by Drake, J. L.
I tilted my head back to stop the tears. “I’m all right.”
“Well, where I’m from, when people are dressed like that,” he pointed to my outfit, “and are crying on their doorstep, it normally means they either got into a fight, or got stood up.” He sat next to me but kept his eyes on the ocean.
“Yeah,” is all I said as he handed me a tissue from his pocket. “Thanks.”
He smiled over at me. “Of course.” He held up his hand to show me his intent. I didn’t really register what he was doing until his thumb swiped under my eye to clear a tear. It was an incredibly intimate act, and it left me feeling like I’d done something wrong. “Anyone who can stand up such a beautiful woman is a fool.”
I turned my head away. I didn’t like his words. Seth might have been an ass for forgetting, but… “I love him,” I said to make sure he knew where I stood.
“I know.” He gave me a reassuring nod. “But the question is, is he worthy of it?”
I felt confused, and a little lost in my emotions. Sure, this wasn’t the first time Seth had stood me up on something, but it had always been for a legitimate reason. It wasn’t like he worked a desk job from nine to five. Things happened. I stood, needing a moment to think.
Travis stood as I did, then came up behind me. “Em, sometimes we can be overshadowed by what we think we have rather than by what we really have. If you’re second guessing yourself, maybe you should be second guessing your relationship.” He gave me a little pat on the shoulder. “You know where I am.” He walked away.
“Thanks,” I suddenly called out. I thought I owed him that much.
“That’s what friends are for.” He waved right before he disappeared into the woods. Was that a friendly conversation? I wrapped my sweater around my shoulders and convinced myself it was. Travis had always made it clear he was my neighbor and nothing more.
I went inside and lit the fireplace; I was cold. I curled up on the couch and rested my head on the pillow. I watched as the flames crackled and popped across the log. It wasn’t long until I closed my eyes and fell into a stressful sleep.
***
Seth
Asshole was all that came to mind when I thought about myself. I couldn’t believe I got caught up at work. It was a curse to be good at IT. Shit, I was always the first person they called when something happened. I parked and saw all the lights were off. I raced up the stairs and cautiously opened the front door.
The fire was on and Emily was asleep on the couch. She looked beautiful in a new red dress. I set the alarm and ran upstairs to change. My stomach dropped when I saw the room was decorated with flowers and candles, and champagne was in a pool of water. I sank down onto the bed and covered my face.
How on earth would I be able to make this up to her? My hands dropped when I saw a box on my nightstand. I opened the lid and my insides twisted in a knot. She got me my grandfather’s watch! My hands shook as I pulled it free and slipped it over my wrist. Emily must have done a ton of searching to get her hands on this. I loved it; it was just how I remembered. After a small amount of gawking, I returned it to its box, changed, and headed downstairs to an empty living room.
Emily’s back was to me as she washed the last of the dishes. She was barefoot and looked tired.
“Hey.” I came up next to her and leaned against the counter to face her. Her hair was all around her face, so I couldn’t see her very well. “I’m sorry about tonight.” She nodded. “I got caught up with Ronnie and some paperwork. The computer wasn’t working, so I had to fix that first. Anyway, the night got away from me, and when Garrett said you texted him, I couldn’t believe the time.”
“Was your phone broken too?” she asked quietly. I could tell she was crying.
I closed my eyes. I knew this was about to sound bad. “Ronnie’s was, and I loaned mine to make some calls. I didn’t know you called.”
“Yeah.” She turned to walk into the laundry room, reappearing moments later. “I’m going to head to bed.” She went to leave, but I blocked her path.
“Hey, I really am sorry. You know I’d never purposely hurt you.”
She took the corner of her sweater and dried her eyes. “I know that. I was more worried than anything.” Her eyes dropped away. “I was just looking forward to it.”
I pulled her close and rested her head on my shoulder. “I know. I was too.” I kissed the top of her head and took a moment to breathe in her scent. “You smell good.” She pulled out of my arms. I thought she was going to walk away, but she didn’t. Instead, she took my hand and led me upstairs.
***
The ring of my phone pulled me out of a deep sleep. I untangled myself from Emily and snatched it off the side table.
“Yeah,” I choked into the phone. I wished I had checked to see who it was first.
“Connors, you should come down to the station.”
I squinted at the time. “Ronnie, it’s three thirty in the morning, and I don’t work tomorrow. I don’t appreciate being called this—”
“Trust me, you’ll want to be here for this.” The line went dead. I flopped back down and wondered why Ronnie called and not Garrett. Ronnie was new to the force and was pretty ballsy to have called me this early when I wasn’t working. I sent Garrett a quick text saying I was on my way in ten.
Emily tucked herself into me, and her hot skin warmed mine. My fingers ran along her side and the curve of her soft breast. I allowed myself a few more moments with her. I started to move, but Emily slid her body over of mine. She straddled herself over top of me, then bent down and started to kiss my chest. Her silky hair fell all around her.
“Where are you going?” she asked between kisses.
My hands gripped her hips as I dug the tip of my erection into her wet folds. “Work,” I grunted as I teased myself at her opening. Her lips moved up to my neck with a playful bite on my shoulder.
“You have the day off. You’re mine to do what I want.”
I groaned. She was so right. I wanted to lie there, spend the whole damn day naked with her. Show her countless times how sorry I was for last night.
“I’m sorry, baby, but I have to go in, hopefully for just an hour.” I gently slid in. I didn’t stop until I was nice and deep. Emily leaned back and let out a delicious moan that had me grinding her hips in circles. Fuck, the things this woman made me feel. She started to rock her body, moving like a wave. It was such a sexy sight. Her breasts, full and heavy, bounced forward and begged the palms of my hands to cup and squeeze them. She leaned back and held her ankles to change the direction I was hitting her. I tried to tame the animal inside that was clawing to get out. I tried like hell to give her some level of control in bed. She must have seen my look, because her sexy mouth turned up as she slowed her pace. She knew damn well what she was doing. I held her hips a little harder to calm myself, but the slow flicks were maddening. Sweat broke out around my brow as she let out another moan, and it was my undoing.
In a moment I tossed her back, stood next to the bed, took her legs, and plowed back inside. It was heaven, like her little body was meant for mine. She fit me perfectly in so many ways I sometimes lost myself in her. The sight of her legs spread wide as she took me deep, and that look that she was almost there, were bliss.
“Seth, I’m so close,” she cried, and her hands clawed at the sheets. “Harder!”
I picked up the pace. I had to hold on while she shot forward. I felt the moment she came. Everything tightened, her nipples hardened, and her screams drove me wild. I plowed on. I was so close but held off until she finished.
“Shit,” I grunted as I let go and flopped over her sweaty body.
***
After a hot shower, I changed into plain clothes. I sat next to Emily, who was on her side, her bright blue eyes peeking out through her hair. The TV flickered over her face. I could tell she was disappointed, but she wouldn’t say anything. She knew I had to leave. I brushed her hair away and kissed her lips, lingering a little lon
ger than I meant to. I knew I’d never get out of there if I didn’t pull away, so I did.
“I love you, baby.”
“I know. I love you too.”
I pointed to the watch. “I don’t know how you did it, but thank you for getting my grandfather’s watch.”
She sat up and pulled the sheet along with her. “I had help.” She gave me a quick peck. “Leave so you can come home to me.”
***
Garrett texted me an address to meet him, and when I got closer, I saw sirens and a ton of officers at the corner. I parked, flashed my badge, and hurried to find the sergeant.
“Isn’t it your day off?” he asked and rubbed his head the way he did when he had a bad vibe about something.
“Yeah, what’s going on?”
“Thanks for coming. We’re going to need everyone on this.” He pointed to a dumpster. “Body, burned, teeth removed, finger prints, hair, everything gone.”
“DOA?”
“No,” Detective Michaels answered as he came up behind me, “two shots to the neck, then moved here to be burned. No witnesses, no camera, so whoever did this knew what they were doing.”
I stared down at the charred body which still smelled fresh. “Who found him?”
“Homeless man.” Sarge pointed to a man next to a shopping cart, watching it like someone might take it. He was dirty, his clothes torn, and he looked hungry. He kept his eye on Campbell’s bagel. “I need you to keep the newbies in check, make sure no one passes through, and listen for talk among the crowd.”
“Yes, of course.” I hurried back to the other officers. Campbell handed me an OPD jacket so I had some kind of identification on.
I scanned the crowd, watching people’s mannerisms to see if they showed any signs of enjoyment, fear, or lust. We had no idea what we were dealing with here.
“You think he’s here?” Ronnie appeared out of nowhere.
I shrugged and zipped the jacket up. “A lot of times the killer will come back and watch.” I spotted Garrett, who held up a coffee. “Excuse me.”
“Hey.” I gladly took the hot brew, needing some kind of jolt. I looked to see where Ronnie was. “Why did I get a call from Ronnie this morning and not from Sarge or you?”
“Really?” He looked confused. “Sarge called me and told me he’s got someone on the call list, so not to worry, just to meet here.”
“Strange.” I sipped my coffee while I scanned the crowd.
“Hey, guys.” Johnnie stared at his cell phone. “Umm, have any of you heard from Davis? I’ve been trying to get hold of him since the Halloween party. He said he had to make a stop at Avery’s, but Avery said he never showed.”
“No.” I looked at Garrett, who shook his head.
“Okay, I’m going to go talk to Sarge.” I gave Johnnie a friendly slap on the shoulder as he walked away.
Garrett checked the time. “Not like Davis not to check in.”
“No, it’s not.”
***
Campbell bent his head down and smelled his shirt. “I don’t think I’ll be able to get that smell out of my head for a while.”
“Fucking sick,” Riggs chimed in right before he bit into his burger. “Gotta say, glad the guy was shot first, because that’s a hell of a way to go.”
“One of my biggest fears,” Riley added and reached for the mustard from another table. “I won’t even burn a candle at home.”
“Pussy,” Riggs said and grinned with a greasy mouth.
“You’re scared of mascots, Riggs,” Riley pointed out. “We all saw it at the hockey game a few months back.”
Riggs dropped his burger, then stuck a finger in his direction. “It’s not right having an abnormally large head.” The table broke into a loud roar. “It’s unnecessary to be that disproportioned.” He made an exaggerated quiver sound and went back to his burger.
“Okay, so you wouldn’t have a mascot hanging around your house?” Riggs gave Riley a look. “Right, so no candle, no fire, no barbecue death for me.”
“Oh, speaking of barbecues…” I caught the table’s attention. “My place, Friday, seven.”
Riley shook his head. “That was so wrong, dude.”
“Holy shit,” Campbell hissed toward the front door just as Avery headed to our table. “What happened to you?”
Avery sat in an open chair and signaled at the waitress to bring him a beer. Both of his eyes were black, and his nose appeared to be fractured. “Wrong place, wrong time.”
“Well, that explains why you weren’t there this morning.” Riley pushed his plate away. I could see he and Avery had some issues with working together. It wasn’t easy filling the shoes of a dead partner.
“What happened?” Campbell asked quietly.
Avery thanked the waitress, who looked a little startled. “Took a shortcut home, walked up on a drug deal, they weren’t too pleased. Anyway, a few punches later, they backed off.”
“You get a good look at them?” I asked and wondered where this went down. Avery didn’t live that far from us.
“Not really.” He downed half his beer. “But if I see them again, I’ll deal with them.”
I looked at the rest of the guys. “Yeah, we all will.”
***
Avery
The bottle sat in front of me, half empty. I squinted through the colored glass, and the TV flickered behind it. My face pounded with my heartbeat. I let myself go back over how I dealt with my face. I sought out a few dealers, pretended I wanted to buy some coke, and then ran off with it. I turned left, though I knew it was a dead end. I waited for them to approach, then let them beat my face in. When I had enough, I took out my pent-up anger on them. One probably wouldn’t be able to walk again, but whatever.
I looked at my phone to check the time, then stared for a while at the picture I kept for show on the lock screen of my computer. It was of me and Matthews at the Triangle. There was a small part of me that missed him; he always had my back. I should have known he wouldn’t have been able to handle Jims and his crazy ways. When Jims caught sight of Emily and moved his attention there, Matthews really flipped out. He couldn’t do that to Seth, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, after he met Emily, things went south. I thought he was going to be able to work it out, but that night he followed me to Jims’s cabin and saw the basement where Jims was going to keep her, I knew it was over. Matthews just didn’t have it in him, and his constant moral battles with himself had to end.
My eyes started to close.
“Hey.” Matthews opened the door and moved aside to let me in. “You want a drink?”
“Sure.” I locked the door behind me and slowly closed the blinds. “You here by yourself?”
“Yeah, Mom came for dinner, but she left about an hour ago.” He handed me a beer and poured himself a rye and Coke, his favorite. “Cheers.” He nodded at the couch. “You hungry?” I waited for him to set his glass down on the table.
“Yeah, I kind of am. You have any leftovers?”
Matthews headed for the kitchen, and when he rounded the corner, I pulled out a baggie of crushed painkillers. I poured the seven pills’ worth of white dust into his glass and stirred it with my finger. It quickly swirled and disappeared in the glass.
“Meatloaf all right?” He handed me the plate and fork.
“Great, thanks, man.”
I saw a little dust settle on the bottom of the glass. Shit, it was taking a long time to dissolve. He began to reach for it, so I started to cough and asked for a napkin. He rolled his eyes and jumped up to go grab one. I stirred the drink one last time.
“Here.” He handed me a piece of paper towel. “Anything else?” he joked. I gave him the finger.
I ate the disgusting meal and watched him slowly sip his drink. It didn’t take too long before he started to yawn. His body relaxed and his eyes grew heavy. He set the glass down, and I saw there was still some left. He needed to drink it all for his heart to stop.
“You all right, buddy?” I moved ove
r closer and saw him slowly nod. “Here.” I held the glass up to his lips, and encouraged the rest of the drug down his throat. “You don’t want to waste this.” He looked at me funny, then he made the connection.
“Why?” he slurred as he sank deeper in the couch.
I took the empty glass and tucked it into a Ziploc bag and shoved it in my coat. I headed over to the bar, slipped on my black gloves, and poured a glass of rye and Coke, just a little, for show.
“You never would have gone through with it,” I said as I took a seat next to him and pressed his fingers to the glass and dabbed his lips to the edges. “I know it doesn’t seem fair, but you know too much. I’ve worked too hard to get close to Connors for you to fuck this up.” Matthews squinted and tried to follow along. I stood and pulled him like a rag doll toward the bedroom. He tried to push me away, but he was too weak. I flopped him down on the bed and placed the pill bottle next to him.
Matthews started to cry. This part always fascinated me. The part where you knew you were about to die, and there was nothing you could do to stop it. I often wondered how that felt. I let out a sigh and sat on the bed next to him. I dug deep and remembered Grandmother’s words. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” I shook my head. That didn’t feel right. “That doesn’t bring me comfort either.” I spotted a baseball Matthews had signed as a kid and remembered my mother used to sign them for me during the baseball season. I placed my hand on his arm, and started to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” Only a few moments later, I felt his heartbeat stop, saw his chest fall one last time, and everything that was Matthews was gone. He was now just a shell of the man, a man who knew too much.
***
“Travis, right?” I stopped in front of his cart, noting it was full of baking ingredients. Fuck, this guy was a male Martha Stewart. “You’re McPhee’s neighbor?” I loved to play dumb with dumb people.