Page 101 of Reading Between the Lines
For the first time, Atlas seemed confused. “Christ, man, she ain’t been around in two or three years. She hit the road back when Loyal and Londyn were starting grade nine or something. I heard she left Mr. A at the altar. It was the talk of the town. Utterly humiliating. You think that shit only happens in stories, but nope. Something about an affair with a guy in Toronto, I think. Left Mr. A to raise the twins himself.”
Atlas smirked. “And as far as I know, Mr. A gives his kids whatever they want to keep them happy. Guilt does that. New wheels included.” He motioned to the SUV, where Londyn, Duke, Loyal, and Noel got into the vehicle. “Must be nice, huh?”
All four of the teens had eyes on us.
I glanced around, looking for any sign of Hugh Abercrombie, but didn’t see him among the flood of students leaving the building.
“We should split,” I said to Tallus.
“What about them?”
“They won’t talk to us now. Come on.”
We hustled toward the main road where I’d parked the Jeep as Atlas called after us, “Have a nice day. Stay out of trouble… Wouldn’t want to see you get hurt.”
25
Tallus
We landed back at Ivory Lace B&B for lack of knowing where to go and what to do. Diem sat on the edge of the bed and fumbled with the bottle of painkillers, dumping four into his palm. He washed them down with a long, generous helping of whiskey. He didn’t cap the bottle and balanced it on his knee as he breathed through the evident fire it had caused in his esophagus. When it seemed to wear off, he drank more.A lotmore. Then he capped the bottle and lay down, groaning with discomfort.
“I assume that means we’re taking a break?”
“Five minutes.”
I huffed. “You’re going to be out cold in five minutes.”
He covered his face with his more mobile arm, mumbling something incoherent.
“The hospital could at least give you better painkillers.”
“I’m not going to the fucking hospital.”
“You’re a stubborn mule. What are we doing with this case?”
“I don’t know. Let me rest a minute. I have a headache. I can’t think.”
Frustrated, I let him rest. As I predicted, he fell asleep within minutes, heavy snores filling the room since he was lying on his back.
My irritation waned as I watched him sleep. Diem had been a pendulum of emotions these past few days. One minute fretting over our shared bed. The next, passionately loving me because an accident in the woods had rocked him off-balance. If my assumptions were correct, the tree branch falling had awoken something inside him he’d been carefully holding at bay. So, not only was Diem fighting a battle with physical pain, but he was trying to maneuver through unexpected feelings as well. Add the case and financial concerns, and it was no wonder he was edgy.
I didn’t condone what he’d done to Duke, but I understood.
I sat beside Diem, gently stroking my fingers through his sweat-dampened hair as I considered Duke and his father’s landscaping business. Duke would know how to rig a tree branch to fall a certain way. It was a huge red flag.
The more I considered it, the more plausible it seemed. If Loyal had built himself an army of like-minded soldiers, it was feasible they would help him cover up the truth, but what was the truth? Did they all have a hand in Weston’saccident? Was Chett’s dad involved? Why else would he be out in the woods with a rifle so close to the cabin if he wasn’t helping to protect a secret.
Chett, chumming up with Loyal, made sense. I’d known kids in high school who would give their right arm to be part of the popular crowd. Or rather, they’d give up old friendships for something better. No matter the risk. No matter the cost.
Had Chett turned on Weston?
Weston was part of the group. Why attack him? Had he planned to leave? To tell?
“What the fuck happened out there?” I asked out loud. “How did you end up in the water, Weston?”
I considered Atlas but couldn’t figure out how he fit. His dynamic was wrong. Unless it was the dark nature of delving into crime that interested him. Atlas seemed like the type who enjoyed crossing lines and dabbling in things that weren’t especially legal.
Then, we had Noel and doe-eyed Londyn. Were they part of the group because one was Loyal’s girlfriend and the other was his twin? Londyn admittedly wasn’t much of a writer, but her brother defended her constantly.
