Blood Ties by Josephine Barly

from Jared’s grasp as Aidan walked in. He seemed slightly pissed off. We stared quietly as Kelly called and explained what was going on, or as much as she understood of what was going on, to her lawyer.
    “Will you press charges?” Aidan asked me, and I shook my head. “Okay, but this is an open investigation, and if we do find her guilty, the city of Memphis will be pressing charges, understood?”
    I nodded but didn’t look at Aidan. If my sister had indeed tried to kill me…I couldn’t even ponder that possibility.
    “What will happen now?” I asked, afraid of the answer.
    “I’ll try to get a judge to sign a search warrant to go through Kelly’s house, and her computer particularly. If she did it, maybe there will be a research trail that can confirm her knowledge of home-made bombs,” Aidan replied.
    “And until then?”
    “Her attorney is good; he’ll manage to get her out of here; we won’t keep her because all we’ve got so far is circumstantial evidence; it’ll be lucky if we even manage to get a judge to sign the warrant order.”
    I nodded at Aidan, letting him know I understood what he’d said, and I sighed. We remained silent and watched Kelly fidget and pace around; she was nervous, but was she guilty?
    A knock was heard and Aidan opened the door; an officer let him know Kelly’s lawyer, Steven Tank, had arrived. Aidan left the room and led him to the place where Kelly waited.
    Before she had a chance to say anything, Steven motioned for her to remain quiet as Aidan explained what was going on. Steven said they had no grounds for holding Kelly there, and Aidan agreed, but added that she shouldn’t leave the state, just in case.
    Steven and Kelly walked out, and I could see she was still nervous. She whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, that she hadn’t done anything, but Steven ordered her to shut up.
    “What do we do now?” I asked once Aidan had returned.
    “You two carry on with your lives. Actually, it would be good if Jared could go over your correspondence with Kelly, I know you’ll consider it invasion of property, but Miss Pearson, it’ll be significant in our investigation.”
    “Call me Sam, Aidan. I’m done with last names. And you know, screw it…If it’ll help clear Kelly, I’ll do it. I assume it’s to remain private?”
    “Unless there’s something incriminating in them; otherwise, only Jared and I will know about the content.”
    I nodded and shrugged. Sure, there were plenty intimate details I wouldn’t like the Davies brothers —or anyone, for that matter—to know about me, but I was convinced of Kelly’s innocence, and if I could help, I’d do it.
    “It would also be useful if you could tell Jared about your relationship with your sister. He’ll fill me in later. Anything you can recall, any incident or cause for a grudge, any aspect of your relationship that you consider relevant, and things you consider irrelevant as well, okay? The Captain will meet you another day; he’s caught up in a meeting now.”
    I nodded and sighed. I looked at Aidan expectantly, in case he had anything further to add, but he just looked at Jared and, after slightly bowing his head at me, Aidan left.
    Jared moved towards me and whispered he was sorry my sister was a suspect, and I nodded reluctantly. I didn’t know if I wanted to punch Aidan or Jared, cry, or scream. But I didn’t do any of those things.
    I let Jared guide me to my car and drive us home. I told him I needed a bubble bath to relax, and even if I saw a twinkle in his eyes, I decided to ignore it. I set up the bathtub, put on some relaxing music, and allowed my mind to wander freely, without thinking about Susie, Kelly, a home-made bomb or hot detectives even once. And it felt great.
     

5
    I sat on one side of the couch in my living-room and wrapped myself with a blanket, just because it felt comfy. I raised my knees and pressed them against my chest. Being mid-afternoon in winter in Memphis,