I should have been going to work.
As I drove through town, I saw school buses and cars, service trucks and delivery people, everyone going about their daily routines. I should have been part of that stream, with nothing more to look forward to than meetings over coffee and a boatload of e-mails to answer.
Instead I drove through Rossingville—a small city named for a Union general who quartered his troops here during the Civil War and then decided to stay and farm—trying to find an old friend who might have committed a murder. And was definitely a suspect in one.
A light flashed on my dashboard display, and a chime sounded. Low fuel.
“Great.”
I’d planned on getting gas on the way home from the Pig the night before. Then Blake had distracted me and made me late. Then, when I went to Jennifer’s house, I ignored it again.
And there I was with a low-fuel warning.
But I caught a break. Just outside of our neighborhood, I passed a gas station, and I pulled up to a pump and started fueling. The station had just opened, and a tired-looking clerk with a ponytail and an arm full of tattoos pushed a rack of motor oil out the door and into place. When he stopped moving, he stretched his back, pulled out his phone, and scrolled through with his thumb.
I reached for my own phone and started scrolling while the tank filled. I wanted to see the latest about Jennifer. Anything new. But as was so often the case, I saw only the same things repeated over and over.
A car door slammed, but I didn’t look up. The sound barely registered.
A moment later I sensed someone standing near me.
“What are you looking at on there?”
My head snapped up, followed by the feeling of my chest deflating.
“Surprised to see me?” Dawn asked. She wore sunglasses and workout gear. Despite the early hour, her erect posture and crisp voice gave the impression of someone who’d been awake for hours. “We’re overdue for a talk.”
“Did you follow me? Were you at the house last night?”
“You’re full of questions, aren’t you?”
“Were you at my house? My wife called the police.”
“You don’t want me talking to the police, do you? Worlds could collide. Everyone would know things about you. Bad things.”
The pump clicked off, and I let out a sigh. “Not today, Dawn. I’ve got other stuff going on.”
“The clock is ticking on our agreement.”
“Your agreement. You set the deadline and made the demand.”
“And you have to pay. It’s a simple transaction.”
“I told you. We’re having work done on our yard. I just had to put down a deposit on that. So you have to wait. A few weeks.”
She started shaking her head before the words were even out of my mouth. And she continued to shake once I was finished. I looked at my watch. I wanted to get going. I didn’t want to be dealing with her.
“I need the money.”
“What do you even need it for? I’m sure you’re not giving it to your family.”
She lifted her sunglasses and squinted at me in the growing light. Her eyes were a cool green shade, and as I stared into them, I couldn’t help but think of her two younger sisters. I saw the resemblance in the shape of the face, the thinness of her lips. It was like staring at a ghost from my past.
“I have things I need it for. More than just fixing up my backyard. It’s my own concern.”
“If you told me what it was, maybe I could help you in a different way. Or maybe I’d just be more likely to help. I don’t like what happened to your family. If I could erase it all, I would. I promise.”
Dawn took a step closer and spoke through gritted teeth. “Look, you have one job. Give me the money in twenty-four hours, and your name stays out of the headlines. Got it? You know, I did a little research. Whoever was driving that car that hit my sisters can still face legal jeopardy. Not to mention the civil suit that would follow.”
“Someone already went to jail.”
“But was it the right someone? If the right guy went to jail, why is the guy who sat in the backseat the one bringing my parents money? Anonymously?”
“Just drop it.”
“You’ve never denied it. Not once. Why not just deny it if it wasn’t you?”
I grabbed the pump handle and withdrew it from my car, taking care not to dribble gas on either of our shoes. The pungent fumes hit me in the nose and almost caused a cough. While Dawn hovered nearby I finished the transaction, making sure to ignore her and avoid any eye contact.
“Well?” she said. “What’s the answer? If you want to drive to the bank, I’ll follow you. You can make some of the withdrawal. Call it a down payment.”
Her assertiveness struck the wrong note in me. I was starting to feel like a pinball, bouncing between people who wanted something, and they all seemed to feel a great deal of ease about telling me what to do. Blake. The cops.
I took a step closer to her, putting us toe-to-toe. Anger superseded my guilt.
And I noticed she wore sneakers. Clean and almost new.
“Look.” I jabbed the air between us with my index finger. She flinched when I started speaking, acting as though I’d tried to strike her. “You’ll get your money when I have it. I have other problems right now. Personal problems. So you need to back off.”
“I can tell—”
“Tell who?” I asked. “Sure, tell the cops what you think you know about the accident. Expose me as a liar. But then what? The golden goose gets neutered. Where would you be getting your eggs from then? Hell, where else would your parents get that little bit of help I’ve been giving them?”
“You’re too afraid to stop. You’re too afraid—”
“You should be afraid—”
“Ma’am? Ma’am?”
The voice cut through our conversation.
Argument.
We both turned and looked. The gas station employee—the guy with the ponytail, the tattoos, and the phone—stood nearby, studying us. He was younger than he’d looked from afar, closer to twenty than to thirty. And his face showed concern. His eyes were dialed in on Dawn, and he expectantly waited for her to say something to him.
When she didn’t, he said, “Are you okay, ma’am?”
“Okay?”
“Is this man harassing you?” the guy asked. “He made a threatening gesture to you. Like this.” The guy imitated my finger jab, except he made it appear as though he was Norman Bates and my finger was a knife. “I’ve got my phone right here. And you can step inside if that makes you feel safer.”
“Harassing her?” I said. “Me? You don’t even know what’s going on.”
“Now, sir, don’t direct your hostility toward me. That wouldn’t be right either.” He lifted his phone and tapped it. “I’m calling the police.”
“No, wait.” I held my hands out in a placating manner. “Just wait.”
The man stopped tapping his phone. His finger hovered in midair. He turned his head toward Dawn, awaiting her approval. If she told him to keep dialing, he would. And I’d have the police called down on me.
But Dawn shook her head. And she looked imperious doing it.
“It’s okay,” she said. “You don’t have to call. He just lost control of himself for a moment. He’ll apologize. Won’t he?”
Both sets of eyes turned toward me. A semitruck rumbled by the station, the noise and rush of wind it generated so great I wouldn’t have been heard even if I had spoken. But the distraction gave me a moment to gather my thoughts. If I continued on the path I was on, if I gave the overly concerned gas station attendant reason to call the police, then I’d be getting nowhere.
Nowhere at all.
I’d have to explain why I was standing there, talking to Dawn.
And truth be told, she’d have to explain what she wanted from me.
I hadn’t given her anything yet. How could I prove she’d been blackmailing me? And if I wanted to find Blake, I needed to get going.
“Okay,” I said when the truck was past. “I’m sorry. I lost my cool. And I’m sorry. Okay? Is that okay with you?” I asked the attendant.
He took his time answering. He looked at Dawn and then he looked at me.
Finally he said, “Well, I guess so. If it’s okay with her.”
And then Dawn took her time answering as well. But she finally nodded. “It’s okay,” she said.
The attendant nodded his head a few times and started a slow walk back to the cashier area of the station. When he was out of earshot, I said, “I’m leaving. I have things to do.”
“The money,” she said. “Tomorrow.”
“You’ll get it. Or you won’t. I may not be able to give it to you soon. But I have to go.”
I opened the door and climbed into my car. Dawn had parked her car nose to nose with mine, so in order to get away, I’d have to back up. Before I could, she came to the window. I felt I had no choice but to power it down.
“What?” I asked.
“I showed you mercy today,” she said. “Twenty-four hours. Have that money for me tomorrow morning.”
“I can’t—”
“See you tomorrow,” she said.