"This is a surprise." Jason wore a leather jacket and a black T-shirt. His head was newly shaved. He came toward her but didn't extend his arms for a hug. He wasn't that kind of guy.
"I wanted to see you," Diana said.
"I have all night."
"Not that way," she said. "I wanted to talk to you."
"Oh." He sounded disappointed, then caught himself. "Is something wrong? Do you want to get coffee?"
"I don't want to be in a public place," she said.
"We can go to your place," he said.
"How about yours? I'd feel...it would be better there."
*
Jason offered coffee. Diana asked for a beer.
"Suit yourself," he said.
He opened two and brought them to the small table in his kitchen. Diana took a long drink and looked around. She saw his police department uniform shirt, the pile of criminal justice textbooks from school. She admired the sense of casualness that pervaded Jason's life, the way everything ran off him like rain through a gutter. No scars, no injuries. Take it as it comes.
"I was wondering when I'd hear from you again," he said. "I heard you were in the station today."
"I had to talk to Dan."
"Interesting."
"It wasn't like that. It was professional."
"You want your job back?" he said.
Diana shook her head. "Never."
"It's not a bad job, really. I can afford to go to school, get some good experience. I always thought you'd go to school, get a degree in something."
"Maybe. Someday."
Jason nodded. "Sure."
Diana knew he wasn't going to ask her what was wrong again. He would be content to sit there all night, talking and drinking until the sun came up, but he wouldn't press her or push her. She liked that—most of the time. She liked him. But sometimes she wondered if she needed people to push and press her more, to draw her out into the world.
Was Kay Todd doing that for her?
"I've had a crazy couple of days. I just wanted your input on a few things."
"I've got all night. If I show up late for work tomorrow, I'll tell the Captain I was with you."
"Nice."
"I try to be," he said.
Diana took another drink and told him about Kay Todd showing up at her apartment. She relayed Kay's story and her promise to supply information about Rachel provided Diana helped find out what happened to Margie. Jason listened to the whole thing, nodding along and drinking his beer, but not asking any questions. She liked that about him, too. He didn't ask a lot of questions, even when Diana ended with the details about "Rhinestone Cowboy" and the flowers sent to her mother. He raised his eyebrows a little, an almost comical gesture, but he didn't ask any questions.
"I've never heard of this girl," he said when Diana finished.
"Me either. And there's nothing about it on the internet. But the Captain knows about her. He was one of the first on the scene."
"That's why you went to see him." Jason whistled. "The old man must have been a rookie back then."
"He was."
"So this old lady finds you through your website, looks you up and presses you to help her out. She sends flowers to your mom to add more heat." He shrugged. "Maybe she does know something about your sister, but I doubt it's anything meaningful. I understand why you're freaked out by all of this, but it's easily explained. We can file a complaint, give her a talking to, and she'll stay away."
"How did she know that about the song, Jason?"
"Is it on the website or in the papers?"
"No." She shook her head. "I don't think so."
"But it could have been. Or maybe she met someone who knew Rachel. Westwood's only an hour away. It's not such a big world."
Diana started to doubt her own judgments. In a way, she felt grateful for the calm that Jason brought her. But there was still a part of her that didn't want to be calm, that wanted to be stirred up and agitated for a change.
"There's more," she said.
"Okay."
"Something started happening to me when Rachel disappeared. Something I can't quite explain." Diana picked at the label on her beer bottle. She had never told anyone about this. Not her mother, not a doctor. No one. She wasn't sure she liked what she was about to reveal, but she felt she needed to do it. "Not long after she was gone, I started seeing something. It was like a dream, except I was awake. Some sort of vision or hallucination would overtake me at certain moments, and I would see a place in my mind. But it was more than just seeing the place. I was there. It was real. As real as you are right now."
"What is this place? What do you see?"
"Woods. Dark, thick woods. At night. The moon is shining, and there's a clearing."