"What was that about?" Andy asked with a mouth full of chicken.
"It was Sheriff Winston. He wanted to confirm my phone number."
Technically, it wasn't a lie. Sheriff Winston wanted to know if it was her number. Denise decided it would be best to keep the rest of the conversation to herself. If Andy found out they were exhuming the bodies, she'd insist on staying longer.
"He's kind of cute."
Denise blinked taken back by her friend's statement.
"Don't look at me like that, I'm not lying. Sheriff Winston is very attractive."
"He's working on my family's murder case. I'm not comfortable talking about his looks."
"But he looks good."
Denise ignored her friend and shook her head. "Anyway, what's going to happen to you? I'll go back to writing stories and working with Sheriff Winston and Detective Mullen. What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to go back to my parent's house for an unknown amount of time. I'll be trying to figure out what to do from there. I don't want a repeat of my last job. I was in the office a lot. I didn't get a chance to see my parents as much as I wanted to."
"I think you should stay in Kansas for a while. You seem to like it there. Maybe you'll find the love of your life."
Andy snorted, "yeah, right; that's wishful thinking. I have missed my parents a lot. I might stay for a few months unless they kick me out."
"Your parents wouldn't kick you out, they love you. Did you forget about what happened when you went to college? They made me come over to their house and we all shared stories about you. They acted like you died."
Andy chuckled, "they care about me more than I'd like to admit. I'm almost thirty and they can still be a little overbearing at times."
Denise took a sip of her Sprite. "You can say that again."
"If we swap numbers, we'll still be able to keep contact, right?" Andy held her breath.
Denise nodded and a grin appeared on Andy's face. "Write down my number and you won't lose it."
"Maybe I'll get it tattooed on my arm before I leave town," Andy shrugged. "It could be a surprise for my parents."
Andy didn't have any tattoos. She had her ears pierced at one point. Eventually, she let the holes close because she kept forgetting they were pierced.
Denise, on the other hand, had three tattoos. The three birds were smaller and under the left side of her collarbone. Each one represented a family member she lost. When she turned nineteen, she got one for her dad. Two more joined last month.
She originally wanted the first one there, so it could be close to her heart. She never thought she'd have to put two more there almost a decade later.
"Well," Andy got up from her stool. "I guess I should be heading back home. It's almost one and if I hurry, I can make it a few hours before it gets too dark. I'll stop at a hotel before it turns pitch black."
"Wait, I have something for you!" Denise scampered back to her bedroom. She snatched her wallet out of an empty dresser drawer.
She hurried back out to the kitchen. "I went to an ATM before I stopped at McDonald's. Take this and use it for gas money." She handed Andy a small stash of bills.
Andy's eyes widened as she counted the money. "How much money are you making from writing?"
Denise let out a small laugh. "Enough to live on and have some left over."
"This is five hundred dollars! I can't take this," Andy tried to hand the hundred dollar bills back to her.
Denise shook her head, "keep it. You didn't have to drive down here, but you did anyway. I appreciate you showing up. Even if we haven't talked in years, I still missed you. Think of it as a belated birthday present for the past three years."
Andy rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around Denise. Denise couldn't hug her friend back with her arms pinned down at her sides. She struggled to breathe as Andy wrapped her arms around her tighter.
"You're such a good friend. We'll have to make arrangements for the holidays. My parents would love to see you again." Andy slowly released her friend.
"I'll take you up on that offer. Call me when you arrive safely at your hotel, okay? If you don't call me by ten, I'm going to come after you." Denise crossed her arms over her chest.
Andy showed off her perfect teeth with a large grin. "Well, if that's the case, maybe I won't call."
Denise scoffed and rolled her eyes. She walked with Andy towards the door. They said their goodbyes once more. She watched her friend reverse out of her driveway.
Andy could see her in the rearview mirror. She hit the horn a couple of times. Denise smiled and waved until her car disappeared from view.
Denise turned around and was immediately hit by a wave of loneliness. Andy had only been around for a day and she filled the emptiness. Without Sammy being around, she had truly been alone for the past three months.
She nibbled on her lip and stared at the empty McDonald's bag on the counter. She had a half-eaten carton of french fries left. After the call with Sheriff Winston, she didn't feel like eating anymore. Her anxiety was up and running again.
Halloween was going to be in a week. It'd be drastically different this year. Susan liked to go all out for the unofficial holiday. She'd purchase a variety of candy, small toys, and a couple of five-dollar bills.
With the help of Jennifer and Denise, they'd sit down in a circle and fill up small plastic bags with goodies. Friends would play from the tv as white noise.
Susan Houghton's house was a jackpot for some kids. All of the goodie bags were opaque with different colors. Nobody, not even the Houghton family, remembered what bags the five-dollar bills were in.
Susan started the tradition three years ago and their house had been a hit since. There would easily be over a hundred kids there throughout the night. It was a Halloween version of Russian Roulette.
That wouldn't be the case this year. Susan and Jennifer were dead. Denise had moved to an undisclosed location. She didn't have plans to make goodie bags. She didn't even have plans to buy candy. There was no reason for anyone to stop by her house on Halloween night.
Her vibrating Nokia yanked her from her holiday thoughts. She pulled it from her pocket and answered the call. "Hello?"
"Denise, it's Ellen! How's it going?"
Denise sat back down on her stool. "Oh, it's going. How's it going on your end? Did you manage to talk any sense into Martin?"
"Well..." Ellen trailed off.
"I'll take that as a no. It's fine, we'll figure it out somehow."
Ellen was her book tour manager. She had been the one calling all the shots on the tour. She was a short Asian lady whose parents immigrated to the United States when she was five. Denise had only met her at the beginning of the summer. After being alone with her for the whole book tour, the two had gotten to know each other pretty well.
Ellen went to college to study literature. She graduated and landed a job at Rec N' Rot's Publishing Agency. They were an agency that specialized in the darker sides of fiction.
Denise had been thrilled when they picked up her first book. They hadn't let her down. She enjoyed working with them.
"I talked to a few people at the agency. I wanted their thoughts on it before I asked you. They told me I could do it, but only if you agreed to it. Do you care if I become your new literacy agent?"
Denise's mouth dropped open in shock, "is that allowed?"
"If you agree to it, yeah. I'm already tied to this publishing company. It'd be great if you continued to work with us. It might not work out if you want to work with someone else."
Although Ellen couldn't see her, Denise frantically shook her head. "If you're willing to be my agent and book tour manager, I'd be thrilled. I don't know how you'll juggle it all. I'd happily have you as my agent. Does this mean Martin's completely done?"
Martin was Denise's original literacy agent. He was the first person to help her get her book published at Rec 'N Rot. He had completely ghosted her after everything happened.
He never called her after the book tour. After the murder cases went public, he stayed away. Ellen ended up being the one to inform Denise of his thoughts. Apparently, he was afraid of getting bad press. He didn't want people to think he represented criminals.
Denise thought they had a close bond, but Martin thought differently. He thought she'd be the killer. She hadn't heard from him since the start of the tour.
Throughout the situation, Rec N' Rot stuck beside her. Ellen insisted she didn't have anything to be worried about unless she was found guilty of a crime. Until that happened, the publishing company would continue working with her like normal.
"Unfortunately, that's exactly what it means. Martin is done and you're all mine now. Do you have any ideas for your next book?"
Denise hadn't thought that far ahead. She had been stuck in an endless slump of writer's block. She'd been too focused on her deceased loved ones. She didn't have the energy to come up with a new plan.
She decided to be honest with Ellen. "I don't have anything at the moment. I've been distracted by everything. Is it okay if I call you in a week? I'm sure I can come up with something by then."
"That'd be perfect. How about I call you at noon? It'll be easier for me to call you when I'm free."
"That'd be fine, if you need anything else, you can call me. I'll talk to you next week."
Ellen responded and Denise hung up the phone again. That gave Denise a whole week to come up with a new story idea. She'd have to come up with everything. The characters, the setting, the plot, etc.
She slumped back on her stool and pinched the bridge of her nose. It'd be a lot, but she was glad Ellen called. This would give her something to distract her from the ongoing murder cases.
Ellen had always seemed much more laid back than Martin. Martin could be demanding at times. He would have wanted her to have an idea and a summary by the end of tomorrow. She was grateful Ellen was taking it easy on her.
Due to the circumstances, she felt fragile. One wrong move and she might fall apart; let all her worries and stress spill across the hardwood floor. She'd flood the cabin with her tears.
There was a sliver of hope building within her. It started when Andy visited and it grew a little more when Sheriff Winston seemed determined to solve her family's case. Now, a new story in a new house? It was exactly what she needed to give her a little boost.
Things can be horrible when you're isolated and in your head. It's easy to push people away and find comfort in the darkness. Sometimes you need a little push from people. Without Andy, she'd still be moping around her house.
Something shifted inside of her. She picked up one of the cold fries and threw it in her mouth. A small smile started to form on her face.
As long as she had a little hope, nothing could go wrong.