Lisa Unger - Fragile

He stood in front of Melody, who was staring at the television with the volume all the way down. Melody looked up at him, her eyes falling on the bat in his hand.

“Graham play?” he asked.

She laughed a little. “That lazy shit? I wish.”

Jones forced a smile. “What’s the bat for?”

“Protection.”

“Protection?”

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “In case someone breaks in or something, you know.”

Jones nodded. He sat on the couch next to her chair, carefully put the bat on the coffee table. It rolled a bit; he steadied it with a finger.

“It must be rough, Mel. Graham is not an easy man to be married to, I’m sure. Can’t hold a job. Always running around. Drinking with his boys.”

She kept her eyes on him, looking a little less blank.

“And then, of course, if you suspected he had his eyes on Charlene… That would be enough to make anyone go off the deep end.”

She offered him a slow blink, and it occurred to him that she’d taken something. He’d found a bottle of prescription painkillers in the medicine cabinet upstairs. All the heat she’d shown in his office-the indignation, grief, fear-was gone. She had that hazy look he remembered from high school, when she was always stoned.

“No one would blame you for trying to protect your daughter,” he said.

She put her head in her hands, seemed to fold into herself, and after a moment her shoulders started to shake.

“Just tell me, Melody,” he said, after she’d released a few shuddering sobs. “What happened here last night?”

But when she looked up at him, she wasn’t crying, as he’d thought. She was laughing.

“You always did think I was stupid, didn’t you, Jones?”

He felt a lash of anger so intense he stood up and walked out of the room, her nasty cackling following him down the hall. He stopped to collect himself.

“You done, Kate?” he called back, leaning a hand on the oak banister. His chest felt like someone had a rope around him and was pulling tight, making it difficult to breathe. Maggie was always warning him about the speed and intensity of his anger, reminding him to take deep breaths when he felt stressed, suggesting yoga and meditation. What he needed was for people to stop fucking with him. Then he’d be more relaxed.

“Just about,” she said. She sounded wary, picking up on his tone.

“We need to get that blood to a lab, compare it with the other DNA samples we’ve obtained here. Find out who it belongs to before the night is out.”

He was afraid she was going to say, “But that’s going to take weeks.” They didn’t have a lab here in The Hollows. Evidence would have to be sent by squad car to Albany; they’d wait in line behind every other homicide that had come in before them, not that they were even calling it a homicide yet.

Instead, smart girl that she was, Katie followed his lead. “Yes, sir,” she said briskly. “Right away.”

He heard her push her chair back, start gathering up her things. Melody stopped laughing. He waited in the hush that fell, his chest releasing, his breath coming more easily.

“Jones,” Melody said, that pitiable tone creeping back into her voice. “Wait.”

“I don’t need a ride. My house isn’t far.”

Sarah kept walking, but Jones saw a little smile turn up the corners of her mouth, as if she was embarrassed by the attention but liked it a little bit, too.

“Oh, we don’t mind,” said Travis. “You shouldn’t be alone here. It’s getting dark.” Travis had this way of modulating his voice to make himself sound so sweet, so innocent. Jones could never do that, could never mask his intentions or emotions. Even with coaches and teachers, Travis could wheedle himself out of trouble with charm.

Jones followed her slowly, the gravel of the road crunching beneath his tires.

“I’m not supposed to ride in cars with boys,” she said, still not looking over at them. She picked up her pace a little bit.

Travis chuckled. It sounded light and amiable, though it was anything but. Jones watched Travis’s knee jump in a slow, tense rhythm. “We won’t tell.”

Jones was starting to feel uncomfortable. She clearly didn’t want to get in the car; it was disrespectful to keep pushing, he knew that even then. But Travis had never learned that. In all his life, he never did learn that. No one ever taught Travis that when a woman said no, sometimes she meant it.

Jones said nothing, though, did nothing, just continued to follow her slowly. Up ahead, he saw a dark, narrow form making her way down the unpaved road. Even from that distance, he knew it was Melody. Her house was not a tenth of a mile away. He could see the cupola through the trees. She’d probably spotted them from her upstairs window. Melody Murray had always made him uncomfortable, awakened within him some combination of desire and disdain. He’d touched her breast once at a keg party. In a dark closet, they’d rubbed and groped. Then he’d slid his hand beneath her dress and sought the warm flesh of her breast under the silky bra she wore. He could still remember what it felt like, small and soft, oddly heavy in his hand.

“Here comes trouble,” said Travis. Rumor was that Travis had popped Melody’s cherry in her parents’ bed. Jones didn’t know if it was true or not.

Sarah looked ahead and gave an enthusiastic wave, then started moving quickly, almost jogging, toward Melody. Was she frightened of them? Did she feel the energy of Travis’s intent, that he wasn’t just offering her a ride? Here again, Jones might have turned around, listening to Travis bitch and moan but then being rid of him for good. But when he brought the car to a stop, considered turning around, Travis got out.

“Crosby, get back here.”

But Travis didn’t listen; he approached the two girls, hands in his pockets.

“Hey, Mel,” Jones heard Travis say, sugary and sly. “Why don’t you guys come for a little ride?”

Jones stayed in the car, watching the three of them. He remembered Sarah stepping back, Mel leaning in toward Travis, familiar and at ease. Then-whatever was said he couldn’t hear-the three of them were walking toward the car.

“Pop the trunk, Cooper. Sarah needs to put her stuff back there.”

Then they were all in the car together, the heat blasting, Robert Plant on the radio. Travis and Melody were in the back. Sarah sat beside him, smelling nice, like soap and flowers.

“Where are we going?” she wanted to know. He noticed how she edged away from him, trying to push herself toward the door. She had her hands folded primly in her lap. She didn’t want to be there. Why had she agreed to come? He was about to ask if he should just take her home when he heard the pop and hiss of a cigarette lighter from the back. The sharp, tangy odor of marijuana drifted up to the front seat. He looked in the rearview mirror to see that Melody had lit a joint, was taking a deep drag.

“Melody!” said Sarah, turning around. “What are you doing?”

“Come on, Sarah,” Melody said as she released the smoke she’d been holding. “Don’t be such a prude.” Travis and Melody started to laugh as she handed him the joint. Sarah turned around and didn’t say anything else, looking tense and pale. Jones didn’t reflect on it for long, just put the car in gear and started to drive. He knew a place they could go and not be bothered.

The meeting resulted in little more than hurt feelings and frustration. Henry always had good intentions. But there was some resentment that a meeting had been called at all; an abduction was one thing, a runaway quite another-which might explain why attendance was so poor. As Maggie walked with Elizabeth back to her car, she overheard Britney talking to her mother.