Aftermath by George Weinstein

Author:George Weinstein [Weinstein, George]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780997951844
Publisher: SFK Press
Published: 2018-06-26T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

Good thing I’d put away the gun.

Back when I’d stood on the balcony with Mr. Pearson, I must’ve mistaken Tara’s hair dye for a red and blue bandana and assumed a man was watching me from the woods. The damage and threats had been so easy to pin on some mythical, sinister guy. Cade had been right about the danger of making assumptions.

Gaping now at this girl who had provoked so much fear and anger, I snapped, “Why did you want to scare the shit out of me and vandalize my fucking property?”

She shook her head, lips turned down in disappointment. “So, do you know you have this total potty mouth? I’m just saying. Granny Hazel would’ve collected, like, ten dollars in her swear jar from you already.” Her face brightened again. “Oh, I haven’t told you about Granny. She’s totally awesome, but she didn’t care too much for Wally. He accidentally dented her Pontiac one time by sitting on the hood. It’s a red Grand Am, but she doesn’t want anybody thinking she’s cussing—like, saying ‘Gran Damn’—so she always calls it her ‘Grand A.M.’ Isn’t that the best?”

Fighting to regain control, I said, “I’m going to do more than swear at you unless you explain why you’ve been terrorizing me.”

“Hey, don’t go all ninja on me again. You’re worse than Wally. I was just trying to get your attention.”

“Mission accomplished. Can you think of any reason why I shouldn’t call the police and have them throw your ass in jail?”

She cocked her head. “Seriously?”

“You also pointed a gun at me in my own home. I think the cops and a judge would take a dim view of that, too.”

“So, where’d you kick that gun anyway? It’s my daddy’s—he’ll, like, kill me if I lose it.”

The rejoinders were too easy. I settled for, “Focus. Why did you want to scare me?”

“I was trying to call you out or whatever. Tell you I knew something sketchy had happened here.”

“My God, why didn’t you just leave a note?”

She gestured at her backpack near the front door. “I didn’t bring anything to write with.”

“Just a knife,” I said, “to carve ‘MURDER’ on my trunk and slash my tires.”

Tara patted her jeans pocket. “Daddy’s Swiss Army knife,” she said, confirming one of my assumptions had been right anyway. “He said it would come in handy. Same as his camping stuff.”

I stood up to give me a height advantage and also to be prepared in case I needed to get physical again. “You sound pretty proud for someone who’s in big trouble.”

“You can’t throw me in jail,” she said. “I don’t have any money for, like, bail or anything.”

“Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.” I pulled the cell phone from my back pocket.

She shook her head. “So, if you want to find out about Wally and why he did what he did, you need me. I’m the only one who really knew him.”

I thought I could live with that ambiguity, not knowing all of “the why.

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