Living Hell

Chapter 2

Brayden took the sheet off the deceased and I stood there in complete and utter shock. This is not supposed to happen, I think to myself, How the hell did I let this happen?

There lying on the pavement, was my younger brother. How had this happened? Why was he in town and how could he not let me know? I think.

"Hikari?" I hear someone ask, "Hikari? Are you alright?"

I turn around and ran for the end of the crime scene. I double over and what little I had left in my stomach from dinner made its reappearance. I feel a hand on my shoulder as I continue to be violently I'll. The hand moves in soothing circles across my back. After a few more minutes, I finally gather the courage to try to speak.

I stare down at my sickness on the pavement. "You have already taken pictures of the crime scene, I presume?" I ask numbly.

"Yes," Brayden answers.

I nod. "Good," I reply in a shaky voice. "Where is the coroner?"

"He is coming," Michael says. He is fair skinned and has dark brown eyes and wavy brown hair. He also has an athletic build and a height of 6'5".  

"Why the hell is he always late?" I snap at him. Calm down, I tell myself, Don't get mad at Michael when he had nothing to do with this. I force myself to take a deep breath. I give Michael an apologetic look and he accepts it with a nod. I wipe my mouth and attempt to stand. Brayden seems to read my mind and helps me up. We walk over to my brother's body. Yes it does feel strange saying those words, I must admit.

I quickly notice that as well as holes in his shirt there is also a faint line. I put my hand on the hem of his shirt and lift it up; I feel really uncomfortable and feel as if I'm invading my brother's privacy when I do this. But as I look closer at the cuts the killer made in his skin, it looks like a sick and disturbing game of connect the dots. The bullet holes serve as the 'dots' and the cuts on his body serving as the 'line'. I squint my eyes at the image; it looks like a very badly drawn Trinity Knot.

"What the hell is the Trinity Knot doing on my brother's chest?" I mutter to myself. Brayden and Michael hear me and frown at my words.

"What is the Trinity Knot?" Brayden says.

"Yeah and since when are you Irish?" Michael adds.

"It is an ancient Celtic symbol," I reply, "I'm Celtic not Irish."

"Oh," Michael says, "But that still doesn't explain what it is? For all we know it's a knot that has no significance what so ever."

I roll my eyes at him. "You two really need to read more," I say exasperated, "But I guess I can give you a history lesson while we wait for the coroner to arrive.

"The Celtic Trinity Knot is also known as Triquetra. Triquetra is a Latin word meaning three cornered. There are a number of interpretations that all agree on an accumulation of three parts. For example, life, death, and rebirth is one of them. Another is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Also Mother, Crone, and Maiden are the three inherent feminine powers. The last one I know of is mind, body, and spirit. The last one being found in a more metaphysical arena. It is an ancient symbol most notably found inside the Newgrange passage tomb and the curbstones surrounding the mound. It is found on a number of Irish Megalithic and Neolithic sites," I explain. Brayden and Michael continue to look at me with confused expressions of the faces.

"How do you know all this?" Brayden asks incredulously.

I shrug. "Simple," I reply, "Read."

Michael snorts. "Yeah. Okay. Where are we going to find the time to read when we have a murder to solve?"

I stare at him and smile sweetly. "Good question. Whenever you can find the time to sit your masa in a seat and crack open a book when you don't have any work. I guess that would be a good time."

"What's a masa?" Michael asks puzzled.

I sigh and shake my head. Let him figure is out, I think to myself. My eye catches a picture on the pavement not three feet away from where my brother lay. I straighten up and walk over to it. It is lying face up next to a pool of my brother's blood. There's a Christmas tree in the background and instantly I  recognize the picture. It was a picture of  the Christmas last year. The Christmas he had announced his engagement.

Now standing here and looking down on my baby brother hurts me. I feel as if not only he died but a part of me died as well. My pain must have shown on my face because both Brayden and Michael were staring at me in shock.

"You know the victim, Hikari?" Brayden asked me.

I shot him a painful glance before looking back down at my brother's face. "Yes," I said simply, "I know him. He is my baby brother."

Michael and Brayden exchanged looks. "You do realize that you can't work this case now, right, Hikari?" Michael said cautiously.

I lifted my gaze and was surprised  that my vision was getting blurry. "What difference would that make?" I exclaimed my voice breaking and the tears cascading down my face, "I'm not about to let someone else find the person who ruined my brother's life before he even had a chance to fix it!"

"Hikari, please," Brayden says, "We only want to do what is best for you at the moment, and the best thing for you to do now is to go home and take some time to grieve. Let me and the guys take this one. We will do everything we can to bring your brother's killer in. Please, Hikari, let us do our job and sit this one out."

While he was speaking, Anthony, another member of my squad, walked into the crime scene. I finally couldn't hold it in any more, I let all my tears go and fell to my knees. I held my head in my hands and cried. Cried about the times I had argued with my brother, made him feel less important, and abandoned him when he needed me most, that I was proud of him, that he was the best brother a big sister could hope for.

But most of all, I cried because I didn't tell him exactly how much I loved him.