Page 84 of Sunset Beach
Brice propped his elbow on the table. “His picture was in theSt. Pete Timesjust this week. Dr. Hicks drinks with every judge in town. She wouldn’t get a dime for a divorce settlement.”
“Okay, tell her to get a restraining order against Hicks. I mean, we could swear we saw him beat her that night. I’d do it.”
“You’re not listening,” Brice said. “No judge is going to grant her a restraining order. And even if one did, Hicks would come after her anyway. He dislocated her shoulder last month. On her birthday.”
Their refills arrived. Brice stared moodily down into the glass, his red-rimmed eyes unfocused.
“You’re not the one who’s screwed,” Zee pointed out. “I mean, it’s okay to want to help her out, but in the end, she’s the one who married the asshole, and she’s the one who decided to stay with him. Not your problem, brother.”
“It kinda is,” Brice said, looking sheepish. “I’ve been seeing her. Like a lot.”
“What does Sherri think about that?”
“She knows I’m taking night classes, but I told her I’m meeting with a study group on Thursday nights.”
Zee chuckled. “But instead you’re studying Colleen Hicks?”
“I feel like I’m losing my mind. And she’s definitely lost hers. I had no idea just how crazy that girl is. Now she’s saying the only way she can leave her husband is if she just disappears.”
“Like,poof,she’s in the wind?”
“That’s her plan. And she wants me to help. They’ve been saving up to buy a house. Her plan is to empty the savings account and hop a Greyhound to Atlanta. She’ll assume a new identity and start a new life.”
“Where do you fit into this crazy-ass scheme?”
“She wants me to help her disappear, get her a fake ID. She really wants me to go with her too.”
“You’d do that?”
“Hell no,” Brice said. “Leave Sherri? My job? Give up my plans? If I help her, go with her, I’m a fugitive. What’s that do to my plan to go to law school?”
“You think Sherri knows what’s going on? She’s not stupid.”
“I think maybe she suspects. She kicked me out of the house the week before Christmas—that first night I was with Colleen. She only took me back, Christmas morning, after I swore I was through cheating. Now she watches me like a hawk.”
Brice shook another cigarette out of the pack of Salems with shaking hands.“I think I’m just gonna do it. Get the fake ID. It’s not that hard. Every teenager in town has one.”
“I don’t like it.” Zee shook his head vehemently. “What if her disappearing act blows up? And it comes back on you? The department would can you in a minute. I say you let this chick do what she’s gonna do. She can’tmakeyou help her.”
“Colleen already admitted she went and saw Sherri, at the real estate office. Pretending she wanted to rent a house. And I’ve seen her drive past the house at night a couple times.”
Zee didn’t say anything. Just shook his head.
“I’m worried that if I don’t help her, she’ll go to Sherri. Tell her we’ve been hitting the sheets at the Dreamland every Thursday night…”
“The Dreamland? That dump? Are you shitting me?”
“What can I tell you? She gets off on the place.”
“Let me get this straight. She’s stalking you, stalking Sherri. Making threats?”
Brice leaned back in the booth, avoiding his friend’s direct gaze. “Yeah, I know. I feel like I’m living a nightmare I can’t wake up from.”
“Let me talk to her,” Zee said. “Make her see that she just needs to walk away and not look back. Forget she ever met you. No reason to ruin both your lives.”
“No. I’m already in over my head. I don’t want to get you involved.”
“I’m already involved. I was with you the night we broke up that fight at the motel. I went along with not filing a report, remember?”
