Waking Charley Vaughan Part 12

"Hey," I said, trying to be soothing. "Just take a breath. The cops are here. They'll get him."

When we walked back into the garage, Adam and the officers turned to look at us. I introduced Sara to Adam as Officer Vasquez called in the plate number on his radio. When she heard the numbers, Sara went over closer to Adam to get a better look at the car. She gasped.

"What's up?" I asked her.

"I can tell them who the owner is," she said sadly.

Detective Schmidt turned quickly to look at her. "You know the owner of this vehicle?" he said sharply.

"Yeah," she said bitterly, "I should." She looked over at me. "The a.s.shole's my brother."

Just then, we heard the dispatcher come in over the radio and confirm what Sara said: Matt had run over Charley.

CHAPTER 11 - SARA.

From the moment I walked into Adam's shop, I'd had an uneasy feeling. I couldn't explain it, but something in me must have known that finding out who hit Charley was going to be bad.

Everything seemed to move too fast. As soon as the words that connected my brother to the car in Adam's shop had come out of my mouth, I'd felt sick to my stomach. By the time the police dispatcher came back over the radio to verify what I already knew, I was panicking and ready to throw up.

'What's going to happen?" I asked Brennan, my voice showing every last ounce of the horror that I felt. Beyond that horror though, was anger. A deep, seething, and unrelenting anger at my brother, and at myself for not realizing that it was him all along. I had known, after all. Some part of me had known, or at least suspected, from the moment he told me his car was in the shop.

Brennan looked down at me, his expression intense. "It's probably not going to be good," he said gently. "I mean," he added, "I'm not a cop, but it just doesn't seem like it's going to go well for him."

"Do you think he did it on purpose?" I asked, but I wasn't really asking Brennan. I was probably asking myself.

He seemed to know that I wasn't expecting an answer from him. He just wrapped one of his long arms around my shoulders and pulled me into him in a friendly, sideways kind of hug.

Looking back, I think it was that moment that I realized he really was my friend. He had been thrown into my life and Charley's life through ridiculous circ.u.mstances, and in a short time, I'd already begun to really appreciate his friendship. He was, once again, acting like Matt should have been acting. He was comforting me like a brother should-like a friend should.

He was doing what Matt had never done, and probably never would do. Instead of making me mad like it had when I had realized this about him with Charley, it made me sad. Tears filled my eyes as I stood there staring at my brother's car, and listening to the police discuss partial plate numbers, blood tests, and arrest warrants over the radio.

Brennan followed the officers out as they left the shop, but I was too numb to move. I sat on a small dirty couch that was placed in the corner of the large shop, staring forward, and trying to wrap my brain around what had just happened. I knew I was going to have to call my parents eventually. I couldn't even begin to think about how I was going to tell them this. They were angry enough at him for breaking Charley's heart. My parent's had been so excited at the thought of Charley being their daughter. They had been equally devastated when they found out that, not only was she not going to be their daughter, but she had been hit by a car and was in the hospital. It had crushed them. They hadn't wanted to be an imposition while she was in the hospital, so instead of visiting everyday like I knew they wanted to, they asked me for updates regularly, and made me bring Charley messages and candy, and hugs, and whatever else my mom had decided she might need that day.

How was I going to tell them that Matt was responsible for putting her there? It was too much to think about. I put my face into my hands and started to cry, completely forgetting that Brennan's brother, Adam was still in the shop. I felt him sit down next to me.

"Uhh," he said awkwardly. "You okay?"

I sniffed and wiped my eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine," I lied. It's just kind of a shock, you know?"

"I have no idea," he said honestly. "But I'm really sorry." He gave my back an awkward pat, reminding me of how Brennan had tried to be comforting that first night I'd met him in Charley's hospital room. I laughed a little at that.

"Why don't you come into the office?" he asked, standing up and holding out his hand. "I'll make us some coffee, or get you a water or something."

"I need to call my parents," I said as I stood. I looked up at him, realizing that I actually had to look up to meet his eyes. That was rare for me, and it caught me off guard.

"I think you should take a couple of minutes to catch your breath first," he said. "But if you want to get it out of the way now, that's cool, too."

I followed him into the office where he handed me a bottle of water and some tissues. After taking a couple of sips, I decided it was time to call my mother. There was no use in delaying it. She needed to know before Matt got arrested. I pulled my phone out of my purse and pressed the speed dial number for my mother's cell phone.

She picked up on the second ring. "h.e.l.lo," she chirped.

"Hey Mom," I said soberly. She caught onto my tone quickly.

"Sara, honey," she said, sounding concerned. "Is everything okay? You sound upset. What's wrong?" I wondered only briefly if this rapid succession of words was how I sounded to other people when I was anxious or excited or mad, orany mood whatsoever. I quickly dismissed the thought, getting to the point.

"Mom," I said before taking a deep breath, "I need to tell you something. It's not good."

"What is it honey? Are you okay?" she sounded even more worried now.

"I'm fine, Mom. It's about Mattand it's about Charley," I paused. "and her accident."

"Oh," my mom said softly.

"Mom, it looks like Matt might be the one who hit Charley."

"He what?" she asked.

"The police came and his car is a match for the description of the one that hit Charley."

"Well, I'm sure there are tons of Volvos, Sara-" my mom began. I had to cut her off.

"They have a partial plate number from the surveillance video, Mom. It sounds like that might be a match as well.and," I started to add, hesitantly, "there's some blood and even a little hair on the car. I don't know if they can test it or not, but they were interested enough to be on their way to question himmaybe even arrest him if they get the plate information soon."

There was only silence on my mom's end of the phone. "Are you sure about this, Sara?" she asked finally.

"I'm pretty sure, mom. The cops just left here a few minutes ago. I don't know for sure if they will arrest him or just question him, but I know they are looking for him."

"Oh dear," my mom said sadly. "Honey, do you think you could come home for a little bit?" To my mom, 'home' would always be her house.

"Sure, mom," I told her. "I'll be there soon." I heard her take a deep breath.

"Thank you," was all she said before hanging up the phone.

I looked at Adam. He was sitting at his desk, trying to reorganize a mess of papers. He saw me watching.

"They kind of got scattered when the cops were looking for the paperwork on the car. I tried to tell him the a.s.sho-I mean, the guy-didn't leave his name. Just gave cash and a phone number."

"It's okay," I told him, "You were right the first time. He's an a.s.shole alright." I sat the water bottle down on the counter and put my phone back into my purse. "I'd better get going," I told him. "I need to go hang out with my mom for a while and make sure she's okay."

"Oh, ok," he said quickly, getting up from his seat at the desk.

"It wasgood to meet you," he said with the same awkwardness form earlier. "I mean, I wish it had been different circ.u.mstances, of course," he added quickly before extending his hand for me to shake.

I took it and tried to smile. "It's okay," I told him, "I know what you mean. It was nice to meet you, too. Maybe I'll see you around." He smiled at that.

"Bye, Sara," he said as I headed toward the door. I gave him a wave.

It didn't take me long to get to my parents' house. When I pulled into the driveway, I noticed that my father was already home. When I walked in the door, they were both sitting at the bar in the kitchen. My mother was sipping tea: something she always did when she was worried or anxious. My father sat next to her, his cell phone in his hand, but not in use. When they heard me approach, they both looked over at me.

"Oh, Sarahoney," my mom said as she got up to greet me with her arms wide. She engulfed me in a huge hug and began to sob.

"I just don't know what we're going to do," she cried. "Your father and I raised you and Matt to be good, responsible adults. I knew for a long time that it hadn't sunk in with him as much, but I just didn't know what to do. And now look at the mess we're in," her words were coming out so fast that they were getting jumbled.

"Linda, sweetheart," my dad said, getting up from the bar to come pry her off of me. "We will do what we can to help him," he said, holding her in his arms. "Well, we will do what we should to help him, rather."

"What does that mean?" my mother asked him, sounding like she was still crying.

"It means," my dad explained, "that we will help him get a good lawyer, and we'll be here to support him." He saw that I was about to protest and he added, "Support, Sara. Not condone. What Matthew seems to have done is unspeakable. But he is family, and we will not abandon him." My dad's face was stern. He meant business.

"Okay, Dad "I said, beginning my protest. "But this isn't the first time Matt has done something stupid, and then waited on you and Mom to bail him out."

"We are not bailing him out," my father said, his voice stern. "I told Matthew after the last incident that I would no longer be paying for his foolishness."

I heard my mother's sharp intake of breath then. "But, we can't just abandon him, Scott! You just said--"

My father held up a hand to stop her. "We aren't abandoning him, either. I will get him set up with the lawyer, and then Matthew can figure out how to pay for it on his own. He's had some success over the past few years, and I'm sure one of his many investments or so-called businesses can pay the damage he has done."

My mother and I were both silent as we thought about what he'd just said. I was glad he was taking a tougher approach than he had with Matt's last run-in with the police.

Right before he'd met Charley, Matt had gotten his second DUI after crashing his car into a stop sign near his house. Right before he'd purposed, he'd been arrested on a warrant due to not paying the fines related to his second DUI. As I thought about it, I realized that both incidents had been diffused by Charley's presence. The first time Matt had to face our parents after the second DUI, was the Thanksgiving I'd brought Charley home. The consequent arrest wasn't even disclosed to them until after he announced that he'd proposed to her.

"Honey," my mom said, interrupting my thoughts, "has anyone told Charley yet?"

"I don't know," I told her. "I came straight here." I couldn't imagine how she was going to take this. I hoped she wouldn't be alone when she found out. I wanted to be with her, but I worried that when she heard the news, I might become more Matt's sister and less Charley's best friendat least in her eyes.

CHAPTER 12 - CHARLEY.

I was in my office working on some freelance projects in an attempt to get caught on all that I'd missed in the past few weeks when there was a knock at my door. "Charley," I heard Brennan say from the other side of the door.

I quickly got up from my place in the chair. "Just a minute!" I yelled. On my way to the door I was quickly positioning my sling back onto my arm. I hadn't been wearing it, and Brennan and Sara flipped out at me every time they caught me with it off. I stopped at the door to do a quick check in the mirror over my key holder and attempt to smooth down some of the ma.s.sive curls on my head. A ponytail was out of the question now, so I just tucked what I could behind my ears. When I pulled the door open, Brennan was standing there, looking as tall and beautiful as ever. After taking him in with my eyes, I looked for his. They looked worried.

"What's wrong?" I said as I stepped aside to invite him in.

"We need to talk," he said seriously, "It's about the accident."

"What about it?" I asked a little surprised. I hadn't expected that to be our topic of conversation today.

"You might want to sit down," he suggested. That sounded entirely too dramatic. I just stood there giving him a look that I hope said, 'really? Just tell me.' Apparently, it did.

"Ok," he sighed. "The police are on their way to go question Matt."

"Huh?" was all I could muster in reply.

"It looks like he may have been the one to hit you."

"Hedid," I said, feeling more relief than I thought I would at hearing myself say it.

"Take a breath," Brennan urged me. "It's ok. I know it's a shock."

I shook my head. "No," I said, shaking my head. "No, you don't get it. I thought he might have had something to do with it," I said. "When he never showed up, when he never called, I just kind of felt it. I hoped I'd be wrong."

Brennan stood in front of me, looking confused and a bit angry. "If you thought he hit you, why didn't say so?"

"What could I have said?" I asked. "It was just a thought. I had no evidence."

Just then, my phone rang. I jumped slightly at the sound. Brennan grabbed if off the counter and handed it to me. I didn't recognize the number. I figured I knew who it would be though. The timing was perfect.

"h.e.l.lo?" I said softly.

"Yes, is this Charley Vaughan?" came the deep male voice on the other end.

"Yes, this is," I answered, taking yet another deep breath.

"This is officer Vasquez from the Ft. Collins police department. Ms. Vaughan, we have a suspect in custody. We'd like to get you to come in and give us a statement of anything you might remember from the night of your accident. I know we've talked before, but since we do have a suspect in custody as I said, I would like to go over anything you may remember now that you've had some time to think and remember more about that night."

"Um, yeahsure," I said, still a little fl.u.s.tered. "When would you like me to come in?"

"Well, as soon as possible would be nice," he replied. "I understand you're probably busy."

"I can come in in about an hour," I told him. I looked at Brennan and mouthed, "Can you come with me?" He nodded and I sighed a little in relief. Not exactly the date I had in mind, but I'd feel better if he was around.

Officer Vasquez said that'd be fine, and we hung up. Brennan called Adam to cover for him at the pub. I overheard Brennan's portion of the conversation while I was in the bathroom trying to do something with my hair.

"Yeah, man," Brennan said in response to Adam's unheard question. "I just don't know if it's a good idea to call her right now. I'd give it some time."

There was a pause where I a.s.sume Adam gave his reb.u.t.tal.

"Okay, I'll give you the number. I'm just asking you to not be a d.i.c.k, and at least give it a few days. Her brother was arrested today. I don't think she's thinking about dates, dude."

This must have pacified his brother because the next words out of Brennan's mouth were, "OK. Thank you. I'll text it to you laternow can I ask you a favor?" It sounded like Adam had met Sara. And Sara had left an impression. Sara.

"Oh my G.o.d!" I said out loud, feeling like an a.s.s for not thinking of it sooner. "Sara!" I yelled. I grabbed my phone off of the counter and pressed Sara's speed dial number.

She picked up on the first ring, "Midge, I was going to call you, but then I didn't think you'd want to hear that from me, and you certainly wouldn't want to hear it over the phone, and I was on my way to my parents' house. I just didn't know what to do. Are you OK?"