Читать книгу Not Even Past - Dave White - Страница 9

DONNE SAT in the Olde Towne Tavern staring at his phone. Seemed to be what everyone else was doing as well. The days of pub arguments that went unsettled were long gone. Pub arguments turned into quick Google searches and Wikipedia answers.

That wasn’t Donne’s concern at the moment. No, he’d clicked on the link in the email and opened up Safari on his iPhone trying to get another glimpse of Jeanne. Or whoever it was in the video.

Couldn’t be Jeanne. She was dead. Car crash. Dead.

Each time Donne tried clicking on the link, the browser would open and just show a blank white page. Nothing would load. The activity bar at the top of the screen didn’t appear, so he knew nothing else would load on the page. He shook the phone, as if that would help. When it didn’t, he slapped the phone on to the bar. And then cursed himself for almost breaking it. He couldn’t afford another one.

Artie appeared across the bar, eyed the phone, then eyed Donne.

“Cutting class?” he asked.

Donne shook his head. “Jameson. And a Kane Head High.”

Artie exhaled and leaned over for the glasses.

“Sorry for making you do your job,” Donne said.

Artie poured the shot. “I was wondering when this Jackson would show up again. Been a while.”

Donne took the shot in a quick gulp. Felt the slow burn up his throat. His chest and stomach warmed. He welcomed the feeling.

“Exams are coming up,” he said.

Artie put the IPA on a coaster. “That’s why this place is empty.” He made a show of looking around. “Well, that, and the fact that it’s not even noon yet.”

“I should be studying.” Sweat slid down the side of the pint glass.

“Instead you’re doing shots.”

“One shot.”

Artie shrugged. “Don’t want to talk about it?”

Donne picked up the beer and drank. The taste of whiskey washed from his mouth, replaced by bitter hops. The nerve endings that been jangling for the past hour settled into a rhythmic throb.

Artie turned and went to the other end of the bar. Donne pressed the home button on his phone and stared at the picture Kate on his lock screen. He took another sip of beer. Kate looked over her shoulder, a wisp of hair cutting across her brow. The corner of her lip was curled up in a smile. Behind her was the sunset over Garret Mountain.

Jeanne, meanwhile, was tied to a chair.

Thirty seconds of footage, something that could have been faked by anyone.

He looked at his lock screen again. He grabbed his beer and froze.

“You shouldn’t drink that,” Kate had said the night they first met, last year.

Donne was sitting in nearly the exact same spot he was right now and had just finished his first winter exams. Artie was hosting a benefit for State Senator Henry Stern, who’d worked with Jeanne years earlier.

“Why not?” he asked.

Kate was wearing tight jeans and a turtleneck sweater. Her hair was pulled back in a loosely tied bun. As far as he could tell, she was alone.

“Because if you drink that now, you’ll be drinking by yourself. But if you wait and buy me one, you’ll have someone to talk to. And that’s less weird.”

It was the kind of line that usually made Donne cringe, but she’d said it with such a wide, goofy smile.

He signaled Artie, and she ordered a vodka tonic.

“Really?” she asked. “You couldn’t even try to say something funny?”

“No matter what it was, it would have bombed.”

She tilted her head to the left and some of her hair fell out of the bun. “That’s the point.”

“You know the senator?” he asked, nodding toward the back where Stern was holding court.

She shrugged. “Old family friend. You?”

“A lifetime ago.”

“So we’re both here for the free food and booze, then?” She touched his arm.

And that was the start. Now, a year and a half later, he was engaged and actually supposed to be filling envelopes. They were getting married in two months. Middle of July.

He put his phone down and drank some more beer. Kate deserved to know. He picked the phone back up.

She picked up on the second ring.

“Hey,” she said. Her voice was soft and she spoke slowly. “You okay?”

“I’m going to be back soon. We’ll talk.” He stared at his half drank-beer. He could leave it. “And I’ll help fill some envelopes too.”

Kate exhaled. “Don’t you need to study?”

“I will. I am.”

“All right, get back here. You’ve got some licking to do.”

Donne started to speak. Stopped.

“Envelopes,” she said. “What were you thinking? Envelopes, Jackson.”

He laughed. “Anything I could have said would have bombed.”

“That’s the point. See you soon. I love you.”

This time she hung up before he could respond. He looked at the beer again. Times had changed. He didn’t need it anymore. He couldn’t believe he even came here. Like muscle memory.

He waved to Artie and got up. Just as he was putting his phone in his pocket, it vibrated a text message. Kate needed something from the store, maybe?

He looked at it. The recipient was marked unknown. But the message read:

She needs you. What are you waiting for?