Page 71 of What's Left of Us

A bittersweet smile lifts her lips. “I think it’s best if I let you live your life.” Her eyes dip down to my finger one last time before her smile wavers. “And perhaps it’s time I use my freedom to do something good for all of us. Don’t worry about me, Georgia. I’ll be okay. I just wanted to make sure you would be too.”

I want to ask her what, but she clenches her hands together and walks out the door before I can.

When a few minutes go by, I release a puff of air and think about everything she just said.

I used to be afraid of the dark as a child.

I thought I’d grown out of it.

But maybe I hadn’t.

What monsters linger there?

CHAPTER TWENTY

Lincoln / Present

Michael Knight throwsa balled-up piece of paper at my face, snickering as it bounces off my forehead and onto his dirty garage floor. “We’re out of beer, Hawk.”

I hold up the bottle in my hand that’s still half-full. “Not completely.”

I’ve been nursing it for the last forty-five minutes, so the liquid inside tastes more like lukewarm piss than alcohol.

“You’re the only sober one,” Chris Vaughn points out, tipping back in his lawn chair.

Now I remember why I always hated being the odd one out who didn’t drink. “Last time I went on a beer run, you assholes said you’d Venmo me money and never did.”

My two oldest friends share a look, both grinning, before returning their focus to me.

It’s Vaughn who says, “You’re the money maker, Hawk. Us lowlifes don’t know what it’s like to be able to buy whatever we want whenever we want it.”

I snort at his dramatics. “That’s because you decided to have kids who cost ten times as much as a lifetime supply of twelve-packs.”

“Twenty times as much since this poor fucker got twins on his first try,” Knight muses.

I don’t envy the former marine sitting beside me. When he and his wife told us they were expecting twins, I could see the terror in Vaughn’s eyes. He loves his son and daughter, but I can tell they drain him a little more every day.

“You would have money too, if you didn’t leave,” I tell Knight, turning my focus on him. “I could have used you a time or two if you’d taken the exam.”

He talked about sticking out the State Police like I did, but he didn’t think he’d be able to handle all the bullshit that came with the ever-growing policy changes. “Nah, man. Getting out of law enforcement was the best thing I could have done for myself. Too many politics involved.”

What job didn’t have politics attached to it these days? “But the pay is worth it. Thenyoucould go on beer runs instead of making me the lackey.”

He chuckles. “Where’s the fun in that?”

“How is your business, bud?” Vaughn asks Knight, speaking of the security business he started from the ground up almost five years ago. He used to do security installations on the side when he worked for the state but took it on full-time when he left.

I can tell he’s happier now. There’s less stress from the job. He works on his own schedule rather than doing what other people tell him to do and when to do it. It was probably the best move he made, even if it meant one less ally I had when things got rocky.

Knight looks nostalgic. “Thriving, man. I wasn’t sure how well it’d do, but ever since we expanded to the five boroughs, we’ve never done better. People out there are used to being charged through the ass, so they choose us in a heartbeat when they see our competitive pricing.”

I’ve never thought about life after law enforcement. Not even what came after retirement. I’d get a good pension I could live off of, but what then? The job is taxing, which is why people get an early retirement at twenty years served. There’s a lot of life left to be lived after you’re done, so some people do part-time work at other agencies, while others focus on their families.

Then there’s me.

My path is wide open, but I have no idea what I’ll do with it.

“If you ever decide you’re done with the state,” Knight tells me, “I can use the help. You know we’ve expanded into PI work. You’d be a hell of a private eye.”

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