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“Where are you?”
“In Bluebell Creek…um…it’s where my mother and grandfather are buried.”
“Yes, I remember. I was there with you. I’ll be there in…however long it’ll take me to get there. Are you at the cemetery now?”
“No!” she answered and then softened her tone. “I’d rather you not come, Ad. I’m fine. I’m sorry you flew all the way here, but please, just go home. I’ll be in touch.”
“I’m on my way, Mil. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I could hear the chime of the call ending. Mila stared at the screen, put the phone in her back pocket, and then took it out again and powered it off.
“I guess I didn’t handle that very well,” she said.
“I’m not sure what you could’ve done or said differently.”
“He isn’t very good at taking no for an answer.”
I felt my shoulders tightening and didn’t doubt my anger was evident on my face. “Do you want to elaborate?”
“Not in the way you might be thinking. I know I never gave you a straight answer, but Adler and I are just friends. He flirts but knows that I’m not interested in anything more than what we have.” She stopped talking, but it seemed to me like there was something else she wanted to say. When she didn’t continue, I led her over to the bridge, feeling inexplicably relieved that she and the asshole hadn’t had sex.
As we sat on the stone and watched the water trickling over the slate beneath us, Mila looked everywhere but at me.
“There are some things…I thought maybe I was making too much of, but…”
“Go on.”
“The night I got the call about Sybil, earlier that day, when I came home from work, Adler picked up my mail for me. I’m not always crazy about him having a key to my place, but I understand why he does. The mail, though. It bothered me.”
“Rightly so. The key should bother you too.”
“And then yesterday…I’ve never seen him act the way he did. It seemed like maybe there was something else going on that was bothering him.”
I had a theory, but I was more interested in what Mila would say.
“He was on his phone. I know it sounds like I’m making more of it than I should, but he never does that when he’s with me. I’m probably being petty. I mean, he has a life outside of his friendship with me.”
“You said you’ve known him since you rented the apartment. How long have you lived there?”
“Four years.”
“And how long before the two of you became friends?”
“It was immediate. He started out checking to see if I needed anything, welcoming me to the building, and then he just started hanging out.”
“How did you find the place?”
Mila thought it over. “I don’t remember. Probably a flyer at the college.”
Something nagged at me, but until I had a chance to look into this guy’s background further, I wouldn’t ask Mila any more questions. Except for one.
“What’s next with him? How do you see this playing out?”
“If you’re talking about him driving up to Bluebell Creek, I have no idea. I didn’t agree to meet him anywhere, so I guess when he gets here, I’ll have to talk to him again.” Mila turned to me. “Unless you think I should meet him. I mean, he could probably help me find a place to stay so I’m not putting you out.”
I peered into her eyes long enough that her cheeks turned pink.
“What?” she said, trying to move out of my line of sight.
