Heather Graham - Out Of The Darkness

Sarah nodded. Again, they were all quiet.

“So, what’s happening in your life, Tyler?” Renee asked. “It’s so very long since we saw you. Davey has missed you.”

“I know what Tyler has been doing! I follow his page,” Davey said. “He dated a model! Pretty girl, Tyler. I think, though, Sarah is prettier. But I saw the pictures of you.”

“She’s very nice,” Tyler said. “She’s—in Romania now. Shooting a catalog, or something like that.”

“You must miss her,” Davey said.

“We were casual friends.”

“BFFs. That’s friends with benefits,” Davey told his mother, certain she wouldn’t know.

“Davey!” Renee said. “Please, Tyler came as a favor. Let his private life be private.”

Davey had lowered his head. He was chewing on a thumbnail, something he did, if Tyler recalled rightly, when he was nervous—or hiding something.

“You’ve got to be able to help somehow,” Sarah said, as if she hadn’t heard any of their exchange. “I’m so frustrated. I feel so worthless. And I feel terrible that I didn’t keep up with her. I mean...we were friends once. I don’t know what that night did to her. We all dealt with it differently. But...” She paused, inhaling a deep breath. “Sean suggested there was something—”

She broke off again. He knew what she was going to say. In the confusion with police and parents—and the horror that seemed almost worse when it was over and the garish lights were on—both Sean and Hannah had suggested there was something weird about Davey.

That it was downright scary, the way he had known something was really wrong.

“We talked. Davey told me. I think the police understood, but others didn’t. My uncle taught Davey to watch people—to have excellent situational awareness, like an operative or a cop. Because people can be so cruel and mean. My uncle wanted Davey to be able to protect himself from that. Davey knew when kids wanted to—to make fun of him. He was good at avoiding such people. He was amazing at looking out for bullies. He saw that man...Archibald Lemming. He’d noticed him earlier. And he’d seen him go into that particular haunted house, and that was how he knew. But...”

“I told them,” Davey said, nodding grimly. He brightened. “But they lived!”

“You were a hero,” Sarah assured him.

Davey’s smile faded and he looked grim. “But now Hannah is dead. And I’m afraid.”

“You don’t need to be afraid, Davey,” Sarah assured him quickly. “You’ll never be without one of us.”

“Or my girlfriend!” he said brightly. “Megan,” he reminded Tyler.

“Trust me, young man. Megan’s mom and I will make sure you two aren’t in any danger. Someone will be with you,” Renee said.

“Can we still kiss and all?” Davey asked.

“We’ll look away,” Renee promised. She shook her head. “We’re trying to keep it real—they have ten-year-old minds in grown-up bodies.”

Davey giggled. Then again he looked grim. “It’s scary. Sarah has to be with somebody, too.”

Sarah smiled and reached over and patted his hand. “Davey, I won’t be out late at night. I won’t be anywhere without friends.”

“You live alone.”

“You could come stay here,” Renee said.

“Aunt Renee,” Sarah said, “I need to be near the universities. And here’s the thing. We know Archibald Lemming is dead. What happened to Hannah is tragic, and one of those horrible events in life that happen to mirror another. I’ll be careful. But I’m always careful. I grew up as a New Yorker, remember? I’ve been savvy and wary a long, long time. Besides...” She paused and looked over at Tyler. “This must be...random. The act of some horrible, twisted thing that parades as a human being. Tyler...Tyler went to war. He knows very bad things happen.”

“We followed you when you were deeped,” Davey said.

“Deployed,” Aunt Renee said.

“We were afraid you wouldn’t come back,” Davey said.

“Well, I am here, and I will find out what I can to help see that this man who killed Hannah meets a justice of his own, I promise,” Tyler said.

He rose. He did need to get checked into his hotel room. And he needed to find out if the people he knew had been able to pull any strings for him.

“You have my number?” Sarah asked him.

He smiled at her curiously. Of course he did. They had been texting.

“Same number, right?”

She shook her head. “Well, it’s the same as about five years ago?”

Tyler frowned. “But...you have my number?”

“Has it changed?”

“Never. It’s the same one I’ve been texting you on.”

“I—I didn’t get a text. Davey told me you were coming.”

Davey was up on his feet and running out of the room.

“Get back here!” Sarah commanded.

Davey hadn’t quite made the door. He stopped and turned around.

He looked at Sarah.

“He needed to come. Tyler needed to come. I...”

“You pretended to be me,” Sarah said. “Davey! You must never do things like that!” she added with dismay.

“Davey, I should cut your texting time with Megan!” Renee said firmly.

Davey sat down, crossing his arms over his chest, his lips set stubbornly. “Tyler is here. He needed to be here.” Then he threw his arms out dramatically. “Do what you will!”

“Just don’t do it again! Ever!” Sarah said, horrified.

She looked at Tyler. “I’m so sorry. I never would have twisted your arm, made you come here. I mean, it was on national news, you’d hear about it, but...”

“I need to be here,” Tyler said softly. “Davey is right. I’ve got some things to do. I’ll be back with you later. We may need help from your friend.”

“Kieran,” she said. “Kieran Finnegan. And she’s living with a man named Craig Frasier. He’s—he’s great. I don’t know if the FBI will be investigating this, but...”

“We’ll talk to him.”

He wanted to hold her. To pull her to him. But she was already trying to back away. She hadn’t done it—hadn’t contacted him. Davey had. And Tyler needed to remember that.

“I’ll be in touch later tonight,” he said.

He didn’t hug her goodbye. But as he went to the door, Davey raced to him. “I’m sorry, Tyler. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, buddy, it’s okay. You’re right. I need to be here. The police might already have a lead on this madman, okay? But I’ll be here.”

He nodded to Renee and Sarah, then headed out of the house. He imagined Sarah might follow him, tell him that the years had been wasted for her, too, that she knew, just seeing him again, that...

Didn’t happen.

He drove into the city and checked himself—and his car, which was as expensive to park as booking another room!—into his hotel. He had barely reached his suite before his phone rang.

And this time, it was actually Sarah.

“Tyler,” she said excitedly. “We’re in!”

“What?”

“This makes me feel worse than ever, but...I just got a call from a lawyer. Tyler, Hannah left a will. She has me listed as next of kin. She didn’t have much money—barely enough for her funeral,” Sarah said softly. “But that means that I can hire you, that it can all be legitimate, right?”

“I can work the case—even work it as if you’ve hired me. That’s not the point. I have to form some relationships, step carefully, keep in with the police. We need everyone working together.”

“But I am next of kin. You will stay, you will—”

“I will stay,” he promised her softly.

And a moment later, he heard her whisper, “Thank you. Thank you!”

And then...

“Tyler?”

“Yes?”

“I am so sorry. I don’t know why...I lost everyone. I should have been her friend. I really should have been her friend.”