Page 13 of Justified Lies

Tim’s services were no longer required. Someone needed to renege on the Tim’s open invitation and Gabe was happy to oblige.

“That one?”

Gabe hooked a finger over his shoulder towards the older log cabin home to his right. While the back of Lianna’s property was fully fenced in, the two houses were only separated by about fifty feet and a line of tall evergreens in the front. Most of the houses on this side of the street were newer, the log cabin wasa few decades senior to them. It seemed to be almost hiding among the old forest that surrounded it.

“Yes, but…” She didn’t get to finish her statement as Gabe strode toward the wooden structure.

“Wait.” Lianna ambled after him. Gabe stopped and turned to her. “Are you just going to ask him if he butchered a raccoon and left it on my garbage?”

“Yes,” he said, starting toward the old man’s home again.

He felt Lianna hot on his heels but was too annoyed to slow down.

“Tim wouldn’t leave that message,” she called after him.

Gabe didn’t agree. He had learned to trust his instincts—they had seldom failed him. Something felt off about the way Lianna described her neighbor and Gabe needed to see for himself if he posed a threat. If he failed Gabe’s test, then he intended to let this geezer know he had worn out his welcome.

When they reached the older but well-maintained cabin, Gabe pounded firmly on the door. While he waited for an answer, he chanced glancing at Lianna. She was wringing her hands together, gaze focused on the ground. The fact that confronting this man caused her stress made his temper flare. Before he could ask if she wanted to go back and let him handle this alone the door pulled open.

A man, only a few years older than Gabe, stood before him. The neighbor was smaller than him, but most men were. Tim held his own at about six feet tall, but where Gabe was built like the thick tree trunks surrounding the property, this man was as lean as the branches. To Gabe’s dismay, Tim wasn’t hard to look at. The neighbor had a nerd vibe to him, but no unfortunate features. His fair skin was freshly shaven, with ash blond hair combed harshly back.

Tim looked at Gabe, then over to Lianna where his gaze held, seemingly confused. Gabe watched as Lianna looked up at the man, and, yes, she was definitely nervous.

“Hey, Tim, this is going to sound weird, but did you notice a dead raccoon on my garbage can this morning?” Gabe saw the man’s Adam’s apple working as Lianna went on. “I, uh, noticed you over in that general direction earlier and thought maybe you saw something?”

Tim, never taking his eyes off her, stepped out of the house. He quietly closed the door behind him and stepped directly into Gabe’s personal space. Gabe’s body tensed, his hands involuntarily balling into fists. Every grown man had an invisible circle of personal space, about a foot in either direction. Unless you had boobs or were a buddy, you better not step into it without consequences.

But Tim seemed to be completely oblivious to Gabe’s presence, taking a small step towards Lianna. Gabe mimicked Tim’s movement. That got the neighbor’s attention, as he turned to level an icy stare at Gabe. Tim’s blue eyes narrowed, sizing him up. In response, Gabe’s heart revved, his body preparing for a fight.

“Who are you?” Tim asked, his nasally voice like the kid in class who hadn’t finished puberty yet.

Lianna quickly responded, “This is my friend Gabe. I asked him to help me clean up the mess.”

Tim’s head whipped back in Lianna’s direction. “Why didn’t you get me? I’m always happy to help you.” When Lianna didn’t respond right away Tim went on. “That’s what I was doing earlier, I was tidying up the tree line and throwing some loose branches away. I noticed the animal on your garbage and was going to clean it up. Then my, um… Diane, needed assistance, so I had to leave the raccoon.”

“Oh,” was all Lianna muttered as she looked at Gabe. He hoped she wasn’t buying the neighbor’s story because it was riddled with holes.

Tim took another step towards her and started to reach out but stopped as his hand was in mid-air.Smart manGabe thought, trying to figure out what the hell was going on here.

“Darn it, I’m so sorry, Lianna. I meant to come back and finish cleaning it up, but I got sidetracked.” The man’s face grew red, and Gabe couldn’t decide if it was in anger or embarrassment.

Lianna consoled him, obviously believing it was embarrassment. “It’s fine, Tim, really, it was just quite the surprise. It wasn’t your job to clean it up.”

Tim turned redder. “I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said quietly.

Gabe had a thousand questions concerning the dynamic unfolding before him, but decided to go with, “Why didn’t you throw the branches out in your own garbage can?”

Now it was Tim’s turn to ball his hands into fists before deflecting the question. “Lianna, I’ll be right over to finish cleaning that up.” Just as Gabe was about to tell him he shouldn’t plan on ever coming over again, Lianna piped up.

“No, please don’t worry about it. Thank you so much for trying to help in the first place. We can take it from here. But did you see the note that was with the animal?”

“What note?” Tim questioned.

Gabe grabbed Lianna’s elbow and steered her down the stairs, effectively ending the conversation. He was livid. The story wasn’t adding up, but he couldn’t stand to see the neighbor’s beady gaze on Lianna for one second longer.

Tim called out behind them, “I’m sorry again, Lianna.”

Gabe turned to glare back as she said, “No worries.”

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