Heads You Lose - Lisa Lutz [106]
Paul traveled throughout their rambler, pouring gasoline in every bedroom and exiting through the back door. He lit a match and tossed it inside. He watched the flames snake through the house and suddenly become a massive blaze. This part almost made Lacey cry. Almost. She tossed Hart’s insurance check into the bonfire. As they watched the flames, a thought occurred to Lacey.
“Paul, why’d you come back to the house tonight?”
“Brandy kicked me out. Said I had no ambition or intellectual curiosity. That I drank too much beer. The usual.”
“Will she take you back?”
“Sure. I just got to get ambition and intellectual curiosity.”
“Huh. How will you do that?”
“She wants me to read War and Peace.”
“Big book.”
“She likes the Russians.”
“There’s always CliffsNotes,” Lacey replied.
Paul coughed from the smoke fumes.
“Time to go,” Lacey said.
“I’ll see you there.” Paul got into his truck and drove away.
Lacey watched the flames for a little while longer. She felt a surprising satisfaction in watching her whole life burn to the ground.
The siblings convened at the first site where they had tried to dispose of the body previously known as Hart. They figured it was as good a place as any. And it’s not like anyone was going to go hunting for a dead guy. They dragged the corpse about a half-mile down the trail and then dropped him over the edge. They hiked down the woodsy ravine and started digging a grave. About two hours of hard labor had passed, mostly Lacey’s, when they felt satisfied that Hart could remain interred there. When the earth had swallowed the body, Lacey and Paul hiked back up the trail and, once again, dusted away their footprints with a tree branch. They could hear the sirens of fire engines in the distance.
When Paul and Lacey reached the parking lot of the rest stop, they loitered by Paul’s truck. They hadn’t thought about it before, but they were going to say good-bye. At least for a long while.
“Where are you going?” Paul said.
“I have no idea,” Lacey replied.
“Sounds nice. I hope you’re happy there.”
“And I hope you’re happy wherever you end up. Even if it is with Brandy.”
“Thank you,” Paul replied.
“I’m sorry about how things turned out,” Lacey said.
“Me too.”
“But it wasn’t all bad, was it?” Lacey asked.
“No. Not all of it.”
“We didn’t die, did we?”
“No. We didn’t die.”
“See you later, Paul.”
“Not if I see you first.”
They hugged awkwardly. Then Paul got into his truck, pulled it onto the road, and headed north to Tulac. Lacey turned south, back into town. She had one more errand to run before she could leave for good.
She parked on the side of the road, outside Mapleshade. Her flashlight guided her through the woods and she followed the ribbon markers left by Sook. She found the patch of unsettled dirt where Sook hid his stash and dug it up with her hands. She buried Hart’s money with Sook’s gun. Even though she wanted no part of it, there was no good reason all that cash should go to waste.
No one saw her come or go. As she was driving away, she left a message on Sook’s cell phone.
“Sook, it’s me. You might want to disinter your petty cash in the near future. Be good,” she said.
And then she took the first road heading east, because she could drive the farthest in that direction.
She turned to her passenger and said, “I hope you’re up for an adventure, Irving.”
Irving was just a cat, so he didn’t respond.
NOTES:
Dave,
Sorry about Irving. I decided to keep him. I wish you the best in all your future endeavors. Really, I do.
Lisa
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
David Hayward wishes to thank Tom and Quinn for the save, Matt for the science, Frank and Ben for the encouragement, Marysue and Stephanie for the guidance, Matthew and Joey for the support, Robin for