The officer wasn’t even in uniform. He was wearing jeansand a black T-shirt, but for some reason it made the badge and gun on his belt even more intimidating. He pulled off his sunglasses and looked at me like I was a kid who’d just broken his favorite antique. Of course it would be Chris. Because of courseIwould be the one to get pulled over for speeding by a fucking detective. The two in our town were probably bored most of the time, at least until lately.
Honestly, it could have been worse. I’d been wary of him before, simply because he’d been the best friend of my mortal enemy in high school. The enemy who used to bemybest friend but had turned into a giant dick in middle school. Chris was the one who’d questioned me when shit started to hit the fan in our town, and he was the only person at the police station who hadn’t looked at me suspiciously, like I waslyingwhen I had an alibi they couldn’t argue with. I was pretty sure he was the only one who believed me, so I supposed he was the best one to pull me over. At least it wasn’t one of the older, homophobic ones, or the younger ones who’d also tortured me in high school, like Chase.
Chris was still a cop, though, and it was still a bad day. “You were speeding, Elijah. What’s the rush?”
I rolled my eyes, handing him the license and registration he hadn’t even asked for yet. “I was running late for work. Now I’m going to be even later.”
“Yeah, probably so, because breaking the law never pays.”Like he wasn’t out getting drunk at bonfires in the woods when he was seventeen.“You were going forty-two. You know the speed limit is thirty through here.” He eyed me like he had more life experience than I did, when he was the same age as me. “The road’s curvy. You could lose control of your vehicle. Speed limits are there for a reason.”
Are you fucking kidding me? He was always speeding when he didn’t actually have anywhere to be. “Uh-huh.” He looked at me scrutinizingly for another moment then took my papers back to his car. I leaned back in my seat to wait. I thought about texting Rory, but there was no point. I’d tell them I got pulled over whenI got to work.
I looked in my rearview but could only see the outline of Chris’s form in the front seat. I wondered if he was actually going to give me a ticket. It would be on par with my day, but he’d never beenthatbad in high school. He was nicer than the person I’d thought was my friend, anyway. I’d heard him that day, even though he didn’t know it. I heard him say, “Come on, man, just let it go.” I never forgot it even though he didn’t actually step in to stop what happened. I had no idea if he would have had it escalated further, but he hadn’t been an ass when he questioned me either. He hadn’t treated me like I was guilty even before they checked my alibi.
He stepped back up to the window. “Slow the hell down, Stallard. I’m giving you a warning this time.” He handed me the warning and my info. At least I had proof that I’d been pulled over. He hesitated at my window. “Look, I’ve been meaning to talk to you, but I can’t do it officially.” I braced myself, having no idea what was getting ready to come out of his mouth. “I just wondered if, you know, youknowanything about Brandon.”
Now I was the one to hesitate. I wasn’t sure what he was getting at.Unofficially?What did he want to know? Everyone knew. They knew about us, and they’d seen the bruises. They knew about the hospital trip. They weren’t stupid, but neither was I. “I know I have terrible taste in men?” I tried. Had he changed his mind about my innocence? “I mean, you know I wasn’t there, Chris...” I paused and looked at him, uncertain.
He shifted his feet and avoided my eyes. “No, I know that, I was just wondering. I mean, you used to... I wanted to know if you knew anything. Or if you’d seen anything. Or had any feelings...” He trailed off.
Oh. That kind of “know.” I couldn’t believe he was asking me that. They must be desperate. I shook my head. I really just wanted to go to work. I didn’t talk about things like that with anyone. They always looked at me like I was crazy, or possessed by a demon or something. Besides, Ididn’tknow. It wasn’t something I could turn on and off at will. I had no idea who was inthat cabin that night, but I did know there was no shortage of people who hated Brandon.
“No,” I said, looking away. “I don’t know anything. I can’t just... I don’t know anything about it, Chris. Sorry.”
“Right.” He still looked uncomfortable as hell, and frankly shocked at himself for asking. “Okay, get out of here so you can get to work before lunch. Just slow down, alright?” I nodded as he headed back to his car, then I pulled back onto the road.
I slowed to a stop at the only stop sign before town, the three-way stop at the end of my road. I was surrounded by woods on either side and in front of me, and I normally loved that, but something seemed off today. I had my windows down because the weather was perfect, the sun shining brightly, and I tried to tell myself it was just the bad morning I was having. I glanced in my mirror but Chris wasn’t behind me, so he must have turned around and gone the other way.
Just as I was about to make the turn, I heard a sound outside and my foot stayed on the brake. It sounded like music, somewhere in the woods. It didn’t sound like a speaker, more like a... choir, but there were no houses or buildings anywhere around me. Everything in me was screaming to get the hell out of there, but I was transfixed and sat there, wide-eyed and listening, unable to let my foot off the brake.
It continued as I listened, but I couldn’t make out any words or even a particular tune. It somehow sounded both near me and far away, but I couldn’t figure out where it could be coming from, unless someone was messing with me. There definitely weren’t any churches around that would be having choir practice. And though it didn’t sound piped in, it didn’t sound quite right either.
Then it faded a little, as though it moved farther away. I was able to break the spell and I finally let off the brake, hitting the AC button and rolling up my windows. I was still unnerved as I headed to work. Maybe my friends were right and everything was starting to get to me. I felt like I was losing my mind.
???
“You’re coming out with us tonight,” Rory declared as she plopped down next to me in the break room. “Everyone is coming, so you have to be there.” She eyed me in challenge. I rose to it.
“I don’t feel like going out,” I groaned, returning to my salad instead of looking at her. I didn’t care that I was off the next day. I wasn’t in the mood to go out drinking with my friends. “Enyo is missing me. I keep having stuff to do other than spend time with her. My garden needs a lot of work, and I just redid the bathroom cabinets and I haven’t been able to just sit at home and relax. I think I’m going to watch movies in bed with Enyo on my lap, eating pizza.” Honestly, it sounded like heaven. The bar did not. Besides, the last time they’d talked me into going out was the night my ex had been murdered. And while I was glad there was proof all over town that I hadn’t been at his cabin, what ifIwas next? My recurring dream didn’t give me a time range. It felt like bad luck to go out drinking again. Like I was tempting fate.
Rory rolled her eyes. “Nice try. I know Enyo as well as you do. I held her eyeball with hemostats during surgery because you felt bad. I know she wants you to be happy and have fun with your friends. She can tell you’re stressed. She can cuddle up with you when you get home and all day tomorrow. I’ll make sure your drunk ass gets home safe. Come have fun. It’s been a while. You... need to go out.”
I didnotneed to go out. She also couldn’t make promises like that, because she would not get me home since she’d be drunk too, and I’d have to call for a ride like I always did. I could tell she wasn’t going to back down, though, so I conceded before she could start again. “Fine, Rory. Whatever. But I’m only staying for like two drinks, and then I’m going home to my cat.”
She grinned triumphantly, looking just a little too victorious because we both knew I was going to end up trashed. “Sounds good,” she said, her eyes twinkling. Her lips twitchedlike she wanted to say more but she reeled it in and went back to her food. We ate in silence for a minute, but she suddenly said, “You heard who’s back in town, right?”
I stabbed a piece of lettuce with my fork, glancing at the clock. We still had fifteen minutes of lunch, then only two more hours of work. I didn’t mind working Saturdays sometimes, since I got to leave early. At least I’d have some time to myself at home before having to drag my ass out in public. I glanced at Rory, not really caring about whatever gossip she was eager to tell me. “No, I guess not, since I have no clue what you’re talking about. Who?”
“Mason Hale.” She was still eating, but she glanced at me when she said it. She didn’t even seem to notice that my blood had run cold, even though she knew everything. She must have thought I was over it after all these years. I wasn’t.
“What? Why?” It came out almost a whisper even though I was trying to sound nonchalant. He’d gone to Chicago right out of high school and he was, I was certain, a dick of a cop up there. I bet he pulled people over for a mile an hour over the speed limit and “accidentally” hit people with a baton or the butt of his gun because they pissed him off. Or had he become a detective? It seemed like I’d heard that. Either way, he was definitely an ass about it. He hadn’t come back one time in all these years, not even to visit his parents.So why now?
Rory shrugged. “I don’t know. I think something happened in Chicago. I’m pretty sure he moved back in with his folks. Or maybe he’s just staying there temporarily. I didn’t actually catch the whole story. I don’t care about that prick’s life, I just heard he’s back. He’s such a jerk.”
I was already far away in my mind. She was there that day. I remembered her trying to defend me.
“Let him go, you assholes!” Her little ninety-pound frame tried to shove her way through an entire basketball team to get to me. “You guys are dicks! Why are you doing this?”
I almost chuckled remembering how she’d elbowed Chase hard enough to make him yelp. He wasn’t actively doinganything besides staring, but none of them were trying to stop it. No one even spoke up besides Chris.
