Page 31 of You Can Make Me
“Nothing. Evans is in the wind. The others who were helping him all tell the same story. ‘He’s in my head. He tells me what to do and won’t leave me alone until I do what he wants. I just wanted it to stop. I never wanted to hurt anyone.’ Three of them are awaiting trial for their part in Cooper’s attack, the guys who ran you and Walt off the road and shot at you. None of them have given us anything useful about Evans. They don’t know where he is, or I’m sure at least one of them would have rolled over on the guy. They’ve got no affinity for him.”
Evans had worked for Caltrans and had extensive knowledge of the interstate properties. The old cistern where he’d hiddenall the bodies was near an abandoned gold mine, beneath a shuttered Caltrans maintenance station. Who knew how many more hiding places he had?
Cooper had helped us locate the abandoned station where Evans kept his prey…after he’d caught Kal and Dee Dee using a Ouija board. I wished I could turn back time to before that moment, or maybe back to before Gene invited him to do a story about Dane. As much as I wanted him in my life, if he’d never come to the house in Laurel Canyon that day, we wouldn’t be here. He’d never know about the carnival, and I’d never have to break our rule of honesty always.
“Well, I’m sure as hell not going to say anything about the carnival, but you might want to ask Junior. Maybe he brings Dee Dee for a visit. Maybe Dee Dee and Cooper get to talking. Let Dee Dee decide what to tell him, but it would be good for Cooper to see him.”
Dee Dee was heavily scarred from his run-in with Evans, his body a roadmap of trauma, but his face hadn’t been as affected as Cooper’s. Still, the two of them had a lot in common.
“I was thinking that too. I’ll reach out to Junior. I owe him.” I couldn’t help but glance toward the door, wondering how Cooper’s reunion was going with his father.
“Yeah, yeah. I won’t bore you with police work anymore. You’reretired.”
I turned to face Gene. “I’m sorry, I’m just?—”
“We’re good, D. I’m just fucking with you. How does it feel, though? Is it what you thought it’d be?”
“What? Retirement?” I scoffed. I hadn’t had a chance to think about what it meant. “In what reality did I imagine retiring to take care of another man? If you would have told me this would be my life, I’d have written you up.”
Gene laughed heartily. “Yeah, you would have. You were a tough bastard as a training officer, but I owe you. You preparedme well. I hate doing the job without you, but you deserve a break. Take this time with Coop. Explore your options. There’s always consulting. Shit, Sam’s got that gig with Walter’s cousin up in Calaveras, tracking down missing and vulnerable people. That would be great for you, and they could use your extensive experience.”
“Yeah, I talked to Elia a couple months before shit went down. She and Roz love having Sam onboard. They’re doing great things.”
Gene smiled at me for real this time, the smile that reminded me of all the shit we’d been through and how much I loved him like the brother I never had.
“This is your time. Yours and Cooper’s.” Gene patted me on the back. “Take your time.”
Iwantedtime with Cooper. I wanted him to get well and for us to be on the other side, making a go of this.
I prayed we’d get that chance.
Eight
Cooper
The afternoon bled into evening, and after the delicious dinner my dad and Gene cooked, I could barely keep my eyes open. Denny lit a fire in the pit and we gathered on the outdoor furniture. I lay on a sofa with my head in Sam’s lap while she played with my hair.
“You want me to cut this for you?” she asked.
“Not yet, but thank you. I’ve entered my mountain man era. All I need is some flannel and work boots and I’ll be a hot lumberjack.”
“We’re in National Forest land. No cutting down trees,” Gene said.
“As if I’d ever swing an axe.”
Everyone laughed, but Mom got that serious look that indicated a lecture was coming.
“Besides, you have work to do,” she said. “The important stories aren’t going to write themselves.”
I was surrounded by so much love. I vacillated between gratitude and guilt.
On the one hand, I knew how lucky I was to be alive, how fortunate I was that my parents had always accepted me for who I was, and that I had such great friends as the Ochoas.
On the other, I’d spent way too much time wallowing, not-quite wishing I was dead, but not appreciating the lengths people went to in order to keep me safe.
Denny kept his distance, always watching, but letting our guests have their time with me. He sat on a stool outside the circle of couches so he could see all of us. I wondered what he was thinking.We’d never been in a situation with anyone else around. Was he always this quiet?
Dad yawned, and Mom took that as a sign. “I think we’ll turn in. Your father drove that beast the whole six hours, and we left at the crack of dawn. We’ll let you catch up and we’ll see you in the morning.”
