Chapter Nineteen: Thief

Caroline was helping Katherine clean the sticky tables from the saloon the following morning when she saw that Madam Pearl had a worried look on her face. Katherine was in the middle of a funny story when she interrupted Madam Pearl. "Madam Pearl, are you ok?"

"Yes, quite well." Madam Pearl's lower lip tremble. She seemed to hesitate for a bit, but she said. "Caroline, Klaus has been arrested."

Her blue eyes widened and she gaped. "Arrested? How? Why?" she knew Klaus, the man was so uptight, there was no way that he would break the rules. "He couldn't have done anything to break the rules, honest."

"Caroline, calm down," Madam Pearl said noticing Caroline's anxiety. "Care, you need to calm down."

"I am calm," Caroline said, her head felt as if she were spinning out of control. Klaus was in jail? Well, that couldn't be possible, could it? Klaus was the sheriff of the damn town, wasn't it illegal to arrest him? Besides that, Klaus was just a client, why should Caroline be upset that he got arrested? "Why was he arrested? Was he bothering the old ladies again?" Caroline tried to joke, but Madam Pearl didn't smile which make her realize that it was much more serious.

"He was arrested this morning. Do you remember, Jesse? He was the man that was bothering you the other day." Caroline nodded, how could she forget? "He was the man that attacked you the other day."

Caroline nodded as she touched the part that had been bruised. "Yeah, well he's kind of hard to forget. But what about him, Klaus told him to leave. He has not been the first drunk in the saloon."

"No, he has not." She said softly. "But Jesse was found murdered this morning in his cabin. His hands and arms were tied and there was money missing. He died from a gunshot wound to the head. The gun was found next to his body."

"What does that-"

"The gun belonged to him, Caroline. That gun belonged to Klaus."

Caroline's face paled as she shook her head. "No, he couldn't. He couldn't have done that. I mean Klaus is not a killer. He wouldn't have killed Jesse, what could his motive be?"

"His feelings for you," Madam Pearl said slowly. "He was upset that night when Jesse punched you. Are you sure that he wouldn't try to get revenge since. . .you two are together."

"We are not together," she said slowly ignoring Katherine's look. "Anyway, Klaus is the sheriff. He could have given him a fine, thrown him in jail, ban him from the saloon. He didn't have to kill him."

"I know." Madam Pearl said sounding distress. "They are still investigating. Caroline, where are you going, Caroline-"

Caroline barely listened to her or Katherine as she ran to the jail. "Klaus," she shrieked as she pushed the door open. She saw a blond hair man sitting on a chair. Klaus was sitting in the lonely jail cell looking grim. He looked up when he saw Caroline. "What are you doing here?" Klaus hissed.

"I just needed to see you," she whispered. Why the hell was Klaus acting so annoyed?

"You can't be here," Klaus hissed. "Leave, Caroline."

"He's right, ma'am," the blond man said. "Sherriff Klaus is not allowed to have visitors."

"Who are you?" Caroline asked rudely.

"I'm Luke Parker," Luke said stiffly. "I'm from the town of Rollins, they asked me to come fill in for Mr. Mikaelson while the case is being investigated. I am the temporarily sheriff."

"How much proof do you have against him?" Caroline scoffed. Klaus pushed his hands through the cell and Caroline squeezed it. She could feel Klaus' hand trembling. Did this mean they were going to hang him? Or was he going to rot in jail?

"For right now we only have the gun." Luke admitted. "The gun belongs to Klaus and they saw him and Jesse fighting that night at the bar over you. There is a reason why he must have killed him."

Caroline scoffed. "That's it? That's your proof? That doesn't mean anything."

"Caroline." Klaus hissed. "Let the man do his job. I am fine here. I am going to be fine." Though he didn't sound so sure. "Go back to the saloon and don't worry about me. I'll ask Luke to give Madam Pearl any information about my case. This won't take long, love."

Caroline hesitated, it was obvious that she didn't want to leave him. She reached through the cell and curled her fingers against his hands. "I will figure out what happened Klaus and you will get out of here I promise."

Klaus narrowed her eyes at her. "That is the last thing that I want. I don't want you getting involved, young lady."

"Ma'am," Luke sounded exhausted. "It's time for you to go."

"I would like some sugar and a piece of ribbon for a hat," Katherine told the man at the general store with a slight tilt of her chin. Mr. Turner frowned which made him look constipated. This was one of the reasons that Katherine hated doing her own shopping.

The general public always gave her dirty looks because she was one of the town whores and they were "good, Christian people" whatever that was suppose to mean. Elena usually did the shopping. Since she had the doe eyes, people didn't treat her like she was a common whore, which of course she was, but whatever. The townspeople had never really like Katherine. Caroline said it was because Katherine always looked grumpy. If only Elena would come back from her little trip with Mr. Salvatore.

Mr. Turner put the sugar on the counter. "What kind of color would you like for the ribbon?"

"Red."

"Red suits you," Elijah murmured as he stood beside her. He tipped his hat. "Good morning, Katherine."

"Good morning." She said slowly.

"Two dollars." Mr. Turner interrupted sharply. She pulled out a few coins and gave them to Mr. Turner impatiently. Mr. Turner looked up when he saw the store door open. He smiled. "Welcome to Turner General Store, may I help you with anything?"

Katherine turned around and saw a stern looking man and a crying, plump woman. Katherine paled. "Katerina!" the woman shrieked as she raced to hug her.

Katherine hugged her back numbly. "Hello, Mother."

"How much longer?" Elena whined as she wiped the sweat of her brow. She and Damon had made their way to Wemmick's cove the following morning. It was a hot day and Elena could feel herself sweating which was unpleasant.

Elena was just glad that her dress had dried up after being in that horrible storm. She and Damon had only said a few words to each other after they had woken up after a night of passionate sex. Honestly, it shouldn't be awkward after everything they had gone through, but Elena was confused. Were they friends? Lovers? Clients?

Elena was almost afraid to find out. All she knew was that she loved having sex with him. She loved the way that Damon kissed her and touched every curve of her body. Just the idea of him having sex with someone else made her blood boil.

"Stop being so impatient," Damon said after a few minutes. "We're here."

-End of Chapter Nineteen-