THE THIRTEENTH DAY - BOOK 1

Betrayal

Cassie drove to Brady's house incredibly shaken by what she had just discovered. She did not inform him that she was coming, so once she got to his apartment she called him. He buzzed her in and she took the elevator to the fifth floor where his apartment was. 

Cassie had been in Brady's apartment for about ten minutes, silenced by shock. She held a hot cup of tea in her hands and the heat burned through her hands but she did not flinch, her brain was distracted by the thought of her brother being involved in the murders somehow. She was scared, confused and in denial. She wondered what she was even doing in Brady's apartment. She looked over to her bag that she had placed beside her on Brady's couch, the fact that the blood of the newest victim could be in her bag terrified her, she felt goosebumps rise on her skin, she brought her shaky hands up to her lips with the mug in hand, and took in the delicious hot tea that Brady had prepared for her. The hot liquid slid down her throat and burned her insides.

She looked at Brady who was sitting at the other end of the couch. He looked exhausted as he looked at her, patiently waiting for her to explain why she was in his apartment at such an ungodly hour. He looked down at the Rolex watch that was strapped around his left arm "Cassie are you ready to tell me why you are at my house at this hour?" he asked impatiently and brought his watch up to her face before placing his hand back down. He let out a long yawn and looked at Cassie impatiently.

"I'm not entirely sure," she replied as she drifted off into nothingness for a second.

"What do you mean you're not entirely sure?" he sounded annoyed. She slowly placed the mug on his table, opened her bag and pulled out the trash bag that contained the bloody shirt. He watched her carefully waiting to see if she had any germane reason for coming to his apartment so late. He looked to her impatiently, waiting for her to say something. She pushed the trash bag to him and looked forward, away from his gaze.

"Look inside," she said impassively, she shook her legs nervously and took in several deep breaths. 

He did as she commanded but his gaze was fixed on her, he looked at her skeptically before he slowly picked up the bag and placed it on his lap. He pulled the bag open and immediately scrunched up his nose as soon as the smell of blood invaded his nostrils. He opened the bag wider and his eyes widened, he had a dazed expression on his face. He was stupefied. "I found it in my brothers bag alongside a rose, Brady" she said the words quickly, stood up and paced around his living room. "Brady what if my brother is the killer?" She asked as tears cascades down her face, her tears washed down her mascara leaving a streak of mascara to stain each side of her cheeks.

She rubbed away the tears with the back of her hands and the stain spread unattractively on her face. She was a mess.

"When did you find this Cassie?" he asked sternly.

"About an hour ago," she said. "He came home today for the first time in a long time looking a mess. When I asked him what happened he told me that he got into a fight or something like that," she said shaking her head as she sat back down on the couch and angled her body towards Brady. "Brady I could see it in his eyes that he was lying, the way he tensed, the way he barked back answers to my questions. I could tell that he was hiding something, and when I saw the rose," she paused for a second and looked away before finally speaking again "there was an explosion of confusion in my mind. I felt like a bomb of confusion blew up in my head and ruined me."

"Has he done any other thing that will make you suspect him Cassie?" He asked as he placed the trash bad on the floor beside his bare feet.

"There were a few hints but I never took them seriously," she answered as she brought her right leg up and rested it on his couch "On the night of his party I saw him leave with Elisa Whitecloud and then hours later, she was dead. All my friends were threatened and he has all their numbers, he knew that I was on this case without me mentioning it to him. I saw his bike in front of the hospital the exact same day that Matt was admitted which was also the exact same day that I got my second threat."