Chapter Ten - The Fingerprint
Kendrick's POV
"A forensics will be conducted to see if we can get the fingerprint of the mysterious bride from the knife she stabbed your mother with and the note she left behind." Brooks said over the phone. I nodded my head slowly, although I was a bit distracted because I was mostly concerned about Laura and her strange behaviour.
Why was she acting off? If it was not about the wedding then what could it have possibly been about? Laura never kept secrets from me, she tells me basically everything even the most random stuff ever. That was the main reason why I was so worried, why was she specifically keeping this one from me? What made the secret so important?
"Brother, are you still there?" Brooks' voice jolted me out of my thoughts and back to reality. I pressed my phone closer to my ear. "Sorry man, I just got distracted for a brief moment." I apologized. I was about to ask Brooks to repeat whatever he said but he had beat me to talking by asking. "What is up with you and your wife? You both seem to be totally out of it." Brooks pointed out.
I released a heavy sigh. Could I say wedding stress? Or the whole investigation stuff? The crimes going around us lately? My mother's death? Bruno in a coma? Concern over Laura? I had a lot going on my mind right now. "We just have quite a lot going on around us." I pointed. I heard Bruno mumble some words to himself over the phone. "I will do my best to help you catch the so-called mysterious bride so relax. Like I said, a forensics test will be conducted to get the fingerprint of the culprit, that way we can at least know exactly who we are dealing with." Brooks said.
I nodded my head in agreement. "Let us do just that and do not forget to keep me posted on however it goes. Deal?" I told Brooks and he agreed. We talked for a little longer over the phone before I eventually hung up.
I was tempted to go downstairs and check on Laura, maybe just to peek and see if she was doing okay. I climbed off the king-sized bed and I slowly made my way towards the door. I pulled the door knob open and surprisingly for me, Laura was already standing in front of the door.
I gasped in shock, startled by her presence. "Did I scare you?" She asked with a concerned look on her face. I cleared my throat and shook my head in disagreement, immediately comporting myself.
"Were you going to leave the room? Where are you headed to?" Laura asked. I rubbed the back of my neck and shook my head in disagreement. "Nothing, I just needed to open the door for some fresh air." I lied.
Laura slowly nodded her head in agreement. "Let me help you with that..." She walked towards the door and pushed it open wide. I gulped a lump down my throat and muttered a cuss under my breath at my stupid lie, of course even Laura knew it was a lie, she had just chosen not to say anything.
I forced a grateful smile on my face and walked to my bed. I felt really awkward with Laura's presence lurking around. It felt like she had something to say and she was just most likely thinking of the right words to use.
I pretended not to care as I laid on my bed nonchalantly. Surprisingly for me Laura joined me on the bed, she turned to gaze at me with a serious look on her face. "We need to talk." She pointed out. I groaned in frustration for the umpteenth time today. Too much talking was beginning to damage my brain cells.
"Laura, I am really exhausted....." I started but Laura cut me off with an eye roll. "I promise you, it is not about the marriage, neither is it about the mysterious bride. I promise you that this is something new, something positive."
"Fine, I am listening." I said hoping that it was truly positive.
"Business..." Laura said. "Bree recently introduced me to this new business and it is legit as hell. I can make money from selling a lot of luxurious clothes to famous people around the country. Can you imagine how cool that is?" Laura said with so much excitement laced in her tone. I sat upright and gazed at her in disbelief. Is she kidding me right now? In the middle of so much crisis? My mother's death? Bruno being in a coma? Our wedding is on hold and all she could think about is business?
I scoffed at her. "I am not buying that shit." I pointed out.
"Come on Kendrick. I am being serious here. I just need some money to start up the business, about four million dollars." Laura winked at me. Four what? Four fucking million dollars!? It was not like the money was too much for me, it just seemed too sudden. I was careful about the kind of money I always spent and honestly, four million on some stupid business seemed like a waste.
"Laura, what is wrong with you? Have you lost it?" I snapped at her. She was taken back by my sudden outburst and that only made me feel more angry. How could she even think of such a thing?
"I am done with you." I said, shaking my head in disappointment. I got to my feet and walked out of the room, ignoring Laura as she yelled my name severally.
The next morning, Laura had not said a single word to me. I felt like I had been too harsh towards her so I ended up sending her the money. Although I chose not to inform her about it at all.
Everywhere was less noisy, the mysterious bride had not showed up ever since the day of Bruno's accident.
I was in the office preparing to head for a meeting when I suddenly got a call from Brooks. I pressed the phone close to my ears.
"The forensics results are out." Brooks said, his voice was low.
"Tell me." I said in curiosity.
"Are you sure you want me to talk about it over the phone? It is a bit more delicate than you think." Brooks pointed out.
I rolled my eyes. "Tell me now Brooks!" I snapped at him, losing my patience.
"Laura."
"Laura, your fiance is the mysterious bride."
What?