Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time

Chapter 18

 Brendon's perplexing day isn't through yet as his fingers brush against the sides of unopened alcoholic beverages. There's a familiar song playing quietly through the grocery store's speakers. The musician immediately recalls unrecognizable figures dancing along to the beat in his living room. For a split second, he sees Emmett's face again. There's an itch beneath Brendon's skin... why does it bother him so much? Why does this man... unnerve him? It isn't just the recognition that's unsettling, but the memories seem to become more expansive. He remembers touching Emmett; feeling a phantom sensation of his cotton shirt gracing his fingertips. Brendon's heart starts to speed up... did he...

"Excuse me." A voice says.

"Oh, sorry." Brendon says, moving over and letting an older man reach a bottle of whiskey.

Still on edge by this new recollection, he grabs random bottles of drinks at arm's length and walks quickly to check-out. As he gets in his car, he tears off a piece of paper from one of the bottles and forms it into a ball between his fingers. He takes a second to breathe before starting the car and heading home. Of course one paper ball couldn't settle his anxiety as he sees two police cars parked a few houses down from his own.

As soon as the musician parks in his garage, he is quick to jump out of the vehicle and carry the groceries inside.

He passes Sarah who's watching TV, "Hey babe." She says.

"Hey," Brendon replies, now from in the kitchen. His hands are shaking as he puts the bottles in the pantry.

Fuck, the police are coming. Fuck what is he gonna say? He could have very well hooked up with this guy and not remember. No, he would never do that to his wife. Maybe he was just drunk and flirted with a dude... who is now missing. None of this sounds good to the musician.

"I walked out front earlier and noticed the police down the street. I think they're asking people in the neighborhood if they saw anything." Sarah says.

"Yeah, they're probably gonna ask about that missing guy or something."

"Wouldn't it be about the cops that got shot? That missing man- that happened like half an hour from here."

"Oh... oh yeah, you're right." Brendon finishes before walking back into the living room.

He sits next to Sarah, swinging an arm around her shoulder. He can't even focus on the program in front of him.

The doorbell eventually rings, and Brendon stops breathing for a moment. He separates his mind from his body, swiftly getting up and answering the door. Two police officers stand beside each other, both with serious expressions formed into their features.

One says, "Hi, I'm officer Jones and this is officer Dixon, we're here to ask you about the recent neighborhood disturbance. We'd like to know if you heard or seen anything between the hours of ten and midnight last night."

"I don't remember much, unfortunately," Brendon starts, "I hosted a party last night. It's hard to recall everything that happened. The music was pretty loud for the good majority of the night."

The other officer speaks, "So you hosted a party last night? There's a current missing person by the name of Emmett Hoffmann. Does that name sound familiar to you?"

"I heard about him from the news, I might have seen him in passing." Brendon says, his heart definitely beginning to race.

"We'd just heard claims of individuals mentioning this local area when asked about the last time they saw Emmett. One friend of his said he was going to attend a party. So he wasn't here then by your knowledge?