[Ambys 2022: Mystery/Thriller Winner]
Discovering a dead body just minutes from her cottage in the trees is the last thing Dray Dinley expects upon moving to the remote town of Hero.
Being convinced by the town outcast and suspected murderer, Wells...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
..
Dray had no idea how long the ride lasted. She holed up in her mind the entire time, praying to whoever would listen that she wouldn't fall off.
Her steps staggered behind Wells as she tried to get her balance back. He drove fast for a first time passenger.
She bumped into Wells and looked up to see their destination. "Fancy."
They stood outside of a boxy, streamlined building that looked out of place amidst the old town's detailed architecture. Inside Ivory Sparrow's condo filled an entire floor. Wells punched in the security code to unlock the front door. Dray had only ever seen that to open garage doors, but then again, this place looked to be the most expensive on the block.
On the walk over, Wells told her of his close relationship with Ivory until about six months ago. She assumed that was when Ivory found out about the cancer. Before that, he had visited her maybe once a month or so.
They rode an elevator to the top floor. Inside the condo's atmosphere mixed cozy and classy, like someone still lived there, but the thin layer of dust that coated, well, everything told Dray otherwise. A large fireplace anchored the main room with a grand mantle. It stuck out like a sore thumb and as they walked by, so did the sole picture on it.
"Wells, isn't that your dad?" She grabbed his arm.
Wells cocked his head to the side and stepped closer. He grabbed the photo, holding it in his hands, and studied it. His father and a man who looked strikingly similar to his father stood side by side.
"Blonde hair," he muttered, pointing to the third guy on the right. "My dad and uncle were friends with the sheriff? Also, why did Ivory have this photo?"
"You didn't know they were friends?" She scrunched her nose.
He turned to her after placing the frame back on the mantle. "To be honest, I thought he didn't even like him, but I guess I had no real reason to believe that, just a feeling."
Dray bit her lip. She didn't know how to respond to that, so instead landed on a question that had been on her mind all morning. "Why did you go into foster care if you had family in the town over?" she said, softly.
Wells didn't skip a beat. "Supposedly it was in my parents will that I had to stay in the school district, you know, to make things easier on me or something. My aunt wasn't very happy about it, but there was nothing she could do. Uncle wasn't about to move to Hero and I guess he was an outright jerk about it," he answered in a nonchalant tone.
Though he didn't seem deterred by the situation, Dray let sadness float through her. He had family so close, but couldn't live with them. There had to be more to the story, but she decided to keep her questions masked.
"Look around," he said, moving from the conversation. "Holler if you find anything weird." He walked off into a different room and the search began.
