Page 7 of Long Gone

“Hey,” I said, feeling a rush of gratitude for our friendship.

“You’re on your lunch break, right?” she asked.

Technically, I was, and I almost told her where I was headed, but for some reason, I was afraid I’d jinx it. Like Clarice would change her mind once she met me or realized who I was, and then I’d have to admit that I’d lost the job. Better to wait until after the interview, when I knew this was a real case. “You know it. Twelve on the dot.”

“I’m on my lunch break too, eating in my car, so I figured I’d call to make sure we’re still on for tonight,” she said. “I know your mother gave you grief for meeting us at Scooter’s Tavern last time. Didn’t she call it Satan’s den of iniquity?”

I laughed. My mother knew the tavern was owned by a hoodlum, as she called James Malcolm, and she worried I’d sully my reputation even more than I already had by frequenting it. Little did she know I’d worked a case with him. Fortunately for James Malcolm, his past created an appealing lure of danger to the general public, like Malcolm was a lion in a cage, even though the sheriff’s department hadn’t found even a whiff of impropriety, despite their many attempts to try. Then again, they didn’t know about the double murder. It made me wonder what else Malcolm was getting away with.

“I think she called it the devil’s playground,” I said in a mock snooty tone. “And you’re either psychic or your ears were burning, because I literally just hung up with my mother after she tried to guilt me into eating dinner with her. She even offered to make chicken parmesan.”

“She’s pulling out the big guns,” she said with a laugh.

“I had dinner with her last night and the night before that and practically every other night I don’t spend with you and Nate. I feel like I’ve earned my furlough. It’s going to take more than chicken parm to get me to miss tonight.”

“You really need to move out of that apartment, Harper,” she said with a sigh.

“I know, maybe after another paycheck or two. Just a couple of days ago, Dad reiterated that I could move in with him, but…”

“Trust me. I get it,” she said softly. “I could never move in with my mom, and we get along pretty great. You and your dad…”

She knew about our complicated history. He was finally trying to make up for his years of neglect and indifference, but moving in might throw things off. Besides, at least the garden apartment offered me some autonomy and privacy.

“The apartment over Nate’s bookshop will be available for rent soon if you can hold out. The rent would be super cheap.” He owned it and had decided to fix it up and rent it out, a plan he’d shared with us a few weeks ago. He’d given me a side-eyed look as he said it, subtly suggesting it could be the solution to my housing problem.

I had to admit I was tempted. But…

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” I said with a sigh.

“Because he likes you.”

“Yeah, and while I have to admit I find him attractive, I just don’t…”

“It’s okay to not be interested in him,” Louise said. “Even if he is cute.”

“It’s more complicated than that.”

Nate Davis and I had reconnected when I was looking for Ava Peterman. We’d gone to high school together, and both of us had been in the brass section of our band. He’d asked me out to dinner, and I’d conditionally accepted, telling him I couldn’t start anything until I wrapped up Ava’s case. But that had happened four weeks ago and I’d continued to push him off, including Louise on all of our outings together. I knew I was sending him mixed signals, but the truth was I wasn’t sure what I wanted.

My previous boyfriend had also been my partner in the Little Rock Police Department. He’d betrayed me after the shooting that had ended my career. The boy I’d shot had been carrying a gun—I’d seen it, clear as day—but no one had found it at the crime scene. Instead of taking my word for it, something he should have done as my partner in life and work, he’d doubted me. In fact, he’d encouraged me to lie and say I’d gotten it wrong. And when there were multiple break-ins at my house following the shooting, he’d treated me with derision as if I were either lying for attention or losing my mind.

I’d met Louise, who had been a Little Rock patrol officer, after the third and last break-in. She’d witnessed his degrading behavior at the scene…and she’d told me she suspected I’d been set up and that Keith was part of it.

I believed her.

She’d also told me she was quitting the department and taking a deputy position with the Lone County Sheriff’s Department. Coincidentally, my hometown of Jackson Creek was in Lone County. We’d kept in touch, and when I’d moved back into my parents’ garage, we’d started hanging out once a week.

“Just tell him you’re not ready,” Louise suggested.

“But then I’ll be keeping his hopes up. The thing is, I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready.”

“I know,” she said, not sounding happy about it. “But you know he’s not going to take it well.”

That was what I was afraid of. I really liked having Nate as a friend and didn’t want to lose him, but he also wore his heart on his sleeve. I didn’t want to hurt him.

When had I grown into such a coward?

“Are we still on for dinner and a movie in El Dorado on Saturday?” she asked. “It’s been ages since I’ve seen a good romcom.”

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