INM 6 Part 3

Yes, I had tied the charm to my bed, Brian.

But that was after I moved out of my parents and grandmother’s house to live alone. After I left Grandma’s house, I even asked my former lover to stay out of my bedroom.

In my wavering vision, the polished dark brown leather shoes kicking the floor rhythmically reappeared. The voice that answered my complaint was now clearly Brian’s.

Hey, buddy, you first came to my office the day I fell into the pit.

How did you know I had Matty tied to my bed?

Unusually for Brian, he didn’t immediately notice my shaking. 

Watching him through lowered lashes, I quickly dropped my eyes to the ground to hide my expression. Despite the pounding of my heart, I forced my mind to work.

Was Brian really the man of the night?

Why did he lie to me?

But the surveillance footage showed someone else. I wouldn’t mistake him.

Brian was the one who examined this man. How can I be sure the footage wasn’t faked?

The swirling thoughts made me dizzy. When I realized how passive I’d been in this whole series of events, I bit my lip. Brian shot me a suspicious look.

I consciously relaxed my body and continued to think hard.

The man in the black baseball cap was real, and he was following me.

But that doesn’t prove that Brian wasn’t the one who spiked my drink.

Could Brian have entered my bedroom on another night? 

The doubt was quickly dispelled by my own thought saying “Impossible”. I knew this house inside and out. The escape route had been blocked from the beginning. The fear grew. A lie to get out of this situation rose… no, it was already on the tip of my tongue.

“I’m sorry, Brian. I suddenly feel exhausted.”

“I thought I was fine before.”

“I think I should rest soon.”

I swallowed the words and expressions that would have covered up the situation and allowed me to run away.

It would be easier to blame him, put the responsibility on him, and throw it all away. But if I ran away now, we would be repeating the same mistake we made three years ago.

I must have known that even at that time in the hospital.

I inhaled and exhaled deeply. Steeling myself against the tremor, I shot a sharp look into Brian’s eyes.

“Stand up.”

“What?”

“Get ready to go out, Brian. Right now.”

Brian looked confused, but as I stood up and put my device in my pocket, his expression gradually hardened.

“You’re not planning on going out, are you?” 

“I plan to.”

“Do you realize how pale you look right now?”

He must have been trying to be commanding, but his expression and voice betrayed his confusion.

Ignoring his words, I placed my wristwatch, which I had taken off while walking, on its usual place on the desk. The analog dial was about to read 8:50 PM. Swapping the watch for an old-fashioned key, I headed for the entrance.

“Wait, Luke. Are you out of your mind?”

“I don’t have much faith in that. How do I look to you?”

“You always look crazy to me.”

The voice came from behind me. Startled, I turned around to see him slamming the slightly open front door shut. The door, usually handled with care, protested loudly behind me.

“You’re going to lock this door right now, take a shower, and then go to bed.”

I looked back at the two blue-gray eyes staring at me. He seemed confident that he could keep me from leaving. Considering my poor health, he probably could.

Keeping my eyes on him, I spoke. Surprisingly, there was a gentle smile in my voice.

“Matty… the blue glass charm… when did you see it in my bedroom?”

Brian didn’t understand the purpose of my question… at least not at first. 

Brian’s black eyelashes fluttered slightly and two quick blinks covered his eyes. I could hear a sharp intake of breath from his throat. Realizing his mistake, his face slowly changed. His eyes darted around frantically, trying to form words that failed and escaped his pale lips. The faint signs of his excitement gradually faded, replaced by a frighteningly blank expression.

His ice-gray eyes lost focus, and when they came back to mine, a strange smile, one I’d never seen before, flickered across his face and then vanished.

I see, I understand now.

With my hand behind me, I grabbed the doorknob and opened the closed door.

“It seems I can still see through your lies.”

I turned to leave, but Brian grabbed my shoulder. Fear, beyond my control, froze me in place.

“Is it too much to ask that you listen to me?”

“I’ll go outside and listen to you.”

My voice trembled embarrassedly. Brian, noticing my tense body, grimaced. The hand gripping my arm tightened, but as I counted my racing heartbeats to five, the grip loosened.

“Luke, I…”

“But I don’t want to hear anything here!”

“Then I’ll go instead. You stay here.”

His suggestion disappointed me.

“Are we going to repeat the last three years?”

“That is not my intention. When things calm down, we’ll talk again.” 

“Do you think we’ll have another chance to talk?”

Brian remained calm despite my dry, sarcastic tone.

“Right now, your safety should be our top priority.”

Ignoring the words he seemed to be using to convince himself, I tried to shake his grip on my arm. Realizing this, he tightened his grip again.

“If you can’t trust me now, so be it. But don’t leave the house. Take care of yourself.”

“Shut up! Why should I care about myself? I’ve had enough!”

I shouted, loud enough that if my neighbor Arlsh was home, he would have jumped in surprise.

“I have decided to listen to you, but not here. There is no other way. I don’t care what happens to me. I’ll never regret it. If you don’t like it, then you should protect me!”

Brian, taken aback by my outburst, loosened his grip. Taking advantage of the moment, I finally shook off his hand.

“Now you choose, Brian. You have two choices, tell me everything right now, or go quietly back to your home in Taringa and pretend the last two weeks never happened. Choose now.”

Brian stared at me, conflict in his eyes. But when he realized that I was determined to leave, even if I had to fight my way out, he replied in a low voice, “Fine.” and stepped aside. I sighed quietly and followed him through the door, putting the key in the lock. 

In silence we both entered the small box. Brian looked sideways at my finger pressing the button for the ground floor.

“Where are we going?”

“To Alexandra’s place.”

“My car…”

“No.”

Brian’s face tightened even more at my short answer. The tension in the elevator and Brian’s stiff demeanor made my nearly frozen chest tingle with a little guilt.

Should you always trust and open your heart, especially to your best friend or lover? But I couldn’t help it. I had to keep up this facade of strength, arm myself with strong words, and keep pushing myself, or the fear would overwhelm me.

The elevator finally arrived at the ground floor and hurriedly disgorged us. We walked through the entrance and waited for the silver Honda I had arranged from inside the elevator. The ill-fated Honda arrived to pick us up about two minutes after we stepped outside.

“This isn’t for you, is it?”

Brian, who had been following me silently, muttered behind me. As I got into the car, I turned to him with a frown. His gaze was dark and still, like a still lake, fixed on the car.

“For three years, I have loved this part of you so much that I want to destroy it.” 

“Finally, the truth comes out.”

His words, spoken with love but overflowing with hate, twisted my face.

“Get in. This isn’t for you. I just want to get this over with.”

“I understand. Thank you for considering my leg.”

Brian’s voice grew sharper and sharper. The air between us was tense, but the cheerful young driver, who hadn’t yet realized his fate, turned to me with a smile and said, “Lucas?”

“We’re going to, let’s see, Café Alexandra, right?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“You were lucky to catch me. The roads are pretty busy these days…”

Brian’s deep, uncompromising voice cut off the driver’s pleasant chatter.

“So, we’ve met the condition of not being alone. Now you’ll listen to me, right?”

The young driver turned sharply, his eyes wide, trying to gauge if he’d hit someone dangerous. Ignoring the driver’s reaction, I grimaced.

“Impatient, aren’t you?”

“What do you want to know?”

Brian ignored my comment and continued with his question. His authoritative tone made me frown, while the young driver, realizing his misfortune, looked up at the sky.

I almost let his words go, but I couldn’t resist and forced out my question.

“Before we reach the café, I need to know one thing. Was it really you, Brian? The night Alan died, were you the one who brought me home drunk?”

Though I was almost certain, I desperately hoped it was a misunderstanding… that there was some other explanation for how Brian knew about Matty and his recent behavior. I wanted him to laugh it off.

“Yes.”

My hopes were dashed when Brian calmly confirmed my suspicion.

“That night I dragged you out of the bar and brought you home.”

“Why!?”

My “why”, loaded with so many implications, was met with a quiet answer from Brian.

“To make sure you don’t escape me this time.”

His words, vacillating between passion and madness, made me gasp sharply. 

The hapless young driver in the front seat watched us with bated breath. He should have been accelerating to quickly drop off these troublesome passengers, but his attention was divided, so the car moved at a pace that must have severely tested the patience of the cars behind us. It looked like it would take some time to reach our destination.

I tried to remain as calm as possible.

Brian had brought me home that night. While this revelation raised many questions, it also answered one, why the two cops had given up on me so early. They must have known that my alibi had been proven long ago.

Adding “interrogate Sam and Oliver” to my to-do list, I took a deep breath.

“Sorry, but your answer doesn’t make sense.”

“Try to understand what I’m saying.”

His presumptuous words sent a rush of blood to my head.

“You… you’re saying I didn’t try?”

“Your question means you want to know why I kept quiet about that night. It was to prevent you from escaping. There’s nothing strange about that.”

“It’s nonsense. The moment the truth came out, everything would be ruined. It was doomed from the start.”

“I planned to tell you at some point, once I had you firmly tied to me.”

Fighting the urge to shiver, I furrowed my brow.

“Didn’t you think that was selfish?”

“Considering what you did to me, not really.” Brian cut off my attempt to argue and continued. “I never intended to hide it. I didn’t expect you to forget that night.”

His words, filled with bitterness, silenced me. While his reasoning did not justify keeping the truth, it was true that the problem would not have arisen if I had remembered.

Breathing slowly so as not to reveal my confusion, I spoke again. 

“Tell me what really happened that night. This time I want the whole truth.”

“I can’t add much new information. I saw you that night and brought you home. That’s all.”

“That’s a lie, isn’t it?”

“Who knows?”

Is he really cut out to be a detective or not?

Gritting my teeth in frustration, I continued.

“You came into my bedroom without my permission. You must have known about Matty.”

Brian’s eyes finally wavered. I had never explicitly told him about my strict rules regarding my bedroom, but he must have sensed something over time.

“I swear I didn’t turn on the light or watch the room closely. I just put you to bed.”

But his comment that my office was “surprisingly tidy” suggested otherwise.

Seeing my tense expression, Brian’s face twisted in discomfort.

“You called my name.”

“I don’t remember.”

“You did, many times. You said you missed me and still loved me.”

“That’s a lie.”