You Don't Know Me (8 page)

She frowned at him. “Yeah. Sure.”

He drew in a breath as he put the car in drive. Hating himself a little.

Silence filled the car as they drove to the harbor, to the shadows behind the Coast Guard building, where Ronnie waited by his
Mustang. He had his back to them, both arms braced on the roof of his car, Brianna wrapped around him, probably already wasted by the way she was inhaling him.

Colleen glanced at Tuck and smiled.

His stomach clenched.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way with her. She made him feel clean and bright and not at all like he might belong in a trailer park, eating lumpy macaroni and cheese for dinner. He wanted to do this right, not dodge her parents when he saw them in school.

She slid out of the Jeep and walked over to Ronnie.

No way was he letting her do this alone. Tuck turned the engine off and got out. He stood behind her as she handed over a rolled wad of cash. Ronnie didn’t look at Tuck as he fished a bag out of his pocket and they made the exchange without a word.

Brianna stared at them, her long black hair tied back, whipping in the wind. Her eyes were far away, her smile uneven.

Colleen shoved the bag in her pocket.

“Climb in,” Ronnie said. “Let’s try it out.” He pulled away from Brianna and opened the passenger door.

Tuck caught Colleen before she could acquiesce. “I don’t think so.”

Ronnie frowned at him. “Dude. Let the lady do what she wants.”

Ronnie wasn’t a big guy, though he had a couple inches on Tuck. But Tuck had just made his personal best in squats, and the way he felt right now, if Ronnie wanted to go, he wouldn’t turn him down.

“Back off,” Tuck said quietly.

Brianna saved them both. “C’mon, Ronnie.” She kissed his neck. “Let’s get out of here.”

As the Mustang drove away, Colleen turned to Tuck, her eyes shiny. “You could have taken him.”

“Let’s just get in the car before we get caught.”

She made a face but climbed in. “And now what?” She sniffed the bag, then reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny pipe.

“Where’d you get that?”

“Alexis. She borrowed it from her boyfriend.”

He shook his head.

“When did you turn into such a prude?” But her hands shook, and she spilled a little as she pushed the dried pot into the bowl.

“Don’t get that in my car.”

“Stop yelling at me! Just take me home.”

“So you can get high at home?”

“Maybe. Yeah, what if I did?” She spilled some more.

“You’re getting it everywhere.” He reached for the bag, the pipe. “You gotta pack it in or it won’t burn right.”

She released it into his hands, smiled as he loaded the pipe.

The way she looked at him made him feel like the bad boy she wanted him to be.

Lights flashed across the lot and he looked up. A patrol car had pulled in.

Tuck swore. “It’s Deputy Hueston.”

“What do we do?”

But he’d already shoved the bag, the pipe, into his pocket. He curled his arm around Colleen and pulled her to himself. He didn’t mean it, but his kiss was rough and almost angry as he kissed her for show until the light shone into the window.

“Hey, you two.”

Tuck released Colleen, feigning surprise. He rolled down the window. “Hey, Officer.”

“Tuck. What are you doing here?” Deputy Hueston flashed the light around the Jeep’s interior. Tuck’s heart banged in his throat as Colleen put her hand over the scattered remains dusting the seat.

Tuck smiled, trying to keep his voice smooth. “Just . . . hanging out.”

Deputy Hueston shone the light into Tuck’s face. Tuck blinked it away.

“Okay, get out of here. Go to the dance. Stay out of trouble.” He glanced at Colleen. “Hi, Colleen. I’m going to vote for your dad.”

“Thanks, Kyle.” She gave him one of her shiny smiles and it squeezed a fist inside Tuck.

The guy had it so easy. Everybody loved the former Deep Haven basketball star. Hueston and guys like him had no idea what it felt like to watch your family fall apart.

Tuck watched the deputy return to his cruiser, barely able to push breath out of the web of his chest.

“That was wild,” Colleen said.

“That was stupid!” He put the car into gear. She slid toward him as if expecting him to take her hand.

The entire night made him a little ill.

Tuck drove up to the convenience store and pulled in.

“Why are we here?”

“Stay here. I’ll be right back.” Tuck got out, striding into the building.

Thankfully, all the bathroom stalls were empty. He poured out the contents of the bag and flushed. Watched it spiral down, disappear.

When he returned to the car, he slid inside without looking at Colleen.

“Are you okay?”

He nodded and put the car into drive.

“Where are we going?”

“You’re going home.”

“What—why? I thought we were going back to your house. Getting loose.”

He drew in a breath. “I flushed it, Colleen.”

She stilled. “You what?”

“I flushed it. The pot. Here’s the pipe, by the way.” He handed it back to her, empty. “I don’t need to end up in juvie, and neither do you.”

“It’s my life—”

“And it’s a decent one. Not sure why you’re determined to blow it.”

“I thought we were going to have some fun. I thought that’s what you wanted.”

Her words made him feel dirty, like he’d brought her to this. “No, it’s not,” he said softly.

She pocketed the pipe. Shook her head. Added venom to her voice. “You owe me fifty bucks.”

He nodded, then drove through town in silence.

When he pulled up to the house, he put the car in park, letting it idle. “Last chance to go to the dance.”

She told him where to go and let the word ring into the night.

He watched her stalk to the porch. She slammed the front door.

Flicked off the light.

Tuck sat there like a fool way too long before he finally drove away.

Annalise didn’t know what kind of games “Uncle” Frank had decided to play, but she wanted him out of town. He scared her with the secrets he knew.

The way he could destroy her life with a word. Or a name. Like Garcia. Or even Deidre. And he’d whispered it in her ear, reminding her that he was here to protect her, which meant going to the dance. And he needed a good reason.

Like a date.

And now the man danced with her mother-in-law, ballroom style, like some sort of Fred Astaire. Wooing her in front of the entire town as the local band JayJ Bump played slow standards.

Even Nathan noticed. “What is your uncle doing?”

Then, “How long is he staying?”

Finally, “When did Mom learn to dance?”

She had no answers to any of his inquiries. Just stood at the edge of the crowd, watching Helen smile at Frank and trying to figure out how she might convince him to leave.

Now.

Forever.

“C’mon, baby, let’s dance.” Nathan didn’t wait for her response, just took her hand and pulled her onto the Moose Lodge dance floor. A giant moose head hovered over the room, dripping its beard onto the dance floor, the horns like wings from its head.

She’d seen a moose once, stepping out onto the dirt road on the way to visit Nathan at one of his showings. The animal stared her down, and for a moment, safe in her car, she dared to stare back, right into its cold, dark eyes. Its breath puffed hot into the
night, crystallizing on her windshield, heavy jowls that took a bite out of her heart.

She shrank back, held her breath, then landed on her horn. The moose had darted off the road, crashing through the bush, the pine trees, the poplar, into the clasp of forest.

She hadn’t forgotten the animal, however—it found her sometimes in the dark of the night, made her wake with a shiver.

She refused to look at the moose head now as Nathan took her in his arms and moved her around the floor to the music.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Helen curl her hand around Frank’s neck.

She had to put a stop to this before Helen got hurt.

“Ow, Lise—” Nathan said.

“Sorry.”

Okay, so maybe this confrontation could wait until tomorrow, if Nathan went for his Saturday morning run. She’d march downstairs, rouse Frank, and tell him to pack. So sorry, but Uncle Frank had urgent business to attend to. In Chattanooga.

Clearly, Garcia wasn’t headed this way. It had been twenty-four hours since Frank showed up, and he had chosen well when he picked Deep Haven for her to hide in.

Annalise tucked her chin on Nathan’s shoulder, smiled at Eli Hueston and his wife, Noelle. Poor Noelle had fallen last winter, wiping out her memory, but Annalise had heard that in the past months, bits and pieces had returned. Maybe that was a good thing—she didn’t know.

Nathan turned her on the dance floor.

“Seb Brewster is here,” she said quietly, seeing the former star quarterback and current mayoral opponent dancing with his petite wife, Lucy.

“I’m pretending he’s not,” Nathan whispered in her ear. Then he moved his lips to her neck, where he brushed them against her skin. “You look beautiful tonight. I love this dress. You should wear it more often.”

Okay, so maybe she should just relax. How much damage could Frank do? He was a good man—she believed that. And Helen deserved a dance or two. Frank would leave in a couple days at most, and would it do any harm to show Deep Haven that Helen could still attract a handsome, eligible bachelor?

Her mother-in-law didn’t deserve the slander, the rocks thrown in her direction over the years. Annalise didn’t know the particulars, but she did know there was no truth to the stories that Helen had thrown her husband out into the street, turned him into an alcoholic, rejected him when he pleaded for forgiveness, and deleted him from his son’s life.

She knew Helen. The woman didn’t have a mean bone in her body. She would forgive. Especially if the person was sorry. Repentant. If they had no choice about their decisions.

“That’s the second time you’ve stepped on my foot,” Nathan said. “Are you okay? Usually I’m the one walking on you.”

“Sorry.” She untangled herself from his arms, catching his hand and pulling him from the floor. “How about some punch?”

The community had set up a table of potluck treats—brownies, chocolate chip cookies, Bundt cake. Annalise spotted the remains of a Helen Decker Honeycrisp apple pie and decided to save it for the less fortunate.

Nathan handed her a glass of punch as Ellie Matthews came up behind them. “Congratulations, you two.”

Annalise lifted an eyebrow.

“Jason’s role as Romeo—don’t tell me you didn’t know. I saw
Chloe Jacobsen at our women’s Bible study and she said that Harper came home thrilled to play Juliet opposite him.”

Nathan wore his mayoral candidate smile. “Yes, of course, we’re excited.”

Annalise managed a nod, kept her smile as Ellie moved away. She listened to the music, feeling Nathan’s eyes on her, and took a sip of punch.

“You knew about this.” His voice, calm and dark, cut through the words of the next song. She couldn’t look at him.

“Jason loves the theater.”

“How about loving a job to pay for college? Theater isn’t a profession. It’s a hobby.”

She didn’t want to fight, not here. “Let’s talk about this at home.”

He shook his head. “Lise, you can’t keep these secrets from me. What’s next?”

Oh, boy.

He set his punch down. “Let’s go home. I’m tired. I’ll get our coats.”

He left her there, winding his way through the crowd.

Three people stopped him and shook his hand while she listened to his question.
What’s next?

Maybe she conjured him up, because Frank almost materialized beside her. “I need to talk to you.”

“Not now, Frank. I’m tired. Nathan went to get our jackets.”

“Yes, now. This is the only chance we’ll get.” He put his hand on her elbow and directed her through the crowd, out into the chilly parking lot.

The moon had risen, haunting the night, and the smells of woodsmoke and the loamy decay of the crisp leaves hung in the air.

She shivered, running her hands over her bare arms. “What?”

Frank turned to her. “We found Blake.”

She hadn’t realized how tightly wound she’d been over the past twenty-four hours. She put her hand on his shoulder. “Good. How did he take the news of my death?”

Not that she wanted Blake to grieve her—probably he wouldn’t pay her a second thought. But years ago they’d had a wild, passionate—albeit dangerous—romance. The kind that Romeo had with Juliet. The kind that had cost Annalise her life.

“Annalise . . .”

It was the way Frank said her name that made her withdraw her hand. Clutch herself around the waist. “No.”

“We think he’s been dead for a day at most.”

“No.” She was shaking her head, moving away from him.

Frank caught her hand. “Shh. Breathe. It’s going to be okay. We’ll just find you another location—”

“What?” She pushed his hand away. “No.
No.
”

“You need to leave.”

She blinked at him, his words rattling through her.

“Did you hear me?”

“I . . . have to
what
?”