Virginia sat beside Tourmaline on a sagging and splintered picnic bench in the shade alongside the James River. Her knee bounced nervously. Her fifth cigarette in twenty minutes was half gone between her fingers. Her stomach clenched tight. The hills rose on all sides, leaves flipping and tossing as a hot wind carved its way through the mountains under a cloudless August sky.
“You’re sure?” Tourmaline whispered. “You can still say no.”
“Just don’t accept anything less than what we want. That’s all I’m nervous about,” Virginia lied.
Tourmaline sighed and put her chin in her hands.
The grass wavered shaggy and forgotten, tickling Virginia’s ankles as they waited.
A car finally pulled into the lot and parked. A man in a suit climbed out. Virginia clamped her fingers to the bench to keep from throwing herself into the river.
“Tourmaline. Good to see you again,” the man said, coming through the grass with a white legal pad tucked under one arm.
Tourmaline straightened. “I’d like to deliver a package.”
He blinked. “A package?”
“It’s all tied up and neatly knotted. But I need to make an exchange.”
His mouth dropped ajar and he looked between her and Virginia. “What’s in the package?”
“Nope.”
Virginia shifted.
“What do you mean, no?”
“No, you do not get to know what the package is before you accept it. That’s not how packages work.”
“Is this a joke?”
“No. This is what we call a deal.”
“A deal?” He straightened. “A deal. Okay. What kind of deal?”
“It turns out, I know something about this heroin problem y’all are having.”
“Oh, do you?” He said it smugly. “What is it you want?”
“My mom moved to Alderson. My dad kept out of prison for trumped-up murder charges. And the state detective harassing my family needs to be finished.”
He frowned. “I can’t do that.”
She gritted her teeth. Don’t accept anything less. “Great. Who can?”
“No. Okay.” He sighed in frustration. “Your mom, fine. Your dad—has he been arrested?”
“Not yet. But they already spoke to him. It’s my mom’s ex. A junkie. With a gun that was stolen from my dad years ago.”
He looked up, running his tongue over his teeth as he thought. “Does he have an alibi?”
“He was with me and another club member that night.”
“If he hasn’t been arrested, how do you know it’s going to happen?”
Virginia leaned on the table, boards creaking under her elbows. “The detective spoke to me. Told me. He’s working with . . . ,” she trailed off and closed her mouth.
“It’s complicated,” Tourmaline finished.
His eyes narrowed at Virginia. “What is this package worth?”
“More than one man,” Tourmaline said.
He sighed. “I don’t know. Let me get back to you.”
“No.”
He frowned again. “No?”
“This is it. You walk away from this, you walk away.” Tourmaline stayed firm, her face relaxed. “Your decision.”
“Can I make a call?”
“One call. Five minutes.”
He rushed off.
“I don’t know,” Tourmaline said as they watched him put his phone to his ear and talk. “I can’t tell.”
Virginia didn’t respond, texting Jason to focus on something else while she waited. I need a ride. Whenever you have time. “We can always kill them all. Last resort.”
Tourmaline laughed. “Last resort.”
“Watch out.” Virginia nodded, heart picking up.
The agent was coming back. Black dress shoes through the tall grass. Tense expression. “All right,” he said briskly, sitting down. “Here’s the deal. We can’t stop an arrest and we can’t stop any kind of investigation, but we guarantee manslaughter, tops. If it shakes out the way you say, he’ll be home free. If he’s charged and tried, the deal is manslaughter. We’ll move your mom.”
“And immunity,” Virginia said. “For anything.”
The man flicked to her, eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“I mean. I know this because of what I did in it. Drugs.”
“All right, then.” He nodded, still staring. “Your testimony is the package, I presume?”
Virginia held out her hand. “Virginia Campbell. Pleased to meet you.”
She spent two hours talking into a recorder while the agent took notes. He left them both with cards and appointments to come in to sign the paperwork and start the next step. The next step in a long road of things she would need to do in order to testify against Hazard.
Virginia didn’t start breathing again until the agent pulled away.
“Want to get some food?” Tourmaline asked, starting toward the truck.
“No. I’m going to stay here,” Virginia said.
Tourmaline frowned. “Huh?”
“Jason’s picking me up.”
Tourmaline smiled. “See you tomorrow.” She pulled out, heading in the opposite direction from the agent.
Virginia dragged her fingers through her hair, relieved to be alone. She lit a new cigarette and took deep breaths. Watching as the sky changed from pale blue to deep gold. Straining to hear the familiar roar on the wind. It was strange—how the world changed along with her. How hope took root and pushed up out of the cracked desert of her life.
Jason pulled up, but she didn’t move; she was transfixed by the flow of the river at her side.
He sat beside her and the bench groaned. His arm was snug against hers, his thigh pressed against hers.
“Want me to kill him?” he asked—teasing.
She smiled, still staring at the river. “I want him to know I did it. I want him to hate me in prison. I want to make Hazard suffer.”
“Good.” He squeezed her thigh. “Let’s go get your books before the college bookstore closes.”
She smiled deeper and tilted her chin. His eyes were bright, the hazel shimmering with the colors of the sunset. Jason’s fingers gently stroked her knee. His expression was open and unguarded and full of things he’d only begun to whisper in the dark, where they were safe beside each other.
After another quiet moment, they left.