Page 103 of Marked By Shadows

“Okay,” Alex agreed. “How can I help?”

He always had such a simple viewpoint on things. There was a problem, let’s fix it. “Stay with me? I know I sound like a little kid being all needy, but right now you’re my sunshine.”

Alex laughed. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.” He began to sing. “But seriously though. We’re in this together. You help me get through the day. Sometimes with distraction, sometimes with snuggles.” He paused for a minute, apparently thinking back to our early evening because he added, “I really like our snuggles.”

“Lots more where that came from,” I promised.

“Sure. But everything else is okay too. And when I annoy you because you need alone time, just tell me.”

I nodded.

“So tell me about MaryAnn? What happened?”

“Shouldn’t I wait to tell the police?”

“I’m not sure it will matter. They have Chad’s statement.”

“Wow, right. Oh, and you went with Chad?” Chad was a big guy, but I didn’t think he could have just overpowered Alex and taken him by force. Not with Alex being ex-Army and Chad nothing more than a desk jockey.

Alex sighed. “Yeah, stupid right? He said he could get your costume back, and I knew you worked hard on it. But then he was just driving around for a long time, seemed pretty upset. I started prodding him with questions.”

“Has he been helping MaryAnn this whole time?”

“Doesn’t sound like it. She’s only taken to clinging to him for the past few months. He says they really don’t have a relationship at all, other than friendship and the non-profit. Sounds like she convinced him that me and her were working on a surprise for you? Which is why he had to convince me to go with him, and drop me off in a secret place.”

“That’s really shady.”

“Yeah,” Alex agreed. “And stupid of me to go with him. He could have been armed.”

“Was he?”

“No.”

“MaryAnn left a gun for me.”

“Have you ever used one?”

“No. It was stupid and useless. I thought, what the fuck am I going to do with a gun? So I picked up a stick instead. Swung my fair share of sticks in my life. Even cosplayed as a ton of samurai. Figured I could swing a stick like a bat better than fire a weapon I’m more likely to hurt myself with.” I felt heat fill my face as I thought back with a bit of embarrassment to the rage that had fueled me for a while. “I got pretty mad. Sort of ran at her… didn’t know at the time it was her, only that someone was messing with me… with the stick like it was a bat. Looking back now, it was a pretty crazy thing to do.”

“She could have had a gun.”

“Odd that she didn’t, right?” I said, thinking back on it. “It sounded like she trusted her victims to ‘save themselves.’ Which meant suicide, I think.” At least that is what she had planned for Alex. “I guess Chad made her mad by not bringing you. She had to change her plans last minute.”

“He started off headed in that direction, but I got him talking.”

“You were gone a long time. I sort of panicked.”

“Sorry.” Alex squeezed my forearm. “We were in his SUV a long time. He drove around forever, while I talked to him, worked out was happening, and finally convinced him to take me to the police station where I’d find Manning.”

“Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

“He asked to borrow it. Claimed his was dead and he needed the GPS. I could have tried to wrestle it back once I realized what was going on, but we were on the highway. I didn’t think forcing us to crash was a good idea.”

“No,” I agreed, following one of the cars off the highway. “I called Lukas. He freaked out of course. I got the messages from MaryAnn. Or at least I guess they are from her. Followed them to the park.”

“She must have decided since she couldn’t have me, she’d try something on you.”

“I think Freya told her about the night noises I hear. I know I didn’t tell MaryAnn. But she attempted to scare me with screams and animal noises. None of it like what I normally hear. It’s what made me so mad.” I thought about that again for a while. Wondering what Alex heard. “Maybe we all hear it differently.”