Dead Girl Walking ― Aaron Minyard

34. waiting room

and when broken bodies are washed ashore
who am i to ask for more, more, more?
― phoebe bridgers

♦

THINGS WENT FROM BAD TO WORSE WHEN "HELP" ARRIVED.

The first responders and paramedics arrived at nearly the same time, but they were followed by two more sets of officers. Mara didn't know if they had nothing better to do on a Sunday night or if they'd come following the slip of Kevin Day's name over the police radio. Mara didn't know much about the legal system, but she doubted it took six cops to rule Drake Spears' death as a case of justifiable homicide. She wanted them to take statements, eyeball the obvious details of the gruesome scene, and shake Aaron's hand on their way out. 

Instead, they led him down the stairs in cuffs.

Mara went with Nicky and Kevin to the station to wait for Aaron's release. They gave their witness statements, they were offered shitty coffee, and they waited. 

They waited until it became clear they would be getting nowhere.

The last thing Mara wanted was to leave the station without Aaron, but the police made it clear he wouldn't be released until at least the next morning, probably later. The deadly temper she'd thought she put to rest long ago nearly flared at the sight of the cop's lackadaisical attitude, his flippancy over the fact that an innocent man was being forced to spend the night in jail for doing the world a favor. 

They divvied up the bedrooms at the house in Columbia, and Mara, Nicky, and Kevin sequestered themselves in Nicky's downstairs bedroom. Kevin took the floor without complaint or hesitation, and though Mara had never shared a bed with anyone but him and Jean (and Neil in another life), she managed to fall asleep next to a stoic and silent Nicky. 

She slept in the barest sense of the word, fleeting into and out of rest like a bird with broken wings, but she was still under when the sound of heavy footsteps and Andrew's cheery voice on the stairs shook her awake. The noise had woken all three of them up—even Kevin, always the slowest to wake, was sitting up as soon as his eyes opened. 

Nicky stared at the door for what might have a second or an hour. 

Finally, he got out of bed, and Mara and Kevin silently followed him to the door. 

They watched from the doorway as Abby followed a manic and cheery Andrew downstairs, her smile strained. Andrew chattered on like he didn't notice, but Mara was sure he did; his drugs made him manic, not stupid. 

He lost his train of thought when he spotted Neil in the doorway to the living room. "Oh, Neil is back. We thought perhaps you got lost." 

"I'm never lost," Neil said.

"And never found," Andrew added with a sage nod. "All for the best, I'm sure. But good timing either way. This solves all our problems. Right, Bee?" 

Andrew looked over his shoulder at the psychiatrist, who Mara hadn't noticed arrive, and waggled a hand at her in a come-hither motion. Andrew grinned as she approached and pointed at Neil again. "He knows where we left the car, and you know where the store is. Try to pick him up some clothes on the way back, would you? He's going to start smelling if we leave him too long. And take the Jezebel with you." 

Mara hid most of a flinch, but there was no question who he was talking about. 

Betsy didn't bat an eye. "Did you want anything in particular for breakfast?" 

"No special requests," Andrew said. "You can ask the ghosts back there, but I don't think they have much of an opinion today. Maybe you're losing your touch, Bee. Oh, but here. Neil is going to need this."