If there was a cliche that Caroline believed fully, it was that family was made and not always blood. They say that blood was thicker than water, but blood? Blood stained. Blood meant injury. Blood was red and thick and goopy, at least in Caroline’s experience. She thought about that a lot when she was standing in the shower and covered in fake blood, watching the red stained water swirl around the drain. Water was a life source. It was cleansing. It was refreshing. It was beautiful. Caroline didn’t have a single person who shared DNA with her in her life. Her biological father used her for money, shoving her in pageants and making it so terrible that she ran away. She’d never met her mother, she wasn’t even sure if she was alive. Every single person in her life that she considered family wasn’t blood, they were water.
Her best friend, the closest thing to a sister she had, she was water. They were water. (or tequila, that’s still being decided.) They were so close that they were almost the same. She could read her mind, and Birdie could read hers. They never fought, they loved each other in a way that was only to be described as some platonic soulmate, two shooting stars that were destined to shine together, that’s why she wasn’t even that surprised to find Will’s name on the bank statement from her stalker, they’d done everything together, and apparently that didn’t just stop at good.
She was glad she was coming, and she was even more glad that they had married men that celebrated their closeness instead of finding it annoying. They loved that they had each other and never tried to separate them. They were a set. A unit. Birdoline would never be apart, they’d be old ladies in wheelchairs still laughing until they cried. She was on bed rest, the bruising on her neck had scared everyone, it was that she’d had the same injury from the same man about a year ago, they were worried about how much damage it could take before there wasn’t a chance of healing. She’d been avoiding looking at herself in the mirror, and Abel had hired a nurse so that Caroline wouldn’t have to be at the hospital and could stay in the safety of their home.
She was still going over all the files, Abel had brought her a little tray and Caesar had posted up at her feet, he was laying peacefully with his head on her legs. Goose and Bluestone, their shared kittens, had found their happy places, Bluestone curled up against the pillow and resting on Caroline’s shoulder and Goose perched on the headboard. She looked around for Tank but figured he was following around Abel, he was such a daddy’s boy.
It wasn’t long until Birdie arrived, she was fast thanks to the fact that they suddenly had access to a jet. Harry and Abel gave them some space, she was sure Abel was explaining what she found to Harry as well as giving in to his emotions to his best friend. She was happy he had Harry. She felt better with her best friend in her king sized bed. She told her everything that happened, and asked her to help cover the bruises that decorated her neck. She explained to her that she thought it made Abel sad, that he felt responsible for her injuries even though she’d been the one to beg to go in alone.
Abel only came in to bring her glasses of water, and pills for the pain that the doctor had ordered right on time. She knew seeing her smile all cuddled up in bed with Mary Kate and Ashley movies playing even though the two of them were holding pink highlighters and going through stacks of papers. Abel had to go to a night shoot and took Harry with him, leaving Caroline and Birdie with their babysitter, Jordan.
It wasn’t long until Caroline realized that there was a recurring charge, it happened monthly. It was some type of bill. It was paid automatically for years, she searched the limited information on her laptop that was open. “Birdie, look. It’s a storage unit place. Like one of those box thingies, he’s been paying it for years…..we could go there. There has to be more information. If we can link them, like, for sure, maybe the police would do something?” She suggested, even though she knew that Abel and Harry would never let them go. A mischievous look on her face as she looked up from the computer and over to Birdie, knowing very well she’d know exactly what she was about to suggest. “........Jordan!”
