Page 35 of The Spirit Key
He shrugged. “I liked winning.”
“Call her. Please.”
“Okay, but this isn’t going to go well.”
“When did you become such a pessimist?”
“The day you disappeared.”
Oh. Shit. “I’m—”
“It’s fine. You’re here now, and that’s all that matters.” He took his phone out of his pocket, tapped the screen, and a moment later, closed his eyes. “Hey, Rach. You know me, and you know I’m not prone to flights of fancy, right?”
I gestured for him to put her on speaker. He shook his head, but I glared until he did.
“What’s going on?”
“Remember me telling you about Scott? He’s with me, and we are hoping you’ll come to see us.” He scratched the back of his head. “It’s… complicated, but we think if you’ll come and listen with an open mind, you might find a measure of peace.”
“A measure of…. Have you been drinking?”
“No. I’m serious. Could you and Gavin come to see us?”
“Where are you?”
Tim swallowed hard. “At your old house.”
There was dead silence for a few moments. “What’s this about? This is cruel, Tim.”
“Please, Rachel. I need you to trust me, just like I’ve always trusted you.”
“No.” She hung up.
“Call her back. This time let me talk to her.”
“What? No!”
“Please.” I held out my hand. “We’re so close, and they all deserve to finally rest.”
He sighed as he punched the screen again, then handed me the phone. At first I didn’t think she’d answer, but then a sobbing voice came on the line.
“How could you do this?Why? What did I do to make you want to hurt me?”
“He doesn’t want to hurt you, Rachel. Honestly, we’re trying to help you and Burton.”
“I’m hanging up, and don’t call here again or I’ll contact the police.”
I was going to lose her, I knew it. There was only one thing I could do. “Burton didn’t kill himself.”
It was quiet, but I was sure she hadn’t hung up. “What did you say?”
“Burton didn’t kill himself.”
Her voice had a quaver to it when she said, “But the doctors told us—”
“They were wrong. Please, come to see us, and I promise you’ll understand. Trust in Tim. He considers you a close friend, and you know he wouldn’t want to hurt you.”
She sniffled. “I should say no….” She murmured something in the background, then came back to the phone. “We’ll be there in twenty minutes.” The line went dead.
