Page 41 of Summer Shivers
I hit up Martin again. “She’s at the Seaside Festival with the twins. South end of the fairgrounds according to an anonymous source. I think she’s in danger. Can you get police backup?”
“I’ll do my best.”
I feel like I’m losing my fucking edge. Can’t think straight where this girl is concerned. “Thanks, man. Heading out there now.”
“Keep in touch.”
“Will do.”
twenty
GENEVIEVE
ONE HOUR BEFORE
I’m just coming in from outside when the doorbell rings. Which I find odd since I’m not expecting anyone, and Ty has a key. I smile when I see two faces I've been wanting to see since this nightmare began.
“Girls! Oh, my goodness, I’ve been trying to call you for days.” I give them both a hug for longer than I probably should. They return it, but it feels odd, almost reluctant. I’m excited to see them because I assume it means they don’t think I’m guilty, but maybe that’s not the case.
“We know,” Eerie says. “We needed time.”
“To process this,” Curious adds.
It always freaks me out a bit when the girls finish one another’s thoughts or sentences. According to Harrison, they’ve done it since childhood.
“We're sorry we left you when you needed us.” They both sound like they’re reading from a script. “You needed us to support you, and we weren’t there.”
“We’re super sorry.” The monotone of their voices throws me off.
Then it hits me. They think I did it. And they are forcing themselves to come here for their dad’s sake.
“Never mind all that. I'm just so happy that you're here now,” I say. “I kept calling because I wanted to make sure you knew I didn’t kill your dad. I would never do anything like that. You know how much I loved him.” I look to them for reassurance. They don’t say anything. Don’t even look at me.
“Okay, well, let’s go sit down.” I gesture awkwardly to the living room. Not knowing how to feel based on their attitudes. “How are you? I mean, outside of the obvious.” I try to temper my enthusiasm at seeing them and keep my tone in check. I know we’re all grieving here and even though it’s such a relief for me to see them, it may not be the same feeling for them.
“Is it okay if we aren’t . . .here?” Curious asks. “It’s just too hard with all these reminders of Daddy.”
“Daddy?” I laugh. They’ve never called him that before. They don’t laugh with me. “Yes, of course. Let me get my purse. Do you just want to go to the coffee shop down the street or something?”
“We were thinking maybe the Seaside Festival,” Eerie says. “In honor of him and all.”
One of Harrison’s more popular books,Summer Shivers, featured a serial killer carnie on the carnival circuit. He would kill people in all sorts of different ways in each city the carnival set up in. Authorities never put together the crimes were happening by the same person or whenever the carnival was in town. The carnie went on to kidnap a girl and bring her on the road with him. He impregnated the girl and killed her after his son was born. Then raised the child to follow in his footsteps. It’s a gory tale to be sure, but it was a bestseller. The festival has a Fun House dedicated to the book featuring interactions with the victims.
“Sure, yeah. Give me one sec.” I grab a sweater to pair with my maxi sundress in case it gets cold. I put on a long dress this morning, so I didn’t have to look at my ankle bracelet. Which works out since I am leaving the house. No need to advertise it’s there if I don’t have to.
I grab my phone to send Ty a text and see that it’s totally dead. I plug it in and write him a note instead, leaving it on the kitchen counter where he’ll see it first thing.
I lock up and follow them to their car, excited to finally tell them my side of the story, hoping they believe me.
“How are you both?” I ask as we get in the car—me in the backseat, Curious driving, and Eerie in the passenger seat.
They look at each other before speaking. “I still can’t believe this happened,” Eerie starts. “I mean, I always thought Daddy would be here all the time.”
“For our wedding day,” Curious adds.
“To play with his grandkids.” Eerie stops for a moment to wipe the tears from under her eyes. “I never thought something like this could happen.” Her voice is soft, and shaky.
I just want to give them both a hug and promise it will be okay. “I’m so sorry. I know how hard it is to lose a husband. I can only imagine what it’s like to lose a dad.” I say this even though I know what it’s like to lose a dad. My parents died when I was young, so they didn’t have as large an impact on my life as maybe Harrison did on the twins. But I know what it’s like to not have one around for sure. I don’t point that out, though. I get the feeling they don’t want me empathizing with them and that they’d like to be left alone in their grief. I’m happy to let them be if it means they’ll talk to me again.
