Page 21 of Camera Stays On

“Angel Marin—failure to pay due to death.” The auctioneer addressed him directly. I cocked my head slightly. Were they allowed to disclose that kind of stuff? That seemed a bit disrespectful, dead or not.

The crowd lowered their hats and some muttered various forms of “rest in peace.” Sawyer and I looked at each other.

“Andi’s mom,” I muttered. Maybe that’s why he shared the information. With our town being so small, everyone knew about Sawyer and Andi’s history.

“What’s in it?” Sawyer stepped to the front to peer inside. I moved to the right, doing the same.

“Looks like some clothes, some books, a bunch of old VHS tapes. That looks like a wedding dress, some power tools. Those look like they could be worth something,” the guy said.

“That’s Andi ‘s wedding dress,” I said.

Sawyer turned to look at me. “Are you sure?”

I nodded grimly. You’d think the man she’d bought it for would remember it better than his brother—but no. I recalled with detail how she’d looked in that dress. There was no denying it was the one hanging in the unit.

Sawyer stared for a long moment, then turned back to the auctioneer.

“Do you take electronic payment?”

“You betcha. If there’s an app, I’ve got it.”

Everyone continued to ogle the contents, pointing out this box or that. People mostly wanted the power tools, but it was pretty clear Sawyer was going to try to win that unit.

“All right, can we start the bidding?” the auctioneer asked.

A few people shook their heads, and others grumbled various impatient phrases. “Do we have twenty-five?”

Sawyer’s hand shot right up.

“Thirty-five?” A tall Hispanic man in a red shirt raised his hand.

“Fifty?” An overweight redheaded woman of about fifty rose hers.

“Seventy-five?” A few hands rose, and the auctioneer’s face lit up. In a matter of sixty seconds, we were at five hundred, and after another, one grand. He bounced on his feet and raised his arms, asking for more takers.

“I’ll take it for twelve,” I said, throwing my hat into the ring. Sawyer was determined, and I knew if either of us won, we’d split the cost.

“Do I hear fifteen?” the auctioneer asked. When no one budged, he called it. “Going once, going twice—sold to this fine gentleman for twelve hundred dollars.”

I stepped forward to discuss payment. I pulled out my phone and sent him the money, then I requested half from Sawyer while I was still in the app.

The auctioneer—the only one left now that the crowd had dispersed—patted me on the shoulder. “Enjoy, boys. It’s all yours. Get everything within forty-eight hours, and it needs to be swept once you’re done.” He handed me the key and started off, back toward the office.

Sawyer and I waited until he was out of sight before turning to each other. He grinned widely.

“Care to look? I’m curious if there’s anything of mine in here. Something Purdy held on to.”

I fought back an eye roll as I stepped into the unit to search through the contents. Sawyer tossed boxes out of his way and stepped on things too heavy to move. He reached the back, where the dress hung. I paused, watching as he turned it and nodded.

“Well, what do you know? I never actually got a good look at her in it. I was too fucking mad to see straight. Kinda wish things had gone differently that day.”

“Like you wish you didn’t confront her at the altar?” I asked.

He snorted. “More like I wish she hadn’t cheated on me. Fuck, Ash. Come on now.”

I turned away and kept rifling through boxes, making sure to keep them neat for later when we emptied the container.

“Any luck finding anything?” he asked, lifting a tote full of VHS tapes out of the pile.