Red Nights - Shari J. Ryan Page 0,63
Why are you being questioned?
Tanner: Meet me at the Starbucks on Thayer in an hour.
Me: Might want to make that two hours.
I redress myself and grab my purse off of the little table in the corner. I’m just about out of the room when I remember my cigarette. The one Hayes threw at me. I can’t find it, and I only have three left, and so…yeah. I throw the sheets around again until I see the thing pop up, and I grab it like it’s my lifeline.
* * *
The ride back to Providence feels way longer than the ride to the middle of nowhere felt. My head is filled with so many screwed up thoughts. What the hell is going on?
There’s no parking, so I’m forced to park in front of Aspen’s apartment. God knows what condition or shape she’s in right now. Regardless of what she’s done or hasn’t done, I pretty much destroyed that friendship yesterday. Apparently, I’m good at ruining things.
I jog across the street and down the block, checking the time to see that it’s been two and a half hours. Tanner is sitting at a table in the corner with two Venti coffees—one in front of him, and one in front of the empty chair across from him. He stands up as I near the table—his cheeks are flushed and his skin is glistening a bit. He reaches out for me, wrapping his arm around my neck and squeezing me tightly. “Where were you?”
“Don’t ask,” I say.
I pull myself out of his hold and drop down into the chair, letting my head fall into my hands. “You’re shaking,” he says, sitting back down in his seat.
“Yeah, I am. I have been since I left my parents’ house last night.” I lift my head, needing to hold his focus. Needing the truth. “Why did you say all of that stuff about Hayes last night? He told me he doesn’t know Mel, and that he didn’t know Blake.” Tanner nods, leaving me without an immediate answer. Instead, he lifts his coffee cup to his mouth and takes a long sip from it. “Answer me.”
He sets the cup down in front of him, wrapping his long fingers around it and tapping it gently. “I need you to be careful right now, okay?” What the hell is that supposed to mean? It’s not an answer.
“What the hell, Tanner? Tell me why you said all of that about Hayes last night.”
“He’s dangerous. That’s why,” he says.
“You don’t just get to say that without a detailed explanation.” I look down at my phone, clicking on the display for the time. “You have one minute to start talking or I’m leaving.”
“He’s the reason I was at the police department. Evidently, he’s an ex-detective of some sort and it seems that you’ve mentioned my name to him more than a few times.” Holy shit. “Aspen was in the waiting area when I left. What the hell do you think he’s doing, Felicity? Why else would he be searching for so many new suspects unless he was trying to take the focus off of himself? Did it cross your mind why he might be a former detective? And that maybe whatever reason he’s given you is bullshit? Someone fucked-up enough to start a house fire obviously has motives deeper than an average person would understand.” He leans over to me, lowering his voice to a whisper. “He’s a smart man, Felicity, but smart doesn’t always mean good.”
I’ve been so stupid. Ignorant. Dumb. I feel sick to my stomach. I fell for him, and it was probably part of his plan. “What about Aspen?” How do we just remove her from the equation, when she clearly had ties to Blake?
“I don’t know her all that well, but she’s a sweet girl. A little air-headed at times, sure, but I’d be hard-pressed to believe she’d hurt a fly. Plus, if she loved Blake like you said, she’d have to be pretty batshit crazy to set your house on fire the night they got caught, don’t you think? You definitely would have noticed something a little off over the past year.”
Actually, I probably wouldn’t have. I used to think I was a great judge of character, but I’m beginning to think I don’t know anyone around me at all. “Awesome,” I grunt.
“Have you considered talking to someone? A professional? You’re going through a traumatic time and trying to pretend like it’s not happening.” He must see the