The One I Trust (7 page)

“Yo, Reid!” I heard him say after only a few seconds.

“Yes, Hale?” I answered politely, keeping my eyes shut even though I knew he was looking at me in the rearview mirror.

“You kissed Emily yet?”

“Yes, I have, Hale,” I replied. “Yes, I have.”

All of Anneka’s squealing woke Molly up.

THE NEXT EVENING, Hale came down to the basement.

“Knock, knock,” he said since I didn’t have a door.

“Come in.”

He stepped around the corner to find me doing bench presses with his set of free weights that had been collecting dust in a corner ever since I’d moved in. I finished my last two repetitions and sat up to find him looking at me with a raised eyebrow, trying very hard not to smile.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

He stopped trying to hide his smile. “Bulking up?”

“Shut up.”

“You know, you’re not going to look any different by this time tomorrow. All you’re going to do is make yourself sore.”

“Did you come down here for a reason?”

“Actually I did.” He nodded, still grinning. “Anneka wants to know if she and Molly can make a birthday cake for you to take over there tomorrow.”

It took me less than a second to decide.

“Yes.”

“Very well then,” he said. “I’ll leave you to your . . . uhh,” he coughed into his hand, “
preparations
.”

He gave me another grin and turned to head back up the stairs.

“Hey, Hale?”

He stopped and poked his head around the corner again, looking at me expectantly.

“You got some cologne I can borrow?”

“Certainly,” he said in a very formal, serious voice.

“I don’t want any of that stuff you wear that makes you smell like a musk ox.”

“Of course not.”

“Something, uhh . . .”

“Sporty?” he suggested.

I nodded. “Exactly.”

He nodded back. “I’ll see what I can do.”

I showed up at Emily’s the next evening very sore and sporty smelling. A cold rain was falling steadily as I pulled Hale’s sedan into the parking lot, finding a spot right in front of her apartment. Apparently she had been waiting for me because she darted toward the car before I could even think about getting out or holding a door open for her.

“Hi,” she said breathlessly after she’d climbed in.

“Hi.”

“It’s nasty out there,” she said, turning to look at me in the fading glow from the dome light.

“Happy birthday.”

“Thank you.” She smiled.

“You’re all ready to go?”

She nodded and I put the car in reverse.

“Have you ever been to that dinner theater on Falls of the Neuse?” I asked.

I hoped the answer was “No” because I didn’t really want to take her somewhere she’d been with Ethan.

She furrowed her brow and asked, “What’s that?”

I smiled.

The dinner theater was a combination movie theater and restaurant located about twenty minutes north of NC State University. When I say “combination movie theater and restaurant,” I mean the restaurant was
in
the movie theater. There was a full menu, tables, and big, comfy swivel chairs all spread out before a huge movie screen. I hated that I was going to owe Hale so much money for the night, but I was happy that Emily looked pleased as we were shown to our seats.

Before the waitress took our order, I warned Emily not to order dessert.

“I mean, you can get some if you want to,” I clarified, because they had great desserts, “but I’ve got a cake for you in the car.”

“You do?” She seemed pleasantly surprised.

I nodded. “Molly and Anneka made it for you.”

“Aww. That’s so sweet.”

I nodded again and gave her another smile.

We had a nice meal, saw a good movie, and then drove back to her apartment. It was still raining when we arrived, so Emily ran ahead of me to get the door unlocked while I got the cake out of the trunk. She held the door open for me and I was glad to see that both bedroom doors were wide open, the rooms were dark, and there was no sign of Denise anywhere.

I set the cake down on the counter. I also had a plastic bag looped over my arm and I set that down as well.

“Do you want me to take your jacket?” Emily offered. I was so sore I could hardly get it off, but I finally succeeded and handed it to her so she could hang it on a coatrack by the door.

She got out plates and we each had a piece of cake. I promised her that I’d tell Anneka and Molly how good it was and how much she appreciated it. After we finished eating, I asked her if she wanted her birthday present, and when she said she did, I pulled a package out of the plastic bag that I’d brought in.

“Thank you,” she said when I handed it to her.

She carefully removed the wrapping paper and lifted the lid, pulling out the framed picture that was inside. She studied it for a moment and then looked up.

“It’s me,” she said, sounding very surprised.

I nodded. It was her—a caricature of her sitting on a desk covered with papers, pencils, books, a ruler, and an apple. Her blonde hair was in a high ponytail and she was wearing a silky blue tank top, knee-length skirt, high heels, and a big smile.

Emily looked back down at it and then at me, tilting her head questioningly

“Did . . . did you
draw
this?”

I nodded again and her mouth fell open.

“I didn’t know you could draw!” she said excitedly.

“There’s probably a lot of things about me that you don’t know,” I pointed out.
Like the fact that every time I move my arms right now I’m in excruciating pain . . .

“This is absolutely amazing,” she said, gripping it tightly. “I can’t wait to hang it up in my first classroom.”

I smiled at her.

She smiled back. “I
love
it,” she said quietly, reaching out and laying her hand on my arm. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome,” I said as she looked into my eyes.

Our faces were very close. She continued to hold my gaze and her hand continued to rest on my arm and just as I leaned forward and was about to kiss her, we heard a key in the lock and the front door opened wide.

Denise walked in and I quickly sat back. She took off her jacket and shook rain from it before looking at us. Her hair looked exactly the same as it had when she’d emerged from her bedroom a few days earlier.

“Hi,” Emily said.

She gave us both a little wave the way she had the other day and hung her jacket on the coatrack before walking over to the couch and crossing her legs beneath her as she sat down and reached for the remote.

Emily pressed her lips together and we looked at each other.

“I should get going,” I said quietly. “You probably have to get up early.”

She looked at me unhappily for a few seconds but then nodded. I stood up and she followed as I grabbed my jacket from the coatrack.

“I’ll walk out with you,” she said as I pulled my jacket on. It was absolutely pouring outside, but I didn’t argue.

The overhang above the door just barely covered the front stoop, and both of us got soaked trying to get out of the way so the screen door could close behind us. After it did, we huddled back beneath the overhang in an effort to avoid the rain that was being blown around in violent spurts. Emily looked up at me with water dripping from her hair.

“Sorry about that,” she said, nodding her head back toward the apartment.

I smiled a little and asked, “Does she ever talk?”

Emily laughed. “Yeah. She’s just a little bit, ummm . . . socially challenged, you know?”

I laughed, too, and then Emily looked at me earnestly and said, “Thank you for taking me out for my birthday.” Her eyes were shining in the glow of the porch light. “I really had a nice time.”

“Good,” I said, still smiling. “I’m glad.”

We looked at each other for a moment and then she said, “I was wondering if maybe you’d like to come over for dinner Friday night?”

“Yeah,” I said without hesitation. “I’d love to.”

“I’m not promising anything too wonderful,” she said. “But I’ll try my best.”

“I’m sure it’ll be great,” I said.

“And I happen to know that she won’t be here . . .” Emily nodded her head toward the apartment again to indicate Denise, and I gave her another smile.

A particularly strong breeze sprayed both of us with cold rain.

“I’d probably better go,” I said.

Our faces were close to each other again and after only a slight hesitation, I moved even closer. She closed her eyes. As I bent my head to press my lips against hers, I could feel her hands against the small of my back, pulling me closer. Even though freezing cold rain was spraying us, all I could think about was how incredibly warm and soft her mouth was against mine.

Another gust of wind sent a cascade of water across our faces and we broke apart, laughing.

“Good night,” I said, wrapping my arms around her and hugging her. After all of my weight-lifting the day before this actually hurt quite a lot, but I hardly noticed.

“Good night,” she replied, hugging me back.

“Happy birthday.”

“Thank you.” She smiled happily.

I headed out into the rain to the car, and when I looked back, Emily was still standing on the stoop with a smile on her face. She stayed there until I drove away.

By Friday evening I had lifted weights two more times and also gone running twice. I was barely sore anymore but smelling sporty once again when Emily opened the door to her apartment to let me in.

Denise was passing through the living room as I stepped inside. Her hair didn’t look any different than it had the first two times I’d seen her so I came to the conclusion that this was her usual style. As Emily took my jacket from me I gave her a look of dismay, but she returned it with a knowing smile, indicating that I didn’t need to be worried.

“Hey, Denise,” I said. “What’s up?”

“Going to Winston,” she replied.

“Ahhh,” I replied. Those were the only three words I got out of her before she disappeared into her bedroom and I couldn’t help but grin at Emily.

“You can sit down,” she offered, and I took a seat on one of the stools at the counter.

“It smells good,” I said. “Can I do anything to help?”

“Nope,” she said, shaking her head. “Maybe just cross your fingers that it tastes as good as it smells.”

“What are you making?”

“Calzones.”

“Hmmm. Impressive.”

“Well, we’ll see,” she said. “I’ve never made them before.”

She washed and cut vegetables for salad while we talked about our week. I didn’t tell her that I’d been exercising for the first time in over a year, but I did tell her that I had applied for some jobs.

“Where’d you apply?”

I named off about five places, all of which were looking to fill positions that did not require a college degree or any experience. After I finished she tilted her head at me and said, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Why—”

She stopped talking when Denise emerged from her bedroom carrying two heavy bags. She trudged through the living room toward the front door and I got up to open it for her.

“Bye,” Emily said.

Denise did not respond.

“Do you need some help?” I asked, getting the storm door for her as well.

“No.”

“Okay,” I said. “Bye,” and she nodded at me because her hands were too full to give me her usual little wave.

I stepped back inside, closing the door behind me. “She’s really odd,” I said. “You know that?”

“She’s harmless though,” Emily assured me.

“Okay.” I was unconvinced. “As long as you’re sure you’re not going to wake up one night to find her standing over you with a pitchfork or something.”

Emily laughed.

“Once you’ve worked in law enforcement,” I said, “you kind of get a feel for people. My feeling is that she’s weird.”

Emily laughed again but then turned serious.

“That’s actually what I was going to ask you about,” she said.

“What?”

She hesitated. “Why aren’t you a policeman anymore?”

“Actually the last two years I was a detective.”

“Okay, well why aren’t you a detective anymore?”

I looked at her.

“I mean, I know you got arrested and everything,” she explained, “but then they found out you didn’t do it, so why couldn’t you go back to work for them?”

Fair question.

“I probably could,” I admitted, shrugging slightly.

“So why don’t you?”

I didn’t answer for a moment, but then I tried to explain.

“One of the main reasons is that I haven’t really felt like doing much of anything ever since Noah died.”

She nodded understandingly at this.

“But why not now?” she asked. “If you’re to the point where you think you’re ready to go back to work . . .”

I looked away. This was another fair question. I took a deep breath as she waited for me to answer.

“The guys I worked with,” I finally said, “they were my friends. You know?”

I looked up at her and she nodded.

“I mean, really when you’re in a situation like that, they’re your family. You see them every day and you laugh and joke with them and you eat with them and you cry with them and you trust them with your life . . .”

She seemed to understand.

“But when I got arrested,” I said, “most of them were ready to throw me under the bus.”

She looked at me sympathetically.

“I don’t blame them,” I said. “I mean, Tori was smart. She was
very
smart. And she did a really good job setting me up and everything, but . . .”

I shook my head.

“Some of them have called me and stuff since the charges were dropped,” I admitted, “and a lot of them came to Noah’s funeral and have told me that I should come back and everything . . . I don’t know,” I finished. “I guess what it boils down to is the level of trust I need isn’t going to be there. I think I’d have a pretty hard time going back.”

“There’s lots of other places you could go,” she pointed out.

“I know,” I admitted. “But everybody’s pretty much heard about me. No matter where I go, people are always going to be questioning whether or not I’m guilty. That’s not a big deal if I’m shampooing carpets for a living or something, but as a cop—”