoken to him with a smooth velvet voice, telling him that she felt more comfortable with him than anyone else. They had spoken for hours while others around them drank. She had invited him up to her room.

He'd been surprised by the state of the room - a small room, bathtub in the corner. Not the cleanest, tiled floors.

She said that she was renting this room from the building owner because it was all she could afford, but she urged him not to be fooled by appearances. She hadn't been here for long and she was already looking for a new place. She had invited him onto the bed, and even though he'd known it was risky he had gone willingly.

He admitted to having been intimate with her.

He admitted to coming back for more.

"How many times did you meet with her?" the Eddie onscreen asked.

"About five. After work I'd go to this one bar where we'd have a drink and sometimes a meal, just around the corner from her place. Apart from that party, it always seemed pretty quiet, I never saw into the other rooms. Then we'd go back to her place."

"One night, she came to me visibly upset. She asked me to take her away. She told me that she wanted to run away with me. I told her that I would. I was ready to leave everything. I didn't know she was only sixteen."

"And when you found out?"

"Marshall came to pick her up that same night, and he spilled everything. She must have known, and so she was trying to get me not to give up on her. I got angry with her. I told her that I was done. I couldn't go to prison, I couldn't allow my family to know I had broken the law."