“I don’t like you,” Jones said, pointing a finger at Rico. “Vacation. First time in two years. Don’t fuck with me.”
“Yes, Officer.”
The radio on his shoulder crackled to life. Jones sighed. “No rest for the weary. You guys going to be all right getting this back to the shop? Need me to follow you in?”
I waved him off. “We’ll take care of it. Call me if something else happens.”
He nodded before turning back to his cruiser.
We waved as he drove by us, honking his horn before heading toward town.
“Weird, right?” Chris said, staring at the car. “You don’t think it’s—”
“Let’s just get it to the shop,” I said, cutting him off. “I want to get back to the house before this storm gets any worse. Chris, with Tanner in the tow truck. Rico, with me.”
“Move your asses!” Tanner bellowed. “I’m fucking cold.”
We moved our asses.
IT WAS slow going, getting back into Green Creek. The snow was coming down harder than I ever remembered
seeing it. The roads had been treated ahead of the storm, but it wasn’t doing much. Large drifts lined either side of the road. We followed the tow truck slowly, the light bar atop flashing bright yellow.
Rico had his phone out, set up on the dashboard, speaker on, trying to continue the conversation he’d been having beforehand. “Baby,” he was saying. “Baby, listen to me. I swear I’m—”
“I don’t care, Rico,” Bambi said, voice crackling through the phone. “You were supposed to come over here. But instead you tell me there’s a situation you have to handle and you won’t be in town for a couple of days. And when I ask you what situation, you tell me it’s top secret.”
I turned slowly to look at him.
He shrugged. “What was I supposed to say?” he muttered.
“I heard that, Rico! Who are you talking to? Who is she? If you got some bitch pregnant, I swear to god, I will end you.”
“Hi, Bambi,” I said, dry as dust. “Rico didn’t get me pregnant. I swear. And even if he tried, he’d end up knocked flat on his ass.”
“Is that Gordo? Gordo, who is he screwing besides me?”
“I told you I’m not screwing anyone but you!” Rico cried. “You know you’re my one and only.”
“Like I believe that. You’re a smooth talker, Rico. I see how you flirt with women. You did it to me, after all.”
“What can I say, mi amor. The ladies love me.”
“Probably should have kept your mouth shut,” I told him.
He winced as Bambi began to let him know what she thought about that. I tuned them out, staring at the tow truck ahead of us. The car hooked up to the boom was shaking slightly, bouncing on the road. We passed the sign welcoming us to Green Creek, mostly covered in snow. We hit Main Street, the shops closed up on either side of us, the windows frosted in ice. The neon lights of the diner were a beacon in the white. The only time I’d ever seen them off was after Ox’s mother died. The owner had shut the lights down for a couple of days to honor her, in his own way. I hadn’t known how I’d felt about that, but we’d been on the road shortly after and I’d forgotten about it until now. Memory was a funny thing.
It was Halloween, and the sidewalks should have been filled with people getting ready for the trick-or-treaters. Instead, Green Creek looked abandoned. A ghost town.
There was a shriek of static as we drove down Main Street. I glanced over as Rico picked up his phone off the dashboard, frowning down at it.
“And another thing, I… that you’d…. Rachel told me that you talked… and—”
“Bambi, you’re breaking up,” Rico said. “I can’t hear what you’re saying.”
“What? I’m… if you’re… I’ll kill you… don’t think I… there’s….”
The phone beeped as the call dropped.