Fugitive Heart - By Bonnie Dee Page 0,7
aren’t supposed to have long lives? Ours never went belly up. In fact, some of those carp still live in the pond out back of our old house. They’re tame. Seriously, they all swim over and say hi to anyone who comes near the edge of the pond. They just hang out in the shallow water, flapping their fins and pooching their mouths, waiting for you to toss them bread.”
He let her chatter wash over him, enjoying her sweet enthusiasm. Goldfish. Who got carried away by the topic of goldfish? Her version of life in Arnesdale sounded almost too idyllic, but she was obviously a sentimental type. Nothing like Elliot. She’d settled down after that first torrent of words, but she still talked easily.
With a little prompting, she told of long summer days spent splashing around in the pond and some creek, and short winter days sledding down hills or skating on the pond out back, the one with the sleeping goldfish down deep. He could practically taste the cocoa she described.
He eventually nudged her back on topic. “Sounds nice. I wonder why your brother left.”
“Life around here gets boring once you get to high school. A lot of people take off.”
“If someone like your brother left, where would he go when he came back? I mean, is it this place or your old house?”
She looked at him with those vibrant blue eyes, and he wondered if she wore contacts.
“What are you talking about?”
Okay, he wasn’t so great at this subtle thing. And anyway, what would he do if she said that Elliot was really into the old toolshed in the back garden of their family house? He wasn’t about to start shoveling up someone else’s floor. Skulking around Arnesdale trying to track the elusive Elliot’s elusive stash looked less appealing all the time. No doubt every citizen in Arnesdale owned field glasses and spied on each other just to pass the time.
He cleared his throat. “I was just wondering what parts of the town you consider, I dunno, your favorite places. You and other people in your family.”
“Here, I guess. Our family’s house is gone. The new owners knocked it down to build something more modern.”
He wondered if the new people visited the fish. “You sold your house?”
“I had to sell fast to pay some bills. Maybe that’s why I’m so attached to this place. It reminds me a lot of our old family home and better times.” She shook her head as if embarrassed she’d revealed so much. “Anyway, no need to look so sad. I have a great place now. A nice apartment in town.”
He did not look sad. Did he?
Back on track. “So this abandoned house that’s now my place”—he watched her carefully so saw her tiny wince—“would you consider it your family’s safe place?”
“Mine, maybe, once upon a time, I mean. It’s yours now—your safe haven.”
He got up and took another piece of chicken from the container. “Did your brother mind the fact that you had to sell your family’s house?”
“I’m not even sure he knows. He vanished, and when I tried to get him to come home after Dad got sick, his phone and e-mail didn’t work, and the addresses I tried didn’t work, and no one knew where he’d gone. He’d never told me about his job, so I couldn’t contact him there.”
“Damn. That must have been hard. He didn’t get back in time to see your father before he passed?” That word passed felt funny in his mouth. He did not shy away from words like “died” or “dead” or even “offed”.
“He hasn’t been back since Mom’s funeral. I’m still trying to track him down. Hey, last I heard he was in New York City. You’re from New York. Maybe you know him?”
He laughed. “Huh? There are something like eight million people in New York City. I doubt I know your brother.” Not really a lie, since he’d thought her brother was a friend, not an enemy. He didn’t know what the hell Elliot Jensen really was.
“The funny thing is, I hired a detective to try to find him.”
“Oh? What’s funny about that?”
“Wait for it, impatient one. The detective only tried for a couple of days, and, according to him, Elliot vanished. Apparently, some friend of Elliot’s got him into serious trouble. The detective thinks some really bad people were involved, but he was very vague about exactly what kind of trouble.”
“Wow.”
“And he’s gone. I’m not sure, but here’s the creepy thing,