Page 33 of Fight for You

The lobby of Lock & Load is quiet when I walk in. There’s a receptionist seated at a big mahogany desk, headset on and head bent, tapping on the keyboard.

“Hi, can I help you?” She asks when she notices me.

“Jaxson Callaway, I have a meeting with Zander.”

She lets me know she’s been told to send me back when I arrive, so she points me in the direction of Zander’s office, and I make my way there. The door is open and there are men spread out throughout the office but most of them are huddled around the same computer. I knock on the door frame.

“Jaxson, hey. Come on in,” Zander says, briefly looking up from the computer Wood is typing on.

“What’s going on?” Glancing at the computer screen I can see that Wood is in a chatroom full of other people.

“We finally got Weller to agree to a meet,” Zander says with a huge grin on his face. My face twists in surprise.

“No shit?” I ask, leaning in and reading the chat that Wood is in.

“He thinks he’s meeting some high-profile businessman,” Wood says and Zander motions with his head for me to follow him, leading me out of this office and into another one, this one empty. His phone rings from his pocket.

“Shit, sorry,” he says, fishing it out and glancing at the screen. He hits the talk button.

“Hey, can I,” whatever he starts to say is cut off. “Slow down, slow down.” He closes his eyes and drops his head back. “Did you call the sheriff? Okay. Yeah. I’m on my way.” He ends the call and looks at me, face grim.

“What is it?” I ask, confusion marring my face.

“Poppy’s dead.”

****

Zander pulls his truck into his driveway, right next door to Poppy’s house. There’s a cop car parked out front and an ambulance in the driveway, the front door open. I hop out and follow him across the yard. He’s barely cleared the opening in the fence between the two houses when suddenly Lainey appears in the doorway. She sees Zander and her entire body sags, collapsing on the porch. Zander breaks off into a sprint and clears the steps to the porch, dragging her up and into his arms as she cries. I shoot off a text to Avery, letting her know that her friend is going to need her later and I step aside as the EMT wheels the gurney out of the house, sheet covering her body.

“What happened?” Zander asks once Lainey’s sobs start to quiet down.

“I came home on my lunch break to run her to the grocery store and I found her lying face down in the kitchen.” She buries her face into Zander’s neck and continues crying. Poppy was one of the best parts of Monroeville, even with her meddling. Always butting into people's lives and stirring up trouble. My phone dings.

Avery: I’m on my way.

I seat myself on the porch steps as Zander consoles Lainey. The kids are at school, thankfully, so they didn’t have to be here when she found her. Avery’s car comes to a screeching halt at the curb and I swear she’s out of it before it’s even in park. Lainey climbs off Zander’s lap and lets Avery pull her into her arms once she’s on the porch.

“Oh honey, I’m so sorry,” she says, tears streaming down her own face. Everyone in town loves Poppy. This is going to be a tough one to get over. “What can I help with?” She steers Lainey into the house and we follow behind. Once she has Lainey seated at the dining room table, she searches the cupboards for a tea kettle and fills it.

“I have to...I’ll… Oh my god, I don’t even know where to start.” She buries her face in her hands and continues sobbing. I drop down in the chair next to her and wrap an arm around her shoulders.

“Hey, it’s okay. Not everything has to happen right this second. And let us help,” I say, motioning around the table at the three of us and Avery’s eyes are pointed at me from her position at the counter. “Let me start you a list of some of the important things, alright?” She wipes the tears off her cheeks and gives me a frown.

“Did you recently lose someone, too?” She asks.

“Uh, no,” I clear my throat. “My dad died back in high school. Drunk driver. So, I’ve been in your position.” It doesn’t matter how many years pass, talking about my dad always slices me open. I was just a kid when he died and I saw the strain it put on my mom, emotionally and financially. She didn’t have a group of friends or any close family to turn to, we only have each other. But Lainey has so many friends here. “Let us help.” Her eyes bounce around the kitchen between the three of us.

“We’re your family,” Avery says on a shrug and Lainey coughs out a laugh.

“I’m so happy we moved here.”

“Us too, babe. Now, let me make you that cup of tea.”

Avery

“That’s the last of ‘em,” Lainey says, stapling the flyer to the telephone pole. I take a look around Main Street, taking in all the flyers we’ve already hung. I had Joan print off two hundred missing person flyers for me and I put some up in the neighboring towns and the rest up here in Monroeville. It’s been weeks without anyone seeing or hearing from mama and I’m starting to get worried.

The whole town is still reeling from the loss of Poppy. The receiving line for the visitation wrapped around the funeral home. No one from Poppy’s family came other than Lainey and her kids, but her real family was there, all the townspeople who loved her fiercely.

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