“I grew up with Delores,” Annie said, breaking the silence. She turned her head to look at Elijah. “We went to the same high school, grew up on the same block, you know how it goes.”
“Were you two friends?” he asked, interested in learning more about Delores.
“No,” Annie shook her head. “She was,” she hesitated, trying to think of the right word without offending Elijah. “They used to call her Dopey Del at school.” Annie swallowed, uncomfortable with her admittance.
“Kids can be cruel,” Elijah replied, feeling angry for the teenage Delores.
“Yeah,” Annie mumbled, and by the blush in her cheeks Elijah surmised that she was one of the ring leaders in the bullying.
“What was she like?” he asked, knowing it was wrong to be angry at Annie now, after all these years. She was a good person, and a great cop, and he could see she was ashamed of the teenager she used to be.
Annie chuckled. “She was funny.”
Elijah scowled and Annie stopped laughing and smiled. “No, not like that. Like, she was genuinely funny. She always had a great sense of humour.”
Elijah nodded and sighed. Yeah, the Delores he knew could be funny too.
“But she was odd too,” Annie continued, “like, manic one day and so sad the next she’d barely lift her head up.” Her blush deepened. “I mean, I don’t think she’d been diagnosed then or anything, so she was just—,”
“Weird,” Elijah finished for her, guessing how it must have seemed back then. How the kids must have been with her. Treated her.
“Yeah,” Annie replied, swallowing down her guilt. She looked out of her window, turning her face away from Elijah.
Elijah had been bullied in high school, his drunk of a father making him a prime target. It was one of the reasons he’d originally wanted to become a police officer. Not to put the bad guys behind bars, but to find all those old school bullies and make their lives as hard as they’d made his. Yet, by the time he’d trained and was working the job, he found the anger had slid away. Kids will be kids, he’d decided. Little punk assholes that nine times out of ten grew up to be good people.
Annie pulled up outside the Medco’ and went to shut off the engine but Elijah shook his head.
“Park round the block,” he said, his gaze on the front of the pharmacy.
“Sir,” any replied and drove them round the side before shutting off the engine.
“I feel bad about it now, if it makes any difference,” Annie said as Elijah opened his door and started to get out. Elijah looked back in. “I was just a kid and I didn’t understand that she was sick—none of us did. We just thought she was weird. If we would have known,” her words trailed off. “I’ve not seen her in years though. I mean, we went in different directions. I joined the force and she became a stay at home mom.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Elijah said, still hating the teenage Annie for what she and her friends probably put Delores through, despite knowing that she was a good cop now and it was a long time ago.
“But I do,” Annie admitted. She shook her head. “We’re trying for a baby, Rob and I, and I keep thinking about…about high school, and the awful things I let happen. The last day of school she looked so lost. I’ve not seen her since, but I still think about her.”
“Don’t, don’t think about it. Have a baby, be good parents, teach your kid right from wrong, and make sure they don’t make the same mistakes we did. It’s all we can do,” Elijah admitted. “Just make sure you raise someone good.”
Annie nodded. Elijah got out of the car, not wanting to talk about it anymore. He meant what he’d said, but it was hard. He’d been on the receiving end of bullying, and so had Delores. And both of them had lived through incredibly hard childhoods. He should be angry, furious, but he wasn’t. The past needed to stay in the past, and he needed to look to the future. His future with Delores. If she ever came back to him.
Elijah made his way down the centre aisle, letting the air-conditioning of the pharmacy wash over him. He looked behind him, checking that Annie was following, and when he turned to face the counter again, he was as surprised to see Christine as she was to see him.
“Christine?” he said trying to keep his expression neutral.
Christine, however, couldn’t hide the way she paled, and her eyes widened at the sight of him.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Elijah
A moment of silence slipped between them both.
Officer Miles took that moment to step forwards and clear her throat, bringing both Elijah and Christine out of their reverie and into the present.
“Hi, Christine, I spoke to you a couple of days ago regarding the recent break in. This is Officer Schiver and he has a few more questions to ask you regarding the case.” Annie was, as usual, professional and calm. Her gaze held on to Christine, keeping her steady and giving Elijah the precious seconds he needed to put his mask of surprise firmly behind closed doors.
“We’ve actually met,” he said, both to Annie and to Christine. “At the deli yesterday, right?”
