Page 99 of Lay Me Down
“May I speak with her, please?” I ask convincingly. She nods sweetly to me and walks towards the back, only to poke her head through an archway.
“Mama D? There’s someone here who wants to speak with you.” She turns back around. “She’s coming.” She flashes me a bright smile as a mom and two kids walk in. So, I scoot over a little to keep them from hearing what we talk about. As much fun as creeping out little kids sounds, it’s better on Halloween, and I shouldn’t use our real-life issues to do it. Plus, I don’t have a costume.
A short, plump,wholesouthern woman walks up to the cash register. Her hair is about as tall as a beehive, and I should’ve calledherthe squirrel with how full her cheeks are, but she looks sweet enough—enough to be deadly.
“How may I help you, sir?” She walks up to the counter and lays her hands on top. It appears as a friendly gesture, but the tautness in her arms makes me believe that she would jump over this counter in an instant if she thought I was a threat.
Yep. I already like this woman.
“Yes ma’am, I’m sorry to bother you, but I need to know if you saw this man come in here on September first?” I hold up the picture of Damien and Ash she sent to my normal phone before I left.
“Oh, goodness gracious! Is that his wife? Aw!” Her face morphs into a melted candlewax version of herself, and it hits me then.She recognizes him. “That baby is going to come out looking so scrumptious!” She scrunches her face and coos over their photo.
“So, he did come in here?” I clarify.So predictable, D.
“Oh, yes! He is such a sweet thing. He came in and justgushedover her—talked about how beautiful and glowing she was. Ieven remember him saying that cotton candy was her favorite, so he was sure to buy a quart of that, and a quart of our peach cobbler ice cream. He said she had been raving for days about coming in here,” she rambles, and I can’t help but chuckle. Is she sure she’s not a Hartley? Or maybe a Moore. She isa lotlike my mom, too. Maybe it’s just a thing for middle-aged women to chat excitedly.
“Yeah, that sounds like Damien. Did he say where he was going after he left?”
“Straight home. He pulled up on a motorcycle, and it was hot outside. I was so worried that it would melt before he got home, so I gave him two ice packs and put them in his bag so he wouldn’t worry. But he assured me that he was going straight home to give it to her.”
“That was very sweet of you.” I give her my most charming smile. “Did you see him drive off?”
“No, I’m sorry, we were getting busy and he had to get home. I hated that he couldn’t stay and chat. It’s not often you find such a sweet thing like him in this day and age.”
“That’s very true,” I say agreeably, but I subconsciously roll my eyes.It’d ruffle your feathers if you knew what we do at night, lady.“You said you got busy, was there anyone in here who was focused on him? Or came in but didn’t buy anything?”
She scrunches her eyebrows, really thinking it over, but then she shakes her head.
“No, not that I can recall.”
“Do you have cameras?”
“Well, I do for inside. Not for the outside, though. Is everything alright? These are some strange questions.” Her eyes narrow on me, and I don’t miss the way she puts a little more weight on her hands.
“No, ma’am, it’s not. He’s missing. No one has seen him since that evening, and we’re trying to get any information we can. I’mhis wife’s brother.” I stick my hand out for her to shake. “My name is Zeke.”
“Oh, dear.” She covers her mouth with one hand, but then reaches out and frantically shakes my hand with the other. “Well, I’m Diane. You’re more than welcome to take a look. Come on back here.” She lifts the walkthrough countertop and turns to the girls working. “Katie! Man the front, I’m helping this young man!”
“You got it, Mom!” the girl with pink hair yells back. Diane steps in front of me and swats her hand into the air.
“She ain’t really my daughter, they just all call me that.”
“I can see why,” I say honestly. She leads me to her office and pulls up a stool next to her desk for me to sit. I take the kind gesture while she types away. Her face is only about three inches from the screen, but she keeps darting her eyes to the keyboard like it’ll explode if she gets it wrong.
Oops. I probably shouldn’t make that joke either.
“Here we are.” She pulls up the video and fast forwards it to when he walked in. Damn, hewashappy. He was smiling and talking to Diane, looking at all of the ice cream like a kid. But then after a few minutes, that haunted look washed over his face. We had all known that he’d had trouble lately, but D’sbeencrazy. So that wasn’t really a surprise. I think that’s where Satori and I really started to hate each other. Damien is the kind of crazy that will jump out of a cake in the middle of restaurant, not blow it up.
Well, there I go again.
Plus, that’s a me thing, and he wouldn’tdaresteal my sparkle.
I watch it all the way through until he pays with cash,fucking asshole, and walks out.If he just would’ve used a damn card, we could’ve figured this out much sooner.While it was a cute interaction, and it was nice to see D that way, there’s nothing on these tapes. I can’t even see him pull out of the lot.
“I hope that’s helpful,” she says nervously.
“Unfortunately not, but I really appreciate your help.” I grin sadly back at her.
