PART FOUR THE FIRST DOOR
Caleb borrowed money from his parents. He said it was for the graphic novel. He received a new to max out. He bought flowers. He drove to Denton in the dark.
A voice inside said: who is it?
Caleb said: I’m looking for Maren.
A pause. He heard the pause go wrong. He heard the breath change on the other side of the door.
The voice said: Maren?
Caleb said: Maren Cole. She lives here. Or she did. I was told she lives here.
A longer pause. Then the lock turned. The door opened a few inches, on a chain. A young man stood in the gap. Plain. Soft around the middle. A college T-shirt. He looked scared.
The young man said: I think you have the wrong apartment.
Caleb said: are you Devin?
The young man said: who?
Caleb said: the guy on the lease. I’m looking for Maren. I was told she was your roommate. That she was in an accident. That she went to stay with her parents out of state.
Devin Crowe stared at the flowers. Then at Caleb’s face. He saw that Caleb was the one. The Valentine’s Day one. The one he had stood up. The one he had sent the critical-condition text to and then ghosted. His heart hit his stomach.
Devin said: yeah. Yeah. She was my roommate. She was in a wreck. Bad one. She went to her parents’ place. Albuquerque. New Mexico. They’re taking care of her. I don’t know when she’s coming back.
He said it fast. He said it because it was the only story he had.
Albuquerque was the city he had named a hundred times in his own head, the city where the real Maren lived, the city he checked every night.
He had given it away without meaning to, because panic makes you reach for the nearest true thing.
Caleb said: she’s in Albuquerque.
Devin said: yeah.
Caleb said: do you know her parents’ address?
Devin said: no. I just know the city. She didn’t tell me much. She was private.
Caleb studied him. He wanted to believe. He wanted a door to walk through. He said: is she seeing someone?
Devin said: I think so. I think she has a boyfriend. Big guy. Tough. The kind of guy you don’t mess with. I’m sorry, man. I don’t think there’s a way for you to reach her. I’d back off if I were you.
He said it to make Caleb leave. He said it because it was the thing that would make a man like Caleb turn around. The boyfriend, the big strong guy, the intimidation. It was a story built out of Devin’s own fear, projected outward.
Caleb stood in the doorway with the flowers dying in his hand. He said: she told me she loved me.
Devin said: I’m sorry.
Caleb left the flowers on the step. He walked back to his car. He sat in it for a long time. He was not sad anymore. Sadness had burned off in the drive. What was left was a clean, cold thing with a direction.
He drove back to Tulsa. He went straight to Wyatt.