"Not a problem, Isaac. Go on home. Sleep well. It's been a long day. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yes." Isaac hesitated. Roger waited. The old man looked at the crowd. "There are a lot of people here, Roger, and probably none of them will know each other their whole lives. They won't even remember who they came to Pacific Park with on a cool night in October. That's sad. That makes me miss your father. He was a good friend during his short life." Isaac turned and smiled. "As are you, Roger. You are a good friend for life. Like a son to me, Roger."
With that the old man walked through the throng of people who waited in lines in front of rides that were designed to stop their hearts just for the fun of it. They had forgotten that people died at Pacific Park. Those had been freak accidents, nothing more. Even Isaac would have forgotten by the time he got home. Age and familiar surroundings would lull him to sleep, keep him dreamless. So Isaac Hawkins dissolved into the night leaving Roger McEntyre to weigh the worth of life, money, friendship – things. In the end Roger didn't spend much time on it all. He decided that pretty much every thing was equal in the end, everything except friends. Those were worth a lot and he and Isaac didn't have many to spare.
***
Colin Wren did not go back to work after his meeting with the two lawyers and – that man. He didn't go back even though work had sustained him through many a trying time. Most people would find this difficult to understand because Colin Wren's work, while lucrative, was not very interesting. He owned a factory that made things people didn't think about. His factory made knobs that were used for car radios and kitchen appliances and wall heaters. He made levers for toasters. Some had serrated edges, some were smooth, some were big and some were small. The levers came in five colors and two thicknesses. The knobs cost pennies to make but demand and Colin's lean-staffed factory meant the knobs made a lot of money for him.
When Colin was younger, he had taken pride in the amount of money he earned. As he grew older and life did not go as planned money no longer mattered as much, and in the last years money became a means to an end. That end was to find his son in order to start over again.
Then, one day, as he ate his Spartan meal in front of the late news, Colin Wren found out exactly what had happened to Tim. Knowing he could no longer help his son in this lifetime, Colin went after the people responsible for his death. Pacific Park would pay for its negligence because someone had to.
That had been the plan until Colin found out about Archer, and Jude pointed out the logic of helping him. Colin bought into it. Pacific Park had been the object of Colin's hatred for so long all he could imagine was a settlement so large it would ruin the place. That thought had driven him to post Archer's bond.
But then Colin sat across from Archer, a brutish, low man who had not acknowledged Colin's pain or shared in his anguish. That was when Colin started to have doubts. Perhaps Jude, in his lawyer's greed, had pushed Colin too fast, too far. It was to Archer that Lexi entrusted the care of her son; it was Archer who now stood in the way of Colin's plan. It was Archer who was there the moment Tim died. Archer had brought a new dimension to the plan. He had soiled it and had derailed Colin's thinking.
So, instead of going to the factory and losing himself in work, Colin Wren went home. He watched the news, ate his dinner and changed into his nightclothes. Colin laid his head upon his pillow and pulled the covers up to his chin then made a quarter turn as he prepared to sleep. The last thing Colin did was look at a picture of his son. He stared at that poor, little, vacant face. It was the only picture he had of him. Tim at seven. Tim who had needed protecting and Colin who had failed to do so. He had tried. Hadn't he? And now it was too late.
Unable to see without his glasses, Colin blinked at the picture as if he was wishing it good night. Then he closed his eyes and let the new information run through his head like a production schedule. Lexi had remarried. She had married a man so totally opposite Colin it was an embarrassment. The man she married wasn't sorry Tim was dead. Lexi's choice was an insult, her decision deadly wrong.
As sleep came, Colin Wren decided to see how things would play out. He would watch the players and, in the end, he would have exactly what he wanted: revenge and atonement. When he knew how to accomplish that, no one would stand in the way. Not Jude. Not that woman lawyer and definitely not the man accused of killing his son.
CHAPTER 6
Hermosa was awash in grey as if overnight it had taken sick. Colorless and dense, a haze curtained the early morning sun; fog blanketed the water and swirled uneasily across the shore before seeping toward the horizon and spilling over. The sand was cold, the surf lethargic and all of it weighed Josie down as she ran. Finally, unable to muster the energy to finish the last mile, Josie had slowed to a walk. Hands went to her hips. Her head was down. The air intake needed to balloon her lungs was deep. The day felt as if someone had died and the sense of sadness was heavy. Finally, Josie stopped and looked toward the buildings lining the Strand, half expecting to see them ringed with the weeds of mourning. It was Archer's building she saw, Archer's place that caught the eye. The old building appeared to sag but Josie knew it was only a trick of the feeble light, its backbone bending as it tried to cut through the gloom.
Josie had looked toward the ocean as if it would wash away her melancholy but the sea was no more uplifting than the town. No one was in the water. The surfers did not sit on their boards, children didn't kick at the water washing to shore, no girl raised her skirt to her knees and laughed at the cold as she waded into the sea.
Josie checked out the pier. Two people walked the length of it a hundred yards apart, both hunched into their jackets. Life as minimalist art.
Josie scanned back to the bike path but her attention wandered. She was at odds and ends because her schedule was off. Since Hannah's arrival even that most basic part of her life had changed. The time Josie ran, the time she showered, the time she sat down to work. The two of them had been close to finding a rhythm. Then school started and everything changed again. Josie had to drive Hannah to school and that meant her run was half an hour late and like a house of cards, the rest of the day fell in on itself. She would get used to it. She just was not used to it yet. Nor was Josie used to the heaviness in her that harbingered some sort of grand cataclysmic event gathering on the horizon, in the gloom, just past the haze where Josie could not see. Finding no comfort, no inspiration, no answers to her questions, Josie had turned her back on the beach and picked up the time as she ran home, away from the gathering storm.
Now, glancing at the clock Josie saw she was only forty-five minutes off on what used to be a set-your-watch-by-it-schedule. She was dressed, her appointments cancelled for the day and she had fifteen minutes before she was due to meet Archer. Still she was off her mark. The night had been restless, the morning silent as she and Hannah kept their thoughts private. Her run hadn't worked out the kinks in her body or her psyche. The walk to Burt's did not lessen the rough edges of unease. Her restlessness turned to trepidation when she opened the door and found Burt behind the bar hunched over the morning paper.
"Hey." Burt raised his head, greeting Josie without his usual smile.
Josie gave him a halfhearted one as she slalomed around the mismatched tables, stopping to pick up a napkin that had been missed in clean up the night before. She put her large bag on the bar, slid onto a stool, planted her elbows, laced her fingers and cradled her chin on her doubled fist.
"Got coffee?"
Burt shook out the newspaper, laying it on the bar as he turned to get her a cup.
"Archer's in a shit load of trouble. He made the front page." Burt lifted the newspaper slightly. Josie tilted her head and pulled the coffee toward her.
"I saw it," she said.
"Probably doesn't tell you anything you don't know. It says you were the one to bail him." Burt shook his head and clicked his tongue against the place where his tooth was chipped. "I don't know what I'm more surprised at: you ta
king on something big like this again or Archer having this grief. Man, life is so damn weird."
Josie cupped her hands around the coffee mug. The coffee was black; she preferred it with cream. Burt had forgotten. This morning black would do.
"Weird enough for me but I can't imagine how you must feel after all these years, Burt," Josie mused.
"How long have you been with him, Josie?" Burt glanced at Josie as he straightened and folded the paper.
"A year. We were going to celebrate our anniversary before all that stuff with Hannah. Now, this. . ."
Josie drew one hand through her short, short hair, looked at Burt and wondered if he saw the change in her. The shock of yesterday was lodged like shrapnel behind the deep blue of her eyes. Either Burt didn't see it or he simply accepted that bad things changed people. If you were alive after a bad thing, cool. Life according to Burt.
"Yeah, well, let's see," Burt mused. "I think I've really only known Archer about two years."
Josie's raised a brow. There were more surprises and that alone should not surprise her.
"I thought you guys went way back."
"For Hermosa Beach we do." Burt chuckled and grinned. That chipped front tooth of his made him look boyish despite the sun-leathered skin, the hard-living creases on his face. He folded the paper in half and in half again as he spoke. "Archer and Lexi moved here right after this thing with the kid. I just didn't know that and I didn't know about the kid. I guess I figured they sort of landed in Hermosa like all the rest of us and decided to stay."
"Just like the rest of us," Josie murmured.
She ran a finger around the top of her cup, disappointed in both Archer and herself. He hadn't actually lied to her about anything; she had erred in her assumptions about his life. What Archer knew about Josie was what she chose for him to know; what she knew about him was what he decided to tell her. They had reveled in their independence and now she knew that was a mistake. Understanding that made her feel lost. It was natural for a lover to believe she knew everything – intuitively, instinctively, and intimately – about the man she had committed to. Wasn't it?
"So, Archer shows up two years ago. Did he tell you why they moved? Where they came from?" Josie asked this as if her surprise was minimal, her hurt miniscule. Burt, though, wasn't fooled. He made no jokes. He scratched his chin and thought hard.
"Somewhere in the Valley." Burt shook his head. "Man, can you imagine Archer in the Valley? I'd kill myself if I had to spend more than five minutes in the Valley."
"Burt," Josie admonished.
"Yeah, well, I would," he insisted. "Anyway, I met Lexi first. She was one of those people you just knew right away. Like she walked in one day and by the time she left we were cool. Know what I mean?" Burt's question was rhetorical. He was oblivious to the glint of envy that sparked in Josie's eyes as he admired the other woman in Archer's life. Burt was too busy chuckling to notice. "She was a spitfire, that one. Always had an opinion about something and said it straight out like it was fact. And she was just funny. Really entertaining. Not like. . ."
"Me?" Josie asked.
"Come on, Josie," Burt shrugged. "You're different ladies. You're more serious but you're straight like Lexi. She was always straight. I can say that for her . . ."
Burt's voice trailed off as he disappeared into the kitchen. Josie heard him yelling something but couldn't quite make it out. He came back carrying a tray of glasses that shivered and tinkled as he put them on the bar.
". . .so she tells me that she was married to a real asshole before Archer. She doesn't mention the kid by the way, or how sick she is. She was one of those people who always talked but only gave you what she wanted to give you. So, I knew she was married before but that's about it." Burt lost interest in the glasses and scanned the booze inventory behind the bar. Ducking down he came back up with a bottle of Tequila, wiped it off with his shirttail and asked, "Did you know she was a paramedic?"
"Nope."
Josie had both hands around her cup as she hunched over the bar hanging on his every word. Burt had hung loose his whole life, making it through high school before turning pro on the volleyball circuit, settling in with the restaurant after the motorcycle accident broke every bone in his body and ended his athletic career. His chipped front tooth, a souvenir of those hard times, was a reminder to everyone who knew him that shit happens. Shit was definitely happening to Josie and Archer.
"Yep, and old Lexi thought she did a hell of a job," he chuckled again and checked out the bourbon while he talked. "She was working on a domestic violence call when she met Archer. He wanted to call the coroner because he could see how exhausted Lexi was. Besides, the woman was dead. But Lexi wanted to try everything. That Lexi, she believed in miracles."
"Or she thought she was God's gift," Josie remarked only to regret it in the next instant. She covered her tracks with a shrug and an explanation. "I mean I've seen first responders act like that. Like if they try harder they can pull it off."
"I think Lexi just didn't like to throw in the towel. That's the feeling I got."
Burt finished his inventory but took one last look at the bottles stacked behind the bar anyway.
"So was it love at first sight with Archer?" Josie asked, hating that she sounded like a schoolgirl wanting to know if her boyfriend still pined after the one who got away.
"Something like that. She told him to have some respect for the dead. Seems he used the toe of his shoe to lift the sheet over the dead woman when Lexi finally gave up. Guess Archer was impressed that she wasn't thinking he was some big man because he was a detective."
"Archer?" Josie snorted, amused until she gave it another thought.
Archer probably did have an attitude back then when he was the guy in charge. In fact, he had an attitude when Josie met him and that was part of the attraction. She hadn't been immune to the charms of the pursuit because the pursuit had been honest. Taking that photo of her on the beach, the one where she was pissed because she'd blown an easy put away, missing the spike and losing the point. That photo had opened the door. He had come to the pro-am tournament and made himself known even when Josie was clear that she wasn't interested. But Josie had been interested because Archer was different. He didn't pursue the way most men did, leading with their mouths and letting their minds tag along. He presented himself: big, sure, solid. Josie appreciated that about him. Lexi probably had, too. Josie found herself smiling and then realized that Burt hadn't noticed her distraction. He was still talking.
"That's according to Lexi, naturally. She said she made it tough for him but, in the end, she had to admire a guy who hung in there, especially when she was such a bitch. She said she was a sucker for loyalty and persistence."
"I can understand that," Josie answered. "I met her ex. I don't think he was exactly the kind of guy who thought of others first."
"No kidding?" Burt pushed back his long hair, grey mixing in with his perpetually sun-bleached blond. "Man. History is just so strange. It's got a way of showing up when you least expect it, huh."
"That's the truth." Josie set aside her coffee. Somehow it had cooled even though it seemed Burt had just poured it.
"You hungry? I can get the stove heated up. I've got some eggs and toast. No bacon. It would make you feel better."
"No, thanks. I appreciate it."
"I should probably think about adding breakfast to the menu, huh?" Burt mumbled then answered his own question. "Naw, maybe not. Too much competition around here as it is."
"I think you've got it knocked with lunch and dinner, Burt." Josie shifted on the stool, not ready to leave the topic of Archer and Lexi behind. "So, how come Archer didn't come here with Lexi?"
"Never really thought about it; never asked him." They stayed silent for a few minutes then Burt said. "Maybe she didn't want him to. Maybe she just wanted some time by herself. We'd talk a little then Lexi would take her coffee and go sit on the wall and watch the beac
h. Now that I know about her kid, I guess she was taking some time to think about him."
Josie looked out the window and saw what Burt had seen. Lexi: petite, wiry, long light hair and a face that had earned its character. Josie imagined Lexi pondering the end of her life, wondering why God visited such sadness on her. Tim was already gone and Lexi was next up. Josie wondered if knowing that you were about to die, that you were going to leave the person you loved, hurt as much as that person simply vanishing the way Josie's mother had. Probably. It didn't matter how the person you loved was lost, it only mattered that they were gone. Josie turned back to Burt.
"Do you think Archer wouldn't come with her?"
"Naw," Burt shook his head. "I mean it wasn't like I didn't see him. I knew they were together. Sometimes he'd walk his bike down with her, then go for a ride and come back. They'd hook up again. But most mornings it was just her walking. It was always just Lexi who came in."
"So when did you and Archer get to know each other?" Josie prodded.
"Couple of weeks after Lexi died he came in and told me she was gone. Archer told me Lexi felt like Hermosa was home because of me. That was a nice thing for him to do. I liked him right off for that."
"He can do nice things." Josie took a deep breath and cradled her chin on her upturned hand. "So what else did Archer say?"
"You mean about him and Lexi?"
Josie nodded.
"Nothing. I figured he'd get around to telling me his life story eventually."
"Did he?"
"Nope. He just kind of disappeared. I thought he'd left town. I didn't know about Mexico then. You know those trips to shoot pictures?" The trips to Mexico. Yes, she knew all about them. Didn't she? "I guess that's where he went. I figured he was gone for good. Then he showed up again. But that made sense. I mean, why stay away after Lexi left him that prime bit of real estate?"
"The apartment building? That was hers?" Josie's coffee never made it to her lips. Slowly she set it back down.
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