CHAPTER 14
1388 Words
Sarah's feet were shaking as she headed out of the office.
A ray of sunlight fell on her face as she stepped out and strained her eyes for a brief second.
The sky was clear except for white and fluffy cake like clouds. She felt the gentle breeze whizzing past her, carrying the fallen leaves along with it. Brightly coloured birds were seated on tree tops filling the empty air with its mellifluous music.
She couldn't have asked for a merrier day.
Yet, none of it could lighten her mood.
She'd just encountered something that she was running away from for so long.
She felt her heart pounding in her timid chest as she hailed a taxi.
The taxi zoomed through the streets and the wind blew right at her face.
Just like the truth that had hit her a few minutes ago.
Just like the truth that kept hitting at her no matter how hard she tried to put it behind.
Just like the truth that kept nagging her every time she wanted to get closer to Ronny.
Sarah Jones had killed someone.
Will Ronny ever be able to put up with something like that?
Never.
He was an honest cop.
He wouldn't be glad to have a murderer as his wife, would he?
But at least this was sure. If Veronica was the woman that she was assuming her to be, then it is highly possible that she could have committed the Richard Anderson homicide.
Sarah paid the taxi driver and got into their house. She bolted the door behind her and walked right into the master bedroom.
With nervous hands, she picked up her laptop and opened it. It reflected her pale, petrified face.
Taking a deep breath and wooing herself to be strong, she switched it on and typed the words 'Veronica Marie Bolton' in the Google search engine.
A few of her images were displayed at the top followed by various links to provide more information about her.
Sarah Jones clicked on the link provided by Wikipedia.
A gorgeous picture of Veronica appeared in the top right corner. Sarah skimmed through Veronica's childhood information and moved onto her adulthood.
After her parents died in a tragic plane crash, Veronica was left all alone and didn't have enough money to go to a college.
But, she didn't lost hope.
She worked as a waitress and took up part time acting and ballet classes.
There, Sarah's eyes stopped right there.
Ballet classes.
She read those two words over and over again.
Sarah scanned the whole article again hoping she would find more information about the ballet class Veronica had en rolled herself in. But, she found none.
Disappointed, she glanced at the image in the top right corner.
Veronica was grinning from end to end which in turn highlighted her beautiful, pointed lips.
But what captured Sarah's attention was the insignificant black mole at the corner of her left eye.
It definitely was her.
Years back....
Sarah Jones was seven minutes late to her Ballet class.
She rushed past people to get to the dance studio as fast as she could. Her ballet teacher wasn't usually happy with students who weren't prompt.
In worst cases, she might blow them off.
Mrs Gonzalez was sincere, devoted and honest to everything she did and expected the same from her students. If someone fell short, she'll make sure they get what they deserve.
Sarah reached the studio panting for breath. She looked around and gulped to moisten her parched throat.
The studio was under renovation and the place was totally messed up. However, the class was going on in a corner.
Fortunately, Mrs Gonzalez was scolding another girl. Sarah couldn't see the girl's face since her back was facing her. But she could figure that she might be her age or a little older.
Sarah quietly crept in and joined her friends.
Mrs Gonzalez seemed to be very upset and annoyed with the girl.
After a few minutes of continuous censuring she let her join them. She was the same girl who had joined a few days back and Sarah didn't know her name.
What was apparent to everyone was that this girl was very, very beautiful. And she carried an expression of anger rather than regret.
Later, Sarah learnt that the girl had got one of the moves wrong and had been arrogant to Mrs Gonzalez who'd asked her to work on it.
The class was over after an hour. Sarah went to a nearby cafe with her friends and spent some time there.
Then she came back and waited near the studio for her car.
"Excuse me" said an intense and musical voice.
Sarah turned, quite taken aback.
It was her.
Sarah noted the small black mole at the corner of her left eye.
"Can I help you?" Sarah had asked.
The girl smiled sweetly. "You see the guy over there" she said pointing afar off to a man who was seated inside a small van and drinking something from his flask.
"He is working on renovating our studio and had come out for a break. It seems he'd forgotten to press a red button in a dark brown machine before coming out and asked me for a favour. I don't mind going in there, but I'm scared of Mrs Gonzalez"
The girl twisted her fingers as she pleaded with puppy like eyes that nobody would wish to hurt.
"It's okay. I'll do it" Sarah had replied politely and gotten into the studio.
As far as she was able to see there was none inside.
The dark brown machine was in a corner. It was huge and made a blaring sound, threatening to deafen anyone whose ears weren't plugged.
Sarah walked closer and found the red button at a bottom corner.
The machine was deep on the other side, sucking in material wastes.
Suddenly, she thought she heard a shrill.
Sarah looked around. There was nobody.
Maybe, it was someone out there on the road.
Sarah shrugged and pressed the red button. The machine responded with a loud groan and rotated its blades.
To her horror, after a few minutes, flesh and blood splashed out.
Sarah stood transfixed. She opened her mouth to screech for help. Whether she was too shocked to cry or the machine had been too loud, she didn't know. But, she never heard her voice.
That's when Sarah noticed a beaming eye peeping at her from the window.
The same black mole at the corner of the eye.
"Help! Help!" she cried.
The girl did not respond. All that the eye showed was glee. Sarah would bet that the girl was smiling.
By the time, she came out, the girl had ran away.
Sarah was panic- stricken. Sweat dribbled down her forehead.
She knew she was too late now. Even if she called someone for help she was sure it wouldn't save the person. Besides, she would be accused of murder.
So she turned around and ran.
Like a coward.
The next day Sarah heard that it was Mrs Gonzalez who died.
She never saw that girl again.
Back to the present.......
Sarah shivered as she recollected the past.
Whether it was or wasn't her fault didn't matter to her. She had been responsible for taking away someone's life and she just couldn't live with it.
Sarah felt a sudden pang. Her body was blazing hot. Her legs and hands were trembling.
All through these years, she'd wanted to put it behind. And now, here it was, standing right before her like an immovable rock. Haunting her like a vindictive spirit.
If Veronica had gotten Mrs Gonzalez killed, she could do the same to Richard.
Maybe, she'd wanted Rachel out of her way.
Perhaps she was influencing her father too much against her.
Veronica is shrewd enough to stage situations in such a way that all the blame would rest on Rachel's head.
Sarah wanted to tell this to Ronny but how could she?
Will he accept her even after knowing that she'd taken someone's life?
Sarah covered her face with her palms and cried her heart out.
The guilt, agony and fear kept repressed for many years came gushing out.
Little did she know, that Ronny too had had things concealed.
- Writer
