Chapter 41: Moving On

******Six Days Later******

Parker was so frustrated. All week long they'd been forcing her to get in a wheelchair and wear some turtle-like shell. It hurt so bad—her ribs were still hurting her. Sometimes, she felt like they were torturing her. There was good news, however. She did have full mobility of her hands. The doctor said that was a good sign. Tomorrow, she was going to go to a rehab center. She was glad for that. The hospital walls were starting to close in on her.

She missed Madison's funeral. Or rather she was missing it today. Right now, her friends were there or leaving it. She wanted to be there for Mac and her family. She and Mac were now part of a twisted club—the We Survived a Murder Club. Poor Madison had not. When Parker wasn't dreaming about walking and waking up to legs, she had to look at to make sure were there, she was dreaming about running from a killer. Sometimes, the faceless man caught her. Sometimes, he did not. Always the fear was horrible. She honestly didn't know if she'd ever feel safe again.

Duncan arrived dressed in a dark colored suit. He must've come straight from the funeral. "Hey," he said, giving her a tired smile. He walked to her bedside and gave her a lingering kiss. "Seeing you is just what I needed."

Parker looked at him in surprise. When he said stuff like that, he appeared genuine. However, she still had a hard time believing that seeing her like she was now brought him anything but pain.

"I'm glad to see you, too," was all she said.

Duncan, though, was very sensitive to her. "What? You don't think I mean that?" he asked.

"No. I'm sure you do," she assured him. "It's one of the things that makes you so amazing. But I know having me in a wheelchair isn't the future you imagined for us." She glanced at the chair that sat nearby.

"No, it isn't," he agreed. "However, as long as you are in my future, I don't care. I've lived without you and managed okay. But having you in my life is so much better. Besides, you don't know if this chair is permanent."

"But what if it is?" she asked anxiously.

Duncan shrugged and sat down, but he reached for her hand. "Honey, I love you. Only death will keep me from you. Lucky for us both, you're still here with me. I plan on you being with me for a long, long time," he told her.

Parker gave him a searching look and read only certainty in his eyes. "I love you," she told him.

"Then maybe you'll consider something," he said. "When you're done with rehab, I'd like you to move in with me at my parents. Since it's not my place so to speak, I was hoping it wouldn't seem too fast. You'd have your own room downstairs in what could be called the servant's quarters. You'd be able to easily leave through the kitchen without constantly running into my parents, so you'd have privacy. Our housekeeper has happily agreed to help you with anything you might need."

"Duncan, that's too much," Parker said, shaking her head.

"I need you to do this for me. I need to do it for you," Duncan said firmly. "My house is now a fortress. Between Lilly and CW's deaths, Dad has increased security immensely. He agrees that you should stay with us until this is over, and you're able to be more independent."

Parker frowned. "It's not your dad that I'm worried about. It's your mom," she said.

"Mom won't be a problem. Besides, she likes you," Duncan said.

Parker laughed. "She'd like anyone that wasn't Veronica," she said.

Duncan gave a sheepish smile. "You're probably right about that," he acknowledged.

"Are you sure, Duncan? Because it's okay. We're new and this is a lot to take on. I may never be what I was," she pointed out.

He moved to her bedside. "I want you anyway you are, Parker. I mean that. Let me help take care of you. You don't have to go through this alone," he said, meaning every word. He couldn't handle the thought of spending one night away from her where someone could hurt her again.

Parker sighed. "Okay, if you're sure. I'll be at rehab for a few weeks. I guess that'll give you time to change your mind," she said.

Duncan grinned. "I won't," he assured her. Then he kissed her.

*****Casblancas*****

Mac, Dick, and Jazmin returned together from Madison's funeral. Mac had wanted to stay with Lauren, but she'd shut herself up in her room. Ryan promised to hang out and make sure she was okay. Neither of them had been to school since the news. Lauren was inconsolable, and Ryan was so lost. Mac knew that he felt guilty for not being more broken up. However, he was trying hard to be a good friend for Lauren.

"I just keep thinking about how I know that she's my sister by blood, but she has never felt like it—not really. Lauren does, though. She needs me. Madison never needed a little brother," Ryan told her. "If it was you, I know I'd be as upset as Lauren."

Ryan rarely showed her such open affection, and it touched her. She hugged him.

That had been two days ago. No amount of support, though, could erase the fact that their sister and daughter had died a horrible death way before her time. The horror of it kept her mother baking and Marilyn in her bed, drugged by some doctor's prescription. Mac's heart hurt for them all. She barely tolerated Madison, but she would have never wanted this for her.

Dick opened the door and let the ladies into the house. Weevil, of course, had refused to accompany Jazmin.

"I loathed that woman with every fiber of my being. I have too much respect for Mac to insult her family by pretending otherwise. I'm sorry she died—not even she deserved that. Nor does her family deserve to suffer like this. But I'm not going to go to her funeral," Weevil had said when asked to come.

Dick and Mac had understood and hadn't pressured their friend. Jazmin, though, hadn't understood. You support your friends no matter what. Even though she was annoyed and disappointed, she still opted to come back with Dick and Mac.

Weevil smiled when he saw Jazmin. "You came back!" he remarked in surprise.

"Well, of course. You made be a stupid head, but you're my stupid head," Jazmin said, sitting down next to him on the sofa.

Dick snickered. "She called you a stupid head!" he said, gleeful. Jazmin always seemed too adoring of Weevil—it was annoying sometimes. Weevil could be a real asshole. It was nice to see Jazmin wasn't completely blind to his flaws.

Weevil flipped him off when Jazmin put her head down on his shoulder. "How was it?" he asked.

"It was sad. James, Madison's boyfriend, looked even worse than our moms. I think he feels guilty. He shouldn't have let her take her own taxi. He apologized to our dads and started crying. It was one of my more awful moments," Mac said with a grimace.

"I felt so sorry for the dude that I wanted to cry!" Dick admitted.

"The poor guy," Jazmin said sympathetically.

"The thing is if the killer had selected Madison, then it probably wouldn't have mattered if James had saw her home," Mac said morosely.

"This whole thing is a nightmare," Jazmin said mournfully. "Dad is threatening Sherriff Mars with a lawsuit if he doesn't release Joseph's body tomorrow. They want to have him buried by the end of next week. His mom is a basket case."

"I can imagine," Mac said with sympathy.

"Are you going to go to Chicago to the funeral?" Dick asked Jazmin.

"Of course," Jazmin said.

"I'll be going, too," Weevil said.

"But you didn't like Joseph any more than you liked Madison," Dick pointed out.

"Yeah, well, Jason is my best friend, and he was also important to Jazmin," Weevil said.

Wallace and Thea came home. They'd went to the funeral, too. "Hey, guys," Wallace said.

"Hey," Dick said.

They squeezed into a recliner. Both were somber. "I hate funerals," Wallace said.

"Everyone does," Dick agreed. "You going to Joseph's in Chicago?"

"Yeah. I think I should. We were friends," Wallace said.

"I wanted him to meet my siblings at some point, but I didn't want it to be for a reason like this," Thea said.

"So you'll go with him?" Mac asked.

"I know I just went home for spring break, but if Wallace is going to go to my hometown, I want to be there," Thea said.

"I just wish this nightmare would be over," Jazmin said warily.

"How's Lauren holding up?" Thea asked Mac.

"Not good. She's shattered. Utterly," Mac said.

"Is she going back to school tomorrow?" Jazmin asked.

"She was out the past three days," Mac replied. "So she'll probably start back."

"That's going to blow," Dick said, sympathetic. He remembered the months it took him to get his head on straight after Beaver's suicide. Of course, finding out his brother was a mass murderer and rapist had made the entire mess so much worse. Either way, things were going to be hard for Lauren.

*****The Next Day*****

Lauren woke up the day after burying her sister, knowing that she needed to go back to school. She couldn't sit in her room thinking about her murdered sister anymore. She needed a distraction and school was her only alternative.

Brad and Ryan picked her up. Ryan had been her rock the past few days. Both were at her front door. "Are you ready?" Ryan asked, hugging her.

"No, but I'll manage," she said with a sigh.

"We're here for you," Brad told her, throwing his arm around her shoulder. He couldn't believe what she and Ryan were having to go through. Can't the girl catch a break? He wanted to be there for her more than he was, but he wasn't her boyfriend. She'd been through enough and didn't need him disappointing her. Brad was convinced that if he got closer with her, he'd only hurt her more. He had to protect her from suffering anymore. It was the least he could do. So he'd be her friend and help her anyway he could.

Lauren went through the school entrance bracing herself. As she expected there were stares and whispers. But mostly, there was silence. There was a lot of looks away from her. It was like no one could bear looking at her. It was really making her uncomfortable. She grabbed some books out of her locker after her third period. Then she shut it, not watching where she was going and knocked into a hard body, dropping her books.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she bent down to pick up her books. She saw dark hands helping her and looked up. It was Jesus.

"Hola, linda," he said.

"It's Lauren. My name is Lauren," she said, standing up.

He grinned at her. "Yeah, I know. I wasn't calling you Linda but said hello, pretty—as in pretty girl," he said.

"Oh," she said, flushing. Then she realized he was looking directly at her. "You're the first person who's looked me in the eyes all day. I'm starting to be freaked out."

Jesus lost his smile and looked away as if he realized who she was.

"That's what I'm talking about. That's it! Please stop!" Lauren said, frustrated.

"It hurts to look at you, pobre muchacha," he said with compassion.

Lauren frowned, recognizing the word girl in what he said. "Why? I've not done anything to anyone," she said.

Jesus gave her sympathetic look. "No, of course not," he said. "Too much has been done to you. It's hard for some people to handle that. No offense is meant."

Lauren didn't know how to respond to that. It wasn't exactly false because a lot had happened to her. "But this doesn't make me feel any better. Just treat me like you normally would," she told him.

He nodded. "Fine," he said. Then he knocked her books out of her hands. When she gave him a look of outrage, he winked and grinned.

Lauren laughed and was grateful.

******The Beach House******

Veronica and Logan had gone to Madison's funeral but stayed in the back. Veronica was a bit leery of upsetting Madison's mom since she and Madison had some ugly encounters last year. However, they had buried the hatchet and with the new car Logan had bought her, all had been forgiven. Logan had known Madison since he'd been in Neptune and felt he should be there. Veronica wanted to support Mac and Lauren. The poor girl had been noticeably crushed. Veronica knew how she felt. When she lost Lilly, it had seemed so surreal, but it had been devastating. No one that young should ever have to deal with such a thing. It will mark Lauren for all time as it had Veronica and Logan.

Trina was gathering Richie up when they arrived home. "How was it? Was there a lot of people there?" she asked.

"Yeah. James' parents flew in. A lot of friends from high school and a few from Hearst. Friends of the parents. The church was pretty full," Logan said. "Where are you two off to?"

"I'm taking him to his grandma's," Trina said. "We're going to stay the night because I'm going to help her pack up her stuff and decide what to get rid of."

"Drive carefully," Logan said, kissing Richie goodbye.

He followed Veronica into their room, where they both got undressed and slipped into bed. Veronica laid her head down on Logan's chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"What a day," she murmured. "I'm so sick of going to the funerals of my classmates."

"Yeah," Logan agreed.

Veronica lifted her head. "Kiss me," she told him. She moved to cover his body with his, feeling his body instantly respond.

"I love you, sugarlips," Logan said. "You better never let yourself get murdered."

"Same goes," she said, her eyes so full of love that Logan was blinded for a moment.

He kissed her hungrily, wanting to erase the ugliness of the day.

******The Next Day*******

Keith had his top deputies, Nathan, Nick, and Dan Lamb over for a morning brainstorm and update session at the station. They were going over everything and sharing what their investigations had uncovered. Keith would take all the help he could get. He couldn't let another woman be murdered by this killer.

"It's official. Boyd was hired to attack Mac." Nathan shared. "He finally confessed that late last night, and we traced a $5000 deposit into his checking account."

"He claimed he didn't know who hired him. That he was in trouble with his bookie and needed the money. His cousins refused to bail him out again," Keith added. He looked at Dan expectantly.

"The Fitzgerald siblings have solid alibis. Liam had his wisdom teeth pulled during the first murder. He had a bad time and claims he didn't leave his house for several days. Witnesses confirmed that. His brother was in a drunk tank the night Jessi was murdered. I couldn't link them to any of them. I don't think we're going to find that the Fitzpatricks are behind these murders," Dan said.

"Neither could we," Nick added.

Keith paced, resisting the urge to throw something. Every time he thought they made a breakthrough something happened to convince him otherwise. It was maddening.

"We have to consider that the killer has a vendetta of sorts against Mac," Keith said, thinking out loud. "Her ex was framed for one murder, she was attacked, and her stepsister was killed."

"Who'd want to hurt Mac?" Nick wondered. "She's not the type to make enemies."

"No, but my daughter is, and Mac's helped her on cases. We need to start examining those," Keith said. That had to be it. It had to go back to Veronica in some way. Even the attack on Parker at Veronica's house could be about either of the women.

The killer worked hard to contain his glee. Keith was spinning in circles. He would never be allowed to get close. Now it was time to reel him in. After all, he was the one who really had to pay.

"My brother kept journals about some of Veronica's cases. I'll see if I can find anything in them," the killer said.

Keith smiled. "That'd be great, Dan. We'll need all the help we can get," Keith said.

There was a commotion outside the door. The door opened. Jason and Sebastian stood there. One of Keith's deputies were trying to convince Sebastian to leave.

"I am not leaving until I speak to the Sherriff," Sebastian said coldly.

"It's okay. Let him in," Keith said.

"I want Joseph's body released today!" Sebastian insisted.

"The arrangements have been made. He is ready to be taken home," Keith said, defusing his anger immediately.

Sebastian smiled in gratitude. "Ah, you have come through for me! I'm very pleased! Our family owes you much," Sebastian said, holding out his hand for Keith's, who took it.

Keith looked around the room. "Do you know everyone here? This is Nathan Wood, Wallace's dad. He's been consulting on the case," Keith said.

"Of course, I know the detective. We're from the same city," Sebastian said, shaking his hand.

"Not a detective any longer," Nathan said, smiling.

"Some things never change—not really," Sebastian said with a wink. He looked at the one he didn't know and lost his smile. This man was giving him a bright smile. However, Sebastian recognized a predator when he saw one.

"This is Dan Lamb, the head of security for Hearst and the brother of our late sheriff, Don Lamb," Keith explained.

"It's nice to meet you," Sebastian said politely, holding out his hand.

The killer took his hand. "I'm sorry for your loss," Dan said.

Sebastian said nothing as he looked at the new man, knowing with a certainty that he felt no compassion for their loss at all. Keith had a snake in his midst and seemed oblivious. The poor man. Keith Mars was too decent to find the jackal who'd murdered his best friend's son. He would bury Joseph. Then he would come back and find the one who had taken their boy from them. He would make the man pay.

*****To Be Continued*****

Yes, the killer WAS revealed! I know many of you figured this out, but I did make it hard when I threw in Boyd!