Shallow Creek

“It wasn’t until Sadie was born that I realized how bad I was.” Her voice drifted far, far away.  “And then my cousin Dale died.”

“Dale?”

“Scott’s brother,” she mumbled.  “Supposed to be a simple OD, but I didn’t believe that.  Grant was too crazy when he got angry, and people got hurt.”  She gave him a knowing glance.  “Dale probably screwed up a deal and Grant killed him.”

“Did you tell anyone else about this?”

Michelle ignored him.  “I don’t even know if those Mexicans trying to rape me and Kim was real.  Grant was real messed up in the head.  He could’ve set that all up to make me fall in love with him.”

“I don’t know about all that, Michelle.”

The tears started, and neither person made a move to wipe them away.  “Spee’s dead because I didn’t call and tell where Grant had her,” she moaned.  Brendan recalled that he hadn’t been able to call it in either.  “But I only had her cell number, so I was helpless.  I’m useless.”

Brendan crouched next to the bed and pulled the oily hair off her face.  She’d grown a few more wrinkles since they were kids, but she still looked about the same.  One time she’d fallen off a horse and broken her arm, eliciting the same tears she cried now.  Brendan had consoled her then, and here he was doing so again.

“That’s not your fault.”  Her sobs slowed down as she paid him some attention.  “You got out there as fast as you could and tried to help them.  What else could you have done?”

She nodded and sniffed wetly.  A tissue box sat on a small table, so Brendan passed her a tissue to blow her nose.  That done, she settled down and sighed deeply.

“Mom told me you were hanging out with Kim.”

“I was.”

“Do you like her?”

“Yes.”

“Take her away from here.” She turned her head toward his.  “Promise me.”

Brendan mulled over his response before opening his mouth.  “I’d like to give that a shot, but she’s pretty damn pissed about us having sex.”

“I’ll clean that up,” she said.  “Just promise me you’ll take her away.  She deserves more than living in Mom’s garage, and this place is dangerous now.  Just because Grant’s gone, that doesn’t mean the senseless violence will just stop.”

When she tried to shift in the bed, she gasped and immediately gave up, quickly reaching for her IV button to click some morphine into her bloodstream.  Brendan gently rested his hand on her shoulder as he stood up, not really knowing what kind of physical affection was needed by a gunshot victim.  Out in the sandbox, dragging the wounded through a hail of gunfire was about all the touching necessary.

“Hey, Michelle—”

Brendan turned to find Kim stepping into the room.  She paused at the sight of him.

“I didn’t know you’d be here.”  She looked back to her sister. “I’ll just come back later.  Maybe.”

She spun on her heels and made to leave.

“Stop, Kim,” Brendan said.  “I’m the one who should be going.”

She regarded him coolly before very deliberately stepping farther into the room to let him out.

“This is going to sound weird, but I was drugged, and I really don’t remember it,” he said quickly, trying to squeeze all the words out before his brain kicked in to shut off the ill-advised verbal torrent.

“It?” she said.  “Is that what you old people call sex now?”

Brendan took a deep breath and excused himself, hoping that Michelle could keep her promise to clean this all up.  If she did, he knew he’d keep the promise he hadn’t actually agreed to yet.

Chapter 52

The phone stared him down, but Brendan didn’t feel like turning it on.

He pocketed the small device and rested his chin on his hands.  The door to Michelle’s room was closed now, and presumably the sisters were engaging in one of the most difficult conversations of their lives.  A bit of an unfortunate way to rekindle their relationship.

And speaking of trying relationships, Brendan hadn’t even told his parents yet that he’d killed their eldest son.  That would be a fun one, he was sure.

The guard at the door nodded to Brendan.  “Rough night, guy?”

Brendan leaned back in his chair, which faced Michelle’s door.  “Yeah, you could say that.”

“Heard you killed your own brother.”

“That’s the rumor.” Brendan put his head back against the wall.

A nurse pushed a bed past them, prompting Brendan to slide his heels back under his seat.  Once the hallway was clear, the cop spoke to him again.  “Also heard you tried to save that hot DEA chick.”

“Tried.”

“Shitty.”

Brendan sighed and looked up and down the hall, searching for any kind of distraction.  On cue, the latch on the door to Michelle’s room clicked and Kim appeared, tears brimming in the soft hospital lights.  Brendan had barely stood up before she strode and grabbed him in a tight hug.  He returned the gesture uneasily, not entirely sure what was going on.

“Is Michelle okay?”

“Yeah, she’s fine.”  Kim sniffed against his shoulder.  “Thanks to you.”

“It was nothing.”  He moved his lips close to her ear.  “Are things going to be okay between you two?”