Chapter 17 #2
His weight pushes on the door and he laughs. “Okay. See you in a bit. Or I better at least.”
Will I ever reach the point where people stop worrying about me and treating me with kid gloves? I check my reflection again and Gareth rubs my cheek, smiling at me.
“That’s some strong makeup.”
I hit his hand. “Yeah, but let’s not test it too much. Look what you did to my clothes.”
“Want mine?” His hand tugs at his sleeveless shirt.
“No. I’m okay. They won’t fit me anyway.”
“Okay. I can go get your jacket.”
I turn my head. “Like I said, I could use the fresh air.”
“Okay.” He pecks my lips and helps me get cleaned up. Adjusting my clothes, I fix my glasses and hat.
“Don’t worry. It’s too dark out there for anyone to notice anything.” His gaze follows mine.
“I’m sure you’re right, but I’ll still feel better with my jacket on.”
“Then go get it and I’ll be close behind you.”
Craning my neck again, I kiss him and go out the door first. My jacket sounds more like a good idea when the cool night air wraps around me as I’m almost to the car.
The back door is luckily unlocked, and I pull it open, reaching inside.
My hand lands on a jacket, but it isn’t mine.
It’s gray and has words written on the front.
I drop it to the seat as soon as I get a closer look. “Arkansas,” is what the letters spell.
Was that in here all this time? No. No. No.
I would have seen this before if it was Leo’s.
Was he at the cemetery for a different reason than he said?
He’s engaged and has been questioning his relationship.
All the info slams into my head like a sledgehammer.
I snatch up my jacket, shrugging it on before grabbing the one my fingers keep losing grip of.
Not remembering the walk from the car to the porch, my feet pound against the pavement and I ignore the voices at the side of the house until one sounds a lot like Gareth.
“Who are you again?”
“What do you mean? It’s me. Arkansas. That’s what you called me at least,” the other man says. It’s hard to really make out his voice with all the music and laughter around us.
“You left me that snow globe?”
“Yes. I don’t understand. How is this possible? They had a funeral for you.”
“I know it seems crazy, but there’s an explanation, I promise,” Gareth says. “Come with me somewhere more private and I’ll tell you everything.”
“Okay. I have just the place. Come with me.” They walk to the back of the house, and I look around the side, only seeing Gareth entering a white shed.
Taking a deep breath, I hold the gray jacket tighter to my chest and head in the direction they went in.
The shed is way in the back, partly hidden by trees and harder to see from where the back door and patio are.
I see it perfectly from where I’m standing and pace in front of it.
What’s going on in there? What is Gareth telling him?
There’s a deep moan and then silence again.
I yank open the door, nearly hurling when I step inside.
Gareth is tearing at his chest with his nail and sinking his teeth into his forehead.
There’s so much blood and darkness. “Gareth, what have you done?” I shut the door behind me, taking out my phone to use the light to make out his face.
“I got rid of the thing you were worried about the most. He’s no longer a problem for either of us anymore. He was lying when he said those things about you, wasn’t he?” His breaths are deep.
“What things?”
“He said he saw you kissing and leaving the breakroom with one of the front clerks multiple times. He said you were cheating on me. I was so broken over it and lost . . . that . . . that I turned to the wrong person. I needed a friend, but he wanted to be more. I almost let him be more. Only because of the pain I felt when I thought of the possibility of him being right.”
“That’s crazy. What clerk? I hardly spoke to anyone at work. I was always so busy. Why would I risk so much, doing what I did to bring you back, if I was lusting after some clerk?”
“I don’t know. It’s all coming back to me now. I didn’t want him like that. Even thinking you might have done those things, I was going to look past it. I still wanted you. I want you now.”
“I’m right here.” I feel for him in the dark and he pulls me into him, smelling of copper.
“I know. You’re here and he’s gone.” I toss down his jacket and turn my light onto the guy lying in his own blood and ripped flesh.
He’s wearing a blue outfit and his eyes are brown. It’s not Leo. It was never Leo. I drop to the floor and knee walk closer, my face looming over his. “You killed my boss.”
“I had to. Not only for your peace of mind, but because he saw me take my mask off while I was outside following you.”
“How many more times will you have to?”
“I don’t know. But Arkansas is gone, and all the memories of the pain he’s caused will be too.”
“You’re not at all sad about it?” I stretch my neck.
“No.”
“What do you feel, then?”
He cups my face, yanking it to his. “You. Just you.”
I lean my forehead to his, and after making sure I have no blood on me, I return to the party while Gareth disposes of most of the body before shoving the rest in a bag and cleaning up the shed.
Leo gives me a questioning look when I first enter the house, and his expression is more curious when I hug him with all my might.
“Someone is very loving after drinking too much.”
“Yeah.” I hold him tighter and he laughs, shoving me off him. We dance to Lady Gaga and Mariah Carey. Glen watches us from afar, milking his drink while Gareth watches me from a place I can’t see.