The Mercy of Birds

CHAPTER 34: THE PAST HAS COME FOR US

CHAPTER 34
THE PAST HAS COME FOR US

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Nova hadn't been nervous for some time since she stole the secret away from Cameron, but now as she pulled next to the sidewalk of the suburban house, the uneasiness grew within her, gnawing away on her abdomen. What is she going to discover?

After corresponding for three days straight through Facebook chat, she had successfully set up a meeting and flew to Seattle to meet Aaliyah in person. The kind woman, hauling along a daughter with her, had welcomed her with utmost sincerity that rendered Nova guilty for deceiving her about the story that connected her to Det. Daniella Hernandez, but to repel the feeling, she convinced herself that it was a necessary measure to undertake. Besides, there was no way for Aaliyah to cross-examine her claim anyway, so she didn't have to worry about being busted.

Without trying to raise suspicion, Nova had directed the conversations into a discussion about Daniella's last case that Aaliyah herself even assented that it was allegedly the one that drove her aunt into suicide. She didn't know to what extent it had affected her until it was too late, for she never showed any signs to anyone around, not even to her husband, who had passed away three years later, but Aaliyah was certain that what Daniella had witnessed upon discovering Clementine in that murder house was something that altered her mind forever.

The timeline revealed that Daniella had decided to end her life six months after Clementine was sentenced to institutionalization and Nova had almost resigned to the notion that everything really was just a huge tragedy with severe impact on everyone that was embroiled in it, until Aaliyah mentioned that Daniella's partner on the case had obstinately refused to believe that her demise was due to a self-inflicted gunshot, rather there was someone who made it appear to be so.

...

"Why did he think that?" her interest had skyrocketed again.

She shrugged and Nova could discern that her cluelessness was truly genuine. "They had been partners for years, I guess it's just a hard fact to accept, but you never know when it comes to mental illness, don't you? It could be someone closest to you."

...

So in order to remain authentic to her story and prevent Aaliyah's mistrust on her, Nova claimed once again that she faintly remembered him as being presence when the "car accident" with her mother had taken place and she cautiously asked for the second detective's address just so she could pay her tribute to him. Det. Jonathan Cantrell, that his name was, albeit now retired.

She was only glad that he still lived in the same house he had been for the past decades and tracking it down wasn't a hassle as when she began with Daniella. She gazed out into the khaki painted house where a man was standing on the lawn, holding a pruning shear in his hand while leaning forward, inspecting the shrubberies that adorned his front porch. He appeared to be of the age and description, and as Nova exited her rental car, she grabbed her mittens just to have something to fiddle with so that she could mask her nerves.

Seattle was sullen and overcast. Crisp air immediately infiltrated her senses and grappled to overcome her as she approached the silver-haired, old man in a brown jacket with his back to her. She wrapped her gloved hands around herself, listening to the crunch of the golden leaves crushed under the weight of her black stilettos.

"Mr. Cantrell?" she addressed as soon as she was within hearing range and the man promptly turned to face her, narrowing his eyes to see if he could put a name to her face, but it was the first time he was encountering the young woman with the flaming red hair.