Forlot: Thunder Will Come Down - Book Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Nine

A range of emotions engulfed me. I felt a headache coming on and dismissed myself. I would have driven if the car had not remained in the shop, but the officer was nice enough to give me a lift. I was now back home and pacing around the living room. Caleb would still be alive if he did not have to deal with lowlifes. Speaking of lowlife...

Kara had taken Tamara and Alex and Cal and North to the pool, and Destiny was doing the shopping for me, so it was just me. Alone in this house. Without my husband letting me know that he was also here. The truth was that he was somewhere in our house. I could feel his presence.

Soon, I heard a knock at my door. Just as I expected. I walked to the door and opened it. Standing on my porch was Marty. He was not trespassing, for I had invited him. I was that desperate for comfort. We greeted each other hello, and I welcomed him into my home.

"I will be honest with you that I was genuinely surprised about your call," Marty said. "I assumed that you deleted my number after you found out about the secret."

I closed the door. "I learned a ton from Caleb, Marty. To forgive and forget. It was not easy to forgive you, but trust me when I say that it was worth it. That part of my mind is at peace."

"That is a relief to hear, Cindy." He paused for a moment. "I...I am sorry that I kept the fact that we are close cousins from you. I am also sorry that I drew yucky drawings of you. Seeing you happy with Caleb has changed my heart. It is not wicked and soulless like that it once was."

I slowly nodded. "I accept your apology. That was very much appreciated."

He wrapped his arms around me. "How are you holding up?"

"Not good." I pulled away from him and wiped a tear. "I visited the police station a couple hours ago."

"Did the police find something in the crash?"

"Besides our belongings that were in the car, three of the officers located Caleb's medication and ran a test on them. The pills...were not his."

"What do you mean that they were not his?"

"The pills that he was supposed to take are to help his anxiety cool the heck off. His anxiety was getting out of control to the point that he was too frightened to leave our house. The pills that the cops found were sleeping pills."

"'Sleeping pills'?"

"I know. It sounds crazy, but it makes sense. Caleb is a cautious driver. The only way that he could get in a car crash is if an irresponsible driver caused it."

"But there were no cars on the road at the time of the accident."

"Exactly. My theory is that somebody who does not like Caleb got ahold of his medicine somehow and switched his anxiety pills with sleeping pills. Chances are that he crashed the car because he fell asleep while driving."

Marty crossed his arms. "The poor lad."

"Thankfully, the cops arrested the murderer."

"Really? Who?"

"Ava."

"Ava? Is she not that girl who tortured Caleb?"

"You are correct. And she is not the only person who put him through heck. The night of the accident..." I walked to the couch and lifted up one of the cushions. "...Caleb had a run in with somebody who was jealous of him." I pulled my gun from under the cushion and dropped the cushion. I aimed the gun at him.

Marty became startled. "C-Cindy...w-why do you have a gun?"

"For moments like these. Ava told me that she did not murder Caleb and added that she saw you alone with him."

"With Caleb?"

"Yes. She claimed that you tortured and shot him."

"Cindy, you cannot take her word. This is Ava that we are talking about."

"Then this should be simple. If you did not make Caleb's life a living heck, you will say that you did not shoot or torture him. Word per word."

"Cindy—"

"Say it! Or I will shoot and kill you. Give you a little taste of what my husband went through."

"Alright, alright." He took a step towards me. "I did not torture him. I did not even talk to him that night."

I hesitated for a second. "Wrong answer." I pulled the trigger and shot him.