This would have been pretty cool if I'd finished it on July 4th, huh?

Or, you know... in February.

Anyway, sorry for dragging it out so long. Not much more to go now. Thanks for sticking with me.

-kp

Chapter 26

Kelly's heart stopped and her stomach gave a violent somersault, their presence like a bucket of ice water dumped on her head They had been here?, she screamed at herself. Had they heard? Had they heard everything?

In a wordless response, Sabrina reached out, gripped her elbow and roughly pulled her out of the doorway and into the dimly lit hall. Kelly remained frozen, still stunned speechless by their unexpected arrival. She quickly stuffed her injured hand into her pocket and clutched her bag closer, feeling the corner of the tape dig harder into her side through the fabric walls of the duffel bag.

"Kelly." Sabrina said seriously. Her voice was strained, the way it got before she either cried or lost her temper, and Kelly found herself unsure which scenario would be worse. "That-" she said, thrusting a pointed finger towards the door. "-in there. Is that true? Is all that true?"

The door clicked shut loudly and in her panic, Kelly whirled around to face it. Her eyes flitted up, seeing Jill had closed it behind them, locking Hanover safely inside. The grip on her arm grew tighter and she glanced down to realize Sabrina was still holding her arm. Both their faces looked grim. They had heard. They had heard everything.

And if there was any desparately clinging to doubt left in her head, Sabrina's question had just erased it. Kelly's stomach churned painfully and she looked away, unable to give an answer. She'd known that question was coming the instant she saw her friends, the instant she'd opened the door and discovered them standing there like that. And though every thought in her head was screaming for her to run away before they asked again, deeply dreading another question that would confirm the obvious, she couldn't. She was trapped. Trapped by her friends, trapped by her lies, completely and utterly trapped.

Sabrina gave her arm an impatient shake.

"Kelly, answer me." she ordered.

"Jesus Christ." Kelly breathed through her teeth. She turned away from Sabrina in shame, but the evasive gesture only brought her eye to eye with Jill. And Jill's face was even harder to look at.

Slender fingers firmly suddenly gripped her jaw and pulled her head back to its former position. No matter how much she didn't want to, she was forced to look into Sabrina's narrowed and intense brown eyes, angry, unbelieving, demanding answers. But compared to Jill's watery eyed look of shock, sadness, and betrayal, this was infinitely preferable.

"Was all that true, Kelly?" Sabrina asked again, the corners of her mouth fighting the urge to tug down. "I need to hear you answer."

Kelly averted her eyes and tried to nod her head in response, but Sabrina still had hold of her face.

"Yeah." she whispered softly instead. The moment she did, a flush of warmth spread its way across her face. The pressure on her jaw released as Sabrina let her hand drop back to her side and for brief moment, Kelly wished it hadn't, if only because it had helped hide her face.

A loud yawn had all three girls quickly turning to face the door they'd come in. Officer Hank was milling about the opposite end of the hallway, his hand in his pocket, gleefully toying with both the two twenties Kelly had given him and the twenty Jill had also exchanged for some space. He caught them staring and gave them a boyish grin.

Sabrina let out a slow, steady stream of air and turned her attention back to her friends. "Kelly, this is-" She shook her head and pressed a hand between Kelly's shoulder blades, guiding her away from the door. "C'mon, kiddo, we can't talk here."

With Jill holding her arm and Sabrina's hand on her back, Kelly could do little else but be lead out of the hallway. With a nod to Officer Hank, the trio crossed the empty lobby, walked out the main doors into the bright late afternoon sunshine and around the side of the building. As the girls neared the cab, Earl waiting impatiently inside, Kelly felt a tug on her hand and was pulled forward behind a large, sticky looking dumpster. The unexpected tug nearly cost her her balance and she stumbled forward as she walked. By the time she'd regained her footing, Sabrina and Jill were both standing in front of her, arms crossed, ominous in the shadow and privacy from the street that the dumpster provided. It was all too much and Kelly exhaled slowly and concentrated on staring at her feet.

This was it, she realized. She had no choice now. The girls were silent for a moment, save for the frantic beating of Kelly's heart, as they waited each other out.

Jill was the first to run out of patience.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Jill began softly, after the few moments of tense silence.

Kelly shook her head. There was no answer. At least not one that would justify what she had done. She shrugged her shoulders slightly in response.

"We were defending him." Jill continued. She glanced at Sabrina and uttered a soft curse. "You knew what he was and you didn't say anything?"

Kelly looked up to respond and immediately wished she hadn't. Jill looked beyond hurt, they both did, and it was her fault. Her eyes again found the littered, cracked asphalt that surrounded her shoes.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Sabrina asked, her voice calm and steady. "Is this why you've been sneaking around and lying to us?"

Her voice was steady, but the hurt in it was unmistakable. Kelly pursed her lips against a rush of shame and remorse. "I- I didn't want you to know." she muttered lamely, when she was able to speak.

Understandably, both Jill and Sabrina scoffed at the pathetic excuse.

"Didn't wan-" Sabrina echoed angrily, the calm facade now a thing of the past. She sighed in frustration and began to pace anxiously between the lines of shadow the dumpster created. "Don't you think that's something we should have known, Kelly! Don't you think we would have like to have known that we were defending someone like that? Someone that hurts kids, hurt you?" she cried. "Or, how about evidence, Kelly! We've been at this for nearly a week! Sure would have been nice to know we were wasting our time! Don't you think we would like to have known you had the evidence all along?"

Kelly couldn't respond. Sabrina was right. She'd been a fool. A lying, decieving, selfish fool.

"And he was your foster dad?" Sabrina suddenly blurted out in disbelief, as if the idea was having trouble sticking. She jerked her thumb towards the police building the dumpster was separating them from. "Him? Him in there? And he- he hurt you?"

Kelly, fighting tears, lowered her eyes to the floor.

"How long were you with them?" Sabrina asked, the same disgusted, horrified tone in her voice.

The only immediate answer Kelly could summon was a slight shrug of her shoulders.

"Kelly-" Jill warned.

It wasn't enough. Kelly took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Less than a year." she whispered

Sabrina let out a curse and angrily slammed the back of her heel into the dumpster, the hollow echo startling Kelly, Jill, and the unfortunate pigeon that was perched on top. The bird fluttered away and Kelly watched it go, wishing she could follow.

"I can't believe you, Kelly!" Sabrina shouted again, grabbing her arm. "That was him? The one that told you all those th- and he- he did -" She paused and anxiously rubbed her face, unable to voice it. "-all that to you? He-"

"Sabrina, don't-!" Kelly snapped suddenly. She yanked her arm from her friend's tight grip and clutched her bag closer to her. The overwhelming feeling of helplessness triggered her claustrophobic anxiety and her chest began to heave. She angrily swiped at the hair on her face and, for the first time looked her friends in the eyes. Her face was flushed, so hot she was starting to sweat.

"Wh-what do you want me to say, huh?" she spat bitterly. "You think that's something I want to talk about?"

The girls shared a look and Sabrina threw up her hands, momentarily giving Jill the reins.

Jill sighed and stepped forward. "You should have told us about him." she said quietly. "We had no idea."

"Well, you know now!" Kelly snapped, flustered to the point of agitation. "You were standing right there! You heard everything, didn't you?"

Jill nodded sadly. "Most everything, yeah." she whispered. She wiped the dampness off of her eyes with the back of her hand and reached out to rest it against Kelly's bag. She expected Kelly to instinctively pull away from her and her friend didn't disappoint.

"No Kelly, give it to me." Jill said gently.

Kelly stepped back, a dog guarding it's bone, and eyed her two best friends suspiciously. They wouldn't take it from her, they wouldn't force her. She took another step backwards.

"We heard. Give me the tape." Jill repeated softly, extending a hand. She didn't touch the bag again, just waited, her eyes red rimmed and glassy, her mouth pursed as if holding back tears. "Now, Kelly."

And suddenly she wasn't holding them back anymore. Both of Jill's hurt-filled blue eyes overflowed at once, sending two tears dripping off of her lashes and trailing down her cheeks. Her lip quivered but she merely worked her jaw and acknowledged them no further.

Kelly had to look away. She'd put those expressions on Jill and Sabrina's faces. With her lies and her deceit. She was no better than that piece of trash she'd just left. Turns burned again in her own eyes but she swallowed and forced them away. Without looking, she shrugged the strap off of her shoulder and held it away from her.

The weight of the bag left her arm, taken up by Jill or Sabrina, she wasn't sure which, she couldn't bring herself to look. Kelly tried again to swallow the mass in her chest. They must hate her. At the very least, they distrusted her now. How could they not with the way she had been acting, her lying, her sneaking around? She'd ruined everything.

A hand rested against her arm.

"Look at us." Jill's voice said softly. Kelly let her green eyes flit over to her two friend's faces but found it impossible to keep them there.

"How long have you had this?" Sabrina asked, both her voice and demeanor softened. Kelly glanced at her face, took in the mixture of hurt and anger in her eyes, and looked away.

"Since Thursday." she whispered.

Jill and Sabrina exchanged a look of surprise before Jill gave Kelly's arm a squeeze. "I need you to tell us. Tell us everything, Kelly." she urged. She released the hold she had on her friend and quietly stuck her hands in her pockets to wait.

Kelly sighed and for the first time in several minutes, looked away from the ground. Jill and Sabrina were standing side by side, the duffel bag slung over Jill's shoulder, both girls upset, angry, in need of the answers only she could provide. She unsuccessfully tried to swallow away the tightness in her throat and let her eyes scan the parking lot, the handful of cars scattered around it, the hazy shimmer above the asphalt from the June heat. But there were no people nearby. They were alone here, hidden in the shadow of a grungy dumpster, safe from prying eyes.

A cool breeze rustled her hair, sending a few strands in her face, though Kelly was too upset to notice or care.

Sabrina reached up and gently tucked them behind her ear. "Come on now." she urged quietly.

Kelly nodded slightly and leaned back against the hard surface of the brick wall behind her. "What do you wanna know?" she muttered finally.

Jill and Sabrina shared another knowing look. This could take all day.

"Did you know who he was right from the start?" Jill started.

Kelly nodded her head slowly. "Yeah. I recognized them both, but they- they didn't recognize me."

Jill swore under her breath. "And how old were you- when- when you were there?"

"Twelve, thirteen." Kelly answered quickly. She wearily rubbed her sore eyes with the heel of her palm and took a deep breath. Waiting for them to ask all the right questions would prolong this much more than she wanted, and she wasn't sure how long she could retain composure. So, bracing herself, she fixed her eyes on Sabrina and Jill's shoes and let the words tumble awkwardly from her mouth in a steady stream, never pausing longer than what she needed to take a breath. She told them everything. From her first awkward encouter at the office with Candace Hanover, her suspicions of her husband's guilt, her reluctance to help him, Becky's true killer and his death, and finally, the tape's discovery and her gut twisting indecision on what to do with it.

Jill and Sabrina stood in silence and let her talk with no interruptions. When it became clear she was finished, the two shared a look and nodded in some sort of unspoken agreement.

"Who else knows about this?" Sabrina asked, gesturing towards the bag slung over Jill's shoulder.

Kelly's eyebrows knitted in puzzlement. That hadn't exactly been the first response she was expecting. "No one-" she whispered. "I-I stole it, remember?"

"And they don't know it's missing?"

Kelly shrugged. "I doubt it."

Sabrina nodded in acceptance and wet her pursed lips. Her expression was intense, yet unreadable, and not knowing what her friend thought about this made Kelly nervous.

"And- the things he did to you when you were a kid-" Sabrina said, her wording slow and deliberate. "He never- you never reported it?"

Kelly sighed wearily. "I was twelve, Bri. I was too scared to tell, I didn't know any better."

"How many others were there after you?" Jill asked.

Kelly's eyes drifted to her and then looked away. Jill wasn't even making an attempt to wipe away the tears sliding down her cheeks and the sight was like a knife twisting in Kelly's gut. "I don't know." she answered.

"None of them reported it." Sabrina said quietly. "It would have been on his record. He's been doing this to kids for ten years."

"What about her?" Jill asked, sneering out the last word. From her tone, it was obvious who she was talking about.

Kelly forced a brave smile. "They're two of a kind." she said lightly.

Jill nodded her head. "Figured that much."

The three girls stood in silence for a few moments, shifting awkwardly in their loose circle, before finally, Jill and Sabrina locked eyes. Sabrina reached for the duffel bag and carefully slipped it off of Jill's shoulder.

"When were you planning on showing this to us?" she asked, raising the bag to Kelly's eye level, as if the subject needed clarification.

The question made Kelly turn away in shame. "I don't know-" she stammered. "I was- I wouldn't have kept it from you-"

Sabrina ignored her floundering. "This can let him walk free today." she said quickly, giving the bag a shake. "What were you going to do with it?"

Tear sprung to Kelly's eyes and, suddenly enraged at them, she angrily swiped them away. "I don't know!" she choked. "I- I don't know, Bri!"

Jill laid a hand on her shoulder and rubbed it gently to calm her. "Kelly-" she started. But Kelly had had enough. The tears were coming and releasing them in front of her friends was just as unthinkable as deciding what to do with that tape.

"No!" Kelly cut her off, shaking her head violently. "You know, I wasn't the only one sneaking around behind people's backs!"

Jill and Sabrina quickly looked away.

"Kell, we can explain, ok?" Sabrina said quietly. "When we get bac-"

But, her childhood pictures were less of a concern now and Kelly angrily waved her off. "I don't care! Let's just take it inside! I'm sorry, ok? I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I'm sorry I kept it." Jill tried to touch her face, but Kelly swatted her hand away. "Don't Jill-" she warned. "You can take it inside- I'll wait- I can't-"

"Kelly-" Sabrina said firmly, taking hold of her arm.

"What!" Kelly snapped, her voice high and shrill with oncoming tears. Frustrated by her friend's caring gestures, she shook herself free of their grasp and took several steps away. "You have the tape! Just- I - just take it inside so we can go home!"

Sabrina and Jill shared a look, their silence and lack of explanations driving Kelly wild with frustration. She took quick, shallow breaths, trying to maintain control and glared at them to mask the hysteria fluttering up from deep in her chest.

"Please, I- I'll stay here. I'll wait right here-" Kelly tried again, her anger giving way into desperation. They needed to go. To just leave her alone if only for a few minutes. "Bri- please." she begged desperately. "Just go! Go on-"

"Shh. Kelly, calm down." Jill hushed her, raising her palm. "Lower your voice, people will hear." She closed the distance between them and, though Kelly tried to resist, took firm hold of her arm. "Now, look. We're not going back inside."

Kelly turned her attention from squirming away and felt her features twist in bewilderment. "What?"

Jill didn't clarify. Instead, Kelly felt her hand run soothingly up and down her arm. Jill's eyes were focused on Sabrina and, confused and desperately seeking some sort of explanation, Kelly's eyes followed her gaze.

Her blonde friend was staring at Sabrina intently, neither girls saying a word. As Kelly watched in confusion, Sabrina fumbled for the duffel bag's zipper, slid it open, pulled out the tape, and let the bag flop to the floor.

Kelly narrowed her eyes, and started forward. "What are you d-?"

"Shh." Jill repeated firmly. She raised her arm in front of Kelly, barring her intended forward motion, and pushed her back.

Bewildered now, Kelly's eyes flitted from Jill, back to the tape. And as she watched, her green eyes widened, the lone puzzle pieces in her head suddenly coming together.

In the shadow of the police station dumpster, Sabrina took the tape in her hands and gave a quick, nervous glance over both shoulders and across the empty parking lot. When she was satisfied that there were no witnesses, she gripped the tape firmly with both hands and with a jerk of her arms, snapped it in two.