After spending a long afternoon with Carr in his apartment, Kashi was not excited to go back to real life. She had to pick Felix up from school, and bring him and something her dad needed from home to the hospital. It was also laundry day, her least favorite of personal chores. Her dad needed a new washing machine. It shook the entire house as if there were an earthquake. Felix had put a pair of shoes in there once. They thumped around like thunder and shook the house on top of it. Kashi had left the house only seven minutes into the wash cycle because she couldn't stand it.
The continuous thumpa-thumpa-thumpa grated on her nerves from the moment she started it. But she couldn't leave to get Felix from school yet. She still had at least twenty minutes at home. She wandered around the kitchen before sitting on the couch in the eat-in kitchen. It had been only a few days ago that she'd been sitting here with Sierra, Felix, and her dad, Carr having gone to get the stupid game camera…
The papers they'd had were long gone. All they had left was the one photo Kashi had kept and the memories of the letters. They were addressed to her dad, but he'd obviously never seen the envelope, and when he realized what it was, he'd looked scared and rightfully so. The letters were all cryptic but they referenced threats and someone backing out, presumably her uncle… It was hurting her head. And the biggest question, what the hell was the deal about? What was so shady and secretive that it had made her uncle nervous, and now was scaring her dad. How much money was involved to make Hughes want to shoot someone. Anyone of interest had an alibi. Hughes had supposedly been out of town, but Kashi questioned the truthfulness of the sources that claimed that.
It never made any major newspapers, or tv stations. Kashi had searched the library for VHS tapes and CDs to no avail. There were only local newspapers… She pulled up a photo she'd taken of the old newspaper… "wait… the newspaper said this guy's name is Collins… not Hughes…" Her phone rang, covering the photo of the paper. She accidentally hit answer before she could even read who it was from.
"Kashi, hey!"
"Oh, hey Matthias!" Kashi said, laughing a little. "Sorry if I seem flustered. I accidentally hit answer before I read who it was."
"No, it's all good. I called because I heard about your dad. I wanted to ask how he was doing. And how you were doing. I can't imagine how scary that would be." He said.
Kashi was almost surprised. "Yeah, it was really scary, but he's leaving the hospital tomorrow and he's doing well. He's grouchy all the time because he can't have coffee, but as soon as he gets home and gets back to his normal multiple cups of coffee a day he'll cheer up. I think it was the hardest for Felix. At least I knew there was something dangerous going on. It blindsighted him."
"Yeah, he's only, what? Fourteen?" Matthias asked. "Um, hey also, I was wondering if you wanted to meet for a cup of coffee. We never had a chance to talk after the... rough night at the party there."
Kashi paused for a moment, remembering Carr's warning, be careful around Matthias. But then again, he might know something… "Yeah, when and where do you wanna meet?"
They made plans for a Saturday mid morning, Kashi hoping she was doing the right thing. They were going to a little family owned cafe that Sierra swore was to die for. Kashi didn't like coffee, but Sierra swore that lattes, with enough sugar, didn't taste a lick like coffee. Kashi could always order hot cocoa or tea. She did like tea.
"I assume you've talked to Carr already?" Matthias half asked, have stated.
Kashi wasn't sure if she heard jealousy in his voice or if she was imagining it. "Um, yeah we have. We went out for lunch today and I hung out at his apartment afterwards." Should she say they decided to start dating? Would that be offering up too much information?
"Yeah, I figured. You two work everything out?"
"Yeah," Kashi smiled a little to herself, "Yeah we did." She looked at the time before jumping up out of the couch she'd plopped herself in. "Hey Matthias, I have to get going. I need to pick up my brother from school. But I'll see you Saturday, okay?"
"Yeah alright, Saturday then."
Kashi grabbed the keys and her wallet before dashing out of the house and leaving the horrid washing machine behind her. Felix would want to play his music when she got in the car so she blasted her tunes as she rode towards the school to get Felix. But the name Collins was still on her mind. Could it have just been a fake name or an alias of Jeremy Hughes? Everyone here seemed to know what his name was. So what was Collins about?
A bump on the road sent her phone skittering onto the floor. She grumbled about it as it unplugged the aux cord. But she didn't try to reach for it. This was the section of the road she'd wrecked her truck on. She looked towards the telephone pole that she'd smashed into. The road however was not dipped like it should have been since there had been a puddle oddly enough. She'd lost control and whipped around because of a puddle… Maybe she was overthinking everything, but the more she thought about Hughes, her uncle, her dad, and the mystery overall, the more puzzled she got. What was going on?
It went against her better judgement, but Kashi decided not to call off the case. She waited until she'd parked in the high school lot before grabbing her phone and sending a text to Carr and Sierra: Mystery is still on guys. I'm meeting with Matthias this weekend to see if he knows anything. I want one of you to see if you can find any aliases for Jeremy Hughes including "Collins." We're not letting him get away this time.