Halfway across the parking lot, I dug out my phone and called Darnell again.
Voicemail.
“Pick up your fucking phone!”
But he didn’t.And he didn’t call me back either.
I had a vague plan to walk home, but then I stopped—they would still be processing the house, and until they were done, they weren’t going to let me anywhere near it.That meant a motel.Or I could stay with a friend.That almost made me laugh; Saint Somerset would happily take me in.
I was still standing there, trying to decide where to go, when a dark sedan rolled to a stop in front of me.The window buzzed down, and Peterson said, “Let me give you a ride.”
“Shouldn’t you be searching my house for proof I killed Tip?Or are you in favor of the Darnell theory?”
“The sheriff is conducting the search.”
“Wow.What a vote of confidence.”
“Get in the car, Gray.”
It was clean on the inside, and it smelled like the Yankee Candle air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror.Classical music played softly until Peterson reached over and snapped the radio off.He buzzed the window up, and the air conditioning took over, the cold air drying the sheen of perspiration on my face and arms.
As we drove out of the lot, he said, “I want you to think about taking some personal leave.”
The words lit up like red neon letters in my head.Days of sitting on my ass in that house.Weeks.Months.No matter how I tried to find things to do, no matter the errands or habits or plans I made to keep myself busy.Just me and Darnell, trapped in that house, like two ghosts haunting the fuck out of each other.
Tires hummed.Around us, Jefferson Street became Market Street.It was a weeknight, and it was late, and the places that catered to tourist families were closing.The only places still open were where you could still do some serious drinking.St.Taffy’s.Maybe we were going to get that drink Peterson had offered.
“What do you think?”Peterson asked.
“No.”I tried again.“No, thank you, Chief.”
“Gray, I’m not sure you heard me.”
Too quickly—and too sharply—I said, “I heard you.”
We passed St.Taffy’s.Peterson stopped at a stop sign.There was nobody around.He could have rolled through it.Hell, he could have blown through it.Who’d say anything to him about it?But he stopped.He looked.And then we started forward again.
“I understand that this case is important to you.”
“You’re goddamn right it’s important.Do you know who knew that boy was missing?Nobody.His friends.Not his dad.Not his mom.Not those two dumb fucks at the sheriff’s department.Itoldthem he was missing.Itoldthem something bad might have happened to him.And they acted like I was out of my fucking head.”I sat back.And then I hammered the window once.“And now I’m the fucking bad guy?”
“You’re angry.”Peterson’s voice stayed calm.“But I need you to think about this like a detective right now.You’ve got someone without any official legal standing who can’t stay away from an investigation.You’ve got…parallels.He provides helpful information to law enforcement.He even discovers the body.”
I rubbed my eyes.I took deep breaths.That was what killers did.Some of them.They wanted to be close to the case.Some because they liked the thrill.Some because they were trying to control the investigation.Mostly because they were all nutjobs.
“So, we’re back to square one.I did it.Or Darnell and I did it together.”
“If I thought you did it, Gray, I’d be driving you to jail instead of the motor court.But this isn’t a matter of opinion.That boy was in your bed.Whether you like it or not, by getting yourself involved in this investigation, you’ve made yourself a person of interest.”Peterson fell silent.And then he said, voice tight, “And your judgment seems to be seriously in question.”
Rory, bent over the arm of that ugly fuck of a sofa, moaning.Jordan, on his knees, slobbering as I pulled his hair.A flush ran through my body.It felt like pins and needles across my chest, up my throat, into my face.I thought I caught a whiff of the first hint of flop sweat.
“Do you know what it’s like to have to hear from someone outside my department that one of my detectives has been having sexual relationships with key people in an ongoing investigation?”
I opened my mouth.
He spoke over me, and the wound-up fury of his voice kept me silent.“What were you thinking?”
I couldn’t answer that; I shut my mouth.
