Tomorrow's Lies (Promises #1) (34 page)

“What is it?” I whisper.

“It’s about Flynn.”

“Mandy, please, I can’t make any promises. Please, just tell me.”

“Okay, okay.” She takes a breath. “We’re pretty sure Flynn is still in Forsaken.”

Time stops. Flynn is alive. Everything in my world suddenly seems brighter. I’m beyond happy he’s okay, but why isn’t he here?

“God, Mandy, why would he stay in Forsaken?”

“I don’t know, Jaynie.”

“It doesn’t make sense. What did Josh hear?”

“That Flynn works in construction. No one knows where he’s living, but it’s not up at Mrs. Lowry’s place.”

“Yeah,” I mutter. “I wouldn’t think so.”

Mandy blows out a breath. “You need to know the other stuff we’ve heard, too.”

“Okay.” I can’t stop my heart from racing.

“Jaynie, there are rumors of an accident up in the craft barn. Uh, rumors about the night you left. Word is Allison tripped and fell onto something sharp. She cut up her abdomen, pretty nasty stuff. And Flynn was supposedly hurt that night, too.”

My heart switches from racing to pounding uncontrollably. “Flynn was never hurt.”

Mandy doesn’t ask how I would know that, or why I would think it. She just goes on. “He
was
hurt, Jaynie, along with Allison. He suffered a head injury”—
what??
—“and was in the hospital for a few days. Mrs. Lowry visited him a couple of times. She was there when he was discharged.”

Oh my God, something must have happened to Flynn when he went back to the house.

I close my eyes. I never should have jumped. All this time and I had no idea Flynn was hurt. It had to have been Mrs. Lowry who hurt him. Allison was far too wounded to inflict damage on anyone. Crafty Lo must have come home early from her business trip. She would’ve found her daughter on the floor. And then, when Flynn went back…

This explains a lot. Maybe Flynn can’t remember anything. “Do you think Flynn has amnesia?” I ask Mandy.

“I don’t think so, sweetie. It sounds like he’s fine.”

“But, why doesn’t he come to Lawrence? Why stay in a place he couldn’t wait to get away from?”

“That’s just it, Jaynie. I think Mrs. Lowry is holding something over him.”

“Like the truth,” I whisper.

It all comes together. “Oh, hell, we’ll never be together. Mrs. Lowry will keep us apart forever.”

“Um, maybe not,” Mandy cryptically replies.

“Mandy?” I prompt when she falls silent. “If you know something you have to tell me.”

“Okay.” She clears her throat. “Word is, Mrs. Lowry is under some kind of investigation.”

“No way. Finally.”

“Right? It’s about damn time, that’s what I’ve been telling Josh. Anyway, she’s not allowed to foster any kids until the findings come in.”

“That’s great news.”

“It is,” Mandy agrees.

We fall silent. I think of how much pain could have been avoided had this investigation commenced sooner, and I suspect Mandy is thinking the same thing.

“Hey,” she says, at last. “I’ll keep digging around for info on Flynn. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“Thank you, Mandy.”

“I’ll let you know the second I find out something more concrete.”

“Hey,” I say, “do you think in the meantime you could get a message to Flynn, a message from me?” My tone is hopeful. “Maybe it could be delivered through one of your or Josh’s contacts?”

“I can’t promise anything, Jaynie, but we sure can try. What’s the message?”

“Tell Flynn I’ll wait for him. Tell him no matter how long it takes, I will
be here
. I’ll stay in Lawrence forever, if it means seeing him again.”

Flynn

O
ne day, on my way to the job center, some strange homeless dude tries to talk to me. He grabs my arm and tells me he has a message for me from someone I care about.

I wrench away from his grasp and walk on. “Yeah, right,” I toss out over my shoulder.

The encounter haunts me for the rest of the day, though. What if the guy wasn’t bullshitting?

On my way home from work, I look for him, but he’s long gone. I don’t see him in the days after, either. But I can’t stop wondering what his message might’ve been.

Christmas comes and goes.

New Year’s passes by, too.

January turns out to be colder than December, but that’s fine with me. We’re given a pay differential for working in the bitter weather. A lot of guys can’t hang and end up quitting. I put up with the cold, work as hard as I can, and save money.

For what, I don’t know. Maybe I’m still hoping there’s a future down the road with Jaynie.

One freezing-cold morning, before heading to the job center to wait for a ride, I stop by a diner and buy two coffees to go—one for me and one for Crick. This has become our routine. I bring the coffees, and he brings the smokes.

I refuse to buy any cigarettes of my own. That way I can go on lying to myself that I haven’t really started smoking again. I know Jaynie would be disappointed if she knew I’d thrown all those cig-free months away.

In the diner, someone has left a newspaper open on the counter. I pick it up. “Holy hell,” I mumble as a headline midway down the page catches my eye.

Mrs. Lauren Lowry and Daughter Arrested on Suspicion of Embezzlement and Fraud
.

“Excuse me, sir, would you like to purchase that newspaper with your coffees?” an annoyed waitress asks. She slides my two already-paid-for cups of java across the counter.

“It looks like someone left this one,”—I wave the paper around as I snatch up the coffees—“so let’s just pretend it was mine, and I’ll be on my way.”

“Sure, whatever,” she mutters, turning away.

Gotta love non-morning people, right? Hell, with the news story I’m scanning as I walk out the door—paper held up high in front of my face—I determine I pretty much love everyone right now.

Mrs. Lowry and Allison are about to go to jail for a long, long time.
How’s that for karma?
All those business trips Mrs. Lowry took were apparently part of her scam. She was taking money from investors she’d conned, and then using it all on herself. Half those trips were lavish vacations. Crafty Lo soaking up sun on a beach, while we were all suffering.
Bitch
.

As for Allison, she was cashing checks from the state that were made out to her mom the whole time her mom was away. She is going down, too.
Yes!

Happy in a way I’ve not known for a long time, I practically run to the job center so I can give Crick his drink before it gets cold.

“What’s got you in such a good mood this morning?” he asks when I hand him his coffee with two creams and five sugars, smiling broadly.

“Oh, man, I never mentioned anything before, but there’s this girl, this girl I love like nothing else—”

“Wait, you have a girlfriend?” Crick takes a sip of his coffee and shakes his head. “You kids nowadays, keeping everything all to yourself. It ain’t good for you, you know. I’m telling you, you gotta learn to share.”

“I’m sharing now,” I reply, exasperated, but not really. “Would you shut it and listen for a minute?”

“Sure, sure.” He waves his hand. “Go on.”

Chuckling, I continue. “Anyway, this girl, her name is Jaynie. She’s been waiting for me in another town. I couldn’t even
think
about going to her before today—”

“Why?” Crick interrupts.

“Long story. But the good news is I found out something this morning that’s giving me hope again. I think we may have a chance, after all.”

“Good for you, kid. Love, especially young love, sure is something special.” Crick holds up his coffee and winks. “Here’s to you and your lady friend reuniting real soon.”

I tap my paper cup to his. “I’ll drink to that.”

“Too bad we don’t have some good whiskey,” Crick laments. “We could make it a real toast, you know. Not to mention, it’d warm us up a bit.”

Crick makes a show of shivering, but I assure him, “This is good enough.”

“Yeah, guess it’s gonna have to be.”

I lean back against the wall of the job center, not a care in the world. I don’t even mind when the cold frostiness from the brick exterior starts to seep through my worn coat and hoodie. Smiling, I flip open the paper and re-read the article detailing at least a dozen crimes against Crafty Lo and Allison.

I can tell Crick is reading the story over my shoulder. And sure enough, he asks, “You and your girl getting the go-ahead to be together got anything to do with that rich bitch on the mountaintop getting shut down?”

Looking over at him, I smile. “Maybe, Crick, maybe so.”

He shrugs. “No matter what, kid, don’t wait too long. You listen to old Crick now. I’ve got the knowledge.” He taps his temple, and I chuckle. “You can’t let a good love get away, especially since that shit only comes around a couple times in a lifetime.”

Laughing, I say, “I think it’s ‘once in a lifetime,’ man.”

“Well, hell, that makes it even better. Don’t let her go, kid.”

“I don’t intend to,” I say. “I don’t intend to, my friend.”

Jaynie

M
andy can’t get my message to Flynn, but not for lack of trying. She and Josh enlist a homeless man from Morgantown. The guy is an old pal of Josh’s. He’s planning on doing some traveling, which includes passing through Forsaken.

Homeless guy tries, but Flynn blows him off.
Typical Flynn
.

I ask Mandy if Josh’s friend can try again, but she informs me he’s moved on.

“Damn,” I say when we next chat on the phone. “There has to be another way.”

“I don’t know, Jaynie,” Mandy replies. “Word is Flynn hangs out with one dude and one dude only. Otherwise, he keeps to himself on the construction site.”

It’s January, and I’m hanging inside the deli since it’s much too cold to do anything outside. My shift is done for the day, and I’m munching on a second sandwich for lunch. It’s nice, not starving. I’m in the back room, readying to log on to Bill’s computer.

Deviated from our conversation for a sec, I say to Mandy, “Time to check the latest news in Forsaken.”

“I’m sure there’s nothing happening in that shitty town, same as always,” Mandy replies. “I don’t know why you even bother.”

I don’t share with her that I still worry about blowback from the night I attacked Allison. Under investigation or not, as long as Mrs. Lowry holds sway over Forsaken, I will continue to fear her. Flynn and I could go down at any time.

Returning to the subject of Flynn, I ask Mandy, “Does Josh know anyone else who could possibly get my message to that guy Flynn hangs out with?”

“Doubt it,” Mandy says. “The guy is a real loner, like Flynn is now. Supposedly, he’s some old ex-meth addict, half off his rocker. Not exactly Mr. Social, if you know what I mean.”

“But Flynn likes him.” I smile to myself. “I’m not surprised. Leave it to Flynn to befriend the one guy who has no friends.”

I feel a swell of emotion. Flynn is still such a good guy. He hasn’t lost hope in humanity, despite everything.

I finish my sandwich and continue scrolling through news stories. Mandy, meanwhile, suppresses a yawn.

“Tired?” I ask.

“Very.”

Mandy has been working double and triple shifts to save money for when the twins arrive. Word is the couple they currently reside with plan to move to another state any day now. Cody and Callie would normally be thrown back in the system, but now they have a high likelihood of being placed with Josh and Mandy. In the state’s eyes, a good placement is far preferable than sending the kids to a group home. And Mandy and Josh’s place is better than good. They’ve completed all the necessary classes and recently passed the required home inspection. Everything is set.

Just as Mandy is telling me she’s going to get off the phone so she can take a nap, I come across a news story that makes me say, “Wait, don’t go yet.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong,” I reply. “In fact, everything may have just turned totally right.”

I can’t believe what I am reading. But there it is, in black and white. “Mrs. Lowry and Allison were arrested last night, Mandy.”

“
What?
”

I read the story out loud to her. She grabs her tablet, logs in, and together we go over the embezzlement charges, the fraud charges. Basically, all the things that promise to put our two least favorite people away for a long, long time.