Alistair McIntyre - Shallow Creek

He turned back around and Kim gasped.

“What is it?” He stepped towards her quickly and sat down next to her.

She reached out and gingerly touched his face.

“I forgot you’d been in a fight,” she said absently, preoccupied with examining his healing wounds.

“You should see the other guys.”

Kim shot him a skeptical look and leaned back against the arm of the sofa. Now she was facing him with her knees pulled up between them. She sipped at her coffee, watching him. Casey returned from the kitchen and sat in the plastic desk chair.

“Is something wrong?” Brendan asked when things got weird enough.

“You asked me at the gas station if Michelle ever did meth, right?”

“Right.”

“Why?”

Brendan glanced Casey’s way. “I’m not sure we should have this conversation in front of her.”

“Believe it or not, I’m on your side,” Casey said before taking a gulp of water.

“I’ll vouch for her,” Kim added quickly.

“I’m confused,” Brendan said.

“You think you know what’s going on, but you don’t have the whole story,” Casey said. “I was as shocked as you were in that bar the other day, but I had a part to play. I couldn’t blow it.”

“Yeah, now I’m more confused. Why were you there with Scott?”

The two women shared a knowing look.

“I didn’t just randomly come to Shallow Creek,” Casey explained slowly. Her eyes dragged across the floor while she talked. “My sister was murdered here six months ago, at the Exxon on the edge of town.”

“Okay, so you’re here for what? Justice? Revenge?”

Casey sneered when her eyes met his. “Maybe both.”

Brendan motioned to his bruised face. “Vigilante justice isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and you don’t look like the type, anyway.”

“Is that what happened to you?” Kim exclaimed.

“Why do you think Scott had his buddies kick my ass?”

“Um, I figured you tried to steal drugs from him.”

“Not quite, but close,” Brendan said. Kim and Casey both sat up a little more. “Marcus told me the town’s had some problems with meth, and then I saw my sister high on something, so now I’m trying to lend my assistance to the law enforcement community.”

“Did they ask for your help?” Casey asked.

“Not exactly,” Brendan said. “Did they ask for yours?”

Casey shifted her attention to the window, glaring at nothing. Kim stayed quiet for a few moments.

“They hurt you pretty bad,” she said.

“I’ve had worse.”

Kim put her mug down on the wooden floor. “They’ll probably do worse if you don’t stop.”

“And I’ll do worse if they don’t stop.”

She appraised him closely, peering into his soul. He wanted to look away from those enchanting green eyes, but couldn’t draw himself out of their depths. Kim broke contact and turned her attention to her knees, avoiding Brendan’s gaze.

“Recently I’ve been thinking Grant and Michelle are into something,” she said. “Something illegal.”

“Why’s that?” Brendan asked. Casey got up to get more water. Apparently she’d heard this spiel already.

“They live in a pretty nice double wide, but on the outside it’s still just a trailer. Inside, though, inside they’ve got tons of nice stuff, and in the last year they’ve been on vacation all the damn time.”

Brendan almost mentioned looking at some of their vacation photos when he was over last night, but at the last second remembered that could start a weird and dangerous conversation.

“My mom used to dote on Grant all the time, telling me how great a guy he is and look at all the nice places he’s taking Michelle,” Kim said, obviously not convinced. “She always tried to force guys on me, so that I could have that life, too. So that I would have someone taking care of me like that.”

“What’s this got to do with meth?” Brendan asked, not wanting to derail her venting, but determined to find out what she knew.

“Michelle doesn’t work, and I don’t really know what Grant does, but he’s around and gone again pretty randomly.”

“I thought you and Michelle don’t talk much?”

Kim snorted and looked away.

“I’m just repeating what I hear from Mom. She talks to Michelle all the time.”

“You think your sister and my brother are involved in drugs because they live a lifestyle better than they should be able to afford?”

“That about sums it up, yeah.”

Casey asked to use the restroom as Kim stood and walked the few paces to the window. She told Casey to go right ahead as she peered outside. Her face turned ashen.

“Oh shit,” she exclaimed, turning to Brendan. “Grant’s here.”

Brendan jumped off the couch. Kim pointed out the window, but Brendan could see him easily enough, the last person on Earth that Brendan wanted to talk to right now, walking to the stairs leading to Kim’s apartment. Grant glanced up and gave a hearty wave as he disappeared up the stairs.

“How did he know I’m here?”

“Mom must’ve seen you arrive.” Kim feverishly picked up her scattered clothes and dumped them in a hamper. “She would’ve called Michelle.”

Brendan stood by the door, waiting for the inevitable knock. When it finally came, Kim nodded to Brendan to open the door, which he did, albeit reluctantly. Grant burst in and grappled Brendan in a tight hug.

“Brendan! It’s so good to see you, bro.” Grant pulled back and held Brendan at arm’s length. “Michelle told me all about the other night.” Brendan’s heart leapt into his throat.

“Who knows what those bastards would’ve done to my wife if you hadn’t been there to save her?” Grant finally released Brendan and patted him on the shoulder. It took every bit of concentration not to flinch even at the small, playful strikes. Neither Kim nor Brendan had said a single word to the man, but Grant just kept on rambling. “I just got back into town this lunchtime. I’ve been incommunicado for a few days, but I’ll have to change that now that Michelle’s been a target.”

Grant’s tone had taken on a dark quality, reminding Brendan of what his brother had done to him ten years ago. In a surprising about-face, Grant brightened up and slapped Brendan on the back.

“Listen, I’ve got to run and take care of some things, but why don’t we grab a beer at Trish’s later?” he commanded more than asked.

Brendan didn’t trust his brother as far as he could throw him, especially with Kim implicating him in the plot, so Brendan took a deep breath, pasted an easy grin on his face and said yes, that sounded great. Grant quickly waved goodbye and departed as suddenly as he’d appeared.

Kim glided past Brendan and started to close the door, but Brendan stopped her.

“It’s probably best if I get going, too.”

“You don’t have to.”

True, he didn’t have to, but he wanted some space to think, and Kim’s presence muddled his mind.

Casey reappeared from the bathroom. “We have more to talk about, Brendan.”

“I need to get back and help my folks get dinner going,” he said, figuring his mom would never let him lift a finger. “I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

“Sure,” Kim said, lightly brushing his arm as he walked past her. “Don’t be a stranger.”

Chapter 23

“Brendan, is that you?”

His mom was calling him and he hadn’t even closed the front door yet.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Get in here and give me a hand will you?”

Brendan poked his head into the living room to see his dad watching the first half of some NFL game. His dad jerked his head towards the kitchen, showing Brendan where he needed to go. With a sigh Brendan cut through the dining room to reach an apocalyptic scene with his mom as the source.