Disclaimer: I do not own OTH or any of it characters places or such. I am simply borrowing them
AN/ Here is the next update! I know that it is shorter than most of the recent chapters, but I don't have much time and I wanted to get it posted. I hope you guys like it. Thank you so much for all the reviews! I really appreciate it!
As always suggestions are welcome!
By the time, that Lucas and Nathan were sitting on the patio in Charlotte looking through pictures with Sam and Chris. The rest of their friends back in Tree Hill were working to find out what happened to Bevin and Michael.
"It took some digging, but they found the original police report from Wilmington" Jake said as he walked into the living room. He had been at the station all morning trying to get his hands on that report. "Reynolds had to call in most of his IOUs to get it"
"Does it say anything useful?" Peyton asked from the couch where she was sitting working through the Internet pages opened on her laptop.
"Not anything that we don't already know. It just says that it was a hit and run and that the other car was empty when police arrived. It does say though, that there was evidence that there were two people in the car. The driver and someone else." Jake answered
"So someone out there knows the driver that hit them and has said nothing all these years?" Brooke stated
"That is the way it seems. There is no indication that anyone came forward at least not as of this morning" Jake replied
"How can you kill two people and walk away?" Haley asked
"They probably walked away from the accident with bruises, maybe a broken bone. That is how it always seems to happen," Mouth added.
"I wonder" Peyton said as she started typing on her laptop
"What are you looking for Peyt?" Theresa asked as she leaned over the couch
"The local hospital reports for that day"
"You can find that?"
"You can find anything now if you just know where to look for it" Peyton said as she find the WebPages that she was looking for and started to look up medical records for the day of the accident.
"Find anything?" Skills asked a few minutes later
"No. There was nothing suspicious on the day of the accident or the days following. It is a dead end," Peyton said looking almost defeated
"It was a good idea, Peyt" Brooke said trying to reassure her best friend
"Nathan thinks that Dan killed them" Haley said letting the group in on part of the conversation that she had with Nathan at the river court the past Friday night.
"What!" Mouth asked
"I don't know how Nathan came to the his conclusion, but he seems to think that Dan killed Bevin and Michael"
"He doesn't even know about them though," Brooke added
"That is what I said, but he thinks that Dan might have been in Tree Hill more than we know of and might have seen them and knew that that was Nathan's wife and son"
Peyton began typing on her computer furiously. She didn't say a word, just stared at the screen
"Peyton, was is it?" Jake asked
"Going on the assumption that Nathan is right and Dan did kill Bevin and Michael. Then maybe he went to a hospital in Charlotte when he got back there. It would not look so guilty," Peyton said as she began looking through the medical records for the days following the accident.
"Anything?" Theresa asked still leaning over the couch.
"Not yet" Peyton answered
"I am really starting to hate Dan Scott. Even more than I did this morning" Brooke said as the group waited
"I found something," Peyton said a few minutes later
The group gathered around her as she began to read from the web page that was on the screen
"Dan Scott was in there on October 21st for a previous leg injury. There was another man there, Curtis Miller. It says here that both came in together with the story that they had been in a motorcycle accident. That Curtis had been on the motorcycle and Dan had been in the car attached to the bike. They both had cuts and bruises, Curtis had a broken arm and Dan had broken his leg.
"Who is Curtis Miller?" Mouth asked
"Dad? Chris, are you insane?" Sam replied looking at her brother"Think about it Sam. Remember we took that trip to Wilmington. When you were thinking of attending UNC Wilmington. That was five years ago" Chris said
"Yea, but what makes you think that Dad was the one who killed Nathan's wife and son?" Sam asked
"Remember the last night that we were there when dad and Uncle Curtis had gone out and they came back all bloody and drunk?"
"Yea, so?"
"Nathan, what day were they killed?" Chris asked looking towards one of his older brothers
"October 19th, Why?" Nathan answered
"Oh god" Sam replied
"It fits, Sam" Chris said
"You are saying that Dan killed Bevin and Michael?" Lucas asked
"No, it couldn't be dad. Remember Chris, he couldn't drive because of the cast on his right leg. That is why Uncle Curtis was with us," Sam said
"Mom, we need to talk to Uncle Curtis" Chris said turning to his mom
"Chris, you don't think that your uncle would hit someone and then walk away?" Georgia asked
"Mom, you know him better than we do. What do you think?" Chris asked looking his mom
Georgia could not say her word. Her brother had a knack for doing things that were either illegal or harmed other people.
"Mom?" Sam asked
"I know that he doesn't have the best track record, but still. I don't think he would kill someone and just walk away." Georgia answered softly
"We need to ask him," Chris said
"Okay" Georgia said defeated as she walked into the house to call her brother
"Curtis Miller is Dan's brother-in-law" Peyton answered after a few more minutes of looking.
"So Curtis is Georgia's brother?" Skills asked
"Yea. Jake didn't you say that the police report says there might have been two people in the car that hit Bevin?" Peyton asked
"Yea, why?"
"What if Curtis Miller was in that car? He probably knows that Dan hit that car and then helped him get away"
"Why wouldn't he come forward though?" Brooke asked
"Loyalty to his brother-in-law?" Theresa asked
"Maybe there is some other reason," Peyton said as she started typing again on her laptop. "Maybe Curtis Miller didn't come forward because no one would believe him"
"Charlotte PD?" Jake asked looking at the laptop screen, "Are you thinking that he had a criminal record and that is why he didn't come forward?"
"What else would make him walk away from and accident and not tell anyone?" Peyton answered as she searched the CPD Website. "Here he is" Peyton clicked the link and Curtis Miller's criminal record filled the screen
"Oh my…" Theresa's words trailed off as the group looked at the screen before them
"This guys has a criminal record longer than that 60 page college essay I had to write for my psychology class" Mouth said as he leaned over to look at the screen
"Petty theft, larceny, car jacking, automobile theft, assaulted with a deadly weapon." Peyton read off the list of charges against Curtis. "The only things not on here is murder"
"That doesn't mean he hasn't done it. It just means that they haven't caught him yet," Jake said as he stood
Georgia stepped back out onto the patio, "He said he would be here in a few minutes. He is around the corner at the grocery store"
"I am sorry, Mom. I just need to ask him," Chris said as he looked towards his mom
"We all need answers," Georgia said
"Hey anyone home?" Lucas and Nathan turned to look as a tall, dark haired man came around the corner of the house
"Over here Curtis" Georgia called out
"Hey there you are. I figured that you would be out here on a day like today." Curtis said as he walked up to the group
"Yea, it is nice" Georgia replied
"Hi, I am Curtis Miller" Curtis said to Lucas and Nathan extending his right hand
"Lucas Scott and this is my brother Nathan" Lucas said staring at the man who may have killed his sister-in-law and nephew. He didn't extend his hand to shake Curtis, neither did Nathan
"Scott, huh?" Curtis said running his right hand through his thinning hair. "You kin to Danny boy?"
"Yea, we are his forgotten biological sons that he left behind" Nathan answered letting his anger get the best of him
Curtis looked at the two boys stunned. He regained his composure and looked towards his nephew, "Chris, your mom said that there was something that you want to talk to me about?"
"Yea, there is"
"Well, let's have it" Curtis said sitting in the chair next to his niece
"Do you remember that trip that we took about five years ago to Wilmington?" Chris began
"Yea, Sammy wanted to look at UNC Wilmington. Why?"
"Do you remember the last night that we were there? The night that you and dad went out to the bar?"
"Yea, what about it?"
"You came back to the hotel all bloody, but you never told us what happened"
"I told you two what happened. Your dad and I had gotten into a fight at the bar defending some lady's honor. We were out numbered and they beat the living crap out of us"
"Why did you wait to go to the hospital until after we got home?" Chris asked
"Where are you going with this boy?" Curtis asked starting to become irritated
"I don't think you were in a bar fight that night. I think you were involved in a hit and run"
"Now, hold on just a minute" Curtis said standing to his feet, "What makes you think that you can go around accusing people of things?"
"I am not accusing you of anything. I am asking for the truth," Chris said staring his uncle down
"That was five years ago. Why does it matter so much now?"
"Because you jerk, that woman you hit and killed was my wife" Nathan said standing to his feet.
Curtis stood there stammering looking between Sam, Chris, Georgia and Nathan. He couldn't say a word.
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