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Haley remembered thinking she’d seen something move in the woods that night. Could it have been Tiffany or Charles, or--?
An armadillo trotted across the yard, then sensing their presence, froze. Haley watched it consider what it should do as she listened to Charles.
“I called out to her. Then I just figured she was sitting somewhere, pouting and not answering me. So after about ten minutes or so, I got back in my truck and left. Tiff only does things when she’s ready, Haley. You can’t tell her a damn thing. You know that. And you sure as shit can’t tell her not to do anything she wants to do.
“If only I’d stayed and waited for her a little longer, maybe none of this would be happening. Trust me, I won’t be able to live with myself if something. . . you know. . . bad. . . happened to her.”
Haley tried to process his words. As she did so, the armadillo scurried off.
“Do you think she could have run off with someone?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“Do you know who she was seeing?”
“No.”
“But you knew she was seeing someone?”
“I honestly don’t know if she was or wasn’t.”
“I don’t want to pressure you,” Charles said. “It’s just tough because I know how tight you two are. I know she tells you things.”
He said are. How tight you two are. Not were. It was a good sign.
“Charles, Tiffany told me that you’ve been acting strange lately. Obsessed.”
“Obsessed,” he snorted. “Yeah, sounds like something she’d say. C’mon, Haley, you know her better than anyone. You know how dramatic she can be. If she barely scraped her head on a kitchen cabinet, she’s likely to say that it sliced her scalp wide open. If one guy happened to flirt with her while she was at the supermarket, she’d make it three.”
He ran his fingers through his coarse hair and studied the porch. “I don’t know what to do. They keep asking me questions. The same questions over and over again to see if I’ll slip up and change my answers. It’s like a really bad episode of Law and Order or some shit. I’m freakin’ the shit out.”
Haley moved to the swing and sat down. The chattering in her stomach had calmed somewhat and now it just felt queasy.
“The sheriff and that asshole detective who know dick about solving a missing persons case think I’m behind this and they’re making me out to be some kind of freak. And it sure as hell doesn’t help that I’m a black man in a town of backwoods racist fucks. They’ve searched my mom’s house twice. My truck. I don’t know how many hours I’ve spent at that station for questioning. I think they’re downright pissed because they can’t pin anything on me.” He wringed his hands together. “My God, I didn’t do anything to her. I never would. She’s created a world of hurt for me, but I still love that girl like crazy.”
Chapter 25
ON SATURDAY, HALEY returned to work. She was taking a customer’s order when Tyler Jeffries walked into Luke’s, holding the hand of a girl who looked to be Becky’s age.
Her chest tightened and the notepad in her hand plopped onto the black and white checkered tiles. She was overcome with the sensation she was going to pass out.
“Lookie what the cat dragged in!” Kim gushed, hurrying around the counter to give her first cousin a hug. “Where have you been, Mr. Tyler? I haven’t seen you for ages!”
As Haley knelt to pick up the notepad, she, not for the first time, imagined what Tyler must have looked like that night seven months ago out on Coontz Road. The night he killed her father.
He must have been sweaty, his eyes wide as he realized what he hit.
Haley’s hands trembled as she debated what to do. She didn’t think she could bring herself to walk across the diner, to the front door, not with him there. But what were her choices? Sweat snaked along the back of her neck.
“It’s a tough decision. Everything looks so good, but I think I’ve settled on the beef pot pie,” her customer was saying. But she didn’t hear him. She was staring at Tyler. He looked so fresh-faced and happy. Too happy. He didn’t deserve to look so—
She was still looking at him when he glanced over and saw her. His face clouded over and he quickly looked away.
The cowbells clattered, and Mac walked in. He nodded hello to everyone. Tyler peered hesitantly at Mac.
“Miss? Miss, are you okay?” her customer was asking.
Haley saw Kim glance at her, the realization finally creeping into her ruddy face. She pointed to where Haley stood, and Mac headed toward her, concern flooding his big, brown eyes.
“You okay?” Mac whispered. Then, “No, of course you ain’t. Go sit in my truck.” He handed her the keys. “I’ll tell Kim you’re taking the rest of the day off.”
***
THE VINYL SEATS in Mac’s truck burned the backs of her legs and arms, but Haley barely noticed.
“I realize it could have happened to anybody,” Haley said, her hair blowing in her eyes. She rolled the window up a little. “After all, Daddy was walking on the side of the road and it was dark and raining and there was the sharp turn. . . But he was my father. And Tyler killed him. I can’t just forgive him like nothing happened.”
Mac rested a hand on Haley’s knee. “I know, Babe. I know.”
Haley watched the trees whiz by, trying not to think about that night. The one that inhabited her nightmares.
“Think you can stay over tonight?”
Mac slowed the truck and turned onto her road. “I don’t know. I’ve got to work pretty late. That’s why I was stoppin’ by the diner. . . to say hello.”
“You’ve been working late so much lately,” Haley said. But she instantly felt a little guilty for complaining. After all, it wasn’t unlike Mac to need his space. He had always needed it. And a lot of it. She was the one who was changing, not him.
But she was desperate for the company, so she decided to play the neediness card. If there was anything Mac desired, it was being needed. And she did need him. She needed more help through this. In the seven days since Tiffany had been missing, they’d barely talked about her.
“Please? I need you.”
Mac’s face slowly eased into a smile. “You do need me, don’t you?” he said, patting her knee. He parked the truck in front of her house. “How about I come on over around ten? We’ll drive by Luke’s to get your car, and then we can come back here. Sound like a plan?”
Haley nodded, relieved that he was coming over.
“What do you think happened to Tiffany?” she asked, the words just tumbling out.
He shook his head briskly. “Aw, don’t worry yourself about her none. I’m sure that wherever she is, she’s just fine. You have enough to worry about as it is, Hale. Her mother’s just paranoid. Got everyone in an uproar right now, but it’ll all die down once she calls someone.”
“How can you say that? There’s no way she’s just fine. If she’d gone somewhere willingly she would have called me, Mac. You know that.”
Mac sighed. “Look, I really have to get goin’. Let’s talk about this later, okay?”
It was then that she reached to pick up her purse from the floorboard and spotted something glossy peeking from beneath the seat. She picked it up. It was a copy of Hustler magazine. Her heart skipped a beat from the shock of seeing it in Mac’s truck. She studied the titillating cover for a long while, her heart racing. Although she wasn’t sure where she stood on the issue of pornography, Mac had brought it up on a few occasions while they’d been together, insisting that it repulsed him. That he was different than many other men and was only attracted to wholesome women.
Why would he say those things if he hadn’t meant them?
The fact that he had the magazine also frightened her. The only thing familiar, constant, and dependable in her life these days was Mac. It was too out of character.