Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Bexley
T hree days later…
“I think you’ll get it,” Ava repeated as we got out of the car in front of the Piersville Police Department. “You’re the best there is.”
Smiling wryly at her over the roof, I pointed out, “You’re biased, you have to say that.”
Shutting our doors, we walked toward the entrance, still discussing it and our plans for Boston. Logan had made me promise to tell him how my interview had gone, and because Ava had come with me, she was tagging along before we went to collect her stuff for our trip.
The blast of ice-cold air from the air conditioning hit us as we entered, making both of us shudder.
Almost like it was a coordinated move, every available head lifted from what they were doing and turned to look at us, making me and Ava take a step back.
Without even realizing I was doing it, I shouted, “I didn’t do it.”
“Way to go making them suspicious,” Ava hissed in my ear, making me want to kick myself .
The sheriff, Dave, walked out of the office at the very back. I’d only met him a couple of times and didn’t know how to take him, but his wife was one of the sweetest people I’d ever met, and I was looking forward to hopefully working with her at Piersville High.
“You looking for Logan?”
Blinking, I glanced at Ava for her approval to answer, making her roll her eyes. “Of course you can answer that question. You’re already fucked anyway, so maybe they’ll rule you out of whatever crime they’re working on if you tell him why we’re standing here like idiots.”
Harsh… but true.
Clearing my throat, I stuttered, “Y-yeah. Do you know where I can find him?”
The sound of hinges squeaking drew our attention to a door on the far right of the room, and the man himself walked through it, his eyes fixed on a piece of paper in his hand.
“Yo, you’ve got a visitor, Richards,” Dave called.
Raising his head, Logan frowned until he saw me standing there, no doubt looking as awkward as I felt.
Lips twitching, he changed directions and came over to us. “Why do y’all look like you’re about to be sentenced to life?”
Glancing nervously at Dave, who was standing there with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes narrowed on the two of us now, I whispered, “Because he looks like he knows every secret I’ve got.”
Smirking slightly, Dave shrugged one of his bulky shoulders. “Because I do.”
Holding her arm out, Ava said, “Congratulations, by the way. That election took a while to get sorted out, but I’m glad you won.”
Shaking it, he smiled back at her. “Thanks. I’ve been in the job for two years, but the fact the town hadn’t been able to elect me properly for the position was pissing me off. It took some time to talk the mayor into it because he thought it was an unnecessary use of resources, but we got there. ”
“The mayor doesn’t do things the normal way,” Logan muttered. “If this uniform sticks for any length of time, it’ll be a miracle. And this morning’s ‘bullet clarification,’” he air quoted, “is giving my ass a headache.”
All of us blinked at his choice of words, but it was Dave who asked, “Why and how is your ass getting a headache?”
“When someone talks out of theirs, your ass is the area that listens. He talks out of his so much, my ass gets regular migraines.”
Frowning and shaking his head, Dave looked back at us. “Tabby told me you had an interview at the school today, I hope you get good news from them.”
“I think they’re going to ask you to do a background check on me, so just to let you know, I’ve never been in trouble with the law, I pay my taxes on time, I donate to charities, I even pick up trash on the sidewalk. I also just donated a ton of canned goods to the food bank because Pops was expecting the end of the world and had enough to feed ten families for a month…” I trailed off when his lips twitched. “Um, basically, I’m a good person.”
The people close enough to hear started snickering, or maybe they’d been doing it for a while, and I just hadn’t heard them?
“I’m sure you are. I’ll make sure to add that onto the paperwork when it’s completed.” And with that, he turned and strode back to the door he’d come out of.
“You looking for a sainthood?” Ava chuckled, nudging my shoulder. “The only thing you left out was the speech you gave in eighth grade demanding world peace and justice for the ozone layer.”
Why did people remember that shit? Seriously. I was passionate about it and thought when I was asked to give a speech to the school about world peace and the difference it would make, that I could add in the ozone layer and climate change. It wasn’t until afterward, when I was replaying it in my head, that I’d realized how much of a goober I’d sounded. I was also one of those people who woke up in the middle of the night and relived the embarrassment about stupid things I’d done. And that was one of the things that always came back to me, even now.
Laughing silently, Logan shrugged when I glared at him. “It was a passionate speech, Bex. I doubt anyone has ever forgotten it.”
Ass.
Shooting both of them a dirty look, I decided to move onto why I was here. “I just wanted to let you know about the interview.”
He immediately sobered up and straightened, his face looking serious now. “How did it go? I know you said they’d do a background check on you to DB but did they give any indication that you’d be getting the position?”
“They said that I was in a preferential spot for the position because of who I was and the fact I was already teaching high school English, but there’s no certainty until they call me with the job offer.”
“Tell him exactly what they said,” Ava hissed, nudging me harder than before.
Logan’s eyes were fixed on me, their intensity making me feel slightly weak. “Seeing as how Principal Teller’s still there, he said that so long as my background check and references are okay, he’d be offering me the job.”
“I’ll bet it was weird having an interview with the same principal who took the microphone out of your hand as you were lecturing us all about climate change and greenhouse gases,” he murmured through his grin.
“Yeah, you could say that. But I’m fairly certain everything will check out, and my school in Boston said they were sad to lose me, but they’d be giving me a glowing reference because of the work I’d done, so hopefully I’ll get the offer.”
Rubbing my shoulder, he pulled me into his side. “You’ll get it, Bex. Every job has formalities—well, some of them are delayed if you’re the sheriff of a small town wanting to have a free and fair election,” he sighed, rolling his eyes. “DB will get right on his side of it all, so it’s just your old school you’ll be waiting on. ”
“They’ve been really good about giving me my vacation time and sick days, so I feel shitty leaving them in the lurch.”
“Like no one else in the school would do what you’re doing if an opportunity like this came up,” Ava huffed. “Honey, they’ve had a substitute filling in for you while you took time off, and with the amount of time you’ve gotten, you had to have skipped taking vacations for it to accrue.”
The school I worked for was a private school, and my contract allowed for ten vacation days on top of regular school breaks and a generous sick day package. Ava wasn’t wrong—I’d never touched any of them. I was also taking a pay cut to move here, but I didn’t have to pay rent anymore, so it kind of balanced out.
“Don’t worry about it so much. Life changes and people move on. The school knows that, so they won’t be pissed. They’ll be disappointed, but that’s a given,” Logan added, then looked at Ava. “You looking forward to going with Bex to help pack up?”
“Indeed I am. I’ve been dying to go to Boston, so this is the best excuse possible because I get to bring her back with me.”
Shooting her a grin, he turned back to me. “When do y’all leave?”
“We’re getting up at four AM to catch our flight at eight-thirty AM. We’ll be gone for four days, getting in at six-fifteen PM on Tuesday.”
I knew he was making a mental note of the times as he nodded. “How’s your car getting back here?”
“The company also transports vehicles, so they’re going to load it and deliver it with my shit. I don’t have a lot of stuff there because I rented my apartment fully furnished. It’s just some clothes and stuff like that, so it didn’t work out too expensive to add my car onto it all.”
The smile on Ava’s face dropped. “What are you going to do if you don’t get the job?”
I’d thought long and hard about this before making the call to the school in Boston and the company moving my things. “If I don’t get it, I’ll set up a business as a tutor while I help Dad out with the business.”
The smile on her face this time was immense. “So we get you back no matter what.”
“Looks like it.”
Squealing, she clapped her hands together, then gave Logan a gentle shove. “We’re getting her back.”
“‘Bout fucking time.”
There was a chorus of chuckles from behind us again, only this time it looked like the whole department was there, watching the show playing out in front of them.
“That was eloquently put,” a guy I recognized as Garrett snickered. I’d met his girlfriend Tamsin, who worked at Piersville High, yesterday when Tabby had invited me out for coffee during their lunch break, and he’d been in the area and dropped in to join us. Then, looking at me, he added, “He’s a man of so many words. I don’t know how you can resist.”
Logan shifting beside me, brought my attention back to where he was glaring at them all.
“So, that’s the update,” I said lamely, figuring now was the best time to remove myself from the awkwardness of it all. Then, remembering the other thing I was here to do, I dug around in my bag until I found the clump of keys he needed. “Here’s the spare set of keys for the house because your one is only for the front door. I marked the front door with red nail polish, the back door with green, the garage with pink…” I trailed off when he started laughing as he inspected them.
“I’ll figure it out, but thank you for narrowing it down. Jesus, how many keys did Lawrence need?”
The answer was: fourteen, that’s how many were on the keyring I’d given him.
“If it makes you feel any better, the one I’m carrying around has six more than yours.”
“What the hell are they for? ”
“My best guess is windows, doors, old door locks, probably a couple of the boxes in the loft, drawers—”
“He’s got a spare for my grandpa’s place,” he interrupted. “I couldn’t tell you which one it is, though, but just in case you get a call one day saying he’s locked himself out and no one with a key is nearby.”
“I’ll be ready and waiting for that call, but warn him I won’t be around until Tuesday, so not to do it before then, or he’s kind of screwed.”
Chuckling again, he tossed the mass of keys in the air and caught them, wincing as they hit his palm.
Checking my watch, I realized time was getting on, and I had to go through the final instructions if I wanted to get any sleep before the flight.
“You guys are taking the furniture out over the weekend, right?”
“Right. We’re going to put as much in the garage as possible, then we’ll store the rest of it at Ren’s place. He doesn’t have plans for the space for a good five months, so he said not to panic about sorting it out. Did you put the Post-It notes on the stuff you wanted to stay in your bedroom?”
“It’s only the bed, side table, and the drawer unit that needs to stay, but just in case you develop amnesia between now and then, I stuck pink ones on them.”
“I’ll make sure they’re left behind. If you need anything else, though, just call or text, and I’ll get it sorted out,” he promised, taking a step closer.
It felt awkward with all of the eyes on us as he leaned in to hug me, watching us like we were the best entertainment since the television was invented.
And then it got more awkward.
Just as I leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, he turned his head to do the same, meaning that our lips pressed against each other instead of hitting our intended targets.
I’d been mid-blink when it happened, and when my eyes shot open, I was looking straight into his shocked blue ones. No doubt our expressions were identical, and if you couldn’t guess what that looked like, imagine a total what the fuck one, times two.
I didn’t know what to do, but later on when I was on the plane, I’d smack myself on the forehead and wonder why I hadn’t pulled away immediately. On the tail end of that, I’d wonder why he hadn’t pulled away immediately either.
But, at that moment, we stood there for a good minute, neither of us pulling back.
That was until choking noises from the peanut gallery reached us, and like a fool, I pressed my lips harder against his and made an exaggerated “ mwwwah ” noise.
And then, just to hammer into my reputation that I was a total twat, I made it much worse.
Oh, so much worse.
Reaching up, I tapped his nose with the tip of my finger and shouted, “ Boop !” Then I lightly tapped the top of his head with my fist and sang, “Knock, knock.”
The choking sounds got louder, and even Ava was making them now, as Logan’s eyes widened at what I’d done.
A glance behind him showed his colleagues either bent over with their shoulders shaking as they laughed quietly—with the odd snort or wheeze reaching us—or they were holding their side with one hand and covering their mouths with the other. Evil bastards! Not that Ava was much better when I looked over at her. She’d crouched down with her hands covering her face as she laughed and snorted into them.
Why does my life suck so much? For someone who woke up cringing and reliving awkward and embarrassing moments from her childhood, this one would haunt me until they put me six feet in the ground. Knowing my luck, I’d be stuck in the afterlife with it still chasing after me.
Clearing my throat, I threw a hand up and waved it frantically. “Okay, we need to go. If you need me, just text, and I’ll obviously answer… You know, by text? On my phone?” I pulled the device out of my purse and moved it around in front of him.
He knows what a fucking phone is, Bexley. Stop before you dig a deeper hole. Then again, maybe digging a hole and burying yourself in it might not be the worst idea?
“Uh,” he hummed, watching me warily like he was expecting me to run away. “I’ll definitely do that. Have a good trip,” he glanced at Ava, “both of you.”
The others were still laughing as I literally ran out of the building and back to my car, except as I got to the door, the laughter changed from the odd snort to outright bellows. Why didn’t the door close faster?
I managed to get into the car without knocking myself out on the roof, and was reversing out of the space before Ava even had her belt on.
“Don’t say a word,” I growled as we drove toward her and Mace’s house to pick up her bag. He was away just now doing something with some of his Marine buddies, which was why she didn’t even hesitate when I asked if she wanted to come with me to collect my stuff. Something that I was second-guessing the wisdom of. “If I don’t move back, maybe I’ll forget about it?”
“I doubt it,” she gasped, still laughing. “That was— I don’t think any of us will be able to forget that.”
“Shut up.”
“What were you thinking?”
There was a long pause, and then I sighed. “I wasn’t thinking. I panicked.”
“You—” she broke off with a wheeze. “You booped his nose.”
“I’m well aware of that.”
She only just managed to get out, “Knock, knock,” before she burst out laughing, full belly laughs. “His face!”
Wincing, I thought about his expression. It was a cross between shock, horror, and total confusion.
“My life sucks! ”
“Girl, if that’s your way of seducing a guy, we need to work on your game while we’re away,” she snickered, wiping under her eyes. “I can’t unsee it.”
Neither could I.
Pulling into her drive, I cut the engine and dropped my head onto the steering wheel, ignoring the buttons pressing painfully into my forehead.
Four days was enough time for people to forget about it. They were law enforcement officers, for fuck’s sake, they dealt with bizarre and hideous things every day, didn’t they? Surely one of the cases would delete the memory of me booping Logan on the nose and then knocking on his head… Right?