Tabitha's POV
Although Klein's family was internationally renowned, being in a foreign land definitely put some limits on what he could do.
It wasn't as easy for him to get things done here in Seattle for him as it was for Derek.
After agreeing to his request, Derek pulled some strings and quickly got professionals to start the autopsy.
Meanwhile, Klein was just stuck in one position, his gaze drifting off to who-knows-where.
I set a glass of lemonade in front of him and gently advised, "Klein, the results will be out soon. Don't stress. It's probably not what we're thinking. Just drink some water."
Klein, snapping back to reality, replied in a hoarse voice, "Can you tell me again about the details of when you saw her?"
I then carefully recounted the process of how I escaped onto the boat.
When I got to the part about being in that filthy water with the body and seeing a school of fish swimming out of its eyes, both Derek and Klein's faces went pale at the same time.
Derek said, "I'm sorry, Tabitha. I only knew you made it out alive, but I had no idea how challenging the escape process had been. It's all my fault."
Klein, on the other hand, remained silent. His eyes were bloodshot, and his long fingers were gripping his knees so tight that even his fancy pants were getting wrinkled from it.
"Klein, calm down. We haven't got any results yet. You're in poor health. Please try not to get too emotional," I tried to reassure him.
But he shook his head, replying, "Tabitha, I have this awful feeling that skeleton belongs to my sister."
After what had happened to Holly and Dad, I totally understood how painful losing a loved one could be.
So I tried to comfort Klein as much as possible, but before I could even speak, he cut me off.
"Me and my brothers have been having this dream for over six months where Cynthia would cry in the water begging us to save her. At first, we thought it was just a coincidence or maybe our minds playing tricks on us because we were scared something happened to her. So we've been searching for her everywhere.
"There has been no trace of her for the past six months, and that damn guy has vanished too. Yet our dream never stops. In it, Cynthia always covers her heart with her hands and stands there soaked in water crying. You mentioned that the body died from a gunshot wound, right?"
As I listened, I felt a chill down my spine. After he finished speaking, I nodded slowly. "I'm not sure if gunshots were definitely the cause of death, but when I saw her, she'd probably been dead for about a week or two. There was a clear wound on her chest, and I can say for sure she had been shot before she died."
Klein clenched his fists as if he already knew what had gone down back then.
He told me, "Cynthia might've been spoiled rotten, but she was a good girl.
"She ran away from home on a whim, but given her personality, there's no way she'd go this long without checking in on us. I mean, she didn't even send us a text saying she was okay!
"In the past few days, I've been searching for her whereabouts everywhere. If she were still alive, she would definitely know.
"Mom and Dad are waiting for her back home. She wouldn't bear to let them worry sick about her. The fact that she hasn't reached out clearly means she's gotten herself into some serious trouble. So, I think that corpse belongs to her."
Derek, who looked uninterested in Klein's family affairs, pulled me down onto a seat beside him, saying, "It's getting late. Let me take you home."
"No, the results will be out soon," I replied while silently praying for Klein, hoping it wouldn't be Cynthia.
Just then, I frowned and let out a small gasp.
"What's wrong?" Derek asked, a concerned look on his face.
"Nothing. Just felt a slight pain in my tummy."
"See? Even the babies are protesting. You should rest."
I knew better than anyone else that as a pregnant woman, I shouldn't be stressing myself out all the time. But I just couldn't bring myself to stop worrying about this thing.
Since I was five months along now, the fetal movements had already become quite frequent. Usually, the twins seemed sympathetic towards me, so their movements weren't too wild.
But the kick just now was quite strong. I quickly sat down and took a couple of sips from the water Derek handed me.
When I turned my head, I found him staring intently at my belly. "What are you looking at?" I asked with a frown.
A hint of discomfort flashed across his face as he lowered his voice, begging, "Can I ... touch it?"
Crystal snorted inside me, saying, "In your dreams!"