“Stokes!” I holler down the hallway, my voice echoing into garbled sounds. “Jamie!”
They must have heard me. I back up, reaching for the door with my shaking hand, ready to bolt outside.
“You are scared.” He smiles a bit more and shakes his head. “Don’t be afraid of me, sweetie. I’m a fan.”
He knows what happened to my dad. He knows he’s scaring me and he’s enjoying it.
Stokes steps out from the lit green room, way behind Howard, and turns down the hallway.
“Stokes,” I shout.
He marches toward us and stops at Howard. “Hey man, Happy Halloween,” he says, slapping him on the back. “You know you can’t be back here.”
“I was just having a little private chat with Lynda.” Howard continues to smile, turning from Stokes to me, waving his butcher knife around in his hand by his side. “Wasn’t she lovely tonight? A dream.”
My stomach churns and I can’t breathe, listening to his voice, heat rises through my chest, as he puts on a show for Stokes. Stokes hasn’t seen who Howard really is.
“Come on, man.” Stokes turns him around by his shoulder and walks him back toward the door with security.
Once he opens the door and Howard walks out, I hurry down the hall toward him and clutch his jacket. “I want to go home now.”
“I’m sorry about Howard.” He follows me into the green room, and I grab my bag. “He’s harmless, really.”
“Is he?” I ask, turning back to him, and the rest of the group watches. “Is a weird older man who corners young women in dark hallways, commenting on their very personal and painful family history and smiling, getting a kick out of it, is that harmless?” Tears fill my eyes and Lucie steps beside me.
“No,” she says. “He’s a creep and he needs to be put in his place, which is at the closest out there.” She points to the main part of the bar. “Which is a damn shame, because they shouldn’t let him in at all after that.”
“I’m calling, guys,” Jamie says, the phone pressed to his ear. “I was supposed to be taking care of Pascha. I have to tell them what I know. You don’t have to be part of it.”
Mika reaches for Lucie’s hand, but she steps away, shaking her head. “This is so messed up.”
“I’m bringing Lyn home,” Stokes says.
Jamie pulls his mouth away from the phone. “I’ll be in touch, okay? Keep me in the loop.”
Stokes nods as we walk out of the room and turn right, up the ramp.
“I’m sorry about before,” he says, leading the way. “I never should have excused Howard. I feel like shit for it. I’m sorry, Lyn.”
I don’t speak, but I appreciate his apology, and he doesn’t turn back expecting anything from me. I just want to get home and cuddle with Stevie until my mom is back.
I follow him out into the cold night air of the parking lot. Drunk people scream and laugh, chasing each other in costumes around us until we reach the car. Stokes opens the door for me and as I duck in, someone shouts my name. I hesitate as Taylor strides up to us, but ultimately stand, remaining on the other side of the door with Stokes between us.
“Lyn, what was all that about?” His breath creates a faint cloud in front of his lips.
“You’re Pascha’s dealer,” Stokes says.
Taylor shoots him a dirty look, and as Stokes scans the parking lot, Taylor turns to me. “Lyn, I had nothing to do with this. I didn’t want you to find out I was just this low-life dealer, okay? That’s why I’ve been kinda distant. I’m no good for you. As happy as I was to see you, nothing can really happen with us, and it has nothing to do with Pascha. We were never together.”
“We should go,” Stokes says, “and you should wait by your phone for a call from the police.” He grabs the door and nods his head for me to get in.
“Listen, I don’t know what to believe.” I tuck my hair behind my ear, gripping the top of the car door. “But you should listen to Stokes.”
He shakes his head. “I just want you to believe me when I tell you…”
“Tell me what?”
He shakes his head and runs his fingers through his hair.
“Let’s go.” Stokes turns to him and gestures for him to get out of the way.
Taylor takes a step back and Stokes passes him, rounding the hood to the driver’s side.
“Tell me what?” I ask.
Taylor shakes his head and turns away, a little like he did that summer before I started college, the last time I saw him before he ghosted me.
Last time, I called his name, but he kept walking to his car, and that’s where he’s going now. But this time, I don’t bother to give a second glance or thought. I get in the car and shut my door.
Stokes turns the key in the ignition. “If Cline finds him, I hope Roy has the sense to stop a fight before it happens.” He pulls out of the lot and onto one of the main streets of Auburn Hills. “What’s the deal with you two? You and Taylor. How’d you get tangled up with him?”
I look at my reflection in the window. This time, there was nothing left between Taylor and me. Nothing to get tangled up in after his sheets the first night. I wished things were different with him for so long. But after he left me that night with the police instead of staying for support,
