Upside Down

Fourty

It's Christmas Eve. Two weeks after Hillary's funeral. Things have significantly calmed down back at the house but everyone is still obviously upset about her death. We all thought the upcoming holiday would help lift our spirits a bit.

It really didn't.

But maybe it also has something to do with the constant questions from the police. Their non-stop attention is getting tiring at this point, especially with it being so close to the holiday.

We all just want this to end.

I exit the interrogation room after police finish questioning me about Hillary's death. I told them everything. And boy do I mean everything.

I told them I didn't like her much and that she wasn't my favorite person on this planet. Hopefully that doesn't make me look too suspicious. But I also told them I would never hurt her. Even if I wanted to, I could never ever do that to those kids. They need their mother.

After losing my own mother, I know exactly how it feels to not have one around. I could never hurt these kids in that way.

I hope I did good enough in there to remove myself from the suspect list. But if I didn't, then I will never get off of it. If they don't believe me when I tell the truth now, they never will.

The police talked a lot about my mom while I was in there. They asked if I thought it was strange that my father has lost two partners in the span of a few months.

I admitted that it was odd but I also made sure they knew how much he loved Hillary. I never saw the two of them have a really bad fight and they way they looked at each other was truly special.

They asked me about how my mom died as if they didn't already have her file in front of them. I had to relive that horror all over again.

*flashback*

I run on to the bridge that crosses the shallow lake police claim to have found my mother's overturned car in.

Looking over the bridge at the scene, I immediately regret doing so. My father and a diver are in the water, attempting to rescue my mother from the vehicle.

The world stops spinning once I see my mother's limp body pulled from the severely damaged vehicle. Everything stops. Time slows down as I watch the diver climb out of the water with her in his arms.

He lays her on the pavement and takes a deep breath.

I move slowly, not knowing what to do or say. Moving closer to her, I can see how pale and discolored she is.

Why mom? Why would you do this?

It is a clear morning. There is no ice or water on the roads that could have lead her to drive accidentally over the edge.

But it doesn't make sense that she would do it on purpose either.

*End flashback*

I walk back into the interrogation room. "I'm sorry to bother you again. But I have a question to ask you."

"Sure." The lead detective says.

"Are police still looking into my mother's death?" I ask, earning blank stares back from the two men. "I only ask because, well, it just doesn't seem right to me that she killed herself. It never did."

The lead detective nods. "Sit. Please." So I do. "Why do you think it doesn't seem right?"

"It's probably silly. But I know my mom. She had so much to live for and she would never do that to us. She loved us. I just don't think she would have done anything like that without giving off any signs or warnings. Looking back, there were no signs that she could ever do that to herself. Maybe I just don't want to believe she was capable of that or maybe my gut is right. I don't know."

"Well, Police in your hometown have finished their investigation and ruled if an accidental death." The detective tells me. I hang my head. "However," his words cause my head to snap back up to look at him. "We have reopened the case to get some more answers."

I nod. This is good.

"What would you say if I told you she didn't drive herself off that bridge?"

"What? What are you saying?" I ask. "How could she have not driven herself off the bridge?"

The detective opens the file. "It looks like detectives didn't finish their investigation the first time. Your mother was tangled up in her seatbelt which is why she couldn't get out of the car as it sank."

"Okay, so what does the seatbelt have to do with anything?"

"It was the passenger side seatbelt."

Authors note: who do you think killed Hillary? Or do you think the police got it wrong and she really did jump from that window? And how do you feel about this new information on Avery's mom?

I have 4K reads?????? You guys never cease to amaze me. Thank you! Wow.

Also, there's only 9 chapters left after this one!