“She’s really having a hard time. Lots going on,” he says as if there’s any secret about who I am or what’s going on. Everyone knows me; what they don’t know is that there’s a murderer running free right now too. Richard quickly shuffles his client out the door, then turns to face me. His hands go right to his hips. He reminds me of my daddy.
“They’re not doing anything! Not a dang thing to keep us safe and protected from whoever That Monster is. They’re not even trying to find him anymore. They think Mason killed Annabelle, so now he’s just out there and could decide at any minute that he wants to hurt us like he did her.” I shake my finger at him. “It’s your job, Richard. It’s your job to keep us safe.”
“That’s not my job. I can’t do anything about that. I already told you that.” He throws his hands up in the air.
“You’re a lawyer, dammit—you can file motions, petitions. You make people do things. You can make the police do things. Make them look for the right guy.” I pace in front of his desk. It’s covered in yellow Post-its.
“I can make police turn over their records and arrest reports to us. File motions and subpoenas. Things like that. But I can’t order the police to do their investigation in any sort of way. That’s their job. Not mine. I’m sorry, Genevieve, but there’s not anything I can do along those lines.” He motions to one of the leather seats, but I won’t sit.
“There has to be something you can do. All anyone is doing is going around decorating the entire town in reward signs. Nobody is coming forward, and they’re not going to. Even if someone saw something, that’s not happening. This town doesn’t talk. You know that.” His family has been in Alabama for as long as mine. Him and my daddy go all the way back to law school. “I just don’t know why they’re not working harder to find him. Why aren’t they going around on the trails and asking people to give descriptions about anyone weird they saw out there? Or noticed someone new? If someone new is lurking around, somebody noticed that. You know they did.” That Monster wasn’t smart enough to go unseen. He made a mistake somewhere.
“Genevieve, please sit.” Richard offers the other chair.
“I don’t want to sit. I want someone to do something to help us. Why isn’t anyone helping us? How are they going to feel when our bodies are the next ones that show up dead? Huh? How’s that going to look?” I explode into tears without warning.
He puts his arm around me and ushers me into the chair his client just left. My shoulders shake with sobs. Now that they’ve started, they won’t stop. It’s like that sometimes. Pain only lets you push it away for so long until it demands to be heard. Then you can’t stop it. I know this lesson well. Just like I know the Lord never gives you more than you can bear. I just have to trust him.
Richard grabs a Kleenex from his desk and hands it to me. I ignore the Kleenex, clutching his arm and bringing him close to me, burying my face in his chest. He wraps his arms stiffly around me. We’ve only ever met alone twice, but I don’t care. I need something stable and calm. Something to anchor me to the ground. It feels like I’m falling off the earth. I sob against him while he pats me like a baby he’s trying to burp until I’m spent and embarrassed. I jerk away, reaching for the Kleenex on his lap, and frantically pull one out.
“I’m so sorry. I’m such a mess,” I say as he straightens his jacket and tie. That might be snot on the breast pocket. I wipe the makeup underneath my eyes.
“I can assure you that the police and detectives on this case are doing everything within their power to solve it,” Richard says in a calm, steady voice that does little to settle my nerves.
“Then why aren’t they focusing harder on finding the guy that did this instead of wasting all their time on Mason?” I smooth my hair back. “I get it, but don’t they have to at least look for the other guy and rule him out?”
He takes a deep breath and puts his hand on my knee. “Genevieve, the police want to capture the murderer as badly as you do, and that’s exactly what they’re doing.” He speaks the next part slowly. “They’ve already ruled everyone else out. They’re just not telling us that, but he’s their guy.”
I bring my hand up to my mouth. “Oh my God. They really think Mason did this.” I let out a strangled laugh as Richard’s eyes fill with pity. He’s looking at me like people look at Mason when he doesn’t understand something, and I want to wipe the expression off his face.
“He’s their primary person of interest in this case, even though they haven’t made a formal announcement yet. I would expect them to make one soon, though, because the community isn’t going to wait much longer before demanding something. He’s the best they’ve got,” he explains.
“Oh my God.” That’s all I can repeat as the sobs start again.
This is happening. Just like That Monster wanted it to. He set this up. The memory of the moment pummels me, forcing its way into the room.
“Get away from him! You step away from him right now!” I screamed after he emerged from behind the tree, stepping out of the shadows. He just kept smiling at me—a ghoulish grin with gaps making it look like he had black bugs stuck between his yellow-stained teeth. His plastic gloves were splattered in red. Was it Mason’s? I stole a quick glance at him. There was so much blood; I couldn’t tell whose it was. “Please don’t hurt us,” I begged breathlessly.
He stepped forward, staggering like he was drunk. I froze as he got close. Close enough to stick his finger in my face. His breath smelled foul. Like onions. Old beer. “You must think you’re pretty smart, don’t you?”
My head gave quick, spastic jerks. “No, no, no, I don’t think that at all. I don’t.”
He leaned forward. The world thrummed, leaving me overwhelmingly dizzy, nauseated. I told myself to move, kick, scream, do something—anything—but I was frozen. Stuck in place as he put his lips up to my ear and whispered, “You’re not as smart as you think you are.”