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I must fall asleep, waking sometime later all sweaty and tangled in the sheet. I grab my phone to check the time and notice a new message. I see it’s from Owen, and unable to ignore it, I open it.
You can’t just walk away, Kennedy. We need to talk. If I have to, I’ll find you.
Closing the message and placing my cell back down, I try to close my eyes again, but every time I do, there’s an image of Owen with that fucking woman and it turns my stomach over.
I give it another half hour before I give in and get up. As I pull the sheet back over, a piece of paper flutters to the floor. Bending to pick it up, I realize that it’s the envelope from yesterday. It must have got lost on the bed somewhere, and in all honesty, I’d forgotten about it. Snatching it up along with a sweater and my cell, I pad quietly downstairs and make coffee before sitting outside on the porch and watch the sun rise majestically in front of me.
Taking a sip of my coffee, I look over the envelope and the handwriting on the front. It’s only now as I’m looking at it more closely, I can see that my name isn’t handwritten at all. It appears to be printed in some fancy font that you find online or in design apps. Turning it over, the back is blank and slipping my finger beneath the seal, I tear it open.
I pull out the single piece of paper from inside, flipping it over to read it. As soon as I see the lettering, I know exactly what it is.
Remember.
That’s all it says. But that one word is the only reminder I need to know what it’s about and where it came from.
Leaving Silverbell six years ago was twofold. I couldn’t stand to be here, seeing my dad and brother everywhere I turned. Memories made it impossible to escape the grief that had me in its grasp. But staying was dangerous for everyone I cared about, so I left.
I stayed away from anything to do with Silverbell Shore and Titan Industries, and anything associated with them. Until almost three years ago when I finally settled in a small town just outside Pocomoke City, Delaware and met Charlie.
Charlie worked at the diner in town during the day and then drove into Pocomoke City to work at the casino most evenings. She’s the one who got me the job as a croupier after I decided to join her at work one night and found I’m pretty good at cards, including counting them, although we kept that little detail to ourselves. We became good friends, and when I had to move out of the pokey little apartment I was renting, she offered me a room at hers.
After work and a few beers one night, Charlie told me about her mom who had worked for a development company, and before she even mentioned their name, I knew. I didn’t show an iota of recognition when she confirmed my suspicions, letting her continue with her story. She worked for them at an office in Pocomoke City for almost a year, and then one night she went out on a date and never came home.
Charlie didn’t know the guy her mom went out with that night, but the police later told her it was someone from the office, Calvin something. That was almost four years ago, and Charlie’s mom has not been seen or heard from since.
After she told me about her mom and without Charlie’s knowledge, I hired a private investigator, someone who could dig about without linking back to me, someone who could access information I couldn’t. I already knew the damage my big mouth could do and the trouble it could get me in. It’s the other reason I left Silverbell. People don’t take too kindly to being told that their town is corrupt or that someone was murdered. They like to live in their safe little bubble, so me shouting my mouth off about Titan Industries didn’t exactly go down well. There were threats, to me and my mom, and I couldn’t tell a sole because who would believe me when I was sabotaging the best thing to happen to Silverbell. But I did enough damage to their reputation in town to stop their development eventually, even though I’d left by then. As it turns out the town didn’t need them to do well. It’s a beautiful thriving tourist hot spot.
It was the PI that discovered the other couple of towns that Titan had redeveloped. I visited them, just drove through though not wanting to draw attention to myself. I’d been hoping that after six years it would be safe to return home, that people would have forgotten. This note is a blunt reminder for me to keep my mouth shut. It doesn’t matter though because I’m still poking around for evidence that they were involved in the death of my dad and brother, well not me literally. When I find it, which I will, you can be sure of that, I’m going to make sure everyone knows about them.
A noise in the kitchen breaks me out of my thoughts and I quickly shove the paper back in the envelope before picking up my empty cup and heading back inside to find Stu pouring coffee.
“Morning, Kennedy,” he says, spotting me.
“Morning.” My response is a little short, but he doesn’t comment.
“What do you have planned for the day?”
“Nothing much.”
“Look, I know how you must feel coming back here and finding out about your mom and me, but I was hoping we could get along. It’s not like we don’t know each other, I mean I’ve known you since you were born.”
I stare at him, brows raised. “Yeah, that’s kind of the problem though isn’t it.” He drops his head, taking a sip of his coffee. “We aren’t friends, Stu, and we aren’t likely to be. For the sake of my mom, I can be civil and play my part but past that, no. You stay out of my business, and I’ll pretend you aren’t sharing a bed with my mom.”
He’s about to reply when my mom enters the room, looking between the pair of us.
“Morning. Everything okay?”
Her question is met with two resounding yeses to which she shakes her head and continues toward the coffee machine. I look away when Stu bends down, kissing her on the lips. Once Stu finally puts her down, Mom makes herself a coffee then sits at the breakfast bar.
“Kenz, are you busy today?”
I eye her suspiciously, knowing that whatever she’s about to ask me isn’t going to be something I’m going to like.
“That depends. Why?”
“Well, I’m a staff member down at the coffee shop and—”
“I’m busy. I have some things I need to sort out before work this evening,” I say, cutting her off.
