Free Land of Entrapment by Andi Marquette Page A

Allison?” I glanced over at Melissa.
    “Yes. She’s local.”
    “Do you have her number?”
    “No.”
    “Then e-mail her back from your account and CC
    me. Tell her you need to talk to her about Megan and you’d appreciate it if she’d call you.” I wrote Allison’s account address down on the legal pad.
    Together, we scrolled through Megan’s e-mail from the past month. Almost all of it was junk mail.
    Amazon, Barnes and Noble, UNM student events and news. I clicked on the Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
    Just innocuous updates. Three others from Allison, two from another friend named Bill who was home in California for the summer. Melissa vaguely recalled him. Fifteen from other friends who were just saying they’d see her in the fall. I hoped fervently that they would. I printed out all the personal e-mails.
    “Does Megan have a MySpace page or anything on Facebook?”
    Melissa thought for a bit. “She did say she was going to set up a MySpace page and she was working on some of the graphics for it. She said she’d let me know. I don’t know if she ever finished it.”
    “When did she start?”
    “Toward the end of May, I think.”
    “I’ll check her files and see if I find anything like that. Ask Allison about it. She’d probably know if Megan has a page.”
    Melissa seemed to relax. She looked at me and managed a tired smile. “You should have been a cop.”
    “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
    “I meant it as one.” She stood then. “I already feel better knowing that you’re here.” She said it quietly, without looking at me.
    I logged out of AOL and shut down the various applications. My heart was beating a bit faster than it should have. “I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know what Chris finds out. I’m going to try to see Judy at the ADL, see if she’s heard anything. Let me know what Allison says.” I stood up and ran my fingers through my hair. I tend to do that when I’m nervous and Melissa obviously recognized the gesture.
    “Do you think—that is—”
    I interrupted her. “Yeah. I think maybe we should talk. Just not right now, okay? I don’t think I’m quite ready.”
    She nodded and managed a tight smile. “Are you all right for dinner?” She made it sound like she was just checking on my welfare, like she would do with an acquaintance or a coworker.
    “Fine. Thanks. I’ll call you tomorrow.” I forced an answering smile and watched her leave. As an afterthought, I moved to the door and watched her as she walked to her car, which was just visible from my vantage point. She got in and pulled away from the curb. I felt strangely empty.
    “YOU OKAY, CHICA?” Chris was worried about me. I switched the phone to my right ear and checked my watch. Nearly nine. Melissa had left around seven-thirty and I had gone for a run at eight, appreciating the evening cool, and then did my requisite push-ups and sit-ups. I was just opening Megan’s door when Chris called.
    “Yeah. This thing with Megan has me kinda worried.”
    “And?” Chris’s tone was patient.
    “And yeah, it’s weird being around Melissa.”
    “I thought it might be. You wanna come and stay here?” There was only concern in her voice.
    “No, being at Megan’s isn’t the problem. It’s the—
    ”
    “Past,” Chris said wryly. “So why don’t you talk to her? Get shit out in the open?”
    “What do you mean?” I said cautiously.
    “Come on, Kase. When things ended with her, you pretty much slammed the door.”
    “Well, what the hell else was I supposed to do? I busted her going at it with Hillary.”
    “Hey, I’m not saying what Melissa did wasn’t shitty. But leaving the way you did—I’m saying that maybe you need some closure. For your own sanity if nothing else. Put those ghosts to rest.”
    I didn’t respond. Chris was right, but I didn’t really want to talk about Melissa.
    “Think about it. It’s not healthy to hold on to things like that.” She paused, then continued.