Page 79 of Don't Leave Me Behind
I push up from the chair, biting the inside of my cheek to keep myself from spilling all my secrets. Another talent of Mercer’s. I’m not sure he even has to interrogate people; he starts talking to them, and suddenly they’re telling him exactly what he wants to know, without even realizing it.
“Well, that’s bullshit. First, Brooks is keeping huge life-altering secrets, and now you.”
“You’re being dramatic, Merc.” I lean my shoulder against the doorframe. Not surprised I didn’t make it any further.
“Gasp! I would never.” He rests a hand on his chest, like the delicate little flower that he is, before shooing me away with the same hand. I shake my head, chuckling as I push myself off the door frame and head to the back.
Sitting at the deputy desk, I find myself making a list of things I might need for a date instead of doing any actual police work. There are a few calls out for the fire department, wildfires cropping up here and there. We haven’t had nearly enough rain this season. The whole county is under a red flag warning, meaning no open flames whatsoever. Not even a tiki torch or citronella candle can be lit right now. Shit, half the wildfires we get are starting on the side of the road where some jackass tosses a cigarette butt out the window.
The ranchers and farmers hate years like this. Our dry climate and wide-open spaces are like a tinderbox waiting for a spark.
It looks like those calls are all being taken care of by our rural fire crews; they haven’t requested any assistance out there, so I do a quick perusal of the night shift’s calls and pretend to work. Without any actual calls for service to attend to, I’m sitting here planning out the perfect date so that I can ask my girl to make it official.
Is going steady still a term the kids use these days? Because that’s what I want. I want Leni, and nothing else will do.
The day is dragging on,there’s hardly anyone out on the roads to run traffic on, and I find myself a little bit jealous of how busy the night guys stay. Granted, I have no desire to work nights myself, but I wouldn’t mind a little bit of the action on the day shift. No one wants to start a bar fight at noon, so I’m stuck writing elderly people parking tickets and counting down the minutes until I get to go home to Leni.
When three o’clock rolls around, Ethan scares the shit out of me, rapping on the window of my truck. Some cop I am, not even noticing him walking up on me like that.
“Jesus Traeger, you should really have more situational awareness.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I damn near hit him with the door as I shove it open, stretching out my back as I turn to face him. “What’re you doing sneaking up on me anyway?”
“We need to talk.”
“Okay…” I drag the word out, noting the way he’s standing, wondering if I’m about to get KO’d. I’ve seen him hit bigger guys than me and knock them out. It wouldn’t take much.
“What the hell is going on with Mercer?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, he’s not being his usual annoying self, and thatmeans that he’s hiding something. Something he doesn’t want everyone to know.”
“How should I?—”
“Save it, Traegs, you and Nate are his best friends. He tells you everything, so I know you know what’s going on with him.”
“I don’t, honest to God.”
“Oh, really? Is that why shit got weird on the ranch over the weekend? Do you think we’re all stupid? Because it was pretty obvious he was pissed at you, and I’ve never seen him pissed at you.”
I squeeze the back of my neck, looking out over Main Street, willing some kind of accident or fire alarm to get me out of this situation. I told her it wouldn’t work. I can’t lie to these guys. They seeeverything.
“I knew it.” Ethan’s eyes narrow, his right hand wrapping around the left as he cracks his knuckles. I honestly don’t know if it’s a habit or a tactic. Right now, I’m not sure it matters. “Spill it, Clay.”
“I don’t know what he’s up to,” I muse, trying to figure out the right words.
“Then start with why he was pissed off at you, and we’ll go from there, yeah?”
“Fuck, you’re scary.”
His eyes pinch even further, and if I weren’t me, I think he’d actually take a step closer.
“I told him something that wasn’t necessarily mine to tell.”
Ethan sighs, taking a step back, he undoes the button on his sports coat, and fuck, is everything this guy does a threat? Because it feels very much like a threat. “I swear to God, Clay, if you don’t get to the point and tell me what happened…”
“Jesus, fine. Ten years ago, when Leni turned eighteen, she found me. She came to see me, and I trashed a hotel room andscared the shit out of her. That’s why she was on that bus alone in the middle of the night.”
