“What? Are you kidding?” Hedoesn’t say anything. “Tell me you’re kidding.”
“No.”
“You tried to kill yourself,didn’t you?”
“No. I was trying to end thenoise in my head.”
“Denny, I can’t believe you didsomething so stupid.” I take a deep breath, my voice shaking as Iexhale.
“Sis, I don’t want or need alecture right now, okay?”
He’s right. Whatever he’s beenthrough lately, has probably been far more of a reality check thananything that I could ever say. “What are you going to do now?” Iask.
“Go home, I guess. The lawyerfinally called. He said that he’ll meet me this afternoon at thehouse.”
That reminds me. “Denny.” Ifight to keep my voice calm. “What exactly did you tell the copsabout Annie and the night Robbie went missing?”
The phone is quiet for a fewseconds. “I told them that Annie was at the cottage, and so wereRobbie and I. They asked if she was drinking and doing drugs. Itold them that I didn’t see her do anything, even though I knowthat both her and Robbie were pretty hammered.”
“Annie doesn’t do drugs, Denny.Pot, sometimes, but she’s not into heavy street drugs oranything.”
“I’m just telling you what Iremember.”
I won’t argue with him rightnow. The main thing is that he didn’t tell the cops that Annie wasstoned, which is a fucking relief.
“Why did you ask?” Dennyasks.
“There’s just been somedetective asking questions and snooping around.”
“Dickson?”
“That’s the guy.”
“Watch him, Jade He’s probablygoing to try and manipulate you into saying all sorts of shit.”
“He doesn’t seem that bad. He’sgot a job to do.”
“Wake up, Jade. The guy justwants a conviction. He doesn’t give two shits if the person he nabsis guilty or innocent. As long as he can create a motive, hewins.”
“Denny, that’s a paranoid way ofthinking.”
“Whatever, Jade. It’s not yourhead on the chopping block.”
* * *
It’s a typical fall day at work.The ground is wet and slippery, and dead leaves add an unwantedobstacle. At lunch, I invite Tim to the wedding with onestipulation—he can’t be drunk. He seems happy, which is good—thingshave been a bit awkward between us.
Later, when I pull into ouryard, Stinky comes bounding towards the truck. Filthy dirty withhis ass on springs, he jumps all over me the minute my feet hit theground. I hope his good mood means Annie is in a good mood too.
As soon as I open the frontdoor, a savory waft of something cooking hits me. LP is playingsoftly on the stereo and candles are burning on the coffee table.The effort Annie has put in can only signify one thing, she hasnews.
I put my bag down, shut the doorand walk to the bedroom where Annie is folding laundry. She looksup at me with a dazzling smile. “How was your day?”
“Same ol’, same ol’.” I wave myhand. “The place looks and smells great. Did I forget a specialoccasion?”
She laughs. “Nope. I just havesomething to talk to you about after dinner that I hope will makeyou happy.”
During my shower, I hear Stinkybark. Annie often riles him up when she plays with him in theliving room. After I dry off, I walk into the bedroom and seeStinky lying on the bed, on top of our clean clothes. The bedroomdoor is closed. What the hell?
I quickly pull on a t-shirt anda pair of pants and open the bedroom door. The music has stoppedand the candles are blown out. An uneasy feeling comes over me. Thekitchen door is closed. “Annie? Are you here?”
I hear rustling coming from thekitchen. Just as I put my arm up to swing the door open, it pushesagainst me. “Jade. Don’t worry. Just leave me deal with this.”
I push hard, and the door opens.I look past Annie and there, sitting at the kitchen table, isDetective Dickson. He sees me and smiles.
“He came to talk to me, Jade.”Annie’s eyes are fearful, but her voice is steady. “It’s best thatwe get this over with now so we can get on with our lives.”
In a low tone, I lean in closer,“Annie. You don’t need to talk to this guy alone. Maybe we shouldtalk to a lawyer first.”
“Why would we need a lawyer? Iknow what I’m doing, okay? I’m only going to tell him what I wantto.”
This is a bad idea. I can feelit in my bones.
I move to pass her, but shestops me. “He needs to speak to me alone. I won’t be long, just gointo the bedroom with Stinky, okay?”
As soon as the door closes, Iwalk towards the bedroom and close the door there. Then I turn andwalk with quiet steps until I reach the kitchen door. I hear thesqueak of a chair as Annie sits down. Papers are rustled as Dicksonclears his throat. “So, do you like living on Gabriola?” he asksher.
Oh good, he’s trying to befriendher and make her comfortable before he pounces on her with damningquestions. Now I understand why he asked me about fishingbefore.
After having idle chit chat fora few minutes, Dickson asks Annie if she knew Robbie. To my horror,she says, “Yes.”
Dickson then asks her if she sawRobbie the night he went missing.
Again, she says, “Yes.”
A shudder runs through me as Ipicture Annie in handcuffs. Then I realise that I’d be there too,arrested for lying. Why didn’t I tell her about everythingearlier?
“Can you tell me about it?” asksDickson, his voice calm.
Oh shit, Annie. I want to burstinto the kitchen and create a distraction so Annie can’t sayanything else.
“Okay, here’s what I canremember,” Annie says, seemingly calm. “Denny and Robbie showed uphere very late. Jade had missed the last ferry over, so I wasalone. Denny has a history of having erratic and sometimes violentbehavior, but on that night, he seemed fine. His friend Robbie waswith him. Robbie had been here before with Denny. Anyways, Dennysaid that if I had a quick beer with them, they would leave—”
“Did they say why they came by?”interrupts Dickson.
“Yes, sorry. I forgot that part.Denny said he had something for Jade to sign, probably something todo with their father dying.”
“Okay, continue,” says thedetective.
“I remember drinking about aquarter of my beer, then everything gets fuzzy.”
“Do you mean that
