CHAPTER 42

             "So, what did you want to talk about?" Carly asked as soon as their drinks had been served. It was not what she should have asked first but she was trying to compose herself. Even though she had concealed all the evidence that she had been crying, she was still not calm completely.

               "No,you first. I'm afraid mine is a bit sensitive."

She sighed and took a sip of her beer then looked up and faced her deciding to take a direct approach.

                 "I fucked up with you Dylan. I shouldn't have left you the way I did,it was stupid and selfish and I have no excuse for that."

                    "We don't have to talk about this Carly. It's all in the past and that was that. Maybe you were right,we were both young and had no life experience."

                    "Except that I was wrong and I need to apologize. I know I'm seven years late and you are probably never going to look at me the same way you did but I want to make things right with you. I really regret doing what I did."

                      "Why did you have to do it?" she asked bitterly before she could prevent herself. Of course she knew the answer,or at least part of it. Carl had mentioned it and she had come to know for sure much later when she heard that Carly was seeing a guy. She didn't know why she had asked the question, maybe because she felt hurt that Carly hadn't trusted her enough to share that part of her  being with her. She was not against her being bisexual. She was sure she would have loved her all the same there was no doubting that. She lowered her eyes and stared at the table. This was not the time to get emotional while she had other much worse problems to talk about. However, she added the one thing she knew was right to say.

                    "I wouldn't have loved you any less because you were attracted to guys too. My love for you was bigger than that. I didn't just take you as my girlfriend,"she looked up. "You were my best friend too Carly. When you left was the worst time of my life. Well, that and... and when my mom..." her voice trailed off.

  Carly watched as she struggled to get the words out of her mouth, biting her lip as if the words were burning through her like a fire. She suddenly wanted to do something. Her heart broke for her. She knew she was part of her pain but no pain compared to losing a parent. She could see it clearly in Dylan's face even though it had been two years since it happened. But then,a pain like this lasted for a lifetime. It took a strong heart to bear it,to get through it and find some peace within. Dylan's haunted look clearly displayed that she was a long way away from that peace. Carl was right. She hadn't allowed herself to come to terms with it. She wanted to hug her, she wanted to reassure her,to let her know that she didn't have to go through it alone anymore but she couldn't get out of her seat. She wasn't even so sure Dylan would be so welcoming to such contact.

However, she couldn't stop her hand from reaching across the table to where Dylan's was. She touched it lightly at first to see what her reaction would be and when she didn't pull away, she added a little more pressure. Dylan looked up, surprised, confused and well, emotional. She took her time but this time, she didn't look away. She met Dylan's eyes directly and let some seconds pass before speaking.

                 "They say time is supposed to heal us and it's true but in some circumstances. What they don't remember is that grief has no timeline. I can't imagine how hard it is for you but I know you are still grieving. Death leaves a heartache no one can heal so I won't even try. But I want you to let me feel this pain with you. I wasn't here before but I want to hold your hand now, you don't have to feel alone."

    Dylan sat there speechlessly but her lips moved a few times.

                  "Lee," she said softly, almost in a whisper. She wanted to say something but wasn't sure what to say. She had always known what to tell Carl whenever the topic came up, she had always known how to dismiss it. She was scared of reliving the whole experience. Talking about it felt like it would suck the breath out of her. But now, she felt so helpless in front of Carly. She couldn't even pull her hand away. Even worse, she loved the contact and wanted it to remain right there and continue giving her the comfort and feeling of life she now felt. And Carly's eyes,they held so much care,so much understanding and regret. But then,how could she understand it while she wasn't even there? That thought opened up other painful ones that weren't her intention to remember. She didn't want to dwell in the past but her thoughts wouldn't stop. She remembered those same eyes,teary but totally decided. She remembered those same hands pulling away from her and leaving her standing hopelessly alone. She felt a tiny pain slice through her heart. No, she would not let it happen again. She was too broken now. She pulled her hand away quickly and broke the stare.

                    "I don't know if I can do this with you," she finally managed and shook her head. She fought back the tears that were threatening to fall and looked down again,"It's too much."

Carly looked her with understanding. She was trying to prevent her own tears from falling out of her eyes. Not because Dylan didn't want to let her in but because she was the reason she didn't want to.

                    "I don't blame you for not trusting me or even hating me. I deserve it,"she said. "I just want you to know that I am really sorry and if you ever want to talk, I'll always be here. I'm not running again."

  Just in the moment that Dylan wanted to tell her that she didn't hate her,a message notification sounded in her phone. She took it out of her pocket and read it silently. She blinked twice and her heart jumped into her mouth. She looked around the bar,at the doors and windows even though she knew too well there was no possibility of seeing the person who had sent the message just by sweeping through the crowd with her eyes.

                     "What's wrong?" Carly asked in alarm.

                      "We need to get out of here,now!" Her last word sounded more like a command which made Carly confused and frightened. She took some money out of her pocket and placed it on the table next to the unfinished drinks.

                     "Why, what happened?"

Instead of replying, Dylan took her hand and led her out of the bar. Carly didn't protest. She obediently followed and got into the car beside her. She drove away, glancing through her rear view mirror to look out for anyone who might have followed them.

                      "Are you going to say something? Because, what the hell happened back there? Who are we running from,I can see the worried look in your face." Carly asked again in quick succession once they were a good distance away from the bar. She pressed her lips together,her hand gripped firmly on the steering wheel and her mind worked what to say. "Dylan?"

                  "It's what I came to tell you in the first place. Someone is after me and I  think you are in danger too."

                  "Me? What did I do?" Carly asked,her eyes going wide in horror.

                 "I don't know, it's what I'm trying to figure out. I thought I knew who it was but now I'm not so sure. It might be a stranger who has done research on our past or a person who knows both of us really well and my best guess is the latter."

                 "What did the message say? It is the one that came just before we left the bar, right?"

   Dylan went silent. Things were awkward between them but she wasn't sure she had the heart to disclose the contents of the message to her. Carly was already regretting her actions, the guilt was written all over her face even though she had failed to acknowledge it. Carly had made mistakes but she didn't need anyone rubbing in how bad she was. Especially not some psycho who didn't have the guts to face them face to face. So, she figured the best thing was to keep it to herself.

                 "Look, the message doesn't matter. What you need to know is that you are not safe. Be careful who you associate with from now on. And if you receive any threatening or unsettling message, please call me immediately,okay?"

    Carly nodded,"Okay."

                        "For now I'm going to take you home. Being around me is putting you at risk."

                     "Jesus Dylan! What did you do?"

    She shook her head and looked straight on the road before finally saying,"It is a long story,I can't tell you right now. Just be vigilant."

 Carly remained silent for the rest of the way after realizing that she wouldn't get any more information. She crossed her arms and faced outside in deep thoughts.

    Immediately after Carly disappeared inside their house,Dylan took out her phone again and re-read the message. ‘Careful with your fragile heart,this time there might be no pieces to pick up. They say it's better the devil you know than the angel you don't know but you know what, the angel you don't know could be your guardian angel.’ After it followed another picture of them now sitting at the bar with Carly's hand holding hers. She sighed wearily. This time it was more of hating Carly than it was for her which only worsened the situation. Carly wasn't just involved, she could be in the direct line of danger. She blew out air through her mouth then stared at the roof of the car. What was she supposed to do? Tail Carly everywhere she went? Fix surveillance cameras around their house too? This was really a bad sign and she had no idea where to begin now. Maybe it was time to tell the chief. She didn't know how that would help but staying quiet wasn't helping either.

 Her phone rang and interrupted her from her thoughts. She answered it immediately.

                     "Lewis."

                      "It's Kenny from the hospital. Our patient just woke up and I'm pretty sure that his memory is still intact. Would you like to come by and see if he will give us anything?"

She nodded,"Yeah, I'm on my way."

  Her plans to talk to the chief immediately forgotten, she drove towards the hospital hurriedly. By the time she got there, Kenny was already talking to him. She joined them.

                   "Does he know anything?" she asked even though he was right there listening. Kenny shook his head then turned back to the patient.

                    "Ethan, this is officer Lewis, she has been working alongside me to keep you safe."

                    "Yes I know her," Mr Powell replied in a low but clear voice. She moved closer to him.

                    "It's really a miracle that you survived this one. You were barely breathing when I got there."

                     "You are the one who found me?"

                     "Yeah, with your neighbor Peterson,"she replied and watched him for any signs of recognition. His face changed to a frown and his lips trembled while his eyes shifted restlessly, almost as if in fear. No words came out of his mouth. She touched his hand and he flinched. She pulled it away immediately and lowered her voice,"Mr Powell, do you have any idea who attacked you or anyone who might have wanted you dead?"

                     "I need some water," he said in reply. Dylan sighed and rose up then joined the detective some paces away from the bed.

                     "He knows something,"she said to him almost inaudibly.

                     "Yeah,he wouldn't even talk to me once he knew why I am here. Apparently he is mad that his brother is still monitoring his life." He scoffed,"Men,I wish I had someone to take care of me like that."

 His last statement left her questioning what it meant but she didn't want to get into it then. She walked up to the bed again. She knew she was not a detective,at least not by title but she knew which approach to use,taking advantage of her own situation.

                  "Mr Powell I have a reason to believe that whoever attacked you might be connected to a case I'm working on,I mean me and the department are working on." She decided not to give much detail. "You might really be of great help to us if you gave us something and at the same time we can arrest the one who attacked you. Do you remember anything that might help?"

                   "I don't know who attacked me,"he stated simply and went back to silence. Dylan rose up and began pacing around the room. Why was he not cooperating? Was it because he knew she wasn't a detective? Undermining her? Yeah, that happened a lot in most cases so she wouldn't be surprised. However,he cleared his throat for attention which alerted her.

                    "Although I might have an idea who might have."

She walked back to him and sat down.

                     "Okay,tell me everything you know."

                    "I might have eavesdropped on my neighbor's conversation with someone about things that were probably not meant for many ears. The night after the break in at his store,I was at mine a little bit late to try and put everything in order and secure the store a bit more." She nodded urging him to go on. "I heard voices inside his store as I was passing by and there were no lights on except for a dim one, maybe a candle. It was the voices that led me closer to the window to listen," he paused and took time to drink his water.

                    "Did you recognize the voices and what were they saying?"

                     "Yeah, Peterson's. There was no mistaking that. The other one was female."

  Dylan frowned,"What were they talking about?"

                     "I didn't understand well but the female mentioned something about,'she can never know about it.' I don't know what 'it' meant because well, I hear much of the conversation but she was like giving a command."

                      "They didn't mention a name?"

                       "She did say that Dylan?" he furrowed his eyebrows as if trying to recall. "I think whoever Dylan is is an officer or something like that because she said that if that Dylan knew she was behind her mother's death, the whole Los Angeles police department would be after her and that she would not rest until her mother's death was avenged."

   Dylan felt a cold shiver run down her spine. She closed her eyes tightly and faced upwards. She had felt it, the two cases were definitely connected. She had always thought that Kelley was the one behind the murder but now Mr Powell's words contradicted everything. If the female he had heard talking was really behind it,then it was definitely not Kelley because at that time, Kelley Smith was still in prison. Now this only confirmed one thought,there was someone else she was dealing with. Kelley probably wasn't her biggest problem.

                  "What did you do after that,I mean how did he know you were a threat?"

                  "I tripped and knocked some blocks that were against the wall down. I got scared and hid behind some junk metal. They both came out of the store and looked around. Peterson had a flashlight but I couldn't see the face of the woman. She had long black hair though."

Yep,that was definitely not Kelley. She thought inwardly. "Anyway when they got back inside,I ran to my car which I always park two blocks away. They must have seen me."

                   "So why attack now instead of the day this happened?"

                   "I guess it was the only opportunity he got. He kept coming to my shop though which wasn't normal but there were always people around. I also started to close up early but that morning,I went in much earlier because I had ordered some items. The delivery man had told me he would only manage to bring them in that early morning or the following week. I couldn't wait that long so I went over there to take them. I guess it was bad luck because I don't remember seeing any delivery guy or truck. I was there one second and then woke up here."

 Sure enough, Dylan remembered a truck pulling up after the police and ambulance had arrived. The guy had been sent away since it was already a crime scene so Mr Powell's story added up. He was visibly struggling to breath and keep his voice even as he narrated the last part of the story. Clearly he was in pain and she didn't see the need to bother him again.

                   "Thank you very much,you can rest now."

  She rose up and walked out of the door. Kenny followed her and closed the door after him.

                     "You are the officer, aren't you?" She nodded suddenly feeling her whole body flame up. "So this is personal?"

                    "It could be,yeah," she answered honestly.

                     "I can help you know."

                   "Yeah but we can't leave him alone," she replied pointing at the door."We would both be neglecting our duty."

                      "Okay,but don't go alone. Something tells me that this isn't going to be a walk in the park."

                     "I know. I'm going to call the chief now and tell him everything. We are going to catch the bastard and he is going to confess. Either that or I will make him," she added firmly then turned to leave.