Raven's Rest by Stephen Osborne Read Free Book Online Page B

instead.”
    “Maybe the ghosts changed his mind,” I said, only half joking.
    Lonnie nodded. “Maybe. Anyway, look at this.” He turned a leaf, and there was a Polaroid shot of Coleman Hollis and another young man. Coleman was sitting on a porch swing at the front of the house, and the other person was standing next to him. The colors had faded somewhat over time, but Coleman’s blond hair was just as I had seen it in my vision, or whatever I’d had. He was wearing flared jeans, a white shirt, and had a beaded necklace around his neck. It appeared that the photographer had asked Coleman to smile and he’d done his best, but it was a sad smile.
    My eye was drawn, though, to his companion. The young man standing was tall and thin and wore black-framed glasses. He had long brown hair that swooped over his right eye and a very serious expression.
    More to the point, though, he could have been my twin.
    “This is him,” I said. “This is the other guy I saw.”
    “Look at the back of the picture,” Lonnie told me.
    The Polaroid was affixed to the album by notches on opposite corners. All I had to do was pluck it out. I did so and turned the picture over. There, in a faded scrawl, were the words Coleman and Bryan Finn, 1983 .
    I felt a chill across the back of my neck as I read the names aloud. “Do you know anything about this Bryan Finn?” I asked.
    Lonnie shook his head. “Not a thing. Looks familiar, though, don’t he?”
    “He could be a relative.”
    “Fuck that,” Lonnie said, and then his gaze darted around to make sure no one overheard his cursing. Apparently it was okay that I did. “I got a cousin, and he don’t look like me. That’s you, to a T . Okay, the glasses are different, but otherwise, it could be you.”
    “Except I wasn’t born yet.”
    “Yeah,” Lonnie replied, nodding sagely. “I wonder if this Bryan Finn is still alive.”
    “Looks like he was in his early twenties there. He’d only be, what, in his early fifties now. Do you know of any Finns in Banning?”
    “Nope. And when I saw this picture, I asked Ma. She didn’t either, and she knows most people in town. She said there was a Finn family years ago, an older couple, but they moved away.”
    “I wonder how I could find out more about this Bryan Finn. Does the local library keep old newspaper archives?”
    Lonnie shrugged. “Beats me. Never been to the library here. You could try it, though.”
    The front door opened just then, and a woman entered. I found it hard to gauge her age. My first impression was forty, maybe forty-five, but I amended that when I saw the lines on her face and the crow’s feet around her eyes and added five more years to my guess. She walked with an air of authority, and I wasn’t surprised to see that under her green jacket she wore a sheriff’s uniform. She strode in and nodded to Lonnie.
    “Your mom in?” she asked.
    “She’s in the dining room.”
    The sheriff seemed to notice me for the first time. She arched an eyebrow and approached with an outstretched hand. “And you must be Michael Cook.”
    She had a firm handshake, I’d give her that. “I’m not sure it’s a good thing when the town’s law enforcement knows about you when you’ve only been in town a few days,” I said.
    Laughing, she explained, “I’m friends with Gloria Ramsey. She’s told me all about you.”
    Was there that much to tell? I wondered just what my new boss had been saying. Lonnie provided the introductions. “Mr. Cook, this is Deputy Sheriff Erin Hughes.”
    “Pleased to meet you,” I said.
    “Gloria tells me you’re looking for a permanent place to live here in Banning,” Hughes said. “Have you checked out the Lincoln Apartments on Fourth Street? They’re pretty nice, and the rates are good.”
    “I haven’t yet, no, but they’re on my list.”
    “Deputy Hughes’s brother owns them,” Lonnie informed me, “so she might be a tad prejudiced in their favor.”
    The deputy grinned.