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No one showed up as we got into our car, and no one pulled us over as we drove away from Hank’s place.
My spontaneous and slightly reckless plan worked, and I gained some pretty solid leads because of it. Clearly, Hank was interested in something going on with Evan and the sheriff, which made me equally as interested.
I had a long night ahead of me. But as we pulled up Charlie’s driveway, I realized that maybe my night should have a different focus. It was already close to midnight, and there wasn’t any way I’d be getting in touch with Evan or the sheriff now. I could do some more research online, but that could wait until the morning.
Maybe…
“Hey, Char, if you’re down, you can, ya know, spend the night at my place.”
Charlie, who had a hand on the door handle, froze. “I mean—you’re good with that?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“All right, yeah, that sounds good.”
He let go of the door handle and sat back, a smile settling on his face and one on mine.
I was right about not getting any more work done that night, but fuck was having Charlie in my bed worth it.
20
Charlie Marsh
When Austin offered for me to spend the night, I doubted he had included the next three weeks’ worth of nights, too, but… well, shit happens. Turns out that having your life in constant danger really does a number on your nerves. I tried going back to my own house, but even with three other people sleeping under the same roof, I still couldn’t shake the image of someone crawling in through my window and holding a pillow over my face while I slept. Before Austin even realized it, I had begun moving in: first with my toothbrush and underwear, then with even more clothes, and ending with my collection of reminder sticky notes making their way onto Austin’s bathroom mirror.
It didn’t help that my case kept hitting roadblock after roadblock. After our little field trip to Hank’s house, I thought that we were for sure headed in the right direction—as terrifying as that direction might have been. Something was going on between Evan and the sheriff, something big. Either they were working together, or Evan was up to no good on his own and the sheriff had come by to warn him. Austin and I also tossed around the theory of Evan trying to have a hostile takeover of Honey and Wood, although that didn’t seem too likely since Evan was already bringing in another partner to replace Hank.
All we had were theories and zero answers. Austin had tried talking with Evan again but couldn’t get him to agree to a meeting, and the sheriff was even harder to reach. He promised me he was still working a dozen other different avenues and that I didn’t have any reason to be scared. I believed him on the former but had trouble with the latter.
Thankfully, Austin didn’t bat a lash when I asked if I could extend his extremely kind offer by a few days. Those days multiplied while my anxiety lessened. Going to bed with Austin gave me the deepest sleep of my life, although some of that maybe had to do with his cloud-like mattress.
Waking up with him also left me feeling like I was on cloud nine.
We’d cuddle, toss around and play in bed until we finally climbed out and got ready together. I’d make us two coffees to go, and we’d walk the short distance through the town, chatting and waving at friendly faces.
It was a pleasant routine, and it kept my mind off the whole “I could be murdered any second” thing, so it felt like a win-win.
Tonight to help with my nerves, we played some Mario Kart wearing only gym shorts and socks, with candles lit and a storm raging outside, an empty bottle of wine sitting next to two half-empty wineglasses.
“You win again,” I said as Austin’s character took a victory lap. I tsked and decided that I’d have to do better the next round or find another game to play.
“I told you I was a master at this game.”
“Yeah, but I thought you were exaggerating. I didn’t think you were actually a Mario Kart savant.”
“Nope, I always used to be able to kick your ass.”
I chuckled and grabbed my glass, sipping the crisp chardonnay. A streak of lightning flashed across the rows of windows that looked out to Austin’s tree-filled yard. The thunder rolled through seconds later, powerful enough to give the walls a little shake.
“Whatever. I’m getting better,” I said, sounding like someone clearly in denial.
“Wanna go again?”
I answered him by clicking Start on the screen, our characters racing off to upbeat music.
Austin’s leg rested against mine as our characters raced along a sunny beach on the screen. The three lit candles threw a scent of fresh laundry and lavender into the air while the cracked-open window let in the ‘recent rain’ scent that always threw me back to childhood for some reason. The storm seemed to be clearing, both outside and in. Focusing on the game, and on Austin, helped me relax in a way that had been difficult for me recently. I sank back into the couch and let my leg slide further under Austin’s, until we were sitting cross-legged on the couch.
