“He’s a drunk, for starters.”
I thought back to the comment he’d made about the arcade being a good place to keep his mind off stuff—stuff tied to his father among other things, I guessed.
“Look, I don’t mind talking to you, but not about my family,” he said.
“All right, fine. Going back to the night Audrey died, did you see her that day?”
“I didn’t, and just so we’re clear, I never laid a hand on Audrey, and I didn’t follow her into the forest that night. I wouldn’t have ever done anything to hurt her, or any other woman for that matter. I get that you’re looking for a suspect, but you can chase down every shadow in this town. You won’t trace one back to me.”
His comment struck me as odd.
“When I mentioned Talia, you gave me a look that leads me to believe she’s more than a friend. Is she?”
“Ask her.”
“I will, later. Right now, I’m asking you.”
“Fine,” he said. “We’re dating.”
“For how long?”
“Since a few weeks before Audrey died.”
“Why keep it a secret?”
“Talia knew Audrey wouldn’t approve.”
“Audrey’s opinion no longer matters, so why keep the truth from everyone now?”
He shrugged. “We haven’t talked about it since Audrey died. Talia’s been having a hard time, so it doesn’t feel like the right moment to put our relationship on blast, not when there’s a sick psycho murderer out there.”
A sick psycho murderer.
I liked the label.
“Do Talia’s parents know about your relationship?” I asked.
“They didn’t before, but now that Talia’s spending most of her time in her room, I’ve gone to her house a lot more than usual. They haven’t said anything to me, but I think they suspect something’s going on.”
“What about your friends? Do they know?”
He shook his head. “A few. I felt kinda guilty.”
“About what?”
“Talia told me Audrey hated secrets, and she hated lies even more. They fought about it once. Big fight. I walked in on it. Audrey called me trouble, and Talia said she didn’t know me well enough to judge me the way she did.”
“Do you agree with Talia’s assessment of you?”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, but hey, sometimes I think I don’t even know myself. You know what I mean?”
“I do. There have been times in my life when I’ve questioned everything about myself.”
“You? I can’t believe it. You look like the most well-put-together person I’ve ever met.”
“I suppose I am—now. It wasn’t always that way. Going back to the argument between Talia and Audrey … is there anything else I should know?”
He gave the question some thought. “Maybe one thing. Talia accused Audrey of keeping a secret herself.”
