Heartless

Prologue: 2001

Elizabeth

In the beginning, i believed in second chances. How else could I account for the fact years ago , right after the accident- when the smoke cleared and the car had stopped tumbling end over end to rest upside down in a ditch- i was still alive; I could hear Emily, my little girl crying? The police officer who had pulled me out of the car rode with me to the hospital to have my broken leg set, with Emily- completely undamaged, a miracle- sitting on his lap the whole time. He'd held my hand when i was taken to identify my husband Nicklaus's body. He came to the funeral. He showed up at my door to personally inform me when the drunk driver who ran us off the road was arrested.

The policeman's name was Kurt Neal. Long after the trial and the conviction, he kept coming around just to make sure that Emily and I were all right. He brought toys for her birthday and Christmas. he fixed the clogged drain in the upstairs bathroom. He came over after he was off duty to mow the field that had once been our lawn.

I had married Nicklaus because he was the love of my life; I had planned to be with him forever. But that was before the definition of eternity broke into pieces by a man with a blood alcohol level of 25. I was surprised that Kurt seemed to understand that you'd might never love someone as hard as you has the first time you'd fallen; I was even more surprised to learn that maybe you could.

Five years later, when Kurt and I found out we were going to have a baby, i almost regretted it- the same way you stands beneath a perfect blue sky on the most glorious day of the summer and admit to yourself that all moments from here on in couldn't possibly measure up. Emily had been three when Nicklaus died; Kurt was the only father shed ever known. They had a connection so special it sometimes made me feel I should turn away, that i was intruding. If Emily was the princess then Kurt was her knight.

The imminent arrival of this little sister energized Kurt and Emily to fever pitch. Emily drew elaborate sketches of what the babies room should look like. Kurt hired a contractor to build the addition. But then the builders mother had a stroke which meant that he immediately moved to California; none of the other crews had time to fit out job into their schedules before the babies birth. We had a hole in our wall and rain leaking through the attic ceiling; mildew grew on the soles of our shoes.

When i was seven months pregnant, i came downstairs to find Emily playing in a pile of leaves that had blown past the plastic sheeting into the living room. I was deciding between crying and raking my carpet when the doorbell rang.

He was holding a canvas roll that contained his tools, something that never left his possession, like another man might tote around his wallet. His hair brushed his shoulders and was knotted. His clothes were filthy and he smelled of snow although it wasn't the right season. Alex Bourne arrived, unexpected like a letter from a summer festival that blusters in on a winter wind making you wonder just where its been hiding all this time.

He had trouble speaking- the words tangled and muffled and he had to stop and unravel them before he could say what he needed to say."I want to.." he began and the started over."Do you... is there... because.." The effort made a fine bead of sweat break out on his forehead. "Is there anything i can do?"he finally managed as Emily came running toward the front door.

Elizabeth slipped her hand into mine and blinked up at him."There's a lot that needs to be fixed"she said. He got on his knees and begun to speak to my daughter words that have been full of edged and daggers flowed so easily out of his mouth like a waterfall."I can help you."he replied.

Kurt was always saying people are never who you think they are. Its probably  a cops nature but i thought he was being too suspicious and of a cop. I never believed in the interrogation demeanor.
"Whats your name?"I asked
"Alex. Alex Bourne"
"You're hired, Mr Bourne."I said, the beginning of an end