Without a word, we each downed the rich amber liquid and slammed the glass to the desktop. Baker’s green eyes met mine.
“It was bad, brother,” he croaked out.
He proceeded to tell us she was found in Fort Defiance Park by some hikers. She appeared to have been raped, assaulted, and asphyxiated. Preliminary autopsy would be done in the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office down in Ankeny to confirm. The evidence had all been collected and sent to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations for examination.
“Jesus,” Vinny said as he leaned against the wall. My gaze locked on Hacker’s, and he gave a slight raise of his chin.
“I’m out, unless you still need me,” he said. I motioned that he was free to go. Vinny glanced at Hacker as he exited the office. We both knew he’d be going straight to his computers to start creeping into their database.
“How the hell is this shit happening here?” Baker asked, looking sick to his stomach.
“I have no idea, but I’m going to do my best to find out,” I promised. He nodded, then took a deep breath.
“I’m out, too,” he finally said. “And as always, you didn’t hear any of that from me. They won’t be publicly announcing it yet.”
“Bro, I got you.” We had a longstanding and good working relationship with the sheriff’s department. They appreciated the shit we did to keep the county safe and tended to look the other way if our methods got a little on the wrong side of the law. As long as innocent people didn’t get hurt, that was.
The local cops, however, were an entirely different story. They had a hard-on for us a mile long. If they could fuck us, they were gonna do it.
Baker left, and I went to Hacker.
“Find anything?”
He looked haggard and drawn as his eyes lifted from the screen.
“According to the preliminary reports the sheriff’s department filed, none of her belongings were with her.”
“With her being found outside of town in an area that was searched, she couldn’t have been far from the area while she was missing. We need to figure out where she was.”
“And fast.”
On my way home, I stopped by Hailey’s place, but it was dark, and she wasn’t home. I’d been hoping to let off some steam with her, so it left me feeling disgruntled that she wasn’t there.
I didn’t like that feeling. It shouldn’t drive me crazy that she wasn’t home and I didn’t know where she was. I shouldn’t need her to the level of desperation.
A handful of times in her pussy and I was an addict—her, my drug of choice.
The next night, I texted her to see if she wanted to hook up. When she told me it wasn’t a good night, I started to tell her I could be there for her. Hell, I’d started to offer to pick her up some of the ice cream she had said was her favorite.
Instead, I erased every word that made me sound like a pussy-whipped idiot and replied with “fine.” Then I proceeded to stop into Fareway and grab a pint of that disgustingly sweet shit anyway.
Except when I arrived at her house, there wasn’t a light on in the place, all the blinds were drawn, and I didn’t see her car. Granted, it could’ve been in the garage, but the house gave off the vibe of being silent and empty.
“Fuck it,” I said and headed home.
Entering the kitchen through my garage, I tossed my keys on the counter and dropped the melting ice cream in the trash.
Walking past the framed picture of me and my brother, I paused. It had been taken when I was in high school, right before graduation. With a heavy sigh, I went to take a hot shower. All night, I wondered who Hailey had been with the last two nights.
We’d said no one else.
Maybe that meant she was done with me.
Hailey
“The Long Defeat”—Thrice
I’d gone straight home, pulled all the drapes, kicked off my shoes, dropped my clothes to the floor, and climbed in bed. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t fall asleep. It was all I wanted.
“God, if you make my head quit pounding, I’ll never drink cheap wine again,” I muttered from under my pillow.
Finally unable to stand it anymore, I got up and took one of my sleeping pills I had in case of emergency for insomnia. I hated them because the dreams were horrendously vivid and the occasional sleepwalking wasn’t great either. Once, I’d gotten up and started cooking macaroni and cheese.
Seriously, I’d woken up the next day to find the orange cheese powder all over my hands, pajamas, and bedding. The mess from my attempt was scattered on the stove and floor. I didn’t remember doing any of it. That was the last time I’d taken one, but I was desperate to sleep and get this headache to stop.
Downing a full bottle of water, I shuffled back to bed.
Darkness had descended and I was starting to feel sleepy when I thought I heard a motorcycle draw near. It seemed to idle outside my house, but then took off. Disappointment spread through my chest, because it would’ve been nice to have Luke hold me like he had the other night.
My eyes grew heavy, and I was out.
The next morning, I was a new woman. There were no signs that I’d gotten up and done anything weird, and I didn’t remember dreaming anything crazy. Thank the good Lord above.
Dressed in a sleeveless gray dress, I topped it with a summer-weight sweater, swiped a layer of gloss on my lips, a little mascara on my lashes, and called it good.
Luke could kiss my ass since he didn’t seem to have time for me, I drove to work bright and early. Alba wasn’t in yet, so I dropped the mail on her counter and headed back to my office.
With a sigh, I dumped
