The Last Flight(31)

She watched as the woman got out of the car. “Thanks for meeting me!” she called. Her clothes were expensive casual. Chanel sunglasses tipped up on her head. Knee-high UGG boots, worn over designer jeans. This was not Eva’s typical ramen-fed student.

Up close, Eva could see the woman’s red-rimmed eyes, how her skin looked tired and stretched, though her makeup was flawless, and another tingle of apprehension zipped through her.

“Sorry I’m late. I had to wait for the sitter to show up.” She held out her hand for Eva to shake. “I’m Brittany.”

Eva let it hang there, keeping her own hands in her pockets, and Brittany finally let it fall to her side as she began digging through her purse as if she’d just remembered why she’d come. “I was hoping I could buy more than what we’d talked about. I know I asked for five pills, but I really need ten.” She pulled a wad of cash out of her purse and held it out to Eva. “That’s four hundred instead of two.”

“I only brought five with me,” Eva said, not taking the money.

Brittany shook her head, as if that were a minor detail. “I’d be happy to meet you again tomorrow. Same place, if that suits you.”

The marine layer from over the bay finally rolled in, skirting over the sun, casting gray shadows and dimming the light. Wind kicked up, causing Eva to pull her coat tighter. Brittany looked over her shoulder and then lowered her voice, although they were the only ones around. “We’re leaving on Saturday for a trip,” she continued. “We won’t be back until next month. I just want to make sure I’m not caught short.”

Eva’s body tensed. This woman drove a fancy car, wore expensive clothes, and had a big diamond on her finger. It was one thing to need the pills to push through a difficult task. This woman seemed to need pharmaceutical help to navigate her daily life. But Eva’s resistance felt more personal, bubbling up from her darkest corners, surprising her with its heat. This was a woman like her mother.

“I don’t think I can help you,” Eva said.

“At least let me buy what you brought,” Brittany said, her words loud, tearing through the empty clearing. “Please.”

Eva’s gaze snagged on several scabs dotting the backs of Brittany’s hands, picked red and raw by nervous fingers. Brittany thrummed with manic energy, and Eva only wanted to leave.

“We’re done here,” Eva said.

“Wait,” Brittany said, reaching out for Eva’s arm. “Tell me what I can do to change your mind.”

Eva yanked her arm back and turned to walk away.

“Come on,” Brittany cajoled from behind her. “It’s why we’re here. You make the sale and get your money. I get what I need, and we both win.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Eva called over her shoulder. “You must have me confused with someone else.” Then she strode toward the hiking trail that wound through the trees and down the hill to the lot where she parked her car.

As she passed the SUV, she looked in the window. The back seat was littered with Cheerios, an empty sippy cup, and a pink hair ribbon. Eva slowed for a moment, wondering what that child’s life was like, living with a mother who begged for enough pills to be strung out for weeks. She wondered if her own mother had been like Brittany, buying drugs in a deserted park while Eva was stuck at home with a sitter. Beneath it all, she hated herself for the fleeting whisper of jealousy that this little girl still got to know her mother while Eva had not.

As she moved into the woods, Eva heard Brittany yelling obscenities after her. Then she heard the slam of a car door and the engine rev, before tires squealed away from the curb. She looked over her shoulder and saw the car swerve, skidding against the curb as it careened around a bend in the road. Eva held her breath, bracing for the sound of impact that didn’t come, then hurried back to her own car.

*

Eva saw her again, at the gas station directly across from the park exit, as she waited at a red light. That same SUV, and Brittany leaning out of her open window, talking to a man who stood next to a low sedan with tinted windows and government plates. Brittany handed the man a slip of paper, which he tucked into the pocket of his sport coat.

The light turned green, and still Eva stared, her unease from earlier crashing back into her, quickly morphing into a dark panic. Behind her, someone honked, jolting her attention back to the road, forcing her to drive forward. As she drew nearer, she tried to capture as many details as she could. The man’s short brown hair and mirrored sunglasses. The outline of a holster beneath his sport coat. And as she drove away, she wondered what Brittany had just put into play.

*

At home, Eva pulled her car into the small garage at the side of the house and closed the door, locking it with the padlock. She was desperate to get inside and call Dex, but her new neighbor was sitting on the front step, as if she was waiting for her. “Shit,” she muttered under her breath.

Relief spread across the woman’s face when she saw Eva. “I fell,” she said. “Missed that last stair and took a tumble. I think my ankle is sprained. Could you help me inside?”

Eva glanced down the street, thinking again of the man at the gas station, of the piece of paper he slipped into his coat. She didn’t have time for this. But she couldn’t leave the woman on the porch. “Sure,” she said.