Runaway by Delaney Knight (i read book .TXT) 📕

“Clayton Smith is here for questioning.”

“Bring him in.”

Clay was unwillingly ushered in. He ran his fingers through his mess of sandy brown hair and sat down across from Officer Lee, a small slender man with no shape of face and worn down hands. Clay’s chiseled jaw tightened and he looked down at the ring that wrapped around the index finger on his right hand. He attempted to show his discomfort of the shuddering light but neither of the officers attempted to remedy the situation. He looked back to the ring.

“Mister Smith, I understand you were close with Bethany Wilkes, correct?” Clay nodded, still not giving Officer Lee the satisfaction of eye contact. “How long had you known her?”

“She wouldn’t like you calling her Bethany.” He failed to mention her preferred nickname: Beth.

“That is not the question I asked, Mister Smith. How long had you known Bethany Wilkes?”  Clay licked his lips and, for the first time, looked into Officer Lee’s eyes.

“Since she moved here to Montague Falls when we were six, we’ve been best friends.” Officer Lee leaned forward onto his forearms.

“But recently you two had a falling out, correct?” Clay’s jaw gripped onto his words.

“That’s one way to put it.” He managed to spit out of his anger.

“What happened, exactly?” Officer Lee asked patiently.

“That’s none of your business.” The words came out as knives.

“Well, considering a young, woman disappeared two weeks ago and you were the closest one to her, I believe it is my business.” The officer cocked his head and looked to the young man for a rebuttal.

“I couldn't give her what she wanted.”

“But you did love Bethany.” It was more of a question of Clay’s opinion than a statement.

“That’s correct.”

“Does the name Austin Wilkes sound familiar?"

“Yeah. He's her father. The man was usually too drunk to speak and he was always beating up Beth and her mother. Why?"

"He claims that you were responsible for Bethany's disappearance. Is that true?”

“That doesn’t surprise me. He’s always hated me.”

“Are you or are you not involved in the disappearance of Bethany Wilkes?” Clay spread his palms across the table, letting the cold metal soothe his mind. 

“Of course I wasn’t. I love Beth. I would never harm her. Do you understand, Officer?” A splatter of mockery covered his tone.

“Indeed I do. Please calm down, Mister Smith.” Officer Lee’s face remained free of emotion’s chain. Clay’s hands relaxed and curled back into their original folding.

“We believe that Bethany ran away. Do you have any idea why that might be, Clayton?” Clay flinched at his own name and shook his head slowly.

“A bag and multiple sets of clothes and her favorite books are missing from her dresser. Her friend said she also took some canned food.” Clay twisted his ring on his finger. Back and forth, back and forth. Officer Lee watched him intently. “Do you have any idea why she might’ve run away, Mister Smith?” The young man looked to ponder this for a moment then nodded. “And why might that be?”

Clay swallowed the lump of guilt that rose in his throat.

“Because I lied to her.”

A six-year-old Clay waddled across the yard to their fence, peering through the slats that his father had built by hand. A boxy moving truck had backed its way into the driveway next door and Clay was curious. He liked new people. Not to meet them, just to watch. He thought they were interesting; he liked to memorize their quirks and voices. He had a knack for it. 

The passenger side door opened and a woman popped out with a young brunette girl pressed to her hip. Clay gawked at the girl, who’d seemed to take notice in the colors of the leaves.

“Go find something to do Beth, Mommy and Daddy are going to unpack.” The woman slid the girl down her side to the ground with a thump. Instead of running and frolicking like most children, Bethany bent down and picked up a crimson red leaf. Then a yellow, a brown and an orange. She seemed to take such happiness in the leaves last dying wish of color.

“Why are the leaves all different colors?” She asked aloud to the wind.

“Because it’s autumn. All the leaves die in autumn.” Bethany twisted her head around to look at Clay, and it was then he realized she had blue eyes.

“Why?” Clay had been so lost off in another thought that he’d forgotten what he’d said.

“What?”

“Why do they die?” Clay didn’t have the slightest idea why they died. He just knew that was the way things were; like how you weren’t supposed to talk to strangers or talk back to mom. He wracked his brain for a viable answer, but a load of jumbles was all he got.

“I don’t know. They just do.”

“I’m going to live forever, like my mommy.” She jabbed her finger over her shoulder and motioned towards the woman unloading boxes whilst a man leaned against the truck with a cigarette jutting out of his mouth.

“Who’s the man?” Bethany’s eyes saddened.

“That’s my daddy. We can’t make him mad.” She whispered, her happy tone meshing with fear.

“Why not?”

“Just ‘cause.” She looked at her yellow rain boots. “I’m sorry. I’m not supposed to tell.”

Clay leaned onto the fence that separated them. Beth was now just on the other side; if Clay reached out, he could probably touch her blue plastic raincoat.

“I can keep a secret.” Beth quaked her head stubbornly.  She was quiet for a moment, and then she smiled at Clay.

“My name is Beth. What’s yours?”

“Mine’s Clay.” Beth tugged the collar of her raincoat up shyly.

“You mean like the mud?”

“No silly. Clay like Clayton. I’m named after my uncle.” He spoke matter-of-factly. Beth nodded in understanding. Neither of the two had noticed Beth’s mother trudging through the leaves towards them until she called.

“Hi Baby Doll, who’s your friend?” She picked up Bethany and pointed at Clay. The woman was very pretty, with long blonde hair and blue eye that mimicked Beth’s.

“This is Clay. Clay like Clayton.” She smiled.

“It’s nice to meet you Clay, I’m Marcie.” A blush bloomed against Clay’s cheeks.

“Hi Marcie.”  All was quiet for a few seconds except the murmur of the wind in the trees.

“Well, we have to go unpack. It was nice meeting you!” Marcie slugged back towards the house.

“Bye Clay!” Beth's voice rang out. Clay smiled, a warmth oozing in his heart.

“Goodbye!” He watched as she faded off into the fog that had rolled down.

“What did you say to make her run off?” Clay sighed and shrugged sarcastically.

“I just lied to her and got her best friend pregnant. Nothing drastic.” Officer Lee grunted.

“What did you say to her to cause her to run away Mister Smith?” The silence was shattered as the lingering officer in the corner coughed.

“I did it to protect her.” Clay started after a moment. Officer Lee dropped his last question and his curiosity got the better of him.

“What exactly were you protecting her from?

“Me.”

"That's quite the cliché." The officer in the corner of the room smeared the grin that had formed on her mouth.

"It's the truth. I don't know what else to tell you."

"How about you tell us where she might've run?" Clay sighed and laced his fingers together upon the table, now refusing to look into the officer's eye line.

"Her grandfather used to live in Arizona. Did you check there?" The officer shook his head.

"Well, why not?"

"There's no way she could've gone through four states in such little time."

"Such little time? It's been two weeks; it only takes four hours to drive to Arizona from here! What was the point of even bringing me in if you didn't even check in the basic places? I bet you didn't look in our tree house either!" Officer Lee's eyes widened.

"Tree house? What tree house?" Clay shook his head in disbelief and smiled.

"We built a tree house in the woods when we were about thirteen. We used to sneak out and lay in there, just talking to keep her mind off of everything."

Will you show us this tree house?" Clay examined the officer’s face carefully.

“I suppose.”

The two teens trudged through the maze of pines, curling their fingers in the fuzz in their winter coats. Clay squinted through the sun to look over at her. A smile overcame him.

“Don’t move!” She whipped her camera from underneath her sweater and held it to her eyes. The boy shivered and stared lazily into the lens.

Click. “That’s a good one.” She murmured, fingering the ridges on the side of the lens. Clay leaned onto a tree and ran his fingers through his hair.

“What did you want for Christmas?” His