Page 63 of Little Empty Promises

“The first thing you’re going to do is to stop following me,” I said.“I want you to keep quiet about what you know.There are to be no more conversations about this case with Benjamin, understand?”

“I do.Are you gonna … you know, turn me in for what I did?”

“After Benjamin came to my office, my first thought was to stop by the chief of police’s office and tell him what Benjamin knew.Then I decided I’d come straight to your house first and hear what you had to say.There aren’t always two sides to a story, but in this case, I believe there was a bit of coercion on Benjamin’s part.”

The longer our conversation went on, the more I found myself liking the kid.He was awkward and a little shy, and against my better judgment, I believed his apology was sincere.

We turned, heading back toward his house.

“I’ll make you a deal,” I said.“If you promise to honor what we discussed today, I won’t say anything to anyone else about what you did.But I better not see anything in the paper or catch you following me again.”

“I won’t.”

“Good.Don’t give me a reason to change my mind.”

He breathed a sigh of relief.“Can I ask you a question, off the record?”

“Donovan, anything we’re talking about right now is off the record.”

“Of course, you’re right.I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to keep apologizing.”

“All right, sorry.”He shook his head.“Dang it, I did it again.”

Unable to hold back, I laughed.“You seem nervous.”

“I guess I am,” he said.“I’ve been following your career, but I meant what I said … I’m not stalking you.I’m more of an admirer.”

“Why?”

“I want to be like you, I guess.Lame, I know.”

“It isn’t.”

“For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a detective.I don’t think I have what it takes.”

“How do you know until you try?”

“I’m no good with people, not in the way you are.”

“I don’t believe it,” I said.“In the field you’re in, you can’t be a good reporter if you’re not.”

“I’ve been working on it … on my people skills.”

I leaned to the side, nudging his shoulder.“You want my advice?”

“Please.”

“The first thing you could do to improve your people skills is not to run when a person confronts you.”

“I wouldn’t have if … Okay, the reason I did is because Benjamin called me before you got here.When he told me what you said to him and how you said it, I was worried.I figured you were so mad, you might throat-punch me or something.”

Giving him a nice, hard slap to the face when I caught up to him had crossed my mind.But I did my best to behave like a lady, which came with its challenges.

“I don’t know what you’ve heard about me, but I don’t go around throat-punching people.”I reached my car and opened the door.“Keep at it, the journalist thing.I’m sure it will get better.And if it doesn’t, you’re young.You have plenty of time to change your career path.”

“I’ll try.Before you go, I … ahh, I was hoping to ask you a question.”

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