Mother Knows Best

Chapter Sixteen

Tails checked on Kiera and Shadow around 4:00pm. He slowly opened her bedroom door and saw the two of them on her bed. Kiera was asleep with her head on Shadow's chest as he threads his fingers through her hair which lulled her to sleep. Shadow looked up as the bedroom door opened.

"Everything okay?" Tails whispered to him, being quiet since Kiera was sleeping peacefully. For once.

"Yeah. She told me everything." Shadow whispered back, returning his gaze back at Kiera and continuing running his fingers slowly through her soft and silky hair.

Shadow looked back at Tails. "So you know about Alistair and Lorenzo?" he whispered to him.

Shadow nodded. Tails could see the anger in Shadow's eyes when he said their names, he looked over at Kiera and how happy and peaceful she looked sleeping, cuddled into his chest. "It still hurts her, even when she is asleep. I sometimes hear her crying in her sleep. It's heart breaking, really." Tails whispered to him.

Shadow tightened his hold on Kiera. Hating the thought of her crying because of them and not getting any good sleep because it hurts her so much. He didn't want that for her, he wanted her to be happy and not be haunted by the memory of Alistair and Lorenzo. He wanted to make her happy with every inch of his being. Kiera moved in her sleep, adjusting to get much comfier in his arms. Shadow softly threaded his fingers through her hair to soothe her.

"How long are you staying?" Tails whispered, asking him.

"A few days, or as long as she wants me to stay with her if that's okay with you." Shadow whispered his reply. Tails nodded, he went to turn and leave her bedroom but looked back at Shadow and Kiera one last time.

She was crying because of them again. Alistair and Lorenzo are the reason for her pain. They are still out there, revelling in her and her family's pain. Tails' shoulders sagged, sighing in silent anger and frustration. She deserves to be happy, with Shadow and not have to look over her shoulder every single time. He padded all the way down to his bedroom and slumping onto his bed. He stared straight up at the ceiling. Tails wanted to help Kiera as he helped him. She helped him grow into a more confident and less of a timid person. He was well on his way on transforming into a proper gentleman, as Kiera put it.

Tails will be there for her, as he always has been. Now, Shadow will be there for her also and he thinks that he will make much more progress than he could at the moment. He was much closer to Kiera so he'll be able to calm her terrors and wracked nerves.

Kiera had woken up with a numb ache in her eyes. She found Shadow with his arms cocooned around her waist and behind her head. She used his muscled and built bicep as a pillow, as well as his soft but firm chest. Surprisingly, very comfy. She pushed and shuffled out of Shadow's vice grip on her and headed into her bathroom, closing the door behind her after she switched the light on.

Kiera slotted a black plug in the bath tub, then turned the 'hot' tap all the way around. Watching as the particularly warm water spewed out of the metallic tap, filling up the porcelain white tub. She added lemon and lime scented bubble bath then lighting three little tea lights on the tiled work top near the bath tub itself. It created a calm and relaxing mood setting for her, exactly what she needed right now.

She sat by the sink and watched as the tub filled, the delicious scent filling the room. Kiera adored the current scent at the moment, it changed every other month. In the summer, it was coconut. She also went through a phase of Yankee candles in the winter months, Christmas scents were gorgeous to her – Tails denied that he liked them but she definitely knew that he did. Kiera saw him taking a Christmas Wreath scented Yankee candle from the living room into his workshop.

She forgot to actually close the door complete so the warmth and the scent seeped out into the bedroom, where Shadow lay snoozing away. She hoped she didn't wake him with her need to cleanse and relax. He had spoken to her about his latest case and how it shook him badly when he found out about her being the hospital, no matter how small her physical problem was. She understood his concern and worry for her but then she told him her story. Her loss of her family, then the confrontation with Alistair and then the meeting of her and Tails.

Now, she had Shadow.

He is strong. He has been through a lot of emotional turmoil as well as her. He lost his best friend. His childhood friend, Maria. Kiera observed that she meant a lot to him and she definitely knew what it felt to lose someone. Especially, someone that you considered family.

Silver sat at the coffee table that sat in the middle between a three-seater sofa and the open brick fireplace. He had files scattered all down the chocolate stained coffee table and some sat on equal sides of him on the beige coloured fabric sofa. He was tired and frustrated, he kept running into dead ends on this case he shared with Shadow – but he was off with his girlfriend in wherever she lived with Tails. He didn't mind that, he persuaded Shadow go after his girl. He was all for it, his best friend deserved someone in his life that loved him like Blaze did for him.

Blaze stirred the cooking pasta in the heated pan while sneaking a glance at her busy boyfriend. "Are you doing okay over there?" She called out to him.

He sighed, running his right hand down his face. "Not that good. I've made a little progress but I need help." Silver admitted defeated.

Blaze took the pan of pasta off of the heat, turning the hob off, then drained it all of its boiling water in a colander down the sink. She moved to prepare the rest of their tuna pasta salad. She made separated it into two bowls and walked around the kitchen island and to the living room where Silver was situated. Blaze sat down in a recliner chair near to the sofa he was nested into. She handed over a bowl to him, and he thanked her. He leaned back and began to devour his way through his tuna salad as did Blaze.

Silver placed the bowl on the rug beside his piles of files. He leant forward with his forearms on his knees, sighing. "I can figure this out."

Blaze softly rubbed his back. "Yes, you can, Silver."

He glanced to the side at her. "Are you going to help me?" He asked her gently.

"Of course, Silv." Blaze smiled lovingly at him.

She shuffled closer, putting her bowl on the side table next to her chair. "Tell me, start from the beginning."

A fresh start. A new angle on things. That could work. He thought as he pulled out the original crime scene photos. "It started with a homicide with three victims. The first victim, female, 27, was killed by the assailants as he took one of the knives from the kitchen to slice up her arms, neck and her face. This continued in multiple ways until the last and third victim when he was shot in the head with a 44."

Blaze read through this information. "Assailants? More than one?" She asked removing her eyes from the file to Silver.

He nodded. "Two. Two prints of large, male foot prints were found outside in the mud. Casts were taken it came back at as size 10, Clarks and the other was size 11, Harley Davidsons boots."

"Suspects?" He shook his head.

"No suspects? No DNA? No nothing?" He shook his head again and sighed.

Blaze sighed, leaning back. "No wonder you are stuck. You have no leads."

Silver groaned. "No kidding." He needed his partner back.

"Then let's go back to the crime scene."