The Ghost Face Murders in Fall River

Ch. 2

Autumn followed Danny over to his car which was nothing extravagant, but it appeared to be well taken care of. The black 2007 Volkswagen Jetta could've been brand new by the way it looked on the inside. The only thing that was slightly dirty was the ashtray that fit snuggly in one of the cup holders, but even then it was only ashes that dusted the top of it. There was the smell of cigarettes mixed in with the pine air freshener that hung from the mirror, but it wasn't overpowering.

"Did we grab the notepad?" Danny asked buckling his seatbelt.

"Mhm." Autum pulled it out of her bunny backpack to show him.

"Great. How about a camera? If you don't have one I have several."

Autumn then fished out a small, black Nikon camera.

"Alright, we're all set then." Danny took his cigarettes from his pocket and removed one from the pack. He offered them to Autumn but she declined again. "Do you smoke at all?" he asked with the cigarette hanging from his lips.

"S-Some-t-t-times," she replied. "I-I-I pr-pref-fer m-menthol."

"Ah, I see. Well, again, if you want one, help yourself." He laid the pack and the lighter in the vacant cup holder so that she could get to them if she needed to. "So, what kind of music you like?"

"M-Mostly an-anyth-thing."

Danny reached for the aux cord and connected it to his phone. "Favorite musician?"

"N-Not r-r-really."

Alright, so Danny selected shuffle and whatever played, played.

"W-Were y-y-you re-really w-want-t-ting t-to kn-know?" Her stuttering was progressively getting worse.

"Yeah, actually. I'd like to know a bit about you since we're working together – if that's alright with you."

Maybe Jed wasn't so bad after all. "I-I'm al-alr-r-right w-w-with th-that... b-b-but c-can I-I d-d-do it o-ov-over t-t-text?"

Jackpot, she was going to give him her number. "Absolutely. If that's going to be more comfortable for you," he said. "I want you to know though, I don't find your stutter annoying. I understand that it's difficult for you, especially since you're self conscious about it, but I think it's cute."

Cute? Autumn had never heard that one before. She looked over at him and he gave her a quick glance. "Y-Y-You th-th-think s-so?"

"Yeah, it's fuckin' adorable."

Autumn had never heard Jed curse before. One thing was for sure though, her face was red. How on earth could anyone think something so atrocious and annoying was adorable?

"Sorry if that was a bit much. I just wanted to be honest since it seems everyone else gives you a hard time about it except Charlotte."

"I-I re-really l-l-like Char-Cha-Charlotte..."

Danny glanced over at her again, but her eyes were focused out the windshield. "She seemed quite concerned about you this morning."

"Y-Yeah... sh-she t-t-tries t-to h-he-help m-me w-with s-s-stuff – b-b-but I-I d-don't w-w-want h-her t-to. I-It m-makes m-me f-f-feel b-bad..."

"How come it makes you feel bad? I'm sure she does it because she cares about you."

Autumn didn't want to go into detail. "It-It's s-s-stuff I-I sh-shh-should b-b-be a-a-able t-to t-take c-care o-of... I-I s-stopped h-h-her t-t-tod-d-day..."

"Does it have something to do with money?"

If Autumn had the guts to do it, she would open the door and throw herself out. "Y-Y-Yeah..." she mumbled.