Treasured (Book Two)

Chapter 5: Grandfather

As we walked out of the house, Luke booted up his laptop. While he was looking for the footage, I spat the taste out of my mouth.

"Check this out," Luke whispered. He showed me the black and white footage on the computer screen. I sat down next to Luke and peered at the video.

It took place in the middle of the night around twelve o'clock. I saw Stacy in her nightrobe, was doing something to her arm. As I squinted closer, I gasped.

She was pressing a knife against her arm. It seemed like she was committing suicide. Just then a voice blared. "Stacy!" the voice shrieked. "Stacy!" It was my dad running towards her.

"What in the world are you doing?" he gasped. "Put that down!" Stacy hastily dropped the weapon and sobbed. Dad picked up the object then studied it.

He closed his eyes and threw it with all of his might. The weapon flew deep in the woods and never resurfaced. "Never do that, okay?" Dad asked. Stacy nodded and kissed him on the cheek.

"Hey Luke," I said. "When was this recorded?" "The night before the wedding," Luke answered with a sigh. "What was the object that Dad was holding?" I asked. "And why is Stacy cutting herself?"

"Shh," Luke whispered, pointing at the screen. There was still more. "Lewis," Stacy began. "I am getting worried about the house. We don't have enough money-"

"I am going to take care of it," Dad interrupted. "While I take care of the finances, you go and get some rest." "But Lewis," Stacy started to say. "Get some sleep," Dad said.

Stacy nodded and disappeared into the house. Just then, Ellen came out of the house, looking exhausted. "Hey Ellen," Dad greeted. "Hi," Ellen said nervous. Stacy was telling the truth, she was pretty shy.

"I was-" Dad began. Suddenly, the footage was buzzy. Luke bit his lip as he was trying to fix it, but it was no use. "Ugh," I groaned. "Now what are we going to do?"

Luke was about to say something until he saw the shadows of my grandparents talking. He crept and slink behind the bushes. I clamped my mouth shut and trailed after him.

"What a disaster," grandmother was saying. "I thought this was going to be a perfect wedding." Grandpa snorted as he lit his cigarette. "I knew that Lewis couldn't be trusted with Williow or Cole."

"David," Grandmother groaned. "You have been saying that for seven years." "Well I am going to keep saying it until it gets into my head!" Grandpa roared.

"Keep your voice down Dave," Grandmother hissed. "Look at those people, can't you see that they are mourning about Ellen?" "That girl and her spoiled family mean nothing to me," Grandpa rasped. "Just last week, I saw that girl hiding something."

Luke and I looked at each other. "Just this morning," Grandpa said. "I arrived in the house, wanting to get them to know them a little and just when I was about to knock on the door, I heard a lot of arguing.

"Arguing?" Grandmother gasped. "About what?" "About the house or something," Grandpa said. "And get this, it was Stacy and Eileen." "Ellen, dear." Grandmother groaned.

We crawled away from my grandparents undetected and met up at the gate. "I can't believe that gold digger Stacy was broke." I said. "No wonder my mother thinks she doesn't travel first class anymore."

"And what was that object that your father threw?" Luke asked. I shrugged. "It was so dark that I couldn't see it." "Let's gather what we know," Luke said. "Ellen Lee, Stacy's half-sister, was stabbed with a pen."

"But the tip of the pen was snapped," I explained. "And the pen was nowhere to be found." "Meanwhile," Luke added. "There is dried blood on the floorboard that travels all the way to Stacy's bedroom."

"Because Stacy cuts herself," I said. "They were almost about to lose the house and.." "Something is going on between Stacy and Ellen." Luke said. "Probably something about the house or maybe she killed her."

"Maybe I should ask her a couple of questions," I suggested. "In the meantime, go to Stacy's room and find something that can help us solve Ellen's murder. "

"Got it," Luke said. He ran back into the house while I navigated the crowd to find Stacy. Just then, a cop car was leaning against the garden gate.

Oh no, I said. The cop beat me to her. Stacy sat on the table, drinking a glass of champagne while the male cop with sandy blond hair and blue eyes was asking her a couple of questions.

"Can you tell me the night before your sister was killed?" the cop asked. "Half-sister," Stacy corrected. "I just don't know how it happened. Ellen woke up in the morning, did her routine as always, and the next thing I knew she was lying dead on the gazebo."

"What about the argument?" I asked. Stacy looked up at me and recoiled. "What argument?" the cop asked. "It's none of your business Cole," Stacy snapped. I sat besides her and sighed.

"Look," I began. "It would be best if you tell the cop what you know. Unless, you might be hiding something." "I knew it," Stacy rasped. "I just knew that you hate me. You just couldn't accept me for who I am!"

"I know what you are," I sneered. "A self-centered, spoiled freak who couldn't tell the truth." "Alright," Stacy blurted. "Fine, we were arguing about the house and yes, we were trying to come up with the money."

"How did you come up with the money?" I asked. "Young lady," the cop said. "This is my job." I ignored him. "How did you come up with the money?" I asked again. "Ask your grandfather," Stacy shrugged. "He can answer your questions."

"Run along kid," the cop rasps. I rose up from my seat and walked away. I marched to the buffet table and caught my grandfather, drinking a bottle of rum. When he saw me, he twisted the cap on the bottle and hid it in his coat pocket.

"Better not mention this to your grandmother or your mother," Grandfather chuckled nervously. "Okay," I said. "Where is Mom, anyway?" "She's comforting the guests," he said. "So, what do you need, Cole?"

"How did you come up with the money, Grandpa?" I asked. "What do you mean?" "You know that Stacy was broke," I said calmly. "Didn't you?"

"It's not nice for you to snoop, Cole." Grandpa sighed. "But I don't blame your curiosity." "Can you please tell me what is going on?" I asked hopefully.

"The night before the wedding," Grandpa began. "Stacy came to me for the money. At first, I thought she was crazy, after spending a fortune on clothes, shoes, perfumes-"

I stared at him. "Anyway, she came to me, asking for help, and I gave her the money. But as soon as I came to the house, she was arguing with her half-sister."

"About the house," I guessed. "Come to think of it," Grandpa said. "Ellen and Stacy were arguing about something family related. Don't know what it was."

"Where were you when-" "Ellen was dead?" Grandpa guessed. "I was with your grandmother and your mom, talking about your stupid father. Anything else?" I shook my head. Even though my grandfather hated my dad, there was no way he could have killed Ellen.

I smiled at him and walked away.