Today's Promises (Promises #2)(17)

It seems so distant anyway.

But then it happens—Flynn calls Detective Silver on Friday evening, and the proverbial ball starts rolling.

Placing the detective on speaker, Flynn first informs him that I will be joining their effort to try and locate the burial spot for the unfortunate Debbie Canfield. To say Detective Silver is pleased to have two of us onboard would be an understatement.

He gushes to Flynn, “That’s great. Another set of eyes can only help, especially eyes belonging to someone who once lived up there too.”

They talk a bit more, and I sort of zone out, until I hear Detective Silver asking if we can meet him tomorrow.

Whoa, that soon? I think, panicked.

“Sure,” Flynn says. “That works for us.”

“Great,” I murmur sarcastically, and Flynn’s gaze snaps to me.

He quickly wraps up with Detective Silver, and, turning to me, says, “You can always back out, Jaynie.”

“No, I’m good,” I insist.

But really, am I?

Sleep eludes me that night. Well, that’s no surprise, considering. In any case, I end up waking Flynn with all my tossing and turning.

He kisses the top of my head and pulls me to him. In a sleepy voice, he murmurs, “Let’s call the detective in the morning and cancel. Let’s see if we can meet him another time. Or I could always go alone tomorrow.”

“No.” I snuggle in closer to this guy who has the ability to soothe my troubled self. “I should be fine,” I continue, “as long as you’re there with me.”

“Always,” Flynn whispers. “I’ll always be by your side, Jaynie. For all the simple things and for all this harder stuff too.”

“I don’t deserve you,” I whisper.

But Flynn silences my insecurity with kisses. Lots of kisses. Things proceed to heat up quickly, as they always do, and soon all sleep clothes are discarded. We then find things to do—such as giving each other intense pleasure—to keep apprehension at bay.

The next morning, however, my nerves are back on edge.

As we ride on a bus bound for Forsaken, I’m as jittery as ever.

“Now I understand why you needed a cigarette the other night,” I joke to Flynn. I laugh shakily, my knees bouncing up and down, a motion I find oddly soothing. “I’ve never smoked, but maybe I should start.”

I’m kidding, but Flynn doesn’t find my statement amusing.

“Don’t ever start,” he warns. “Once you’re hooked, it’s hard to ever quit completely. You always have those cravings.”

“I was only joking,” I assure him, my knees moving faster.

“I know, babe.” Flynn places his hand on one leg and calms the movement of both. “Keep it together, Jaynie. You got this,” he tells me. “Everything will go smoothly.”

When his hand remains on my leg, I note, “You’re really warm, Flynn.”

He squeezes my thigh, which is covered by a thin pair of black leggings. “Yeah, good call on your part, wearing lighter clothes.” He nods down to the heavy winter parka he’s wearing. “Me? I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m dying in this heavy coat. It’s making me hot as hell.”

“You are hot as hell.” I wink as I nudge his shoulder.

Chuckling, Flynn lowers his head, embarrassed. “Jaynie…”

I adore how sometimes he’s suddenly shy about his good looks. It makes him all the more attractive.

But I do feel for him on the coat thing. Neither of us bothered to check the weather; I just lucked out. It’s still early spring, but this March day seems to be warming up rapidly. I grabbed a jacket before we left, but mine is much lighter than Flynn’s. I have on a worn, threadbare hand-me-down I snatched at a local thrift store last month.

“You should just leave your coat in Detective Silver’s car once we’re up at the house,” I suggest. “It’ll be too hot walking around the Lowry property wearing that thing.”

“Yeah,” he mumbles, suddenly distracted.

I realize then that we’re nearing the bus stop. And Flynn is nervous too. Facing your demons head-on, the ones from the past, that crap’s never easy. But we can do this. We made a promise to assist the detective and now we’re committed to following through.

I review the plan in my head, trying to look at things objectively.

We meet Detective Silver at the bus stop, where he’ll drive us up to the Lowry place. From there we’ll conduct what the detective termed a ‘walk-through,’ throughout which he’d like for us to give him any info we deem useful in finding the missing girl’s remains.

And now there’s no more time to think.

For better or worse, it’s show-time…

When we reach the stop, the lumbering bus slows to a crawl, and then comes to a complete stop. Flynn taps the fingerprint-smudged window to draw my attention to a nondescript white sedan parked at the curb. Though the vehicle is unmarked, it’s clear it’s a law enforcement car.

“There’s our ride,” Flynn confirms. “That’s Detective Silver’s car.”

“Here goes nothing,” I mutter.

I’m apprehensive about meeting new people, especially those in positions of power. But Detective Silver turns out to be really nice. He puts me at ease almost immediately with his warm, affable ways.