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but she wouldn’t look at him.
    “I want…” The question loomed between them. “I want to be treated like I’m not crazy. I want to never see things, hear things, experience things that aren’t normal. I want to leave this town behind without feeling the pull to return.” Her eyes moved around the street once more. “To never run into people…” She turned her head back towards the building. “From my past.” She trailed off and turned back towards him.
    “I meant, what kind of wine?” His fingers had dug slightly into her shoulders but relaxed when she smiled and her eyes softened.
    “Surprise me.” Her eyes once more moved to his fingers still sitting lightly on her shoulder. “Something tells me you’re good at surprises.” She took a step back, breaking their contact, then turned and walked away.
    He watched her disappear around the corner, then turned towards the shop, deciding it was high time he started asking Joe some questions.
    Almost an hour later, he walked out of the liquor store feeling a little queasy himself. Something hadn’t sat right with him when he’d approached the man about different kinds of wines lady friends would like. Joe seemed to know a lot. A lot more than your average meathead should.
    The man asked all sorts of questions about what kind of lady friend he was buying for. If it was a date or a casual get-together. Somehow, Mike left the store feeling more like he’d been interviewed than the other way around. He had to admit, Joe was a smooth talker. It was a good thing that Mike wasn’t the kind of person to answer questions. At least when he didn’t want to.
    Even though he braced himself, he knew the memory would flash up in his mind on the drive home. After all, how could you avoid seeing your best friend, who’d gone through hell with you, laying in a back alley, bleeding out, with your own service weapon still smoking?
    He knew the shiver was coming and gripped the wheel harder when it racked his body. He felt sweat bead on his brow, trickle down his back. He didn’t doubt that he’d lost most of his coloring too. His psychiatrist had said these were the classic signs of remorse and guilt, and to be expected when you’ve realized that the man you thought you knew wasn’t who he’d been pretending to be.
    Maybe that’s why he no longer trusted anyone. He shook his head quickly. No, that wasn’t right. There were still a few people he trusted. His parents, his brother… A pair of silver gray eyes and emerald green one’s popped into his head. Shaking it again, he wondered why two ladies he hardly knew had been added to that very short list.
    He pulled into his driveway. There was plenty of time before he would head over to Xtina’s for dinner after her parents’ funeral.
    His mind rushed over how she’d looked that day. Her long hair had been pulled away from her face. She’d worn a dark skirt with a cream-colored blouse, which had only made her skin look creamier. He’d instantly wanted to test it to see if it tasted as good as it looked, which had been very awkward since he’d been sitting inches away from Jessie.
    He knew Xtina had a full day ahead of her. He’d read in the local paper that her parents’ funeral was being held at their church with the dinner afterwards at the house. But the paper didn’t really say anything more.
    His mind still raced over the possibility that her parents’ accident wasn’t… well, just that. His gut told him there was something more behind it, and after what happened to him last year, he’d learned how important it was to listen to his gut.
     

Chapter Four
     
     
    T here was nothing Xtina hated more than sitting in a church full of people. Except sitting in this church, full of these people. She knew almost everyone crowded in the small hundred-year-old white building. The church was one of the oldest in Hidden Creek and its congregation all believed it was the oldest because it was the most righteous.