A Second Chance by A L Fraine

Author:A L Fraine [Fraine, A L]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-10-10T23:00:00+00:00

16

“Damn it,” Nathan cursed under his breath as he stared at the screen and the information on it. It hadn’t taken long for him to track down the parents of Kendel Darby. The case was well documented at the time, and they had clear records of it. But when he came to hunting down where Kendel’s parents were now, he hit a sudden and frustrating dead end… literally.

They were dead.

Both parents had died in a car crash just months after Kendel went missing. The Darby’s car had hit a tree at speed, killing both people instantly. It was out in the countryside, and there were no witnesses to the actual crash. Instead, they were found by a passing vehicle. The report on the incident was short and to the point, and apart from the suspicious timing, there was nothing to indicate there was any foul play. Instead, it seemed like the incident was treated as a suicide.

Nathan wasn’t convinced. It was all a little too neat and tidy for his liking.

Beyond his parents, Kendel didn’t have much in the way of a family, and in fact, the only other family member, an uncle, died later that same year from a heart attack. Again, the timing seemed convenient.

After his parents died, the investigation into Kendel’s disappearance wound down, and he was never found. It was just another unsolved missing person’s case to add to the already tall pile.

But the circumstances were suspect, and Nathan wondered if perhaps Kendel himself had manufactured the whole thing. There was no proof of that, but something wasn’t right.

His investigations into the Darby family left him feeling frustrated. He’d felt sure he was onto something. It was as if someone had dangled some bait in front of him, only for them to whip it away at the last moment, like a cruel joke.

Looking over the report of the parents’ deaths again, hunting for some kind of clue, he saw they were laid to rest in a local cemetery. For a moment, he dismissed it and moved on before returning to that piece of information a moment later.

Why not? He’d come this far, he figured he might as well see it through to the end.

Grabbing his coat, Nathan left the SIU office behind and made the short drive to Leatherhead and the cemetery there.

He found them, eventually, laid side by side in the lush, well cared for grass, and there, laid on top were two bunches of flowers, one on each grave.

Nathan raised an eyebrow. Who would leave flowers on their graves? Their family was all dead or missing… Unless they weren’t.

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