After a long time I have written chapter three. I hope you enjoy and please review!
3. Chapter "Shadow's of the past"
Kotaete Answer me!
Martin's apartment
Martin tries to reach Fiona on her cell phone, but she doesn't answer, it goes to her mailbox. He decides to write a SMS, because he is not sure if she still carries her CI's.
Hi, Fiona, it's, Martin. I know how difficult it is for two people to find each other; especially if one doesn't want to be found. I hope you are well. I would like to see you once more and then, if you want, you don't ever have to speak to me, please! Kotaete!
Suddenly Martin feels a desperate loneliness that aches terribly and all the negative thoughts seep into his heart, where there is so much angst and pain and he wonders how much it will take to break his heart.
Martin sits down on his couch and puts his head into his hands. He is exhausted, emotionally, mentally and physically. Usually the memories and dreams are disappearing from his mind before he gets out of bed, but since a few weeks ago they follows him when he sleeps, showers and eats. They are brief flashes of memories, but they always cause him to frown and now Fiona's disappearance. Should he have taken better care of Fiona? Should he have known that she was here again?
He doesn't know the answer to those questions and that hits him hard. Martin feels empty. He lay down on the couch and wants to close his eyes only for a short moment, but soon he has fallen asleep.
The dream is always like a shock. Blood-stained walls and her face whirl around Martin and include him. Desperate he tries to cry, but no sound comes out of his throat. He wants to escape, but he can't move. At first he hears her cries and then there is the cold shriek with laughter in his ears. He doesn't want to look, but something forces him to look.
"Martin? Wake up. What you are doing?"
Martin sits up with a jerk at the sound of his sister's voice. His eyes are blurred with sleep, and he can barely see her at the door.
"Nothing," Martin mutters, resting his pounding head on a sheet. "I'm just resting."
Elaine comes to the couch. She put her hand to his forehead. "You're burning up with fever."
Her hand feels so marvellously cold.
"I'm fine," Martin whispers. But he feels so weak, he isn't sure if he could stand up anyway.
"You are feeling well you say and yet you can't stand up? Come on!" Elaine helps Martin up and leads him to his bedroom.
Elaine is worried about her brother. Last time she had seen him so ill it was in the early spring when that event happened about which they have never since spoken a word. Martin was always strong but now he seems so weak and she wants to protect him like she promised their father.
"You stay in bed and…"
"We must search for Fiona!" Martin interrupts his sister impatiently.
"In your condition you will help nobody, Martin. Besides we don't know where she is and what she is doing. Maybe she has run away again."
"Elaine, I don't believe she has run away. In her diary she said, she wanted to finish something. It had something to do with our past, and now Fiona has vanished and may be in danger; we must find her!"
"They know you are her brother?"
"I don't know, but I'm sure they will find out our connection really fast."
"But we have no idea what happened to her. Your colleagues scanned everything in her apartment and found nothing that could help. Why she didn't speak with us?"
"I don't know, Elaine. I don't know really. We should drive to her apartment. Maybe we will find something interesting. You remember when we were young and she hid messages in her teddy bear? Maybe she still doing this and left a message." Martin tells Elaine, she looks sceptical but, since she doesn't know a better way, she helps her brother to his feet.
"I will drive and you will do nothing more than sit calmly. You understand me, my little brother?"
Martin smiles weakly "Okay. Then let's go."
Sam and Danny sit in the car on the way to Martin's apartment. Now that they know he's Fiona's brother they have to interview him. They try to reach him on the telephone, but he doesn't answer.
Samantha is anxious. Martin had seen the photo; he must have known the woman was his sister. Why had he said nothing? What is Fiona hiding? Why did she change her name? There are so many questions and too few answers?
While Danny and Sam are driving to Martin's to interview him Jack is catching a flight to Washington to talk to Victor Fitzgerald. At the office Vivian is searching for Fiona's biological parents, and Martin's as well since he's her brother. Elena is interviewing Aileen McGrew again.
Danny glances from time to time at Sam as they drive and she notices it. "Why, Danny? Why has he said nothing? Doesn't he trust us?" Sam says a little bit angry.
"Perhaps, he doesn't trust us enough?" Danny suggests.
Sam shakes her head. Everything in her head is spinning and the rest of the way to Martin's they drive in silence.
Martin knows Fiona's address from the papers in the bureau and when Martin shows his FBI credentials he gets the key.
Now both siblings stand in the little apartment. The furniture is sober and unemotional.
From the corridor it goes directly into the living room and from there to the one side into the bedroom and on the other side to the bath.
They go to the bedroom. On a chest of drawers there is a brown bear with a red loop. On the red surface are little paws and the eyes of the teddy look like amber in the dim light. His coat is worn out but there is still the light golden gleam.
Elaine takes the bear and fumbles for the little bag. She finds it and pulls out a paper.
Beloved brother, if you are reading this message then something happened. I couldn't keep the secrets any longer. I want to live, but the past won't release me. I gave an anonymous hint to the police in Lexington, Kentucky and I hope they find her.
I love you and lovely greetings and kisses to Elaine!
Lia
Martin and Elaine look at each other. If they find the corpses, it won't be long before the police discover the truth. They are afraid what will happen after that. The three siblings never told anyone about the cold February night, only one person; too deep was the fear, pain and hatred.
This incident had determined their whole life; it marked the end of their childhood and always overshadowed their luck. The siblings aren't free. They are always haunted by the past which they could not forget. They created an apparently whole new world, but now it seemed to be breaking up with Fiona's disappearance. Fiona is right to face the past, but do they have the strength to do it?
When Sam and Danny arrive at Martin's apartment, it begins to rain. They hurry inside out of the rain, go upstairs and ring, but nobody opens the door. Danny is anxious and punches his fist into the wall. Martin is a mystery, so inseparably and enigmatic. That was ridiculous!
Sam nudges Danny with her elbow gently and he turns around. In the doorway on the right side stood a small boy, not older than five years and Sam goes towards him.
"Hello, I'm Samantha. Maybe you know my friend Martin? He lives in the apartment across the other side of your home."
Frightened the boy turns and run toward his mother.
"Sorry to disturb you, I'm Agent Spade and this is Agent Taylor. We are searching for our colleague, Martin Fitzgerald."
"Yes, I know him." The young woman says, now with her son in her arms "He left an hour ago with a woman."
"A woman? What does she looks like?" Danny asks her.
"I saw only the back of the woman, her hair seemed red-blond and wavy. They both were very familiar with each other, but not like a couple. I have never seen her before. Sorry, but I have to go and visit my mother."
"No problem, thank you for the information." Sam says to the woman and sighs. It could be problematic if Martin is searching for Fiona on his own. They really must speak with him, this case is really mysterious.
Washington, home of Victor and Melinda Fitzgerald
"Sorry to disturb you Victor, but…"
"What do you want, Jack? My wife is ill and I must care for her!" Victor Fitzgerald complains to Jack.
"I want to talk to you about the adoption of your daughter Fiona. You know something about her parents?"
"That's none of your business. You need to create more?"
Jack was trying to be friendly but Victor was quickly getting on his nerves.
"You don't know that Fiona has disappeared? Didn't Martin say anything?" he asked Victor.
At these words Victor looks directly in Jack's eyes. There is unbelief, unease and something more that Jack couldn't interpret.
"What? Fiona has disappeared? Martin told me nothing. We haven't spoken for two weeks. You have asked him about Fiona?" he asks concerned.
"No, we haven't interviewed him. Sam and Danny wanted to ask him about Fiona, but it seems that he left with a woman with red-blond curled hair." Jack says. He was grateful that Sam and Danny had called him with that update before he reached Victor's home.
"Red-blond? That could be Elaine, his sister. But what she's doing in New York? Please, wait a minute; I'll call her at home." Victor turned around and goes to the adjacent room.
Jack has a look into the room. There is a heavy oak desk, black leather chair and from the floor to the ceiling are bookcases. Someone behind him clears their throat and forces Jack to turn around.
In the door stands an older black woman with a strong stature and a friendly face.
"Can I offer you something, coffee, tea or water, sir?" she asks him in a friendly tone.
"No, thank you. Have you worked for Victor Fitzgerald for a long time, Mrs…?"
She nods "Mrs. Morris and yes, I have worked in this house for over 30 years."
"Then you know Fiona or I should better say Seneana Laoghaire."
"Martin and Elaine always called her Lia, it was her nickname. Fiona was a very pretty child, but she could become furious, sometimes. Because of her handicap she was often teased by the other children. Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald didn't care much about the children. So it was up to Martin and Elaine to practice her speech, the expression, to do homework and so on. They were also the ones who took care of Fiona when she woke up crying out of a nightmare, and they helped her when she was so depressed that her life didn't matter.
Elaine, Fiona and Martin aren't the biological children of Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald, but they put the children up and took care of them. Materially there was no lack, but they needed love."
"What do mean with the fact that…" Jack couldn't continue the sentence, because Victor Fitzgerald stepped into the room at that moment and Mrs. Morris goes out of the room.
"Quentin, her husband said that she flew to New York two days ago. Probably she wanted to meet with Martin, but he didn't know more." Victor said.
"Okay. One question: was Fiona the only child you have adopted?"
Victor looks suspicious at him. "What makes you think that?"
"Please answer my question. We'll figure it out eventually, but it would be easier if you speak with me!"
"We adopted Fiona, Elaine and Martin. They are siblings"
Jack is astonished about this fact, Martin never mentioned that he was adopted and Victor seems determined not to say anything about that fact.
"You know something about their past? Why did you adopt them? That would really help us." Jack says and tries hard to keep his voice neutral.
Victor is silent and looks to the ground. "Why can't you let the past rest?"
"Victor, a young woman is missing and it seems you're not really interested. She's your daughter, damn it! Can you help us or must I wait until Vivian gets the court order to see the documents?"
After a short break Victor begins "I and my sister Bonnie had a younger sister, named Siobhan. She is the mother of Elaine, Martin and Fiona and …"
"And? Who is the father? What happened to him and your sister?"
"I don't know much about her husband. His name was Alexander Arthur Cedric Chatterley. He came from Great Britain. I don't know anything about his family. The only thing he had from his family was an old chain. When he died, Martin got the chain." Victor said.
"How did he die?"
"Alexander was buying food when he was hit by a bullet and he died at the accident scene. Siobhan didn't get along well with the loss of her husband and she neglected the children."
Jack looked up from his notepad "What do you mean by neglect?" he asks carefully.
"The children were left alone for more than three days. She didn't feed them and then one day she disappeared. We never saw her again. We were searching for her for over two years but there were no hints where she could be. Melinda and I decided to take the children with us and offer them a solid surrounding." Victor is interrupted by a cry.
"Sorry Jack, but I must look after my wife." Victor says and goes out of the door before Jack had a second to respond.
Immediately Mrs. Morris returns and led him from the room.
"I hear you're searching for Fiona?" Mrs. Morris begins the discussion
"That's right. Mrs. Morris, do you remember the time when the kids arrived?"
"That was something I'll never forget. They were really withdrawn and reserved and trusted nobody. It was a long time before they could trust somebody. I remember that Martin didn't speak one word. Day in, day out he sat in his room and never spoke. It seemed that Fiona couldn't understand that and became furious. She cried and raved. Nobody could calm her down, except Martin.
The children had a very close relationship. They were often alone andhad to take care of themselves, especially when Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald travelled around the country. I don't know, but I had always the feeling that they hid something and didn't want it to come out. They seemed afraid of someone or something and I wished I could help them." She finishes.
Jack remembers that there are photos.
"Perhaps you know the two on the photo?" he asks and shows Mrs. Morris the picture of a young man who carried a little boy on his broad shoulders.
"Of course, that is Mr. Chatterley and Martin. The picture was taken a few months before Mr. Chatterley's death!"
As Jack steps out of the door henotices that it has become evening. He is confused about what he has heard. Martin never spoke a word about the past, but neither have they ever asked for it. He absolutely needed to speak with Martin if he was going to discover what secret the siblings had refused to talk about.