Tangled Webs
Chapter 4
Rating: PG-13
The Crossing Jordan characters totally aren't mine ~ they belong to Tim Kring and Tailwind Productions.
Kaidlyn and her mom are my own creations and therefore they're mine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's note: Although I first introduced Kaidlyn in "Endgame," she subsequently appeared in person in "That Night" and in name in "Running." The timeline here basically follows after "That Night" and before "Endgame" though there will be some overlap and inconsistencies with "Endgame" ~ but since that one's so far from show canon now, we can just pretend, for the sake of this story, that it doesn't exist. :0)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So what exactly did Eddie tell you?" Max looked up from the carrots he was slicing, not quite sure he wanted to know the answer.
"Not much. Just that you'd been partners when he first started as a detective. Before you retired," Kaid shrugged.
"That's it?"
"Yeah. Why? Is there more?"
"Yeah, sweetheart. And I guess I'd better tell you before you ask your cousin and she gives you her spin on it." Setting down the knife, Max walked over and sat down across from his niece at the table.
"Wow. Looks serious." Kaidlyn was only trying to cover her nerves. She hadn't meant to open a can of worms. Max took a deep breath and started.
"It is, sweetie. Do you remember much about when your aunt was killed?"
"Um. . .not really." Kaid's forehead wrinkled as she struggled to think of something, anything to help make it easier. "I remember we came up for the service, and I remember hanging out with Jordan a little. But that's about it."
"Well, you were only about 5 when it happened. Anyway, she was killed here in the house, the living room to be exact. I came in early for lunch and found her, just lying there, blood everywhere. I called the station and they sent people out right away. One of the uniforms went to St. Cecilia's to pick Jordan up and bring her home. By the time the cops got to the house, they had to take me in for questioning because her blood was all over me. I remember Jordan running in, and all I wanted to do was go to her and hold her, but they wouldn't let me. Finally they decided that there wasn't enough evidence to hold me and let me go back to get Jordan ~ she'd been staying at her friend's house. It was. . .a really bad time for all of us."
"Yeah." Kaidlyn remembered trying to play with Jordan, who only sat and looked out the window.
"They never found anyone. There was only one print that didn't belong to anyone who should have been in the house. And it. . ." Max paused, trying to decide if he should tell her everything. He was on dangerous ground not telling her, since she could go and ask Jordan. But. . . "It turned out to be a phantom print. One that didn't belong to anyone."
"Oh wow. But every print belongs to someone."
"Not this one." Damn, the girl was good. Maybe keeping things from her wasn't the best idea.
"So have they ever solved Aunt Emily's murder?"
"No. And it about. . .no, it did destroy my career."
"Really?"
"Yeah. When I went back to work, I was sort of in a kind of 'double jeopardy.' I asked immediately for a new team. The partners I'd worked with, well, one of them disappeared. And the other, he was the one who took my baby girl to Children's Services after Emily was killed. He wouldn't even let me sign the paperwork to let her stay with her friend for a couple of days."
"That's horrible!"
"Yeah. Malden could be a jerk if he wanted to be."
"Malden? The former chief who was killed last spring?"
"Yeah." Max flinched, hoping that Kaidlyn wouldn't catch it. Those memories were way too fresh.
"Oh. Wait, you said 'double jeopardy.' What else was going on?"
"On the job, things weren't great. I wanted so badly to solve everything, sometimes I. . .well, I went over the line more than once. Granted, we caught the bad guys, but putting them in the hospital wasn't the way to go."
"You did that?"
"I didn't mean to. But we'd been after a serial rapist. We finally caught the guy and he resisted. So I used force. Probably a little too much ~ the guy was in the hospital for a week." Max flinched at the memory. Why a rapist set him off that much, he would never tell, and no one on the force at that time could guess. It's not like Emily had been raped. . .
"Oh." Kaidlyn's small voice brought him back to reality. Max looked over at the girl, who looked like she wished she'd never brought the subject up in the first place.
"It's ok, Kaid. I. . .you deserve to know why there's some tension between Eddie and Jordan."
"Ok."
"After that, IA did an investigation. Eddie was my partner at the time, brand new as a detective, and he helped them in it. My retirement wasn't exactly my choice. Jordan. . .well, she always thought he was brought in specifically to be a rat."
"You don't think so?"
"I did for a while. But not now. Eddie had been working his way up the ranks, and I was next in line for a new partner. And he was right turning me in. I could have gotten him, or myself, or anyone who worked with us killed in my stubborn pig-headed ways."
"Oh. Ok." Kaid looked tentatively at Max, then jumped up to give him a hug. "I still love you."
"Thanks sweetheart. I love you too." Max returned the hug, laughing at Kaid's spontaneous enthusiasm. Maybe some of it would rub off on Jordan. He hoped things would rub that way and not the other ~ Kaidlyn was too. . .innocent wasn't the word. . . She didn't deserve to be brought down.
"You need any help with anything else?"
"You set the table, right?"
"Yeah."
"I've got the rest of it. Why don't you go relax, sweetie. I guess Jordan will be here soon."
"Ok." Kaid bounced out of the room.
Max heard her run up the stairs, and then it wasn't long until he heard her light, soprano voice and guitar floating down the stairs. Music hadn't been in the house in a long time. It sounded good, made it feel more like home. . .
28 years earlier. . .
Emily and Jordan had been sitting in front of the fire, singing a song ~ some Irish ballad ~ to keep Jordan calm during a thunderstorm. Suddenly they were interrupted by the sound of banging on the door.
"Max? Max, let me in! Please!!"
Instantly, Max was up and at the door. He knew the sound of his baby sister's voice. He ripped the door open.
"Laura? Baby, what is it?" He ushered her in, shivering and soaking wet. Emily immediately jumped up to get a towel as Jordan cowered on the couch, upset by all the commotion.
"I told him no. I told him. . ." Laura crumpled into the big chair that sat by the fireplace.
"What? What are you. . .? Did Michael hurt you?" Max was furious. Laura was only 16.
"We went to the Winter Formal. But he didn't want to stay long. He'd gotten a hotel room. I told him no. That I didn't want to. But. . ."
"Mary, mother of God." Max pulled his trembling sister into his arms. "I'll kill him for this."
"No! Max, please don't." Laura was hysterical. "I don't want you to hurt him. I mean, if I hadn't. . ."
"Laura, he raped you. That wasn't your fault. He. . ."
"Please? I just want to stay here tonight. I can't go home. Mom and Dad will kill me. Please?" Her eyes pleaded with him.
"Alright, sweetheart. You can stay here tonight."
They got the bed in the guest room ready and after a bath, Laura cried herself to sleep. Max knew he should have taken her to the hospital, but no one really knew what date rape was, and no one would dream of calling sex between a couple "rape."
The next day, Laura went home and no one spoke of what had happened. Max tried to convince Laura to dump Michael ~ she didn't need a jerk like him. But she wouldn't. Claimed she loved him. And then a couple of months later. . .
Present day. . .
"Dad? You here?" Jordan's voice cut into Max's memories.
"Yeah, sweetheart. In the kitchen. Kaidlyn's upstairs playing guitar. Why don't you and Nigel go up and hang out with her?"
"Ok. But it's just me. Nigel went home to check on his pig, and she's sick. So they're at the emergency vet's office."
"Alright." He heard Jordan's footsteps on the stairs followed by Kaid's excited chatter.
The child ~ young woman, at 26 she wasn't a child anymore ~ was so happy and bubbly. Who would ever have guessed that something that beautiful could come from such horrible beginnings. He knew Laura loved Kaidlyn more than life itself. And he wondered if his niece knew the truth. After thinking about it for a few seconds, he decided it wasn't his place to tell her.
. . .to be continued. . .