Blood Red Hills

Break Some Laws

            Steven Miles Hathaway was a genuine guy. Easy to open up to, and one you could always count on. He was Eric’s best friend, his lifer, the best man at Eric’s wedding, and was due to be a front pallbearer at his funeral. Lana was sure Steve would be the guy to go to the cemetery late at night and crack open a beer with Eric. When he and Lana saw each other, he flashed that kind, welcoming smile, but she didn’t miss that haunted look in his eyes.

            When Lana asked him to tell her everything, he turned pale. His experience of seeing Eric when she did must have been more haunting and emotional than it was for her. Steve told her himself; he’d seen Eric after it happened. In his pickup truck, an automatic pistol in his hand, the blood, the brains. What was mere hours before, a beautiful man with a wife and three boys, now a corpse in the hills.

            Steve’s brown eyes met Lana’s and took a deep breath. The brief eye contact shared an unspoken gesture that they could trust and help one another. “I’ve been having nightmares Lana. Ever since I saw him. When you went to buy food last night, that was the first time I felt like I could eat. Before that…” he wiped a tear that he blinked and blew out a shaky breath. “I just couldn’t…my job, I…the truth is, I quit the night I found him. I’m no cop anymore. You know the only reason I knew about the cops being called on you is, well you know this town. Nothing gets past anybody.”

            Lana felt her own eyes well up with tears. Steve, next to Veronica, remained a constant in Eric’s life. His best friend was gone. Steve was Eric’s sidekick, now he seemed lost and afraid. It made Lana emotional. She didn’t hold back her tears as she rubbed his back soothingly.

            “You have nothing to be ashamed of Steve. Out of all the things cops see, that had to be the worst thing for you.”

            Steve broke down and leaned into Lana, sobbing uncontrollably. She held him as he cried. The way he was wailing told her that this was the first time he really let himself cry since he found Eric’s body. She said nothing, they just cried together. She half expected Steve to chastise her for having the audacity to spill tears over Eric; but if anyone had a front row seat to how much they meant to one another, how much Eric still meant to her, it was Steve.

            Lana wasn’t sure how much time had passed, could’ve been minutes, hours, she would think an entire day if it wasn’t just her and Steve anymore. But the night was still dark, and the only light available was the lamp next to him. Both their emotions ran their courses, and Steve was ready to talk.

            “I nodded off while you were gone,” Steve chuckled wryly, “like I do, and I was in that place between being asleep and being awake, you know what I’m talking about?”

            Lana nodded, “Yeah I know what you mean.”

            “I swear to God this was real. In my little dream I was having, I looked up and Eric came in. He looked…like himself. That handsome dude I was always envious of. Just waltzed in, and I smiled at him, but he looked distressed as though someone was chasing him or something. He looked at me, held up the pistol he used to kill himself, and he said ‘Steve, help Lana.’ Then he shot himself. I startled awake and this room was freezing. I could see my breath in front of me. What happened with you?”

            Lana felt a chill go down her spine as she listened to Steve’s description. Eric must have showed up after he came to her. “Well…” she cleared her throat. “I was driving on I-70, and that freeway between here and Richfield always gave me the creeps. I was feeling that eeriness as I drove, then my car got cold. I could see my breath too. I felt an ice-cold hand touch me. I turned and there was Eric, looking the way he did when you found him.” Her lip quivered as the tears started back up. It was Steve’s turn to hold her together and he rubbed her back soothingly.

            “It’s okay, you don’t have to say anymore.”

            “Yes, I do. If you can do it, I can do it.”

            “Lana…”

            “He said my name, Steve. It was the first time I’d heard his voice since the day we broke up. He said my name. ‘Lana, help me.’ I slammed on the breaks, and he disappeared. I had to pull myself together. I don’t know how I went through with getting the food and coming back but I did.”

            Steve held her as she cried. He figured she was no processing Eric’s death, and he said something that was both heart-warming and soul-shattering at the same time. “Eric never stopped loving you.”

            Lana doubled as her heart crushed in her chest, “I never…stopped…loving him.”

            “You know why he came to us?”

            “Why?”

            “Because he knew that you and I would find the truth together. I don’t believe Eric took his own life either. It’s bullshit. If Eric was going to take his own life, it would’ve been after you left Red Hills. But he did go on with life Lana, he married Gwen and though you were in his heart, he did give it to Gwen. He worked hard for his family, and if anyone could spot something wrong, it was me, and if you were here, you’d have spotted it too.”

            Somehow this gave Lana a sense of comfort. For one, he validated the gut feeling she had and was going off of. “We have work to do.”

            “That we do girl, where do we start?”

            Lana flashed Steve a mischievous grin, “To find the truth out about Eric in a town of people who dismiss his death as another suicide, we’re going to have to break some laws.”

            Steve arched his brows curiously, “What kind of laws?”

            “You and I are breaking into the morgue tomorrow night.”