CHAPTER TWO

A group had convened at the old Rybak house again. Emma, Sutton and Laurel were there, along with Char and Lexi. And this time Mads had brought Eduardo along for support. "I don't know what to do," Mads admitted. "Mum is trying to get me to go and see Thayer."

"And that's a dilemma for you?"Sutton asked.

"I suppose he is your brother,"Emma commented. She gave her twin a look. "You can't choose family."

Sutton held up her hands. "Hey, no judgement here."

Emma turned back to Mads. "Do you want to see him?"

Mads shrugged. "He is my brother. I do have some good memories of him from before. But whether it could ever be like that again…"

Eduardo rubbed her shoulders supportively. "Whatever you do, we'll be on your side."

Laurel nodded. "Yeah, I mean, I don't want anything to do with him but I can see why you would."

Char hesitated. "I'm sorry but…I can't. I know he's your brother and everything, but after everything he did, I don't know how you could ever be near him."

Mads looked at Lexi. "And I guess you don't know him."

"Well, actually, I did speak to him the other day,"Lexi revealed. "And I don't know all the history that you all do but he seemed like he's really making the effort."

Mads nodded slowly. "I think I'm going to have to go and see him."

It wasn't long after that Thayer arrived back at the country club. Jordan was on reception. "Any of my family here?"Thayer asked.

Jordan paused for a moment longer than he needed to. He didn't like talking to Thayer. But Thayer was a guest and the question wasn't unreasonable. "I think your dad's walking around the grounds. He headed out about half an hour ago. Your mum's been upstairs for the last two hours."

Thayer nodded. "All right, I'll go up and see her." He headed for the stairs.

Ethan and Dan entered a moment later, their gaze immediately going to the retreating figure disappearing onto the landing. "He's still here then?"Ethan asked.

Jordan nodded. "I know he hasn't actually done anything wrong since he's been here but I just get this tense feeling every time he's around."

"Every time I'm on patrol, I find myself hoping I'll catch him doing something so I can arrest him,"Dan admitted.

"Do you think we're the problem?"Jordan wondered. "That maybe he really doesn't mean any harm and we're not giving him a chance?"

"I wouldn't like to trust him an inch,"Ethan replied.

It was at that moment that Graham, Mads and Eduardo entered. Jordan couldn't disguise his surprise at the last two, especially Mads. "I didn't expect to see you here,"he noted.

Mads looked too embarrassed to answer. Graham stepped in to save her the trouble. "Has Thayer come back?"

Jordan nodded. "Just a few minutes ago. I told him I thought you were outside but he went upstairs to see his mother."

Graham accepted the answer curtly. "All right, we'll go up and see them."

The three of them headed upstairs and saw that the door to Caroline's room was open. As they approached it, they saw a sight inside that caused Mads to gasp and bury her face in Eduardo's shoulder.

Caroline was lying on the floor of her room, her wide staring eyes leaving no doubt that she was dead, almost certainly as a result of the marks on her neck that seemed to be the result of her being strangled with something very long and very tight. Crouching beside the body was Thayer. He looked round at them, his face stricken. "I didn't do it."

End of Episode Four