Dark City

42.

It took about thirty minutes to get out to Liam's place in the woods. Tom's nervous energy put Nathan on edge. The car wasn't warm, but Tom sweat profusely, wiping himself dry with his sleeves.

"Relax," Nathan said. "I'm not going to do anything crazy."

"Okay."

"You ever go camping out here?"

"No."

"I saw a mountain lion once on these roads. Big animal."

"Yeah."

"It's humbling to see something like that, something that can tear your face off without any weapons but what God gave it." Nathan noticed that this was the most he had talked in a long time. Usually Tom drove their conversations, but his friend was uncharacteristically quiet.

They drove deeper and deeper into a forested neighborhood. This place was wild and the farmhouses and cabins were spaced out. Liam lived out where mailboxes didn't have addresses on them, just names. His read: Cayes. Nathan drove down a long dirt road through a frosty field. The road inclined into the woods. Deeper in they came to a large cabin and parked in front. Nathan felt like a detective when he had Tom with him. They composed themselves, stepped up onto the front porch and knocked, but nobody answered.

"We shouldn't be here," Tom said.

"Fine." Nathan sighed. He was about to give up and turn back, when Lacey came outside, pulling her coat over her shoulders. She bent over to take a cigarette from out her knee sock. When she looked up and their eyes met, they smiled like old friends. He could see that under her makeup she had the faint discoloration of a black eye.

"Hey."

"Hey," Lacey said, lighting her smoke with a match.

"Where's your keeper?" Nathan asked.

"Nobody's my keeper."

"You know what I mean."

"Big guy. Douche bag. Liam," said Tom, to clarify.

Lacey rolled her eyes, asking on the deck boards between them. "Right. If you're looking for Liam, he's not here."

"You actually live with this psycho?" Tom snapped.

"Don't be an asshole," she said.

"Oh, I'm the asshole while you're shacking up with the fucking devil!"

"Cut it out," Nathan said. "I want to know what happened on Halloween."

"I can't believe you left me for this druggie cultist loser!" Tom snarled.

"Our arrangement wasn't working, Tom."

"'Cause you broke the rules."

"You knew things with me would be unconventional."

"We had rules! And you broke each and every one again and again! You're a god damn whore!"

She laughed. "Yeah, well, you sure moved on quick."

Tom caught his temper at once. He said coolly, "Whatever, Lacey. Just answer Nathan's questions." He marched off to the other side of the porch, kicking a wood post, shaking his head and grousing under his breath.

"Lacey," Nathan said, redirecting her attention. "Did you remember seeing Alex here on Halloween?"

"Yeah," she said, still smiling as she watched Tom.

"Did you see her going off with anyone? Anything seem not right to you?"

Lacey sighed and hopped up on the railing of the porch, tapping her cigarette. "She came with Tom, but by the end of the night she was all alone, puking down the front of her dress. My friend Hypatia took her upstairs to get cleaned up."

Nathan scowled at Tom. His friend didn't even look over, but continued to hide at the other end of the porch. "Hypatia who?" Nathan asked.

"Just Hypatia."

"Tom said he saw Alex go into an orgy room. You know anything about that?"

Lacey shrugged. "Yeah. I saw her. I took her out of there. She had no idea what was going on and I wasn't about to let her get spit-roasted. She started hurling soon after that. And that's when Hypatia stepped in. I went to bed. Sorry, but that's all I got for you."

"Any idea why Liam left Tom on the side of the road?" Nathan asked.

"He probably wanted to toss the competition."

"Competition?"

"For Alex."

"You've got to come with us, Lace," Tom interjected, storming over. "These are bad people."

Lacey tilted her head. "I can handle myself. I'm more worried about you guys, poking around where you don't belong. Liam protects his own, but he won't hesitate to deal with outsiders." She wrapped her coat a little tighter and flicked her cigarette into the woods.

"Thanks for your help, Lacey," said Nathan. "Be careful."

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Music: Muse "The Handler"