Page 61 of Justified Lies

“Hey, I only have a few minutes before a meeting with new clients.”

“I can let you go. It’s nothing important.”

“It’s fine, I have a few minutes, and this is just a consult. I don’t have anything to prepare.”

“Oh, yeah? Anything interesting?”

“It’s actually a criminal trial.”

“Really?”

“A cop who is going to be charged with manslaughter.”

“Oh, my God, the sheriff that shot and killed the cuffed guy in Seattle last month? I was waiting for them to charge him.”

“They haven’t yet but it’s looking likely. The union is lawyering up just in case. But you didn’t hear that from me.”

“No offense, as you are, in my opinion, the best lawyer qualified for all situations, but why would they bring in a civil rights litigator?”

“I’ll tell you as soon as I figure it out.”

“Wow, your life is way more interesting than mine. I was just calling to warn you against hot yoga and tell you I found Annie’s favorite bow. Never felt lamer.”

“If you think for a second that I’d take a hot yoga class, then you don’t really know me at all.”

“Izzy, I have a bad feeling.”

“Of course, you do! You just spent an hour in a sweat box breathing in strangers’ body odor.”

“No, I mean, I just have a bad feeling about… I don’t even know what about. About whoever is bothering me.”

“Did they leave another note, or something?”

“No, and that’s just it. What was the point of all the notes and dead things and trying to break in my window?”

“I know you don’t want to believe this, but maybe it was your neighbor after all.”

“Maybe, but…”

“Hey, Marcus, I’m all set.” Isabela’s voice was distant, like she was holding the phone away from her face. “Sorry, Li, I have to run. I’ll call you on my drive home.”

“Okay, good luck.”

“Love ya, bye.”

Lianna sighed, alone again. She made the decision to drive to the farther but nicer grocery store. Tonight, she was making Harris’s favorite, lasagna. It was merely a coincidence that it was also Gabe’s favorite, because he was absolutely not on her mind. She cared zero percent whether he was back in town yet or if he had reconnected with Jacob’s mom.

Lianna thought about what Isabela said, that Tim was probably behind the last few weeks of misery. It explained why everything stopped when he was arrested. However, apart from the confrontation with him down by the ocean, nothing else seemed to fit. It didn’t match what she knew of her neighbor. He had access to her anytime he wanted. Why waste time with spiders and hang up calls?

The pranks had taken a disturbing twist, but nothing had threatened her actual safety. The confrontation with Tim was the lone time she felt in real danger. And he swore he was just trying to tell her something that would keep her safe. Her stomach knotted. There was a piece of the puzzle lingering just out of reach.

Backing out of her spot, Lianna exited the parking lot. As she pulled into traffic, her car shuddered. She braced both hands on the wheel, but the vehicle drove smooth again. Growing rather desperate to distract herself, Lianna started to call Nicki, but a chime in her car began beeping obnoxiously.The dashboard warning came on with a large exclamation point highlighted in yellow, “VEHICLE SHUTTING DOWN.”

The car sputtered again and Lianna frantically looked over her shoulder. She reacted on instinct, pulling her car across a lane of traffic to reach the shoulder. The car behind her slammed on their brakes to avoid a collision, which earned her several honks, but she was too frazzled to care. Her vehicle shook again and turned off. The back bumper was still partially in the traffic lane, which earned her several more annoyed honks. She pushed down on the brake and attempted to restart the ignition, but it was dead.

“Shit!”

This was exactly what she didn’t need. Lianna knew nothing about cars, except that hers wasn’t working. She hadn’t charged her vehicle last night, but she also hardly drove it the day before. The car displayed battery life and while she couldn’t remember looking at it, she was confident she would have noticed the low charge warning.

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