Page 8 of Unhinged

Amos’s eyes widen some as I narrow mine. “Really? Well, maybe it’s in your best interest to have a chat with me, then.”

“Awesome. Such an upstanding citizen, you are.” I look around the dank bar, watching Durham’s best and brightest street urchins whooping it up. “I’m not going outside with you. You have one question and five minutes before you hit the road, Jack. Go.”

Amos runs his hand over his jaw as he contemplates that. “Okay. Why did you leave the firm, your ambitions, Birdy…and Hadley without saying goodbye?” Motherfucker.

I return to my post behind the bar as I grip the counter. “Inflation. Now, I need to get back to work.”

“That’s not a real answer.”

“That wasn’t a real question.”

“Your leaving turned a lot of lives upside down.”

I measure my answers in my head, even though my mind is foggy. “A lot of lives turned me upside down.”

“I see that.”

“You don’t.”

“Rod, Richmond misses you.” He eyes me with suspicion as he licks his bottom lip like a swamp frog. “Hadley misses you.”

I grab my shot glass and pour more, just to get past the thought. “So?”

“Does she have to do with your leaving?”

“Your five minutes are up.”

As I move down to the next wino, Amos asks, “Do I even have to ask what happened?”

“You already wasted your one question.”

“You didn’t give me an actual answer.”

I slam the bottle onto the bar, jarring a half-sleeping Cletus. “I left because Richmond bored me.”

“In the middle of the night?”

“I guess when the mood strikes…”

“That’s not you.”

“I’m pretty sure my driver’s license says I am.” I don’t even know who I am and have multiple names to support that.

I move around, trying like fuck to ignore Amos, but his eyes are laser beams into my skull, and the more he stares, the more I drink until I forget what the hell my first name is.

As do most people.

Chapter 3

Amos

“Amos Fucking Vaughn.”

Watching Greg Rodwell deteriorate right in front of my eyes is not a welcomed sight. These past two months have been difficult for many people. Something significant happened on the night of the party. I just can’t pinpoint with whom and what he did. I only know that the ramifications are far and wide.

After he didn’t show up for two days without a call, I went to his apartment, but he didn’t answer the door. After speaking to the building manager of my concerns and handing him a fifty, he told me Rod moved out in the middle of the night. And unlocking the apartment, it was apparent he was correct.

Figuring out he was in Durham was effortless. So was connecting with his mother, Dr. Lizette Abramson. She confirmed Rod had shown up in the middle of the night without explaining his sudden appearance. I stayed in touch with her, and we agreed to keep our conversations undisclosed, hoping one of us could shed light on his departure from Richmond. She even invited me to Durham to observe him discreetly. I suppose it was spying, but I had a valid reason to be in Durham. Though, I felt he need not know.

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