Page 27 of Till Death Do Us Part

She began humming something, and I stared at her, struggling to understand her. Maybe she was just mad, after all?

I felt a shiver run down my spine as I left her, wondering what had been going on here. But most important of all was that I had learned that this killer might not have been alone. They could have had an accomplice. Was it possible that we were looking for more than one person?

Chapter21

Kyla sat on the couch, her hands fidgeting in her lap while her mother paced back and forth in front of her. They had been talking for hours, but no matter what they said or did, they couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Something was awfully wrong.

"He's done something, Kyla. I know he has," her mother said for the hundredth time, the frustration in her voice palpable. "Why else would he have cleaned the entire house? The police won't do anything; I just know it."

"We don't know that. I'm sure they're doing everything they can, Mom."

"Pah," she said, then continued back on the same track again. "I just don't understand why he would clean the house like that. It's like he was trying to cover something up. What if he killed her and was trying to get rid of the evidence?"

Kyla sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I don't know, Mom. Maybe he just wanted a clean house? Maybe he was trying to be nice? In case Rachel suddenly comes home."

Her mother stopped pacing and turned to her, a look of disbelief on her face. "Nice? John? Since when has he ever been 'nice'?"

“John can be nice. He's not a bad dad," Kyla said.

Her mother glared at Kyla. "Why are you suddenly defending him?"

"I'm not. I just don't want to jump to conclusions; that's all."

Her mom shook her head. "No, I'm certain that he's done something, and he’s trying to cover it up. He's hurt Rachel; I just know it. He threatened me the other day when I went there. I'm telling ya', he’s bad. I never liked him. I don’t want him around the kids. I told the police that, but they won't do anything; they never do."

"I don't know, Mom," Kyla sighed. "I just wish we knew what to do."

Her mother let out a frustrated growl. "Well, we can't just sit here and wait for something to happen. We need to take matters into our own hands."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I have an idea, and you're gonna help me."

Kyla groaned. She really didn't want to. She just wanted things to go back to normal.But she knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

"What kind of idea?" Kyla asked, already regretting the question.

"We're going to break into John's house," her mother said matter-of-factly.

Kyla's eyes widened in shock. "What?! No, we can't do that!"

"Why not? If the police won't help us, we have to do it ourselves."

"But breaking into someone's house is illegal!"

"Only if you get caught," her mother said with a sly grin. "Besides, we're not going to steal anything. We're just going to look around and see if we can find anything that might prove John did something to Rachel."

Kyla shook her head. "I don't know, Mom. This doesn't seem like a good idea."

"Come on, Kyla. You're always saying we should do something. Well, this is something."

"But what if we get caught?” she said, feeling frustrated, confused even. “What if John comes home unexpectedly?"

"We'll be careful. We'll make sure he's not home before we go in, and we'll be quick. I just need you to help me, Kyla. Please," her mother begged.

Kyla hesitated, unsure of what to do. This was a terrible idea, but she couldn’t escape the thought that maybe her mother was right. Perhaps they needed to take matters into their own hands. She knew that cases like these often went cold and were put in the archives for years. They couldn’t let that happen. They needed to know what had happened to her sister. And if John had hurt her, then there was no way they were letting him get away with it.

No way.

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