by B. B. Hamel
I nod. “What did you tell him?”
“Nothing. He only woke up for a second.”
“What should we say?”
“I’ll talk to him, don’t worry.” She sighs. I fill up a cup of coffee for her.
“What about your parents?”
“Fuck my parents,” she says softly.
I grin at her. “My thoughts exactly.”
She sips her coffee. I walk over to her and kiss her again, and soon that kiss turns into a deeper one. I press her back against the refrigerator. I know Max is just over there, but I can’t help it.
The buzz of my intercom pulls us away from each other.
I glance at her. “Are you expecting anyone?”
She shakes her head. “No. Are you?”
“Shit,” I say softly. I walk over to it and hit the answer button. “Yeah?”
There’s a short pause. “Is this Luke?”
It’s a man’s voice, and based on the look on Avery’s face, she knows who it is.
“Yeah, this is Luke,” I say.
“Luke, this is Avery’s father. Can we talk for a moment?”
I pull away from the intercom like it’s a snake. I look back at her and her hand’s over her mouth.
“Well?” I ask her.
“I don’t know,” she says. “I didn’t think… he’d actually come here.”
“It’s your call. We can tell him to fuck off. Or we can hear what he has to say.”
She hesitates a second. “Let’s listen to him.”
“Okay. Grab Max. We’ll go meet him outside.”
“Is that a good idea?”
“More public,” I say. “Plus, he’s less likely to freak out with Max there.”
She takes a breath. “Is that necessary?”
“Yes,” I say. “Go.”
I turn back to the intercom as Avery heads over to get Max ready. I take another breath, anger running through me. This is the man that pushed to set me up, the man that hates me so much for being with his daughter that he’d send me to prison over it. I want to kill him, and he probably deserves it.
Instead, I hit the button again. “We’ll be down soon.”
I walk away from the intercom and quickly get changed. When I’m done, I go sit with Max while Avery throws on a pair of sweats.
When we’re ready, she takes Max’s hand. “Are you ready to see Pop?” she asks him.
“Pop?” He rubs his eyes, very sleepy.
“That’s right. Come on, let’s go see him.”
We walk out the door together, feeling grim.
I glance at Avery and she gives me a tight smile. Max seems sleepy but mostly unaware of the situation, which isn’t surprising. Avery doesn’t want to go into detail with him, she thinks it would just be worse. Besides, her family is still his family, and she doesn’t want to take that away from him. Not yet, at least.
We push through the outside door. Robert Seller is standing over near the parking lot, wearing a light jacket and faded jeans, his arms crossed in front of him. I can’t help but think he looks like any other older guy, a little gaunt, a little intense, but mostly just like a dad. That’s the scariest and hardest part about evil: it can look just like anyone else.
We approach him cautiously, but Max gets excited. “Pop!” He runs away from Avery and heads over to her father.
“There he is,” Robert says, catching Max in his arms and lifting him up. “How’s my little man?”
“I slept on the couch,” he says.
“Did you? Was it fun?”
“Yeah.” Max blinks and Robert puts him back down. Avery and I stop a few feet away, and I can feel Avery’s nervousness radiating off her.
Robert gives us a look. “Why don’t you go run along and play?” he asks Max.
“Go ahead,” Avery says. “Go play by that tree over there.
Max wanders off and sits down in the roots maybe fifteen feet from us, methodically picking up leaves and tearing them apart. The wind blows and he laughs as the shreds pick up and float along. He repeats that process, looking content.
Robert watches us for a moment. “Looks like we have a mess here,” he says finally.
“What do you mean?” Avery asks.
“I think I expressly told you not to see this—” he glances at me with a frown, “this boy, or else you’d be gone.”
“I am gone,” she says. “You think I want to come back?”
He narrows his eyes. “There’s no turning back from this, Avery. You can’t just come and go as you please.”
“She made up her mind,” I say to him.
His eyes crack to mine like whips. “I didn’t ask you, boy. Stay out of this.”
Avery puts her hand in mine and squeezes. “Dad, I don’t want to come back. I don’t want to be a part of that house anymore.”
“After all I gave you?” he says, anger rising in his eyes. “After all the help you needed with Max?”
“I know,” she says softly. “And I’ll always appreciate it. I needed that help more than you could know.” She pauses for a second. “But it’s your fault.”
“My fault?” he asks.
I stare at her, surprised. I didn’t expect this tactic, not at all.
“It’s your fault I needed help in the first place. If you hadn’t made sure Luke went down for that murder—”
He cuts her off. “How the hell did I have anything to do with what that kid did?”
“First off, he didn’t do anything and you know that.” Robert doesn’t respond. “And second, you know how you were involved. I’ve been investigating this whole thing since he went away.”
“Investigating?” He laughs, completely incredulous. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I hired the PI that proved Luke’s innocence. Before that, for years I was working on this case, interviewing people, reviewing documents, trying to find some hole in the story that could prove that he didn’t do it. I was the one, Dad, from the start.”
Robert stares at her, clearly taken off guard. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I’m on to you and the Walkers.”
He stares at her for a second before busting out laughing. I clench my jaw and watch him, trying to hold myself back.
All I want to do is hurt this man. He’s the reason I was behind bars, the reason my son grew up without a father, the reason I couldn’t see or speak to Avery for five years. He’s the reason all of this happened to me, all because he wanted to get me out of the picture. He’s a sick, evil bastard, and I want to kill him.
He’d deserve it after what he did to me. I was innocent, a decent person, despite what he thought of me. I was just living my life. And he ripped it to shreds. I’ll never be the same. I’ll never be the person I once could have been, because that person died in prison. I’m harder, angrier, quicker to blame. I want to be better, need to be better, but right now I want to let it all go and murder this man where he stands.
But I can’t. I know I can’t. Aside from the fact that we’re in public, and killing any man is wrong, this is Avery’s father, and Max's grandfather. In the end, she should decide what happens to him, not me. If I want any chance of being with her and Max, I need to accept that, no matter how much it hurts.
“You think me and Gavin had something to do with him?” Robert asks, astounded.
“Pretend all you want, dad, but we know. And we’re going to get justice.”
“You watch yourself,” he warns.
“No, Dad. You watch yourself.” She walks away and gathers up Max. I stand there, facing him, staring him down.
“What do you want, trash?” he snaps at me.
I just smile at him. I don’t say a word. I turn around and walk away with Max and Avery, leaving him to stand there, stewing in his anger.
We head back upstairs in silence. Max wants breakfast, so Avery starts making him pancakes. I sit back and drink some coffee, watching the two of them, trying to make sense of what jus
t happened.
When Avery’s done, she walks over to me and kisses me softly. “Thanks,” she says.
“For what?”
“For letting me handle that. I know it wasn’t easy.”
I grin at her. “What do you mean? I’m always in perfect control of my anger.”
She rolls her eyes. “Really. Thanks.”
“Of course.”
She kisses me softly again. “I’m glad you’re home.”
“I’m glad you’re home.” I pull her into my lap.
“Gross,” Max calls out. “Mommy, why are you in his lap?”
She laughs and kisses me, and for a second I forget all about the world outside. There’s just Avery and Max. They’re my world right now, my family, my everything. This is what I was supposed to have, before it was torn away from me.
But I can see it now. I can see that we might be able to have it again, if only we can move past this. I don’t know how, but I think we’re close. I think I can finally give it up and be happy.
24
Avery
Slick sighs and stretches his legs out. Luke’s leaning up against a tree, arms crossed in front of him, while Max plays on the swings nearby. Luke’s got an eye on him, and I can’t help but smile at that. He always had a father’s instinct.
“Eli makes sense,” Slick says. “He’s been the one with the lowest profile. And his alibi isn’t great.”
“Something about his friend, right?”
“Right,” he says, pulling out a file from his briefcase. He opens it up and pulls out a page, handing it to me.
It’s a copy of a police report, detailing the interview with Eli.
“Apparently he was playing videogames with his friend all night,” he says. “Crashed there, went home in the morning. The friend corroborated that story.”
“Seems too simple,” I say. “I mean, just one guy saw him all night?”
“It’s a bad alibi, but in this town, it’s enough.” Slick sighs and lights a cigarette, producing it from out of nowhere.
“So what do we do?”
“We go talk to the kid and get him to tell the truth.”
“You think he will?”
“Yeah,” he says. “I do. At this point, it’s been long enough. I think it’ll just take a little pressure… and he’ll crack.”
I look at the file in my hands. Eli’s friend is named Chance Myers. There’s a short little rap sheet related to Chance, mostly drug charges, so he’s clearly not the most upstanding citizen in the world. Apparently the police took the alibi at face value, and there really wasn’t any further investigation into Chance as far as I can tell.
“Why didn’t they talk to this kid more back then?” I wonder aloud.
“You know why.” Slick takes a long drag. “This town’s as corrupt as they come.”
“Still, it just feels so obvious.”
“They got their sacrifice,” He says, nodding at Luke. “Cops are people too. They have quotas and they need to fill them. They were handed this easy win on a silver platter and they took it, so even if some of the guys were legitimate, they didn’t question it much. They just didn’t care enough to.”
“People are awful,” I say softly.
Slick laughs. “That’s an understatement.” He takes the file back from me. “Come on, let’s go see him.”
“Now?”
He shrugs. “The kid lives in town, so it’s not far.”
I bite my lip. “We have Max. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Leave him with Luke.”
I shake my head. “He’s never been alone with Max yet.” I look over at him. Luke’s not paying attention to anything we’re saying. He’s staring at Max, watching him like a hawk.
“I think he’ll be fine,” Slick says softly. “Look at him.”
I watch as Luke takes a few steps toward the swings. Max stumbles and nearly falls, and Luke looks like he’s about to sprint over there. But Max gets up, brushes himself off, and goes back to playing. Luke relaxes, but not completely.
“Let me ask him,” I say. I get up and walk over to where Luke’s standing. “You doing okay?” I ask him.
“What?” Luke answers. “Oh yeah, fine.”
“You’re watching him like a hawk. He’s fine.”
“I know. I just… I’ve never done this before.”
I sigh. “Listen, Slick wants to go check out a lead. How do you feel about watching Max while we go?”
He looks a little concerned. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“You’re going to be alone with Max sooner or later. I’ll leave you whatever you need plus the car. You’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?”
I put my hand on his arms. “I’m sure.”
He takes a breath. “Okay then. What’s the lead?”
“We’re checking out Eli Walker’s alibi.”
He nods. “Good. Let me know how it goes.”
“We’ll be back soon.”
I nod at Slick and he stands up. Together, we walk to his car and get in.
“He’ll be fine,” Slick says to me, noticing the way I’m staring at Luke.
“I know. I’ve just never had another parent to help before.”
“It’s hard. But you’ll cope.” He starts the engine and we get going.
I stare out the window on the drive. I’m a little nervous about leaving Luke alone with Max, but that’s not really what’s causing my mood. I know Max will be fine with his father.
I’m more worried about what this all means for us. I want to be a family, but I’m not totally sure what Luke wants. He says he wants us to live with him, and that he’ll try and take care of us, but I don’t know. He just got out of prison, he’s barely been in the outside world, and now he wants a preschooler running around his space?
And I don’t know what kind of life Max is going to have now. Back at my parents’ house, everything was nice, he had tons of space. Luke’s apartment isn’t exactly huge. There are so many reasons why this is a horrible idea, and yet I don’t have any other choice anymore.
I burned those bridges. Even if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t go back there. I know I’m done with that part of my life but letting it go is still incredibly hard.
“I wanted to talk to you about something.” Slick suddenly says.
“Yeah?” I ask. “What’s up?”
He stares out the front windshield. “Business has been good for me lately. That’s part of why I can help you and Luke out for free. But I’ve been thinking that I might need a little help.”
I stare at him, not sure what to say. “What are you offering me?”
“I need an assistant,” he says. “It’ll be secretary stuff at first. Boring, run of the mill. I’ll only need you part-time. But it’s a job.”
I blink, surprised. “That’s really nice of you.”
“Truth is, you've got a good mind for this. The stuff you did for Luke… honestly, I just came in and followed your leads to their conclusions. You could have gotten there eventually without me.”
“Thanks,” I say softly. It feels really good to have some recognition of my hard work.
“So maybe I can teach you some things. We’ll go slow, and I’m not saying you’re going to be my partner or something like that… but I’ll teach you if you want to learn.”
I watch him silently for a second. I never imagined myself as a private investigator before. I didn’t think I had it in me, to be totally honest. I always imagined PIs were trench coat-wearing ex-cops.
But maybe he’s right. I didn’t exactly enjoy investigating this Luke case, but I was definitely good at it. And there were parts that I liked.
“Let me think about it, okay?” I say to him. “I’m interested, I mean it’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever offered me. Just let me think.”
“No rush,” he says, pulling down a side street. “Here it is.”
We stop in front of a pretty boring little house. It’s dead i
n the middle of the street, with a small driveway, a tiny mailbox, and miniature shutters.
We park and get out. I follow Slick’s lead as he heads right up to the front door. He knocks hard a few times, waits a minute, and knocks again.
“What?” a woman’s voice screeches. She sounds older, deeper and gravelly.
“Ma’am, I’m looking for Chance.”
The woman opens the door. She’s wearing curlers in her hair, has an annoyed, wrinkled face, and a flowered housedress.
“What do you want with him?”
“My name’s Jason Slick, this is Avery Seller. We wanted to ask him a few questions if that’d be okay.”
She sighs and turns back inside. “Chance!” she shouts. “You got some fucking visitors!”
Slick grins at me and we follow her into the house. The place is fairly tidy, and there’s a cigarette burning in the ashtray. I should be surprised that Chance lives with his mom still, but I’m really not. He’s twenty-five, and a lot of people that age still live at home, especially in this day and age. Plus, this guy isn’t exactly a shining example of hard work and responsibility.
“Chance!” she shrieks again. We walk up to a closed door, the deep bass thump of rap music spilling out from beneath the crack, “Visitors!” She pounds on his door.
“What?” he yells. “I’m busy!”
“Get off your game box and open the fuck up!” She pounds again.
The music abruptly stops and the door flies open. “What the fuck do you—” He stops midsentence when he spots me and Slick.
“Hi, Chance,” Slick says. “Let’s talk.”
“Who the fuck are you?”
Slick walks right into his room and I follow him. Chance’s mouth hangs open and he looks back at his mother. She just grumbles and walks away, clearly not interested.
“What the fuck?” he says. “Get out of my room!”
“Shut the door,” I say to him. “Let’s talk.”
He stares at us for a second before finally shutting the door. “I know you,” he says to me.
“Do you?”
“Yeah.” He stares for a second. “You’re Avery Seller, right?”
“Right,” I say, smiling at him.
“I know your brother.”