Landmine - Post Malone

4

Dillon looks up and down the little space the kitchen slash living area offers. Austin had excused himself to shower and change. He suggested she rest, but she has never been any good at that, and so her mind is racing with a million thoughts. Austin seems like a nice guy, weird, but nice. He is the opposite of whatever the fuck Luke is. But, she does not trust Austin and there is something in the pit of her stomach that tells her he is hiding something from her. He knows more than he is letting on. Worry makes her stomach swirl - if her sister got mixed up with someone like Luke it scares her to think about what he has done to her. She shakes the thought from her tired brain. It would do her no good to think of such awful things.

"Do you have any other clothes other than white shirts and blue jeans?" Dillon asks looking at Austin with a disapproving face when he walks back into the room. He chuckles and opens a cabinet near the couch, pulling out a pair of brown cowboy boots. "I have a red shirt, but I save that for Christmas and the fourth of July," he says, then sits down and pulls on his boots. "Fashionable," Dillon grunts and sits down next to him.

"Where are you going?" 

"Work."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Rest," he says standing up and adjusting his belt buckle. It's a huge silver square with a rope on it - it's ridiculous really.

"Can I come to your work with you?"

"Besides pissin' me off with your endless slew of questions, there ain't nothin' for you to do out there," he says, slipping on that white cowboy hat he always wears and treats like it's made of glass. Once he has adjusted it to sit on his head perfectly he turns and gives her a pointed look. Dillon stares back at him. He didn't just say that to her - the man has a limited filter it seems. "Fine," she grumbles folding her arms in front of her and pouting. He chuckles under his breath again then opens the trailer door and steps out. Dillon would follow him, maybe even grab her bags and hightail it out of there. But, there are a few issues. Her feet are still very painful, she has slipped her shoes off and gone back to Austin's thick socks. She is also in the middle of nowhere, so she assumes she will just end up driving in circles. Lastly, she is tired. She has been on the move with a busy mind for two years. Austin has offered for her to rest and she hasn't felt this safe to do so in years. She does not know if it's the trailer or Austin himself that has made her feel like she can let her guard down just a little, but either way, a few days of just being still can only do more good than bad. But, that still doesn't mean she trusts him just yet.

She sits on the couch for a few minutes and spaces out, then stands and cleans away the dishes Austin had washed. She makes the bed and cleans the bathroom, doing a load of washing and then tidying up the kitchen and seating area. She repacks her bag, pulls out all the research she has gathered over the last two years and makes herself comfortable at the table while she reads over it like she has done every day for two fucking years. Nothing stands out, and she has no new leads, but she writes Austin's name in her list of people of interest. She doesn't think he has any involvement with Isla's disappearance, but she won't take the chance of not pulling apart his entire background just in case. Her list has gotten pretty long, but they have all led to dead ends. She circles Luke's name again. He knows something, and he is suspect number one right now, so she plans on wearing Austin down until he cracks and helps her speak to Luke. If he refuses she will find Luke on her own and plant her ass in front of him until he speaks.

The day drags on, it just won't end even after she snoops around and looks through a few of Austin's drawers. She finds nothing of interest besides a few old pictures of him on a horse or an angry-looking bull. There is one photo she slips into her collection of evidence. She thinks it's Austin as a teenager, along with another teenage boy. They are standing with an old woman, presumably a grandmother. Austin and the other boy have their arms around each other's shoulders and they look very close. She wanders about who they are to him. Are they related? Are the boys siblings? She is not sure, she is not even sure if one of the boys is Austin. It's a very old photo. The grandmother looks kind, though; she is beautiful and has a joyful smile. The photo is torn slightly and the corners are soft, an indication of him often picking it up and looking at it. She looks pretty old in this photo and so Dillon presumes she has passed away by now. Was this the mama he spoke of? His voice had gotten tender when he referred to her, so she suspects they had been close.