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I sigh, running a hand down my face as my heart begins to settle. The more I think about the dreams, the more confused I become. I desperately want to find out who the mystery man is, but there is no way for me to know because I didn’t see his face, just his piercing blue eyes. That’s all I know about him, and possibly all I’ll ever know.
At my parent’s funeral, I remember seeing all their close friends and our aunties and uncles. I remember each of their faces and the pity in their eyes as they shared their condolences with Miles and me, saying they loved us and that our parents would be proud of how strong we were. But out of the people there, I never once saw a man with piercing blue eyes. Believe me, I looked, hoping that maybe—just maybe—he would show his face. But he never did.
Now, he’s just a faceless man I’ll never know. And it haunts me. Clearly.
I think it was after the funeral that my memory of the man with blue eyes slipped into the vault, hiding from me for years. It happened without my knowing. It would explain why I’m only remembering the detail twelve years after the fact.
I may have been close with my parents—more so with my mom than my dad—but I can’t shake the feeling that there is still so much more I need to learn about them. I have always felt that Miles knew more than me because he was the oldest and very perceptive when it came to our family. He may not have been there when I found them, but I have always gotten the sense that he knows more about what happened than he’s letting on.
When the investigation started, Miles made sure he spoke with my Aunt Jas about any new details that the detectives could tell them. He was invested in what happened to them, wanting to make sure our parents got justice. He wanted to see their killer captured—something I was grateful for because I was too young to truly understand the magnitude of the situation. But now that I’m older, I want to know more of the details, but Miles still sees me as that young girl who needs to be protected. So, getting information out of him has been challenging, to say the least.
To this day, the police don’t know who murdered them, and Miles is like a vault, keeping the details he knows tightly sealed.
But I’m tired of not knowing. I’m tired of being left in the dark as it swallows me whole. I want to know what happened that night, and Miles is the only person besides my aunt who can disclose that information to me.
As I grab my phone from the bedside table, I wonder if I told the police about the man I saw. Unfortunately, I don’t remember much of what I said to the police that night. If I had shared that information with them, it would have likely been mentioned in the years since, but it hasn’t.
Whatever the case, I need to talk to Miles about this before I start to go loopy from the memories coming back to me in full force in my nightmares.
Evie: You free today? I wanna chat.
A moment later, a response comes through.
Miles: Of course, lil sis. I can be ready in an hour.
***
I arrive at the coffee house down the road from Miles’s apartment ten minutes early to grab myself a coffee. It’s much needed after the nightmare I had last night. It’s been a week since the Raiders and Dolphins game, and I have yet to see Miles. With how busy he is with soccer, school, and his new girlfriend, it makes sense that it would be hard to squeeze in some time with him. But I’m glad he was able to today.
With my iced coffee in hand, I step outside to sit at one of the vacant tables against the large windows that overlook the park across the road. The early morning sun is warm, but not as hot as in recent weeks, thankfully. As I watch the children climb all over the playground, chasing each other, their joyful squeals filling the air, I sigh with relief. I made the right choice meeting Miles here instead of going to his apartment. I wouldn’t be able to think straight if I arrived and Jaylen was home.
Pounding footsteps down the cement sidewalk draw my attention away from the gleeful yelling of children and to my brother walking toward me. He’s dressed in a pair of black chino shorts and a plain white T-shirt, his dark hair styled neatly.
When he spots me, a grin spreads across his face as he waves. “Evie! I’m not late, am I?”
I shake my head as he sits across from me. “Not at all. I arrived early to grab a coffee.”
He nods, eyeing the cold drink in my hand before lifting his eyes to meet mine. “Okay, so what do you want to talk about? I have to be somewhere soon, so…”
I want to ask him where he needs to be, but I refrain because if I ask, I don’t think he will tell me. It could be practice for all I know, despite it being a Saturday. While Miles and I have a great relationship, he tends to keep a lot of details about his personal life close to his chest, only sharing enough to keep me from asking questions. But after the nightmare or memory, rather, I had last night, I know I need to push him for answers about our parents because there is this nagging feeling in my stomach that he knows more than he’s letting on.
“It won’t take long,” I answer, shifting in my seat. “I want to ask you about our parents.”
Miles stiffens. “What about them?”
“Well, I want to know more about what happened to them the night they were killed. I know I was the one to find them, but I’ve blocked out a lot of those details. I’m aware that you and Aunt Jas were working with the police as we got older, but I was kept in the dark about most of the details.” I shrug, looking down at my coffee cup. The fresh coat of black polish I got on my fingernails is already beginning to chip. “And I don’t know… a part of me wants to know more about what happened to them because I’m ready to face the truth of what I saw that night.”
I lift my eyes to see Miles staring intently at me, unblinking like he’s stuck in time while the rest of the world moves around him. Frowning, I reach out to wave my hand in front of his face, and he blinks himself back to reality.
“Ev, I’m not sure that’s such a great idea.”
“Why not?” I ask, my brows furrowing.
He sighs, running a hand through his hair. His eyes shift to look across the road. “Because you went through a lot that night and I know you still struggle with nightmares about what you saw. I just… I want to protect you from the ugly truth as long as I can. And I don’t think right now is the time to get into the details.”
My mouth falls open. “How do you know about the nightmares?”
He turns to me with a deadpan look. “I’m your brother, and I like to think I know you well enough by now. You used to have them when you were younger, remember? For months after the murders you used to wake up crying in the middle of the night saying you missed Mom and Dad. I was always there to comfort you and vowed to protect you, which is what I’m doing.” Miles licks his lips and casts his eyes down to where his hands rest on the table, folded over each other. “I promise I will tell you what I know about that night, but not right now. It’s still an open investigation and the police are doing all they can to find Mom and Dad’s killer.”
