Oblivion

by Karolyn Cairns

  Chapter Thirteen

  They entered the bowling alley and Lindsay felt eyes upon her. She avoided looking at the kids they passed. With Lance at her side not many pushed the issue by making comments. They went into the snack bar and saw Marnie waiting there.

  She wore loose jeans and a sweatshirt. Lindsay almost did a double take at her appearance. For once, she didn’t look like the trampy girl she’d known all her life.

  Marnie only had eyes for Lance and she could see the looks the two shared. She had those unspoken moments with Jace, knowing by every expression that crossed his face what he was thinking or feeling. It was love, whether she approved or not.

  “Cameron was here; just so you know,” she informed Lindsay as they sat down. “He’ll probably be back too.”

  “I’d like to see him mess with my sister while I’m here,” Lance informed her moodily as he bent and brushed a kiss across her lips. “Sorry I’m late, babe. I stopped to pickup Lindsay. I thought it was only right I tell her about our plans.”

  Marnie looked at Lindsay and was prepared for her condemnation.

  “I guess the cat’s out of the bag.”

  “You were pretty secretive. I never heard a thing about you two.”

  “What a shocker something got by everyone in Little Bend,” Lance teased as he got up and went to order their pizza.

  Marnie looked uncomfortable. “He told you that I’m leaving with him?”

  “Yeah, I guess everybody lives happily ever after but me,” Lindsay said sourly and almost regretted it by Marnie’s pained look. “Don’t mind me. I’m still recovering from my shock.”

  Marnie glared at her. “I love your brother. I know the way everything looks to you and I can’t help that. Just know he’s all I care about, ever cared about. I only stayed with Cam because I thought I had to because of the baby. Lance said he doesn’t care whose baby this is. He said it’s ours. We’re getting a place in Georgia and he wants you to be alright with this.”

  “Alright? What if the baby is Jace’s? That would make Lance his uncle, Marnie. You can’t tell me all this isn’t a bit weirder now?”

  “It could be Cam’s too.”

  “Or Dooley’s,” Lindsay pointed out in disgust.

  “He used protection when we were together. It’s pretty doubtful it’s his. I just went to him because I needed help.”

  “Try to see why this whole thing blows my mind,” Lindsay began and shook her head. “Every day I learn something new and I was here the whole time.”

  “You and Jace were in a plastic bubble, for sure. He didn’t even know his best friend was selling drugs. It’s funny about being in love. You tend to not notice things you should.”

  “If you care about my brother this whole thing is fine with me,” Lindsay informed her. “But if you hurt him; I’m going to come looking for you.”

  “He wants to get married.”

  Lindsay scowled. “Like I said; I never saw this coming. Just give me time to get used to the idea you’re coming with us to Georgia for now, ok?”

  Marnie smirked then. “I told him to tell you last summer. I know this is a lot to take in.”

  “What are you going to do if Margene’s baby is his?”

  Marnie shrugged. “The same thing he’s doing in accepting mine if it’s Cam’s or Jace’s.”

  Lindsay eyed her approvingly. “I think that’s the right attitude to have.”

  “Margene won’t let him ever see the kid if it turns out to be his.”

  “I guess we just have to wait and see and hope for the best.”

  “Lindsay, this was the last thing I wanted when Lance left. I was so hurt to find out about him and Margene. I wanted to hurt him back.”

  Lindsay could well understand that kind of hurt. She also knew firsthand what means Cam used to take advantage of Marnie. She wasn’t surprised he did it to all his dates. Knowing he would do it to more girls made her anxious to see him in jail.

  “Did Cam say anything to you when he was here?”

  “Yeah, he said I can forget it now that he knows Lance is back in town.”

  “He knew about you and my brother?”

  “Yeah, I think that’s the only reason he moved in on me.”

  Lindsay had to agree, thinking of his interest in her after Jace died.

  “Lance won’t let him bother you.”

  “Lance has problems of his own,” Lindsay replied. “He can’t be there every minute.”

  “He has something to ask you and it might solve the problem until we leave,” Marnie told her as Lance joined them once more.

  Lance took her lead and gazed at his sister hopefully. “Marnie needs a place to stay. Is it ok if she stays with us until we leave? I can look out for you both for the next three weeks and don’t have to worry so much.”

  “Fine with me, but Merriman might have an issue with it.”

  “Let me handle him. I appreciate this, sis. Marnie can’t stay there anymore. Cam won’t leave her alone and his friends are harassing her more every day.”

  Lindsay was stunned to know Marnie endured that by herself. She went to the sheriff knowing Cam and his friends would make her life miserable. All her thoughts of Marnie were conflicted. Knowing the girl would be her sister-in-law one day also reminded her that nothing was as it seemed anymore. Her and Jace lived in their own world and ignored all of this.

  “Does Mom know about this?” Lindsay asked and the pair went very quiet. Lance passed out Styrofoam plates and smiled.

  “Yeah she knows. She’s not real happy about it, but it’s my choice and my life and for once I’m doing what I want.”

  Lindsay took a slice of pizza and reflected upon her brother’s words. “What about Everett? Does he know?”

  “He doesn’t stay sober long enough for me to tell him anything, Lindsay.”

  She felt horrible, knowing Lance had to pick up where Jace left off with their father. Evie probably didn’t remember anything he was told when he was drunk and drank more to forget what he heard. Lance tried to form a relationship with the man, but how did one do that?

  “You did tell him though?”

  “Yeah, he said he knew I was his and wondered when Mom would get around to telling me. The guy hardly acknowledges he lost Jace and lost the other two. What did you expect? Did you think he’d take me fishing, Lindsay?”

  “No, I guess not.”

  Lance looked sad and Marnie put her arm around him. “I can say I tried, that’s about it. He’s too far gone. He won’t go into treatment and help himself. Addie has had enough. After this weekend he doesn’t have any place to live. I can’t worry about him. Mrs. Warren said he can have Marnie’s old apartment and I paid it up until the end of the summer. Then he’s on his own.”

  “Does he know where Sara and Dougie are?”

  “He didn’t ask, Lindsay. We’re talking about Evie Turner. He only wonders where his next drink is coming from.”

  Lindsay felt horrible for Dougie and Sara, and her brother. Everett Turner would never be the father they needed him to be. Her own father might be a selfish jerk, but he was there for her at the end of the day.

  “You didn’t have to do that for him, Lance.”

  He looked down at his pizza. “He’s still my dad, Lindsay. I did it for me, so I can walk away and say I did all I could.”

  Lindsay ate her pizza and the three were quiet. She didn’t see Cameron and his friends enter the snack bar. By Lance’s tense expression, she looked behind her and felt dismay to see he had three buddies with him.

  “Yo, what’s up, Lance?” he called, his eyes flicking over Lindsay and Marnie with a cold look in his blue eyes.

  “Just getting dinner, Cam,” her brother returned and his brown eyes narrowed. “Don’t start anything.”

  Cameron grinned and his buddies laughed. “You roll back into town and steal my girl and think everything’s just hunky dory?”

  “I’m not your girl!” Marnie snapped and glared at h
er ex-boyfriend. “It’s over, Cam. I’m leaving with Lance; so back off.”

  “See that’s the problem, Marnie,” Cam went on pleasantly. “I talked to my lawyer and he tells me until we know whose baby it is; you can’t go anywhere. I got rights, babe.”

  Marnie looked like she had been punched in the stomach. “You told me it was my problem, remember? Now you’re gonna try and force me to stay here if the baby’s yours? Why? Just for spite?”

  “If it’s my kid; I got rights,” Cam said and laughed at Lance’s angry look. “My lawyer is writing up the court order right now. I don’t think you want to push it by trying to leave.”

  “You don’t even care about the baby!” Marnie cried and Lance put a hand over hers in comfort.

  Cam smiled smugly and he and his friends circled the table. “Yeah, but since you went out of your way to make my life miserable; I might as well return the favor.”

  “You won’t get away with this!” Marnie raged.

  “I already did, babe. You know I always get my way.”

  “Cam, unless you want to go outside; I suggest you get lost,” Lance told him in a menacing tone, rising from the table.

  “Hey Romeo, calm down. This is between me and my baby mama,” Cameron informed him and the guys all laughed at his words. “I don’t want any trouble with you.”

  “Stay away from Marnie and my sister, Cam.”

  Cam smiled down at Lindsay and she felt a tremor of fear from the look of hatred in his eyes as he noticed her. “You might want to tell your sister to stay away from me. She’s the one working for the cops.”

  “She’s not working for the cops, Cam,” Lance growled and took a step forward. “And if you don’t have anything to hide; why are you so worried about it?”

  Cam shrugged and looked unconvinced. “I’m not. I didn’t do anything. My lawyer says this won’t even go to trial. They got nothing on me. It’s just the point. Her running off at the mouth got me busted for other stuff. I lost the scholarship and my parents are ticked. Somebody has to pay.”

  “Stay away from my sister, Cameron,” Lance repeated tightly and Cam’s friends looked worried. Everybody knew Lance was a scrapper. “Leave her alone and tell your friends to back off or they deal with me.”

  Cameron’s eyes lingered on Lindsay. “It’s too bad you had to run to the cops, Lindsay. I can’t help what happens now. Nobody likes a narc.”

  Lance looked livid as Cameron and his friends left the snack bar. Lindsay shivered from the threat behind his words. It was obvious Cameron wasn’t going to let it go. She had three weeks until graduation.

  She debated the sanity in not leaving with Lance and Marnie now. But now it looked like Marnie might not be able to leave. She knew Lance wouldn’t go without her. It gave her hope she could see this through.

  “He’s just blowing smoke,” Lance assured Marnie. “He can’t force you to stay.”

  Marnie looked sick as she sat back in her chair. “He has rights if it’s his. The lady at the welfare office said so. There’s a test I can have done to find out now. We talked about it if this should happen when I went through the adoption process. I didn’t think Cameron would do this.”

  “Forget it! You’re not getting stuck with some needle to prove a point.”

  “What are you talking about?” Lindsay asked in alarm. “What needle?”

  Lance looked angry. “They have a test they can do to establish paternity of the baby. They stick a needle into her stomach to extract blood from the baby. It’s dangerous and I told her no.”

  “He’s not going to leave me alone unless we do it.”

  Lance appeared sick too. “Marnie, I won’t ask you to do that.”

  “He meant what he said, Lance. He’s going to make everyone as miserable as he is now. He knows I can’t leave if it’s his. I’m calling that lady Monday and take the test. What choice do we have?”

  “I told my uncle I would be back July first; no later. We gotta figure this out or I’m out of a job.”

  “Uncle Ed won’t fire you, Lance.”

  “Jobs are hard to come by, Lindsay,” her brother reminded her. “It’s no different there. Sure he’ll understand, but I don’t want to risk my job by staying here any longer than that.”

  “Cam is just trying to make everyone as miserable as he is. He’s on bail. He wouldn’t dare try to come after me and Marnie.”

  “Don’t even guess what he will do, little sister,” Lance said coldly. “Remember what he did to Jace? I don’t put anything past him.”

  “Now do you see why I was helping the sheriff?”

  “No more of that,” Lance warned her, his dark eyes filled with anger. “They get paid to take those risks; you don’t. Leave it to the cops, Lindsay.”

  “What if he gets away with it?” she asked and looked devastated. “How can I accept that?”

  Lance’s expression softened. “He was my brother, Lindsay. How do you think I feel? All these years I wondered why I liked the guy so much. I want to rip Cam’s head off, but I have to let the cops do their job.”

  “Jace wouldn’t want to see you take these risks, Lindsay,” Marnie added and her hazel eyes filled with sadness. “He was one of the kindest people I knew. He wouldn’t want you hurt trying to catch his killer.”

  “You know, this last month has been an eye opener for me,” Lindsay said softly. “I almost feel like I didn’t deserve Jace at all. Everything he did was for his family and for us. The choices I forced him to make for me will haunt me forever.”

  “He made his choice. He was staying. You guys would have worked it out,” she consoled.

  “Did you ever wonder why Cameron did it?” Lindsay asked them both. “He already knew he was getting the scholarship by default. Jace told him he wasn’t going with me before he even told me. We all know he could care less whose baby it is. I can’t help but want to know.”

  “He’s a sicko; that’s why!” Lance exploded under his breath. “Don’t wonder about it. Any guy who would hack up his best friend is just nuts. Does he need a reason?”

  “No, she has a point,” Marnie pointed out. “Why would he kill Jace? I’ve wracked my brain trying to figure it out. Sure he was jealous of Jace. Who wouldn’t be? He was as close to perfect as you could get.”

  “Sheriff Wilson said some people get off on killing. I can’t help but wonder if he’s sick like that. Now do you understand? What if he kills again?” Lindsay said urgently. “I couldn’t live with myself if I did nothing.”

  Lance and Marnie both considered what she said. Her brother ran a hand through his dark hair and gazed at her with understanding in his gaze. “You mean you think he might be a serial killer who is just getting started?”

  “Nothing else makes sense, Lance.”

  “We might never know, Lindsay. I know you’re missing Jace, but you have to let this go. Cameron is nobody you want to mess with.”

  Lindsay finished her pizza and her private thoughts disagreed with her brother. She very much wanted to mess with Cameron. It was pretty clear unless she met him head-on he would come at her from behind. Her brother had his hands full with Marnie and her situation right now.

  As much as she would like to assure him she would stay out of it; she had no intentions of letting Dooley handle the case on his own. Sheriff Wilson retired in a few weeks. He assured her once he was out of the department he would devote himself to the case fulltime.

  He said Dan hadn’t the experience to work the case. Just knowing Cameron was likely to walk made her more determined to help. Jace wouldn’t die in vain. She had to have some justice. Her whole life was upside down.

  On the outside she looked like she was handling her grief. On the inside, she was falling apart. Everything she once thought was important no longer was. She even second-guessed her decision to be a doctor one day and go to Georgia at all. Worse, she no longer wanted to live without Jace. She refrained from talking about that. The desire to join him in death was a constant thou
ght.

  Lance would have her dragged to a padded room if he knew how much she wanted to end her own life and be with the man she loved. The only thing that kept her going was seeing Cameron pay for what he did. Once he was sitting in prison, she would see where her life took her. Right now; she lived to get justice for Jace.

  “I’m going to drop you at home and help Marnie get all her stuff packed up,” her brother told her as he closed the leftover pizza box. “You gonna be alright for a while?”

  “Yeah, I’m going to take a bath and get to bed early,” Lindsay replied and felt more secure knowing her brother had her back.

  “She doesn’t have much and we won’t be long,” he warned and got up. “You hear one noise; you call my cell. I don’t trust those guys.”

  Marnie looked at her worriedly. “Lindsay, you don’t know Cam the way you think you do. He’s not right. He’ll come after you or put somebody up to it. You need to be real careful until we leave.”

  Lindsay realized they were both right. The boy she grew up with was an animal. He killed Jace in cold blood for no apparent reason. Why would he hesitate to hurt her after she went to the police? Fear coursed through her in waves. Hysteria was making it difficult to think rationally these days. Every noise and creak in the apartment put her on edge.

  The three of them left the bowling alley and Lindsay ignored the taunts and jeers at her back. Lance sent warning looks as he walked behind the two girls. Once they were in his car and leaving, she exhaled.

  “Lindsay you need to listen to Marnie for your own good. Every kid in town who bought from Cam has you on their short list now. Don’t go anywhere alone. They can’t get to you on your job, so that means they’ll try to draw you out.”

  “I’m not worried, Lance.”

  He looked angry. “You need to be! Lindsay, he’s in with drug dealers in Helena. We need to get you out of here.”

  Lindsay sat in the backseat and stared out the window as they drove back to the apartment. Lance walked her up and checked the apartment before he left her, making her lock up after him. She realized everyone took this all very seriously except her. For some reason she was in denial Cameron would hurt her.

  She sat in the bathtub and soaked for over an hour, thinking about what a mess everything was in such a short time. Six weeks before she was planning her and Jace’s future, now it appeared she didn’t have one unless Cameron went down.

  Sheriff Wilson wasn’t sure Cameron wouldn’t just get probation for the drug charge. If that was the case; he was walking free next month at his hearing. His father hired the best criminal defense attorney in Helena. She knew the evidence against him in Jace’s murder was all circumstantial.

  Thoughts of Cameron beating everything he was charged with kept her up at night. He would bide his time until after the hearing. She knew instinctively she had nothing to worry about right now. He wouldn’t risk coming after her now. He would wait until the charges were dropped and he was assured of probation.

  She waited until Lance and Marnie arrived and helped them unload Lance’s trunk. They took her mom’s old room and she left them to unpack. She lay down and stared at the ceiling. Thoughts of Jace filled her mind.

  Tears sprang to her eyes to know she could do so little for him. Frustrated anger filled her to know that wearing a wire wasn’t enough. Sheriff Wilson was right. She needed to step it up if she was going to get a confession out of Cam.