I shake my head. One day, someone’s gonna come along and knock him on his ass, and I for one can’t wait.
“Alright, catch you later. I wanna head to my parents’ place around ten, so tell those who want to come to aim for then, and I’ll bring breakfast for everyone.”
“Works for me. See ya, Katy cat.” He winks at my sister, who waves back before walking over to the door.
I follow behind her, nodding to Nina behind the counter as I pass.
“See you later, Banner,” she calls out as I’m leaving.
I beep the locks so Katy can get in before climbing into the driver’s seat. “So, I was thinking about the house.”
“Which house, yours or Sorrow’s?”
“Both, actually. I hated Sorrow’s house and all it represented for the longest time, but now…”
“Now it’s the reason Sorrow returned.”
“Exactly. Still, there are so many bad memories attached to it for Sorrow. I can’t see her ever wanting to live in it, which leaves selling it. But do we want neighbors that close to us?”
“Knowing our luck, we’d end up with some asshat like Brian Decker.”
“Who the fuck is Brian Decker?”
“The guy that missed graduation a couple of years back for getting caught upskirting a bunch of girls.”
“Upskirting?”
“Taking photos without permission up a girl’s skirt.”
“Are you serious?”
“You never heard about it? Oh crap, it was when you were working on that case in Florida. Anyway, Annie Davis was one of the girls he took a photo of, and when her brother found out, he put him in the hospital.”
“Annie Davis. Wait, is her brother Nico Davis? The guy who runs the Krav Mag classes at the community center?”
“That’s the one.” She grins when I laugh.
“Serves the fucker right.”
“Oh, I’m with you, believe me. Anyway, Brian left town for a while but returned just after everything happened with Callie and Blake. Apparently, he found God and a pregnant wife while he was gone, and now he’s house hunting.”
“You think the wife knows?”
“That he’s a pervert? Not a clue. Haven’t seen her, only heard about her.”
“Remind me to mention this to Blake. Seems like the kinda guy we should be keeping an eye on, especially with the police being all over the place right now.”
“Oakey, dokey.”
We’re quiet the rest of the way over, lost in thought. Mine is on Katy’s letter. I can’t believe their answer to all the shit they caused is to run and abandon her like that. How can they walk away so easily, especially after already losing one kid? I’ve found myself in the weird fucking position of being disappointed in my parents. And every time I think they can’t get any worse, they prove me wrong. I get that people fuck up, lord knows I have, but I like to think I’ve learned from my mistakes. They doubled down on theirs.
I park outside the cemetery and climb out, cursing when it starts to rain. “Be right back,” I tell Katy, who nods, her eyes on her phone as she texts someone.
Walking through the iron gates, I head up the path before turning in the direction of Claire’s grave. As I get closer, I stop, turning a little. There’s nobody around. I head in the opposite direction to Alec’s grave, but frown when I see she’s not there either.
I keep going just in case she’s sitting somewhere and I can’t see her from the angle I’m at. By the time I’m virtually on top of Alec’s grave, I still can’t see her anywhere.
Pulling my cell phone out, I dial her number and wait. When I hear it ringing, I smile. The grin quickly falls when I still don’tsee her. I follow the sound of ringing and find her phone just behind Alec’s gravestone with a crack across the screen. I pick it up, my blood running cold as all the possible scenarios run through my head. I can’t think of a single outcome where Sorrow would leave here without her phone, knowing I was picking her up.
