It’s 6 AM and Annie is cuddled up in front of me. I slowly reach out and tap the off button on the alarm. I beat it by five minutes. I’ve got no choice. As much as I want to stay home, if I don’t get my ass out of bed and get to work, I’ll be looking for a new job.
I’m worried about leaving her home by herself. What if Dickson comes back? I hadn’t mentioned that to her yet—what if she says something that can implicate her?
When I’m dressed and ready to go, I walk back into the bedroom, lean down and gently kiss her on the head. Her eyes flicker open, and she smiles and wraps her arms around my neck.
***
In the ferry line up, I hear my cell phone ring in my backpack. I quickly dig past my lunch, work gloves and smokes before finding my phone.
It’s hard to make the voice out. All I hear is crackling noises and static. “Annie?”
Someone says something, but I can’t make out words through the static.
I don’t know the number, but I recognize the first three digits as coming from somewhere in Vancouver. When the noise finally stops, the person speaks again. “It’s me, Denny.” His voice is tired and scratchy.
“Denny? Where the hell have you been?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Well, I’ve got time.”
He clears his throat but still sounds raspy. “Sorry I missed your call. I just got my phone back.”
“Why? Where was your phone?”
“Probably at the nursing station.”
“Nursing station? Are you in the hospital?”
“Just for a few days. I had a little accident.”
“What? Are you okay? What happened?”
“Well, this may be a little hard to believe, but a razor blade attacked my wrists.”
“What? Are you kidding?” He doesn’t say anything. “Tell me you’re kidding.”
“No.”
“You tried to kill yourself, didn’t you?”
“No. I was trying to end the noise in my head.”
“Denny, I can’t believe you did something so stupid.” I take a deep breath, my voice shaking as I exhale.
“Sis, I don’t want or need a lecture right now, okay?”
He’s right. Whatever he’s been through lately, has probably been far more of a reality check than anything that I could ever say. “What are you going to do now?” I ask.
“Go home, I guess. The lawyer finally called. He said that he’ll meet me this afternoon at the house.”
That reminds me. “Denny.” I fight to keep my voice calm. “What exactly did you tell the cops about Annie and the night Robbie went missing?”
The phone is quiet for a few seconds. “I told them that Annie was at the cottage, and so were Robbie and I. They asked if she was drinking and doing drugs. I told them that I didn’t see her do anything, even though I know that both her and Robbie were pretty hammered.”
“Annie doesn’t do drugs, Denny. Pot, sometimes, but she’s not into heavy street drugs or anything.”
“I’m just telling you what I remember.”
I won’t argue with him right now. The main thing is that he didn’t tell the cops that Annie was stoned, which is a fucking relief.
“Why did you ask?” Denny asks.
“There’s just been some detective asking questions and snooping around.”
“Dickson?”
“That’s the guy.”
“Watch him, Jade He’s probably going to try and manipulate you into saying all sorts of shit.”
“He doesn’t seem that bad. He’s got a job to do.”
“Wake up, Jade. The guy just wants a conviction. He doesn’t give two shits if the person he nabs is guilty or innocent. As long as he can create a motive, he wins.”
“Denny, that’s a paranoid way of thinking.”
“Whatever, Jade. It’s not your head on the chopping block.”
* * *
It’s a typical fall day at work. The ground is wet and slippery, and dead leaves add an unwanted obstacle. At lunch, I invite Tim to the wedding with one stipulation—he can’t be drunk. He seems happy, which is good—things have been a bit awkward between us.
Later, when I pull into our yard, Stinky comes bounding towards the truck. Filthy dirty with his ass on springs, he jumps all over me the minute my feet hit the ground. I hope his good mood means Annie is in a good mood too.
As soon as I open the front door, a savory waft of something cooking hits me. LP is playing softly on the stereo and candles are burning on the coffee table. The effort Annie has put in can only signify one thing, she has news.
I put my bag down, shut the door and walk to the bedroom where Annie is folding laundry. She looks up at me with a dazzling smile. “How was your day?”
“Same ol’, same ol’.” I wave my hand. “The place looks and smells great. Did I forget a special occasion?”
She laughs. “Nope. I just have something to talk to you about after dinner that I hope will make you happy.”
During my shower, I hear Stinky bark. Annie often riles him up when she plays with him in the living room. After I dry off, I walk into the bedroom and see Stinky lying on the bed, on top of our clean clothes. The bedroom door is closed. What the hell?
I quickly pull on a t-shirt and a pair of pants and open the bedroom door. The music has stopped and the candles are blown out. An uneasy feeling comes over me. The kitchen door is closed. “Annie? Are you here?”
I hear rustling coming from the kitchen. Just as I put my arm up to swing the door open, it pushes against me. “Jade. Don’t worry. Just leave me deal with this.”
I push hard, and the door opens. I look past Annie and there, sitting at the kitchen table, is Detective Dickson. He sees me and smiles.
“He came to talk to me, Jade.” Annie’s eyes are fearful, but her voice is steady. “It’s best that we get this over with now so we can get on with our lives.”
In a low tone, I lean in closer, “Annie. You don’t need to talk to this guy alone. Maybe we should talk to a lawyer first.”
“Why would we need a lawyer? I know what I’m doing, okay? I’m only going to tell him what I want to.”
This is a bad idea. I can feel it in my bones.
I move to pass her, but she stops me. “He needs to speak to me alone. I won’t be long, just go into the bedroom with Stinky, okay?”
As soon as the door closes, I walk towards the bedroom and close the door there. Then I turn and walk with quiet steps until I reach the kitchen door. I hear the squeak of a chair as Annie sits down. Papers are rustled as Dickson clears his throat. “So, do you like living on Gabriola?” he asks her.
Oh good, he’s trying to befriend her and make her comfortable before he pounces on her with damning questions. Now I understand why he asked me about fishing before.
After having idle chit chat for a few minutes, Dickson asks Annie if she knew Robbie. To my horror, she says, “Yes.”
Dickson then asks her if she saw Robbie the night he went missing.
Again, she says, “Yes.”
A shudder runs through me as I picture Annie in handcuffs. Then I realise that I’d be there too, arrested for lying. Why didn’t I tell her about everything earlier?
“Can you tell me about it?” asks Dickson, his voice calm.
Oh shit, Annie. I want to burst into the kitchen and create a distraction so Annie can’t say anything else.
“Okay, here’s what I can remember,” Annie says, seemingly calm. “Denny and Robbie showed up here very late. Jade had missed the last ferry over, so I was alone. Denny has a history of having erratic and sometimes violent behavior, but on that night, he seemed fine. His friend Robbie was with him. Robbie had been here before with Denny. Anyways, Denny said that if I had a quick beer with them, they would leave—”
“Did they say why they came by?” interrupts Dickson.
“Yes, sorry. I forgot that part. Denny said he had something for Jade to sign, probably something to do with their father dying.”
“Okay, continue,” says the detective.
“I remember drinking about a quarter of my beer, then everything gets fuzzy.”
“Do you mean that you think you were drugged?”
“I don’t know. Something definitely happened to me.”
“What else do you remember?”
“Robbie. I remember Robbie in my room, in my bed. He was leaning on top of me. My nightgown was pulled up to my waist and he wasn’t wearing a shirt. I kept thinking stop and no, but I don’t remember if I said it out loud.”
“So, he raped you?”
“I don’t know if you would call it rape, because I don’t think I fought him off.”
Dickson sighs loudly then asks if there is anything else Annie can remember.
“The only other thing I remember is that after Robbie left the room, he and Denny started arguing loudly. When I heard the front door close, I could hear still hear them arguing.”
“Do you remember what they were saying?”
“No. I just remember that Denny’s voice was scary. Like he was in a rage.”
Why in the hell would she tell Dickson that? She never told me that before. She said Denny left while Robbie was still with her. Denny even said he’d left before that.
Finally, I hear the detective stand up. He tells Annie that he can have someone from Victim Services contact her.
“I don’t want to speak to anyone about what happened between me and Robbie that night, but thanks.”
Dickson and Annie walk towards the kitchen door and I quickly sprint across the living room and into the bedroom.
After a few minutes, I hear the front door close. I stand up and go into the living room. Annie is standing in the middle of the floor. She looks at me and smiles. “I bet you anything that dinner is going to be as dry as hell. It’s been in the oven for way too long.”
“Annie,” I say, stopping her before she goes back into the kitchen. “Tell me what you guys talked about.”
She tells me to help her get dinner and we’ll talk about it while we eat. I watch her in disbelief as she puts on oven mitts and takes a large dish from the oven, humming softly as she does it. How can she be so calm? There’s something really strange going on with her. It’s not like her to lie or even bend the truth, but I have a sinking suspicion that it’s what she was doing when she talked to the detective about Denny. He can be a prick, but that doesn’t make him a murderer.
Annie spoons us each a portion of her Indian dish and then hands me some bread. The last thing I can do right now is focus on eating. My head is reeling with questions and anxiety.
We sit on the sofa with TV tables in front of us. She starts cutting into her dinner, seemingly ravenous.
“Annie.” The tone of my voice shocks her and she looks up at me. “Can we please talk about what just happened, please?”
“Nothing happened, really. He asked me some basic questions and I answered them. It was easy.”
Easy questions? Involving date rape and murder? Why is she hiding this from me? I want to reiterate what I heard but if she knows that I was eavesdropping, she’ll freak. “Fine, Annie. Whatever.”
“Jade, there was nothing heavy that was asked. Honestly. I would tell you, okay?”
I shrug and pick reluctantly at my dinner, not because I’m hungry, but because I don’t know what else to do right now.
“Hey.” She wipes her mouth with a napkin and turns to me, smiling. “Do you want to hear the news I had for you today, before we were interrupted?”
“I guess so. Sure.”
“Well, I called my parents today and I told them that I’m pregnant. At first, I thought they were going to freak out, but they didn’t. They were ecstatic. Then, I told them that we are getting married right away. I invited them, but because they’ve moved back to the States, they might not be able to make in on such short notice.”
I drop the piece of bread I’m holding. “What? They’re living back in the States?”
“Oh, didn’t I tell you?”
“No, Annie.” I stare at her in disbelief. “It must have slipped your mind.”
I don’t think I’ve ever felt this furious with her. I don’t know what I’m angrier about—that she called her parents with such huge news without me there to share their reaction, or that she hadn’t even told me that her parents moved out of the country. She knows how much I care for her parents. She knows how much this news would affect me, and she expects me to take it like it’s good news.
I stand up with my meal barely touched and walk into the kitchen. Annie follows me to the sink. “Jade, there’s something else.”
“What now? Is your name not really Annie?”
She laughs. I don’t think she can hear the anger in my tone, though I don’t hide it well. “Don’t be silly. Can you come back to the couch with me for a sec?”
She takes my hand and leads me to the sofa. “What is it, Annie?” I say, my voice cold. “I don’t know how many more surprises I can handle tonight.”
Annie puts her hands on mine. Her face is more serious now. “Jade, I know things have been really crazy lately and hard on both of us, but I’ve been thinking.” She takes a breath. “It doesn’t matter how I came to be pregnant. What matters now is that a baby is coming.” She pauses. I stare at her, confused. She smiles at me, and her eyes are suddenly shining. “I want them to be born into a loving environment. With two parents.”
I look in her sparkling blue eyes. “What are you trying to say?”
She smiles, and a tear rolls down her cheek. “Will you adopt the baby when they’re born?”
I had honestly never considered this. It hadn’t occurred to me that it was something I should do. Too much has been happening. I knew there’s a baby coming, but that was later down the road, as far as I was concerned. The present was taken up with Denny, with Annie, with a frigging murder investigation.
But, as I stare into her eyes, I remember what matters to me the most, Annie. Her unborn child is a part of her and no matter what, I can’t change that. If I want to be a family with Annie, adopting the baby is my only choice.
“Of course, I will,” I say, grabbing her and pulling her into me. My anger is gone.