Evelyn

Chapter 29 - What's That I Hear? Applause?

Chapter Song: Hayloft II by Mother Mother

Michael
The CVS was a dead end too. If Evelyn didn't find anything, Derek will call our bluff in an instant and we're screwed. I don't know what to do. I feel like if this doesn't work, I'm going to ignore him and hope he just leaves me alone. Icing him out sounds like a good backup plan.

Me: Hey
Me: Nothing here. What about you?

Nothing. I had last checked in with her she said she was already at the Arby's. Why isn't she answering her phone?

Me: Ev is everything okay?

Screw it. I'm driving over. I'd like to say that I calmly walked to my car and drove the speed limit, but I'd be lying. Tokyo drifting my way down the street and maybe I can shave a few minutes off by increasing my speed.

I hear sirens.

"What the hell," I whispered.

Okay, maybe no more Tokyo drifting. If I get pulled over I will lose my mind. Wait. They're not after me. They're driving past me in the direction of...oh shit.

Shitshitshitshitshit

~~~

I pulled into the parking lot and there were cops everywhere. Shit. Where's Ev? What happened? Why are the police here? If Derek is behind any of this, I'm killing him. I scan the crowd and behind the caution tape to see Ev. Oh my God, she looks terrified. She's talking to two officers with wide eyes, talking a mile a minute.

I try and duck under the tape, but an officer stops me. "You can't go further than this, sir."

"That's my girlfriend," I said helplessly. "I know you guys think those drugs are hers, but they're not. This is all just a really really bad coincidence. Can you just give us a minute to explain?"

The officer walked from me to another officer, who I assume to be his superior officer. They whispered to each other and I felt like if they kept ignoring me I would duck under the tape and plead our case to the detective himself. Luckily, I didn't have to wait. The officer walked back over to me and pulled the tape up. "Follow me," he said.

Thank God.

We walked over to where Evelyn stood, leaning against a car and talking to a woman with a dark green dress shirt. Detective? Maybe. I think I've watched enough true crime with Ev to know. When she saw me, her eyes lit up and she stared at the man for a second before running over to me. I pulled her into my arms, resting my head in the crook of her neck and placing my hand against the back of her head, trying to pull her as close to me as I possibly could.

"Your brother is fucking insane," Ev whispered into my chest before killing away. "For a second, I thought I was going to jail."

"They don't think it's yours?"

"No," a voice answered. I turned around to see the woman Evelyn was talking to behind me. "I've been a detective for almost fifteen years and I've never met anyone who could be less of a drug dealer than her."

"I'm glad you think that, officer. You know, since I'm not a drug dealer," she winked. "I'm not built for prison anyway. Not because I think I'd get into fights, but I think I'd be trying to lift weights and I'd drop one on my neck and accidentally kill myself."

The detective chuckled, "You're funny."

"Thank you! I'm told it's one of my better qualities, next to my skills as a barista."

"You really do have a knack for that."

"Hold on," I interrupted. "Do you two know each other?"

"Yeah! This is Detective Nakaya, she's a badass. She comes into Clairo's almost every morning. I even interviewed her once for one of my classes."