by Kate Kessler
“Because she was trans? This place is full of small-minded assholes.”
His gaze locked with hers. He had the prettiest blue eyes. “And because they think I killed her.”
“That’s just stupid. Anyone who knows you knows the truth.”
Luke smiled, but it looked like it took effort. “Thanks. I’m sorry to just show up. Do you have people here?”
“No, it’s just me. Mom’s at work. You want some pizza?”
“Sure.” He followed her as she went to grab him a plate. “I wasn’t sure you’d be home. I thought maybe you’d gone to Kendra’s.”
Everyone knew the Grangers were out of town and that Kendra and her brother were having friends over. Alisha hadn’t felt like going. To be honest, she was pissed. Kendra was supposed to have been Tala’s best friend, so what the fuck was she doing partying two days after finding out Tala had been murdered?
“Didn’t feel like it,” she replied, taking a plate from the cupboard. “How about you?”
“Same. And you know what an asshole her brother is. He’s friends with Tal’s brother. I can’t handle it right now.”
“Right.” She slapped a slice of pizza onto the plate and handed it to him. “Soda?”
“Sure. Kyle hit on her one night at Kendra’s.”
“Really?” Tala hadn’t told her that.
Luke nodded. “I was there. He came on strong, but she just blew him off. Guess he’s forgotten all about it now.”
“Doubtful.”
He looked her in the eye. “Do you think there’s something wrong with me for liking her?”
Alisha swallowed. Part of her wanted to punch him for being stupid enough to ask that, but another part wanted to hug him. And another part…hurt. “No. I think you’re just more…enlightened than most of the hillbillies around here.” She handed him a can of soda from the fridge. “Let’s go to the living room.”
He followed after her. Alisha was very aware of him behind her, and of how small the room now seemed with him in it.
“What are you watching?”
“Blade Runner. Have you seen it?”
“Are you kidding? It’s a classic. Play it up.”
They sat together on the sofa and watched the rest of the movie, adding commentary where it seemed needed. When it came time for more pizza, Luke got up and got slices for both of them.
When the credits began to roll, he leaned back against the sofa, his body angled toward her. “You know, Tala never wanted to watch sci-fi movies.”
“Why not?”
“She thought they made her seem boyish.”
Alisha found that incredibly sad—and stupid. She shook her head. “I like sci-fi. Do I seem like a boy to you?”
“No,” he replied, watching her intently. “You don’t.”
She swallowed, her heart tripping over itself in her chest. “Do you still miss her?”
Luke nodded. “Sure. Not like I did, though. When she first disappeared I was angry and hurt, y’know? Like, I took it personally. Then that started to fade away. Now, though, knowing someone killed her? It’s different. I just feel really sad. And still pissed off, but not at her. She didn’t deserve to die like that.”
“No. She didn’t. It feels weird, knowing I’ll never talk to her again.”
“Yeah. I wish I could, just so I could tell her I’m sorry for being such a jerk when she dumped me. She was right to do it, I know that now.”
“Really?”
He took a drink of soda. “One night she came over to my place—my parents were out. We were going to…we were going to have sex. But, when I saw her naked . . .” He cleared his throat, still looking at the floor. “I couldn’t do it. I mean, I literally couldn’t.” He lifted his gaze to hers. In the glow of the TV his cheeks were flushed, his eyes filled with shame.
It took Alisha a moment to totally understand what it was he was saying. Her own cheeks warmed. “You mean because she hadn’t had surgery?”
Luke nodded. “As a person—as her friend—I didn’t care how she’d been born, but as her boyfriend…Shit. I cared, Lish. I cared a lot and I’m an asshole for it.”
She reached across the couch and wrapped her fingers around his wrist. “That doesn’t make you an asshole.” But poor Tala. She must have been crushed. She hated her body so much, and then to be rejected by her boyfriend…Alisha’s heart broke for them both.
He hung his head. “I just wish I could have been better for her.”
“You were the best you could be.” God, she sounded like Audrey.
“Yeah, well, it wasn’t good enough, was it?”
“If she weren’t dead, would you ask me that question?”
Luke hesitated. His eyes widened. “No.”
“And did you ever use her to get yourself off?”
He looked offended. “No. I’ve never done that with anyone.”
Why did that fill her with such relief? “Did you ever think of her as anything other than a girl?”
He gave an emphatic shake of his head. “No. Not even that night. It was weird because in my heart I knew she was a girl, but I just couldn’t get past . . .” He flushed again, his features tightening. “I couldn’t touch her.”
Alisha stared at him. “I don’t know what to say to make you feel better. Honestly, I get that it would be freaky. I don’t know how I would have handled it.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “I’d like to think I’d be okay and all open-minded, but it’s not like I have much experience.” She laughed self-consciously.
He watched her for a moment—long enough to make her uncomfortable. Then, he smiled. “Thanks for making me feel better.”
She shrugged. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Yeah, you did. You always make everything better. It’s like your superpower, or something.”
“Right,” she scoffed.
“Seriously, you’re awesome.”
“So awesome I’m single.” She instantly felt stupid for saying it. He was staring at her now and her chest was so tight she could barely breathe.
“Any guy would be lucky to have you.”
Alisha forced a smile, because there was only one guy she wanted at that moment, and she was ashamed of herself for it. “Want to watch another movie?” she asked.
He rose to his feet. “Let’s go for a drive.”
At that moment she heard Audrey’s voice in the back of her head: Everyone’s capable of murder given the right circumstances.
Not Luke. Alisha knew deep in her heart that Luke wasn’t capable of killing someone—not even if his own life depended on it. He wasn’t like Audrey, or Uncle Jake, or even her. Which was why she turned off the TV and went with him. He needed someone to watch his back.
CHAPTER FIVE
Audrey didn’t normally go to Gracie’s on Friday night, but as the weather got nicer and tourists began rolling through town, Jake started spending more and more time at the tavern. If she wanted to see her fiancé, she had to occasionally polish a stool at the bar with her butt.
The parking lot was full and the old house that had had several additions built onto it over the years was full of people—only a couple of tables were open, and the place vibrated with music and conversation. Almost a year ago, Audrey had walked into this place and found her father passed out in the corner; now he helped out working behind the bar when Jake needed him. More important, he was sober.
John Harte—Rusty because of his once-ginger hair—set a plate of onion rings on the bar in front of her. They were her favorite and he knew it.
“I had dinner,” she told him. She’d been trying to watch her calories the last few months since clothes had started to feel tight after Christmas. They were feeling tight again. Jake simply fed her too well.
He shrugged and snatched one of the rings off the plate and took a bite. “So did I. You want another drink?”
It was only cola, so she nodded and helped herself to the fried perfection in
front of her. Willpower only went so far.
“Talked to your sister lately?”
Audrey sighed. There had been family drama—to put it mildly—around Thanksgiving that made things a little strained between her and her big sister, Jessica. They were working things out, but their parents worried because the girls had been estranged after Audrey killed Clint. They didn’t want that to happen again. Audrey tried to tell them it was okay—she didn’t want her father having another heart attack—but they still fussed.
“I called her before I came here,” she told him. “Spoke to the girls too. Mackenzie is coming to visit on Memorial Day weekend.”
“The girls will be excited.” Isabelle and Olivia, Jessica’s daughters, were always thrilled when their big sister came to visit.
Audrey took another onion ring. “She’s a great kid.”
“Speaking of great kids, you’re going to stay out of this murder business, right?”
She swallowed and wiped her greasy fingers on a napkin. “The school’s hired me to talk to students having a hard time with it.”
Her father shook his shaggy head. He needed a haircut. “Jesus H. Christ. And you said yes, didn’t you?”
She nodded. “Well, yeah.”
“Of course you did. I knew you wouldn’t be able to stay out of it. I told your mother you’d be neck-deep in it before we knew it.”
“Dad.” She stared at him, silently willing his heart to stay calm and not freak out. “I’m just counseling kids.”
“Mm. Right. We’ll see how long it stays that way. One of them will say something that gets that head of yours churning, and then you’ll start sticking your face in where it doesn’t belong and that Graham girl will let you.”
“Hey, Rusty,” called Binky Taylor, town institution and jovial drunk, from a few stools down. “Gimme a beer, will ya?”
Her father hesitated but then turned away, grumbling. Audrey sighed in relief. Her father was always giving her a hard time for being nosy. He blamed it on the Pelletier side of the family—her mother’s side—but it seemed to Audrey that he had his own share of busybodiness. Not like he could keep his face out of her business.
A commotion in the stage area of the building made her turn her head. Randy Dyer and some of his friends were being rowdy, laughing and shoving one another around. Lincoln, Jake’s brother, who was waiting tables in that area, approached them with a frown on his face. Recently Linc had been trying to get his act together—to the point where Jake had hired him back part time at Gracie’s. In January he’d started taking hospitality courses at the local community college, and just a few weeks ago he’d cut his trademark rock-star hair. Apparently he’d stopped smoking hash too. Audrey had to wonder how much of this transformation was owed to his career goals and how much thanks went to his girlfriend, Marnie. She was a little older than Lincoln, divorced, and really seemed to have her act together.
Audrey watched as Randy gave Lincoln a shove. Stupid kid. You’d think he’d know better than to push a Tripp. Lincoln actually slapped the kid upside the head, grabbed his arm, twisted it behind his back, and steered him toward the exit. Randy’s struggles only made Linc apply more pressure. She could hear the kid’s protests of pain over the southern rock playing. Not her favorite music, but it seemed to make people drink.
Suddenly, Jake was there. He’d been in the office out back but had obviously seen the altercation on the security screens. Audrey watched him with a little smile on her face as he met his brother on his way back in from tossing Randy out. She loved it when he looked serious and badass. Loved the way his faded black tee pulled across his back, and the way his jeans hung on his hips. He was lean, but sinewy and deceptively strong. She wanted to walk up to him and bury her face in the hollow of his neck and take a deep breath.
“Jesus, get a room,” her father growled.
She laughed. Jake turned his head at the sound, looking right at her. He flashed that smile that was for her alone as he walked toward her. “I didn’t know you were going to be here,” he said before kissing her.
She shrugged. “I was bored, so I thought I’d come down.” She jerked her chin toward Lincoln. “What was that all about?”
“Drunk assholes. Dyer was shooting his mouth off about the Lewis girl, apparently.”
Audrey tilted her head. “Really. What did he say?”
Her father leaned across the bar. “Told you.”
She whipped her head toward him with a glare. “Stop eavesdropping.”
He shrugged and went back to wiping glasses.
“He accuse you of getting involved in the case?” Jake asked with a small smile.
“Of course.” She saw the way he looked at her. “I’m not going to—if I can avoid it.”
“Might as well ask the sun not to shine.” Since he was still smiling, she didn’t take offense.
“FIGHT!” The shout broke through the conversation and the music, pulling all attention toward the door. A small group of young men pushed their way to the exit.
“Fuck around,” Jake said, his jaw tight as he followed after them. Audrey was hot on his heels.
“Stay here,” she said to her father, who had started to follow. The only thing he loved as much as a drink was a fight, and if he jumped into the fray her mother would never forgive her, or Jake for letting it happen. Anne Harte treated her bull of a husband like he was made of china these days.
Outside, the gravel lot was full of cars, lit by two powerful lights on tall poles. There was one out back too. After Jake got jumped behind the place that fall, he’d decided to invest in better lighting.
In the middle of the lot Randy Dyer and Luke Pelletier were pounding on each other, and trying to stop the bloodshed was Alisha. Randy was older and bigger, but he was also drunker, and Luke was decidedly angrier, which made them fairly well matched.
Until Randy pulled a knife.
“Is that the one you used to kill Tala?” Alisha demanded.
Randy turned toward her. The sight of a blade in such close proximity to his niece was all Jake needed to be spurred into action. Audrey didn’t even try to stop him. He moved too fast for her anyway. One second he was just a few feet ahead of her and the next he was behind Randy with one arm around his neck, the other restraining his knife hand.
Audrey saw the look on Alisha’s face and moved to intercept her. Never mind that she’d gotten into a fight in this same parking lot not even a year ago—she wasn’t going to let Alisha do something that might make her the victim of revenge at a later date. She caught the girl by the shoulder and pulled her back just as Neve’s car pulled into the lot.
Luke’s nose was bleeding, so Audrey gave him a tissue as Neve and Vickie approached them. Neve had her cop face on.
“What’s going on?” She asked.
Neither Audrey nor Jake looked at the boys for explanation; they turned to Alisha. Her face was flushed, her jaw clenched and eyes glittering. Audrey knew the look. “What happened?” she asked the girl.
“We were going for a drive,” she replied, nodding at Luke. “We stopped here because I wanted onion rings, and saw Randy. He started mouthing off at us.”
“What about?” Neve asked.
Alisha glanced at her before dropping her gaze to the ground. “Tala.”
“Who took the first swing?”
“I did,” Luke admitted. “Randy said something to Alisha and I hit him.”
“What did he say?”
Luke hung his head.
Jake tightened his hold around Randy’s neck. “What did you say, asshole?”
Alisha sighed. “He said I must have a dick because that was the only kind of girl Luke liked. Then he grabbed me and asked if he could see it.”
Someone in the gathered crowd laughed. A couple of someones. Neve shot a hard look in their direction before turning back to the situation. Audrey kept her gaze on Jake, who said something in Randy’s ear that made the younger man blanch. Things hadn’t turned out so well for the
last person who threatened someone Jake cared about.
“I think you’re coming with me, Randy,” Neve said.
“I was defending myself,” he said. “You can’t fucking arrest me for that.”
She nodded at the knife in his hand. “There’s that.”
“Switchblades aren’t illegal anymore, Officer,” he replied with a smirk.
Neve smirked back. “Unless you threaten someone with it, asshole. Plus, you assaulted Alisha, and I want to talk to you about the night you assaulted Tala Lewis.”
That surprised him. In fact, he looked horrified. “I didn’t do nothin’ to that freak.”
“That’s not what I heard. Now, you want to come with us, or should I drive you home and do this in front of your father?”
Now Randy looked downright panicked. Everyone knew what a son of a bitch Teddy Dyer was. Audrey knew his younger brother Dwayne, who, while no peach, was known to be the best of the lot, and even then he drank too much, liked his drugs, and had more kids scattered around the countryside than there were wild blueberries.
“I’ll go with you,” he replied, grudgingly.
Neve smiled. “Thought so. Don’t worry. I’ll drive you home after.” She turned to Vickie. “Help Mr. Dyer to the car, please.” Then she turned to Audrey.
“What?” Audrey asked, reluctantly turning her attention away from Jake, who was watching Randy like he’d enjoy five minutes alone with him.
“You think he’s dangerous?”
For a second, she thought Neve meant Jake. She shrugged. “He pulled a knife, and he looked to me like he was prepared to use it. Did he really assault Tala?”
“According to Kendra Granger, he did. By the way, she’s probably going to talk to you at the school. I told her you’d be there.”
Audrey met her gaze. “I’m not spying on these kids for you.”
“I’m not asking you to do anything.” Neve clapped her on the shoulder and began to walk away. “With your track record, I figure all I have to do is let you do your thing and eventually you’ll piss the killer off enough that they’ll come after you.”
