A Deep and Dark December(25)

Remembering her earlier vision, she dropped the smile. Had it been a premonition or a scene from the recent past? She moved to a chair and sat down. Closing her eyes, she drew up the scene in the sunny-yellow kitchen again. Keith had mentioned her name in the beginning… something about it mattering to her. But what? It was clear Keith had gotten someone pregnant or thought he had. Someone who had been sleeping with another man. Erin had only been dating Keith for a few months, so if this was the recent past, then he had some explaining to do.

If this was the future…

She didn’t want to think about that, because in the future she’d seen, Keith was going to get someone pregnant, someone who was cheating on him. Either Erin was going to be cheated on or she was going to cheat. If she was going to cheat, whom was she going to cheat with? And if she was the cheater, then she was the one who was going to end up pregnant. Again her thoughts drifted toward Graham.

The whole thing made her forehead hurt. She suddenly wished for her aunt’s ability. She’d just skim Keith’s thoughts and then she’d know. Right now the only thing she knew for sure was that she was going to Goldman’s Drugs tomorrow to double up on her birth control.

And hope she wasn’t somehow messing with the future.





Graham dragged his tired ass up the steps of his parents’ house. It was after midnight, but he knew his dad would be waiting in his study. At least the rain had finally stopped. He let himself in with his key and closed the door quietly behind him. He didn’t want to wake his mother sleeping upstairs. Creeping down the dark hall, relying on decades of memory, Graham remembered other times he’d tried to sneak into the house, only to find his father waiting for him. Nothing happened in this house or this town that Ham Doran didn’t know about.

A thin bar of light showed under the bottom of the study door. He’d told his pop he’d talk things over later, but now that it was later—he checked his phone—much later, all Graham wanted was a drink, a shower, and to fall face down in bed. But he’d made a promise. He’d gotten out of the habit of keeping his promises in L.A. If he went back to L.A. he wouldn’t go back to being the man he was when he’d left. He let out an exhausted sigh and knocked, then let himself into his dad’s study.

Ham looked up from the papers he’d been reading at his desk. “Hello, son.” He opened a drawer and tucked the papers inside, closing it afterward. “Late night.”

Graham dropped into the chair across the desk from his father. “Helluva a day, followed by a bitch of a night.”

Ham opened another drawer and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. “Watch your mouth,” he admonished, rummaging around in the drawer until he came up with two paper cups. He poured an inch of whiskey in each, then handed one to Graham. “You’re under my roof, my rules.”

“Yes, sir.” Some things never changed. Graham took a sip that burned so good he took another. “Pax and I were on standby when Sacramento P.D. informed Greg’s uncle of his nephew’s death, then we drove out to San Luis Obispo to notify Deidre Lasiter’s parents.”

Ham sat back in his chair, propping his cup on his stomach. “I had to do that once. Notify next of kin. Remember when Fred Sparks had a heart attack under Judy Lindberg’s Corolla right there in his repair shop?” Ham shook his head. “When they rolled him out from under, the wrench he was using was still in his hand. Went out to notify Freda of Fred’s death myself. She took it well. Married Sam Streetah the next week. Sold the repair shop and moved to Antigua. Now her name’s Freda Streetah from Antigua.” He pointed a finger at Graham’s snicker. “That’s all true as far as you know.”

Graham’s chuckle died slowly. “I wish Deidre’s parents had taken it as well.” He took another drink of whiskey. “According to the Days, Deidre was pregnant with their first grandchild when she died.” He finished the last sip and stared at the bottom of the empty cup. “They’d bought some baby things already.”

Ham unscrewed the cap on the whiskey and splashed some into his cup. He offered Graham more with a tilt of the bottle. Graham shook his head. He didn’t need his thoughts anymore addled.

“That’s rough,” Ham said.

“Yeah. I’m having the baby, fetus, whatever, tested against Greg’s DNA for paternity.”

“What makes you think it’s not Greg’s?”

“It’s standard.” Graham lied and counted this as the second time in his whole life he’d ever lied to his father. He suddenly wished he’d accepted that second drink.

“Standard,” Ham mumbled.

Graham shifted in his seat. “I was hoping you could give me some background on the Lasiters. Things that might have come to your attention from a law enforcement

standpoint. Any domestic violence, DUI, disturbing the peace or anything like that I should know about?”

“We don’t get much of any of that around here. San Rey’s been a peaceful town until today. You know that.”

“I just thought of it as boring growing up,” Graham said.

“As long as a Doran’s been sheriff, this town’s been a safe place to live.”

“That’s an old superstition.”

Ham moved his hand in a think-what-you-want motion.