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“Um…” Cody hesitated only a moment. “Demetrius Singleton. From high school.”
“Demetrius?” Devin frowned, then nodded, but his expression had shifted to something a little more guarded. “Oh yeah, I remember him. You hung out with him all the time. The gay one.”
“Yeah, um, that’s him.”
“Cool. Cool.”
An awkward silence dropped over them like a heavy tarp. Jugs stepped up and extended his hand. “I’m Darnell Perramon.”
“Oh, cool. Hey.” Devin shook Jugs’s hand then grinned at Cody, but it wasn’t quite as bright. “You’ve got employees and everything.”
“Well, employee.” Cody looked at Jugs. “Sykes was on the team with me back in high school.”
“I picked up on that,” Jugs said.
Cody turned back to Devin and slapped the back of his hand against Jugs’s chest. “Darnell played against us on Harriettville’s team.”
“Dude, no,” Devin said with mock seriousness. “You’re working with the enemy?”
Cody noticed Devin following his left hand and figured he’d seen his wedding band. Panic exploded inside his chest like a supernova that engulfed and consumed his organs and crackled its way up his spine to devour his brain and all rational thought. He felt himself moving without purpose or consideration, stepping through the door, taller than Devin by at least four inches, forcing him to take several steps back. He heard Jugs follow him in, and the only thing Cody’s panicked brain could think to do to distract Devin from asking about his marriage was clap his hands together, the sound like a gunshot in the small entryway, startling the man.
And damn if he didn’t feel like a guilty piece of shit for it.
“So, Sykes, give us the lowdown on this critter.”
Devin blinked and took another couple of steps back before that smile clicked back on. It looked natural, but something had Cody doubting it matched his actual mood or thoughts. He wondered what Devin did for work, then decided something in sales would have been a natural fit for him and that kind of creepy flick-of-a-switch smile.
With a nod and a quick, choked-sounding, “Sure,” Devin motioned for them to follow. He led the way through a living room overcrowded with furniture and a TV with a massive screen on which Cody would have loved to watch any sporting event. Just not with Devin.
“I’ve been working from home a lot,” Devin said over his shoulder. “I’m in sales with a medical supply company.”
Cody mentally congratulated himself.
“My office is in the back corner of the house,” Devin continued. “I started hearing sounds in the walls last week. My wife got so creeped out, she won’t even come into the room. She found your number on a flyer or something at the Farmer’s Market.” He stopped outside a closed door at the end of the hall. “Hey, you dated Lucia Durant back in high school, didn’t you?”
Cody’s brain took a moment to catch up to the abrupt change in topic. When it did, his stomach tightened, and he realized he’d clenched both fists. Behind him, he heard Jugs snort a quiet laugh, the bastard.
“We dated for a minute back then, yeah.”
“Did you know she’s a cop now?”
“Yep, I’ve seen her around,” Cody said, fighting back a grimace. Lucia was a sheriff’s deputy who liked to blame him and Demmy for most of the bad shit that happened in town. She had been a pain in his ass back in high school, and she still was. He gestured to the door in an effort to redirect the topic. “This is the room where you’re hearing the sounds?”
“Right, yeah. Like I said, it doesn’t happen all the time, so you might need some kind of stethoscope or something.”
“That’s a good idea,” Jugs said. “You should get one of those.”
“So you could self-diagnose a heart condition?” Cody said, shooting Jugs a look over his shoulder. “No, thanks.”
“Bonker’s a little crabby today,” Jugs said.
Devin laughed. “Bonker? I never heard that one before.”
“And you’re never going to hear it again.” After giving Jugs a ferocious look, during which he simply stared back with lifted eyebrows, Cody reached past Devin and opened the door.
The room was set up as an office. Dark wood bookshelves were crowded with memorabilia. Photos of Devin when he was younger and involved in sports took up a majority of the available wall space. There were pictures of him in high school, dressed in his football uniform and posing with a variety of cheerleaders and teammates. Cody saw himself in a couple, but only in group photos. He and Devin had never really clicked as friends. There were also a number of photos of Devin in a Speedo, either preparing for or executing a dive, and Cody recalled that Devin had split his time between football and diving.
“Claudia, that’s my wife, calls this room Glory Days, like the Springsteen song?” Devin had come in behind Cody and stood beside him. “I noticed you’re wearing a ring, too.”
