Just The Way You Like It - Under Construction

Chapter Seventy-Seven

Chapter Seventy-Seven

Sam and Holly poured over Alice's file together, and the more Holly learned about Alice, the worse she felt. “I didn't know.” Holly said, over and over again as the pages were turned. Holly knew most of the coding and was a huge help to Sam as they pieced Alice's life at St. Micheal's back together. They cam to a dead end when they realized that there was nothing to be found that they didn't already know.

“Damn it!” Sam yelled, slamming his fist on Blake's dining-room table.

“Let's go back.” Holly said, closing the file.

“Holly, we've been through this twice. There is nothing here.”

“Do you need me to go get more? I'm planning on visiting Blake tomorrow anyway.”

Sam sat back and thought for a moment before jumping up and running for the door that led outside. Holly got up too and hobbled her way to the front door, just in time to see Sam dive head first into his car. Fast food boxes and empty plastic bottles got tossed out onto the driveway as Sam dug deeper and deeper through the trash.

Returning inside, Sam tried to hide the ketchup stain on the folder he had retrieved. Holly smirked and followed him back to the table. “What is it?” She asked, peeking over Sam's shoulder once he sat down.

“Alice's old rape kit.”

“Why on Earth was it buried in your car?”

“I stole it years ago. Well, Willub stole it and told me to burn it. But I decided to keep it.” Sam's wry smile told Holly everything she needed to know. “See here?” Sam opened up the file and handled it like it was his favorite book. He flipped to a page with lightning speed, and Holly began to question to herself how many times Sam had read it. “These D.N.A. swabs were matched in the lab.” Sam's finger scrolled down a list over over ten names.

“Jesus.” Holly muttered.

“I know, right? Most of the D.N.A. was found under her fingernails and on her skin. But this one,” Sam pointed to a separate line on the page. “This one couldn't be matched. I've run it through a few more times over the years, hoping it would pop up, but so far no luck.”

“So what are you thinking?”

“I swear to God someone other than Willub was responsible for Alice's attack. There is no way that fat, old bastard could have yanked Alice out by himself. I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe, it was The Chairman. And now I'm wondering if this unknown D.N.A. Is the Chairman's too.”

“And that helps us how?”

“If I can get the hospital staff to give D.N.A. samples, I've got him.”

“That's not going to be easy. People don't just hand over hair samples for the whim of it.”

“They don't need to know.”

“What? You can't just go around pulling at people's hair and expect them to not notice.”

“No, but you could help.”

“Me?” Holly wasn't liking where this conversation was heading.

“It doesn't have to be hair, Holly. A cup that someone just drank from, a napkin, a pen. Anything would work.”

“Okay. But I still don't have a job there.”

“No, but you'll be visiting Blake. You said so yourself.” The two of them agreed, Holly feeling more and more unsure as they did so. Sam, however, seemed pleased with himself, and poured himself a drink before sitting down to watch T.V. Holly joined him and they spent most of the night on the sofa. Holly's head ended up resting on Sam's shoulder, and he smiled contently as he heard her soft snores over the sound of the television.

The next morning, both Sam and Holly awoke with terrible pains in their necks and backs. They had slept on the sofa the entire night, and were both quickly regretting it. Once they both had a hot shower and pain pills, their pains subsided and they were able to resume their normal routine. Breakfast was served and Holly came downstairs late as usual, looking remarkably well put together and polished.

“Do me a favor, Hol?” Sam said, pacing the floor by the front door as he waited for Holly to grab her things. “Take a picture of Blake when you visit with him today.”

“Why?” Holly asked, rounding the corner.

“Alice wants proof that he's alive. If I can prove it, she'll tell me who The Chairman is, and we can avoid this whole mess with the D.N.A.”

“Fuck Sam, why didn't you say so earlier?”

“I didn't think about it. You know I need time to process stuff.”

“No wonder you weren't let into the F.B.I. I wouldn't have hired you, that's for sure.”

“Jesus Holly, thanks a lot.”

“Well it's true. But anyway, I'll try. I'm not sure if they'll let me though. They've got security pretty tight over him.”

“I know you'll figure out a way.” Sam gave Holly a light pat on her butt before helping her into his car and driving her to St. Micheal's.