Learning to Live, Again

Chapter Nine

Caleb's POV

The boys had spent the last three or four days with their grandmother, making the house seem eerily quiet and empty. I had called the Chief a few days ago, asking if they had questioned anyone, but he wouldn't tell me. He refused to give me any information that pertained to Niamh's case, which infuriated me. I was going crazy, not knowing where she was or if she was okay.

I'd spent my days cleaning the house. It was spotless. My father would have been proud if he had been alive to see this. The dishes looked brand new, and the entire house looked like it had just been built, like one of those houses you see in the "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine. 

There still was no sign of Jeremy, and that really pissed me off. I knew he had her. Unlike the Chief and even Kobe, I knew who was behind this. I wasn't a fool. All the evidence was there. It couldn't just be a coincidence that Mrs. Fischer was murdered, Niamh went missing and they both knew Addaline and Jeremy, could it? No, it couldn't. They had something to do with it, and I was going to find out what it was, and stop them.

Sighing, I sat down on the counter, pouring over the papers from the Fischer murder case, trying to find some way to prove that Jeremy and Addaline had something to do with her murder. I know it wasn't David, Rosalie's ex-husband. He would have ratted out whoever helped him do it. Plus, David's not that type of guy to kill someone. He doesn't have it in him. He cares about others too much. I mean, he made his wife divorce him so she could move on with her life. Would a murderer do that?

I was so deep in thought, I didn't notice when Beth opened the front door and walked in with the boys. "You really need to pay attention, especially when you have little ones around," she said, making me jump. I blushed, rubbing a hand across my face. 

"Yea, I know. I'm just-"

"Tired, I know. You look like you haven't slept any better with the boys gone than you did when they were here."

I nodded. "In fact, I think I slept worse," I admitted, and she smiled.

"You get used to them after a while, no matter how much you don't want to, you do. And when they're gone, it's like a hole in your heart." Her smile was knowing, and she looked as if she could see into my soul, into my deepest, darkest secrets.

Heath ran up to me, pulling on my pant leg and trying to climb into my lap. I bent and picked him up, looking into his deep grey eyes that were the same a shade darker than his mother's. I took a drink of water, almost choking when his smile seemed like an almost exact replica of his mother's. Heath was a beautiful baby, and he was going to to be a handsome man. 

I set Heath down. "Why don't you and Dean go into the other room?" They both did as they were asked, and it once again surprised me how well behaved they were for their age. Usually they were whiny brats who threw fits to get what the wanted, but these two were strangely "good". It looked like Niamh was going to get lucky in the teenage department of things.

"Will you do me a favor?"

I nodded. "Of course. Whatever you want."

"Do you promise?" I nodded. "Say it out loud." 

"I promise."

Beth picked up the papers in front of me. She looked at them intently for a few moments before hugging them to her, her eyes filled with tears. She couldn't look at me as she whispered, "Please, stop."

"Stop?" I asked, surprised.

She nodded. "Yes, please stop. Stop looking, because you're wasting away. You're barely eating; you're barely sleeping. Look at you. You look like absolute shit. Stop looking for her, because you won't find her. She's dead, Caleb."

I shook my head. "No, she's not. She-"

"She's dead," she shouted, tears falling down her cheeks. "They found burnt clothes and a pile of ash a few miles outside of town. They checked it for DNA, and there was just enough left for them to confirm that it was her. It was Niamh. My little girl." Beth dropped to her knees, and I did to. I held her to me, tears stinging my eyes as her words sank in.

She's gone. Niamh is gone. A cold feeling as heavy as a boulder settled into my stomach, and my chest ached. I wanted to cry, to scream, to throw up even, but all I could do was sit there and stare at the wall, trying to process the fact that she was gone. Niamh was dead. The girl that made me fall for her, even when I barely knew her, had disappeared, and she wasn't coming back. She couldn't.

"Stop looking for her killer. They found him. He was a few miles from her. They found him in a diner, eating a fucking egg sandwich like what he'd done was nothing. It's over."

"Who was it?"

Beth shook her head, wiping her eyes as she stood up. "Some guy named Robert Whilhelm. A complete psychopath." I stood up with her. Beth looked up at me, and that was the first time I noticed the soft grey in her eyes. "I'm planning to have a memorial service at my apartment, but it's so little-"

"Have it here."

"Here?" Beth looked around. This house held bad memories for her, and she hated coming into it. She had once been beat almost to death in the living room and had spent days in the hospital. She looked like she was about to argue, but then chose not to. "Alright, we'll do it here. Thank you Caleb. I've got to go. I'm late for work. Will you be okay?"

I nodded. "Yea, the boys will be fine." If she noticed how I avoided talking about my feelings, she didn't show it. I hugged her, kissing her cheek, and then walked her to the door. When I turned around, Dean stood there, his face red with fury, and eyes blood shot from tears.

"She's not dead," he shouted, his lip quivering, and I took a deep breath. This was going to be hard...