Page 55 of To the Grave

The flames cast weird shadows on his face, making his high cheekbones and full mouth seem almost villainous.

I nodded. “That’s the one.”

He held my gaze and I could almost see the memories flash in front of his eyes in the moment before he spoke again. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I’m not sure if you know this, but Mac raised Jace after Arlo… died.” I kicked myself for stumbling over the final word. It was hard to force my brain back to the time when we’d thought Arlo was dead. “I heard you were all friends in high school.”

Derrick glanced up at Otis, almost like he’d just realized Otis was there even though I had the feeling there wasn’t much Derrick Mayer didn’t notice from the get-go.

“That’s Otis,” I said. “He was friends with Jace too.”

Derrick turned back to the fire. “I’m not sure they would have called me a friend, but we hung in the same crowd for a while.”

“Why do you say that?” I asked. “About them not calling you a friend?”

“Why are you asking?”

I didn’t know what I’d expected, but his level of calm was almost off-putting, and I considered myself a pretty calm person. “Just have some questions about Arlo, things Jace wanted to know.”

The guy to my left got up and Otis slipped into his vacant chair.

“Jace is dead.” Derrick said it like it was nothing. Not cruel, just matter of fact.

“He wanted to know,” Otis said, leaning forward so Derrick could see him.

Derrick looked at him, like he needed to get a better read on him now that he was sitting down. “What is it you want to know exactly?”

This was the hard part. Whatdidwe want to know?

“Anything you can tell us about the dynamic, I guess. Were they tight? Is that why Arlo asked Mac to raise Jace when he died? What happened to Michael?”

Derrick pulled his gaze away fast this time, like he didn’t want us to see something in his eyes. “They were tight. Called themselves the Three Musketeers.”

“That must have been weird for you,” I said. “Not being included.”

“Maybe at first, but later, I didn’t actually want to be…included,” Derrick said.

“Why’s that?” Otis asked.

Derrick shrugged. “They got up to some weird shit. Especially Arlo and Michael.”

“Arlo and Michael?” I’d always assumed Arlo and Mac were the closest given that they’d started the Blades together.

“I didn’t stutter,” Derrick said.

“What kind of weird shit?” Otis asked.

Derrick pinned him with his gaze. “Why do you want to know?”

I hurried to do damage control. “Was Arlo tighter with Michael?”

“Arlo wasdifferentwith Michael.”

“Mind if I ask how?”

“What does it matter now? It was a long time ago.”

I nodded. “It’s just something Jace wanted to know. We’re trying to put it to bed for him.”

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