Faithless

Chapter 8

When I arrived home, my heart leapt in my chest to see a police car in front of the house. My first thought was to turn around and come back when they were gone, but my more rational thought that followed it briefly scolded me for thinking of doing that, and realized that the police were probably there because they were questioning everyone in the neighborhood. That was to be expected. Not showing up would be more suspicious than just talking to them.

So I walked inside like I knew nothing and hung up my coat on the coat rack. As I took off my wet and worn dress shoes, I heard Dahlia call my name from the living room. "Jayden! Is that you?"

"Yes," I said.

"Come here!"

I set my backpack down next to the stairs and walked into the den. Sitting on the couch were Dahlia and a police officer, and sitting on the recliner was Jared, a newspaper rolled up in his lap. I narrowed my eyes slightly. "What's up?"

Dahlia spoke first. "This young officer is here to ask you some questions about... about Hannah. Your girlfriend, she was?" She spoke carefully, definitely recalling how I reacted to the news of her death coming out.

The officer nodded. "Yes, that's right. I'm just talking to each of Hannah's friends, getting a good idea of what happened in the events that led up to her death and if any of you have any information we could use to help figure out what happened to her."

I remained standing in the doorway. "What's your name?"

"My name is Evan Shaw. I'm sure you already know my son, Darren. I just want you to know—"

I groaned. "Oh, you're Darren's father. Fuck you, Evan. I'm not talking to you."

Dahlia sat up in surprise, frowning at me. "Jayden!"

Jared looked at me with that nonchalant and oblivious look in his eyes. He never really knew what was going on. "At least have a seat, son. Give the man a chance."

After a moment of hesitation, I sighed and sat down on the coffee table. "Alright, what do you want?"

Evan and Darren shared much resemblance. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that Darren would grow up to look exactly like his father, and I wouldn't even be surprised if he picked up the same profession. His jawline was sharper, and he certainly had more facial hair than Darren did. His hair was styled, the dark curls pushed to the side with hair gel, and more care put into his appearance than Darren ever would've thought of.

"So, just give me the general rundown of what happened on Friday. That was the last time you saw her?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I dropped off Daisy at her friends' house, it was like twelve, and then I got back to Hannah's house around twelve fifteen. Hannah let me in, Darren, Lucas and Nancy were already there. We chilled, ordered some pizza, watched a few movies while smoking..." I ran my tongue across my dry lips. "I fell asleep and woke up around nine something, I'm pretty sure. When I woke up, Lucas and Nancy were passed out, and Darren and Hannah were in her room together. I got home around nine thirty and went to bed right after."

"Were there any arguments or altercations that took place at this get together?"

"No, everyone that was there are friends."

Evan looked back down at his notepad and scribbled something down. "Do you know of anyone else who would want to hurt Hannah for any reason at all?"

I shrugged. "Not really. People liked Hannah." As true as that would be. There was also a good portion of those at the school that thought she was a shallow bitch who was full of it. People on both sides of the coin were equally as right and equally as wrong.