Skye shook awake as the image of Cyrus had
already begun to fade. She was out of breath, sweating and all of her limbs
hurt. The clock on the wall was glowing, showing 3:16am as the current time and
she was slightly disoriented about where she was, lost between reality and the
dream. When she looked on the nightstand
her cell phone had a flashing green light blinking relentlessly and she picked
it up. The dream had already gone grey on the edges of her mind but she
retained a dreadful feeling. She pushed the button to make her phone shine
brightly with life and saw that she had missed calls. “3 Missed calls?” she
mumbled but she didn’t recognize the number staring back at her. Without
hesitation she hit re-dial and listened to the call connect and ring.
After the 3rd ring Skye was about to
hang up the phone when someone picked up. “Eagle Falls Police Department. Is
this an Emergency?” Without a word she ended the call and sat up. The first
thought that pooped into her mind was that it might be a break in the case but
if it was…why would they be calling her at 3 in the morning? Her head slowly
rolled towards the door, as she swung her feet out of bed she eyed up Kona who
had snuck onto the bed at some point and shooed him off before she set herself
off towards Cyrus’ room knowing that she wasn’t going to find him there, but
hoping that she did. Kona scooted off the bed and stood at attention as soon as
Skye approached her bedroom door. After a moment of hesitation and the intake
of a deep breath, she turned the knob.
Quietly she walked down the hallway to his
room. Facing the closed door in front of her it became a deity she was praying
to. “Please be in bed.” She chanted softly. She wished with all her heart that
when she opened the door he would be there but when she entered the room she
was at an empty bed.
“Shit…”
was all she could say.
The drive to the Police Station was an angry
one. Foot to the floor she drove like a bat out of hell to the city. “He better
be ok, so I can fucking kill him!” Skye was yelling to herself, deep down it
was more like yelling at herself. “He’ll
be grounded until he graduates from College!” She reached over and hit the
button on the console that controlled the window and the night air came rushing
in blowing her hair all over like it was angry too. She tried to talk herself
down telling herself thing like ‘he’s a
15 yr old boy, they do this.’ Skye knew though that Cyrus didn’t just sneak
out alone, he had an accomplice or as far as she was concerned and instigator.
By the time she got to the Station she figured
that she had calmed down enough so that they would release him to her without
worrying about his safety once he left their safe confines of the interrogation
room, or cell wherever they had him sitting and breathing and hopefully
terrified of her soon to be appearance. She parked in the front of the station
and took a minute to control her emotions. She looked in the rear view mirror
at her flushed cheeks and shiny eyes. Taking three quick breaths she opened the
door. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled and she scanned the parking
lot. Not seeing anything she shook off the vibe and started walking to the
steps that led to the door of the cop shop.
When she got to the top she thought of Stallone in Rocky, her breathing
was laboured and her legs felt like jelly so she leaned against the wall. A large man dressed in a police uniform looked at her and smiled as
he held the door open for her. First thought ‘How can he be so big?’ second thought ‘why do I care?’ She smiled anyway just to be polite but she did
appreciate the gesture. As she was just about past him, a look of recognition
passed behind his eyes and his smile faltered…just for a second before he
regained his composure. He knew who she was and after she was in the building
he lowered his gaze, the smile faded away.
“Ya,” she mumbled pushing a hand through her
hair. “I remember you guys too…” Her memories resurfaced of all those times in
the first few months that she came in here demanding answers into who killed
Deacon. She didn’t want to be here anymore than she was sure any of them would
want to see her face again. Running out of steam all she was wanted to get her
son and leave, crawl back under the covers of her lonely bed and forget
everything her mind had dredged up.
Skye approached the counter and her eyes
travelled up the peeling grey paint on the walls, followed the sheet of bullet
proof glass across the waiting area and finally resting on the round metal
speaker box in front of her that separated her from the tall elegant looking
woman in uniform behind the counter. She seemed much too regal to be a cop.
With no cadence in her voice she said simply,
“I’m here for Cyrus Dune…at least, I… think I am.” The elegant woman whose name was Kathy something
according to her name tag flipped through the papers on her clipboard and then picked
up a cordless phone off of the desk. Before she dialled her eyes flicked up at
Skye whose back was to her now and she punched in the digits. “Hey Adam,” she
said “Cyrus’ mother is here to get him.” She paused, “Yes I’ll get that
together for you.” Kathy returned the phone to its cradle and spoke into the speaker
box.
“Um…Mrs. Dune?” Kathy said shyly, “Detective
Barrett will be right out with Cyrus.” Slightly preoccupied “Sure…thanks…” Skye
mumbled. She was looking at the wall of missing people that you can find in any
police station and thought about how that could have easily been Cyrus. Sneaking out and maybe never returning like
Deacon except that his father was murdered and they knew that he was in the
ground.
Most of the photos were of girls with big smiles
and clips in their hair who seemed so very young and innocent like they would
never do anything wrong. The truth of it being that most of them were probably
troubled already or doing drugs and hanging out with the wrong people,
maybe…even standing on that corner across from the bank waiting for the next
car to pull up and drive off with them
to some seedy motel or… they might not even get out of the car.
This thought stayed in her head circulating inside
until she heard the lock from the door behind her disengage and swing open. She
didn’t turn around right away, worried about what he looked like, beaten up?
Drunk? She took a deep breath, composed herself and turned around. “And there
he is.” She said relieved he looked ok yet at the same time she was so mad she
could spit nails.
“Mom, I can explain…” Cyrus said quickly. Skye
put her hand up to stop him, “No, you can explain later.” She turned to Detective
Barrett, “Is there anything you need from me?” She didn’t want to be in the
station and her anxiety started to build, not caring why he was there just
wanting to leave. Barrett paused and took a quick look at Cyrus. He must not
have been on duty because he was dressed in casual clothes, just dark jeans and
a t-shirt. The worn brown leather jacket he was wearing was damp from the
slight misty rain outside. Skye thought that his shoulders looked wider than
she remembered when he came to her door the night Deacon died looking much more
polished. She wondered for a moment why she thought of that at all and
dismissed it as just a curious observation.
“Mrs. Dune,” he started slowly, “we found Cyrus
and Justin speeding on a main road with 2 young girls and drugs in the car” He
looked at Cyrus now and the boy dropped his head thinking his shoes looked
pretty good right now. He continued, “I’m pretty sure Cyrus wasn’t using and
that’s why I’m releasing him to you now.” Cyrus glared at Barrett from behind
his shaggy dark hair.
Detective
Adam Barrett was the one that told them their world had changed, he still had
no information, nothing new to solve the crime and Cyrus hated him for it.
“Mom…can we go?” Cyrus asked “I just want to get
out of here.” His voice was flat as hers was and he turned to walk away. Skye’s
arm shot out in front of him before he passed by her. “What…” she nearly
growled, “you aren’t worried about your partner in crime?” She wasn’t looking
at Cyrus but she felt him stiffen. Her eyes were clearly boring a hole into the
Detectives solemn face as he cleared his throat. Kathy flagged Skye over so
that she could sign the release.
“Justin will have to stay here at least until
his parents get here,” he paused and spoke to Cyrus now. “He could do time in
juvie for this…that will depend on how his parents want to deal with the
situation.” Cyrus straightened and said clearly as he turned his head in the
direction of the detective, “Well I guess he’s not my partner now, is he.”
The statement alone made the officer take a
step back. Between Skye and Cyrus their hostility was thick and only barely
controlled. Mentally Barrett gave up but he tried not to show it on the outside,
“OK Cyrus, go home.” And as he turned to the big steel door, Kathy pushed the
button to unlock it. He hesitated only slightly with his hand on the door
handle and without turning he said… “I’m sorry Mrs. Dune…” Skye stayed silent.
“I’m sorry we haven’t closed your husbands’ case but, these things take time
and it’s not forgotten.”
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