Expecting to Die

partner, that Hispanic chick. They’ve been in the papers and in the news.”
“She’s just a cop. How smart do you really think she is? If she was all that
great, she’d be working for the FBI or CIA or some big-ass police department.
Don’t worry.”
“How can you say that? When they find out that we knew about Destiny, that
—”
“Shhh!”
“But what if they find out?”
“They won’t. Just be cool.”
“I can’t!”
A beat. “Fine.” Another beat, and then he said, as if he’d just made up his
mind, “Let’s meet. I’ll talk you off the ledge.”
She bit her lip, glanced out across the backyard to the hedgerow of arborvitae,
saw something—a rat? Squirrel? Small cat? She couldn’t tell in the darkness.
The shadowy creature skittered away, sliding deep into the undergrowth.
Goose pimples marched up the back of her arms and she shivered.
“Linds? You still there?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t lose it. I’ll meet you. Later. Midnight. You know where.”
“Not at the Reservoir—”
“Of course not. The other place!”
And then he was gone and she was left with the muted sounds of a crowd
roaring its approval from her dad’s TV, and the smell of cigarette smoke curling
through the cracked caulking surrounding the old garage’s only window.
For the first time in her life, she envied her parents with their drab, boring
lives. He worked for the railroad, had for as long as she could remember. His
thrills were double cheeseburgers at Shorty’s, the all-night diner, playing pool
with his buddies, or just hanging out in his man cave.
Lindsay’s mother still worked part-time at that preschool Lindsay had
attended years ago, volunteered at the local animal shelter, played Bunco with a
group of friends one Monday night a month, and sang in the church choir. Their
lives were planned out, no worries, no damned drama.
She felt a tear start to well in the corner of her eye, but she willed it backward.
No time for that. She had to meet him in a little while.
Hopefully he had a plan.

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