In the end, Taryn told Stephanie some of the events of the trial. Not all of it is due to it still being ongoing. Talking about how Roy was killed by a kid waving a gun around, that kid in question was a fifteen-year-old who is the son of a man her mother had been trying to get for many crimes alongside the police force for several years with no luck.
The man in question was Mathew Markson, and like any snake in the grass, he knew how to avoid being caught red-handed. Extortion, perjury, theft, he did that and more.
The bastard even went so far as to show up at Roy’s funeral, all the while mocking Taryn’s parents, calling into question if her mother’s nickname was still something used anymore. Which it was, people feared being caught by her as prosecution whenever they broke the law.
The Iron Law.
That was what everyone called Olivia Mira Erin Fortier. A nickname that Taryn’s mother rather disliked for how pompous and egotistical it made her sound when she was just doing her job like anyone else.
Taryn knew the reason for it; her mother was a sheer force to be reckoned with when it came to the law, practically winning every trial she worked for the Crown. With one of the few exceptions being anything revolving around Mathew.
Taryn’s mother had been denied from working the case for a disqualifying conflict of interest as the victim was her son. So, they got someone else to take the case, but as it stood, the trial itself didn’t seem to be going all that well. At least as far as Taryn knew. For she was only a civilian, and even though her parents had such jobs, even she was still privy to bits of information.
That and that of the seedy lawyer who was representing Mathew’s son, Alex. A kid who, at the time, clearly needed some form of medication as though he looked to be dealing with a mental disorder, she didn’t know which. Even now, Taryn didn’t know anything about the kid, and even though he was the one who pulled the trigger, she still couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. But such thoughts didn’t last long while she was on the stand dealing with his lawyer.
The lawyer would go off-topic and dig into Taryn’s personal life, at every chance he took. Poking and prodding with needless questions, painting a picture of her and how she always seemed to be dealing with death in her life. Finding dead bodies when exploring abandoned places or just being around those who dealt with it. Bringing up the line:
“You’re constantly surrounded by death, aren’t you, Miss Lowell?”
It was true, in a sense, holding an almost double meaning to her. But how that lawyer said those words made her feel sick. He sounded as though she enjoyed it, being around that kind of thing. It wasn’t who she was, but no one seemed to care.
“Jesus…” Stephanie muttered when Taryn was done. “That’s… Jesus on toast, that’s a lot to take in. No wonder you’ve been stressed.”
“I’ve been through worse…” but Taryn chose not to elaborate on it.
“I’m surprised you didn’t punt the jackoff to the moon for saying all of that.”
Taryn laughed dryly, clearly picturing it in her mind. “God, I wish I could, or at least watch someone else do it. I’m sure even Isaac wanted to have that lawyer barred for his conduct. But I think that’s already been handled. The son I mentioned who shot Roy, Alex? He fired the man and hired a new one offered by the defence attorney’s office. He seems to no longer want to be in contact with his father.”
Stephanie frowned. “Why?”
Taryn shrugged. “No idea, I’d probably know more, but I’m kind of on the other side of the world. I asked both my Mom and the lawyer that’s working the trial if I was needed, but they both said I was okay to go. So here I am.”
“Well, I’m glad they let you, and that you and I are actually talking and not awkwardly avoiding each other.”
“If I’m recalling it right, you were avoiding me because you didn’t want me to return the tickets to you. Either that or you were afraid I’d hit you; I wasn’t sure which.”
“Both actually,” she admitted with a nervous laugh. “I remembered that your family history is known for going into the army and even fighting in both world wars. And as much as I felt like probably deserved a punch to the face, I didn’t want to have any teeth broken.”
Taryn just looked at her blankly with a dull stare. Just how hard does she think I can hit? “Well, you’re pretty much spared from my wrath. I was never able to get into the army. Nor will I ever in the future.” She said as she took another sip of her drink.
“Why not?”
She paused, her glass an inch away from her lips. “Health reasons.”
Stephanie gave a puzzled look as she leaned back on her stool as her dark blue eyes now scanning Taryn’s body. “You look healthy to me, a bit pale but normal all around.”
“If I so much as step into the sun, I’d pretty much bust into flames,” Taryn said jokingly.
“You related to a vampire or something?”
Taryn chuckled. “Wouldn’t that be something?” She set her glass down. “But jokes aside, I like my skin and would rather not get cancer from such merciless rays.”
“So then, what’s the health reason?” She paused, then a sudden light came to her eyes, clearly remembering something. “Oh, right, you have asthma. That’s the reason?”
“It is,” there were a few other factors, but those were ones Taryn wasn’t willing to go into. “I ended up dealing with something at a very young age. I can recall being at my Aunt’s place. An accident happened, and a bunch of mirrors broke.” She pushed back her bangs with her left hand, revealing the deeply gashed scar that rested along her forehead. “This is proof of it.”
After a silent moment as the woman stared at the scar, Stephanie asked. “Any idea what caused the mirrors to break?”
Taryn glanced away as she took another sip. “No,” A lie. “But I do remember Roy and Isaac were there. I remember that my Uncle, my Dad’s brother, was the one who ended up saving me and took me to the hospital. The shock from the mirrors was so bad I was struggling to even breathe. I remember that it scared my Mom. She was shouting at my Aunt before my Uncle joined in. I can’t remember anything of what they said. All I know is that not long after this happened, my Aunt just packed up and left. Without even so much as a goodbye.”
“Nice lady…” That sounds a lot like you, Mom. Stephanie thought with some disdain but kept the comment to herself.
“Even though my asthma causes problems for me, I still know how to defend myself and am more aware of my surroundings, my family wanted to make sure that I could take care of myself regardless of the situation.”
It was something Stephanie could relate to as well, for Stephanie’s father wanted her to be safe no matter where she went and always had her carry something that she could use to keep herself safe. “You keep talking about this Isaac guy, what does he look like?”
Taryn frowned slightly. “Why do you want to know?”
Stephanie gave a big grin. “Because I’m a nosey person.”
“Clearly,” Taryn took her phone from her lap and brought up her photos for Stephanie. Taryn tapped the one picture that she liked the most. “Here.”
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The picture was the three of them, Roy on the right, Isaac on the left, and Taryn in the center. In the picture, Taryn’s hair was much longer than it was now. Almost passed her chest as she and the two other men smiled in the photo.
“Your hair is really long in this; it’s a shame you cut it. You look good with long hair,” Stephanie says, then looks back to Taryn, seeing the length of it now. “Why did you cut it?”
“After being on the stands for so long I had a run-in with that asshole lawyer, he stopped me to talk. That’s what he claimed, but all he did was boast about how there was nothing I could do; the case was already done, blah, blah, blah. The guy was insufferable; I had to fight the part of me that wanted to strangle him. But it’s what he did that caused me to cut my hair. He extended his hand and touched it, only a few strands, but it was enough to make me feel sick.”
It took a moment for Stephanie to process it. “He… he’s not allowed to do that, though.”
“No, he’s not, which was why the moment he had, I simply readjusted his tie. Telling him if he were ever to touch me again, I hoped he’d hang by it.” She paused and added. “Just so we’re clear, I didn’t tell him that. It’s what came to mind when I made his tie too tight. It was enough to get the message across, I think. Since then, he hadn’t worn a tie to court. After he ran off, I went to the nearest hair salon, asked to cut my hair and save it and donate it so that my hair could become a wig for those battling cancer. Figured that if it could be of use, it’d be for something good.”
“I get that much, even if he did touch you, making a verbal threat would have ended badly. Especially if he had a recording device on hand. But, why go for the tie?”
“It’s a venerable spot. No one thinks that someone would grab them by their tie and tighten it like a noose. Most of the time, women who grab men by the tie just knee them in the crotch.” Taryn gulped back the rest of her drink and leaned back in her chair. “One of the many things I’ve learned from my Uncle, Dad, Grandfather and bodyguards. All so I can protect myself when they aren’t around. My Grandfather, Dad, Roy, and Uncle were in the army, but unlike them, my Uncle stayed for the better part of his career.”
“What does he do now, your Uncle?”
“He works for the Government of Canada, but he tends to do a lot of travelling.” She said as she waved the bartender down, where he came and took her empty glass and replaced it with another full glass. “I don’t know much more than that. Besides, whenever I see him, whatever work he’s done, won’t be involved. And I honestly don’t care one way or the other. If anything, I’m just happy I get to see him.”
“Huh,” she then looked back to Taryn’s phone. “So, which one is Isaac?”
“The one on my right is Roy, and the one on my left is Isaac.”
Roy was tall with a rather broad muscular build; his dark brown hair was cut short and his grey eyes looked even brighter with his lightly tanned skin from all the time in the army. His smile was broad as he kept a hand on Taryn’s shoulder.
While on the other hand, Isaac had light blond hair and dark green eyes, his skin was about just as pale as Taryn’s, while he had a lean build almost like that of a dancer. It surprised many when others learned that both men enlisted in the army at the same time and even served in the same unit together.
“Wow, you and your brother don’t look all that much alike. You must take after your Mom way more than your Dad.” Stephanie’s gaze then shifted over to the blond man. “So that’s Isaac, he’s cute. You’ve mentioned before that they’ve been friends for a long time. I can see that; they look close to you. I always thought it was important to be connected to those whom you love, family or otherwise. If you don’t mind me saying.”
“I know what you mean.” She looked at her new glass and the dark liquid inside. “I count myself lucky, given how much has happened in our lives. Even when Roy and Isaac enlisted, they did what they could to stay in touch.”
Stephanie smiled as she now scrolled through the photos, noting how Taryn took more after her mother, sharing similar facial features, though her mother looked to be taller and had slightly darker blue eyes with dark blonde hair. While in contrast, Taryn’s father was muscular and bulky, with tanned skin from being in the sun, light blue eyes that partly matched Taryn’s, black hair and a well-trimmed beard that showed signs of grey indicating his age.
“I wish I could have met your brother; he seems like he’d be such a cool guy,” Stephanie said as she stopped at a photo of Roy in his police attire, with a German Sheppard and cradling a black cat in one arm. Since it looked to be inside Taryn’s home, they must have been the family pets. Then followed with Isaac reading a book while sitting on a couch and wearing a turtle neck as the same black cat remained draped on his shoulders and stared out a nearby window. “You’re quite the shutter-bug, you know that.”
“It became a bit of a habit for me, hope it’s not too obnoxious.”
“No, I don’t think it is, a lot of these are neat.” She then handed Taryn back her phone.
Taryn looked at her phone; it was a group photo of her family, pets, and Isaac. Her Uncle was the one who took the photo. It made her grateful to have such a family, which made it even more painful when someone died. And where she could only blame herself for it.
“He died doing his job, you should be proud.”
“The man protected you like he would any other, having someone like that die for you just shows his character.”
“He was in the army, wasn’t he? As someone who comes from a long line of fighting in the army, you should be proud he fulfilled his duty. Anything less would be insulting.”
Taryn then picked up her drink, chugged it back, and let out a heavy sigh. Even after all these months, she still recalled the words of those people at Roy’s funeral. What the hell did they know?
Duty? Obligation? Of course, that was important, she understood that. But it didn’t mean a damn thing since she still felt to blame as the people telling her to be proud of that were ignorant of her pain.
“Hey, you okay?” Stephanie asked noticing her short-lived grim expression.
“Yeah,” In response Taryn pinched the bridge of her nose with her left index finger and thumb. “I just recalled something stupid.”
Stephanie gave a short laugh. “You’re not alone in that. I feel it all the time when I have to deal with people in my father’s company.” With a sudden narrow gaze, she stood up and proclaimed. “That’s it! No more talk about doom, gloom and death! We are getting smashed tonight!” she then pointed at Taryn. “And by we, I mean me since you can’t drink.”
She wasn’t about to argue with that. “That’s fair.”
The two of them continued talking about other things, Stephanie, while drinking, asked what Paul was like and wondered if Taryn knew much about him, and she had gone to school with the guy. But she kept most of her comments to herself, not wanting issues to surface to Robert through Stephanie. In Taryn’s memories, Paul wasn’t always the best of people depending on his mood, he was in one of them when Robert and Paul, along with his family, came to the funeral to pay their respects.
They changed topics relatively quickly, talking about music and their favourite bands, places they’ve been, and what they hoped to do in the future. Stephanie went on about how she knew certain fighting moves and wished to compare, even saying that she would teach Taryn a few actions that might surprise her Uncle.
Though Taryn doubted that, there wasn’t much that surprised a man like him. Mainly because she tried several times when he was visiting to surprise him, but the only thing she would ever get from him was practically a smirk. Much like Isaac, she never knew what her Uncle was thinking.
Then Stephanie proclaimed that they would find Taryn a hot Asian boyfriend, but Taryn simply declined to say she didn’t need that on this trip.
“Alright, I think that’s enough,” Taryn said, taking away her glass and placing it upside down. “We’re cutting you off, and I’m taking you back to your room.”
“Yeah… I probably should.” Stephanie mumbled as she laid her head on the bar. “I think I shouldn’t have had as much as I did.”
“Are you going to be sick?”
Stephanie waved a dismissive hand. “Nah, just lamenting the painful headache I’m going to get in the morning. I don’t think I’ll be drinking anymore on this trip.”
“That’s probably for the best.” After the two thanked the bartender and left, Taryn and Stephanie left taking an elevator up to their floor; since the room had changed, they were now both on the same floor, just a few rooms apart from each other in the hall. “Are you sure you don’t need any help getting to your room at all?” Taryn asked her, mainly out of concern. She didn’t want to leave the woman alone in the hallway.
“I’m good,” she said and began to walk towards her room, showing no signs of her being partly drunk, only to stop and look back at Taryn. “This was fun. We should do this again, and try to make it a regular thing after the trip. If you’re interested, that is.”
“Sure, I see no problem with that.”
Stephanie smiled. “Good. Hope the rest of your night is just as pleasant.” And continued to her room. Only to suddenly stop, turn around and say. “Oh, and hey, next time, if you need a haircut, come to me. I’m hairdressing and makeup is a hobby of mine. You can come to me whenever you need it, okay?”
“Thanks,” Taryn said with a wave as Stephanie now went off to her room.
Taryn merely stood where she was, ensuring that Stephanie could get back to her room without issue. When the blonde woman entered her room, Taryn went back into her room as quietly as possible. Rachael was still fast asleep.
Sitting on the edge of her bed, Taryn pulled out Roy’s ID Disc and stared at it. Tonight was unexpected in so many ways. But it was also enjoyable. Something she felt to be a bit more forthcoming while on this trip.
She only hoped it could last.