“Argh!” I scream into my pillow. “Murder? Murder!” Huge gasping breaths go into my lungs and my body is shaking so badly that I think I might have a stroke. The FBI is involved in this. Craig was right. He knew all along. Now, things are going to get insane. Did he really murder someone? Why didn’t any of us know? I guess that was before we met him…

It takes over twelve hours before I hear anything from anyone. The phone rings and it’s an unidentified line. Craig. I answer. “What do you want?” I ask him. “I guess you didn’t take your life, did you?”

“How’d you know it was me?” he asks.

“Are you really shocked?” I say, trying not to scream. “Who else calls me?”

“Your daddy, Marshall,” he laughs.

“Go fuck yourself. I know where you’re hiding. I’m about to head right over to the feds and tell them,” I lie. “You deserve to get caught. You deserve the harshest sentence possible. You lied to us. You convinced us that life would be easier after this. You’re just another con man.”

“Back the fuck up,” he says. “The feds? They’re involved now? I knew it.”

“Yeah, congratulations. You guessed right. I guess you knew because of the murder you committed six years ago, right?” I ask. “I guess you really had to get out of the country. You had to convince a couple of innocent people like us that you wanted to help, that you were a justice warrior.”

“Who told you that? Marshall? Are you with them now?” he asks.

“Maybe I am. If so, you’re done for,” I say, out of breath and ready for a fight. “It’s all so clear now. You used both of us so you could find safe harbor elsewhere.”

“I guess you have me all found out,” he chuckles. “Frankly, I figured you would have figured it out a long time ago. I was kind of freaking out when you first talked to Marshall. I thought you pegged me right then and there. Turns out, you’re not as smart as I thought.”

“Spare the mad-genius speech.” I roll my eyes. “I know where you are.”

“Where am I?” he laughs. “You don’t know shit.”

“I’m not an idiot. Remember that time we got shit-faced at your place? Remember?” I ask him.

“I remember falling asleep. That’s about it,” he says. “What does that have to do with anything.”

“You showed me that picture. You told me about the hole,” I say. “The ditch out by the swamps. I saw the small cabin you built. You promised to take me there, right before you tried to kiss me and I denied your ass.”

“Stop talking,” he says. “Don’t say anything more. They could be listening.”

“Yeah they could,” I laugh. “Where was it again? By which freeway? Near Louisiana, right?”

“Shut the hell up!” he screams. I’ve cut a nerve. Of course he went there. It’s just so obvious. Even if they haven’t found him yet, they will soon enough. It’s not hidden enough. Cars drive by there all the time and the locals over there know every nook and cranny.

“I’m going fucking crazy,” he says, after breathing heavy. “I don’t know what to do. But whatever it is, I know these are my last days being free.”

“You’ll get out eventually,” I tell him. “You won’t be in there for life.”

“I killed someone, dammit. I killed him,” he starts to break down again, just like yesterday.

“Who?” I ask him. “Tell me.”

“I was young. Just really young and angry. I don’t know why I did it. I was drunk,” he says. “I was coming home from a party and so was this kid who had been talking to my girlfriend all night. I was wasted, Virginia. I wasn’t in control. He looked at me and smiled when we stopped at the same light. I didn’t smile back. I felt like he was taunting me.”

“Was he?” I ask him.

“I don’t know. All I know is that when he did it again, something went off in me. It was like a quick switch. Everything went hot black. I grabbed my pistol and pointed it at him. My window was down. I could feel the cold breeze reaching in the car, begging me to do it. I pressed the trigger down. His face… I saw his face turn, like he was going to vomit. It was like he was looking at the devil himself,” he says, crying. “You’d be surprised how easy it is to pull a trigger. I had shot a gun once and it seemed much harder. But that night, it was really easy. It went off and the gun fell on my lap, hot and smoking. I glanced up and he still had that same look on his face. Only this time, he was slumped over. I sped off and no one said anything about it to me. No one. Not until… you.”

A chill runs up my spine. For the first time, I feel really scared of the guy. I’ve never cared much for morality, but there’s a huge line you can cross. Anyone can tell you there are circumstances that surround any situation. Craig, however, has something dark in him. It’s a shade of dark I never want to cross.

“So you’re going to talk?” he asks me. I choke. “I figured you would.”

“I don’t know,” I admit. “I just don’t want to be involved in this. I want my time back, the time before I agreed to any of this.”

“I never meant to use you,” he says. “But I needed to escape this hellhole and you were my ticket out of here. Anyway, it’s almost over now. Soon, we’ll all have a little closure.”

He hangs up the phone before I can even respond. “Fuck!” I hiss, stomping my heel against the ground.

I have to turn him in. I’m not the same person I used to be. I can’t just sit by and let him leave the country. He could hurt others. He killed someone out of sheer anger. I’ve never met anybody who’s done anything like that before. Marshall, a cop, hasn’t even killed a man.

Today is a day of thought. When Marshall calls, I don’t answer. Everything is hanging on a thin line and I have no idea what they’re planning over there, or what the FBI knows. Everything I do or say can be used in a court of law, right? The best bet for me right now is to watch my tongue and form a plan. I’m going to turn Craig in. After that, I might have to turn myself in.