As Good As It Gets

Chapter 11

What?" I questioned tears filling up in my eyes.
"What happened Layla?" Parker asked.
"Mrs.Evans how is that possible?" I asked her.
"I don't know. I came home to talk with her because well you know how she is and she was on the floor with red gashes all over her. They looked like knife wounds. I know you watch all those mystery shows so maybe you could figure it out. The police came and everything. They are still here now but they say they will handle it and you know that means they will look into it but they won't see any connections. Layla.....someone needs to solve this case....this...this is my...baby....my baby girl." Mrs. Evans cried.
"We are coming over now." I grabbed Parker and told him to get the car while still on the phone with his mother.
"Mrs.Evans do you want me to tell Parker? Or what do you want me to do? I'm here with him right now." I said.
"It's best to tell him but lock him in a room where he can't get out. Can you do that?" She asked me.
"Of course. Anything you want." I said tears slipping out of my eyes. Something like this happened before. I remember when my mom died. Parker locked me in a room and told me the news. But all night he was there for me. I couldn't be there for him this one time because Mrs.Evans wanted me to look at the crime scene before it was all gone. And I told her I would. Parker would understand. I needed to talk to him.
Parker pulled up and opened my door. I got into the drivers seat because Parker had no idea where we were going. I took him to my house and took him up to my room. There was no windows in my room which was a great thing. I closed the door as Parker sat on the bed in front of me.
"So what happened?" He asked me. And I kissed him. Passionately. Many a little too passionately considering the circumstances. I had a pair of hand cuffs this time and I hand cuffed one hand and hand cuffed it to the back board of the bed.
"Layla not again." Parker hissed as I kissed him again.
"I'm sorry but direct orders from your mother. Okay now I need to tell you because this time...as much as I hate it.....I have to be somewhere else. But I will finish this.....look Parker it isn't easy for me to tell you this news." I said straddling him.
"What happened Layla? You can tell me." He said.
"Well I'm ordered to tell you," I whispered, " look Parker. Your mother called me and said that when she came home, she found your sister on the floor with.......several stab wounds in her. Knife wrapped in seran wrap so that there would be no finger prints on it. No fingerprints on the body nothing. People are saying they think it's a suicide but I know it's a murder. I have to figure this one out Parker. I'm so sorry." I cried silently.
"Something was going to happen. I knew it. I just knew something was going to happen. Layla you can't do this. You just can't. At least not without me. Layla please let me go. God I hate this. My girlfriend is in more control than me. This is screwed up Layla. You need to let me help you. What if the murderer comes after you? What then Layla? You need to look ahead. God Layla. Don't you understand I love you? Love is fucking messed up. And see what happens in love is that you know that you will risk your life to save someone and Layla I would risk more than my life. You have to let me help you!!!" He cried. I've never seen him cry this much.
"Parker.....your mother made me promise to keep you here." I cried.
"My mother wants my safety. I don't give a shit about my safety. Okay? So stop caring what my mother says. I need to protect you or I might just go the same way my sister went." He pleaded.
"Parker Evans. That was hurtful to me. I would die if you went the way your sister went okay? I wouldn't even live another day because I know that you are my soulmate and you are what I am living for." I cried.
"Oh Layla." Parker cried as he kissed me. A minute later and I didn't even realize that he was free and pushing me unto him.
"Parker we need to go if you are going to come with me." I pushed off of him.
"Ugh." He said getting up and we got in the car and drove to his house. When we got there the police cars were still there.
"Layla!" Mrs.Evans screeched when she saw me. She was talking to a police officer.
"Come child." She said pulling me inside the house and up close to a real crime scene. I've never seen one up close. Well I have because my mother's sister died right in the room I was in. She was breathing one minute, and the next minute....well I couldn't remember all of it. The announced the death suicide because I never remembered what happened. But I knew there was something more I was missing. I just didn't know what.
"What do you think?" Mrs.Evans asked as I inspected the scene.
"Well....I think that it was a smart person and it was planned. Like they picked her because she had a connection with someone. They left a jacket so we can check inside it. Umm....other wise....there is footprints on the floor but they are from Penny. And boot prints. And someone must've pinned the door to get in. She was probably watching television and then she thought it was Parker and came to see who was at the door and it was a guy she never met before and that's how it happened. He repeatedly stabbed her so he must've been mad at her. I want to get a background check on her boyfriend. And who's her closest's friend that I can talk to about her?" I said questioning Mrs.Evans.
"Her boyfriend lives where she used to live and her friend lives right down the block. You should find everything between those too. Anything else you can come talk to me." She said.
I took some pictures on my iPhone and then inspected the jacket. The police hadn't noticed it so I took it with me. I wore it out so it looked like my own and then got in the car where Parker was waiting for me.
"What happened?" He asked anxiously.
"Nothing. Do you know Clara?" I asked him starring down at the paper that Mrs.Evans gave me with her boyfriend's address and name and her best friends name and address.
"Clara Jones?" He asked me.
"Yea you know her?" I asked him looking at his reaction. He teased up a lot.
"She....she was.....she was my first girlfriend.....and I hated her." He said the violentness in his voice visible.
"I have to go talk to her about you sister so you better be nice," I said and then muttered, "I hope I'm a better girlfriend."
"You are defiantly a better girlfriend than she ever was to anybody." He said happily.
I smiled at him. At least he made me a bit happy today. We arrived at Clara's house and I rang the door bell.
"Come in!" A girly voice rang out. I opened the door. It was open first of all. And second when I walked in I found a little plump girl sitting on the couch eating popcorn.
"What do you want?" She cried.
"I wanted to talk about your best friend. Penny Evans. I'm trying to figure out who killed her." I said.
"Clara!! Someone's here to see you!" The girl screamed up to Clara.
A girl that looked exactly like Penny came down the stairs.
"Can I help you person in drag?" She asked me. I wasn't wearing drag.
I looked pretty hot.
"Can you tell me anything about Penny Evans?" I asked her.
"Yea duh she is my best friend." She smiled.
"Well I hate to be the one to tell you this but Penny is dead and I'm trying to figure out who killed her. Can you tell me anybody who was mad at her?" I asked.
"Oh my God.....umm......Her boyfriend and me and her college friend Dorothy Monroe. That's about it. That's what she said when we last talked to her. Which was I think two days ago. Anyways she came back because she was getting hit by her boyfriend and he was treating her really badly and she wanted to come back to find Parker who didn't even want to see her and you," Clara enlightened me to new information," She wanted to fix everything that happened between you two. She said she couldn't live with herself if she didn't fix all that happened between you two. She really loved you and wanted to fix you up with Parker but she told me you guys had already did that yourselves." She smirked in disgust.
"Thank you for telling me this. Umm....is that really how she felt?" I asked Clara with tears running down my face.
"Don't seem so fazed by it. She loved you and knew one day you were going to marry Parker so why not get the pain and suffering over now, you know? She just knew that somehow someway...even though it sounds really cheesy and she told me that because she doesn't ever sound cheesy, that somehow someway, you two were going to find each other finally and see that you two are perfect together and some people, not saying names but Penny wished she could find something or someone willing to love her with their whole heart and someone that would stay with her because they wanted to. Not because they were paid to or they had to because it was the only thing that supported them. Penny Evans was a bitch. Even as her best friend I'll admit that. But the one thing she had that a regular botch like me doesn't have, was a heart. She would love you until you died and even beyond that. You and Parker were everything she ever wanted. I wouldn't be surprised if it was sucide really. See she wanted something she didn't think she would ever get. And that was love. So it's pretty understandable that either someone killed her for being a bitch or she killed herself because love is rare." Clara explained sitting down at the table that was in the dining room.
"There were several knife wounds and there was a jacket left behind. A men's sizes jacket that I have on. Do you still think it's a suicide?" I asked Clara.
"You don't think it's a suicide? That is Penny's jacket. Smell it. It smells just like her. And the knife wounds could have been from her. She owned her own set of knives you know and she sharpened them on a daily basis. She would come home from school and sharpen her knives and then she would go shopping and crap. She would always sharpen the knives first. They are in her room but someone stole them after Christmas break." She said shrugging. I had my suspicions about this murder and I have two suspects now. Only two.
"Mind if I take a look upstairs?" I asked.
"Sure. I'll wait down here. I wanted to say hello to Parker." She said walking outside.
I walked upstairs slowly because I was scared of what I would find. When I walked in what I thought was Clara's room, I found things that I wouldn't never want to find about me. There were pictures on the walls of Penny and Clara with Penny's face crossed out. I found a knife collection in her drawer that had the letters PENNY on each knife and one knife had blood on it.I also found seran wrap in her room. I took pictures of everything with my iPhone. This was no coincidence. Not only was Clara Jones a stealer.......but she was also a MURDER.