“One of Reid’s places. Used to be quite a slum, but he fixed it up pretty good.”
“Oh, I know the one you mean. He painted it bright yellow, for fuck’s sake.”
“At least that’s faded a bit now. He did a major cleanup job on it. Put in all new appliances and shit. The units are small, but they’re pretty nice now. She’s on the second floor, apartment seven.”
“What else is there?”
“Not a lot, really. Tax returns just show her making minimum wage at a diner and a bit more than that at the library. The antique place and a house are both in her name but no other real estate. She drive’s a 2009 Honda Civic, which has liability insurance on it. She got renter’s insurance when she moved here, too. Sounds like she’s fairly cautious.”
“Anything else? Something more interesting?”
“Her social media is pretty stagnant. She has Facebook but nothing else. Not a lot of friends, it seems. She hasn’t updated and no one has posted on her timeline since a couple weeks after her aunt’s death. There are some birthday wishes from last August, but they’re pretty generic. There are a few pictures, but the last one is pretty old.”
I scroll through some photos, and almost all of the pictures are from her high school days and posted by someone else with Cherry just being tagged in the photo. None of the pictures show her with a group of steady friends though there are a few of her with the same guy.
I grit my teeth, not caring for the idea.
“Who’s he?” I ask, tapping my finger on what is obviously a senior prom moment.
“Justin Beeler. Oh wow, poor guy.” Antony laughs as he clacks at the keyboard. “Aside from the poorly chosen name, he seems a little more active on the
social media though there’s nothing showing the two of them since high school. Oh, wait. Here’s a bunch of pics of him wearing a rainbow shirt at a Pride parade, kissing his new boyfriend.”
“Huh. I wonder if she knew that.”
“Maybe he was her gay best friend. That’s a thing, I hear. Straight chicks go out with their gay friends so no one is alone. There’s even a movie.”
“Whatever.” Whoever he is or was to her, I can’t view him as much of a threat. “Move on. What about current relationships or close friendships?”
“Not seeing much else, certainly nothing consistent. She’s either a loner or she just doesn’t care for social media. There are people like that.”
“Doesn’t matter.” I step back from the screen.
If Cherry is a loner, that works for me. She probably doesn’t have a lot of experience with men, and she doesn’t appear to have any girlfriends who will interfere or give her advice on what to do. I won’t have to worry about a friend raising red flags, warning her to stay away from me or generally getting in the way.
Her aunt’s passing is more recent than I thought, but that may also work to my advantage. I can be the one who helps her adjust to a new place and helps her through her grief. The job at the park will help keep her isolated, too. Hopefully, she’ll let me keep her far too involved to form any close relationships with anyone else.
I will be her sole confidant.
“Nate?”
I glance at my cousin to find his suspicious eyes peering at mine.
“What?”
“Are you thinking…?” He leans back, eyes narrowed. “Is this what I think it is?”
“Not sure yet.” I shrug, not wanting to get into details right now.
Antony stares at me for another long minute before he grins.
“It is. I can see it in your eyes.” He points to the screen. “That’s all I can get with the first pass. You want me to dig a little deeper? Get that birth certificate and shit?”
“Yes, please.”
“What else do you want to know about her?”
“Everything.”