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“I didn’t call you to get on you about that. You did me a favor, really. I just need you to tell me what’s happened since she’s now in Sierra Vista.”
“How do you know she’s there?”
“I’m here.”
“You’re in Arizona? Shit. So that’s where she ran off to. I figured she went back to Texas”
Antony waited him out. Jonathan had a story, and he needed to tell it.
“She moved out here a couple of weeks after I did. Probably around the time you got back from your deployment.”
“Yep. I was in the hospital when you two were making out at Sea World.”
“She told you about that?”
“No, the photos she left did.” Antony’s voice was flat.
Jonathan coughed. “Yeah, sorry about that.”
“No. You’re not, and I don’t care. I just need answers.”
“Right. Right. Things have been okay for a long time, but three, four months ago she started acting sketchy.” He paused. “I thought she was cheating on me.”
Antony snorted. “Go figure. Continue, please.”
“I deserve that. Yeah, she did real good with Real Estate out here, but suddenly she started getting bookings for some odd hours. It happens sometimes, if people can’t meet during regular hours, but this was a few times a week.”
Antony heard the pop and hiss of a bottle being opened and then swallowing.
“Before long, she started acting weird. Paranoid. She got really skinny, too.”
“That tracks with what I’ve seen.”
“Well, some bad dudes showed up at the house one night and I heard them talking to her outside. She was pissed, but so were they.”
“What happened?”
“No clue. They weren’t loud, but they all sounded angry. I think she got involved with some sort of laundering scheme. Maybe drugs. She came back in and tried to talk to me about taking out a loan for a house and then freaked when I told her no. About a week later, the men showed back up, and I told her she needed to leave. My career doesn’t need that kind of hit.”
“So you kicked her out. Still doesn’t explain how she found me.”
“Maybe on the global mail. She was pretty tight with one of the admin people in my unit. Might have asked her. Anyway, whatever she’s in, she’s in it deep. Those guys are looking for her. Showed up about a week ago and asked.”
“You’re not in contact?”
“No, man. She left and changed her number. Left half of her shit here, too. I don’t know what to do with it.”
“Well, if they come around again, keep your mouth shut. I don’t need them showing up here and adding to the bullshit.”
“I won’t. Look, I know it’s not worth much, but I’m sorry how shit played out.”
“You’re right. It’s not worth much. Seems like you got the shorter end of that stick in the end. Thanks for the info.” Antony hung up.
A few minutes later, Antony flopped on the couch. He scrolled through the photos on his phone, stopping at the first one he’d taken of Lesley on their first date. She was staring up at the sky. He smiled. She didn’t even know he’d taken the photo, and the unguarded wonder in her eyes took his breath away every time he looked at it.
Not talking to her hurt. Every time he picked up his phone to type out a message, he had to stop himself and put it away. He missed her horribly, but he needed to finish getting his shit together, and that included looking a little down the road. He only had a couple more years until he could retire, and it was high time he started thinking about what to do after. As much as he wanted to text her back, he needed to figure out a few things first.
After one more glance at her picture, he put his phone down and went back to his desk. He pulled out a fresh legal pad and a pen, drew three columns down the middle of the page, and labelled them: Want, Need, Should.
