23 Miles

by Renee Mackenzie

  “Okay, that was awkward,” Lana muttered as she sat back down.

  Shay noticed the color leaving Lana’s face. “Are you okay?”

  “I haven’t seen him since Richie’s funeral,” she whispered.

  “I’m sorry.” Shay sat back down.

  “He was a bit like a little brother to me. Maybe I shouldn’t have fallen off the face of the earth like that.”

  “You were grieving.”

  “He was grieving.” Lana glanced toward Ben. “He lost the most important person in his life and I wasn’t around to help him make sense of it.”

  “You had your own issues to deal with.” Shay crossed her arms over her chest. “Did you want to give him your number?”

  Lana looked away. “Yeah. I do miss him.”

  “Then maybe you should.”

  “That wouldn’t be fair to Kate.” She sat back as the waitress placed their lunches on the table. “Sometimes I get the feeling she’s halfway waiting for me to leave her for a man.”

  “And?”

  “And what?”

  “Are you?” Shay asked.

  “You really have to ask?”

  Shay smiled. “I see how you look at Kate. But I can also understand her insecurities. No one wants to think they have competition from players on both teams.”

  “This isn’t a game.”

  “Oh, I know that. Just make sure she knows that you don’t think it is.”

  Ben and the other guys left. He gave them a nod of his head and disappeared with his buddies.

  The waitress came by to refill their drinks. “Can we have the check, please?”

  “Oh,” she said. “The young man who just left paid your bill.”

  They both looked toward the door.

  “He asked me to give you this.” The waitress gave Lana a napkin with a phone number scrawled on it.

  After the waitress left, Lana moved as if to crumple it up.

  “You should keep it. One day you might need to talk to someone who actually knew Richie.”

  “But—”

  “I’m just saying put it away until you know for sure that you don’t want or need to call and talk to Ben.”

  “I’m not going to hide anything from Kate.”

  “I didn’t suggest that you do. The next conversation should be between you and Kate,” Shay said.

  †

  Talia had a death grip on the steering wheel. She glanced over at Kate, then in the rearview mirror at April and her heart started pounding. She prayed Mrs. Hunter would show up in Emporia as planned.

  She wished for the hundredth time that Shay could have come with them, but Mrs. Hunter had insisted it only be Kate, April, and Talia.

  The thought of Shay kissing her goodbye two days earlier made Talia smile. It had been just a light kiss, but was so sweet, and Talia had smiled the whole way home. Later, on the phone, Brian kept asking her what her deal was, accusing her of sounding unusually happy. Of course she told him she didn’t know what he meant.

  “Where are we meeting her?” Kate asked.

  “A gas station by the interstate. There’s a little food place where we can get burgers and sit down to talk.” Talia watched April in the rearview mirror as she spoke. April’s blank look never changed.

  “You okay back there?” Kate asked.

  “Fine.”

  Talia wondered if April was wishing she’d brought Joseph, or if she was glad for the break. Joey had taken the day off from work so April could have some ‘girl time.’ Talia wasn’t sure if April had even told her husband what they were doing that day.

  The first thing Talia noticed as she turned into the parking lot at the gas station was that most of the vehicles were pickup trucks. The second thing she noticed was that there were only men around. No women, most notably, no Mrs. Hunter.

  Talia parked her Honda around the side of the building. They waited.

  “How long should we give her?” Kate asked.

  “I have to pee,” was the only response April gave.

  “Me too. I’ll go with you,” Talia said. “You want to come with us, Kate?”

  “Yeah, I’ll go too.” Kate looked around. “We should probably lock up the car.”

  The restrooms were around the back, required a key attached to a large wooden spoon, and appeared not to have been cleaned in months.

  After taking turns and returning the key to the cashier, the three headed back to the car. Kate was in the lead and as she rounded the building she came to an abrupt halt. April plowed into the back of her and was in midprotest when Talia saw Mrs. Hunter standing beside a white pickup with Winston’s Plumbing stenciled on the side and a nervous-looking man watching from inside the cab. She recognized Winston right away and gave him a weak smile. He nodded.

  “Hi,” Kate stammered.

  Talia watched a string of expressions pass across April’s face. When April wobbled, Talia put her hand on her elbow.

  “Hi girls,” Mrs. Hunter said, almost too cheerily.

  “Hello,” Talia said. She was amazed at how much Mrs. Hunter looked exactly the same as she did fifteen years earlier. A few lines were etched around her mouth and eyes, and a line of gray was visible along her part where her hair had started to grow out of its dye job, but otherwise, she’d barely changed.

  “Kate thought they fished your body from the York River,” April blurted. “But I knew it wasn’t you. I’ve always known you were still alive.”

  Mrs. Hunter looked confused, like she was trying to decide if that warranted a thank-you or an I’m sorry. “Do you girls want to go next door for a burger? My treat,” Mrs. Hunter said.

  Kate glanced at the others. “Okay.”

  “Should I hang out here?” Talia asked.

  “No, please. Come on with us.” There was an edge of desperation to Mrs. Hunter’s voice.

  The four women sat around a table after placing their order at a counter. When their number was called, Talia went to pick up the tray of food.

  “So, Kate, you have a son?”

  Everyone stared at Mrs. Hunter.

  “When Talia and the private investigator talked to Winston—”

  “Private investigator?” April asked.

  “PI Eliot,” Talia answered, really liking the sound of that.

  April still looked confused, but Kate smiled at Talia.

  “April has a son, Mom,” Kate said, hesitating slightly at the word ‘mom.’

  “Yeah, Mom,” April said. “I have a son with my ex-drug dealer husband. I was going to marry my other boyfriend, Boyd, but he was murdered…” she glared at Kate as she spoke.

  Talia choked on a sip of her soda.

  “There, now you’re all caught up on current events. Oh—except the part where Dad almost killed Cousin Bobby when he caught him fingering me when I was nine.” April sat back and crossed her arms over her chest.

  Talia glanced around. Every person in the room was gawking at them. Mrs. Hunter had almost no color to her face.

  “I…ah…I don’t know what to say…” Mrs. Hunter swallowed hard. “So…well, then. Ah—Kate, tell me about your—your lover,” she said.

  Kate sat up straighter. “Her name is Lana. We’ve been together for about three years now.” She took a quick bite of her burger.

  Mrs. Hunter sat stock-still for several moments before she smiled.

  Talia wondered if her friends’ mother’s responses seemed so muted because she was on some kind of medication.

  Mrs. Hunter cleared her throat. “You girls are so beautiful.” She pushed her plate away from her. “Let me start by saying that I am truly sorry for leaving you and I never stopped loving either of you.”

  Talia looked from Kate to April and back. Tears filled Kate’s eyes as she kept them glued to her mom. April stared down into her lap.

  “Why did you leave?” Kate asked, her voice a whisper.

  “I was so overwhelmed. And it scared me.” She twisted her napkin as she spoke. “I know now tha
t I had postpartum depression, but at the time I just thought I was crazy.”

  Kate and Talia both looked briefly at April. Talia was pretty sure it was noticed by Mrs. Hunter.

  “I was so sad all the time,” Mrs. Hunter continued. “And I worried about hurting you both. I-I-”

  “You what, Mom?” Kate encouraged her.

  “I had thoughts of hurting you girls. It was as if I couldn’t control myself so I left so I wouldn’t hurt you. Or worse. Every time there is a news story about a mother drowning or strangling her children, I think that could have been me. That would have been me had I stayed.”

  They all turned toward April when she gasped. After several moments, she said, “I quit bathing Joseph. I kept thinking about drowning him and not accidentally.”

  Kate’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. She paled.

  Talia was shocked by the enormity of what April had admitted and how hard that must have been for her.

  “There are things you can do for that,” Kate finally said. “Therapy is working wonders on PPD.” She looked back and forth between her mom and sister and then said to her mom, “I’m studying psychology in college. I want to be a therapist when I’m done.”

  “I wish I had known what was happening to me. I wish I had stayed and tried to fix it, but I was scared to death. Your dad was gone for work a lot and every time he left I thought, this will be the time I snap.”

  April got up and left the restaurant without another word.

  “Should I go after her?” Kate asked no one in particular.

  “How about I go check on her? You stay here and catch up more with your mother.” Talia stood as she spoke.

  April had stopped right outside of the building. Talia leaned with her back against the restaurant’s brick wall.

  “I don’t think I can forgive her for leaving,” April said without looking at Talia.

  “No one is saying you have to.” Talia pivoted so her shoulder was pressed against the brick and she was facing April. “But this is your chance…your chance to say whatever you want to your mom, or your chance to say nothing at all. Don’t you want to go in and make the most of this opportunity?”

  April pushed off from the wall and walked so fast back into the restaurant that Talia had to run to catch up.

  Kate and Mrs. Hunter watched as Talia and April sat back down.

  “April,” Mrs. Hunter’s voice was shaky at first, then steadied. “Please get some help. If not in a group setting then at least with a qualified therapist.”

  April nodded but didn’t look up.

  “And Kate, good luck with school. I know you’ll do great.”

  “You’re saying goodbye, aren’t you, Mom?” Kate asked.

  “I’m so sorry. This has been great. But I’m no more prepared now to be a mother than I was when I left you girls. I look at you and I feel panicked all over again.”

  “You can’t hurt us now. Not physically anyway,” Kate said.

  “I don’t want to go back to that dark place,” Mrs. Hunter whispered, her voice ragged. “And if I try to be your mother again, I’m afraid that’s exactly where I’ll end up.”

  Kate fished around in her purse. She pulled out paper and a pen and wrote down her number. “If you ever want to get together again. Or to just talk. Call me anytime.”

  Karen swiped at a tear. “Thank you.”

  “I’m not giving you my number. You were a coward then and you’re a coward now,” April said. “I’ll get the help I need and in the end I’ll be a great mother. Not like you.” She stood. “I’ll be waiting at the car. Don’t come out until we’re ready to leave.” She directed the last statement at Talia.

  “Maybe in time,” Talia muttered to Karen and Kate.

  Karen gave her a sad smile. “You have been so sweet, Talia. I admire the young woman you’ve turned into.”

  “Thanks,” Talia said.

  Kate and her mom embraced, hugging for a long time. Talia walked out and went toward the car where April was waiting. Her heart broke for April, but she was glad that Kate seemed to be doing well with it all.

  They drove back to Norfolk without talking.

  Chapter Nine

  Shay could tell Talia was surprised, in a very good way, when she answered the door and Shay was standing there. She invited Shay in, and then disappeared long enough to change out of her work garb.

  “Can I take you out to dinner?” Shay asked.

  “Well, yes, you may.”

  Shay looked her over, pleased at the sight of Talia in dark gray slacks and a pale gray sweater. In her black slacks and a white button-down, Shay couldn’t help but think they looked really good together.

  They stopped in the parking lot and Shay asked, “Which car would you like to take?”

  “We can take mine.” Talia held out the keys. “But would you mind driving?”

  “Not at all,” Shay said as Talia dropped the keys into her palm.

  At the restaurant, Talia ordered a Greek salad, minus the onions, and Shay ordered the cheeseburger boat. As soon as their food came out Shay wondered, based on the way she was eyeing her french fries, if Talia regretted her food choice.

  “Would you like a french fry?” Shay asked.

  “I thought you’d never ask.” Talia grabbed one and shoved it into her mouth.

  Shay laughed. “They are very good.”

  “I’m looking forward to Saturday’s class. I hated missing last week, but by the time we got back from seeing Mrs. Hunter in Emporia I was exhausted,” Talia said.

  “I’m looking forward to Saturday as well. And I totally understand you missing it last week. Besides, I’m more than willing to give you private lessons anytime you want them.”

  Talia smiled. “I may take you up on that.”

  As they were leaving, Shay asked if she’d been on the Colonial Parkway lately.

  “No. How about you?”

  “I’ve never been on the parkway. In high school we had fieldtrips to Yorktown, Williamsburg, and Jamestown. But I don’t recall being on the parkway.” She shrugged. “Once I left Richmond years ago, I never really came over to this side of the tunnel. Until I met you.” For Shay, the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, with its trestles and man-made islands in addition to the bridges and tunnels, definitively separated Shay’s world from Talia’s.

  “I only go to the other side of the tunnel for the bar.”

  “And to watch me,” Shay said with a smile and a wink.

  “Yes, and to watch you.” As they approached Talia’s car, she asked, “Do you want me to show you where they found the bodies?”

  “Would you?”

  “Of course. If you will protect me.”

  “Of course. And I hope you don’t go out there alone anymore.”

  Talia told her where to turn and in no time they were on the parkway. The sun was just starting to set.

  “It’s beautiful out here.”

  “Yeah, and forever ruined for a lot of people,” Talia said. “Just up there on the right…” she started to say when the squealing of tires interrupted her.

  The dark blue van, with tires squealing, made a U-turn and came up behind them.

  “Hang on,” Shay said.

  She took the lane to go into the overlook and slammed on the brakes. The van pulled off too but had to swerve to the left to keep from hitting them. Then it stopped.

  Before Shay could think about what she was doing, she was out of the car and dragging a man out of the van. He swung at her. She ducked, then with a quick uppercut punched him in the stomach. While he was struggling to breathe, she took a few steps to the back of the van and checked the tag. It matched the one from that night at the bar. It had the same dented ladder on the back as well. She coughed when the diesel exhaust threatened to choke her.

  She glanced back to where he was standing and found that he was still doubled over.

  “Why are you following this woman, Jeffrey?” Shay asked.

  “How the hell do y
ou know my name?” he asked, catching his breath.

  “Why are you following her?” she yelled and nodded toward Talia.

  “That’s Brian’s car and something in there belongs to me.” He started to straighten. “That bitch needs to give me a few minutes with the car and I’ll leave her alone.”

  She kicked his legs out from under him. “Call her that again and you’ll get it in the groin next. You want that?”

  “No,” he whined, clawing at the ground on his hands and knees.

  “You stay the hell away from her, you hear me?”

  “I want my shit back and I will get it, one way or another.”

  Shay looked at Talia and she shrugged.

  “What’s in there that belongs to you?” Shay asked.

  “Fuck you, bitch.” He started to get up.

  Shay was about to kick him again when Talia said, “Hey.”

  Talia turned to look over her shoulder, and Shay followed her gaze. A park ranger’s car pulled up. Shay let Jeffrey get to his feet.

  The ranger rolled down his window and stared at them. “Is everything all right here?”

  Shay couldn’t help but think about the theory that the murders were committed by a park ranger. She wondered how many people would never trust another one of them again.

  “Yes, sir, everything here is great,” Talia said.

  Shay took a step back. “Yep, all is good here.”

  “It’s getting late. You all move along now. I don’t want to see you pulled off again tonight. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir,” Shay and Talia said in unison. They slowly got in the car and waited until Jeffrey pulled out. Shay noted the dark, diesel exhaust as the van pulled away. She turned in the opposite direction and the ranger pulled out behind them. Shay was careful to stay right at the speed limit. She was pretty sure if the ranger tried to stop her she wouldn’t pull over, at least not until they got off the parkway and into a more populated area. She hated this feeling of fear and distrust. A few minutes later they got off the parkway and the ranger kept going.

  Shay checked the rearview mirror before every turn. When she was confident the van wasn’t anywhere around them, she pulled into the parking lot of Talia’s apartment complex and they went inside without a word.