Page 117 of Nightshade

“Of course.”

“Good. Then I’ll see you in about thirty. You packed my stuff?”

“Doing it now. You’re lucky I’m not going to ‘forget’ to pack your Willie Nelson shirt.”

It was a T-shirt from a Hollywood Bowl concert celebrating Nelson’s ninetieth birthday. Stilwell had loved the concert and loved the shirt, although it had seen better days. He only wore it to sleep in. But Tash was a Swiftie and didn’t care for Willie or the bright red shirt, even though Stilwell pointed out that both performers sang about heartbreak and resilience, just in different ways.

“I’d never forgive you,” Stilwell said, returning her joking tone. “See you soon.”

After disconnecting, he was encouraged. The shot she had taken about Willie Nelson felt like the old Tash coming across the call.

As he drove toward Pasadena he felt that things in his life might be falling back into place.

41

THE SEAS WERErough on the Express ride back to Catalina but things were smooth between Stil and Tash. They sat inside and away from the spray and were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t bother to get up with all the tourists and go to the stern deck to watch the fleet of porpoises jumping in the boat’s wake. The closer they got to Avalon, the more Stilwell saw the tension ease out of Tash’s face. It was reassuring in the moment, but it also reinforced his belief that a future with this woman meant a future on the island. That was going to be fine in the short term. The island felt like home to him. But he wasn’t sure he liked the idea of the rest of his life being predetermined.

The thrum of the engines and the up-and-down rhythm of the rolling seas helped put him into a pleasant daze as she held his right hand, took one finger at a time, and massaged the joints. She announced that she wanted to cook dinner that night and would go directly from the dock to Vons to pick up groceries if he could handle both their suitcases and his backpack.

“Not a problem,” he said. “Whose place are we going to?”

“Yours,” Tash said.

Another good sign, he thought.

“What are you making?”

“Not sure yet. It’ll be a surprise.”

“Okay. Cool.”

“You know I told Dennis I was taking a few days off. I only promised to be back for the weekend. You want to maybe go camping out at Two Harbors now that you don’t go back on duty till the shrink signs your RTD?”

“Uh, maybe. Yeah, sounds good. When do you want to go?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Uh…”

“What?”

“Just wondering if I’ll need to be around for any final questions from the shooting team. Can I just check in the morning and then we’ll make a plan?”

“Fine.”

Her tone turned cold with that one word. Stilwell didn’t want to lie to her, but he needed to be ready to go back to Long Beach if Juarez was successful in bringing in Terranova.

“They might want me to come over for another sit-down.”

“Why? You’ve told them everything. What more can they ask?”

“That’s how they do it. They make you tell the story over and over at different times to see if you slip and your story changes. It’s going to be done soon, but let me just check with them tomorrow. If we’re camping somewhere and I don’t have cell service, it could be a problem. Technically, even though I’m relieved of duty, I’m supposed to be available to the investigators.”

“What a nightmare.”

Stilwell wanted to stop the cascade of lies and get her back into a positive mood.

“You want to rent a boat and go fishing?” he asked. “Or just stay on land?”