by Ivy Smoak
“It’s green.”
“I’m pretty sure that he was green when I saw him. He blended into the grass along the side of the road.”
I shook my head. “He changed colors all the time but he was mostly yellow and orange.” Tucker had no idea what he was talking about. “I should go talk to the owner. Maybe he’ll be able to remember what type he was.” I walked past Tucker, relieved to get a little bit of air. He was wearing down all my walls. Falling for someone wasn’t in the cards for me. It was as risky as fleeing my home for the big city. I needed to remember that I had secrets for a reason. Secrets I needed to keep if I wanted to keep my son.
Chapter 18
Tucker
Watching my mother slowly die after months of useless chemo had been the hardest thing I’d ever done. The fact that there was nothing I could do to save her had killed me. I had never felt so useless in my life.
I hadn’t meant to tell Violet about my mother. Just talking about her brought all the memories swirling to the surface. But it was so easy to talk to Violet. I wanted her to know why I had moved here. It felt like she was my fresh start. Originally I thought it was this town, but when I was looking at her, I knew that wasn’t true. I had already broken the law for her. I should have turned her in for having an unregistered gun in her possession but I hadn’t even considered it.
She was fighting whatever this was between us, I could tell. But I wasn’t going anywhere. I was going to be there for her and her son. No, I didn’t make a habit of dating single moms. Honestly I had never dated one before. Violet didn’t even remind me that much of my mother. But I was drawn to her regardless. I felt like I was supposed to be here. Like I had come in just the right moment when she needed me.
I turned to look in the aquarium. I hadn’t gotten a great look at Zeke’s lizard when I was throwing it into the woods. But I knew it was green. There were a few possibilities here. I squinted my eyes at one of the lizards in the corner of the aquarium. He looked about the right size at least.
“Yes, it was two years ago,” Violet said.
I looked up to see her and a man walking over to the aquariums. He was walking so far away from her in the aisle that it looked like he was about to run into the feed on the shelves.
It was shocking how rude the woman in the mall had been. She had basically made it seem like Violet was out to kill her child, which was ridiculous. This man was no different. They were all scared of her. Normal rumors about your looks or something like that would be hard to swallow, but they'd be bearable. But rumors that you were violent? The phrase sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you did not apply. I couldn’t imagine what it was like for her to live here. No wonder she preferred not to leave the house. I wanted her to feel safe with me. I wasn’t going to hurt her.
“I’m sorry, I don’t remember,” the store clerk said. “I sell dozens of them a week. Are you sure it was even me who sold it to you?”
“Yes, of course I’m sure.”
The man responded with a shrug.
“Could you at least tell me which lizards are usually yellow and orange though? Ours was usually those colors.”
“It all depends on what they’re near.”
“So you have no idea what kind of lizard he was?”
“I’m sorry. My manager will be in tomorrow if you want to talk to him.”
Violet sighed. “No, I can’t wait. Tucker, which one did you say looked like him?”
I pointed to the one I had just been looking at.
Violet leaned down to study him. “I should have paid better attention. I honestly have no idea if he looks anything like Lizardopolous."
The store clerk laughed. “Cute name.”
Violet ignored him and stared at the new lizard. “We’ll take this one,” she said. “God I hope you’re right.” Her eyes met mine. “Do you think Zeke will be able to tell the difference?”
“Hopefully he’ll just be happy to have him back.”
She nodded her head. “I hope you’re right.” She watched as the man pulled the requested lizard out of the aquarium. “He’s too young to learn about death, you know? I want to protect him as long as I can. He still believes in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. I don’t want him to know how horrible the real world is.”
“It’s going to be okay. He won’t be able to tell the difference.” I didn’t know for sure, but if we were both there to pretend this new lizard was the real deal, hopefully Zeke would believe us.
A few minutes later the clerk handed us a small plastic container with a brand spanking new lizard.
“Zeke’s going to be able to tell,” Violet said as we left the store. “He’s really smart for his age. I just know he’s gonna know.”
I was carrying the new lizard or else I would have grabbed her hand to reassure her. “How about I be there when you tell him you found it? Kids believe adults. Especially when they’re outnumbered.”
She laughed. “That would be great if you could help convince him.”
“No problem at all. I have the whole day off. Speaking of which, do you still want to look for a jacket? If you want to keep mine, it’s fine, but I should probably get a new one then. Winter will be here before we know it.”
“I’m not stealing your coat,” she said with a laugh. “I’ll grab a new one real quick while we’re out. This was the boutique I was talking about.” She ducked into the store before an approaching group of women could notice us.
I followed her in and looked around at the array of clothing. I lifted up the price tag of the shirt I was next to and tried not to let my eyes bug out of my head. Who could afford to pay this much for two pieces of material sewn together? I looked up to see that Violet was already trying on a jacket.
No one should look sexy in a poofy winter coat, but somehow she did. Or maybe the ridiculous price tags actually did make a difference. I watched her pull her hair out from underneath the fabric and turn to look at the mirror. No, it was her. She’d look good in anything. I watched as she looked at the price and had no reaction. Could she actually afford to buy clothes here? I had just been wondering earlier if she even had a job.
The plastic container moved in my hand. I look down to see the lizard clinging to one of the side walls. It was almost like he was staring at Violet too. “She’s pretty, huh?” As soon as I said the words out loud I felt like an idiot for talking to a lizard. I walked over to Violet.
“That one looks good on you,” I said.
She turned away from the mirror. “Thanks. I guess I’ll get it.”
For a second I thought she was kidding. I had been shopping with women before. They never bought the first thing they tried on. At least not before trying on a million other things and pretending they looked fat in all of it. “You don’t want to try on any others?” There were at least two dozen more to choose from.
“Nope. I guess you can have this back now.” She held out my coat for me.
I would have been worried that she was just trying to cut her time with me short, but she had already invited me back to her place to help convince Zeke that this imposter I was holding was the real deal.
“Need anything else while we’re out?” I asked, not that I minded her calling me if she needed to go out again before her car was fixed. Which reminded me that I still needed to call Damien to come out and look at her truck.
“Nope,” she said again.
I wanted to try to persuade her to eat with me. We were already in the mall during lunchtime. What did it matter now? I followed her to the checkout counter. “Want to get a bite to eat?”
“Nope.”
“Is that your new favorite word?”
“Nope,” she said with a laugh as she pulled out three hundred-dollar bills from her purse and handed them to the checkout girl.
That answered my question about if she could afford the clothes in this place. Who carried around that kind of cash? The detective in me couldn’t help but have a nagging t
hought - someone that was ready to flee at any moment would carry around that much cash. Someone who was guilty of something. I tried to shake away the thought but my mind immediately went to another detective thought. Her mother and stepfather’s last name was Johnson. That meant the house I had been searching earlier today had been vacant for several years before Rosie moved in.
Violet’s childhood home was in a prime location in a great neighborhood. It should have been highly sought after. Unless there were more rumors that I didn’t know about yet. Sally had said that something terrible had happened in that house. Even though her scale of terrible started at stolen lawn gnomes, it didn’t mean it didn’t include something actually horrible. Houses didn’t just remain vacant for no reason. They remained vacant because no one wanted to move in.
Violet assumed I hadn’t heard those rumors. I had. I watched her grab the bag with her new coat. She turned to face me with a smile. The rumors couldn’t possibly be true. I dealt with my share of criminal masterminds and murderers in my job. Violet wasn’t one of them. I could feel it in my gut. But I still needed to look up what had happened to her parents. I got the sense that she didn’t want to answer any more of my invasive questions. And now that I knew their last name it would be easy.
“We’re going out to eat,” I said.
“No…we’re going back to my place.”
“I’m the one driving. And I’m also holding Lizardopolous 2 hostage.” I lifted up the plastic prison. “You kinda have to do what I say.”
She opened her mouth and then closed it. “You’re holding him ransom?”
“Come on,” I said. I started to walk out of the store backward.
“Why are you trying to torture me?”
“Lunch with me is anything but torture, I promise.”
“Tucker, look out!” she said a second too late.
I collided with someone behind me and dropped the container Lizardopolous 2 was in. It fell to the floor and the top popped open. “Shit.” I quickly grabbed him around the middle before he could scurry off like his predecessor. I wasn’t going to lose another lizard. “I’m sorry,” I said without looking up.
“Tucker?”
I recognized that voice. I looked up to see my ex, Julie. And I felt…nothing. I expected to feel something. After she had dumped me, I had moped around for months, according to Damien anyway. But seeing her again after all this time? There was nothing left between us. “Oh. Hi, Julie.”
“Are you sure a pet’s a good idea? You don’t exactly have a lot of free time from what I recall.” She glanced over my shoulder and frowned.
The lizard squirmed in my hand. I shoved it back into its container and popped the lid back on. I made sure it was completely secure before I stood up. “This little guy is actually for Violet’s son. Violet, this is Julie. My ex,” I added because for some reason this situation didn’t feel awkward enough already. “Julie…Violet.” Now it felt even more awkward because I didn’t say what Violet was to me. I couldn’t say girlfriend. And friend seemed harsh.
Violet didn’t take a step forward to introduce herself. She just nodded and held the bag from the shop closer to her chest. It looked like she wanted to be anywhere in the world but here.
“We already know each other,” Julie said. “Isn’t that right, Vi?” She turned her attention back to me. “We went to high school together.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know the whole story about what had happened to Violet. But I knew all her problems started in high school and that no one seemed to have offered her any help. Violet was clearly uncomfortable standing in the middle of the mall like this. And I didn’t care to make small talk with my ex anyway. “Well, it was nice seeing you, Julie. If you’ll excuse us, we were just heading to lunch.”
“Together?” Julie looked even more surprised than she had when she first saw the lizard in my hand. “Tucker, can I talk to you for a second? In private?” she added.
“Like I said, we were just…”
“It’ll only take a second.” She wrapped her manicured hand around my forearm. “You don’t mind, do you, Violet?”
“Of course not,” Violet said. She glanced down at Julie’s hand on my arm.
I pulled my arm away from Julie.
“I’m just going to look around in there for a bit.” Violet pointed back to the store we had just come out of. She walked away before I had a chance to say anything at all.
“What the hell are you doing buying a lizard for crazy Vi’s kid?” Julie hissed before Violet was even out of earshot. “What are you doing hanging around her at all? Are you insane?”
“I’m not having this conversation with you. You broke up with me, remember?” After I caught you sleeping around.
“Um yes, I remember. I did it because you never had any time for me. And here you are prancing around the mall in the middle of the day with a psychopath. What the hell, Tucker?”
“Violet isn’t crazy.”
“I think I know her a little better than you do. I freaking grew up with her. We used to be really good friends.”
“What a friend you turned out to be.”
“It wasn’t my fault that she lost her mind senior year.”
Violet could have used a friend. She lost everyone in her life. I shook my head. “I gotta go, Julie.”
“That crazy bitch murdered her parents and ex-boyfriend. Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“She didn’t murder anyone. You shouldn’t believe everything you hear.”
“Right because her parents died in a boating accident down in Florida?” She put air quotes around accident. “And poor, sweet Joel just up and left for Hollywood before graduating? It’s too convenient. Everyone from your life doesn’t just suddenly disappear. I heard she cut them up into little bitty pieces and hid them under her floorboards.”
I knew Julie and I weren’t compatible. But I had no idea she was so coldhearted. Two women walked by whispering to one another and pointed at the store that Violet had just disappeared into. This whole town was coldhearted. I was done with this conversation. “This has been a very enlightening conversation. But if you’ll excuse me…”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” She put her hand back on my forearm. “Maybe we should get drinks tonight and catch up?”
“I have plans, sorry.” I pulled my arm away from her.
“With her and her son?” She shook her head. “I’m worried about you, Tucker.”
“We both know you don’t care about anyone but yourself.”
Her jaw dropped in an overly shocked expression. “I’m trying to look out for you. What are people going to think if they see you two together? Can you even imagine what they’ll assume?”
“I don’t care what people think.”
“Well you should. She’s bad news, Tucker. God, you’re supposed to be a detective. Can’t you tell when someone’s not quite right in the head?”
I was done listening to this. “Have a good rest of your day, Julie.”
“Please, Tucker. You can’t date her. What will people say when they hear you went from dating me to her?”
“That I made a hell of an upgrade.” I started walking back toward the store, being careful not to run into any assholes this time.
“Yeah, literally no one around here is going to think that. They’re going to think you lost your mind too!” she yelled to my back.
I didn’t see Violet anywhere in the store. I walked back to the changing rooms. “Violet?”
“I’m here,” she said behind one of the doors.
I leaned against the wall by her changing room. “I’m sorry about that.”
“Sorry about what?” Her tone was overly casual.
I looked at the door. “About the way she acted.”
“You sound surprised. She’s always acted that way around me.”
I winced. “She said the two of you used to be friends?”
“No. I had a lot of friends in high school, but it turns out they
merely put up with me because I dated Joel. When he left, they made that pretty clear.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m not. There’s nothing worse than fake people.”
I smiled, and then realized she couldn’t see my face.
“So you dated Julie Sinclair, huh?” she asked through the door.
“For a little while after I moved here, yeah.”
“Why’d you break up?”
“Because I didn’t have enough free time to devote to her.”
“Funny, because I’m having trouble getting rid of you.”
We both laughed.
“Do your friends call you Vi?” I asked. That’s what Julie had called her. It was the same name that Joel had written in his notes to her.
There was a long stretch of silence. “I don’t have any friends.”
“Would you mind if I call you that?”
“Are you asking to be my friend, Detective Reed?”
I smiled as I stared at the door. This was one of the best conversations I'd ever had with her. Why was it that it was easier to talk to her when we weren’t face to face? “If I’m being completely honest, I don’t have any intention of staying just your friend for very long. You got upset earlier when I said I wasn’t pretending that I have feelings for you. That’s because I didn’t have to pretend. I like you, Vi. I’ve had a hard time not thinking about you ever since you opened your door in barely anything at all.”
The lock on her door clicked and for a second I held my breath. I was picturing her opening the changing room door in nothing at all. But I wasn’t disappointed when she opened it and she was wearing the exact same thing she had been earlier. She didn’t even have any clothes inside to try on. She had just been hiding out. For some reason that made me like her even more.
“I don’t like to eat out in public,” she said.
“Okay. How about takeout then? We can eat it back at your place.”
She nodded. “I’d like that.”
Chapter 19
Violet
I opened up the door to put the takeout bag in the backseat, but there was a plate of cookies sitting on the seat already. A plate of very familiar looking cookies. I placed the bag down beside them and then joined Tucker in the front.
