When Autumn Ends

Chapter Five

I sat on my desk, hours later, pondering. The sun peeked through the closed curtains. I'd been up all night. Brian and Mika had long gone home, telling me to get some rest, but I obviously couldn't do that.

Grayson might not be his killer, I told myself. Yet even if he isn't, he might know something about who really did it.

Should I find him?

I suppressed a yawn as I looked back up at the board on my wall. The pieces of red yarn were the same, looped around familiar and unfamiliar places, crisscrossing back to my parents' names. My eyes followed the yarn to a new destination: Merecoast, where I lived now. Where I had established a new life for myself.

I thought I could escape all this by moving to a new town and starting over.

Guess I was wrong.

A new name was written on a piece of paper pinned to the yarn: Grayson Robins. Under the board was the file I had acquired last night. It was more information than I thought I'd ever get.

I rubbed my eyes. Should I find him? No. Where would I even start? Then again, if Harkins is right, he'll come to me. But he might be dangerous. Can I handle him? Gosh, Autumn, even the police can't catch him. What makes you think that you can? Then again, you don't want to catch him. You just want to know. But what if he really did kill Daddy? Wouldn't you want him locked up? Will he even disclose information to you? How are you even going to do that? What if he kills you first?

The thoughts shot through my mind, rapid-fire, consuming all fatigue and sleep and leaving nothing else behind. It was a terrifying swirl of confusion, one after the other. I wasn't sure what to do next.

I was still dizzy from the whole thing. Still couldn't believe it.

A lead.

After fourteen years of knowing close to nothing.

This is almost too good to be true.

Suddenly, the whole thing made sense again. I was no longer chasing after a shadow, a blind belief that they got it all wrong. The case seemed real again: my mother was framed, my father was killed by someone else, and I was going to find that person. He or she would be behind bars soon.

I would catch him and set my mother free.

We'd almost be a family again.

Justice. It was such a sweet word.

Now I just had to figure out what to do next.

It was a Sunday, meaning I didn't have to go to work today. I could spend all day poring over this case, but years of doing so taught me not to. I needed to get out. Maybe get a self-defense class or two. Maybe get myself ready for whatever 'meeting' Grayson and I might have.

Ah. I'm doing it again.

I squeezed my eyes shut and groaned.

Bzzt. Bzzt.

My phone lit up just then and vibrated, signalling a text had come in.

Grinning, I tapped the screen and clicked on the notification. Mika. How typical.

'Dont spend all day thinking! Probs impossible for u, but u need to get out! Call me if u need a drinking buddy! XOXO'

Cute.

I stood up and headed for the shower. She's right, I can't spend all day thinking. But drinking alcohol with an energetic ball of a person like Mika at eight in the morning probably isn't a good idea.