*Liberty*

"Sarah!" I yelled, calling out for my little niece. "Sarah! Are you ready to go see mummy?"

"Yeah!" Sarah yelled back as I buttoned her cute pink blouse she had on. 

Her mother had been in the hospital for a while now, and that didn't feel right to me. Not this time. Something was off, concerning Luna. Chase had been acting strange, and he'd struck me as somebody who was hiding something. Even Ahmed noticed it. But neither of us had said anything. The last time Luna was in a hospital, she was a literal mess. You could see it and feel the state of mind that was coming from her. My poor sister wasn't sick. Something in my gut told me so. 

And Chase, well, whatever he'd been keeping from me will come out. Luna told me the last time she was speaking to Sam. I watched her sob and curl up into a corner for months because his death was hard on her. Chase was always at work then and wasn't able to understand the signs of her breakdown. Luna didn't appear to have a breakdown this time.

He ticked me off the other day when Sarah and I rode into town, so I rented out a hotel room for a few nights for us and grabbed a few toys for Sarah when he let us into the house. I also grabbed some pictures of us, excluding him because he'd pissed me off by sending her there instead of talking to me first. He doesn't realize he wasn't the only one on her Health Care Proxy. Nope. Big sister is, and if she looked and seemed fine enough to come home, I will see what arrangements I can do to bring her home with us. She and Sarah could stay in Houston for a short while until things settled down. 

I knew when I last hugged her she gripped my shoulders so tight, sobbing lightly. The last time Luna did that it was because something bad happened, so I knew there was something going on between her and Chase the day they took off. What set me off was getting the call at two in the morning from him to tell me he brought her into St. Matthew's. That clinic wasn't even an institute for people who are mentally ill. It's a prison, and there are prisoners in that facility. My baby sister didn't deserve this. Not at all. And Sarah shouldn't be kept from her mum. 

Standing at the doorway of Luna's—it's her house, not Chase's—I brought my phone up and dialed our father's number. He ignored it and decided not to get involved with Luna's apparent mental problem this time. He only agreed for Chase to do what he thought was best. Luna didn't show any of her normal signs like she did the last time, and this time around felt forced. What did Chase do to her? 

I was onto him.

Sarah ran up to me and hugged my leg. I picked her up and held her little body in my arms. This poor girl had been through so much recently, and we were now ready to visit Lu. I know Luna disliked me calling her that and it got on her nerves, but she was my little sister and I could shorten anything I please.

I wished my fiancé were here. Ahmed stayed behind to help with the business while us girls came to New Orleans. He and I spoke about the weirdness that happened at our house the moment Luna hopped into the car with no shoes on and her clothes looking stretched out.

Then I noticed a few splotches of blood in the guest bathroom on the floor and carpet. I guess she started her period while they were in there, but something was still off about the whole situation.

Luna seemed quiet and reserved, not herself at all. If she had her period, she would ask for a tampon. But she didn't. She was the only one out of the women in our family who packed nothing ahead of time, knowing our menstrual cycle was off-track. Did they have rough sex before leaving, and that was why there was blood splattered? 

But that wasn't like her at all. She'd feel immediately embarrassed and help clean it up. I knew her routine. It didn't make since that there was blood on the floor of the bathroom and her mood  seemed sad that day, almost broken. And what Chase didn't know about me is that I once worked for a criminal attorney for five years before taking over the family business. I could smell something wasn't right.

Something wasn't right with him, but her big sister is here to figure it out. He had no right and no say in admitting her in there when she was asleep. "She freaked out in the passenger seat, Liberty. What was I supposed to do?" Chase could have let me help. He could have let me handle whatever she was going through. Ahmed and I have two vehicles and could rush to her side for whatever was needed. That was wrong and barbaric for him to place her into a psychiatric unit discussing nothing with me. Or even to Luna.

Something was off about this whole mess. I even found pills in their bedroom. I'm pretty sure he was slipping her something, and there was nothing I could about it. She needed to be out of the hospital first.

"Do you have the directions, Lib?" Chase asked behind me. I wished that he could have spoken to me about it first, but he didn't. I would've stayed up all night to talk to him about Luna's "situation." 

I spun around and gave him a blank expression. "I remember where it is. I've been away from New Orleans for a while, but I can still find my way there." I leaned down and grabbed my keys off the end table near the door. "What's going on with Luna's studio? What about her clients who pay good money for her photographs and service? Huh? Didn't think about that before admitting her into the Hellhole they call a hospital, did you? Oh, no. You needed to be a big bad-ass about it." He smirked, and I just wanted to slap it off his face. I disliked using that tone in front of Sarah, but he knew I despised him now. "Now she's going to lose her business, and probably her clients." 

As soon as I was finished chewing him out, I buckled Sarah into her car seat and glared back at him as he stood on the porch and had an arm above his head with a beer in the other hand. Then he had the audacity to come close to my car. 

"When you get there, talk to Dr. Kim. He's a thin Asian man who will explain everything happening to Luna, okay? And then I'll expect an apology." He raised an eyebrow at me, but then turned to look at Sarah, smiling her way. She giggled back, unaware of what we're talking about.

Once I hoped into my Volkswagen, I rolled down the window and stared straight into his eyes. "Something happened the moment you two rode away that day. I could see it from her eyes. She had tears in them. And I also saw the blood on the floor. I have one question and it would be best if you answered it honestly." 

He crossed his arms over his filthy shirt and spread his legs, titling his head up. "What is the question?"

I felt bile coming up my throat and had to force it back as the evidence flowed through my mind. I was about to be sick. "Did you two have sex? Is that why there was blood on the floor?" I brought my hands down into my lap and looked him dead in the eyes. "Did you two have a fight?" 

Chase's smirk he had over his jaw turned into a small smile, followed by a tiny laugh. Guilty. That was a sign of a person who was guilty. I know because I was a counselor in a shelter for abused women. Oh, God. I'm checking into her situation and see what I can do to get her out. This motherfucker did something to her. I just know. His body language felt off. 

I wanted to jump out of my car and spray his eyes with mace, then kick his groin with as much force as I could, and after that literally kick his ass. How dare he hurt my baby sister and then throw her into an institution that was inhumane! 

Instead, I placed my hands on the wheel and focused on going to her. Luna needed me and her daughter right now. We hadn't seen her in over a week, and Sarah had been having nightmares for the last several days. She used to have them at all hours of the night a few years ago, but things started getting better for her. But now there was another change in her life, and those nightmares have resurfaced. Damn, Chase. 

What none of them know is, is that I collected the samples from the bathroom, and took photographs. Working as a counselor had its perks. I kept a few rape kits with me, never knowing if one would come in handy. Ahmed helped me. He knew it looked bad, because he was young when he saw his mother get raped right in front of him. He was seven when that happened and phoned for help.

I glanced back at Sarah as she had her tiny headphones on and faked a smile at her, then gazed back up to this creep right in front of me. "Chase, I know something happened the day you both drove away, and I have the evidence stored away that came from my guest bathroom at my house; Luna's blood and some liquid that I'm sure will match yours. Fingerprint samples against the tile, too. This house you've shared together isn't in your name. It's in hers, and also in mine. And when I see her today, I'm sure she will confirm what I know. Don't bother going to visit her either. And I would leave this house I were you. Or the cops will escort you off the property." 

And with that, I turned over the engine and backed out of her driveway, then peered into my rearview mirror as I watched him throw his hat onto the ground, stomping hard. 

Guilty.

Chase was guilty and didn't expect that. Now it was time to see my sister and find out what really went down. Then come back to this house to throw his ass out. Chase is going down, and he's going to wish he never fucked with the Carlyle Girls. We're a tight bunch, Sarah included. My sister deserved justice. He was wrong for this. So wrong.

***