Fin

He took the printouts to one of the few restaurants still open after Columbus Day for more rigorous readings over scallops and beer. An engraving of the fire's leftovers bore some serious resemblance to what he saw the morning before, but not enough to fully convince him that was what he saw. Maybe the details got lost somewhere in time. Less and less of this made sense, and he wasn't really sure sense was what he wanted right now. Today felt calm. Not perfect, but good. Far better than any day in the past few months. All the questions that needed to be asked had to be pushed away for a while. Obsession drove him to this whole fiasco. Not really obsession with a person or a thing, but a feeling, an idea. He felt like he had been wronged, and he wanted that pain recognized and transferred, but she would never volunteer for that. It was a dead end. Time to turn around.

Then he remembered the girls' bodies laying on the beach for a second time. He never doubted their ability to shield him from prosecution, but how? Last night his instincts made him run. He felt, he knew, that he shouldn't have stayed there any longer than he did. Either their bodies were gone or someone was going to get the blame, probably as revenge, but he didn't want someone going to jail for something he did, even if they did ask for it. Ouch, he had to remember not to use that phrase if anything happened.

Walking up the path to the top of the stairs, his heart drum-rolled timpanies in his chest. He tried to stay away - criminals always make the mistake of visiting the scenes of the their crimes, right? - , but he had to make sure everything was clear. The girls inspired blind trust in him, but he had to know. The sky was full of purple and green out beyond the landing made of unfinished two by fours. Nothing but sand lay below. He stood and breathed and stared for a moment, then descended.

Sitting in the same spot they found him the morning before, he waited for them them to appear, laid out next to him just like they were in a Star Wars moment. He watched the sky fade to black and went home.