Page 28 of Boxer Next Door

Maybe he could help.

I had this friend from back at my old place who was on the police force. If there were someone that could find this kind of information, it would probably be Adam. We hadn't talked since I’d left, but he picked up pretty quickly, and his voice when he greeted me was as friendly as usual.

“Hey, Ken! I was starting to wonder if I’d have to track your ass down to get you to contact me!”

I chuckled at Adam’s exuberance. “Sorry about that. Things have been busy, and I’m still settling in. The place needed a lot of work, and there’s the studio…”

“So how are things over there? If you need help, I can probably get the weekend off and drive down.”

I knew he meant it, but I would never impose like that. The drive was long, and there was no need to bother him when I was managing just fine by myself.

“That’s nice of you, but I called you for a different reason. Can you do me a favor?”

“Sure, man. Shoot.”

I took in a deep breath. “Okay, so I have this neighbor—”

“Is it a hot woman?” he asked, cutting in.

“She is,” I admitted, and rolled my eyes when he laughed at me. “I think there might be something there between us, but something happened today…”

I explained everything, and he was silent as I told him about the incident from this afternoon.

“So, what do you think?” I asked. “Am I just being paranoid because of what that woman said? This woman is so sweet, you should see how she is with her kid. And she’s beautiful. Could she really be an evil murderer?”

I was incredibly skeptical, but I couldn’t help worrying. The real issue was why someone would make an accusation that huge.

“What has she told you about the husband?” Adam asked. He was taking this seriously, too.

“Not much,” I muttered. “She told me he left them. There was a divorce, and then he just disappeared off the face of the earth. She didn’t tell me how, or where he went, and as far as I know, no one’s heard from him since.”

13

Lydia

Finally, it felt like my life was back on track. I felt like I was truly happy for the first time since Mike said he wanted a divorce. Even with Bryson around, I couldn’t help feeling a bit lonely. That was gone now, though.

The reason for it was, of course, Ken. Although for a while Ken seemed a little distant. I wasn’t sure what the problem was, he’d just get distracted when we were together, and I wasn’t sure we were close enough for me to ask, so I’d kept my mouth zipped.

But he didn’t stop coming to see me. Sometimes, he’d even join Bryson and me for dinner, though usually, he came after my son had gone to sleep. He was busy getting his new boxing school up and running, so I figured that was it. He’d hired someone to help him out, an instructor/trainer, and most of Ken’s time was spent in the studio.

His nights were spent in my bed. He was there every night, and I wasn’t exactly complaining. And just like that, weeks passed.

At work one morning, I wondered how worried I should be.

Ken and I had been growing close. Work even seemed like less of a chore because I had Ken to look forward to in the evenings. But he was slowly growing to mean so much to me. It was dangerous letting someone—anyone—this close to me knowing they could easily leave. As much as the two of us had a lot of fun, there was no commitment. We didn’t talk about what exactly was going on between us. He could decide to stop it, or he could find someone else, someone younger with a lot fewer responsibilities and a lot more free time.

I lived in fear of that. But I didn’t try to talk to him about it, either. I wasn’t nearly that brave.

Besides, there was no way I could be falling in love with him. We were just having a little fun! Ken was too young; much younger than me. People would notice, and it wouldn’t be pretty.

That was the conclusion I came to with myself. But I was still worried. When lunch came around, I called my friend Annara to meet me at our usual café, and I rushed out of work so fast people stared at me. I got there faster than I usually did, arriving before she did. I waited impatiently for her.

“What has you so wound up?” she asked curiously as she sat across from me. “You’re practically vibrating in your seat. It would be funny except I’m kind of worried. Just how much coffee have you had?”

I rolled my eyes at Annara’s quip. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind for her dry brand of humor.

“I haven’t had any coffee, I’m just in need of some serious girl talk, and my lunch break only lasts for so long.”