by PJ Fernor
When baby Lo woke up that night, I took care of everything.
The next morning Alex woke up and cried because it meant so much to her that I had helped. Never did I think I would be raising Lo. Or that Alex would be gone.
I thought about every memory I could muster up on the thirty-minute ride to the prison.
It was on the top of a mountain, hidden away from the rest of the world.
The sky was blue and the air was slightly cold.
There was a feel to the place.
Which it was supposed to have.
There were really bad guys in there.
Including Calvin.
I walked in silence, trying to keep my breathing calm.
I had to go through all the normal conversations and checkpoints and the metal detectors.
Then I was taken to a room with ugly blue walls.
The air was heavy and very dry.
A small window at the very top, the glass frosted with metal bars across it.
I sat for what I thought had to have been eight hours, but it was only five minutes.
Then I heard a loud buzz.
The door opened.
Calvin was being led into the room.
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Calvin looked like a regular guy.
He wasn’t tall. He wasn’t short.
His hair was short, thinned, a little bit messy. Probably not the hairstyle he was accustomed to outside of prison. An uneven line of scruffy facial hair painted his cheeks and chin.
When his brown eyes met mine, I felt nothing.
His bright orange jumpsuit and handcuffs completed the look.
I had faced off with many hardened criminals in my life.
Some had the ability to just stare. To wrestle you with their eyes, hoping to catch you in a weak moment, then pounce.
That was not going to happen with Calvin.
He sat down and was properly cuffed to the table.
Then it was just me and him.
Alone in the room.
“To what do I owe this visit?” Calvin asked. “And… who are you?”
“I’m a detective working on another case,” I said. “I believe you were part of it.”
“I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but I’ve been here for a little while now,” Calvin said.
“You’re facing some serious jail time. You got drunk and… what happened again?”
Calvin stretched his neck. “What do you want?”
“You did it once before, Calvin,” I said. “At least once before. Right? Maybe not murder but you were out on the roads, driving while intoxicated.”
“Okay. Your point?”
“You did kill once before though,” I said. “Do you remember that night? Do you remember hitting a car and then driving off? Huh?”
Calvin swallowed hard.
Oh, you remember…
“I don’t recall,” he said.
“That’s interesting,” I said. “Let me go into some detail then. Describe the scene. What you left behind. Who you left behind. She was a mother. Did you know that?”
“This is a waste of time,” Calvin said. “I’ve already been charged. As you said, I’m facing serious jail time. What do you really want?”
“Her name was Alex,” I said. “What a name, right? She never liked to be called by her full name either. She was proud to be Alex. And any sort of confusion whether that name was male or female, she stuck up for herself. I think she enjoyed it when someone assumed her to be a man because of her name. You know? I remember one time there was a discussion with a local football team. She put her name down and some stats of how fast she could run. She showed up to the field and everyone laughed at her. She out ran everyone there. Then she walked off the field. Nobody ever heard the name Alex and assumed it was a male ever again.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“That was her name,” I said. “The woman you killed. You killed her, then you left. You left the scene…”
“I’ve made mistakes.”
“Mistakes? Murder… is a mistake?”
“Why does this matter to you? You’re trying to close the case? Is that what it is?”
“I guess you can say that,” I said. “I want you to look at something.”
I took my phone out and pulled up a picture of Lo.
I showed it to Calvin.
“Who is that?”
“That’s Lo,” I said. “Alex’s daughter. You killed this teenage girl’s mother.”
Calvin’s jaw tightened.
Now he was feeling it.
“How do I know all of this? I’m a detective… but I’m also Alex’s sister. I’m Lo’s aunt.”
“Oh, come on,” Calvin said. “This isn’t fair.”
“What’s not fair is that my sister went for a drive and never came back home,” I said. “What’s not fair is that my niece had an argument with her mother that night. And now for the rest of her life she has to live with the guilt that she didn’t hug her mother and tell her mother she loved her. You took that from her. You took my sister. You took my niece’s mother.”
“What do you want from me? I’m already in jail. I’m done for. I know that. You know that. What did you want to do today… come here and yell?”
“No. I want you to feel hurt. Guilt. Loss.”
“You don’t even…” Calvin cleared his throat. “You… uh…”
“She was a single mother,” I said. “All Lo had was her mother. Then her mother was taken. Imagine that. Lo then had to move out of her own house. I’m taking care of Lo now. I have to look into her eyes and see that pain and confusion every single day. That’s what I get. I didn’t ask for it. Neither did Lo. You took my only sibling.”
“Okay, I get it!” Calvin yelled. “I get it. Fine. I did it. I was drunk and I hit her. Okay? I hit her and I panicked. I knew if I stayed I would have gotten a drunk driving charge. So I left. I didn’t think anything of it at first. I was even going to tell someone about it. Honestly. Then I heard she died. No way I was going to say anything then. I used my contacts to do what I had to do.”
“Now you pay,” I said. “You pay for the rest of your life, Calvin. Look at this picture again. Burn this picture into your mind. This is what you took. You took this girl’s mother. A single mother. Dead. Gone.”
“You’ve made your point, Detective,” Calvin said. “Now what? Are you going to get them to adjust the charges and everything? Bring up another murder charge?”
“No,” I said. “I’m not going to do that. I don’t want this delayed any more than it already has been. You’re going to face that other family in court and you’re going to think about me. And Lo. And Alex. It’s going to burn inside your soul that you got away with one… but you’re still paying for it.”
I slowly stood up.
I tucked my phone into my pocket.
“Okay,” Calvin said. “You win.” His chin quivered. “I know what I did. I know I was wrong. I can’t take it back. So, you’re right. I’ll pay. I’ll pay for the rest of my life. All I can offer you right now is an apology.”
“Save it.”
“What?” Calvin asked.
“I don’t want your apology. That’s your punishment from me. Never getting the chance to apologize. You have to carry this guilt with you, Calvin. All alone.”
I turned and walked to the door and knocked on it.
There was a buzzing sound and the door opened.
I heard Calvin beginning to weep.
I didn’t care.
I walked down the semi-dark hallway and wiped the corners of my eyes.
I could never bring Alex back and change what happened.
But at least I kept to my promise and faced the man who killed her.
Chapter Sixty-Nine
I did what I had to do that night. I went home and I cried. I had a drink and Ben held me tight. I didn’t want to talk about what had happened with Calvin and Ben respected me enough to not ask. The
burning question as to whether to tell Lo or not still lingered, and eventually I fell asleep as I wondered what to do.
When I woke the next morning, I walked to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. It was time to focus and be present again. I couldn’t change what happened to Alex. Quite honestly, I couldn’t imagine my life any other way now. If Alex hadn’t been killed I wouldn’t have gotten so close to Lo. I wouldn’t have come back to town and met up with Ben again. I wouldn’t have realized I had been in love with Ben all along.
I guess in some way, things happened with a greater path in mind.
That seemed slightly romantic, right up until I wondered why Claire and Candice had to die. And the same for Maryse years ago.
We all went through our normal morning routine, but I had an extra jump in my step. I had texted Lizzy and she was eager to meet me at the station.
I left the house before Ben.
Lizzy was already at the station.
And she wasn’t alone.
“Oh, no,” I whispered when I saw Mayor Jim standing with her in the parking lot.
Poor Lizzy was bundled up like it was the middle of January in a blizzard.
I also suspected she was trying to hide her face from looking at Mayor Jim. Either to get him to walk away or to make it so he didn’t see her as she rolled her eyes at whatever mindless conversation he insisted on having with her.
“Morning,” Mayor Jim called out. “I brought coffee! I brought breakfast!”
“Sorry,” I whispered to Lizzy.
“Can we get inside?” Lizzy asked. “I feel like I’m going to freeze up and fall over.”
“Freezing?” Mayor Jim asked. He laughed and his breath scattered in front of his face. “This is crisp air. It’s only in the forties. This isn’t close to freezing yet.”
“Are you the weatherman here too?” Lizzy asked. “Would make sense. Small towns are like that. You were a cop, right? Or you helped out? Now you’re the mayor. And the weatherman.”
“Don’t forget food deliveryman,” I said.
“Oh, that’s a great one,” Mayor Jim said. “I’m glad we’re all happy today. Let’s get inside before Detective Cold gets… too cold…”
Mayor Jim grinned, waiting for us to laugh.
Nobody laughed.
We managed to walk in silence together to my office.
Mayor Jim then rubbed his hands together and helped himself to a coffee and a few small white powdered donuts.
“These are a weakness of mine,” he said. “I can eat five hundred of these.”
“Maybe you should go do that,” Lizzy said. “Record yourself. Upload it. You’ll go viral.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Mayor Jim said.
“Jim,” I said. “Again, the food and drinks are appreciated. But we have to get to work.”
“That’s why I’m here. I may have brought a little bit extra today for good faith.”
“Good faith?” Lizzy asked.
“I think it’s time we make a call, Allie,” Mayor Jim said.
“What kind of call?” I asked.
“I think we need more help. I think we need to get something out of this right now. No offense to both of you…”
“Are you saying I’m not doing my job?” Lizzy asked.
“I didn’t say that, Detective Cold,” Mayor Jim said. “I’m saying that we are out of time. Unless we want to just let this go. Which I know you both don’t.”
“Wait,” I said. “Do you want to let this go, Jim? Like before?”
“That’s not fair, Allie,” Mayor Jim said. “I had no control over what happened last time. Talk to Lenny if you want those answers. I’m talking about right now.”
“If you bring in other people, won’t that mess up your parade?” Lizzy asked.
“No,” Mayor Jim said.
I sighed. “You want a bigger presence to protect your parade, don’t you?”
“No, no,” Mayor Jim said as he shook his head. “I want this solved. I want this over. I’m not happy that this happened years ago and was let go. And now it happened again.”
“Make your calls then,” Lizzy said.
“Wait,” I said. I pointed to Lizzy. “Just wait.”
“I’m sorry,” Mayor Jim said. “I just want what’s best for everyone and this town.”
“Then cancel the parade and let us work,” I said.
“Allie…”
“It’s someone local,” Lizzy said. “Someone right in front of us. Bringing help in may not matter at all. It might send that person into hiding.”
We both looked at Lizzy.
“Go ahead,” I said.
“In theory, Mr. Mayor, bringing people in will help with your parade. It won’t solve what happened. This person is smart. This person is the kind of man who will shake your hand, want to have dinner with you, look like the most sane and normal person… only to wait for you to turn your back and envision how long it would take you to die as they hold their hands to your throat.”
“That sounds scary,” Mayor Jim said.
“It is,” Lizzy said. “I went through all the notes again. And I thought about the current case. Allie, you’ve mentioned to me that you have the same feeling. This person knows Mrs. Mickels and the way she is. The park connects to the woods that connect to her street.”
“As I’ve said before, we can’t interview everyone in town,” I said.
“So we have nothing,” Mayor Jim said. “Still.”
“I disagree,” Lizzy said. “I have a feeling that we’re close. That we’re being watched. Not out of the need to attack. I think we’re being watched because we’re close to getting that one missing piece.”
“You’re not making a convincing case, Detective Cold,” Mayor Jim said. “At the very least, we should-”
There was a booming knock at my office door.
I nodded to Mayor Jim.
He walked to the door and opened it.
Who came pouring into my office?
“Trevor,” I said.
“Who is this young man?” Mayor Jim asked.
“My niece’s… boyfriend,” I said.
“I’m sorry, Allie,” Trevor said. “I just needed to talk to you.”
“About what?”
“I went to Ben’s house to check up on Lo…”
“You’re not supposed to be there unless Ben or myself are there,” I said.
“I know,” Trevor said. “Believe me, I know. I found something.”
“You found something?” I asked.
“A note,” Trevor said.
I looked at Lizzy.
She swallowed hard.
“A note,” I said, my eyes moving back to Trevor.
“Allie, it was a note threatening Lo’s life.”
Chapter Seventy
“Where did you find this note? Ben and I left the house not too long ago?”
“It was out back,” Trevor said. He became nervous. “I always go that way…”
“You always go that way?” I asked.
Now I felt two sides of me battling for attention.
First was the law enforcement side that wanted to solve this case. The other was the aunt-slash-mother who wanted to know why her niece’s boyfriend was sneaking around the house.
“Trevor,” I said. “Did Ben’s father see you?”
“No. Why?”
“Not today. Has he ever seen you?”
“Do you own a black winter hat?” Lizzy asked.
“What?” Trevor asked. “I don’t know. Yes. No. I mean, probably. Wait a second…”
Trevor stepped back.
Mayor Jim shut the office door.
“Oh, crap,” Trevor said.
“Can I get a moment alone with him?” I asked Lizzy and Mayor Jim. “Please.”
Mayor Jim opened the office door and motioned for Lizzy to exit the office.
When they left, I pointed to the breakfast food. “Hungry?”
“Starving.”<
br />
“Do you eat breakfast at our house a lot?” I asked.
“Sometimes.”
“Things aren’t so good at home?”
“Better than they were,” he said. “But… you know…”
“I’m sorry about what just happened, Trevor,” I said. “There are things happening in town. Ben’s father said he saw someone in the front yard. Mrs. Mickels saw the same person more than once. The person was even in her house.”
“Breaking in?” Trevor asked. “No way. I would never do that, Allie. You have to know that. Look, I’m coming here to be honest. Lo is mad at me for this. She knows we’re going to get into trouble. I swear to you, if I come to the house, we don’t do anything bad.”
Bad…
That made me shiver.
“But you sneak around,” I said.
“I know,” Trevor said.
He sighed.
“What happened with the note?” I asked.
“I found it on the back steps, okay? It was rolled up and stuck in the door handle. I thought it was a note from Lo to me. Maybe to tell me to run because you and Ben were still home or something. I opened it, read it and freaked out.”
“Freaked out?”
“I got scared. I went to check on Lo. She was fine. She read it and I… I told her I had to come show you.”
“She’s mad at you for that?”
“Yeah. Please don’t punish her. Or me. Allie…”
“Let me see the note,” I said.
It was the same style as the other two.
PRETTY LO… HATE FOR SOMETHING REALLY BAD TO HAPPEN TO HER… GO AWAY OR SOMETHING BAD WILL HAPPEN!
I folded the paper and nodded. “It’s good you brought this to me, Trevor.”
“I figured,” he said.
“I need to go check on Lo myself.”
“I know,” he said. “I’m coming with you.”
I didn’t feel like arguing at the moment.
We left my office and I told Lizzy and Mayor Jim I needed to get home to Lo. I sent Mayor Jim away and told Lizzy to follow me so we could keep digging through theories and figure this out.
Now it was getting close.
It was getting personal.
That didn’t happen the first time.
Lizzy was right.