7Megan
After readingthe emergency text Beverly had sent, my eyes slammed closed before my forehead fell into the palm of my nervous hand. My finger jetted across the face of my phone as I pressed Beverly’s number. She answered on the first ring.
“Are you okay? Is Laura okay?” I asked, breathlessly.
“I’m fine,” she answered with calm ease. “Hold on a second while I dial Laura in.”
Laura could hardly spit out the word hello before I’d asked several times if she were okay.
“I’m good, Megan. Calm down,” she urged.
Her reassuring tone sent relief sweeping through my veins. Beverly and Laura were the closest people I had to family. As a matter of fact, they were the only family I was ever going to have. As far as I knew, my mother had handed me over to the state as soon as I was born, and my father could have been anybody.
“There was a detective that stopped by the centers earlier today asking after you,” Beverly stated in way too calm a voice for the situation.
However calm the words were spoken, they still had my body taking on a nervous twitch as my leg bounced uncontrollably up and down. My fist tightened around the pen I’d forgotten was in my hand.
“Bev, can you describe what the detective looked like?”
“Sexy as hell,” she said with a hint of amusement in her tone.
“Really, Bev, was that all you remember about the man?” Laura asked in an irritated voice. I could picture the crease Laura got in the center of her forehead along with that signature eyeroll she’d perfected like an artform.
Bev continued, “Like I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by the man police, this detective was tall and good-looking in a rough and rugged sort of way. Lengthy blondish hair, blue eyes, and lots of ink. The kind of guy that could make a woman do whatever the hell he wanted. He said he was from the Lincoln County Gang Unit, but I didn’t believe him. I’ve never seen a police officer that looked like him before. Besides, I know more than my share of cops from when the kids at the club decide to do something stupid.”
It sounded like she’d just described Aaron. “Did he have a beard, Bev?” I inquired.
“No, no beard. He had that stubbed look that women don’t mind these days. And those eyes…those damn eyes spelled danger.”
I couldn’t be certain. And although I didn’t want Aaron searching for me, I hoped that it was him who had visited my friends today. If it were anyone hunting me because of my past, Beverly and Laura were in more danger than they realized. They were in denial, and always, they were accusing me of overacting about the past. They’d never said so, or called me out for it, but I knew they thought I was delusional because I’d spent some time in an asylum.
“What did he want to know?” I asked as my mind attempted but failed to put together a puzzle I didn’t have all the pieces to yet.
Laura chimed in this time. “He wanted to know about Megan Jones, the writer, so I don’t think it has anything to do with the past. He wanted to know who Megan Jones really was and why we were receiving the profits from the sales of her books.” After a sigh Laura continued, “And I didn’t think Mr. Detective was good-looking at all. As far as I’m concerned, they are all a pack of fucking rabid dogs.”
Despite the upsetting news that had just been revealed, Beverly and I both laughed into the phone at Laura’s comment about men. She hated men. All of them.
“Are you sure that you two are okay?” I asked them with a hint of laugher still in my tone. “No one is watching you or targeting you in any way?”
“We are fine, you worry too much,” Laura stated. “Besides, you know I stay packing, so if a motherfucker tried to step to me, he will be catching some heat. And, you will be happy to know that I finally got Bev to start carrying too, at least a .22. It might take a whole clip of those small-ass bullets to take someone down, but it’s better than her bringing a knife to a gun fight.”
Laura was the gangster of the group. She was a female with alpha-male tendencies. Laura was pretty, but to tell her so was the next best thing to insulting her. She dated only women and packed heat no matter where she went.
I was the quiet storm of the group…the sneaky one. I had the innocent face that fooled many, but had developed the ability to turn into a monster if necessary.
Beverly was the mediator, the voice of reason, the one that would urge us to think about our actions. Beverly was also the distractor of the group. She caught eyes not matter where she went. Everyone that knew her thought she was beautiful except her. She’d been teased so much when she was younger about her dark skin and curvy body that it left a lasting impression on her.
We’d all lived through and survived our own personal hells, so when we became friends, we’d formed a bound that would never be broken.
Beverly’s voice sounded low in my ear. “Are you moving again soon? When are we going to get to see you again?”
At my insistence, we didn’t speak freely over the phone line just in case we were being tapped. If I was preparing to move, Laura and Beverly knew it meant I was staying a step or two ahead of the ghosts of my past that had never stopped chasing me.
“Yes, I’ll be moving soon and hopefully, I’ll get a chance to see you two soon.”
My jaw clenched tight with regret at the idea that I couldn’t see the two people that meant the most to me in the world. Our visits were limited to once or twice a year.
“Is this shit ever going to end?” Laura asked. “How long are you supposed to run? Are you sure it’s them, the…”