The door slamming jolts me out of my sleep.
Cami stands perplexed in the doorway of my room. She lifts her sunglasses. Her eyes go from me to my bed and then back to me. “What’s going on?”
“Good Morning to you too.” I say squinting at the early morning sun.
Seraphina sits up in my bed and stretches, “I told him he didn’t have to sleep on the floor.”
Cami sets down the coffee and pastries she is juggling and helps me off the floor. I’d made a makeshift cot out of pillows and an itchy blanket so Sera could have my bed. My back now hated me for it. I reach for my pain meds but Cami swipes them.
“You can’t take those without eating first.” She says. Sera gave me a knowing look. Maybe I did have a type.
“Someone broke into Sera’s house last night”, I explain to Cami, “We think it was the copycat killer.”
“Oh my God.”
“They just left a threat.”
“How could they be onto us so quickly?” Cami asks.
“Small town.” I explain, “Words probably gotten around that you and I are asking questions.”
“… Did they take anything”, Cami directs it to Sera. She still seems a little unsure how to address her.
Sera holds up the gold 30 pound hand weight that had been holding the note down.
“This belongs to a set. One is missing.”
“Is it valuable?”
“No”, Sera answers while tying her boots, “But my name and winning set is engraved on the missing one”
It had become clear to Sera and I last night that the weight had been stolen as insurance. If the Severance Stalker’s body showed up in town with Sera’s engraved weight near it… that could be trouble.
Cami focuses on Sera, “You must have some idea who could be behind this. Is there anything you haven’t told us?”
Sera picks up her bag, “I have to go. My schedule and diet has been fucked since you got here. I need to get to the bar soon.”
“Let me give you a ride”, I suggest.
“I’m …fine. I need to clear my head.”
“Sera, you can’t go back to your house.”
Sera brushes me off, “They got what they needed. I think I’m safe.”
“At least get a camera or security system.”
“I—fine. Fine. Fuck. Add it to the list”
+++
“How was the bonfire last night”, I ask Cami as we head out to Paula and Mia’s house. We had to get in and out before the Olympia PD arrived this afternoon. My phone buzzes again. It’s my bank. I block the number. I assume this is about the overdraft notifications I got on my app last night. A few minutes later Gina, my lawyer, calls. I’m guessing her retainer check bounced…again. I put my phone on silent.
“Everyone was kind of cagey. No one wanted to talk about the murders on the record. For an event honoring Mia…no one had a lot to say about her. It kind of felt like they were celebrating that she’s gone.”
“I don’t think she had a lot of friends in this town.” I recall the remarks Bev and Jasper had made.
Cami nods.
“She’s a complex character. That’s great for a podcast. The more I learn about her and the other victims the more I want to do this for real. I was watching this video about storytelling and I think Mia would be the perfect person to center this story around.”
I swallow the urge to have a debate about the ethics of true crime. Based on my previous experience doing debate prep with her—I’d probably lose. For now I just switch gears.
“What about AJ. Did he open up any?”
“He mostly kept to himself.” She says, “To be honest, I was mostly fending off what Madison called ‘jackass townies from Aberdeen.’”
“Sorry you had to put up with that.”
She smiles to herself and I’m immediately reminded why I’d asked her to marry me. It had been her full effortless smile. I’d wanted to earn those smiles for the rest of my life.
“It was actually really nice. A cozy bonfire by the lake of a small town was kind of a vibe.” She slides her hands into her pocket, “Fuck. That reminds me—“
“Hey. You”, a woman standing by the coffee bar calls to us before we can step out. She’s pale with a bright red pixie cut. She’s maybe in her late 50’s and looks pissed. I study her for a few moments. I recognize her from yesterday. She’d been checking in when I got back from the bar. I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere else. Something about her eyes.
“Can I help you.”I ask in my approachable civic leader voice.
“Are you a cop?” She snaps at me, “Fed? Detective? Journalist?”
“…no.”
She folds her arms. “Those were police files you had yesterday.”
“Oh. I can’t speak about that—“
The woman’s expression tightens.
“My daughter was killed by the stalker.”
Fuck. I know where I’ve seen her eyes.
“Mickie”, I say, “You’re Mickie Green’s mother.”
The woman looks down. “You can call me Ms. Green.”
“Ms. Green…I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Those files you had were about the stalker”, She says confidently, “How did you get those? I’ve been trying to get the fucking sheriff’s office to pick up my calls for months.”
“We’re working on a podcast about the project.”Cami interjects.
Ms. Green looks Cami up and down, “I bet they rolled those files right out for you.”
“I actually got the files.” I interject. I probably would have said more if Ms. Green wasn’t grieving.
“If you promise not to make any more judgements,” Cami says, “I’d love to interview you for the project. Give Mickie a voice.”
“I couldn’t possible speak loud enough for her”, Ms. Greene’s voice softens when she says that, then it hardens again, “It’s been months and that goddamn sheriff has done absolutely nothing. I told him I was coming into town and he apparently had no time for a meeting.”
“You should try the local bar”, I say half-seriously.
“I’m not going in there.” She spits, “I don’t trust the fucking bartender in there for a second.”
“Wait…What? Why ?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.” She says but I plan to ask her about it later.
“Ms. Greene, if you do an interview we’ll let you take a look at the files if you want.”
“Let me?” Ms. Green says exasperated, “Let me?”
“I didn’t mean it like that”, Cami tries and fails to back pedal.
“Fuck you”, Ms. Green says, “And this place.”
She grabs a handful of napkins off the coffee bar and wipes her eyes. “Fine. I’ll give you an interview”, Ms. Green says, “I want my voice heard. I want everyone to know how much this town’s shitty law enforcement fumbled this.”
++++
When we pull up to the Felton house Cami hesitates before getting out the car.
“Paris… I decided to put Columbia on hold.”
I get back inside the car. There is a bit of silence as both of us face forward.
“Cami you can’t put this on hold for me. You and I can figure our shit out later.”
“It’s not just about our shit. We’re entering a big election year and I want get more involved with the party. Plus I did some research on one of the Nebraska State Senate seats. Paris I think you’d be really good for it. The district has a lot of small progressive towns that would be open to welfare reform and sex worker protections. Plus there are a lot of strip clubs. Which means lots of strippers who need a good lawyer. Judging by all your missed calls you need the money.”
I turn my phone around and shake my head.
“I don’t do well with agriculture. That’s really big in the Midwest. Along with community, family, faith and sports”
“If buckle down I’m sure you can become an expert on corn subsides in a week. Mark and I have college football covered. The seat won’t open until 2030. That’ll give us two years to research.”
“Or”, I check my watch. Now was not the time for this conversation, “I can take two years off and go with you to Columbia. Sera will probably give me the rental property in the divorce. We can live there if you don’t mind commuting from SoHo and dealing with early-2000’s loft party architecture.”
“What will you do all day?”
“Well”, I say half assuredly, “Westchester County has to have some openings. I’ve always liked Riverside.”
“They don’t let just anyone run in that area. You’d need a ton of financial support.”
“Sera has a ton of former clients who would sponsor me now that I’m back in her good graces. I refuse to let you give up Columbia for me.”
“Paris, you need to get out of your comfort zone. East Coast liberal elite enclaves haven’t taken you far. The Midwest will get you to D.C before you’re 50.”
“Have you been talking to Mark?”
“He texted me.”
“This isn’t just about my comfort zone. Putting my career first worked for my first marriage until it didn’t. I want us to have a second chance. I’m not making that mistake again.”
“Oh. Is that why you…broke up ? ”
I sighed, “Kind of. I mean it was a lot of little things after the attack. It was really ugly at the end. “
“Madison told me some stuff about AJ.” Cami says fiddling with the radio station, “He’s had a hard life and I—“
“Cami you didn’t tell him.”
“No. I wouldn’t do that. But Sera should tell him. AJ doesn’t have a lot of people. Granger resents him. Larry is just thankful he can bring in income. He feels trapped. He wants to leave Severance but can’t find a way out. Maybe he’d feel less trapped if he knew he had more family.”
“You don’t know Sera. She has her reasons”
“Paris”, Cami says when we get to the next stop sign, “You don’t really know her either. It’s been seven years. Just because you are sleeping with her—“
“We are not sleeping together. We slept together. Once time.” I emphasize.
Cami turns to me skeptically, “There is a lot more going on than that.”
Fuck. We were running out of time.
“No. I’ve been wanting to get back into D/s. Sera is helping me. She’s helping me work through my kink shit. She’s a professional Dom. It’s a professional arrangement. It’s business.”
“Is this a good idea ? Didn’t participating in…kink cause problems for you before ?”
I’m not sure if she is specifically referencing the couple that threatened to leak photos or the Hepatitis that nearly took me out.
“I trust Sera to be discreet. Let’s go before the cops get here.”
At that we both get out the car and approach the Felton’s home. The small cottage style house is painted in different faded shades of pink and blue. All the windows have been replaced with stained glass. Potted flower and fairy statues line the walkway. The door is wide open. The police tape clings haphazardly to the frame.
“Nate’s force can’t be this shitty”, I say looking through the open door.
“Maybe we shouldn’t’ go in.” Cami says.
“I just want to take a look. We could find something.”
I duck under the tape and cross the threshold. Cami reluctantly follows. The bungalow opens to a small living room decked out in bright colors. Framed pictures cover almost every wall. I can trace Mia and Paula’s lives from Mia’s birth to what looks like last Halloween.
Cami had brought along the file from Mia and Paula’ case. She reads it while moving around the space.
“So one of them opens the door…or the killer lets themselves in”, Cami tries to recreate it. Mia was on the couch…her mom must have been in the bedroom.
Mia fights the person…whoever it is. Paula runs into the scene. The person threatens to harm Mia so Paula doesn’t fight. Then…what ? The killer kills Mia anyway. Paula runs into the bedroom and abrades herself there, but she forgets to lock the door. Then—ouch”
Cami had accidently kicked a hard black glittery case. It goes spiraling into the kitchen.
“What was that?”
“I think it was a gun case”, The Modge Podge glitter had thrown me off, “Bev mentioned that Sera had helped Paula get one when the murders started.”
Cami nods.
“That makes sense. Paula runs into the bedroom and grabs her… glittery gun case. She turns her back to open it but she’s too slow. The killer stabs her and… that’s it.”
Cami heads into the kitchen to retrieve the case. The kitchen is painted bright yellow. Snack wrappers are scattered on the table. Wine and soda cans are on the counter. The killer had enjoyed some treats before leaving. Cami makes to kick the gun case back into the bedroom but a shifting shadows causes us both to freeze
There is a slight movement inside the pantry. Without speaking Cami and I both acknowledge that we are not alone.
Cami pulls the pantry open and I grab the screaming woman as she tries to run pass me. The woman kicks me but I can already tell by the bright blue curls who it is.
“Beverly?” She works herself out of my grasp, “What are you doing here.”
“I’m…I…what are you doing here?”
“I’m helping Nate. He told me I could stop by before the CI team arrived.” I keep my tone casual to mask the lie.
“Bullshit”, Beverly says then turns to Cami, “This is about your audio project or whatever. Trust me you don’t want to do it about this case.”
“Why is that?” Cami asks holding out her recorder.
She shakes her head, “Turn that off. No one can know I was here.”
“What is this about, Beverly?”
“This has nothing to do with outsiders.”
Cami doesn’t buy that, “Nate’s not an outsider. Why don’t we call him and you can explain—“
“I was looking for Mia’s phone.” Beverly admits.
“The police have it.”, I say, “I saw it in the file.”
“No. Her other phone. It’s a pre-pay. ”
“Why does Mia have two phones?” I ask
Beverly looks annoyed.
“For her secrets”, she says, “When I was younger we had Topix. Some text. Maybe the occasional blind item on the town Facebook page. Now kids these days will post your name, pictures and videos. They will have your whole business out there. Especially when they are bored. People get bored here.”
“What does Mia have on you?” I ask.
Bev shakes her head. She’s afraid of something, “Please don’t tell anyone I was here. I’ll discount your rooms.”
“Bev”, I try to stop her as she heads out the door.
“Forget you saw me, Mr. Prince. Please.”
“What are you afraid of?”
Beverly’s shoulders drop, “As long as that phone is gone I have nothing to worry about. Please. Don’t tell anyone I was here. I have a feeling neither of us has a right to be here.”
She maneuvers around Cami and runs out the door.
“Mia is quiet the trouble maker.” I say more to myself.
“Mia’s other phone—“
“The killer must have taken it.”
“Are you sure?” Cami asks.
“90%”
“Okay great”, Cami reaches into her pocket and pulls out a purple Motorola.
The lock screen shows Mia taking a selfie with AJ. I stare at the image of Mia, clad in a pink Playboy Bunny crop top and biker shorts. It’s taken out by what I assume is Elma Lake and she is pressed up against AJ. I take the phone and zoom in on the picture.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck
“Cami…Why do you have Mia’s phone?”
“It was in my jacket pocket. The jacket Sera gave me.”
+++
“What the fuck is she up to.” I say more to myself when Cami and I pull up to Sera’s house.
I knock but there is no answer. I furiously text Sera to see when she gets off work. She doesn’t respond. Fed up, I decide to call her.
“Who is this”, a deep voice comes from the other side.
“I’m looking for Seraphina.”
“Who?”
I hang up.
Shit.
I don’t have her cell phone number. She must have gotten a new one years ago.
“We should go to the bar and confront her”
I shake my head, “I don’t want to make a scene. I’ll wait until she gets off.”
I see some movement at Larry’s house down the lane, “He might know her schedule.”
I head down the lane towards Larry’s house. The walk is more than I anticipated. The houses really were farther away than they seemed.
I knock, but the door is already ajar. Larry calls to us from the porch. As we enter a cat slips out but Cami catches it. Once inside, I realize Larry is still wearing the same clothes from yesterday.
“Wasn’t expecting company.” He says but he sounds delighted.
“Sorry to barge in. Do you have Sera’s cell number?”
“He holds his phone tight, “I do. Not sure if she wants me to give it out. Her shift ends at 3 if you want to wait here.”
I try to non-verbally ask Cami what our next move should be. Cami settles into the papasan chair Sera had been sitting in the other day. I sink into a squeaky Barcalounger. The coffee table is covered with paperwork and dusty picture frames. One frame features Sera and Larry weighing an oversized fish in boat. There is another one of Larry sitting in a tattoo chair showing off a fresh tattoo of his wife’s face. I can see Sera in the reflection of a mirror taking the picture.
“You and Sera really get along.” I say
“Yeah. Nice kid. I can tell she’s been through it.”
“Do you know if Sera has an issues with anyone?”
He frowns, “No. Except for when she kicked that homeless guy
out of The High Noon. I guess a few of those fellas she has over get rowdy
sometimes. Why do you ask?”
“Someone messed with her house last night. You didn’t see anything?”
“No. Not that I noticed.”
I resist the urge to fold the blanket laying haphazardly next to me. If it was my job to get this place in order I’d start with the coffee table. I’d dust the glass tops and then deoxidize the frames. An enzyme cleaner would do wonders for the cat piss smell.
The Worker’s comp forms he has on the table catch my eye. They are all out of order. Actually now that I take a closer look I see few are past submission deadlines and attach to the wrong supplemental forms.
“Did you file an extension on these”, I ask.
“I’m still trying to figure those out. Wish they’d put in online and make it easy. The Boatyard said they won’t pay because I was working outside of hours. My union lawyer said the same thing. We’re supposed to meet again in the spring to go over next steps.”
“You were still on property when the accident happened?” I ask.
“Technically no. We have to cross the road to get to the employee parking lot. I was in the crosswalk which is not company property. Locals know not to speed on that road. That’s why I know it was an outsider. 34 years and never had an accident on that road.”
I study the denial he’d received. “So…did you tell the cops or paramedics you were working illegal overtime?”
“I….I must have. I think I did.”
“Maybe you didn’t. I mean how do they know you were working?” I ask, “For all they know you were grabbing something out of your locker.”
He narrows his eyes at me.
“Larry, I’m just saying the company gives you building access after hours is pretty negligent. So is putting a parking lot across a busy street. Also who painted the crosswalk? I’ve seen the streets in this town. They haven’t been redone in decades. No way the company went through the ordinance process to get permission to paint that crosswalk. It’s probably an illegal crosswalk. Fuck worker’s comp. You could sue them for negligence. Bet their legal team wouldn’t like that.”
“You serious?”
“It’s worth looking into. Companies like this like to settle. Do you have a claim number “? I ask flipping through the forms, “We can file an extension on the Worker’s Comp and I can send a letter of legal action to their legal team. Let them know there are additional circumstance you want to discuss.”
“Sera did say you were smart.”
I shake my head
“I’ve done my fair share of worker’s rights cases.”
“You work for unions?”
“No. Mostly Strippers and Camgirls. We were trying to create a guild but it’s hard with the way vice laws are in this country.”
“You’re different. I’ll give you that.” He injects himself with what looks like arthritis medication. Probably a stop gap for expensive painkillers, “Somedays it hurts so bad I wish the car had taken me out.”
“I’m glad you’re still here. You were there for Sera when she needed someone.”
He laughs which leads to a cough, Cami dashes to the kitchen to get a water.
“You know…Sera doesn’t really talk about you. So I figured you to be an asshole.
“I’ve been called that.”
“That why she left?”
“No.”
Larry eases himself into a less painful position, “I lost my wife five years ago. I feel the pain right here in my chest. Sera says it’s because Marcia and I were soulmates. Says that heartache is just Marcia tugging a little to make sure I’m okay.”
I hyper focus on the paperwork, “That sounds like Sera. I don’t really believe we have souls. We just have now. When it’s over we go back to what we were before. Nothing”
Larry looks at Cami, “Quite the romantic.”
“Sorry”, I say realizing what I’ve just said to a Widower, “I’m sorry. I’m just… I’m sorry. What you and your wife had was special. Everyone deserves that.”
Cami sits next to me, “I think I’m ready for some Worker’s Comp 101.”
I nod and pretend the heat behind my eyes is from the cat hair. I finish going through the paperwork and writing up a letter around 3pm. Larry is a talker like me and I learn way more about fishing and catching salmon than I ever want.
Half-past three I see Sera walking to her house wearing oversized headphones and carrying a grocery bag.
Cami is up and out the door before I am.
+++
“Where should we start?” I ask.
“You can start with putting these away”, Sera shoves her grocery bags into my arms.
Cami takes the bags from me and puts them on the ground, “Sera, Why do you have Mia’s second phone?”
“That’s not the right question”, I say. I pull out my phone and pull up the photo I’d Airdropped to myself my first night here. The picture of Sera in a cut up Playboy Bunny tank top. The same shirt Mia is wearing on the locks screen.
Sera sits down, “Okay. Let me explain.”
“Is that why you and Paula broke up? I doubt you were just sharing clothes with her daughter.”
“Paula and I were running on fumes towards the end. Paula was great. I cared about her, but she didn’t realize what a manipulative little bitch her daughter was.”
“That’s real tactful, Sera.” I say.
“Paula and Mia were very close. To close. It was annoying. I made an effort to make Mia feel included. Mia was so smart mouthed and snarky. She would manipulate the hell out of her mom and she was very good at it. She also dressed like a slut and was 20 years-old so… we started fooling around over the summer. It just happened. Turns out she recorded us.”
I sit down, “I thought you were celibate.”
Sera thinks on this for a moment, “It doesn’t count if you’re just giving, right?”
Cami seems to be doing some math inside of her head, “Wasn’t Mia also dating your son over the summer—“
“AJ is not my son. He wasn’t into her like that. Everyone knew it except Mia.”
I want to bang my head against the table, “Seraphina why are you so bad ending relationships. You fucking cheated?”
“I told Paula I didn’t do monogamy and I am not bad at ending relationships.”
“You publically cursed out your high school girlfriend and cheated on her with Helios. When you left Helios you stole money from him. Marlene? Remember? In Boston? You caused hundreds of dollars in property damage to her bar—“
“You’re defending the bitch that gave me chlamydia.”
“I’ve had to break up with every single one of our mutual partners. Or how about all the times you forgot to tell people you were married before fucking them . Let’s not forget you walked out on our 13-year marriage, broke my heart and never fucking came back.”
Sera is speechless for a moment. I hadn’t meant to say that last part.
“We’re not having this conversation”, She says.
“Apparently you never talk about me? To everyone here I’m the nameless faceless ex-husband. You said we were soulmates. I guess that was bullshit. You were everything to me. You were my whole fucking world, Seraphina.”
She closes her eyes and I can see her counting to calm herself, “Just because people are soulmates doesn’t mean they have to be together forever—“
“Bullshit.”
“What?”, she snaps back, “What? You tell everyone about me?”
“No. Because if I did…” I couldn’t finish that sentence. Luckily I don’t have to.
“Can we talk about Mia’s phone?” Cami pipes up.
Sera takes a very deep breath and explains, “I snuck into Paula’s house the morning after they were killed. I stole the phone because there is a video on it that makes me look really bad. I meant to destroy it but I never got around to it.”
Sera takes the phone from Cami and enters the passcode.
She scrolls through a bunch of videos and plays one from about two months ago. With some help from Cami she manages to fast forward through 10 minutes of moans and cursing.
‘Where are you going all dressed up? ‘Sera says on the video.
In the video Mia’s phone is propped up at a low angle. Mia is sitting on top of one of Sera’s large tool organizers in a neutral pleated skirt and oversized sweatshirt. A bright pink thong is wrapped around Mia’s ankle. Sera is standing with her arms on either side of her. From the angle I can only see her from the chest down.
‘Job interview. Police station.’ Mia says.
‘Why do you want to work for Nate? He’s an asshole.’
‘Money. I’m not trying to live here forever.’
When Sera steps into the bathroom Mia laughs and makes a face into the direction of the camera. She jumps off the organizer and runs to pick it up
‘What is that?’ Sera’s voice calls, ‘What—Shit you-what are you doing, Mia?’
‘Nothing.’
‘What is that?’
‘Nothing. I dropped something.’
The camera distorts and it goes flying until we are looking at the ceiling.
‘Were you recording us? Mia what the hell?’ Sera sounds farther away in the video.
‘Calm down I wasn’t.’
Sera’s face briefly fills the screen and she taps uselessly at it.
‘Fuck Mia, Why is a lie always the first thing that comes out of your mouth.’
‘Will you please lower your voice_-‘
“My dungeon is sound proof—“
“God, Sera you are so weird about your creepy sex garage’
‘Delete it’
‘Chill out.’
‘Delete it now.’
‘That stern Daddy voice doesn’t work with me---Oh my God. I---Hey! Let me go’, Mia screams and I hear a struggle. The video still shows the celling but I assume they are both trying to grab the phone.
‘Whatever you are doing it stops now. Do you hear me? You don’t want to fuck with me, little girl. Give me the—‘
Mia keeps screaming, ‘You’re hurting me. Let me go. I can’t breathe. SERA. Sera. STOP’
The video briefly shows the garage as Mia grabs the phone.
‘I barely touched you.’ On the video Sera sounds defeated, ‘Leave the phone.’
‘Fuck off, Sera. You almost fucking killed me.’
‘I said leave the fucking phone.’
The phone skitters away and we are looking at the ceiling again,
I hear them struggling for it again. Mia’s face comes into view as she lunges for the phone but Sera picks her up and drags her back.
Sera looks away as Mia screams for help on the video
‘I’ll tell him” Mia shouts on the video, ‘I’ll tell AJ you’re his mom. Let me go or I’ll tell him. I’ll tell everyone you’ve been stalking him and his family—‘
The video goes silent except for Mia catching her breath.
‘What the fuck Mia’, Sera’s voice sounds faint.
‘I saw the papers in your kitchen.” Mia sounds a little too triumphant. She probably hadn’t known for sure but Sera just confirmed it for her, ‘Everyone will know you’re a psycho from some backwards cult who snuck into town and lied about who you were. I mean…maybe you’re the reason people keeping getting killed.’
‘How can you say that?’
‘Just my theory. I bet if I post about it... It’ll go viral. “
‘…what do you want’ I don’t recognize the defeat tone in Sera’s voice.
‘Nothing”, Mia says. Her voice sounding a little sultry, ‘right now anyway.’
There is a prolonged silence on the video.
‘Fuck this shit’, Sera voice says on the video, ‘You say a word to AJ and I will fucking kill you, Mia. I don’t have shit to lose anymore. Do you fucking hear me? ”
Mia laughs.
Then there is a loud mechanical sound
‘MIA’
The screen gets brighter and jumbled. I see a flash of Mia’s bright smile and then the neighborhood. Mia must have opened Sera’s garage from the inside and ran out with the phone. Mia is running full speed down the lane and does a double take when she realizes the phone is still recording.
The camera is jumbled and I see Sera chasing her
‘Whoa whoa hey stop’, Mia says as a car goes by her. The car stops and she gets in. AJ comes into view at the wheel of the Camry.
‘Go go go go’, Mia says and he does
AJ drives off but gets an annoyed look when he sees the camera is on. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Nothing. Sera’s being a bitch because my mom is ghosting her.’
‘What were you doing in there?’ AJ asks looking annoyed at the camera.
‘In the creepy sex dungeon? Buying pot. Duh.”
AJ doesn’t seem to believe her. He reaches over to turn the video off.
“That was right after the grad students were murdered”, Sera says.
“Would it have been that bad for people to know he was your son”, I ask, “This doesn’t look good.”
“It’s my business”, she says, “ That kid’s life is already fucked up, he doesn’t need to know he’s a gang bang baby. Giving that little bastard away to a good Christian family was the only good choice I ever made and he fucked it up. I don’t want to have that conversation with him or every fucking person in this town. Just like didn’t want to everyone about narcissistic ex-husband who almost got me killed. Put my groceries up and get the fuck out of my house.”
She goes into the garage and slams the door so hard the house shakes a little. I’m relieved to see her pistol has somehow made its way into the clean laundry pile. I pick it up and take the bullets out of it. I press my ear to the door. Its sound proof but I know she’s crying. I know all too well what her voice sounds like before she started crying.
“Paris”, Cami brings the phone over to me.
“Yeah.”
“Look at this.”
Cami plays another video on the phone. This one is from September. Labor Day. It’s barley 30 seconds long. Mia seems to be filming from behind a boulder
‘Sorry. But what the fuck is that?’ Mia says into the camera before flipping it.
I recognize the area as the Days Inn parking lot. Bev comes running out the hotel as two disheveled figures run across the parking lot and into her arms.
“That’s Mickie and Paige”, Cami says
‘What happened? Girls, What’s wrong?’ Bev tries to approach the grad students but they look shell shocked
“I—I—“
‘We hit him. Fuck. I—‘Mickie says on the video. She has the same southern drawl as her mother, ‘We hit him---it was an accident. It was an accident’
A branch snaps and the screen is frantic as Mia runs away. She turns the camera back to herself and smiles into the camera before cutting it off.
‘This was taken during the labor day bonfire.’ Cami says.
“Same night as Larry’s accident”
“Mickie and Paige hit Larry.”
Cami watches the video again, “and then a few hours later someone murdered them.”
Author’s Note
Dun Dun Dun