Justice by Oleander - 2012 Watty Awards, Finalist

Chapter 20

© Carey MacLean, 2012

Chapter 20

“You look good, Mika,” she heard Peter say from behind her as she watched the door to his office close.

She turned to look at her former friend.  He had changed considerably since she had last seen him.  The man that stood before her seemed more confident and not as meek and as gentle as he had once been.

“Thanks,” she finally vocalized.

“Have a seat,” he invited and gestured to the couch along the wall to his office; Carter’s former office as a matter of fact.

Mika took her seat and looked around.  Not much had changed around that place since she had been there.  The only difference was that there were no Stafford brothers on the premises.

“So you and Detective Ryans huh?”  Peter asked her.

“Yeah,” she smiled shyly.

“That’s too bad,” he mumbled to himself as he poured a glass of what must have been whiskey.  “You want one?”

“Thanks,” she told him and accepted the glass.  “I wanted to ask you something since we’re alone,” she started.

“You can ask me anything Mika, you know that,” he told her sweetly.

“Do you know anything about Brian and Carter having a brother?”  She blurted out.

“I might,” he began.  “Why?”

“Does he work here?”  She questioned on.

“Yes.”

“Do you know who he is?”  She kept on.

“Yes.”

“Well?”

“Well.”

He got up and began pacing the floor in front of her.

What the hell is his problem?  She wondered.

Detective Ryans was led to a small office that harbored a couple of desks and computers.  The walls were lined with filing cabinets.

“This is where we keep our records on every employee who’s worked with us for the last ten years,” Colin told him.  “Feel free to use the computers and search through the electronic portions.  It beats sifting through papers.”

“Thank you.  Is this Brian’s work laptop as I had requested?”  Xavier asked him.

“Yes it is.  I’ll be in the office to your right if you need me,” the man told him.

Xavier watched as Petra walked away, closing the door behind him.  He booted up the PC and laptop and waited until he saw the password prompt.  Typing in the username and password that Petra had jotted down on a small piece of paper, he waited for the contraption to load.

He knew there would come a day where this question would be asked.  Peter found himself pacing the room in front of Mika.

What do I tell her?  He asked himself.

It was too little too late to tell her that she was wrong.

What the fuck was I thinking?

Sucking in a deep breath, he turned to face her.

“Are you sure you want to really know this?”  He asked her.  “Don’t you think you’d be better off asking Carter and Brian’s parents?”