She paced around the edge of the bog, waiting.
A figure appeared at the other end, tromping through the bush, shining a flashlight here and there.
“Dustin!” she called. “Over here!”
But it wasn’t Dustin.
It was Riley.
Had Dustin sent her instead?
“What are you doing here?” Lori asked.
“Dustin doesn’t want to talk to you,” Riley said.
“Didn’t he get my note?” Lori asked.
“My poor little brother. He’s a mess, you know. He called me this morning, sobbing, drunk, asked me to come over. When I got there, I saw the note under his wiper. I thought it was best not to upset him any more by showing it to him.”
“Riley, why would you—”
“He says you’ve been cheating on him for a long time. Everyone knows it. You know how it is in this town—how easily rumors spread. I tell a few people I’ve seen you go home with a stranger at the bar, that Dustin told me you’re cheating—and suddenly the whole town knows.”
“But…that’s bullshit,” Lori said softly. She shifted her weight, the peaty ground beneath her feet far from solid. Perfect, really, when nothing else felt solid anymore, either. “Why would you tell people that?” Her voice was high, tears pricking her eyes.
“Perfect Lori’s not so perfect, is she? Isn’t it time everyone saw it?”
“I never…I never claimed to be perfect.”
“Maybe not. But Dustin always saw you that way.”
Riley reached into her shirt, pulled out a gun. Not just any gun. It was Dicky’s six-shooter.
“I borrowed this,” Riley said with a grim smile. “Tell me, Lori, what’s the big surprise? What were you going to show Dustin?”
“Nothing,” Lori said, taking a step back. “I just wanted to see him, to tell him we could work things out.”
Riley laughed. “You can’t bullshit me. How dare you even try? After everything I did for you. Bringing you to Dicky’s? Helping you develop your gift, your connection to Hattie?”
“I…”
“You found it, didn’t you? You found Hattie’s treasure. She led you to it, right? Where is it?”
“There is no treasure. Not that I’ve found, anyway.”
“If you tell me, I’ll let you live.”
Now it was Lori who laughed. “Really? So now you’re going to kill me? Over some fantasy, some legend? Come on, Riley. I know you better than that.”
“Do you? Maybe you just think you do.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Riley brushed her blue bangs away from her eyes with the hand that wasn’t holding the gun. “I never did get what Dustin saw in you.”
“We…we love each other.”
“You don’t even know him! Not like I know him! You don’t even know half the shit we went through when we were kids, everything I did for him, everything I fucking sacrificed for him.” She waved Dicky’s gun around, keeping it pointed at Lori, who stood frozen.
