Page 27 of So Far Gone

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Kinnick had never seen someone drive the way Chuck Littlefield piloted this extended cab Chevy Silverado pickup: perched forward as if bellied up to a bar, steering with his left forearm, which he draped over the wheel,his head snapping left, then right, then left again, like a driving squirrel, zipping between lanes and speeding between intersections. Any space between cars seemed to offend him. “Drive your fuckin’ car!” he’d say as he raced around some cautious motorist.

He glanced over at Kinnick. “So. You and Lucy, huh?”

“What?” Kinnick said. “Oh. Yeah. For a few months. But it was a long time ago.”

“Long time ago,” Chuck repeated. “Right.” He worked the phone in his lap with his right hand as he drove, ringing his lawyer’s office. He held up a finger to Kinnick and put a single wireless earbud in his right ear. “Shel. Hey. Littlefield here. Look. I need you to run a couple of names for me, standard checks: address, criminal, civil, whatever you got. You ready? First, a Shane and Bethany Collins, Spokane address, and before that, Grants Pass, Oregon.C-O-L-L-I-N-S. Bethany’s DOB is—” He looked at Kinnick.

“Oh. Uh, April eleventh, 1987. I don’t know Shane’s.”

“Bethany’s DOB: Four-eleven-eighty-seven. No DOB for Shane. Next, Anna Gaines, Spokane resident, neighbor, apartment in Northeast, no DOB, husband’s name unknown. And a con by the name of Dean Burris, also no DOB. Truck driver. Federal charges a dozen or so years ago—” He looked at Kinnick, who nodded.

“Federal charges for poaching, did some time, apparently ran for office up in Stevens County.” Chuck spelled each name and repeated the information Kinnick had given. Rhys couldn’t believe this was the same guy who had called Shane Shawn and Bethany Brittany and had barely jotted anything down in his pocket notebook. He seemed to remember every detail now. “Text me whatever you get. We’re on the road today,goin’ mo-bile, so keep the info coming. Thank you, Shel, I owe you.”

Chuck ended the call and glanced at Kinnick again. “So, what happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“Between you and Lucy? I’m guessing you didn’t break up withher.”

“Oh.” Kinnick laughed. “No. I didn’t.” He exhaled. “It was complicated.”

“She does that to people.”

“We worked together, so we wanted to keep it quiet. I was recently divorced and she... wasn’t yet—”

“Ah—”

“Turns out an office scandal is not the best way to start a relationship—”

“And yet people keep trying—”

“Meanwhile, she was having trouble with her son—”

“Christ, that kid—”

Kinnick smiled. Having a conversation with Chuck was like playing ping-pong. Rhys looked out the window, remembering. “But honestly? The real problem... was me. I was a wreck. All over the place. About to lose my job, estranged from my family, depressed, pushing away anyone who cared about me, drinking too much—”

“Not hard to find yourself there—”

“—until eventually Lucy asked me to leave her alone.”

“And you did?”

“For almost eight years.”

“Damn. Willpower.”

“Well, I left everyone alone. Daughter, ex-wife, grandkids, family, friends. I moved up to the woods and I just... disappeared.”

“No shit.” Chuck chewed his lip. “I don’t think I could do that.”

“I convinced myself that no one would miss me—”

“I do understand that—”

“—and in the end, it was almost likeIwasn’t the one choosing exile—”

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