Chapter 9

“You should open the curtains a little, yeah?” I offered moving over to the sliding door of his tiny back patio and opened the drape that covered it.

“I don’t care,” he said and made no effort to move. “It always feels dark in here now. I stopped opening the windows.”

“Healthy,” I said, looking at the motley grouping of plants that once flourished on his deck and noticed they had all withered. I opened the sliding door and felt the slight breeze blow past me and with it the sound of a child. I turned, half expecting to see Barrett’s daughter behind me, but there was nothing. I moved away from the balcony and went over to a shelf where he had pictures of Hilary. I took one and held it up to the light. She was a cute kid, dark hair, still a little chunky with baby fat. She looked happy, a big smile on her face. I wondered what Barrett had done to make her smile.

“Let’s go see the car.” I said and moved away as Barrett got up and brushed past me.