Page 108 of A Forgotten Mistake

“Hate to know what you did to him to get that favor,” I say.

“Funny. The bouncer is Anthony’s brother. Oh! Christa, you should have seen how pissed Lisa was over the tattoo.”

“I bet. My sister was fired up about it too. All ‘If this is how you’re going to act, I’m going to make you live with Mom and Dad again!’ As if she’d ever actually kick me out of the house. She’s so naggy, though. Does she really think I’m going to become some biologist like she is? Come on. It’s not my fault she’s got a rod up her ass at all times,” Christa says.

“Has to hurt when she shoved it so far up there,” Abby comments and the girls laugh.

When I glance up, I see that Anthony is watching me in the rearview mirror. “You want a tattoo?” he asks.

“Uhhhh, do I want to be grounded for life so I can have some permanent ink pressed into my skin or not be thrown out of Lisa’s house… I mean… it’s a tough choice, but I’ll pass. What would I even put? Bad Motherfucker 4 Life? With a number four, of course. Barbed wire around it if I have the option. Maybe a skull would set it off.”

He laughs. “Fine. But my buddy does some cool tattoos.”

Abby tells me, “You like nerd stuff. I saw some of hisStar Warstattoos when he was working on us. That’s nerdy, right?”

“Ooh,” Christa says. “Get Princess Leia with some massive tits or something.”

“I tried showing him my tits the other day and he looked bored, sooooo,” Abby says, which makes her friend squeal something unintelligible while Anthony nearly chokes.

“Oh my god. What the fuck, Ab? You don’t just brag about that.”

“Why not? He asked if I’d do his homework for him if he touched them. Like he thought I should reward him for touching them!”

“I mean… you were the one flashing me,” I say. “It was clear you wanted something out of it. I haven’t known you for long, Abby, but I do know that you don’t do anything without getting something in return.”

Abby shrugs, not at all ready to deny that.

Anthony parks in front of the comic book store as Christa looks back at me. “Come on. One last chance.”

“Nah, I’m good,” I say.

I get out and head inside where I wander for a bit before I walk out. I grab the nearest bus and ride it about five minutes to the police station, then go into the café across from it and watch out the window with my drink. While doing so, I scroll the latest news on the drug bust Ted is being praised for. He’s proudly putting his face right on display after arresting multiple men who were involved in drug running and trafficking.

Abby’s father comes out not long after, and instead of getting in his car, he walks down the street. I follow him as he heads into the same bar he’s already gone into two times this week. Since they sell food, the age restriction isn’t in place until after ten, so I easily walk right in and get a table where I order a drink and tell the server I’m waiting for friends.

Ted sits at the bar so it doesn’t look like he’s too alone. He doesn’t stand out. He doesn’t make much of a first impression. He seems… so average—like he fits, like he’s supposed to be here—and no one is any the wiser. Is there a way for me to accomplish that? An ability to keep myself from being noticed?

If someone wasn’t watching him like I am, no one would notice the way his eyes roam… it’s like a lion picking out their prey. He seems to have a type that he likes to watch. The youngerthey look, the better. Petite. Small frame. He just watches them. And then he leaves.

He’s done this every night for about an hour before he goes home to his wife who appears pregnant. He always makes it home by seven when they eat dinner together.

Ted’s watching a new girl tonight. But when she heads back to the bathroom, he trails after her. She has no idea that she’s snagged his attention. She has no idea that she’s become his prey.

She comes out of the bathroom as he passes her and I see him bump into her. He apologizes and goes on his way, but he’s done something I can’t quite see. I toss money for the drink on the table before I follow him as he goes out to the parking lot and heads toward a car that he unlocks. It’s not his car, but he gets into the back seat to wait.

I know if I turn away, something’s going to happen to this girl. I don’t think he’ll kill her. No… he doesn’t seem to kill them. But I’m confident she’s not going to walk away from this unharmed. And he will get away with it again and again. He knows how to hunt. This club has no security cameras. He’s a respectable cop; even if someone reviewed who was here, he would never come up. She’d likely never see his face either.

If I turn away, who knows what will happen to her?

If I get into the car… what then? Brawl him and hope I win? How the hell would I win against an officer who is used to the hunt? I’m over here aware how much I still need to learn to fit in, to disguise myself so no one would ever suspect a thing.

Then again… do I have to dispose of the body? Wouldn’t it be more suspicious if I did? We have an officer who has publicly been shutting down drug-related groups. He’s so cocky that his face is plastered everywhere. People involved in drug traffickingknowwho he is. Weeks ago, Ted saved five women from forced prostitution, but snooping told me that one of the women wasassaulted right before she was saved. It made me question how he ended up there alone ahead of everyone else. But no one else saw it because he is a protector.

He’s out of sight, so it’s not hard for me to go up to the front of her car. I pull out my knife and stab at the tire. It proves significantly harder to slash than I assumed and my hand slams forward, sliding down the knife since the knife guard isn’t wide enough.

I hiss and yank my hand back before I can drip blood on the tire or ground.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

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