Darkness Follows (13 page)

Ryanne
decided to come out of her room later that afternoon when Aurina called her
from the kitchen. She didn't feel like seeing Blake, Burrows or even her sister,
but she didn't want Aurina to worry about her, so she went. When she got to the
kitchen, she noticed Burrows hadn’t arrived yet. Aurina was making a caesar
salad, and Blake was pouring them each a glass of wine. A pot on the stove had
foam rising to the top, and Ryanne hurried to stir it.

"One
of my customers, Ray Jackson, told me Anne Marie had been fighting with Jake
O'Leary.
Said she didn't come back into the bar after
that."
Blake said as he took a sip of his wine. "Ryanne, you
gotta stay away from that kid. He's not the kind of guy you want to be
associated with."

Ryanne
thought back to the night at the lake, and how different Jake had been with her
at the bar. She wasn't sure what made her leave O'Leary's with him, but when
they were out on the dock, she met a different Jake.

"How
can people think Jake did it?" Ryanne asked. She admittedly didn’t know
Jake well at all, but she didn’t think it was possible for him to have killed
this girl, and then gone out to the lake with her. There just didn’t seem to be
enough time from when he followed Anne Marie into the back to when he snuck out
the front with Ryanne.

"Well,
Ray didn't outright say it.
Just speculation."
Blake said and brought their glasses to the harvest table. “Apparently they had
a fight right before.
Thought maybe they were seeing each
other or something.”

"Well,
they were arguing, but he was with me the rest of the night. He couldn't have
done it." Ryanne turned the burner off, and set the spoon down on the counter.
“And he told me they weren’t together.”

"Regardless,"
Aurina said as she set the salad bowl on the table, and exchanged a glance with
Blake, "Ryanne's not going out alone anymore, so not to worry.
Especially not with Burrows staying here.”

“What’s
this Detective Burrows like? I missed her and Jones when they brought you
here.”

“I
don’t know.” Ryanne shrugged, and poured the contents of the pot into the
strainer in the sink.
“Didn’t really get much of a chance to
get to know her.
She was nice, for the time we spent together.”

After
Ryanne added the sauce to the gnocchi, and plated it, they all sat down to the
table.

Ryanne
had been unable to sleep away the day as she had intended. She wondered why
Anne Marie was killed, and why the police were so quick to dismiss the
possibility that it was Jeremy's work. What were the chances that a girl would
be murdered in this small town while they had only been there a week?

"To
Anne Marie, may she rest in
peace.
" Blake raised
his glass, and they followed, drinking to the toast.

"Maybe
we could talk about something else during dinner?" Aurina asked after an
uncomfortable silence.

“I
shoulda brought beer over.” Blake finished his mouthful of wine and pushed the
rest of the glass away.

The
rest of their dinner was quiet. Just before the sun set, they heard a car
coming down the road, and the headlights of Max’s station wagon flooded the
living room and kitchen for a moment as he backed into his usual spot across
the street.

"It's
been a week since we've been here now." Aurina said. Ryanne thought it
felt longer and shorter for different reasons. “It’s almost your birthday Rye.”

“Oh yeah?
How old will
you be?”

“Twenty-three.”
Ryanne took a
sip of her drink.

"Well,
I’m sorry you might have to spend it here. I know the circumstances are
horrible," Blake said as he topped up their glasses of wine, and Ryanne
cleared their plates away, "but I'm glad to have met you both."
Ryanne noticed he was smiling at Aurina, and she was giving him the same smile
back.

"To new friends."
Aurina raised
her glass.

"To
new friends who stole my bike, took over my parents’ house, and managed to piss
off Crawley without going to jail." Blake raised his glass, and they
clinked
them together, laughing.

Even
though Ryanne managed to clean her plate at dinner, she couldn't forget Anne
Marie’s face, watching her perform in the mezzanine of the pub. Her curious
stare, and haunting voice gave Ryanne chills.

"Shall
we move to the living room?" Blake asked in a horrible British accent that
made Aurina laugh.

They
brought their drinks to the couches where Aurina and Blake shared the sofa, and
Ryanne stretched out on the love seat, putting her feet up over the side. The smell
of garlic still lingered in the air as they all tried to get comfortable.

"So
I managed to get some time to see Jackie the other day. Picked him up at his mom's
and brought him over to the shop while I did some work."

"Oh yeah?
Does he like
cars?" Ryanne asked.

"Sure,
but he was more interested in talking about his crush from school." Blake
laughed. "He asked me for some advice."

"What
did you tell him?" Aurina asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

"That's
between Jackie and
I
." Blake smirked.

"Come
on," Aurina nudged him. "What was your expert advice?"

"I
told him that even when he gets to be my age, he still won't have girls figured
out. He looked pretty disappointed." Blake laughed. "I'm not gunna
sugar coat it for the kid."

"Ryanne?"
Aurina said,
and she snapped out of her daze.

"What's
wrong?" Blake asked.

"Something
just feels wrong about all of this. Blake, when was the last time a person was
murdered in Dersten?" Ryanne asked.

"Wow,
I don't even know. Umm, probably two winters ago. Everton Walker was an abusive
little bugger, and beat his girlfriend Jesse Long to death. He denied it, but
her blood was all over him, and she had filed a restraining order against him
that day. It's sad, but that's when it usually happens, so I'm told."

"Okay,
so my point being, this can't just be a coincidence. The Patrick sisters come
to town in the WPP, and a week later, a young girl is killed. Come
on,
let's put two and two together." Ryanne told
them,
taking another sip of wine, and then watching it swish
around in her glass.

"Let's
not jump the gun, okay?" Blake told her.

"I'm
sure the police know more than they are saying." Aurina finished her
second glass of wine.
"Anyone for another?"

"I'll
have a top up." Ryanne said.

She
was thinking about Crawley and Max, having been up all night chasing her around
town, and then being called to process a murder scene. Max hadn't even looked
in her direction since the previous night, and Ryanne wanted to try to muster
up the courage to apologize to him one on one.

"I'll
be back." she said, and Aurina and Blake both turned to her. "Oh, I'm
just going out to invite Max in." She told them, and Aurina nodded as she
poured another glass.

"I'll
be watching you." Blake said, and although he was trying to joke around,
Ryanne knew he'd be keeping his eye on her from his view in the living room.

As
Ryanne approached the car, she saw Max watching her carefully.

"Trying
to disappear again?" Max asked, and looked at the road straight ahead.

"I
was coming out to see if you wanted to join us inside."

"I
need to stay out here."

"Listen
Max, I really am sorry for last night. Could you look at me while I'm
talking?"

"Ryanne, save it.
You already
apologized.” Max turned to her, and she saw anger in his eyes. "You have
people who care about you, who are worried about you, and what? To hell with
them, cause you need a night of freedom? You’re too self-absorbed to notice you
and your sister are in a life threatening situation." Ryanne crossed her
arms, and took a step back from the car.

"It
was stupid of me. I don't know what else to say." She whispered, leaving a
lingering silence between them, and then quickly walked back into the house
without looking back. She didn't want to hear Max's lecture, mostly because she
knew she would be punishing herself for her carelessness longer than anyone
else would.

“I
can’t stay up any longer,” Ryanne yawned, “I’m so tired.”

“Yeah,
I’m gunna have to get some sleep soon if I want a chance in hell of actually
getting some work done at the shop tomorrow.” Blake cleared their wine glasses
and brought them to the kitchen sink.

They
had been waiting up for Burrows to arrive, and Aurina wondered if she would be
the only one awake when she got there.

Blake
had suggested playing a card game, but they never ended up starting one because
they couldn’t decide on a game they all knew. When she had gotten up to finally
clean the dishes, Blake helped her by drying, and Ryanne went to her room to
change into her pajama shirt and shorts. When she came out, Aurina had a good
laugh at her expense. She couldn’t believe Ryanne still had the set of the
matching pair their grandparents had given them for Christmas at least five years
ago. Ryanne’s had bunnies on the shorts, and Aurina’s had puppies. She
remembered they had opened them together, at the same time, and their gram had
asked them to put them on right then to see if they fit. Reluctantly, they both
went upstairs to change, giggling at the fact that their grandparents still saw
them as kids instead of young adults. When Ryanne told her she wasn’t going to
put them on, Aurina coaxed her into it. She told her it was just for a while,
and it would make their grandparents happy.

“Cute
shorts.” Blake laughed, when they had all gone back into the living room to
relax.

“That
must be Burrows.” Blake said, and although Aurina couldn’t hear anything, a few
seconds later, headlights shone down Maple Lane, and a black Buick pulled up in
the driveway.

Burrows
got out of the car, and Aurina noticed her straight hair was down, out of the
tight bun she remembered her wearing, and she was in plain clothes. The wind
blew the short blonde strands, as she turned and jogged over to Max’s car. She
leaned into the passenger’s side window, and they spoke for a moment before she
walked up to the house.

Aurina
went to the door to let her in and as she stepped inside the house, Aurina
decided her hair was much more flattering down, framing her face and softening
her features. Her black clothes clung to her slim figure, and she carried a
large gym bag over her shoulder.

“Hey.”
Burrows said as she dropped her bag in the hallway, and removed her shoes. “Jen
Burrows… You must be Blake?” She met Blake in the middle of the living room and
they shook hands.

“That’s
right, nice to meet you.” Blake smiled.

“I
believe Chief Crawley told you guys I’ll be staying for the remainder of your
time here.”

“Yep,”
Aurina looked at Ryanne, and realized she was staring at Burrows. “I’m sorry;
there are only two bedrooms here. You are staying here right?”

“That’s
alright,
I’ll stay on the couch, no big deal.”

“I’ll
show you around.” Blake offered, and after showing her the kitchen, they headed
off down the bedroom hallway.

“What
do you think of her?” Aurina asked Ryanne.

“I don’t know, she seems nice enough.”
They heard
laughter coming from the washroom.

“What
do
you
think?” Ryanne smiled.

Aurina
actually felt like Burrows was encroaching on her territory, and that surprised
her. They heard them coming back down the hallway, and Aurina found herself
fixing her hair before they were in view.

“Well,
nice to see you again Detective Burrows,” Ryanne said, “I need to get to bed.”

“Ah
yes, heard you had a late night.” They stood in silence for a moment and then
Ryanne left without saying good night.

“I
should be off too now that you’re here. I own an auto shop, Holloway’s, and
I’ve gotten kinda behind on my work lately.” Blake told Burrows as he walked to
the door.

“Have
you been here for many shifts?” Burrows asked. Blake hadn’t been assigned
shifts, Aurina thought.

“I
don’t really think of it as shifts,” Blake looked back to Aurina, “But I’ve
been spending a lot of time here.”

“It
was awesome of you to volunteer your space,” Burrows told him as she hoisted
her bag from her shoulder over to the couch, “Real cute house. But you won’t
have to be over as often now that I’m here, so you’ll be able to catch up on
your work.” Aurina couldn’t remember Burrows taking control of a situation like
this before. She seemed to take orders from Jones.

“Alright,”
Blake said as he pulled his shoes on, “Have a good night, and I’ll see ya
tomorrow.” He gave them a nod as he left the house.

“Okay,
well, I’m off to bed.” Aurina said as she locked the door behind Blake.

“See
you tomorrow morning. We’ll catch up then.”

When
Aurina got to her bedroom, she shut the door behind her quickly, and jumped
into bed. She wished Ryanne hadn’t gone out the previous night, and wondered if
that was why Burrows was sent, or if it had more to do with the murder of Anne
Marie. Of course there was the possibility that these reasons could be
entwined.

As
she snuggled in under the covers, she found herself thinking about Blake, how
sweet and thoughtful he had been, and how unaffected he had looked when Burrows
told him not to worry about coming over as often. She reached toward the small
bottles on her nightstand, but instead, flipped her pillow over, and rested the
side of her head against it.

She
heard the bathroom shower running, and drifted off to the sound of the water.