Evolution (Evolution Series Book 1)

Chapter 12

Even though it was my idea, I begrudgingly got out of the car and walked up the path to Chelsea's front door. She lived in a small townhouse complex about a ten minutes' walk from my house; it was a small three bedroom, two bathroom home, but it was big enough for Chelsea and her mum.

They used to live in a much bigger house next door to mine. But after her father passed away, her mother couldn't cope with living in such a big place and all the constant reminders it gave her of her husband. He had died almost two years ago in a horrific car accident with another woman in the passenger seat. It turned out that he had been having an affair with the woman for just over six months, so I completely understood why she needed to move.

It was hard enough for her when all she knew was that she'd lost her husband forever. But when the police investigation revealed that the woman sitting in the passenger seat was not just a work colleague that he was giving a lift home, but his mistress, it almost destroyed her.

She quickly put her house on the market and sold on the first offer, accepting a bid for less than what the house was really worth. She didn't care. She just wanted out of the house and all the memories it held. I hoped I would never have to go through what she had been through.

Aiden squeezed my hand. "I have a feeling you'll never have to worry about that."

I took a deep breath, bracing myself for what I was about to do, then pressed the doorbell and waited for Marie to answer.

The door opened to reveal a fragile woman, one that I had not seen since Chelsea's father's death. She wore a pink, fluffy bathrobe that was looking a little worse for wear. Her normally blonde, wavy hair was an oil slicked, matted mess she had pulled back off her face in a loose bun.

Her eyes were swollen red and had dark circles surrounding them. It looked like she had not stopped crying since Chelsea disappeared.

When she realised who was at the door, she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around me and sobbing into my shoulder.

I tried pulling back, but she wasn't letting go. She held on so tightly that I thought I was going to be stuck like that for the next hour. I immediately felt bad for thinking that. The poor woman. I could only imagine what it would feel like to be in her position. The thought brought tears to my eyes.

Marie eventually let go of me and invited us inside.

The house was a mess. There were empty tissue boxes and dirty tissues littering the floor. Empty coffee cups and empty bottles of water filled the coffee table. And piles of clothing, which I wasn't sure if they were clean or not, were thrown all over the sofa. It didn't look like she had cleaned anything since Chelsea went missing.

Aiden and I sat down on the three-seater sofa, carefully trying to avoid the rubbish that had started to accumulate there, and Marie sat in the adjacent armchair.

She dabbed at her tearing eyes with a tissue she had grabbed from the box sitting on top of the lamp table beside her armchair. The table was covered in the evidence of her swollen eyes. There were tear-soaked tissues everywhere. It took all my willpower to ignore the mess surrounding me. All I wanted to do was grab a trash bag and clean up. But I didn't want her feeling like I was judging her.

We sat in uncomfortable silence. I didn't know what to say. I needed to find a way to get up into Chelsea's room and away from her mum, who looked like she was about to crack up again.

As soon as I thought it, it started. "They have to find her," she wailed. "I don't know what I will do if... if...."

I interrupted her when I saw that she was struggling to speak. "They will find her before anything happens to her," I tried to assure her, but I wasn't really sure if I believed it myself.