The Chosen

Nothing like before ...

It was already the third funeral in a week. And again I saw the man not far away from me watching the ceremony just like me. I could not say if he had any connection with these people, or if he was just a strange fanatic. Even though I could not see him clearly because his coat was too much pulled over his face, he scared me. Like so many things since my return two weeks ago.

After a total of three years, I returned to the place where I was born. Here I had last seen my sister Charlotte. But now she had disappeared since the incident in her restaurant. She had never left a note, reported or told me where she was. All I did was trust my senses. The inner band we already had when we were little kids. We always knew how the other one felt or thought. So I could say that she was still alive, only at the moment not in Los Angeles. Surely I missed her very much, needed her when I separated from my husband Richard, but deep in my heart I knew that she would help me. One day, when the time was right I would see her again.

As the black coffin was slowly lowered into the grave and surely everyone said goodbye with a rose, I also decided to leave the place. I still had some errands to do. Fernando, a very good friend from my high school days, would come over today and we would have dinner together. Since the fridge unfortunately had gaping emptiness, I still had to try to get the right ingredients in time, so that everything was there for my special meal.

The supermarket was not far from here. So I decided to walk the few yards before I went back to my car and drove back to our beach house. Already our grandmother knew that you only had the rush in the city. We, the Jones family, lived the peace and enjoyed spending a quiet evening at home, without rushing back into the wild life.

Therefore, we had always stayed at home, had cuddled up in the warm blanket and sat together as a family in front of the TV or on the porch. The idyll in our family has always been very fascinating to me and one day I wanted to teach that to my children, with a great man at my side.

How many times had Charlotte brought me up to take Fernando. He was educated, cultivated and had just started studying medicine. He looked outrageously good. I liked his dark hair, his shining eyes and smile, and the little dimples were melting away.

Only I had chosen Richard, the rebel of our school. The penchant for the evil side had always been in me, only this had disappeared in recent years. Maybe I was finally grown up.

"Watch out," I murmured as someone pushed me from behind.

I looked back and saw the gray cloak I had seen at the other man's funeral. Only this had disappeared very quickly. There was no apology. It was like he was on the run as fast as he walked down the street and later disappeared into a building. I just shrugged, just about to leave when I saw a business card on the floor.

'Gameiro & Partners. Law firm'

Lawyer ?! Was that why he had been to the funerals? Was not it a simple death? Was there more behind it? I inserted the card as a precaution. No idea why, but I wanted to get to the bottom of it myself. Because I also believed that behind all the mysterious accidents hid more than just a pure accident.

Still I could remember where he had gone in and through the business card I knew the address of his office. The purchase had to wait a few minutes. Fernando would forgive me if it was a little later.

In fact, here was his office. Once briefly on the bell, already opened me someone, without even asking who was downstairs. There was probably no intercom here. I found it very good faith, even if it spoke much positive for his person. Only his mysterious appearance at three funerals and his jostling was not really typical of a good lawyer. At least I would have expected an apology.