Until the days began to blur and the nights became a void.
She blamed her illness at first, but Elijah had seen her taking her meds, so he knew that wasn’t the problem.
Stress, she put it down to.
Once she’d left Michael, everything would be okay.
Elijah smiled, his eyes moving behind his closed lids. She was so brave, determined to tell him on her own.
Elijah’s smile fell. He knew he should have gone with her. This was their burden, not hers, and he should have been by her side.
And now? Where the hell was she?
His whisky-drenched thoughts spun around his head. And with thoughts of Delores and where she could be, he fell asleep.
Chapter Ten
Elijah
The doorbell sounded, waking Elijah from his fitful sleep.
He sat up, rubbed his eyes and blinked into the darkened room. Sunlight filtered in through the same slit in the blinds that he had been looking out of last night, watching and wondering where Delores was. Through that same slash of sunlight, dust motes floated in the air, spinning on their axis and dancing off into their extinction.
The doorbell sounded again and Elijah’s gaze cut towards the front door. He stood up and stretched, his neck aching from sleeping on the sofa in such an uncomfortable position. His mouth was dry and pasty from the whisky that he drank to drown his worries. He licked his tongue across his cracked lips to moisten them. He moved quickly towards the door, his thoughts still sluggish from alcohol and a restless sleep. But beyond the wooden door he hoped to see Delores’s face.
Elijah unlatched the door and pulled it open, but it was not Delores that he saw.
“Elijah Schiver?”
He cocked his head to one side in confusion and mild panic. He swallowed, his mouth and throat suddenly drier than only a moment a go.
“You know I am,” he replied. His husky voice barely scraped the words out.
The two police officers stood in front of him. Both of their mouths were set in grim lines, their gazes sharp and alert. Elijah let out a heavy breath and pushed his hair away from his face. It returned almost immediately, like an insolent child, and fell across his forehead. A small frown puckered between his eyebrows.
“What’s this about?” he asked, worry burning a hole in his gut.
“We need you to come down to the station immediately to answer some questions regarding a missing person,” the other officer stood, staring uncomfortably at Elijah as the scene unfolded. He was an older man, his face tired from his many years on the force. Elijah had known him for a long time. Working together side by side, their jobs had entwined.
“What’s happened?” Elijah protested, the stale scent of scotch drifting from his mouth. “Who is this about?” Elijah turned and stared into his darkened home, the half empty scotch bottle still on the table. His head thumped with the beginnings of a migraine.
Delores’s face flitted into his head. Her small mouth and pale skin, her soulful eyes.
“Is this about Delores?” he asked, worry tinging his voice. He turned back around to face the officers again, noting the flash of recognition cross both of their faces.
“We can explain everything when we get to the station, Sir,” the officer stared at Elijah and Elijah nodded. Sir, not boss like he normally used. Sir, like he was a criminal.
“I just need to get my things.” Elijah turned to go back inside, but the officer placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Sir, that won’t be necessary. I’m sure this will all be cleared up soon enough, but we need you to come immediately. Officer Heston can secure your home for you.”
Elijah turned back around, and the two men stared at one another. Each with their own expressions, their emotions drenching their features. The police officer was young, fresh out of the force barely six months ago. His discomfort at this whole thing was apparent.
Elijah nodded and looked to officer Heston while he fished the house keys from his pocket and handed them over. All three men stood on the small stoop while Officer Heston locked the front door and then made their way to the police cruiser.
The younger officer, who Elijah knew to be Officer Crest, opened the back door and motioned for Elijah to get in. He did. Once inside, he looked up to Officer Crest with a mixture of confusion, annoyance and worry.
“Is this about Delores?”
