Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem ( Elysia and Tarquin)

"I had no choice," Bernard sighed, "so I told him: the day you can finally beat me,

I'll tell you who killed my wife. I even promised to help him get revenge."

"He took it to heart," Bernard continued, his eyes distant. "He threw himself into

training, worked harder than ever. For a while, it looked like he finally had

something to live for. But..."

Bernard's gaze drifted off to the horizon, and he let out a long, weary breath.

"The truth is, I still have no idea who the killer is. I've been trying to figure it out for

years, but they covered their tracks too well. There's not a single clue left behind."

"If I can't get to the bottom of it, there's no way my brother could."

"So all I could do was keep my distance. I didn't want to see him."

"Nothing good comes from us meeting. Only pain."

"If I don't know the murderer's name, I can't let him win. But if he loses, he gets

angry and desperate. It's a lose-lose situation..."noveldrama

Tarquin and Evan listened quietly, neither of them interrupting. After a while,

Tarquin spoke up:

"You know, since you've been hiding out here, it's not exactly easy for you to

investigate. But if you trust me, I can give it a shot. I can't make any promises, but

I've got contacts overseas—old friends, people who owe me favors. It might be

easier for me to dig around."

Bernard turned to Tarquin, his brow furrowed in thought. He was silent for a

moment, then exhaled heavily. "Let's talk about it later."

He didn't know who the killer was, but he was certain it had something to do with

foreign fighters.

If Tarquin started poking around, he might get himself targeted.

Bernard didn't want the younger generation getting tangled up in this mess.

"You just focus on living a good life with Elysia. Raise those kids right. Try to stay

out of trouble as much as you can."

Bernard's eyes softened as he looked at Evan. "Now you know why I always tell

you—keep a low profile when you're out there. If you need to teach someone a

lesson, fine, but don't draw too much attention to yourself."

Evan scrunched up his little nose, frowning. He felt bad for Bernard. He even felt

bad for the old scarred man whose life had been torn apart.

Evan didn't think Bernard was

wrong. And he understood the

scarred man's pain. If anyone hurt

his mom, he wouldn't care about

anything else but revenge, either.

In the end, the grudge between these two old men wasn't their fault. The ones to

blame were the killers.

Evan didn't say anything out loud,

but he made a promise to himself: If

Bernard and the old man couldn't

solve the case before they were

gone, he'd take over. He'd keep

looking. He'd never stop, not until he

found the truth.

Tarquin was thinking similar

thoughts, but said nothing. Instead,

he looked at Bernard and asked, "Is

that why you've been hiding out here

all these years? Because of all this?"

Bernard gave Tarquin a look that was impossible to read. He neither confirmed

nor denied it. Then he let out another long breath and abruptly changed the

subject.

"Come on, let's head back and get something to eat. After that, we've got some

unruly relatives to deal with."

Clearly, the old man didn't want to answer Tarquin's question.

He got up, forcing a smile onto his face so the others wouldn't worry.

"Evan, want me to give you a piggyback ride?"

Evan sniffed, but played along. "No way! I want to race you home. First one back

wins!"

Before Bernard could respond, Evan took off running.

Bernard laughed. "Hey, you can't just take off before the race starts! Cheater!"

Evan glanced back and stuck out his tongue. "All's fair in love and war!"

"Oh, you little rascal! Trying to trick your old grandpa? I'm coming for you!"

In an instant, the old man and the little boy disappeared from Tarquin's view, their

laughter echoing in the distance.

Tarquin stood there for a moment, frowning thoughtfully.

He had a feeling there was a lot more to these old men and their life in the woods

than met the eye...