Love and Its Lies

Nine - No Doubts

Aly barely got any sleep that night as she tossed and turned in her bed. Doubt was starting to creep in her head and she did not like it one bit. For over 6 years, John Wendell had been the apple of her eye, her reason for being. She would wake up in the morning thinking of him, and she would go about her day hoping that she’d catch a glimpse of him. He was the epitome of a “perfect man" for her, yet here comes a raggedy, sarcastic journalist suddenly claiming that John was a liar and a criminal—and Aly was wavering.

The smart, kind, down-to-earth John had always seemed to be incapable of doing anything wrong. He was the type of person who cared about the environment, helped strangers in trouble, gave money to the less fortunate, and adopted animals from the shelter. The idea that he could do anything remotely wrong was just…

Determined to get to the bottom of everything, Aly decided to go against Danny’s warnings and sneaked out of the hotel early to follow John. If there was a chance—even a very slim one—that he was partaking in illegal activities, Aly wanted to see it for herself.

As if by serendipity, John walked past the hotel by the time Aly stepped out. There was a light drizzle outside and the skies were looking gray with heavy clouds. Aly pulled the hood of her jacket over her head and put her hands in the pockets as she walked a good 20 steps behind him.

Aly stopped and hid beside a house when John entered a shop. She made sure to keep an eye out for Danny—she could already imagine his pissed off expression if he ever knew what she was up to.

When John emerged, he was holding a bouquet of flowers. Aly wondered who they were for—was he dating someone in town? Was that the real reason of his being there?

He continued walking down the street that Aly knew led back to his house. To her surprise, he made a turn towards the cemetery.

The place was nearly empty except for John and a man sweeping leaves on the far end. Trees stood by small mausoleums and weeds surrounded old gravestones. Aly thought that if she were there at nighttime and crows flew around, it could easily seem like the undead would be getting up from their graves.

Shaking off the chill she felt, Aly hid behind one of the mausoleums as she watched John crouch over one of the graves. He laid the flowers he had recently bought, and lit up a candle. He looked like he said a few words, but Aly could not overhear—then he turned and walked away. He greeted the man sweeping and they continued to talk as they walked out of the cemetery.

Aly made sure that the coast was clear before making her way to the spot where John paid his respects to. The stone was relatively new in comparison to the others. The name Gareth Wendell was engraved on it, and based on the dates of his birth and death, it was highly likely that he was John’s father. Aly had only heard that Gareth had died a few months after their graduation, but she recalled learning that John never went back to town for the burial—and now that she was thinking about, was pretty odd.

The distant sound of leaves being crushed startled Aly. She wildly looked around and found no one else. Above her, a flash of lightning bolted through the sky. As the thunder roared consequently, what was a light drizzle became a heavy downpour. Aly made a run to the exit, eager to find momentary shelter and get back on her mission to follow John. Just as she was about to walk under the arch of the cemetery's exit, she was suddenly pulled to the side under a tree.

“What the—” she exclaimed as she almost tripped on a fallen branch. The hand that grabbed her held her steady before letting her go. On instinct, she tried to punch at the other person’s face, but when she only hit air, she wiped the rainwater from her face and frowned at her assailant. “You have got to stop pulling people into places!”

Danny, whose hat and trench coat were drenched in rain, only tutted as he looked down at Aly. “And you have got to stop trying to punch people,” he said. “I somehow knew that I’d find you sneaking around. You never listen, do you?”

Aly pulled down her hood and tied her hair into a bun. This was the exact expression she expected the man to have—annoyed with a hint of disappointment. “You’re one to talk when you’re following him as well.”

“This is literally my job, Aly. I get paid to investigate. You, on the other hand—”

“Let’s just say I’m conducting my own investigation,” Aly said indignantly.

“Listen, you—"

“Hey!” A man shouted from behind them. He held a flashlight towards them, which did little as it was still early in the morning. He walked towards the two of them with his eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Who are you? I don’t know your faces and I know everyone in this town.”

Now that Aly have had a closer look at him, she noticed that he looked a lot like Fred—just a bit smaller and grumpier. Aly gave her best smile to appease him. “Hi, sir. We're just a bit lost. We’re tourists in this town. I’m Aly and this is… cousin Danny. We’re both staying at the hotel right now, you might know the owner—Fred.”

“Tourists, huh?” As Frank heard his brother’s name, his eyes immediately became softer. “Well, you ought to be careful around these parts. The cemetery’s no tourist spot.”

“Yes, sir, of course, we were just trying to find our way to the grocery store,” Danny supplied, quick to follow Aly's excuse.

“Well, the store is over there. Down the street, make a right,” Frank motioned. “You both better get a hurry. The rain’s not letting up any time soon.”

The two vigorously nodded, thanked the man, and walked away with a breath of relief. As soon as they were out of earshot, Danny stopped her in the middle of the street and continued to say, “Go back to the hotel, Aly. Or better yet, back to the city.”

Aly was disinterested. “Uhuh, sure, now if you’d excuse me…” she pulled her hood back up, looked left and right for John, before deciding to start making her way towards his house.

Danny jogged to catch up to her, looking unhappy at how hard the rain was falling as he kept adjusting his hat—which, at that point, barely did anything to keep his head dry. “Why don’t you ever listen?” he hissed, holding onto her elbow to stop her from walking when they reached the edge of John's yard. “What are you going to do?” He nodded towards the house. “Walk up to the man's place and what?”

Aly turned around in exasperation. “Why do you care, Danny? It’s not as if he’s a murderer or something. At worst, he probably did some white collar crime.”

She had expected Danny to contest her, instead he kept his lips sealed as if unsure what to say. Aly's eyes widened as she pointed at him accusingly. “You—what are you not telling me?”

Danny pursed his lips and shook his head. “Nothing.”

“What nothing? There is clearly something! Are you implying that you think he did something worse—”

“I said, nothing. Let it go. Come on, I’ll walk you back to the hotel.” Danny said as he tugged on Aly's arm once again, intending to pull her in the other direction. She didn’t budge and crossed her arms instead.

“That was not nothing! I’m not leaving until you tell me,” she stubbornly stated, nonchalantly wiping off the water from her face to keep it from going into her eyes.

Danny groaned out loud and took off his hat just so he could run his fingers through his damp hair. It was clear as day that he was losing his patience with Aly, but she couldn’t help to find it slightly funny at how frustrated he looked at that moment. His wet hair and brown clothes made him look like a grumpy dog that had just been given an unwanted bath.

She was about to poke fun at him when they saw the door of the house open. Out stepped John, holding a bag of garbage with one hand.

“I’ll go ask him myself, then,” Aly whispered at Danny. Before he could stop her, she was already waving at John and calling his name.

“Aly?” John shielded his eyes from the rain and set the garbage aside. Aly smiled triumphantly at Danny before walking towards him.

“Hi!” she greeted.

“Wait there a second!” John called out before going back into the house. When he came out, he held two umbrellas and rushed to hand one over the small fence to Danny. “What are you two doing out in the rain?” he asked.

Danny opened the umbrella and held it over himself and Aly, visibly thankful and relieved for the sudden shelter from the rain.

“We were on the way to the grocery store, but we got lost,” Aly flawlessly lied.

“Speaking of which, we should really get back to it now,” Danny imposingly said, nudging at her arm, who only slapped his hand away.

“Ah, well it’s just down the street, on the right,” John pointed.

Aly couldn’t care less where the store was, but she nodded anyway and thanked him.

“Well, I guess we know where the store is now, Aly. Let’s go?” Danny asked, trying to mask his impatience as he nudged her again.

Aly faked a smile at him. “If you’re in such a hurry, you can go first.” But Danny only sighed in defeat and stayed with her. She turned towards John — who watched their exchange with confusion — and said, “Sorry, my cousin Danny's the impatient and clingy type. Anyway, I was thinking about your offer — at the town party — to catch up some time. Are you free for dinner tomorrow night?”

Danny’s eyes went wide and John was a bit surprised but delighted.

“Yeah, sure!” John answered with a smile. “There’s only the diner around here, but… would you like to have dinner at my place? This is my house right here.”

Aly could not believe her luck. She had just been invite into his house!

“Oh, you come, too… um, Danny.” John added, suddenly causing Aly’s smile to falter.

“A-are you sure you want to—”

Danny cut her off, a huge smile on his face. “I would be delighted. Thank you for inviting me, John.”

“Great! Come over around 6? No need to bring anything over, I’ll cook dinner,” John said excitedly, oblivious to Aly's change of mood.

“Great!” Danny exclaimed, looking at Aly expectantly.

“Great,” she answered with feigned enthusiasm. This was not how she wanted things to go.