Southern Cross (21 page)

“Did
you get a chance to talk to George Durham about any of that the other night?
Before the rattlesnake attack, of course.”

I
wondered what Solomon had told him about that night. I was assuming she hadn’t
mentioned the ride to the hospital… or the fact that I was in her arms during
the bulk of it. At least, I was hoping she hadn’t. Juarez was the calm and
steady type, but I didn’t think he was
that
calm and steady. I pushed
aside any residual guilt I might have felt for kissing Solomon when I knew she
was Jack’s girl, and considered his question.

“I
didn’t really know anything was happening at that point,” I said. “I mean...
all we had then was Wyatt’s murder. We weren’t thinking about the end of the
world yet. I know George was a little off that night, but I just assumed that
was about losing Wyatt. And everyone was so busy reminiscing and chugging
moonshine, we didn’t really get into the nitty gritty of the investigation.”

“You
didn’t mention anything about George Durham to Erin, then?” he asked. “You
don’t think she may have noticed something that you didn’t?”

“I
didn’t talk to her about it, really. She’d had a little to drink that night…
between that and the incident with the pit viper, we didn’t have much time to
debrief.”

He
didn’t say anything to that. Too late, I remembered that Solomon had told me at
some point that she was supposed to call Juarez that night, but never got the
chance. And now here I was, telling him she hadn’t called because she was off
getting wasted with me and my old cronies. I looked out the window, watching
smoke rise from a distant fire on the horizon. I took a deep breath and let it
out, nice and slow.

“I
know you probably weren’t crazy about her coming down here with me,” I said. Juarez glanced at me. Shook his head.

“You’re
important to her. She needed to be here for you—it was as much for her as
anything.”

“Jesus,
Jack. Are you applying for sainthood now?”

He
laughed dryly, a trace of sadness in there. “I just want what’s best for her.”
He paused. The silence stretched on. I’d almost given up on the conversation by
the time he spoke again. “How are you, anyway? Since the summer?”

The
million-dollar question. I shrugged. “You mean apart from quitting my job,
dumping my girl, and running off to the beach for two months? Apparently Black
Falls didn’t slide off me quite as well as some people.”

His
jaw hardened as soon as the words were out. He glanced at me, then back at the
road. His hands were tight on the wheel.

“If
you think anything just slid off Erin after last summer, you don’t know her as
well as I thought.”

“She’s
pulled herself together pretty well from where I’m standing. She looks better
than I’ve seen her in a long time. She’s working out; taking classes. She quit
smoking. Dumped the whole quest for her father.”

He
didn’t say anything for a long time. I watched the world go by, and didn’t
speak.

“She
still has nightmares, you know,” he said, after awhile. I went still, waiting
for him to tell me things I knew Solomon never would. “She wakes up in the
night, calling your name. She barely left the house for two months after she
was released from the hospital—though I don’t know that firsthand, of course. I
only know what her mother has told me. Erin wouldn’t take my calls after we got
back. The only way I eventually saw her was by showing up on her doorstep one
day in December.”

He
paused, waiting for me to say something. I didn’t have a clue what that might
be, though. He continued.

“Did
you know she lost the use of her hand after the second surgery?” he asked.

I
shook my head silently. Something dark and heavy settled itself at the pit of
my stomach.

“The
doctors weren’t sure she’d ever get it back; I thought Kat was going to murder
someone until we knew that the third surgery had gone well. Erin refuses to
talk about what happened in the woods that night—who killed Rainier and Max.
What they did to her. What they did to you. She added a security system to the
house. Asked me to teach her self-defense. And up until you left town, she
called Maya nearly every day to get an update on how you were, and to make sure
you were safe.”

“She
told you all that?”

He
laughed humorlessly. “Of course not. I learned all that from paying attention…
she doesn’t talk to me. She talks to you.” He didn’t sound bitter—merely
resigned. “As far as I can tell, you’re the only one she’s ever talked to.”

“I
hate to burst your bubble, but she’s never talked all that much to me, either.”

As
soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew they were a lie. Solomon might
not spend all day everyday telling me every little thought that crossed her
mind, but I knew she confided in me more than anyone else. And I had a feeling
that whatever she’d held back over the years was as much my fault as hers: no
one wants to lay all their cards on the table when the other guy holds his hand
as close to the chest as I tend to. Juarez shot me a look that suggested he was
well aware that I was full of shit.

“Why
are you telling me all this?” I asked. “Nothing’s going on between us, Jack.
Solomon’s not the cheating kind, trust me.”

“I
know that,” he said. “But you act as though she was unaffected by what happened
in Black Falls. That’s not fair to her. Trust me: whatever went on over those
forty-eight hours changed things for her.”

I
hesitated a long while before I spoke again. Finally, I blew out a long exhale
and stared out the window, carefully avoiding Juarez’s gaze when I spoke again.

“I
know she wasn’t unaffected—I’m just pissed off that she’s doing all right
without me. That you two are together, and she’s focused and sane and moving on
with her life, when I feel like I’ve been walking a flaming tightrope over a
sea of great whites for the past six months. I know what happened out there;
there’s no way anyone comes out of that unchanged.”

I
waited for him to ask me just what, exactly,
had
happened. I wasn’t sure
what I’d tell him. I thought of the warmth of Solomon’s skin against mine in
the shower; the sight of her on her knees with a belt looped around her neck,
gasping for air; the words Rainier had said to me just before I lost it and
nearly killed him with my bare hands. Juarez never asked, though. We drove the
rest of the way in silence.

15:20:02

I
thought when she first answered the door that Ashley would slam it in my face.
She debated it for five seconds, clearly, before she turned around and walked
away.

Juarez
and I crossed the threshold.

When
we’d been together, Ashley had a gassy boxer named Winnie who followed her
everywhere. There was no sign of the dog now, though. The walls had been
repainted and new furniture replaced what had been there before. With the power
out and the day shadowed by clouds, it was dim inside. Not so dim that I
couldn’t tell the place was in a hell of a lot better shape than it had been
when I was living there.

Crying
came from the kitchen. Ashley looked over her shoulder at us. “I was in the
middle of giving Angus his breakfast. Come on.”

The
kitchen had always been a good spot for us—maybe the only one in the house.
Like the rest of the place, it had been completely refurbished since I left:
new appliances, stylish backsplash, trendy paint job, the works.

“It
looks great,” I noted.

“Terry’s
good with his hands.”

Terry:
the new husband. “Where is he, anyway?” I asked.

She
looked at me like I was trying to start something. I really wasn’t. “He works
out toward Paducah. He’ll be back by six. He’s committed to his job, but he
won’t let it keep him from us when it matters.”

That
may not have sounded like a jab at me, but I knew it was. She sat down in front
of Angus, who was in his high chair with a cup of Cheerios, a waffle cut into
tiny squares, and a plastic Sesame Street train.

“Sit,”
she commanded Juarez and me.

We
sat.

“What
do you want, Diggs?”

“I
need to ask you about Wyatt,” I said.

Her
eyes flickered to me, then back to the kid. She was good at lying—I’d learned
that over the years. I’d also learned her tells. “What about him?” she asked.

“I
want to know why he was targeted for this. Why Barnel turned against him six
months ago.”

She
popped a waffle square into Angus’s mouth and pushed a strand of hair back
behind her ear. Angus chewed amiably, blue eyes watching me.

“I
don’t know,” Ashley said.

“You’re
lying,” I said. Her eyes flashed. “The hair thing, Ash—remember? This is me. We
know he was into something. Was he having an affair?”

“You’ve
been gone way too long if you think something like that. There wasn’t another
woman on the planet for him but Mae. You know that.”

I
did. I was unaccountably relieved to know that hadn’t changed, though.

“I’ll
tell you what I think, then… You can just tell me how close I am to the mark.”

Angus
picked up a yellow train car with Big Bird in the driver’s seat and smashed it
into his Cheerios. The cup went flying. Ashley righted it without so much as a
grimace, moving the food safely out of reach.

“What
do you think, then?” she asked me. There was no mistaking the challenge in her
tone.

“I
think Danny was in a band,” I said promptly. “His bass player—Casey Clinton—got
knocked up. She couldn’t go to her father, and she didn’t know where else to
turn. So, I think Danny took her to see Wyatt.”

Ashley
didn’t argue. She didn’t look at me, either, her attention focused on Angus.

“I
think Wyatt probably started out with the usual spiel on the subject,” I
continued. “She was young, sure, but she could always put the kid up for
adoption. Life is precious. Et cetera, et cetera.”

Her
mouth tightened at my blasé treatment of a subject I knew she took very
seriously.

Juarez
took over. “I can understand your perspective,” he said.
“I was raised Catholic. I feel the same way that you do—trust me on that. But
sometimes there are circumstances that can shift your perspective.”

To my
surprise, her eyes filled at that. She sighed wearily. “A year ago, Danny got a
girl pregnant.” She looked at Angus like she was afraid he might somehow
understand the words. I took the toy train cars from him and crashed them into
one another gently. He giggled, his attention successfully diverted. Ashley
continued.

“Danny
didn’t tell anybody about it, of course. But the girl was new around
here—didn’t know much about anything, and I guess she panicked. She went to old
lady McCintock—she’s still doing those abortions out in her back shed, even
though Sally Woodruff’s threatened everything short of stringing the old bat
up. So, Sophie ends up on the old lady’s table, and she almost died—it was an
awful mess. Danny’s a pain in the butt sometimes, but he’s got a good heart. It
shook him up; he came to me later, and we talked. He said he would’ve kept the
baby. Married the girl, even, the romantic little fool.”

The
name rang a bell immediately. “Sophie… That’s the same Sophie who was killed in
the explosion the other day?”

“That’s
the one.” Her eyes clouded. “I wasn’t crazy about the girl myself, but she
didn’t deserve that.”

“So,
he must have been pretty upset when Casey came to him and told him the same thing
happened to her,” I said.

“I
thought the boy was gonna have a stroke,” Ashley said. “I never did figure out
who the baby’s daddy was, but Danny was fit to be tied… I think he would’ve
taken her to Sally himself, but she started to miscarry.”

“So
he brought her to Wyatt,” I guessed.

“He
didn’t have time to do anything else—she was in bad shape. Wyatt called Sally,
and she came to his office. They did the whole thing right there.”

We
sat there in silence. Ashley put another waffle square in Angus’s mouth. Her
hand was shaking. He spit it out, focused on her now.

“Afterward,
Wyatt came to me,” Ashley continued. “He was torn up—you know how he was. I can
be reasonable about this stuff, but his heart was just too big. He wasn’t
sorry, though; I think that’s what confused him more than anything else. After
that, he went out to Sally’s place, and he started helpin’ out. Just doing some
chores around the house, taking care of stuff that needed fixin’. All quiet as
could be, of course, but you know there are no secrets in this town.”

If
I’d been there, I thought, Wyatt would have told me. We would most likely have
done the whole thing together. Wyatt was like that: If he thought something was
right, he’d make it happen. No matter the personal cost.

“Did
Mae know?” I asked.

“No,”
Ashley said shortly. “You know how she feels about this. I’ve got my opinions,
but I can at least see both sides. With Mae, this is one of those sins you
can’t get around. It would’ve killed her.”