Page 141 of Demo
But how could I have done the things I’ve done?
My phone vibrates in my pocket, so I pull it out and freeze when I see a name I haven’t seen in almost three months flash across the screen.
Why is Jenny calling me?
I don’t answer it. I just set it on the bar and let it ring until it stops. Then, a minute later, it starts again. The ringing combined with the sound of the vibrating phone drumming across the bar top is loud, causing the bartender to look over at me with a raised eyebrow.
The ringing and vibrating stops, then starts again.Letting out a heavy breath, I run my hands through my hair then lift the phone to my ear and accept the call, but I don’t speak. After a moment of silence, I hear her voice. “Knox?”
I clear my throat. “Yeah.”
“Obviously I wouldn’t call you unless it’s important.” I don’t say anything. “So, uh, Lizzie just left here.”
The fuck?
“What?”
“She was asking about the guys who broke into your apartment, and she wanted to know if either of us had drugs on us the night of the accident.”
“Shit.” I drop my head in my free hand, my other still holding the phone to my ear.
“I did, Knox. I had Oxy on me.”
“Christ, Jenny,” I spit out angrily.
“I’m sorry, Knox. I’m sorry I never told you. But that’s not all …” I wait for her to continue, wondering what holy hell could make this worse. “She’s looking for Marcus.”
My blood runs cold. Suddenly there is no background noise. No music coming from the jukebox. No clanking of glass as the bartender pours drinks. No chatter from the few patrons in the bar. “Why the fuck would she be looking for Marcus, Jenny?”
Her voice is shaky. “Because he was the one who broke into your apartment with that Sanders guy. She said there were two of them, and the one guy was big with short spiky black hair, a lip ring. I’m sure she was talking about Marcus.”
I run my free hand down my face as I rise from the barstool. “Knox, I told her he hangs out at the pub. I wasn’t thinking she would go looking for him, but when she left she seemed like she was on a mission. I’m sorry, I just … I thought you should know.”
I push away from the bar, leaving my drink untouched, and pull my hood up over my hair as I head toward the door.
“Knox. I’m sorry. For everything. I never, ever meant for any of this to happen.”
“I know.” I take her words seriously.
“I won’t call again.”
I wait a beat before saying, “Thank you,” and I hang up and make my way to the truck.
***
Pulling up to the pub Marcus frequents, I’m still not convinced she would come here, even if she were looking for answers. Lizzie is headstrong, but she isn’t fucking stupid. And this is the stupidest goddamn thing she could be doing.
I enter and find the inside hasn’t changed much. It’s been years since I’ve been inside this place, but it still feels the same. Techno music pulses through the speakers as light beams shine this way and that, cutting through the large space. A DJ does his thing on a stage that has been raised since the last time I was here, and the bar is now U-shaped.
It’s packed, and the dance floor is a cesspool of sweaty bodies gyrating and grinding to the music. It’s the last place I want to be, but still, I push into the mass of people. She would never normally be here. This isn’t her scene, but she’s on a mission, and I know when she’s like that, she’s unstoppable. If Marcus slipped her something, well, then I just might find her here swaying to the music.
I ignore hands that slide their way over my shirt, remembering what it was like to feel the various textures when I was high out of my mind.
Not finding Lizzie, I peruse the bar, which is about three people deep. I see a mane of brown hair and make my way in that direction, placing my hand on a woman’s shoulder and turning her toward me, only to find it’s not Lizzie.
“What the hell!” a guy in a beanie says to me, as I hold my hands up in surrender.
“Sorry,” I shout over the music. “I thought she was someone else.” I back away, turn around, and run my hand through my hair.
