Page 44 of Sloth
“No, you're wrong. Liza wouldn’t do that.” I see the fear in Erin’s face as she looks back at me. “She wouldn’t,” she assures me.
“Noah, the truck? Do you remember what kind it was?” I ask him, getting the sense he could do more to help us.
“It was new. A ranger, I think. I can’t be expected to remember every vehicle that pulls up outside of here.” He wipes the residue from under his nose onto his finger and rubs it up into his gums.
“Well, try to remember this one, because we need to find that girl.” I show a little assertiveness when I see Erin growing more and more concerned.
“Calm down, you don’t wanna be losin’ your temper here.” His tone remains calm, but I hear the threat in it, and the smirk on his face reminds me that he’s a keeper of my darkest secret.
I watch him slowly take out his cell and press it to his ear.
“Yo, can you get me some security footage?” he asks the person on the other end of the phone.“From the front, last night. Just after midnight.”
“ASAP,” he tells whoever it is before hanging up.
“I’ll send you the footage soon as I get it,” he tells me, and I nod my appreciation and take out my own cell.
“I’ll give you my numbe–”
“Don’t worry, knuckles, I already got your digits.” He winks, and I take my girl by her shoulders and guide her to the door so I can get her the hell outta here.
“Knuckles?” She looks up at me, confused.
“Just keep fuckin’ walkin’,” I tell her, getting her to the truck and opening the door.
“Why would Noah already have your number?” she questions me, as she buckles herself in.
“Because he’s a River boy, and those fuckers know everything,” I remind her.
I’m driving toward town, like she’s instructed me to, when my phone vibrates, and before I get a chance to see who it is, Erin snatches it from its holder and opens the message.
“It's the footage.” She looks up at me, and I pull over and lean across the console so I can watch it with her.
The quality of the video is sharp. Sharp enough to see that Noah wasn’t lying. Liza is clearly wasted, stumbling all over as she makes her way up to the passenger side of the truck that's pulled up on the other side of the driveway.
“I know that truck.” Erin's voice trembles.
“So do I.” I restart the engine and do a U-turn in the road, because I know exactly where we’re gonna be heading next.
“Why would she have let herself get that way, Luke? She’s pregnant.” I hear the fear in Erin's voice as I drive us toward Koben's house
“I don’t know. You think maybe something happened to the baby and she didn’t tell you?” I don’t have any answers, but I have a gut instinct that Matthew isn’t the only person who’s been deceiving people. I don’t trust Koben at all.
“She would have told me.”
“She kept the fact she was pregnant from you because she didn’t want to worry ya, maybe?—”
“Don’t say it.” She strokes her hand over her forehead as she watches the footage again.
“I had no idea her and Korbin were close.” I press my foot a little harder on the accelerator when I get the sense Liza’s in serious danger. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place, because I don’t want Erin caught up in this. I should drop her back at the ranch and go looking for Liza by myself, but I know there's no way she’d let me leave her behind. Not now.
“There’s something you should know before we get there.” Erin bites the inside of her cheek, the way she does when she’s unsure about something.
“What now?” I have a feeling that whatever it is, it’s gonna make this whole situation worse.
“I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone this, but Koben is the father of Liza’s baby,” she tells me. “Last time I saw her, she still hadn’t told him.” I see the awkward look on her face and take her hand in mine.
“You thinking that maybe he found out?” Her bottom lip starts to tremble, and I pick up more speed when I suspect this situation just got a little more urgent.
