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As I drove into town, the memories forced their way back into my mind. I saw the park where we used to go to—the grass was dead as usual—and the place where he’d tried to pickpocket some strangers and nearly gotten caught by a wandering cop. The graffiti on the wall was unchanged too. Everything was still there, exactly the way I had left it.
But then again, towns like this never really change. And neither did the people. If Toby was alive, someone around here had to have seen him or something.
I knew there was a good chance Toby was the one sending me the messages. Maybe he’d become vengeful and angry at the fact that I wasn’t there for him, which was fair. But it could also be that someone was holding him hostage and forcing him to torment me. That was the scenario I couldn’t stand.
Or possibly the entire thing was fake, and some bastard was just messing with me. But either way, I needed to know the truth, or I would drive myself crazy.
I didn’t see them lower him into the ground. I only heard the news that he’d been killed, but I never saw the body. It was too burned up for me to recognize, the autopsy said.So if he was alive…emotion sliced through me sharply. If there was even a chance he was alive, then I needed to see him.
I turned off the highway, heading to my first stop. The Horn was a gas station that doubled as a bar at the back, and it was the inspiration for my new business venture. Just about everyone in town passed by here once in a while. If Toby were in this town, someone there would have seen him.
I walked into the dive bar, noting the rotting wood and the familiar stench of alcohol and desperation. It wasn’t packed, but the few stragglers who were there glanced bleary-eyed at me. Most of them pretended not to look, but I knew from experience that they were sizing me up, trying to see if I were prey or predator.
I made sure they concluded that I was the latter. It was the only way they would leave me alone despite my fancy leather jacket.
I strode up to the bar, where a balding man in a dirty shirt cocked his head at me.
“You look familiar,” he commented. But I ignored the statement, slapping a picture of Toby on the bar in front of him.
“Have you seen this kid?” I asked.
He raised an eyebrow. “What’s it to you?”
I took out my wallet, pulled a few hundred dollar bills, and tossed it onto the counter. His eyes widened slightly before he picked up the picture and inspected it more closely.
“Can’t say that I have,” the man finally said. “He looks like a kid I used to know, but I think that kid died a while ago.” The words sliced through my chest again. The man looked up at me, and this time, his eyes peered at me closely.
I knew the exact moment recognition hit him because his eyeballs bulged as his eyes flared open again like a lightbulb went off in his head.
“Wait a second, you’re—”
“Hi, Chief,” I said and gave a little smile to the man whose radiator I’d once helped Toby steal. “How’s it going?”
“My boy!” He immediately danced his way from behind the counter and came up to me, throwing his hands around my waist and slapping my back affectionately. The man only came up to about my mid-chest, and he smelled like oven grease, but I still patted his back awkwardly as he pulled away.
“Get off me, Chief. You stink like a goat’s ass,” I teased, scrunching my nose up.
“You would know, you little fucker.” He laughed and patted me again. “What the fuck are you doing back in town? Don’t tell me you’re actually coming back because of that Viper guy’s rematch because I gotta tell you, that’s the dumbest thing you could ever do.”
“No, I’m not in town for that,” I said. The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. “I came to ask if anyone has seen Toby.”
“Toby, your little thieving friend?”
“Yeah.”
“Someone told me he died years ago,” he said, frowning while I ignored the punch in the gut again.
“Might have,” I said. “But then again, he might not have.”
Chief frowned. “Sounds like there’s a story somewhere in there.”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
“Hmm.” He looked deep in thought before he finally shook his head. “I gotta tell you that I don’t really know. I haven’t heard anything about him, but then again, I haven’t been looking.”
“Could you do me a favor and keep your ears on the ground? See if you hear anything about it.” I dug into my wallet and then passed him a business card that had my number on it. I used them when I started my first business, but I barely used them anymore.
“Sure thing,” he said as he studied the card. “Fancy business card. I’m impressed. I didn’t think you’d do anything but jail time.”
