Sarah, Returned--Chapter 38 (A Steemit Original Novel)
Karen’s sharp, pinched face turns bright red for just a moment, before fading to almost pure white. All the fight goes out of her, and she becomes limp in the tall officer’s grip; he has to use his second hand to hold her up.
“Karen?” Matt asks, his voice a strange mixture of rage and concern. I think I get it. He just broke up with her. Even though he knows she only wanted his money, all those feelings he had for her can’t be turned off just like that. If this was really only a month later for me, and not 14 years, I would still feel some affection for Carter, even after what he just did. Lucky me. I got my time to heal. I just hope I don’t have to heal from Joshua, too. I don’t know if I can.
“Let’s have a look at that phone, Mr. Morgan,” the short officer says, reaching for it. Jacob starts to hand it across.
“Wait!” Karen shouts, suddenly upright again, though the tall officer maintains his grip on her. “I did it. Okay? Are you all satisfied? Yes, I attempted to cut the brakes on Sarah’s car. I read a book on car maintenance, and thought I knew what I was doing, but apparently got the lines confused. There. There’s my confession. Will things go easier on me now that I admitted it?”
She looks to the tall officer for confirmation. He just stares back at her, stony faced.
Matt looks like he may throttle her. “Why?” he demands, glaring at her with eyes that could cut glass. He throws me an apologetic look. I just shrug. Her confession does not surprise me in the least. Carter surprised me, but not Karen. And, I think I know why she did it, but I want to hear it from her.
“Well, because I love you, of course,” she says, her words all tumbling out in a waterfall of explanation, doing anything she can to make it sound not so bad. Saving her own skin is her number one priority right now.
“So you decided to express that by trying to kill my cousin?” Matt shouts, incredulous. Whatever feelings he had for her were extinguished by that admission.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds, Matt,” she insists, almost pleading with him to understand. “Sarah was holding you back. You deserved all of the fortune. It wasn’t fair that you had to share it with her. You were working so hard as a teacher, while she lived the easy life of a college student. You sacrificed your entire twenties to take care of her. And, did she appreciate it? Did she understand what you were giving up to be there for her? I don’t think so. With her out of the way, we could have gotten married and shared the whole fortune together. You deserve it all, Matt. Not her. She’s just a spoiled brat who always got everything handed to her.”
Matt hisses when he responds. “Did you ever consider Sarah was living the life she was supposed to, Karen? She’s 20, for God’s sake. She’s supposed to be living a carefree life at school. And, I wanted to take care of her. Until we reconnected with Jacob, she was my only living relative. Her safety and happiness meant everything to me. I didn’t want to see her go into foster care when Grandma was no longer able to care for her, and Grandma wouldn’t have wanted it, either. I didn’t give up my twenties. I spent them exactly as I wanted to, and yes, taking care of Sarah was a big part of that, but it’s not like it’s all I did. As for teaching, I had to earn a living until I came into my part of the inheritance. It was a nice enough job, and I didn’t feel burdened at all. Good God, Karen, the fortune is $80 million. The mere $40 million of my half wasn’t good enough for you?”
“She didn’t deserve it.”
“Yes, she did. Admit it. You just wanted her out of the way, so you could control my life and my money. As long as Sarah was around, there was another voice in my life, guiding me in directions you may not have liked. You were selfish. Next time, find a wealthy orphan to sink your claws into who doesn't have other relatives.”
He turns away from her, crossing his arms, hanging his head low. I’m sure he’s wondering how he could have been so stupid to let her as far into his life and mind as he did. I would be wondering the same thing in his shoes. Heck, I’m kind of wondering it about Carter at this very moment. I guess neither of us has good judgement when it comes to romantic partners. Well, I didn’t. But, that changed. Somewhere out there in the mists of time, I have Joshua, and there’s no question he is the one for me. Joshua wouldn’t care if I only had one cent, or no cents. In fact, he married me with nothing to my name except an acre of cleared land left to me by Richard Otis, and a two year old girl who wasn’t even mine. Not many men would do that, even in the 17th century.
Putting those thoughts aside before they make me cry, I look back up at the crazy scene in front of me. I’ve nothing to say to Karen or Carter at this point, but good on Jacob for being smart enough to film the crazy bitch. I wonder why he waited until now to mention he had evidence? He was a suspect the whole time I was gone. Showing that video would have gotten him, Matt, and even Carter off the hook weeks ago.
“May we have your phone, please, Mr. Morgan?” the short officer asks Jacob. “We’ll need to download the video as evidence. You can get it back in a few days, once it’s been processed through the station.”
“Oh, I don’t actually have a video,” Jacob says, chuckling. He sticks his phone back in his pocket.
“You don’t?” Karen and the short officer ask at the same time, both gaping at him.
“No, my dear. I don’t.” This is addressed to Karen alone.
“Then, why did you say you did?” the short officer asks, a bit dumbfounded.
“I suspected Karen was the one trying to hurt my niece. In fact, I was sure of it, from the night Sarah disappeared. I spent most of that day and evening watching the two of them interact, and it was obvious to everyone but poor love struck Matt that his fiancée hated Sarah, and the feeling was mutual. When Sarah disappeared, I suspected Karen was involved. When it was discovered the brakes were tampered with on her car, I was sure of it. Admittedly, I was surprised to find young Carter out here, also having tried to hurt her. But, when you all said he wasn’t the one who tried to cut the brakes, it occurred to me that a little ruse might force a confession out of the lady.”
He nods toward Karen, indicating she is the lady in question.
“That’s a risky game, sir,” the tall officer holding onto Karen says, shaking his head in disbelief, while keeping his tone neutral. “What if she hadn’t confessed, and demanded you show the video?”
“Well, that would be a whole other situation, wouldn’t it, boys? Good thing she did just what I thought she would, eh?” He gives them one of his huge, sunny smiles. I don’t think there’s an unhappy bone in that man’s body. No one I’ve ever met has consistently exuded so much joy at everything, even during weird moments like this one.
“It certainly is,” the tall officer agrees. Then, addressing Karen, “You’ll have to come with us, ma’am.”
Karen looks absolutely stunned as they cuff her and stick her in the back of the car with Carter. I think she really believed confessing and professing her pure love for Matt would get her off. I don’t doubt for a minute her family’s money and high connections will ensure she only gets a fine and a permanent restraining order keeping her away from both Matt and me, but it’s enough. Carter will suffer more, not just because what he tried to do was worse, but because his family doesn’t have the means to secure a legal dream team for him. He’ll do jail time. I almost feel bad for him. Almost.
After their prisoners are safely in the car, the officers ask Matt, Jacob, and me to come down to the station and give our statements as soon as possible. Matt agrees, but wants to get a doctor to check me out first. He’s concerned about the effect the earlier shock and general stress of the past day and a half has had on me. He kindly avoids mentioning anything about a psychiatric hold in front of the officers, but I know it’s what he’s thinking. He’s still going to push that point with me now? Really?
“Are you okay?” he asks me, once the officers are gone.
“I’m fine,” I say, unable to keep a hint of sharpness out of my voice. I know what he’s going to say next. It’s odd how you can love someone so much, and want to drop them off a cliff at the same time.
“Then, you’ll come with me to talk to the doctors now?” He puts a gentle hand on the small of my back. I jerk away with such force, a muscle spasms briefly in my hip. That’s going to be sore later.
“Doctors?” Jacob questions, raising a white eyebrow at us.
“I think Sarah needs to talk to some psychiatrists after everything she’s been through,” Matt says, reaching for my hand, which I promptly snatch away. “It’s a lot for anyone to deal with. I’d feel better if she got some professional counseling.”
“Right now, though?” Jacob is confused. “Shouldn’t we all go to the police station and give our statements? Get it out of the way? I’m sure we’ll all be called to testify in court later, but the sooner we give official statements to the police the better, don’t you think? Surely counseling can wait.”
“I don’t think it can.”
“Oh, yes it can,” I growl, looking past Matt and right to Jacob. “He thinks I’m crazy because I said I’ve been living in the 17th century for the past 14 years.”
“Sarah,” Matt gasps, stunned I would say such a thing in front of Jacob. “I’m sorry, Uncle Jacob. She’s not herself, as you can see.”
“Well, of course,” Jacob agrees, nodding thoughtfully. “Anyone who has traveled through time only once needs a while to adjust to their new surroundings. I can’t imagine the disorientation doing it twice would cause. I know my sister was not herself for years after it happened to her.”
“What?” Matt and I both exclaim in confusion, but for extremely different reasons.
“You mean, you know about this time travel nonsense?” Matt barks, irritated at Jacob now. “Did you put ideas in her head? My God, was she actually with you the whole time she was gone?”
“No, Matt,” I pull away from him and go stand beside Jacob. “I was exactly where I said, in the 17th century. Uncle Jacob didn’t tell me anything about time travel, though he hinted he knows it exists, but that was only after I came back. Grandma herself confirmed it is a real phenomenon, just before I left.”
“What are you talking about?” Matt puts his hands up to either side of his head, like he’s about to get the world’s worst headache from all this crazy talk coming from his only two remaining relatives.
“There was talk of time travel in Grandma’s memory box,” I explain, wishing he’d given me a chance to tell him the part about Grandma earlier at the house, and not on the open street. Even in the 21st century, people still talk in Dover. There’s already going to be crazy gossip about what just went down in public with Karen and Carter. “I took it with me when I left the house, and looked through its contents while I was hiding on top of the hill. It was mind-blowing, Matt. No wonder she never let us touch the thing without her supervision. There were daguerreotypes inside of her as a little girl in the mid-1800’s. I know it’s true, because she labeled them all. Grandma traveled to 1938 from 1864 when she was 19. All the proof was there in the box. There were even letters she exchanged with a physics professor at UNH about it, where she straight up said she was a time traveler. And, when I accidentally touched an earring in the box she brought with her from the past, it opened up a portal that pulled me through to 1685. It also made me about eight years younger. I had to live through puberty again, in an era where tampons are not a thing.”
“Okay, okay, that’s enough,” Matt begs, putting his hands over his ears. I laugh out loud. If anything was going to subdue him, the word “tampon” was it. Any talk of menstruation always makes him squirm.
Seizing my opportunity, I whirl on Jacob. “And, you. Your sister travelled through time? You didn’t tell me. I didn't even know you and Grandpa Morgan had a sister. Did she go forward or back? Did she come home? Where is she now? Did she know Grandma was a traveler, too?”
“I think I need to have you both committed,” Matt moans, outnumbered and emotionally threadbare after such a trying couple of days.
“That won’t be necessary,” Jacob assures him, gently pulling one of Matt’s hands away from his ear. “Come, you two. Let’s go make our statements at the police station. We’ll take my car, since you’re both on foot. Once that’s done, I’d like to bring you to my house. I have some things there that will convince you Sarah is telling the truth, Matt. And Sarah, you will be exceptionally interested in these things, as well, especially if there is anyone you’re hoping to go back to in the past.”
My heart leaps into my throat. Oh my God. Does he have what I need to travel again? I hoped he did, when I left the house. I was going to find him for that precise reason. Does he know how time travel works? Can he get me back to Joshua and the children?
It dawns on me that Jacob has known more than he was telling the entire time. If I hadn’t traveled the exact night I met him, he might have explained more about this time travel thing to me. I would know much more about it, about Grandma, about so many things. Then again, if I’d stayed, I wouldn’t have met Joshua.
No. I wouldn’t change a thing I did in the past. But, I do want to change some things now. For the better.
I turn to my cousin. “Matt. We're going with Jacob." It’s not a question, but rather a command, only thinly masked as a statement. He’s going to go along with us in this. I'm not giving him a choice. If he still questions anything after our visit to Jacob’s house, he can have us both examined. Personally, though, I don’t think that will be necessary.
“Fine,” Matt says, throwing up his hands in defeat. “You’re both insane, but whatever. I give up. Obviously, I’m outnumbered here, so you can have anything you want. By all means, let’s go to Jacob’s house.”
________________________________________________________________
Catch up with the entire "Sarah, Returned" series here:
This post has received a 23.82% upvote from
thanks to: @stephmckenzie.
For more information, click here!!!!
Try the new Minnowhelper Bots for more information here
Help support @minnowhelper and the bot tracker by voting for @yabapmatt for Steem witness! To vote, click the button below or go to https://steemit.com/~witnesses and find @yabapmatt in the list and click the upvote icon. Thank you.
Voting for @yabapmatt
Thank you so much for using our service! You were protected from up to 40% loss!
Help us grow by delegating to us, thus giving you a bigger upvote! 100sp, 500SP, 1000SP, ANY SPYou just received 26.89% upvote from @onlyprofitbot courtesy of @stephmckenzie!