Stepbrother Romance: Stepbrother Accused (Bad Boy Romance) (New Adult Suspense Taboo Romance) (2 page)

“You have a nice house Mrs. Thompson.”

“Thank you. Please sit, I’ll make some coffee and we can cut that cheesecake of yours.”

She came back with two mugs and Sarah cut two slices of the cake.

“How’s Mr. Thompson? I haven’t seen him in a while.”

“He left,” replied Jane calmly.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” replied Jane. “Sometimes the death of a child can make you see the truth about your marriage. We knew it was a sham, actually we knew it even before Eddy was born. We had hoped that having a child would bring us closer together. It worked to some extent, but what kind of life is that? It feels almost like a business agreement don’t you think?”

Sarah hesitated.

“I… wouldn’t know mam.”

“You know,” began Jane, “Eddy was rather fond of you.”

“Really?” asked Sarah.

Sarah already knew all about Eddy’s feelings of course. He had pursued her for months during their first year of high school. It was when she rejected him that he became violent towards her. He wasn’t a nice person at all. He was the type of guy that would end up in jail or dead, at least that was Sarah’s opinion anyway. She had never really thought about Jane, how she was caught up in all this. How her son’s death was affecting her, she felt shame begin to brew in the pit of her stomach.

“Yes, continued Jane, “he would never stop going on about you. I want to thank you for that.”

“I don’t think Sunny killed him.”

Sarah was taking a gamble. She was here to get information from Eddy’s mom, not convince her of Sunny’s innocence.

“He beat my poor boy, threatened to kill him, he shot him. How can you say he was innocent? Is that why you came here?”

Tears began to swell in her eyes and her anger returned almost in a flash.

“Yes but, boys are boys, they fight one week and make up the next. They were friends before. I just know he’s not the type of guy who’d kill anyone.”

“I need to go compose myself,” said Jane as she fought the tears now streaming down her face.

As soon as she left Sarah grabbed Jane’s purse and started rummaging through it.

“Got it!” She whispered to herself.

She pulled out Jane’s cell phone, placed it on the table and then took out her own. She hit record and held it above the table. She started going through all the contacts in Jane’s phone as quickly as she could. She heard a door close and Jane’s footsteps, she was coming back downstairs. She placed the phone back in her purse in the nick of time.

“I’m gonna need you to leave,” said Jane with her arms crossed.

As Sarah left she noticed the family pictures on the mantle piece. Black lines were scribbled over Jed’s face in every photo.

“Well I admit it, I was wrong,” said Sunny. “How did it go in there?”

“Not well, she’s still hurting Sunny.”

“If you changed your mind it’s okay, you’ve helped me more than you could ever imagine.”

“No, I’m fine,” replied Sarah.

As they made their way to the local diner, Sarah noticed that every other person was staring at them.

“Murderer!” shouted a man in the distance.

Sarah turned around in a fit of rage but had no idea where the voice came from.

“Coward!” she shouted back.

“Sarah,” said Sunny calmly. “It’s okay.”

“But, bu-“

“All they know is what they hear on the news or read in the papers. If I was in their shoes I would feel the same.”

Sarah was taken back by how calm he was, how gracious and humble, it wasn’t the Sunny she knew back in high school, he’d grown into a man, a good man. The kind of man she could see herself spending the rest of her life with.

“You don’t deserve this, you deserve more,” she said.

“I’m free Sarah, I can go see a game, eat a burger, watch a movie at home in my underwear. If it means that I gotta put up with a few stares and a few names, I’d take it any day of the week. And best of all, I have you.”

She kissed his cheek and they entered the café. She laughed as they stood in line.

“What’s so funny?” asked Sunny.

“A burger? That’s what you’ve been dreaming of? Trust you to reduce freedom to a lousy burger.”

He laughed.

“Trust me of you spend five years inside a burger is like…god.”

She burst out laughing.

“How can I help you today?” asked the clerk.

“Can I get two cokes, two quarter pounders and two fries?” asked Sarah.

Sunny smiled at her.

They sat opposite each other and Sarah pulled out her phone as they ate. She began to jot down numbers and names as she held it.

“You know it’s rude to use your phone while you eat right?”

She smiled then showed him the video she had recorded in Eddy’s house.

“What is that?” he asked.

“Her phone, it’s every contact in her list.”

“Wow, didn’t you tell me that I shouldn’t break the law?” asked Sunny.

“Yup, but you can bend it,” she replied with a smile. “There was something else. The photo of Jed was scratched out in all the frames.”

“Jed?” asked Sunny with a puzzled look on his face.

“Eddy’s dad.”

He thought for a moment. He still felt confused. What Sarah had said about Jane still hurting from Eddy’s death was still on his mind. It felt like a huge weight had just been dumped on his shoulders. He wished that he could take away her pain and loneliness. That someone could just snap their fingers and bring Eddy back to life. He wanted to visit her, to apologize and tell her he didn’t kill her son, but he knew she wouldn’t believe him. He had to prove his innocence before anything else.

He didn’t realize it but Sarah had been staring at him, as he was lost in thought.

“What ‘ya thinkin?” she asked in a childish voice.

Sunny looked up and saw her munching on a chip. He smiled. He brought his hand close to her face and touched her lip.

“You’ve got a little ketchup there.”

She froze. Her heart was pounding and she went bright red, not because of the chip but because of Sunny. Ever since she met him she knew there was something about him, something more than just looks, although she thought he was good-looking too. It was a kind of inner courage, a calm, strong will. And yet she knew deep down that he was kind and caring. She was falling head over heels for him. She began to imagine kissing him, stroking his hair, exploring his body and letting him take her.

While he talked she began to fantasize. About him standing there naked. She let her daydream play out. She imagined him exploring her body with his lips. Groping her buttocks and breasts. Making her moan in a way that she was yearning to for so long. The thought of his big strong hands having his way with her, and the idea of him pleasuring her passionately from behind was too much and she started to become moist at the thought.

She immediately dismissed the images from her mind before they grew any stronger. She flicked through Jane’s phone and then placed it in front of him. He read what was on the screen.

Jed 202-555-0110.

“You know, you’d make a very good P.I.”

She laughed and then dialed the number on her phone.

“Hello?” said a gruff voice on the other end.

“Hi, is this Jed?”

“Yes, who is this?”

“My name is Sarah, I was one of Eddy’s school mates back in high school.”

There was a long pause on the other end. Sarah thought maybe Jed had hung up.

“Hello?”

“…What do you want? Why are you phoning me?” he asked with a harsher voice.

“I…just wanted to check if everything’s okay.”

This isn’t gonna work
, she thought.
He’s giving me a colder reception than Eddy’s mom; I have to think of something else.

“I’m fine, please don’t bother me anymore. How did you get this number? Look just…just leave me in peace.”

He was about to hang-up. Sarah had to think of something and fast.

“It’s about his death…”

There was another long moment of silence on the other end. Sarah decided to continue.

“There are some things that just don’t add up you see.”

“What things?” asked Jed.

“I think it’s better if I show you.”

“I…I don’t know,” he replied with some hesitation in his voice.

“I’m convinced that the real killer is still at large sir, and I’ll continue digging until I find him. Don’t you wanna stay in the loop at least? He was your son.”

“…Okay.”

“Great!” said Sarah, suddenly perking up. “I’ll meet you at your place, I can leave now, I just need the address.”

“No, no, I think it’s better if I come to you. I’ll meet you outside my, I mean my wife’s house in, say, two hours?”

“Okay” replied Sarah and then hung up the phone.

“Wow,” said Sunny with a look of utter astonishment on his face. “You are one silver-tongued chick you know that?”

She stuck out her tongue, and looked down with her eyes crossed.

“I thunno it ooks kina hink to me.”

Sunny laughed, again.

“God you are so goofy sometimes.”

She smiled and continued eating her fries. They sat there and talked for a while. They talked of old times and the trouble they both used to get up to, the time that Sunny crashed his car into Mrs. Bodily’s garden, about everything. Sarah felt closer than ever to him. That night, in that diner, she finally let go of her inhibitions and kissed him. Sunny could still taste the ketchup on her lips. He felt himself succumbing to the moment and before it took over, he immediately withdrew from her.

“What the hell are you doing Sarah?”

She looked at him, partly in shock and partly in shame.

“I...I care about you Sunny. I always have. I wanna be with you. I love you.”

He was speechless, he looked out the window, thinking of what to say.

“I love you too, but just as a sister.”

“You’re lying,” she said with confidence.

“I…even if I did love you, it’s wrong.”

“But it feel so r-“

“Stop messing around Sarah this is serious.”

“I am serious. I meant it when I said I wanna be with you.”

Sunny felt the same way. He was getting turned on thinking about her, of tasting the ketchup on her lips. He found his eyes begin to trace her slender neck. He immediately snapped out of it but she had noticed.

“Look, Sarah, let’s just go meet Jed and then we can talk about this later.”

“Oh no, you’re not coming with me.”

“What? What are you talking about? Why not?”

“As far as he knows, you killed his son. The moment he sees you he’s either gonna bail, or try and attack you.”

“Well he has every reason to,” replied Sunny.

“I know but if it’s just me he’s much more likely to be open to a conversation don’t you think?”

“…Okay, but call me if anything happens okay?”

She put her notepad back in her backpack, put it on, and began to make her way out of the diner.

“Sure bro.”

Sunny stayed in the diner and watched as Sarah left. She turned back and saw him staring. She stuck out her tongue and then vanished around the corner.

“…That girl”
, he thought.

Sarah waited a few dozen feet away from Eddy’s house. She kept enough of a distance so that Jane wouldn’t be able to see her through the window if she were home. She paced around back and forth while she waited for Jed. She decided to phone Sunny to pass the time.

“Hey,” she said.

“No luck yet?”

“Nope.”

“Don’t worry he’ll show,” said Sunny. “Just give him some time.”

“Yeah I suppose so. I wish you were here.”

“You said I shouldn’t be.”

“I know, I know, I’m just saying I wish you were.”

There was a short pause on the other end.

“Sarah, did you really mean what you said back in the diner, about you and me?”

“…Yes.”

“Well, you were right, I did think about you, I mean I do think about you. The same way I mean. I thought about making love to you so many times when I was inside.”

“ARGH!” screamed Sarah.

“I’m sorry it’s a lot to take in huh?”

“Get off me!”

“Sarah! Are you okay? I’m coming!”

Sunny ran as fast as his legs could take him. Within a couple of minutes he reached Jane’s house and saw Sarah lying on the floor. He rushed to her side and picked her up. There was a bruise on her cheek and dirt covered her forehead.

“What happened are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine. Somebody kicked me in the back, and then took my stuff. They took my phone, my backpack, everything.”