Page 10 of Echoes

“What’sonly been a few minutes?”

“You just left. I’ve only been through two boxes.”

“Eliza, I’ve been gone for over an hour,” Lydia replied, looking confused.

“What?”

“I’ve been gone for over an hour,” Lydia repeated, clearly worried now. “What’s going on? You look like you’ve seen a ghost, El.” She cupped both of Eliza’s cheeks. “God, do you need a doctor?”

“No,” she said, wondering to herself whether or not her eyes looked just as unfocused as her mother’s always did these days. “I’m okay. I just need to get some sleep, I think.”

“Okay. Let me lock up in there.”

“No!” Eliza pulled away then and hurried toward the storage unit.

“What? Eliza, where are you going?”

“Just stay out here. I’ll be right out. Then, we can go.”

Without any explanation, Eliza went inside and pulled the garage door closed behind her, leaving Lydia outside. She found the device on the ground, carefully picked it up, making sure not to press the button again, and put it on top of the note inside the metal box. She clasped it shut, but the padlock was broken, so she’d need to get a new one at the hardware store. Then, she’d have to take this thing and toss it in the nearest body of deep water with about fifty pounds attached to it to make it sink and stay buried forever. She held the metal box in one hand and pulled the door up with the other, finding her bestfriend standing right there with her arms crossed over her chest.

“What in the hell is going on?” Lydia asked.

“Nothing. We can go.”

Eliza pulled down on the door and found the lock that had been resting on the ground. Quickly, she locked the unit, leaving the boxes inside, and hurried over to the passenger door, which she opened. She sat down in her seat and put the box in her lap. Lydia climbed in next to her and looked over at her.

“El, what’s going on? For real?’

“Can we just go?”

“Where?”

“My house.”

“Yeah, fine,” Lydia replied before she started the car, and soon after, they entered traffic.

“Actually…” Eliza began after thinking about it. “Can you take me to the police station? The one nearest to here.”

“Police? El, what happened? Did someone hurt you? God, did someone–”

“No,” she said at Lydia’s worried expression.

“You were alone. I left you there, and that place looked like where storage units go to die. The door was open when I got there. Did someone–”

“No,” she repeated before she took Lydia’s hand off the steering wheel and entwined their fingers in her own lap. “I was alone, okay? No one hurt me. I just… I remembered something.”

“Remembered what?” Lydia stopped at the red light and turned her face to her.

“I know who killed my father,” Eliza revealed.

Lydia’s mouth opened, but no words came out.

“Uh… I was going through the items. Something inside one of the boxes triggered the memory, and I could see the man clearly then. It was like it finally just clicked in my brain, so I want to describe him to the police before I lose it.”

“Lose it? You said you know who it is.”

“I don’t know his name, exactly. I just remember what he looks like now, and I know he was at the wake.”

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