by E. R. FALLON
She grimaced. “I guess I blew your cover, huh?” Paige snuggled into Sammie’s chest.
“Probably, but that’s okay. You couldn’t have known.” I hoped to hell that I was right and everything would be okay. I tried to read Tawny’s body language behind the desk. She wasn’t smiling at me like she usually did when I’d see her around the lodge, but she didn’t appear suspicious either. “Did you drive through the night to get here? Is the lock on our door—”
“Yes, and, yes, of course, it’s fixed. I left right after he was gone. I wouldn’t have left without doing that first.”
“I would have come home, you know, if you wanted me there. You didn’t have to come all the way here. What about your work, are they fine with you not being there?”
“They’ll be fine if I miss a few more days. They don’t know what’s going on exactly, just that it’s a family thing, and that is true, you are my family, Evan, and I’m yours. I decided I want to be here for you, to go through this with you. I was worried about you. You sounded so—I don’t know—hopeless—when I called yesterday.”
“I love you,” I said.
“I love you too.”
“Did any cops come around the apartment?” I asked.
Sammie shook her head. “And I don’t think anyone’s been watching the place. Are you okay with us being here?”
I thought over her loaded question and then concluded, “It’s better you’re both here because then I know you’re safe.” I paused and Sammie seemed relieved. I kissed her cheek. “With everything that happened, I forgot to ask, how did Paige’s appointment with the vet go?” I said.
“And I forgot to tell you. He didn’t find anything wrong with Paige. She’s still not eating, though.”
I sighed. “I feel guilty about the whole thing, like we’re putting her health on the back burner.”
Sammie squeezed my arm. “Don’t feel bad, Evan. We’re taking care of her the best we can. I should mention I did check our apartment for prints and found nothing unique.”
“That’s odd.”
“It is, but I compared the many prints I found around the house with the prints we have on some personal objects. I found no prints besides our own. My guess is that the intruder wore gloves.”
“Have things been, you know, pretty quiet, back at home?”
“When I left, there were no new murders. I mentioned that to you?”
I nodded. “No new murders since I’ve been gone. Terrific. I wouldn’t want to see anyone else get killed but this is not looking good for me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Chief Gilani never said they suspected you.” Sammie raised her voice and Tawny gave us an officious look. “What’s on your schedule for today?” Sammie must have seen me react physically from the anxiety her question caused me because she said, “You do your thing, and I’ll stay with Paige. You won’t even know we’re here.”
I was scheduled to meet with Alice again at the prison that afternoon, something I’d kept hidden from Sammie, but I answered, “It’s no problem, but, yes, that’d be great if you could watch her. You two come with me and I’ll deal with the desk person. Let’s get you settled in. You must be tired and should rest. Do you have luggage? How did you get up here anyhow if I took the car? The bus?”
“I rented a car. I drove through the night.”
Sammie stood next to me at the front desk. She had set Paige down on the floor by then and held onto her leash. The dog walked around us in circles.
I explained to Tawny who Sammie was to me. “I know you’re pretty full here.” Then I said to Sammie, “There’s a wine convention happening outside town if you want to check that out later. I’m sure you can carry Paige around inside.” I spoke to Tawny again. “Can they be squeezed into my room? I thought I saw a sign posted somewhere that you accept pets.”
“For an extra fee, yes, we do allow them, on a case-by-case basis,” she said.
“I see. Paige, our dog, is very well-behaved, and as you can see, she’s also very small.”
That caused Tawny to smile. I tensed when she didn’t speak, and I waited for her to ask me why I had two different surnames and who I was in relation to Alice Lane. After a minute she said, “I’ll have to ask my manager. He’s coming in this afternoon.”
“I won’t be here in the afternoon. I have a meeting. Is there any way we could speed things up?” I leaned on the desk and grinned at her.
She didn’t return my cordiality. “She can bring her luggage to your room, but I’ll still have to ask my manager how I’m supposed to go about charging you, since your room’s a single and not a double occupancy.”
“That’s fine,” I said. “And the dog, can she come up?”
Tawny nodded. “I’ll add the pet fee to your room bill. Do you have a better idea of when you’ll be leaving us?”
“I’m working on that.”
“Very well, sir. Let me know if there’s anything else you need.” She’d turned cold seemingly overnight, or even that morning.
I walked with Sammie out to her rental car to help her carry her luggage inside. Sammie took Paige over to the grassy section of the parking lot so the dog could do her business.
“You seem friendly with the desk girl,” Sammie said when they returned.
“Not really. Just trying to get what we want from them.” I hadn’t told her I’d known Tawny in high school. “And I knew her in school.” I figured that was something I didn’t need to keep hidden.
Compassion softened Sammie’s features. “Does she know who you are?”
“She didn’t when I arrived.”
“But now that I used the Lane surname, she might, right?”
“Or she might be too polite to say anything.”
Sammie sighed. “I’m really sorry, Evan. This isn’t good. How long are we going to stay here?”
“I’m not sure. Not too much longer, I think.”
It had taken some time getting used to but I loved how whenever I was around Sammie everything became we or us. Paige nudged my shoe and I hunkered down to the ground to stroke her fur, warm and velvety under my fingers. “How are you?” I said, and she pressed her wet nose to mine.
*
Sammie settled into my room. She didn’t unpack her suitcase, and neither had I. We kept our luggage atop the dresser to dig out of them. Paige sat on the unmade bed, watching us. I’d hung the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door handle outside so the cleaning people wouldn’t interrupt us.
“I’m glad you came,” I said to Sammie. “But I wished you’d called me before you left so I could have had time to prepare.”
“Prepare for?”
“For example, I could’ve sorted things out with the front desk before you arrived. But it’s okay. I’m glad both of you are here with me now.”
“I didn’t say anything to you because you would’ve told me not to come. It’s always like you, Evan, to not want to make a big deal out of anything, but some things are a big deal. This trip you took here is one of them.” Sammie started for the closet. “Maybe I’ll hang up some of my clothes so they don’t get wrinkled.”
“Don’t go in there!” I dashed toward her.
Before I could stop her she’d opened the door, bent down, and picked up the whiskey bottle. She twirled it in her hand and stared at me. “Time to prepare for, what, to hide this? I thought you looked slightly hungover when I first saw you, but I gave you the benefit of the doubt.”
I started to gently take the bottle from her hand. “I’m sorry. I lost control a little last night after I saw . . . my mother.” My voice faded.
“You what?” The bottle fell from Sammie’s hand and clanked on the carpet. “You came here to see your mother?”
I moved Paige over and sat down on the side of the bed. “When I arrived here, I didn’t know if I’d get to visit her in the prison. But after I stopped by Detective Mack’s house—he’s the one who handled her case—I decided it might be possible for me to see her after all. I
was right, and Mack got me in to see her yesterday. In fact, I’m visiting her again this afternoon.”
“Detective Mack? Wasn’t he a mentor to you? Does he know who you are?”
“Indeed, I told him who I am. He had assisted the FBI with the local investigation into my mother’s case. He’d treated me well and didn’t act like I was a rotten apple just because I was a serial killer’s kid.”
Sammie sat next to me on the bed and our thighs touched. “You should have told me you visited your mother. We could’ve talked about it together, then you wouldn’t have turned to that.” She pointed at the whiskey bottle, on its side on the carpet. Sammie reached for the eyeglasses I bought at the drugstore and had left on the nightstand last night. “I am glad you came out to your mom. Since when do you wear glasses?”
“Never. I bought them to—never mind.” If Sammie thought I came out to Alice, she wouldn’t have understood why I’d disguised myself during the prison visit. “I got them for laughs.”
Sammie stared at me without speaking. Was she trying to figure out what I’d been doing in her absence? Then she said, “Let me come with you this afternoon.”
“It’s only been arranged for me to visit the prison. Besides, who will watch—”
“Paige will be fine in the room by herself for a few hours. I left her comfy travel crate in my rental’s backseat. We can bring it inside and she can rest in there while we’re away. She’s quiet so the lodge won’t mind.” Sammie pressed her hand against my leg and I held it there.
“My mother doesn’t—I haven’t come out to her yet.”
Sammie sighed. The silence lasted between us for a few seconds. Then she spoke with vigor, “I want to be there for you today when you do.”
I took my hand off hers. “You don’t understand—even if I wanted to tell her, I can’t now. She thinks I’m someone else.”
Sammie’s hold on me loosened. “Who does she think you are?”
“A journalist from Seven Sisters. She thinks I’m writing a story about the murders there.”
“What are you seeking, Evan? Why are you here if not to reconnect with your mother?”
“I need to know why someone is killing again and what I have to do with it.”
Sammie rose and paced about the room. Paige’s gaze followed Sammie’s movements. “Does that detective—Mack—know about this?”
It took me a few seconds to admit yes, he did.
“It isn’t—you can’t pretend to be someone you’re not and enter a prison. I can’t believe a detective went along with this crazy idea. You both could be in deep trouble if someone finds out. Did you give them a different name?”
“Of course.”
“Which is?”
“Evan Samuels. That’s the surname I’ve given people since I arrived. Sammie. Samuels. You know.” I attempted a smile. “Too many people in this town associate the name Lane with my mother. That’s why there was confusion at the desk downstairs when you came in and told them you wanted to see me.”
“Yeah, but what about at the prison? They must’ve noticed your identification has a different last name.”
“I told them I left my ID in the car. They didn’t make me go get it. Mack helped me get inside. They know him at the jail. It’s a small town.”
Sammie ceased walking and looked at me. “Are you planning on lying to them this afternoon too?”
“I’m sticking with the story I’ve given them, yes.”
“You’re not going to tell your mother who you are?”
“No. I’m not here to—to deal with that. I’m here to find answers about the Seven Sisters murders and the deadnaming messages. This has nothing to do with reuniting with my mother.”
Sammie sat by me again and Paige walked over on the bed and stretched across our laps. “I bet the next thing you’re going to say to me is, you don’t want me to come to the prison with you, am I right?”
“Would you mind terribly if you didn’t?” I said.
Sammie embraced me with Paige still between us. “I only want to support you.” She rested her head on my shoulder and her breath warmed my skin through my shirt.
“Thanks for coming,” I spoke into her neck.
Sammie sat up in my arms. “I didn’t feed Paige before I left, and I didn’t feed her during the trip because I didn’t want her getting carsick.” She unwrapped herself from me and walked to a tote bag she’d set on the floor when we entered the room. “I’ll feed her now. Of course, it’ll throw off her schedule a bit.”
I rose to assist Sammie, and Paige stayed on the bed, viewing us with little interest. “Do you think she’ll eat?” I asked Sammie.
“Probably not.” Sammie couldn’t restrain her tears and I wiped them away with my thumbs.
“Here, let me.”
I removed Paige’s food and water bowls from the bag. I filled one bowl with cool water from the bathroom tap and put her food into the other bowl. Then I set them on the floor near the bathroom, and Sammie walked to the bed to gather Paige. She placed Paige down in front of the dishes, squatted to the dog’s level and whispered encouragements for Paige to eat. Paige looked at Sammie and then at me, behind them.
“Come here,” I said to Sammie. “Give her some space and let’s see if she eats then.”
She rose to her feet, backed up, and stood by me. Paige glanced at us again, with her ears pulled back. She seemed to not like us watching her. I took Sammie’s hand.
“Let’s see what she does if we don’t pay attention to her,” I said.
We strolled over to the television and I turned it on.
“Have you eaten?” I asked, sitting down with Sammie on the bed to watch TV. I found a news program and left that on.
She kept stealing looks at Paige. “On the way up I carried Paige inside with me at a rest stop and had breakfast,” she said. “What about you, have you eaten today?”
As if on instinct, my stomach grumbled. I shook my head.
“And you’re hungover? You must have one hell of a headache.” Sammie gave me a reproachful look.
“I’ll get something to eat later. I have to see my mother at noon.”
“Later? When’s later? It’s well past mid-morning and you’re going to visit your mother at noon. Does the lodge have a restaurant inside?”
Sammie’s concern made me grin. “No. There’s a diner in the village. I’ve been there a few times. It’s pretty good. The front desk receptionist recommended it.”
“The girl downstairs?”
I nodded.
“The diner, that’s the one you told me about?” Sammie asked.
“Yeah.”
“When you were on the phone with me, you didn’t mention who recommended it to you.”
“I said someone from the lodge had.”
“Yes, but you didn’t say who.”
“Does it matter?” I gently took her by the shoulders. “You’re the one I love, Sammie.”
She looked down at her lap and then at me. “You’re right. I acted crazy. I trust you.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me into her chest. I outlined the soft warmness of her inner mouth with my tongue, and she pressed her lips deeply into mine. Sammie had the Chinese character for strength tattooed on her shoulder, and I pulled down her shirt a little and traced it with my finger.
“Do you hear that?” I asked.
Chewing and lapping sounds came from Paige’s food and water bowls behind us. I peeked over my shoulder to find Paige eating her food and having sips of water. Sammie couldn’t conceal her smile.
“What a relief! Do you think she’ll stop eating if we get up?” Sammie asked.
“Let’s not find out, shall we? She’s not very big. Her meal won’t take her too long to finish.”
“Why do you think she started eating all the sudden, here of all places? Was she stressed at home like we were?”
“They do tend to sense those things,” I said.
“Let’s return to wh
ere we left off,” Sammie said, and nibbled my smiling lips.
*
Shortly before noon, I left Paige and Sammie in my room at the lodge and started out for the prison. Sammie had her rental car and could venture outside if she needed to. I found relief in knowing that Sammie and Paige were near me and, thus, safe.
I passed Tawny at the front desk on my way out of the lodge to the parking lot. I’d hoped to avoid her but she called my name and I stopped. I turned on the heel of my shoes and walked to the desk.
“Hi, Tawny.” I thought of a question to deflect her. “Is your manager around?” I set my hands on the desk.
“He’s on his way in. I spoke to him on the phone about your guest and he said that was fine. There’ll be no extra charge for our guest of honor.”
“Who?” I said.
“You. You’re our guest of honor because you’re a famous journalist,” she remarked.
I smiled. “Not exactly but thank you.”
Her gaze fell to the shiny desk in front of her. “I know who you are—what you are.”
The mood in the room had darkened. I smiled to put myself at ease. “I beg your pardon?” I tried to throw her off and took my hands off the desk to signal I wouldn’t be staying to chat.
“After your girlfriend arrived, I figured out how come you look so familiar to me. I think I used to know you. Evelyn?” Tawny’s once-warm eyes cooled. It took all the strength I had for me not to bolt then. “I realized it when your girlfriend came in and said your name was Evan Lane, not Evan Samuels. Evelyn doesn’t have a brother.”
Someone—not the manager—walked into the lobby, and Tawny lowered her voice to speak privately to me. “I didn’t tell her I know what you are, in case she doesn’t know. But I know what you are, and it’s my belief that it doesn’t make you a real man. I hope you get help.” She spoke as though I was a thing and not a person.
I turned away from her and walked to the parking lot. I wasn’t going to ask her not to say anything to others in town, because I wasn’t going to hide. Initially, I’d hid for my own safety, but I wouldn’t permit anyone to shame me. One matter remained uncertain: Would I tell Alice Lane I was her child?
In the car I locked the doors and texted Sammie to tell her what Tawny had said. Sammie replied straight away and I read her text as I started the engine.
