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“Of course, Cassidy. Of course.”
They stood up at the same time and stepped around the table to hug. It was awkward at first, but turned into something more natural, more familiar.
“I miss you,” she said into his shoulder.
“I know,” he answered against her ear.
They separated and he held her at arm’s length, running his eyes over her, a slight smile on his lips. “This is so unbelievable,” he said, speaking more to himself than to Cassie.
He let her go, but the conversation wasn’t over. “What’s the future like?” he asked, a smile tugging the corner of his mouth.
She shrugged, unsure how to answer. “It’s not so different from now,” she said. “Just... you’re not there.”
His smile faltered.
“I’m sorry,” she said, hating that she might have hurt him. “I should go,” she added, although she didn’t want to.
“I need to go as well,” he said, suddenly distracted. He glanced at the table and picked up his phone and the Stephen King book. He pulled out some bills and left them by the remains of his burger and then held her gaze for a moment longer. “Be happy, Cassidy, please, for me?”
He held her shoulder briefly and she nodded.
“Maybe I’ll see you again someday,” he said. Then he walked away, through the door and into the rain.
Cassie walked to the window and watched as he hurried through the pouring rain and clambered into his truck. He sat there for a few moments, just staring straight ahead, not moving. He looked like a man in shock. Then he shook his head once, started the engine, and reversed out of the parking spot. He turned the wheel and pulled out onto the road, his taillights bright sparks of red disappearing into the gray.
Once he was gone, Cassie’s emotions washed over her. She yanked open the door and ran out into the day. She stood in the parking lot, letting the rain pour down upon her, soaking her hair to her scalp, running down her back. When she looked up the sky was low and dark gray, a serious, heavy kind of sky.
“What are you doing?” Drummond demanded, emerging from the diner and narrowing his eyes to peer through the rain. “It’s pouring down.”
She ignored him. She walked across the parking lot toward the tree line without any idea where she was going or why, but she stopped before she got far. She dropped to her knees, splashing puddle water up over her jeans. She screamed and yelled into the gray day, distraught and destroyed at the loss of her grandfather again and needing to let it all out. The rain continued to beat down on her, like the world was crying with her.
What Izzy Forgot
Izzy watched from the couch as the man walked to the window and peered out at the street below. She glanced briefly to the door and the hall beyond.
“You won’t make it,” the man said, without looking at her.
She hadn’t been thinking about running. She had been looking to see what had happened to the two detectives.
“Did you kill them?” she asked, astonished at how calm the words sounded when they came from her mouth.
“Yes,” the man said, facing her. “I shot them both in the brain.”
His answer made Izzy’s mind stumble momentarily. It was an answer that was simply too massive to come to terms with.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“My name is Dr. Hugo Barbary,” he said. “We met last night.”
Izzy had no memory of the previous evening or of meeting this man. “What sort of doctor are you?” she asked, not because she was interested, but because she was trying to keep him talking.
“Oh, I am not a real doctor,” he said. “I mean, I did go to medical school. But it was so boring that I didn’t finish. I just call myself ‘doctor.’ But I was always interested in what makes people what they are. I always thought it was maybe hidden away among all the red wet stuff inside us.” He patted his stomach.
He had an accent, Izzy realized, an unusual accent. He spoke English like a native, but his vowels were wrong.
“Is this about Cassie?” Izzy asked.
The man raised his head slightly, as if curious about why Izzy had asked that question.
