“We have this covered. Now, the questions I have for you...”
I walk him back through everything that I can remember, which isn’t much since I was blacked out almost every time someone died. The lack of progress makes me worry for Tristan and Wes. They aren’t safe. Not yet.
Chapter 26
March
“Guess who’s back!” Tristan Brent says as he walks through the doors of Cantine on a rainy evening in March, gift bags in hand.
Oh no.
“Hey!” I say. “How was your trip?” He was in Europe for a month longer than I thought he’d be. Which meant an extra month of peace for me.
“Oh, it was amazing. I wish I didn’t have to come back,” he says, plopping the bags on the bar counter.
Same, I think to myself.
“Well,” I say. “Tell me all about it.”
So Tristan tells me all about the Christmas markets in Germany, the way the Eiffel Tower sparkles at night in Paris, and the ruins of Rome. When we’re not busy with customers we go through the millions of pictures on his phone. By the time he’s gotten through all of it our shift is ending. I lock the door while we start cleaning up.
“What’s been going on here while I’ve been gone?” he asks. “Did you ever figure out that weird note situation you were telling me about?”
“Funny you should ask, actually. I need to talk to you about something.” I follow Tristan back to the freezer as he goes through the closing checklist. He checks the dates on the steak and chicken, writing new dates on what arrived today. I step in with him, letting the door close behind me. “So, um, let’s see, how do I explain this...”
Tristan looks up at me, waiting.
“I have this journal, and every time someone breaks my heart, I write them a fake eulogy, like they died. And someone took my journal, and is murdering everyone in it, and leaving my journal page at the crime scene trying to frame me for it. And uh... you’re in the journal. You’re actually the next name so...”
He looks at me for a long moment in the white freezer light before laughing, his breath coming out like smoke in the chilly air. “Is this a joke? Are you trying to prank me right now or something? It’s creative, I’ll give you that.”
“I wish,” I say.
He blinks at me when I don’t laugh with him. “Sloane, tell me this is a joke. Tell me you’re kidding.”
“I would love to do that, I really would, but...” Tristan walks past me to the freezer door and I go to follow him out, but he doesn’t open it. “It’s serious, Tristan—” He pushes against the door again, but it stays shut. “You have to push hard on that, sometimes it’s stuck.”
“I know,” he says. “I am.”
“Here, let me try.” He moves and I give it a hard push like I usually do to get it open, but it still doesn’t budge. “Okay, let’s both try,” I suggest. Tristan stands beside me and we both push as hard as we can on the freezer door.
“What the hell,” he says.
“Call Jess and tell her to come back and open it,” I say.
“My phone is behind the bar,” he says. “You call.”
“My phone is also behind the bar...”
“Fuck.”
“Maybe try running at it?” I suggest. “Or maybe you could, like, kick it down?”
He looks at me in disbelief. “What do I look like, an Avenger?”
I shake my head. “A what?”
“Never mind, I’ll try it,” he says, backing up and taking a breath before running at the door and slamming into it with his shoulder. “Fuck!” He slides down the door holding his shoulder.
