Come Get Me Page 8

  Jim wanted to be angry but he couldn’t do it. He was too happy to see Rob for it to work. Instead he said the only thing that came to mind. “Ha, ha real funny dickhead. Is this the only reason you became a cop? So you could scare the shit out of us little people?”

  “Hell no!” he replied before the words were even done coming out of Jim’s mouth, “That’s only a fringe benefit. I also get free food at some of the restaurants once in a while. Oh yeah and some of the tourists come up with some interesting thing to get out of tickets if you know what I mean. If you only knew some of the things I’ve seen,” he finished with a wink and a wicked grin. Jim just looked at him for a minute not quite sure how serious he was. Seeing his look just made Rob smile all the wider. He wiggled his eyebrows to make Jim wonder a little more but all that did was make him laugh. Shaking his head Jim turned his attention back to Jill who seemed to have found something that just absolutely had to be done right now behind the counter. Instead of seeing her beautiful face he got quite an eyeful of her butt. And a nice one it was if someone were to ask him. She was bending over looking at something on the floor underneath the shelves of candy. Jim was about to say something when Rob loudly cleared his throat. Sensing something wasn’t quite right and not hearing any talking Jill quickly spun around and caught Jim staring at the area where her previously exposed backside had been. Having no other choice but to admit he’d been caught Jim just smiled at her with red cheeks.

  “Like what you see?” she asked slyly.

  “You could say that,” he fired right back taking up the silent challenge.

  That seemed to catch her off guard. He was getting good at saying things that threw her off. It was her turn to have red cheeks. Something else important must’ve needed her attention since she quickly ducked back down behind the counter. Sounds of things being moved around could be heard from the general area.

  “So I guess you came back cause of Tommy, huh?” Rob said snagging Jim’s attention once Jill wasn’t in sight to distract him.

  “Yeah, that’s about the size of it,” Jim sighed, “but, ya know, there’s a few other things I’m starting to find interesting around here. The scenery wasn’t as nice around here when I left. I was planning on leaving right after Tommy was buried but I might end up sticking around a little longer just for the view.” He knew he was acting like a high school kid but he still hoped Jill was listening. He was pretty sure she was. It felt a little awkward flirting with somebody when he was supposed to be mourning but he didn’t think Tommy would mind. Hell, he would probably have been encouraging him if he were there. Jim was pretty sure Jill was at least a little interested but he wasn’t as positive as he usually liked to be before asking someone out so he figured dropping a few hints every now and then couldn’t hurt anything. Jill stood up and gave him a queer look before her cheeks started turning red again. She quickly turned and began looking like she was taking an inventory of the candy on the shelves.

  “Yeah,” Rob said picking up his line of thought, “there sure are some pretty nice sights to see around here. You gotta be careful of them though,” he continued with a wink in Jim’s direction, “they can be pretty dangerous sometimes. There’s all kinds of curves you gotta watch out for. Some of them are sharp but some of them are smooth too. They can also be a little snoopy too sometimes if you know what I mean. Didn’t used to be a lot of stuff like that in this town, but just recently in the last couple of years the scenery finally took a turn. I mean, not that I’ve had a chance to appreciate it too much.”

  “Yeah, when I left it pretty much sucked around here,” Jim said starting up right where Rob left off, “but from what I’ve seen since I’ve been back it’s changed quite a bit. For the better if you ask me.”

  Jill looked over her shoulder to where they stood for a minute shook her head and went back to her make believe inspection. She mumbled something under her breath about men thinking they were so clever making innuendos that they didn’t think women understood and something else about how they weren’t as smart as they thought they were. Glancing back and fixing them with another slightly disapproving stare she returned to looking busy again.

  “So,” Jim said to Rob after a few more seconds of watching Jill, “what’s this I’ve been hearing about Tommy’s death not being as cut and dry as everybody thought.” Seeing Rob’s reluctant look he quickly added, “Look, I know you don’t want to talk about it but I really need to know. He was my friend too. I’m going to miss him but if this was anything other than a horrible accident I need to know.” He didn’t want Rob getting into any trouble for telling him specific details about the case but if there was something fishy going on he thought somebody, especially somebody as close to the deceased as he’d been, should know. Unfortunately Rob was the only source he could get that information from.

  “Boy, you don’t hold back do you? Just jump right on in with both feet without the hip waders don’t you?” Rob asked shaking his head. When Jim didn’t respond right away he took that as a sign to continue. “Well, let me start by saying you don’t know the half of what’s going on. If you’d seen the things I have you wouldn’t be asking a fella to describe it to you.” Jim watched him as he spoke. It was as if an invisible veil passed over his face turning everything somber just thinking about Tommy. Jim didn’t like forcing Rob like this but if it upset him this much just thinking about it than obviously something bad was going on. After stopping for a few seconds to collect himself Rob signaled his readiness to continue with a slight smile and spoke up in an official sounding voice, “As you know I’m not supposed to talk about official police business with civilians but sometimes there are special cases.” He was trying to cover his pain by joking around but it didn’t fool anyone. Least of all Jim. He’d known him too long. Rob was acting like the big tough guy because of who their audience was. Jill was still near at the register. If she hadn’t been he’d probably have started blubbering like a little baby as soon as he started talking.

  “Now with that official disclaimer having been said,” Rob continued in his big boy voice as he glanced over his shoulder making sure nobody else was in the store he might have missed, “I might as well tell you everything anyways since I know I’m going too eventually. Might as well get it over with sooner rather than later. I could never keep a secret from you, huh?” When they’d been little he’d never been able to keep secrets. At least from Jim. Every time Rob tried to keep something from them it had always been Jim he’d eventually told. Jim never even had to ask. It was like he needed to confess and Jim was the preacher. Rob never went to any of the others, just Jim. Now was no different. It was funny how they’d fallen right back into the old ways just like the past twelve years had never happened.

  “You know that he was impaled right?” Rob finally blurted after a few seconds of silence. Jim told him that was what he’d heard yesterday when he was walking around town and saw Rob stand up a little straighter. It was like a great weight had been lifted form his shoulders.

  “Good,” he said with that sad little smile, “at least I wasn’t the one to tell you that part of it.” Rob stopped again and looked like he was thinking about what he wanted to say. There must’ve been a lot of information because it took a few seconds before he finally seemed ready to spill the story.

  “It was real strange,” he began looking Jim right in the eye. “The moment we got out to where it all went down we could tell something just wasn’t right. It was almost as if something about the air was telling us to go back. That we didn’t want to see what was waiting for us in the woods. I myself wish we’d have listened to whatever it was. I don’t think I’ll ever forget what we saw out there.” Pausing again Jim could see Rob’s shoulders shudder at the memory. Jim wanted him to hurry up and tell the story but kept his mouth shut. If he pushed him he might not get anything at all. After a few seconds pause Rob started again.

  “It was just getting dark and we were beginning to think we weren’t going to be able to
find the place Tommy’s body was waiting for us at when suddenly we were there. After walking through some bushes and around this one huge tree we found it. Actually we almost walked right into him. After seeing what had happened we all wished it had been darker than it actually was. I wish I hadn’t seen it as well as I did. It just got worse once they brought the lights out, but luckily I wasn’t there anymore by that point. Anyway, Tommy was stuck right on the end of a tree just like we’d been told. Right through his chest.” Rob pointed at his chest as if to illustrate his point. “He must’ve somehow flipped over in the air or something because he was laying face up with the point coming from right between his ribs. It went straight through his back and out his front. Parts of his ribs were actually sticking out. There was blood all over the place. The leaves looked as if someone had taken a bucket of red paint and thrown it everywhere. I actually got a little sick and had to run off in the woods so I didn’t contaminate the scene or anything. After the initial shock of seeing his body wore off the next thing we noticed was where his stand was located in relation to his body. It was at least twenty feet away. That definitely wasn’t right. Tommy could’ve fallen from a tree and landed the way he had but in order for him to have landed on the tree he did he would’ve had to jump. Everything we saw just on a first glance was strange enough, but we were only half finished. The next thing we found after looking for a few minutes was…” Rob abruptly stopped as the door squealed opened announcing the arrival of someone. Jim cursed whoever it was before he even saw them. Rob wouldn’t finish his story with someone else there. It was bad enough he and Jill were hearing what was said. Rob couldn’t risk another person knowing the whole story.

  The door finished its opening swing and begun its closing when the last person he wanted to see strutted in as if she owned the place. Maria looked from side to side like a dog searching for a scent before finally settling on Jim. When she saw him at the counter she immediately started walking towards him.

  “Hi Jim!” she practically squealed as she pushed Rob out of the way. “I didn’t know you’d be here!” He was sure she’d known exactly where he was ever since he’d passed the restaurants on his way in to town. Why else would she be here? Looking over her shoulder at Rob for help only got him shrugged shoulders and fingers pantomiming the universal signal for craziness. Jim stifled his laugher by quickly coughing into his hand. Maria, seeing that she wasn’t getting his full attention spun around and almost caught Rob in the act of making fun of her. Luckily he grabbed a box from the shelf next to him before he was completely caught. Unfortunately he hadn’t looked at what he was grabbing. Seeing what rob was holding caused Jim to have to stifle another bout of laughter.

  Jim knew a lot of things had changed since he’d left but he didn’t know Rob had had a sex change. The box he’d grabbed was for tampons and he was intently studying the directions for their use. At the sound of Jim’s half cough half laughter Rob looked up trying to act as if he’d just noticed that Maria was there. She just looked at him with a slightly raised eyebrow.

  “Hey Maria! How’s it going?” Rob asked brightly.

  “Oh, I’m fine but you look don’t look to well.” She said sarcastically. “Have you gained weight? You look like you might be retaining a little water. Is your monthly friend here for a visit?” Maria seemed to enjoy Rob’s confusion.

  “No, not really,” Rob began before noticing what he held. Once he did Jim was surprised he didn’t drop it. He visibly turned a brighter shade of red then quickly said, “I, uh, need to go look at something over there.” Then quickly moved to the spot his pointing finger was indicating.

  “Yes, you do that,” Maria said with a catty smile as she turned back to Jim.

  “Hi Maria,” Jim said quickly feeling like he was caught in the cats’ claws. He wanted to get this unfortunate meeting over with as soon as possible. He still had stuff to find out from Rob then there was also the problem with working up the courage to ask Jill out. He hadn’t planned on doing it but seeing Maria the idea had suddenly seemed like a very good one. The only way to get past Maria and be able to do those things was to jump right in with both feet and hope it wouldn’t get to painful. “I was just talking to Rob here about old times. Haven’t seen him in a while, you know.” The look on her face told him she wasn’t buying any of what he was saying. The conversation had already gone on longer than he’d wanted it too and she hadn’t even said anything. Maybe if he kept talking she never would so he continued. “We were just trying to catch up a little before he had to go back to work. He was just telling me about the people still living in the area and some stuff about what had changed since I left. Hopefully he doesn’t have to be back at work too soon. I’d really like to talk to him a little more if he does.” He was hoping Rob was listening and would come to his rescue but apparently that wasn’t going to happen. He must have been scared off by his earlier confrontation.

  Jim knew he wasn’t being extremely polite but he wanted to get rid of her as fast as possible so he could find out what else Rob had to say. Just before they were interrupted he was sure he was about to tell him something important.

  “Was there, uh, something I could help you with?” he asked trying to prod her into getting to the reason why she’d come searching for him.

  “I was just wondering if you were ok,” she answered sweetly. “I also wanted to ask if you needed anything or if maybe, you’d thought anymore about getting together. I’m here for you whenever you want me.” She put an emphasis on ‘want’ and he was sure it wasn’t by accident. Jim didn’t know what to do about the whole situation. He was slightly embarrassed. She was practically throwing herself at him in front of both Rob and Jill. It would be bad enough if it they were alone but this was ridiculous. “We could even do it tonight if you wanted,” she said pulling him from his internal debate.

  “Do what?” he sputtered hoping she hadn’t suggested what he thought she had.

  “Why, go out silly. What else would I be talking about?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, “I wasn’t really paying attention.” Going out with her was exactly the last thing he wanted to do tonight. Even if Tommy’s funeral hadn’t been set for the next day he still wouldn’t want to do anything with her. There was just something about her that gave him the creeps. The problem was he couldn’t think of a nice way to tell her to go away. He’d be happy if she never thought of him again but knew that was too much to hope for. Jim wasn’t good with words and saying something like that in a nice way was beyond him. On the other hand he could always be mean but that wasn’t really an option either. He just wasn’t a mean person. He thought that she’d gotten the hint yesterday but apparently not.

  “Actually Jim and I already made plans to go out, right Jim?” a feminine voice chimed out behind him. Looking around to see who his savior was he was happily surprised to see Jill smiling wickedly in Maria’s direction. He didn’t know exactly why she was doing it but he wasn’t going to complain. That took care of two problems at once actually. Hopefully Maria would leave him alone. He also didn’t have to figure out how to get a date with Jill. She just made it.

  “Yeah, that’s right we sure did,” he said after recovering from his initial surprise. Jill had given him the out he was looking for and he wasn’t about to waste it. It wasn’t the politest way to go about it but, oh well. Maria looked as if she was about to jump over the counter and scratch Jill’s eyes out. He could almost see her bristling. Maybe now it would finally get through her skull that he wasn’t going to go out with her.

  Maria’s cheeks reddened as what had happened sank all the way in. After a few seconds of gathering her emotions, she gave Jill a scathing look, and said in a strained voice, “Oh, how silly of me. I didn’t know you liked her kind.” What she meant by her kind Jim had no idea. Maybe sane was the word she was looking for. “Well, I guess I won’t bother you anymore. Maybe some other time before you leave then.” Before turning and making her way to the door. She purpos
efully brushed Jim as she went by. He didn’t know what she hoped to accomplish by doing it but she almost knocked herself over. She must’ve thought he would move out of her way.

  Grasping the handle of the door she looked back at their little group and said with a smile, “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at the funeral.” Then she was gone with only the violently slamming door to say she’d been there.

  He knew she was mad but her last comment made Jim think. He again got the feeling she was taking some perverse pleasure out of this whole situation. He had to be wrong though. She’d been one of Tommy’s friends too. They’d grown up in the same town and gone to the same school with him. She acted like they hadn’t even known each other but they must have. There was almost no way they couldn’t have. Tommy had stayed here while Jim had left so they must’ve at least seen each other once in a while. Why was she acting like this? His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud outburst behind him.

  “Woo-ooo!” Rob whooped. “I’d say she’s got the hots for you big time brother!” Rob obviously found the whole situation funny. Jim wondered how he’d be acting if the shoe was on the other foot. He was about to ask but Rob beat hi to it. “Looks like Jimmy-boy has a not so secret admirer.”

  “Shut up dickhead!” Jim said left with no other rebuttal but a childish one. What he had been thinking of saying wasn’t the sort of thing that was polite to say in front of a woman.

  Rob face turned sad as he tried looking offended but he wasn’t able to pull it off very well. When you were as big of a smartass as he was, and everybody knew it, there was very little you could get away with (his feelings being hurt by someone calling him a name wasn’t exactly something that was going to make him cry). Jim didn’t know how Rob had ever succeeded in becoming a cop. He must be a good actor. Jim decided to ignore him instead of saying anything else. Maybe that would teach him a lesson. He instead turned his attention back to Jill.