the EASTER LANDSCAPING logo on the side pulled into my street.
"Oh, hell," I said as Nick pulled the van in front of Peach's house. He slammed the door, walked up onto Peach's porch, and banged on the door. Nick was short, stocky, and bald as a cue ball, but he was powerful and determined.
"Peach!" he yelled, then stepped back off the porch and looked up at her bedroom window, where her light was on. "Peach!"
The light shut off, and Nick waited for a bit, then when there was no sign of Peach, he shouted again.
"I know you're up there! Come out and talk to me!"
"Crap." I got up and walked out to the sidewalk. "She doesn't want to talk to you, Nick."
He turned and his eyes fixed on me. "Liv!" He rushed over to me, and only then could I see the frantic desperation in his eyes. "Liv, you have to help me. Go talk to her for me."
I eyed him coldly. "Why would I do that? You broke her heart, you big bald asshole."
"I know." He ran his hand over his head, and shook it, as if he didn't understand what was happening. "I know."
I couldn't help it; I felt myself softening toward him. On the one hand, Occam's razor. On the other hand, strange things had been happening lately, and Millie was at the center of it all. That bought Nick a little leeway. A little.
"What happened?" I said finally.
He looked at me, his eyes glazed. "I don't know. I've never thought of Millie that way. Never. It just happened, and it was like ... like I didn't have any control."
"Were you guys drinking anything?"
He shook his head, and lowered his eyes. "Just coffee. I don't know what happened. We stay late and do taxes once every quarter. I get Chinese food and we knock it out and it's always fine. It's always ... you know ... Millie."
"But there she was, all sexy in her red dress..." I said, but Nick shook his head again.
"I don't like the change," he said. "It's not Millie. I get that she wanted to change, and that's her business, really, but to be honest? I liked her better before."
"But you slept with her now," I said.
He leaned back against his van, obviously confused. "I don't know what the hell I was thinking." He swiped at his eyes, rubbing them briskly before going on. "I love Peach, Liv. She's the one. I never thought in a million years a woman like that would want a guy like me. Why would I do this to her, to myself? I've never cheated on a woman I've been dating, never. But the one woman I really wanted, the one woman I actually..."
He trailed off, his voice choked, his misery visible in his slumped shoulders and the tears that welled in his eyes.
Screw Occam's razor. Somehow, this was Cain's handiwork. I didn't know how, but it was, I was sure of it. I reached out and patted his arm. "I believe you, Nick."
He turned his head to look at me, a tiny smile, almost imperceptible through all that misery, on his lips. "Thanks."
"Oh, so you're going to try to sleep with Liv, now? Is that it?"
I looked up to Peach's porch, where she was standing watching us, her body tense with fury.
"Peach," I began, but she didn't hear me. Her eyes were focused on Nick as she barreled down on him, her arms flailing.
"I hate you!" she yelled. I stepped in between them and clasped my hands on her elbows, keeping her from swinging.
"Peach, calm down!"
"I just want to talk," Nick said. "That's all."
"Yeah, well I don't want to talk to you!" she hollered at him over my shoulder.
I angled my head toward Nick.
"Go home," I said. "I'll take care of her."
Nick hesitated for a minute, and was about to get back into his van when I heard a wild cracking sound, and felt Peach jerk in my arms.
Chapter 13
"Ow!" Peach said, and put her hand on the back of her head. "What the - ?"
My heart pounded as the first dose of panic flooded my bloodstream. I glanced around, and saw the smoke behind Peach. I pulled her behind me, pushing her toward my front door, and said, "Inside!"
I heard the distinct wood-creaking sound I remembered from the last time Peach got pelted, only this time it was louder, almost deafening. I looked toward Peach's house and saw a dark gray haze forming into wisps