Double Trouble 48
by Cariad
 
 

Double Trouble
~Forty Eight~
They three girls lay on Julia’s bed, having just started Legally Blond when a knock came on Julia’s door. Holly leapt up to answer it.

“I couldn’t help but notice all the stuff coming in here,” Gwen said.

“Want to join?” Holly asked before Gwen had to invite herself in. “We’re having an all night film-fest.

“Beats sitting in my room and plotting revenge against Mother’s killer,” Gwen said bitterly.

Julia noticed Theresa cowered as Gwen walked in the room. Something needed to be done before she and her sister were torn apart with Theresa’s and Gwen’s feuding. “Ok, we’ll have nothing but civility in this room!” Julia said before anyone else could say a thing.

“I can be civil,” Gwen said. “I know there’s no love lost between us, Theresa, but having your mother killed certainly puts things in perspective.”

“I-I guess,” Theresa said.

“Good,” Julia replied. “Now pass the popcorn, we’ve got movies to watch.”

The movie was ignored for the most part. Holly was preoccupied with her problems with Jonathan—which did not go unnoticed by Gwen and Julia.

“What did my brother do to you,” Gwen said finally. “I’ll take a bat to his head and knock some sense in if he did anything foolish.”

Theresa quivered from her corner of the bed. “Please don’t say that, Gwen,” she stammered.

“I’ve got no beef with you anymore, Theresa, Gwen explained. Ethan came back to me after he left you, and well, he wasn’t worth the time and effort.”

“But Ethan is wonderful. He wouldn’t go back to you! He loves me!”

Holly and Julia exchanged identical nervous glances.

Gwen laughed. “He’s got a funny way of showing it then,” she said. “Look, that same day he found out about everything, he came back to me, begging forgiveness. I foolishly took him back. You know what? He wasn’t even as good as I remembered in bed! And certainly smaller than I remembered! Take my advice, Theresa. Don’t take him back. He’s not worth it.”

“He is sorta small,” Theresa confessed. “I mean the first few times were absolutely wonderful. And his kisses were the best.”

“He was the first guy to kiss you, wasn’t he?” Gwen asked. “He was my first too. With nothing to compare to, everything seems great. So did you really sleep with Aidan?”

“Too much information!” Julia screeched. “I don’t want to know about my brother’s love life!”

“Yeah,” Theresa said, ignoring Julia. “But he’s not big on foreplay. Ethan wasn’t either. Just kissing, nothing that you read about in the romance novels”

Holly had her ears plugged and her eyes squeezed shut.

Gwen laughed. “That’s the honest truth. Did you know Julian bought Ethan’s way into Harvard?”

“Really?” Theresa asked.

“Well, not ‘bought’ necessarily. Ethan didn’t have the grades, but they wanted another generation of Cranes at Harvard. And so he went, and ended up getting his Law Degree there as well. I bet they’re kicking themselves now that he’s a bastard Winthrop and not a wealthy Crane with all this money to give. Where are you going to school, Theresa?”

“I’m not,” Theresa said. “All I wanted in life was to marry Ethan. It’s a lot harder being a Crane than I thought.”

“It’ll get worse,” Julia said.

“I don’t understand you, Theresa,” Holly said. “You had this wonderful family. Even though your father left, you had your mother and brother who supported you in just about everything you did. So why did you want to come here and be a Crane? Everyone hates us!”

“But you had this perfect life in this perfect house!” Theresa said. “If you read all the magazines, there were the Cranes in their perfect life, and Ethan as the favorite son with the charming smile. How could anyone NOT want to be part of it?”

“You still want to be a part of it, don’t you?” Gwen said.

“Yes!” Theresa replied immediately. “Yes, I love this life. It’s hard to be a Crane, but at least you can get what you want when you want it! You guys have something I’ve never had. Money! And you get to walk around in your gorgeous dresses and attend lots of parties. It’s wonderful! I’ll never forget the day Ethan sent over ten or twelve dresses for me to try on for our engagement party. Aidan says that when he runs the Crane Empire, he’ll give me everything I’ve ever wanted.”

The three other women looked at each other. If there ever was a doubt that Theresa lived in her own world, it had been erased now. In the silence that ensued, a voice was heard, echoing in the hallways.

“Theresa, where are you?” it whispered. “I’m coming for you.”

The four froze on Julia’s bed until the heavy footsteps passed.

“Should we call the police?” Holly asked, looking towards the phone.

No one dared to move towards it.

The door burst open. “There you are!” the voice said.

The twins and Theresa muffled screams. Gwen had a heavy vase in hand.

“I’ve been looking for you, Theresa,” Aidan continued. “Did you forget we had plans for tonight, mon cherie?”

Theresa giggled nervously. “I guess I did,” she confessed.

Gwen slowly put the vase back, watching Aidan warily. “Didn’t Alistair warn you not to continue your involvement with Theresa?” she asked.

“Coming Theresa?” Aidan asked.

“Yeah,” she replied, rolling off Julia’s bed and following him out the door.

The three left looked at each other and rolled their eyes. “Every time she shows a shred of common sense, something comes along and blows it out her ear,” Gwen commented.
 

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Holly leveled her sword at the cowering man before her. “I have no desire to kill you,” she snarled, tossing her hair over her shoulder, “but if you do not leave me alone, I will have no choice.”
Jonathan Hotchkiss looked up at her, his eyes pleading. “I swear, mistress, I will do whatever you desire of me!”

“Then leave me!” she said, turning on him and striding to the end of the castle hall, which turned into a parapet as she reached a window. On the plain before, a knight rode up, his banner snapping in the wind. She could not make out the features of his face, but she knew who he was.

“I have come to slay the dragon, fair maiden!” the knight called.

Holly laughed. “He has already been slain!”

The knight reached to take off his helmet. Holly knew who he was. She stared at him in amazement.

“Then my work here is done,” he called up at her, replaced his helmet and wheeled his horse about, cantering away.

“Wait!” Holly called. “Don’t leave me!”

Holly woke up to Julia’s scream. Holly, Julia and Gwen had all fallen asleep on Julia’s bed the night before. The television had been left on all night, and the morning news had woken Julia up.

Holly glanced at the television. They were interviewing Beth Wallace, manager of the Book Café. “She was a very hard worker,” Beth was saying. “This is an absolute tragedy.”

“Did you notice anything suspicious?” the reporter asked. “Any persons showing an interest in her?”

“She was very outgoing,” Beth replied, “Almost everyone showed interest in her. It’s just so terrible.”

The reporter turned to face the camera head-on. “This is the fourth killing in the series of murders which have taken place since New Year’s Eve. Law Enforcement officials are trying to apprehend the violator. So far, leads have not panned out. They are trying to find a connection between the four victims. If you have any information, please call the Harmony PD.”

“This is sick!” Gwen said. “Sick. I swear, I hope they catch that bastard, and castrate him before disemboweling him!”

They crawled out of bed, not finding a use to resume sleep after such a morning shock. Julia, Holly and Gwen met in the breakfast nook in time to see Jonathan return home looking incredibly tired. He dropped the paper on the table and slumped next to Holly.

“Another all-nighter?” Holly asked.

Jonathan cradled his head his crossed arms. “They released the names,” Jonathan said.

“Tiffany Sassenbury?” Gwen asked, reading the name from the front page. “Didn’t you date her at one point?”

Jonathan nodded sadly in his arms. “Yeah, I dated both Tiff and Lizzy.”

“Elizabeth Owlne,” Gwen read.

Holly put her hand on Jonathan’s arm. He seemed completely different from the self-assured arrogant bastard who presided over the family while Father was in jail. “Tiff was my first kiss, and Lizzy was my first…” Jonathan coughed. “First Mother,” he mumbled darkly, “then Tiff and Lizzy, and then that little girl at the Book Café…” Jonathan looked at Holly, horror dawning in his eyes. “Oh God,” he whispered. “Holly, Gwen, you have to protect yourselves!”

Holly blanched, Julia along with her.

“I’m sure they were all coincidences,” Gwen said, fighting her own nervousness.

“At least Father’s home now so you don’t have to worry about Crane Industries,” Holly added, trying to sound hopeful.

“I need some rest. I’m sure the police will be around today.”
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Julia felt her insides tie into knots. She wanted to call Noah. She couldn’t call Noah—not from the mansion, and everyone in the mansion had been forbidden to leave. She finished her grueling interview with the Detective. The only good thing was since Theresa was a suspect, Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald couldn’t be there to shove his anti-elite views down their throats as he interviewed them. Of course, she didn’t have an alibi for the nights in question. At least not all of the nights in question. Last night, of course, she had slept with Holly and Gwen all night.
She was scared. Not for herself, but she was terrified for her sister and for Jonathan. She realized all the nights, Jonathan did not have an alibi. Those were the nights he had gone out and not returned until morning. The officer had questioned her about her relationship with Jonathan, Julian and Aidan. He grilled her about her mother, and sister, and Theresa. The other officers just stood around listening to her, jotting down notes.

Now Holly was in that small room, alone with those officers. Grandfather Crane was sure to call a press conference. The small incident had turned into a scandal, and Grandfather Crane abhorred scandals.

Holly emerged, her jaw clenched, her hands balled into fists, hanging onto her dignity by a mere shred. “I hate every one of the members of Harmony Police Department!”

“You don’t mean that, I’m sure!” Julia said.

“Right now, I do!” Holly shot back. “I’m going to the conservatory.”

Julia followed at a slower pace. It would not be good for the plants with Holly being in this condition. She silently cracked the door and peeked into the oasis of summer in the middle of January. Holly stormed around, feverishly clipping off dead heads of flowers. Julia slipped inside. Looking around, she saw Jonathan waiting patiently. Holly was on a direct course to run into him.

“Get out of my way!” Holly snarled without seeing who blocked the path.

“Put down the clippers, Holly,” Jonathan said softly.

Holly did not release her death-grip on the garden tool. “Please leave, Jonathan, I would like to be alone now.”

“Don’t worry, Hollyhocks, I’ll be leaving shortly. I fear I am going to be arrested.”

The clippers clattered to the floor. “You told me you didn’t do it!”

“I didn’t kill anyone,” Jonathan said. “But they say I’m a danger to society. I can’t provide them with an acceptable alibi, and you must admit that it all looks very damning. My mother, two ex-girlfriends, a flirting cappuccino girl. They have a grand jury looking into it, and there’s enough to indite me.”

Julia watched her sister close her eyes. She wanted to rush to comfort Holly, but some of the police officers pushed past her into the conservatory. “Jonathan Hotchkiss?” one of them asked, starting in on the Miranda Rights.

Jonathan sighed and held out his wrists for handcuffing.

“You can’t do this!” Holly shouted in a ‘Crane’ tone of voice. “Are all the members of the Harmony Police so incompetent that they feel they must arrest not one, but two innocent men when you should be spending your time finding the real killer?”

“Holly, be silent,” Jonathan said softly.

“No,” she said regally. “Unhand him!” she declared, taking hold of the chain between the cuffs.

“I’ll miss you, Holly,” Jonathan whispered. He leaned forward just enough to gently kiss her forehead before one of the other officers held her behind as Jonathan was escorted away.

Holly held her head high while the police left, but held out a comforting hand to her sister as soon as they were out of sight. “He didn’t do it,” Holly said.