Chapter Six

CHAPTER SIX

AARON BOLDUC IS the manager of the Home Depot in Fairhill. It's a good job and he's grateful for it most of the time, but now he sits in his office in the back of the enormous store – so big, with ceilings so high that small birds fly among its rafters – and stares down at the tattered blotter on his desk. Diana Brewer is dead, and he must find someone to take her shift this evening.

The news had come over the radio, which he keeps on low in his office. The story broke around 9:30 a.m. He'd been in his office when he heard that her body had been found in a farmer's field outside Fairhill.

He had sat perfectly still, letting the news break over him.

He liked Diana. Everyone liked Diana. He will have to manage his staff, and their grief, while hiding his own. He wonders if others will now call in ‘sick', unable to work. They were all friends of Diana's. But surely they won't leave him in the lurch?

They don't tell you about this kind of thing in management training. Managing people is difficult. People are difficult. Managing them has not come naturally to him. He does his best, but the problem is, he is too nice, and people take advantage. It is a constant source of stress for him, that if you're too nice, people will shit all over you. They'll come in a couple of minutes late, leaving him to fret that they might not be coming in at all. Diana wasn't like that; she was always in at least five minutes before her shift started. She was always cheerful and obliging and treated him with respect. Most of his employees need a firm hand, but it's not natural to him. He's a pleaser. He wants to be liked. He grew up in a family riven by conflict; he was the middle child, the peacemaker. And it seems sometimes that managing his staff is a lot like managing his family, only there are a lot more of them, and his job is on the line.

Diana's death will upset everyone. He will do his best to help his staff through it. He's good at giving comfort, at being understanding and sympathetic, at trying to make everyone happy. Surely no one will try to challenge his authority at a time of crisis like this?

But who will comfort him ? The truth is, he adored Diana. But he must do his best to hide his grief.

Riley is badly shaken as she leaves the principal's office. Being questioned by the police has unnerved her. She sees Evan waiting on a chair outside the office, his face smeared with tears.

‘Are you okay?' he asks her, standing up.

She shakes her head numbly. But then a police officer appears at the open door and says, ‘Evan Carr, come in please.'

There's no time for them to say anything to each other. She turns away.

Diana has been murdered, her body left in a field. Riley's numb with horror and disbelief. She rushes past the line of students waiting to talk to the officers, to the girls' bathroom located just outside the office, and throws up violently in one of the stalls. Then she remains leaning over the toilet, retching and weeping. She hears one of the secretaries from the office coming in after her and asking if she's all right.

She manages to say, ‘I'm fine. I'm going to go home now.'

The secretary hovers near the closed stall, but Riley refuses to open the door or come out. The woman suggests a quiet room in the nurse's office, if she'd like to go there for the time being. She offers to call her mother. But Riley refuses that, too, and eventually the woman leaves, after telling her that there will be grief counsellors she can talk to, and maybe she should stay.

Riley wants to go home. She wants her mother. Riley has already called her and told her the terrible news; she is coming home from work, she'll be there by now.

The loss is overwhelming. She can't register it. Diana is her best friend. They'd met in third grade, when Riley had moved to Fairhill, and kind, friendly Diana had taken her under her wing. They'd been best friends ever since. They'd grown up together – shared everything from summer camp to clothes. Life will be so empty without her. She can't even imagine it. Diana's mother will be devastated. And Cameron, and Evan. How will any of them survive it?

Finally, she exits the stall and quietly leaves the school. She's thinking about the interview as she crosses the parking lot alone and starts walking home, her head down. The officers asked her a lot of questions, but she was trying to process that Diana is dead. It's all a blur, but now she tries to remember it, to pin some of it down. Principal Kelly had been there, at his desk, watching her with great sympathy.

She told them she was Diana's best friend. That Diana shared everything with her, that if anything was wrong in Diana's life, she's sure she would have known about it: Diana would have told her. Things were good with Cameron. They were in love. She's sure she said that. What else did she tell them? She can't remember.

The last communication she had with Diana was when they were texting last night just before ten. The officers had asked to see her cell phone, and they'd looked at the texts. Diana had texted her that she was going to see Cameron at around ten, that he was coming to the house to pick her up. That was the last Riley had heard from her.

She told them she'd started to worry when Diana hadn't answered her texts that morning – it wasn't like her.

They asked her about other students, who Diana hung out with, what she did in her spare time, where she went. But Riley doesn't think she was much help. She told them she doesn't know anyone who'd want to hurt Diana.

How will she deal with this pain? She can't let Diana go. She will never be ready to let Diana go.

She lets herself into the house and her mother immediately engulfs her in a strong, warm hug. Riley collapses into it. She has never needed her mother as much as she needs her now. But her mother can't make this better. No one can.