Page 112 of Enemies to Prom Dates
I looked at Fitz and it was like he also had the same memory triggered. We were parked in his car Friday night. He smelled like fire and woods, which made sense, but there had been something else, too. Something darker.
“You took my keys,” Fitz said, turning to Heath. “You said you wanted to get a condom out of the glove compartment. I didn’t question it, but you had the keys first.”
“Yes, but I left them in the car,” he said as if reminding him. “Anyone there that night could have taken it.”
“But the car, it smelled. Hours later. Whatever that thing is you’re smoking,” I said.
Again, Heath shrugged. “Well, I had to go into the car to get the condom. Didn’t I?”
“There you have it,” Locke said with a small smile. “Condom packs typically come in threes. Is that true in the States as well? Easy enough to see if one was removed. Or not.”
Fitz was frozen. I could see the doubt on his face and I knew even thinking that about his friend had to hurt.
“You wouldn’t do something like that,” Fitz said softly. “Set me up like that? I had to…I had to go to the police station. They might have arrested me. Someone who would do something like that…that person would have to hate me.”
Heath took another hit on his cigarillo. “Right. Someone who would do all this, he would have to hate you a fuck ton. He’d have to resent you, your fucking plush life, your privileged birthright. And maybe something else. Maybe he’d want revenge for something that was stolen from him.”
It was strange, but Heath turned and looked at me even as Fitz was shaking this head.
“Heath,” Fitz said. “No. Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me I’m fucking wrong!”
Except Fitz didn’t wait for answer. Instead, he started for his car, jogging first, then running in an all-out sprint.
It didn’t matter.
Heath had already dropped his cigarillo and was walking backward away from us.
“You can’t prove anything, Locke,” Heath told him. “Everything you said is nothing but speculation.”
“Maybe I can’t or maybe I can,” Locke said. “Tell me, how did you alter the camera footage? It was well done by the way. Nearly foolproof, except from someone like me.”
Heath smiled, turned and started running toward the woods. Knowing I wasn’t going to catch up to him, I followed Fitz to his car only to find him lifting a three pack of condoms out of the glove compartment. Fully intact.
“Damn it!” he shouted, slamming the top of the car with this fist. “What the fuck? He couldn’t have done this! He was my friend! He was my best fucking friend!”
I rested my hand against his back, feeling his pain.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “You must feel so betrayed.”
“Why did he do it?” Fitz lifted his head as if searching for him, but Heath was already gone. “Revenge for what? I’ve never stolen anything from him.”
When I looked around, Reen and Locke were both heading into the woods and out of sight.
“What should we do? Call the police?” I asked. “They can’t arrest you now.”
Fitz shook his head. “They already found the problem with the video. Locke must have made an anonymous tip. I’m officially no longer a person of interest.”
“Yes, but Heath. He took your car. He hurt Wick!”
“You heard him. There’s nothing we can prove. You think a three-pack of condoms is going to convince the cops to arrest him. Hell, I don’t even know if I want him arrested. He’s my best friend. His life has been so messed up. A junkie mom and living in a fucking home for years. Of course he’s twisted as fuck. I just didn’t know how much.”
“Yeah, well, so did Janie and Reen and…” I stopped myself.
Oh God. Reen. What had she done to have that kind of money?
“Yeah, Reen might not be responsible for the List or Wick, but something’s going on with her. That bank statement was real.”
“I’ll get it out of her,” I said. “She’ll tell me. She has, too. She said she had something important to tell me. That’s why I came.”
