Page 41 of Last Seen
“I don’t like this, Halley. You need to stop. The universe is telling you to back off.”
“The universe?” That makes her smile. “When did you get all mystic on me?”
“When plot point after plot point started piling up. Seriously, this story is worthy of a novel. Or one of your shows.”
He says “your shows” in a tone that implies daytime television, but in truth they are all crime related. It sparks a memory, though.
Her mom used to call them “my shows.” She would tape the afternoon soap operas—Days of Our Lives,Another World,Santa Barbara—and, after she kissed Halley good night, would go to her bedroom to watch her shows. On days Halley was sick, her mom stayed home from work, and they’d snuggle together in her room and watch them live.
She hasn’t thought of that in years. These memories, stealing in on cats’ feet, will unhinge her if she doesn’t find a way to order them. Make them behave.
“Hey, where’d you go?” Theo asks softly.
Halley shakes her head. “Sorry. Everything seems to remind me of something I haven’t thought about in years. A novel, huh? Would you read it if I wrote it?”
“Of course. I’d read anything you wrote. I didn’t take you for a novelist, though.”
“Oh, trust me, I’m about as likely to write a book as I am to get on a roller coaster. But apparently, my sister did. She was a poet and was planning to write a novel at this retreat in Tennessee. I just wonder what she was using as inspiration. The poetry I was able to find online was really dark.”
His forehead creases in concern. “You aren’t going to let this go, are you?”
“Theo, it’s my past. My mother. My sister. I can’t just pretend everything is okay. Nothing is the same. Every memory I have is ... not real.”
“That’s not true.Allof your memories are real. What was the first thing I said to you when we met?”
“‘Ma’am, I think you dropped your scarf.’” She says it in as deep a voice as she can muster, and it makes him laugh.
“God, do I sound like that?”
“Yours is deeper. You could stand in for James Earl Jones.”
“Yeah, whatever. Now you’re being silly. I’m serious, though. Your memories are fine, Halley. You had a traumatic event that you’ve blocked out. That’s all.”
“Maybe.” She plays with the ends of her hair. “Dad’s getting married, by the way. Another thing he neglected to tell me.” She hears the sarcasm, and so does Theo.
“That’s kind of big news. Are you pissed at your dad for getting remarried?”
“No. Not at all. It just feels like he’s keeping an awful lot from me these days.”
“He had a pretty bad trauma, too, Hals. His wife was killed. His stepdaughter jailed. He was afraid for you. He did what he thought was best. I don’t know that I’d do it any differently if I was faced with the same situation. Maybe it was better that you didn’t remember? Those kinds of events can submarine a person. You were so little ... I don’t know. See, this is why having kids is impossible. There are no good results. Whatever decision you make, they get pissed at you in the end.”
“And . . . we’re back.”
He sighs. “I just think that maybe you try to do the remembering in a safer environment. Like with a therapist or something.”
“I’ll think about it.” She yawns. “I’m beat. Talk tomorrow? Maybe you can tell me about you for a change. I’m getting bored of me.” The words slip out before she even thinks about them.Shit.She needs to get a handle on this. They are separated. They are nottheyanymore. But Theo looks happier than she’s seen him in weeks at the ask.
“You could never be boring. I got nothing right now anyway. Just doing my thing. There’s an interesting case brewing in Texas, though. I’m heading there in the morning. Some alleged terrorists left behind some matériel in a house in Dallas. Yours truly gets to bring the newbie along to catalog and identify.”
“That’s good, right? I mean, not that there are terrorists in Dallas, but if he’s being allowed on field assignments, he’s almost done training. You’ll be free again.”
“Right.”
“Charlie?”
“Will be staying next door overnight.” Their neighbor works from home and has a cocker spaniel whom Charlie adores. The two are BFFs. “Can you sleep, do you think?”
“I’ve had two margaritas. I will be dead to the world in five minutes.” She pauses. “Theo? Things are admittedly complicated right now. But I really appreciate you supporting me through all of this. I know it’s been a lot.”
