Page 10 of Justified Lies

Who did he think he was? He treated her like an incurable illness one minute, then in the next breath, lectured her on staying safe. She had been enjoying baiting him into an argument. Then her adrenaline ran out and insecurities flooded in. One thing was certain—the guy ran hotter and colder than her shower tap.

Trudging into the bathroom, she looked in the mirror and winced at the scrape extending the length of her upper arm.That’s gonna sting. The buzz from her workout was quickly wearing off. In search of ibuprofen, she left the bathroom, and her attention was drawn to movement outside of her window.

Quietly opening the French doors leading from her room to the balcony, she hid her underwear clad body behind the door frame and strained to see out. Tim, her neighbor, was walking away, moving swiftly up her driveway. He glanced around several times almost nervously before he reached the road.

Diane, Tim’s wife, came into view from the tree line between the properties, yelling something indiscernible to him. Lianna couldn’t hear the couple’s words, but she didn’t miss Tim’s skin turn several shades redder before he stomped back into his own yard after her. She was clearly missing something. Why were they on her property? And yelling at each other.

Tim and Diane had been her neighbors since they originally built the home. In that time, the two households had never become very friendly. Tim preferred staring over speaking, which had given Lianna the heebie jeebies on more than one occasion. He was soft spoken and seemed nervous around her, always having an excuse for being on her property. But the pair generally kept to themselves, which served Lianna just fine.

When Scott was alive Diane was more cordial, stopping to chat with her and the kids. In the years since his death, she could count on one hand the times her neighbor stopped to converse. Which, in fairness, some people didn’t know how to handle the fact that she was widowed and preferred to just avoid her. It bothered Lianna at first, heightening her feelings of being an outcast. However, more recently she was grateful to not have to make forced small talk.

The neighbors seemed to fight at regular frequencies. Sometimes their raised voices would travel in the evenings when the windows were open. She knew from personal experience every couple had their issues. As she continued to eavesdrop, her neighbors’ voices disappeared as they exited from view.

Lianna’s cell phone rang. Emerging from her hiding spot to grab it from the bedside table, a smile spread over her face when she saw it was her friend Isabela calling back. Since her pal had accepted a job in the Emerald City last year, they would meet for coffee a few times a month. Lianna had called her friend immediately after returning from her run. She wanted to confirm this week’s coffee date, but mostly wanted to rant about her run in with Gabe.

“Your timing is impeccable,” Lianna said, ignoring the standard greeting.

“Oh, yeah? I have a knack for these things.”

“I was just watching my goofy neighbors fight.”

“Hold on, I want details but just let me pay for my fuel.”

As she waited, Lianna’s gaze drifted to the trees. “It’s so beautiful here, huh? Are you loving being back?’

“I wouldn’t know, I’m never out of my office. Pretty ironic since I moved here for the elusive work-life balance.”

Then Isabela said to someone else, “Great, thank you, have a good day.” She sighed. “Okay, I’m back. Every time I choose full service, I always regret how long it takes.”

“You know…” Lianna continued, distracted, “I thought about moving back east when Scott died.”

Ultimately, she decided it was too much change for her kids. They had school and friends and it had just felt like Lianna was running. They stayed in their small, quiet community and she knew it was the right choice. She smelled the ocean at night and woke up to the eagles chatting in the mornings.

“Well, right about now I’m glad you didn’t. Or you would miss our date tomorrow. We’re still on, right?”

“Absolutely, I’ll call when I cross the border, so you know when to leave.” Sometimes border traffic could be a pain, especially on the weekends. Vancouver and Seattle were sister cities, however having an international border between them had its challenges at times.

“Awesome, okay, I have to run. I have a call from the office coming in. Catch me up with the neighbor gossip tomorrow, okay?”

“No problem, drive safe. See you tomorrow.”

Lianna said goodbye but was still mentally drifting. She was lost in the memory of when she told Diane they had decided to stay in the aftermath of losing Scott. Her neighbor had blinked at her in surprise then seemed annoyed. She was thinking too much into this. The woman was probably just caught off guard. Closing the balcony door behind her, Lianna headed for the medicine cabinet and prayed a soothing shower could salvage the morning.

Chapter Five

There was, in fact, no salvation to be found in the arms of her white, marble-tiled shower. Lianna’s mood officially sank to the bottom of the ocean she adored so much. Her arm stung like hell when she cleaned it and still throbbed despite the medicine. She was anxious from the interaction she had with Gabe earlier, at war with herself for caring about his feelings, or lack thereof. On top of that, there were a million chores to do. As usual, laundry had piled up during the week, the garbage was begging to be taken out, and groceries weren’t going to buy themselves.

Every other weekend, Scott’s parents Charles and Barb took the kids to stay at their place. This was one of their weekends. It was a godsend for Lianna. They only lived five minutes away and it gave her the only parenting break she received other than when they were in school. Most importantly, her children adored their grandparents.

Lianna dressed hastily, pulling on her favorite black leggings and a soft gray tunic. Slathering on tinted BB cream and some mascara, she winced as the simple task tweaked her arm. Setting off to conquer her to-do list, she decided on taking the garbage out first.

Dreading the task that lay ahead, Lianna shuffled her feet through the garage. She stopped to throw on sandals before grabbing the trash bag in one hand and the recycling in the other. She exited the side door and immediately dropped both bags when she walked through a spider web.

Lianna was swatting around like a madwoman when she first smelled it. Recoiling at the obnoxious scent, she stopped swinging her arms long enough to look for the cause of the nasal onslaught. As her gaze passed over the garbage cans, she froze.

There, lying on top of the bin, was an animal resembling a raccoon. She could make out some of its signature fur markingsbut otherwise it was covered in crimson. Only a few flies buzzed around, signifying that the animal hadn’t been there long. Based on the smell, though, Lianna found that very hard to believe.

Before she could turn back into the house, the animal’s midsection caught her attention. The stomach was sliced open, and its insides had spilled out of the cavity. How the poor creature made it all the way on top of that bin with such a gruesome injury was beyond her. Lianna had a strong stomach, handling baby poop and puke like a pro, but this had her bile churning.

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