Page 80 of Little Stolen Memories

“The police? No, no, no. We don’t need any police. We just need to talk, to?—”

Outside, I heard what sounded like a vehicle turning into the driveway.

It wasn’t the police.

No one knew I was here.

Xander turned, looking over his shoulder as he said, “Marcus is home.”

Marcus.

My mind was a flurry of emotions, thoughts entering and exiting all at once.

And then clarity came.

A decision needed to be made, and fast.

I hid the gun back beneath my shirt.

“Where did you find that chain?” I asked.

“In the spare bedroom Marcus has been staying in. I was looking through the drawers for a box where I keep some of my old high school memorabilia, and I … I …”

“You what?”

Xander’s eyes widened.

“No, it can’t be true,” he said. “It can’t be. He wouldn’t have …”

Except he did.

“You understand what this means, don’t you?” I asked.

Xander started panting like he was struggling to catch his breath, and he said, “You need to leave. Right now. Hurry. You can go out the back door. Maybe he won’t see your car parked across the street.”

“I’m staying.”

“You can’t. It’s not safe. He and I, we need to talk. I need to understand. You gotta get out of here.”

The front door opened, and Marcus came inside.

Xander made a fist, attempting to conceal the chain in his hand.

Marcus looked at Xander and then at me. “Well, well, nice seeing you again, Detective. What brings you by today?”

Xander cleared his throat and said, “The … ahh, the detective stopped by to ask me a few more questions. Nothing major.”

Marcus’ eyes narrowed into tiny slits. “You know something, little brother … you’ve never been a good liar.”

“I’m not lying. The detective was just leaving.”

Marcus moved his hands to his hips, grunting out a laugh. “Why leave? Stay a while. I’ll make dinner, and we can all talk. Seems to me like we have a lot to talk about, wouldn’t you say? We can start with the gold chain you’re hiding from me.”

There was no sense lying about it now.

Marcus had seen it already.

Not that I minded.

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