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“Were you always such a bossy S.O.B.?”
“Later, Dern.”
“Later, Kid.”
I hang up the phone and stare at the wall, seeing nothing, simply thinking over the turn that my life has taken in the last twenty-four hours.
Whether I want to or not….
I’m coming home to Stone Lake…. And I’m going to see Luna again….
Gavin
I see her standing there. I’m maybe ten yards in front of her, but it might as well be a million miles.
Luna Marshall.
The woman that has haunted me for years. The woman I left behind to start over. I’m sure she hated me back then. Hell, even now, thirteen years later, she probably still hates me. I can’t blame her. I hate myself for leaving her.
I don’t want to, but I take a step toward her.
And then another.
It actually becomes automatic, my body moving without me telling it to. Of course, whenever I got near Luna, gravity seemed to pull me to her. That apparently hasn’t changed through the years.
She’s maybe ten feet in front of me now, and I can see her so clearly that it’s a little painful.
Luna hasn’t changed much over the years. Her body has filled out more, matured, rounded from girl to woman. Her golden blonde hair is shorter, falling just to her shoulders. Some things always remain the same though. Even over the crowd, I can hear her voice. It’s as soft and sweet as I’ve always remembered.
“Gavin Lodge! Is that you?”
I see the exact moment that Luna hears my name. She looks up and it’s all written there on her face.
Shock.
Fear.
Anger.
Hurt.
Thirteen years and still every bit of that is written on her face. Thirteen years is not enough to make her forget.
To make either one of us forget.
“That’s me, Wally. How in the hell are you?” I ask, pulling my gaze from Luna to look at the man I once considered my best friend.
“Doing good,” he says, stepping back and his arm loosely goes around Luna. Her body language reads stiff, but after a moment she relaxes. “Just had my second child,” he says.
That feels like a fucking sucker punch. Wally and Luna? I never saw that coming. I would have never guessed it and it feels bitter in my gut.
“Luna, how are you?” I put on a fake smile and concentrate on breathing.
I’ve been alternately dreading this moment and looking forward to it. I’ve definitely been dreaming about it, but those dreams have turned into nightmares on more than one occasion.
“Gavin. We heard you were coming back into town.”
“Yeah. I go where the case takes me,” I tell her and it’s not a lie, I do. I just never planned on it bringing me full circle—never planned on it bringing me to Luna’s doorstep.
“It’s still hard to believe you’re an FBI man,” Wally laughs.
“Been one for a lot of years,” I remind him. “I hate like hell that I have to be in Stone Lake for work, though.”
That’s the truth.
The God’s honest truth.
“I heard that. I hope you manage to get them, before they strike again.”
I don’t say anything. There’s not much to say to that. Everyone knows why I’m here. This serial killer has garnered national attention for months. He’s created havoc in twenty states and we still haven’t caught him. I never dreamed he’d end up in Stone Lake, but then I’ve never had the best of luck.
“You’re looking good, Luna,” I tell her. It’s a stupid thing to say, but I can’t not say it.
Her body jolts. I see it before she takes a second to lock it down.
“I’ll see you around, Wally,” she addresses him not bothering to reply to me. “Tell Meghan to call me.”
“Will do, honey. See you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” she says. Then, she surprises me by turning around to look at me. “Goodbye, Gavin.”
She walks away like that, with her head held high and I let her go, because I fucking lost the right to ask her to stay thirteen years ago… when I was the one to walk away.
“You two aren’t married?” I question Wally, because that’s the one thing my brain latches onto during their exchange.
“What? Oh hell. Not at all. Luna would get a kick out of you saying that though. Her and my Meghan are close though.”
“Meghan?”
“My wife, you probably don’t remember her. She went to school with us but didn’t hang around with the same crowd. Her and Luna have grown close, especially since our kids are in school together.”
The hits just keep coming. This one harder, more intense, and the burn nearly cripples me.
Luna has a child.
I knew it would be a possibility, but I didn’t want it to be a reality. Years of experience keeps my voice steady and my face void of any reaction.
“Luna has a kid now. Hard to believe,” I rub my face, wishing I didn’t know. That will be another small piece of knowledge that will haunt me long after I leave Stone Lake in the dust.
