"Your dad sounds...” Chris' voice trailed off. "I have no idea how you turned out so normal."
"Neither do I, but then I wonder if I am all that normal. Maybe I'm as fucked up as they are, but I don't know it."
"You aren't fucked up. You're a pain in the ass, but you're not a liar and a cheat."
"My younger brother Randy turned out pretty normal too. I try and stay in touch with him, and my sisters aren't too bad. At least one of them is fairly normal. The other has a temper and frankly, I don't like to be around her when she yells."
Knox didn't like it when anyone raised their voice, to be truthful. After watching his mother and father fight for years, he didn't like angry confrontation, yelling, or fighting of any type. He liked to keep the peace if at all possible.
Chris leaned forward in his chair. "Was it bad? Did you and Jenna have it out? Did she cry? Damn, it rips my heart out when Ella cries."
"It wasn't bad. I stated that I was angry and disappointed, and I told her that our relationship was over. She did cry though."
Knox could still see Jenna's tearstained face in his mind. It was going to be awhile before he could forget it.
"I hope you weren't too hard on her. She must have been so fucking desperate to do something like that. I can't even imagine what she and her sister have been going through, not knowing what happened to their own sibling and the police not really doing anything about it. It had to have made her crazy."
"Are you making excuses for her? Because what she did was some serial killer shit."
Chris threw back his head and laugh, causing a few heads nearby to whip around to see what was so funny. Apparently, it was Knox.
"Are you seriously equating what Jenna did with someone like Wade Bryson? Because I don't think I can listen to anything you have to say if that's what you're trying to do. Listen, I know you're upset about her searching for you and then not telling you who she was, but you've already admitted to me that you now realize she was trying to talk to you but you kept derailing the conversation. You have a part in this too."
Knox didn't want to hear that any of this shit was his fault.
"This is all on her," he argued. "She should have found a way to tell me who she was."
"How should she have done that?" Chris asked, his expression somber. "This is a serious question. You've told me that you recognize that several times she's started to tell you and being the playboy, man about town, baby, don't get hooked on me kind of guy that you are you made sure that she couldn't keep talking. All because you thought she was going to ask you some bullshit question like where is this relationship going or are you seeing anyone else? And you were such a pussy about that you wouldn't let her talk. So tell me how she's a serial killer again because I'm not seeing it. What I'm seeing is a woman so fucking desperate she was willing to ruin her blouse with beer and talk to you in a bar. That's it. All of us really liked Jenna. She seems like a good person."
Knox didn't want to talk about what Jenna might or might not be.
"Lots of women would happily talk to me in a bar."
Chris's grin spread across his face. "That's what this is about, isn't it? You're all butthurt because you realize that she wasn't dating you because she was all starry eyed and admiring your male physique. She bumped into you because she needed your help. Shit, this is about your bruised ego. Full stop."
"That's not it," Knox denied with a shake of his head. "That's not it at all. I just don't want to date someone like Jenna. That's all."
"Fine, you don't have to date her." Chris paused but Knox could tell that his friend wasn't done talking. "But can you honestly tell me that you're not the least bit curious? Come on, we live for cases like this, and now one's been thrown right in your lap. You don't even want to look into it? Just a few hours of research? You're a stronger man than I am. Maybe I'll look into it then. I definitely have questions that I'd like answered even if you don't."
"Knock yourself out. I don't want to get Jenna's hopes up by doing any sort of research for this. Don't you think that would hurt her even more?" Knox pressed. "It would be cruel to make her think I was going to help when that's not my intention at all."
"That's true," Chris conceded. "Although I would argue that you don't know whether you would proceed with the investigation. You just think that now. After some research, you might change your mind."
"I'm not going to change my mind."
"Fine."
"Good. Because I'm not going to."
"I didn't say shit. It's fine."
"I know it is so stop busting my balls about it."
"I'm not doing anything," Chris laughed. "You're doing it to yourself."
The waitress arriving with their lunch gave Knox a reprieve from replying. They both dug into their food and the conversation drifted toward more innocuous
