Everything You Need (23 page)

Chapter 24

A beam of light played in the spaces between Ashton’s eyelashes and oozed under his eyelids. With some effort he opened his sticky eyes.

A blurry whiteness greeted him.

His body was heavy and sore. Had he been in a fight yesterday? And then gone drinking? He blinked a few times, trying to get rid of the blurriness that made him feel as if he were trapped inside translucent glass. He shifted his head.

Pain pierced his head and wedged itself there before bouncing around inside his skull like sizzling lighting.

He groaned. What had he been drinking yesterday? Some of the undiluted whiskey Camden bought under the table at the local farmers market for his home-made liqueurs? What had he even been doing yesterday? He furrowed his eyebrows as he searched his mind for answers, but in the fogginess of it, all he found was pain.

The sound of the door opening.

His hand went to his face to rub his eyes, but a sharp edge of cold metal cut into his wrist, stopping it.

The mattress dipped and the outline of a person filled his sight.

He tried to sharpen his vision to distinguish who it was, but all he got was a smudged oval framed by a fuzz of brown. A brunette. “Mary?” he croaked out.

Clammy fingers caressed his forehead. “How do you feel?”

Yes, that was Mary’s voice. “Bad.” As if he had just been through a grinder. “Thirsty.”

“Here.” She cupped his neck and lifted it while she pressed the edge of a glass against his lips.

Lukewarm liquid with a bitter after-taste filled his mouth and he drank it eagerly. It felt good and familiar as it slid down his throat. He browsed his head for what it was. The same kind of tea he had drunk before? Drunk where?

The glass was removed and his head lowered, while the mattress dipped again and a warm body pressed itself against his side.

He yawned and his eyes fluttered closed. He was so tried and he welcomed the soothing darkness that descended over him.

When he woke again, his eyelids were less sticky, but the fogginess was heavier and thicker, and he drifted inside it, lost and disoriented. He was falling out of sleep into a hazy reality, and from that into strange dreams that felt more real than the blurriness that awaited him every time he forced his eyes to open. He didn’t notice much of what was happening around him, his world narrowed to the bed he was lying on and a few clear seconds when his mind felt as if it was working again, before he was pulled back into the foggy nothingness. There were fragments of clarity; he was aware of a spoon lifted to his mouth, aware of a moist sponge against his body, aware of a hard, sharp edge cutting into his wrists and ankles, and aware of the warm body pressed against his side or half-lying on his chest, making it hard to breathe. Sometimes there were fingers trailing over his body or a wet touch on his groin and a soft slurping sound before he heard a frustrated groan, “Why don’t you get hard?” But was it real? Or was it just a dream?

Chapter 25

“Where is he?” A crease dug into Kris’s forehead as she stood by the end of the alley, half hidden behind the wall, where she observed the people going in and out of The Delight.

The door opened and she could distinguish Rose’s red hair as the girl raised herself onto her toes and for a moment veiled Kalen’s tall build; she was kissing him, before they broke apart and Kalen stepped into the street.

Go left. Go left,
Kris chanted quietly while she wrapped her arms around her middle. It was quite chilly and she should have put on a sweater.

Kalen glanced at the window. He lifted his hand in a wave then pushed it into the pocket of his leather jacket and turned toward her.

Yes!
She waited hidden in the shadows of the building until Kalen was a small distance away, then stepped forward. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Kalen stopped.

She didn’t have time for small talk, so she came right to the point. “Did Camden tell you about Mary?”

“That you saw them together outside The Delight?”

“Yes.”

“He mentioned it,” Kalen said.

“And?”

His eyebrows lifted.

“Have you questioned Mary?”

“I talked with her again and subtly enquired about where she was on Friday. She said she was at her parents’ house.”

“You believed her?”

“I can’t say that I suspect she has something to do with Ash’s disappearance and that I want her to prove her whereabouts.”

“Why not?”

“Southern -- the man I hired to find Ash -- is working on verifying her statement.”

“And what will you do when it turns out that she was lying? Because she’s lying, I saw her quite clearly.”

“Could you be mistaken about the day?”

“No.”

He sighed. “I know for certain that he isn’t at her place. I went to her apartment myself and had a little chat with her flat-mate, who told me that Mary wasn’t at home on Friday. That’s why I’m inclined to believe that she might be telling the truth.”

“Are you saying that I’m the one lying?” Kris asked in a soft voice.

“I didn’t say that.” He frowned, looking uncomfortable. “It’s only that things don’t add up and we have to find out why.”

“Because she’s lying.”

He sighed and from the inner pocket of his jacket pulled his phone. “Give me your number?”

She told him and then asked, “Why?”

“You really care about Ash, don’t you?”

“I guess.” Why did he bring that up? “But what does that have to do with you needing my number?

“He’s really taken with you.”

Why was suddenly everybody telling her that? “It’s only because of my face.”

“Ash didn’t love Kate because of how she looked, but because of who she was. At the beginning, he might have been smitten with you because of your resemblance to Kate, but if that was all, after time, he would have gotten over it and lost interest in you. But he didn’t, it was the other way around. The more time he spent with you, the more captivated with you he became.”

He was? She frowned. “But he told Mary that he loves her. I heard him.” Shivers shook her body and she rubbed her arms to warm herself.

“He does love her,” Kalen said. “But only as a friend.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Did you hear him say that he was
in
love with her?”

“No.” Was it that simple? He had said that he loved her, because he did love Mary, but only as a friend, and the absence of ‘in’ proved that? Could it really be so simple? “They slept together.” Something that Mary had so gleefully rubbed in her face with her ‘I don’t mind sharing him.’

“Ash made a mistake. He didn’t know how she felt about him, and when she offered, he used the opportunity. Sometimes he can be such an insensitive brute,” Kalen said. “He’s not perfect and, before he met you, he did like to sleep around, not really caring who with. But you should know that when he commits himself to a girl, he’s loyal to her. He never cheated on Kate, not even in the year she was in the hospital, when she gave him a free pass.”

Kalen could have been saying that only out of loyalty to his friend, but as Kris scrutinised his face, she believed that he was telling the truth.

“Was that why you refused him? Because you thought he was in love in Mary and that he was still sleeping with her?”

Those were just things that she had used to distance herself from him, excuses that had helped her to walk away from him. “It’s not that.”

“No?”

“I have...” A mother who’s in rehab and a fear of ending up disappointed. “I have issues.” She subtly glanced at the display of Kalen’s phone, which he still held in his hand. Her five minutes were already up. “My break is probably already over.”

“Listen, I have a meeting with Southern today, he’ll let me know if there’s any news about Ash, and he’s also giving me a report on his findings about Mary’s alibi. Afterwards, if you want to, I can call you and let you know what I find out.”

“Yes, please. I would really appreciate it,” she said and then, after a short goodbye, rushed back into The Delight. She knew Kalen well enough to trust that he would keep his word and call her, but a part of her was afraid that he would forget. He didn’t. He called her around eight, but unfortunately he didn’t have any news about Ashton. He did tell her that Mr. Southern had verified Mary’s story. She was at her parents, as she said she was, but she got there quite late.

“How late is quite late?” She held the phone tightly against her ear while she reclined backwards against the pillows, her gaze lost in the whiteness of the ceiling. There were cobwebs in the corner. She really should have cleaned her room more often.

“She had hours,” Kalen said.

“So she could be the one behind Ashton’s disappearance?” She pulled herself up.

“She could be, but there’s a problem.”

“Yes?”

“She’s a girl, and Ash is a big strong man, he could overpower her easily.”

“Just because he’s physically stronger, that doesn’t mean she couldn’t trick him. She could hit him over the head or slip him some drug or something.”

“Yes, you’re right, she could have done any of those things, but I’m not going to accuse her without evidence.”

“So me seeing Mary with Ashton isn’t enough?”

“I need more than that.”

“Like what? Catching her in the act?”

“That would be preferable,” Kalen said. “I understand how you feel, but I’ve known Mary since I was seven. Right now she’s in a bad place, because of her unrequited love, and even though she’s obsessed with Ash, I doubt she would have done something as drastic as kidnapping him.”

“Just because she’s your friend that doesn’t mean she can do no wrong.”

“I didn’t say that. I only pointed out that I’d like to have some solid evidence before I accuse her. For all we know, after you refused him, he might have needed some time for himself to think things through.”

“As if you believe that.”

“No, I don’t, but it’s a possibility, one that I think is more likely than Mary having something to do with this.”

“What about her following me around? Ashton said that that wasn’t like her, and yet she did it. She even assaulted me; she slapped me.”

“What do you want me to do? Burst into her place with the police on my heels and demand that she show me where she hid Ash?”

“Well...” She would have liked that.

“Do you really believe that doing something like that would get results?”

It might. “So doing nothing is better?”

“I’ll request that they put Mary under surveillance, will that be good enough for you?”

“It’ll have to be.”

He sighed.

“Will you keep in touch with me, please, and let me know if anything new comes up?

“I will.”

“Okay. Thank you,” she said, not wanting to sound ungrateful, even though his belief in Mary’s innocence was frustrating her. She wished him a good night and then hung up. Ashton had been gone for days and even though his name was now on the official missing persons list, that didn’t make her feel any better.

A knock on the door. “Kris, can I come in?”

“Yeah.”

The door opened and George walked inside. “I’ve already packed the big boxes. A friend’s coming to pick them up, so I’ll have to get them downstairs by this evening. I’d really appreciate that cart that you mentioned, the one you have in the basement.”

“Yes, of course.” She put the phone down, tossed her legs over the edge of the bed and stood. George was leaving in a week and she still hadn’t found a new flat-mate. “I’ll miss you, you know.”

“Me and my car, right?”

She passed him, smiling. “Not your car per se, but your willingness to drive me around. You’ve really helped me a lot, you know. And you’re still helping me. Are we still on for Saturday?”

“Yes.” He nodded.

He had promised they would go to pick up her mother and then go grocery shopping, the last trip they would make before he left on Monday. Yes, she was really going to miss him. He was a great boy -- man -- with a good heart, who always so generously offered his help. He was also so patient when dealing with her mother’s demands. That was something that became obvious on Saturday morning, when they drove to the shopping centre. Her mother insisted on going to the biggest one, the Super New, which was in the west part of the city, the opposite direction to the way they were going, while they preferred the smaller one, which was on their way.

“But Joanne, weren’t you the one who said how crowded the big one always is and how much you hate crowds?” George said, with his hands on the wheel and his gaze fixed on the road before them.

“But they have a bigger selection.” Her mother, who sat in the backseat, reclined back and crossed her arms.

In the rear-view mirror, Kris could see her mother’s scowl. “We’re only going grocery shopping, and the smaller one has everything we need.”

“I wanted to check that new shoe-shop I’ve heard so much about.”

“They have the same store in the smaller centre too.”

Her mother wanted to say something, but George had turned left at the intersection, toward the shopping centre that was visible in the distance as a large grey box, and with that ended her mother’s insistence on going to the Super New. There weren’t a lot of shops inside the centre, but they had a few small ones with shoes and clothes, and her mother rushed into one of them as soon as they stepped through the revolving door.

Kris shook her head and went to take a shopping cart, George right beside her. Luckily, her mother didn’t have a lot of money with her, so Kris didn’t have to worry that she would go on a big spending spree. Also, since she didn’t have any money to spend, she would probably soon appear by her side. ‘Soon’ turned out to be twenty minutes later, when Kris had already picked up most of the items she had on her shopping list.

Her mother found her in front of the pasta shelf, and Kris asked her, “Which one should we get: spaghetti, lasagnette or this one?” She read the name on the blue box. “Fusilli.” All the pasta was on sale, buy two get one free.

“Fusilli.” Her mother grabbed the box and put it into the cart.

“Take three,” Kris said before she glanced at her shopping list. “I think that I have everything.”

“What about tuna?”

“I already have it.” Kris turned around. “Have you seen George? He was in the canned food section a minute ago.”

“No.”

“He mentioned that he ran out of shampoo.” Kris went around the aisle, gesturing for her mother to follow her. “Take the cart, please.” The shampoos and cosmetics were three aisles away.

Joanne grabbed the handle of the cart and pushed it before her as she joined her.

He wasn’t there. Kris’s eyes searched for George’s tall figure between the shelves, then she walked to the end of the aisle, her mother close behind her. Something familiar entered her line of vision and drew her gaze right, toward the front of the aisle. She knew that hairdo and the profile and, as she stepped closer, she realised who the girl was. It was Mary.

The cart bumped against Kris’s hip.

Kris stepped backwards, pulling her mother with her until they were half-hidden behind the shelves. “Wait here.”

“Why?”

“I need to see something.”

“What?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later.” Just a shallow, short version of it. “Stay here, please,” Kris requested then rushed toward the front of the aisle and subtly sneaked around it, pretending to be occupied with studying the items on the shelf.

Mary was still there, just two steps away, her back to Kris.

Kalen had said that he would get somebody to follow Mary, but as Kris’s eyes slid over the people in the aisle -- a mother with two kids, three teenagers, a couple and an older man -- none of them looked like an investigator or a detective. Then her eyes zoomed over to Mary’s cart. What did she have in there? Some soda, milk, some packages wrapped in white paper. What was that violet thing down there?