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“What happened?”
“I’m a hiker, and we used to live up there. Still would if it was up to me. I know the area really well. I was hiking along a lesser known path toward the cliff point where he’d been and when I heard them, something told me to stop. Being a hiker on your own, you listen to your instincts, you know?”
“Mhm, go on.”
“He wasn’t alone like they said in the news. There were two other men there. Came out of nowhere when that guy was looking out over the view. Just taking it in. He saw them and he was scared. He dropped his phone, he was so startled, and was looking around like he might bolt.”
“You saw this?”
“Yeah.” He bites on the edge of his thumbnail, looking off into the distance but I can see the fear in his eyes.
“What happened next?”
“It went really fast. One of them said something. The other one laughed, and I thought they knew each other but…” He shakes his head. “They grabbed him and the poor guy barely had a chance to scream before they threw him over.” He stands, pushes his hands into his hair, and paces the room before returning. He doesn’t sit down and is bouncing with anxiety.
“Go on, Mitch.”
“I waited. I was in a wooded area, so they didn’t see me and… They threw his phone over next after smashing it under their boots.” He draws a shaky breath in. “I didn’t know what to do. I was fifteen. And I was fucking scared. I walked to the edge to see if I could see him or hear him. It was full dark though, and I didn’t want to stick around. There was no sound anyway. There’s no way someone could have survived a fall there, I knew that much. I came back home later when I was sure no one would see me. Mom was beside herself. Cops were here. That’s when I told them what I’d seen. The next day some other men came back and told me they were friends of Mr. Hayes too and that I couldn’t talk to anyone. But I’m pretty sure they weren’t his friends. Then a few months after that, the same men came to make sure I hadn’t told anyone anything.” He looks me over. “They were dressed like you. That’s who Mom meant. They made some comments about fires in the area and houses going up in smoke, and they were just fucking thugs, you know?”
“Is that why you moved?”
He glances again at where his mom disappeared to and nods. “Mom and Dad got divorced so I moved here with my mom. They sold the house. Dad’s in Utah.”
“And you changed your name to your mother’s maiden name?”
He nods. “I thought maybe… if those guys tried to find me it wouldn’t be as easy.”
“Would you recognize any of those men who came by? Or who pushed Hayes? Can you describe any of them?”
He shakes his head. “All I know is if I came across them on a dark street I’d cross to the other side. That’s the kind of people they were.”
“All right. Here.” I hand him a card with my number on it, just that, no name. “If anyone else comes by to see you, you call me.”
“You think they’ll come back?”
“I don’t think so. I was just curious.” I look around, take my wallet out and leave several hundred-dollar bills on the coffee table. “Thanks, Mitch. I’ll see myself out.”
“They murdered him,” he says when I reach the door. “I was too scared to go back to the cops, but they killed that man. And they laughed afterwards like it was funny, one of them whistling and then goingsplatlike it was a fucking cartoon.”
I look back at the kid, see how haunted his eyes look, and I see the countless kids who witnessed similar things over the five years I was the Commander’s enforcer.
“Call me if you need anything, okay? Anything at all.”
He nods.
I walk out.
30
MADELENA
Santos and I have an appointment in the morning with a gynecologist out of town. After what happened with Fairweather, he’s not taking any chances. We drive together along with two soldiers and Val to the office of Dr. Amelia Moore.
I like Dr. Moore right away. She seems warm and is younger than both Fairweather and Cummings. The fact that she’s a woman helps too.
Santos does most of the talking. I’m still processing everything to be honest. He wants to find out how far along I am and how much time I have to decide on what path we’re taking. He means termination, although neither of us are saying the word.
After getting those details out of the way, Dr. Moore examines me, explains she’ll be doing a transvaginal ultrasound because the baby is likely too small to see otherwise.
