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Claire elbowed him playfully. “Oh, stop.” To me, she said, “We were not placing any bets.”
I glanced to the white box in front of Charlie, next to my present. “What’s that?”
Charlie reached for it, and I was pretty sure I heard her gulp as she lifted the lid to reveal the inner contents. “Dad was being annoying. He wouldn’t shut up until I opened it,” she said, glancing at me, more unspoken. “It’s from Claire and Tyler.” She pushed the box towards me, which let me see what it was.
A picture in a pretty gold frame. There was nothing too remarkable about it. A glorified sketch to me, nothing more, of her treehouse in the back. Done well, I guess, but I didn’t see how this meant Tyler was her stalker.
“It’s good,” I said, sensing everyone at the table was still staring at me.
Wait a damn minute. Wasn’t the whole reason Charlie was out driving that night she hit me because of a picture left in her room? Ah, now I understood why the connection was made, and I scooted a little closer to Charlie after that.
“Tyler’s such an artist, isn’t he?” Claire said as she rubbed his back, a look of approval in her amber eyes. “I told him he should’ve minored in art in college, but all he wanted to do was tech stuff. You might not know it from looking at him, but he’s very smart.”All that was said towards me.
Tyler chuckled, “Thanks, babe. I am pretty smart, huh?” He leaned into her and placed a kiss on her cheek, and then he glanced at me and asked, “Have you ever seen their treehouse?” He paused, and unless I was mistaken, I saw a glimmer of something in his green eyes. Amusement, maybe? “Claire and Charlie used to spend a lot of time in it when they were kids.”
I met his smile with one of my own. “No, I haven’t.”
“Oh, well we can’t have that, can we?” Tyler stood and scooted out from underneath the table. “Let’s take a little field trip.” Before anyone could argue, he threw a glance over his shoulder at James and said, “We’re going to visit the treehouse.”
“You kids have fun,” James rattled off, even though none of us were kids.
Claire mumbled about how she didn’t really want to go, but then she perked up and said, “Ithasbeen a long time since I’ve seen it.” She got up and took Tyler’s hand, and then they both stared at us expectantly.
I was measured in bringing my stare to Charlie. “Well? You want to visit your treehouse?” I offered her my hand.
The look she gave me told me she did not want to go to the treehouse, that going to that damned treehouse was the last thing she wanted to do, but she didn’t put up any arguments, simply slipping her tiny hand into mine.
As I helped her up, Tyler mused, “Jeez. Seeing you two side by side really makes you realize just how small Charlie is.” To his fiancé, he asked, “Did your sister not eat her vegetables growing up?”
All Claire did was laugh.
I squeezed Charlie’s hand as we started toward the back. Marching along, the four of us walked side by side. I made sure to have Charlie to my left, away from Claire and Tyler. She walked slower than they did so naturally we fell behind—though that was rectified by Tyler and Claire, who waited for us once they opened the back gate and stepped into the woods.
How nice of them.
I kept tossing Charlie worried glances as we walked, but she was as stone-faced as ever, staring straight ahead as we plowed along. Tyler and Claire were in front of us, about fifteen feet ahead, but Tyler was talking loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Wow,” he said, glancing all around. “It’s right behind the house, but it’s like a whole different world. Untouched by mankind. You could bury a body here and no one would ever know.”
We made it to the base of the treehouse, and Tyler went on, “Although, I do wonder if, say you had to get rid of a body, it wouldn’t be better to let nature take its course. I mean, how long do things take to decompose naturally with the sun shining on it? A month? Two months? That might be better than burying someone, right, Ian?” He was smiling, but there was an edge to his voice only I could hear.
The motherfucker knew. Somehow, he knew what I’d done to Dave, and he was taunting me. Or it was a good guess. I knew he hadn’t helped Dave, because I’d returned to the field and made sure the asshole was dead. Let’s just say the smell hadn’t been pleasant. Very soon his bones would be sun-bleached and I’d shatter them into dust.
Claire groaned and yanked on his arm. To us, she said, “Sorry about him. Sometimes he says the weirdest stuff.”
“It’s fine,” I said, flashing Tyler my own smile. “Hasn’t everyone thought of what they’d do with a body if they had to get rid of one?”
“And here I thought only girls were obsessed with true crime podcasts.” Claire craned her neck back and gazed up at the treehouse. “It looks the same, like it hasn’t changed at all. That’s crazy.” She let go of Tyler’s hand, moving to the base of the ladder fastened to the tree. “Let’s go up. Think it can hold all of us?”
“Maybe just two at a time,” Charlie finally spoke up. “You and Tyler go. We’ll check it out once you’re done.” She angled herself in to me, and I let go of her hand so I could rub her back, acting like the supportive and loving boyfriend.
I mean, Iwasthe supportive and loving boyfriend, but I was also other things. Like murderous. Right now, I’d like very much to take Tyler’s neck in my hands and squeeze until his skin turned blue, the blood vessels in his eyes popped, and the whites of his eyes turned red.
But I couldn’t do that right now. Had to play nice while in front of others. Killing Tyler was going to be a challenge. I knew nothing about him, his family situation, or where he and Claire currently lived. The cameras I’d have to dodge.
Tyler shrugged and started up the ladder, going after Claire, one step at a time. Both Charlie and I watched them go up, and soon they disappeared into the treehouse. We heard their mumbled voices, and that was finally our chance to talk.
“What are we going to do?” Charlie asked, her voice so soft it was barely audible. She moved away from the treehouse, taking me with her, to put more distance between us and them. We saw Claire and Tyler’s faces in the window of the treehouse, and Charlie reacted by hugging herself against me. “He knows who you are,” she whispered against my shirt.
