I’m still ringing with him the next morning. I can taste him in my mouth, feel his hands on my breasts, his warm breath against my skin. I stretch, alone in bed, and go through everything that happened after we slept together.

We were walking back to the hotel, holding hands and laughing, where Henry suddenly got tense. I could sense it in his shoulders, and when I looked up at him to ask what’s happening, he was already pulling the gun from his waistband. I watched as he pointed it to the side of us, toward the shadows by a group of trees.

Jean stepped out, hands in the air, smile on his face. “Careful there, American cowboy.” His accent was thicker than Claude’s. Henry sighed with relief and handed over the gun.

“Glad it was just you,” he said, which just made Jean laugh.

When we got back to the hotel, Henry kissed me goodnight in the elevator. “Can’t risk letting the guys know,” he said. “I don’t want to make things weird.”

“Sure,” I replied. “I get it.”

But I wish he had come over. I miss him in my bed, which is a stupid and silly thing to feel. I’m a grown woman, not some teenage girl still pining for the handsome boy next door. Henry’s all grown up, too. We’re adults, and we need to act that way.

But god, I want to act like a kid when he’s near me. I feel so light and so free, especially after he confessed why he broke up with me all those years ago. I still think he was an asshole back then, and he could have handled it better, but still… it wasn’t because he just stopped loving me. It was exactly because he loved me.

Well, he didn’t say that in so many words. But it takes a serious amount of sacrifice to do what he did, and part of me is glad. I’m happy I went to Harvard. I could see myself resenting him if I followed him to some other school. I could see us growing apart.

Now though, we get a second shot at this, whatever it may be. I don’t know if that’s what he wants, or if this is just a physical thing. I don’t want to question it, make him run away. Right now, I’m just enjoying it for what it is.

I get up, shower, brush my teeth, and get dressed. I’m down in the lobby, cup of coffee in my hand, before seven in the morning.

I spot Claude sitting in a chair and he nods at me. I smile at him, wondering if I should approach and say hello, but I decide against it. He looks away as soon as I sit, and I figure he’s on duty right now or whatever it is he’s doing.

Truthfully, he and his brother both give me the creeps, though Jean is a little worse. The way he snuck up on us last night… I can’t help but wonder if maybe he saw what Henry and I were doing by that empty fountain. A chill runs down my spine, but I guess it doesn’t matter. They’re on our side, at least that much I’m sure about. If Henry trusts them then so do I.

As I’m sitting there, trying to decide what I’m doing for the day, my phone starts ringing. I look down and it’s from a number I don’t recognize. On a whim, I decide to answer, though it’s probably just some telemarketing robot or whatever calling to tell me that I just won a million dollars if I’ll only just pay them one hundred dollars first.

“Hello?” I say, answering the phone. Instead of the usual pause before a robot starts speaking, a real human’s voice comes at me instantly.

“Is this Vivian?”

I don’t recognize her voice, not at first anyway. “Yes, it is, who’s this?”

“It’s Pat, the old bat you interviewed.”

The voice clicks into place for me. I remember giving Pat my personal number before we left, though I didn’t expect her to call.

“Hi, Pat,” I say. “How are you doing?”

“I’m okay, you know. Backaches, feet ache, knees ache, can’t get around like I used to. And I think I’m losing my eyes, but that’s another problem heaped on top.”

“Sorry to hear about all that,” I say, not sure where this is going.

“Sure, sure. I’m just an old woman rambling on. But there is a reason I called.”

I raise an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“You need people to talk to, am I right?”

I hesitate a second. “You’re right,” I admit. “We’ve been having trouble with people disappearing on us.”

Pat cackles, a throaty laugh that surprises me. “So I hear. You met John and Max, eh?”

I’m even more surprised now. “How do you know them?”

“Told you, been here a long time. This ain’t a large place, you know. I know those boys, two idiots, been friends with each other forever. Don’t let their good ol’ boy routine fool you though, they’re snakes.”

My heart is beating fast. Max had called to say that his friend John was missing, but nothing’s happened since then. Henry tried to call him a few times, but he never answers.

“Is he okay?” I ask her.

“Oh, he’s fine,” she says. “John never ‘disappeared’ or whatever that idiot told you. They were just trying to scare you.”

My jaw practically hits the floor. “You’re kidding me.”

“Not at all,” she says, cackling again. “Those two idiots. Amazed it worked on you guys.”

“We thought… I mean, the Strips…”

“Oh, don’t misunderstand,” she says more seriously. “The Strips did scare them. But they didn’t abduct anyone.”

I take a breath. “So they were scared?”

“Sure, they were. Following orders to pass that scare on along to you guys, too.”

“They did that because of the Strips,” I say, understanding.

“That’s right. Like I said, amazed it worked, but you don’t know this town.”

“You’re right,” I conceded happily. “We don’t know this town at all. But Pat, we really want to. Do you think they’d talk to us now?”

She cackles again. “Not on your life, they’re big babies.” She calms herself and adds, “But I know some folks that will.”

My heart leaps up into my chest. “Really?”

“Really,” she says. “But let me ask you something, Vivian. And don’t you lie to me, girl.”

“Ask me anything,” I say. If this crazy old woman can come through and get us some interviews, I’ll answer just about anything right now.

“Do you actually give a shit about this town?”

I pause, not sure what to say. “Not really,” I blurt out.

There’s a stunned silence on the other end.

“It’s not this town,” I say quickly. “I mean, I care about these people, but this problem… it’s so much bigger than just Sellersville. This place has been devastated by opioids, but I want this story to inform people, maybe save some other town. I don’t think we can save Sellersville.”

I can hear her breathing over the sound of my pulse in my throat. I shouldn’t be so honest, but it’s the truth. I don’t care about Sellersville because I can’t let myself. I can’t save this town. But maybe I can help someplace else.

“Okay,” Pat says finally. “I know you’re right. Hard to hear, but you’re right. It’s too late for us, the dead are already dead. If it might help save someone else’s family, I’ll help you.”

“Thank you,” I say to her, sighing with relief. “Thank you so much.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” she warns. “I can get you the interviews. Cousins and the like. Some of them users, some of them family of users. Hell, some of them are in the Strips.”

That hits me hard. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” she says. “Probably won’t talk, but I’ll try. You sit tight and I’ll get back to you.”

“Thank you, Pat.”

“Okay. Oh, and Vivian? Don’t fuck this up.”

She hangs up the phone, and I can’t help but smile. That old woman may have just saved this story. We might be able to do some actual good now.

“What’s got you in such a good mood?” asks Henry, standing to my left, his head cocked to the side.

I stand up and throw my arms around him, not really thinking. He laughs and hugs me back.

“Whoa there,” he says. “Careful. We can’t get caught, remember?”

I pull back, smiling and a little embarrassed. “I know. I couldn’t help myself.”

“What’s so good?” he asks me.

“I just got a call from that woman Pat we interviewed.”

“What’d she say?”

I grin and sip my coffee. “She’s getting us more interviews. More locals. And maybe someone in the Strips.”

He stares at me for a second before a smile bursts across his face. “You’re fucking joking?”

“Not at all. I just talked to her. She’s calling back when it’s set.”

“Hell fucking yes,” he says, and pulls me against him in a hug.

“What happened to being discreet?”

“Fuck discreet, this is great news.”

I laugh and hug him tight. Finally he releases me and looks me in the eye. “This might be dangerous, you know.”

“Oh, stop with that, okay? We’re doing it.”

He grins at me. “I know we are.”

I grin right back at him, and my heart’s beating so fast I feel heady and light, like I just ran a mile. But it’s a good feeling, because something is finally going our way. We’re going to make this story happen, one way or another. And we’ll do it together.