Chapter Four

Tru felt the blood drain from her face. "Oh my God…"

"I know," Caitlyn said; a look of dismay now spread across her beautiful features. "Hard to believe, isn't it?"

Tru swallowed hard and a lump began to form in her throat. She didn't even know this girl and yet she couldn't conceal the pangs of sympathy she felt for the teenager.

"Then again," Caitlyn continued. "Seeing the way our world is today, I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. I've dealt with these types of situations before. And each time my job never gets easier…it always gets harder."

Tru gave Caitlyn the best sympathetic smile she could possibly muster. It was hard for her though. This was exactly how Tru was feeling. Exactly.

"I understand," Tru said slowly, genuinely.

Together, the two women sat; stillness seemed to have momentarily enveloped them.

It was Tru who finally shattered the silence. "So what are you going to do?"

Caitlyn drew a deep breath. "I have to talk to her brother, Taylor. It's the only way."

From the look on Caitlyn's face when she had mentioned Jenni's brother, Tru knew that something between the siblings wasn't right. She wasn't sure what…Tru just knew. From Caitlyn's tone, she figured that Taylor had absolutely no idea Jenni was pregnant.

"Could Taylor get her professional help?" Tru asked.

"I hope so, but I just don't know. After their parent's death a year ago, both of them had a hard time coping with the repercussions. Taylor is taking care of Jenni right now. I'm sure you must have noticed the change in them."

"Actually, I had no idea. I literally just moved back into town a few weeks ago and I've only seen Jenni around the neighborhood. How has Taylor's relationship been with Jenni since their parent's death?"

"That's exactly what I'm worried about. It seemed fine at first, but now everything seems to be falling apart. Jenni's worried that Taylor won't handle the information well. That's why I have to talk to him. Jenni's boyfriend left her when he found out she was pregnant; it's typical though, especially amongst teens."

"I don't think Jenni is the only one to worry about. What happens if Taylor finds out about Jenni's pregnancy and threatens you? Aren't you worried about that?" Tru asked.

Caitlyn quickly glanced at her watch. Almost an hour and half had gone by and it was nearing 2:00. "I appreciate your concern, Tru. I really do. But I have to do this for Jenni. I only want the best for her and I don't want to be reading about a teen suicide in tomorrow's paper."

Caitlyn began to gather her belongings once more. "It was really nice to meet you and I promise to do everything I can to help her. It's my job; it's what I do. I help people in crisis."

Caitlyn paid for her meal and walked out the door. The rain began to fall, staining the dirty pavement below.

Tru only watched her leave and half-wondered why she wasn't bounding out the door and following her back to the high school. So do I. Tru thought. So do I.

Jenni stepped off of the curb and entered the school parking lot, heading towards her car. The silver paint on the Mazda glowed brightly in the sunlight overhead.

"Nice car," the voice coming from behind her said.

Jenni turned towards the direction of the masculine voice. "Thanks, my parents bought it for me for my 16th birthday last year. Do I know you or…" Her voice trailed off.

"Not exactly," the man said. "I knew your brother in high school. We used to play basketball together after school."

Too bad I don't remember him. He's...kind of cute! "Oh, really? I don't--." Jenni faltered.

Jack could tell she was nervous around him. Her apprehension and uncertainty seemed almost tangible; it was almost as if it could be cut through with a knife, like slicing a slab of butter.

"It's okay. I really wasn't expecting you to remember me. Anyways, my step-sister is going to enroll here and I was just going to drop off some forms for her. But before I forget, I recently moved into your neighborhood and I think I received some of your mail. So I went to drop it off at your house this morning."

He chuckled. "I think I got some mail about some pregnancy test or something. Weird, huh?"

Oh crap. "It was nice to meet you, but I—um—gotta go." The words seemed to be forced out of Jenni's mouth. The color had drained from her face; her eyes seemed to glow with augmenting anxiety and fear.

"Likewise," he smiled.

With that, Jenni climbed into her car, slammed the door, revved up the engine and sped ferociously out of the parking lot.

Kids these days. Jack Harper shook his head in dismay.

The situation didn't look so bright over on Tru's end. As she tried to organize the information in her mind, she realized that pieces of the puzzle were still missing. The shrill ringing of her cell phone disrupted her thoughts.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me," said the voice on the other end of the line. "How are things going? Have you found anything that might help you to solve Caitlyn's murder?"

"Well, I think there's one potential suspect. I just don't know how exactly the murder will play out from here. There's a girl named Jenni who's one of Caitlyn's students at the high school. I guess Jenni must go into Caitlyn's office a lot because it seems she really opens up to Caitlyn about her personal life. Jenni recently found out she was pregnant, her boyfriend dumped her because of it and now she's stuck in a precarious situation that she refuses to tell her brother about for some reason."

"Anything I can do to help?" Davis asked hopefully, always ready to help his best employee.

"I need you to look up the address for Jenni and Taylor Parker. They're brother and sister and Taylor has been Jenni's legal guardian. Since Jenni hasn't told Taylor about the pregnancy, then Taylor must have seen the results of her test somehow."

"But how would Jenni know about her test results sooner if they weren't sent home yet or she wasn't contacted?"

"I think Jenni must have gone back to the hospital where she had the test and seen the results early. And maybe she forgot they would be sent to her house…or unless they had to be because she's still a minor and could not request otherwise. And they could do that without her personal consent; I think it's done strictly as a protective measure since her brother is still the one who's solely responsible for her well-being."

"And where does Caitlyn fit into all of this?" Davis asked.

"That's what I'm still trying to figure out," Tru said. "I think Taylor killed Caitlyn purely out of rage and jealousy that he was never told anything, but I'm still not sure. It's hard to set his motives into stone until I have all of my facts straight. And Caitlyn said she'd be calling Taylor right about now and tell him about Jenni."

"Right," Davis replied. "I found you the address, Tru."

"You rock. Thanks, D." And with that, Tru ran out of the restaurant, heading in the direction of her car.

The next stop was Jenni's house. She just prayed she got there before it was too late and the murder was already underway.

Author's Note: WOW, it's been a long time since I last updated! I thank all of you, my reviewers, for all of your support and patience in this tedious process. The school year is just winding down for me, so hopefully I will have more time to update during the summer. Plus, I just graduated from high school and will be heading off to college in August (UC Berkeley); therefore, I'm hoping to get this story finished before then. Thanks again, everybody, and I hope to see you all the next time I update!