Cromulent

Chapter Twenty-Five

Landon was leaving.

None of us were particularly shocked. Katherine almost had to hold back an "I told you so." Landon's mom was in the car, knowing not to honk the horn to hurry her son. She knew it would be the last time we would see him for a while.

Katherine took Landon into my living room and sat him in a chair across from her. She asked for privacy, so instead of joining them, I eavesdropped on them from the other side of the wall. "Landon, I have to know something."

"Wh-what's that, Kattie?"

"Could...could you play piano for me when you come back?" she whispered just loud enough that I could hear.

"I...of course, Kat. Of course I will." I heard the chair screech against the hardwood floor. I rushed to the stairs and sat down as to not look suspicious. Landon nervously smiled at me as he scratched his wan arms. "Hey, Avery."

"Landon," I replied with a warm smile.

"I...I'm not gonna lie to you anymore, okay? Not ever," he promised, crossing his heart.

"I know, Landon. I know you won't."

"Not faking it this time, Ave. I promise."

"I know, Landon. I believe you," I swore. I stood and let Landon rest his head on my shoulder.

"When you find out who killed Carson Harris, you let me know, okay?" he whispered into my ear. "We owe it to him. He...he really wanted to make the world a better place. You're gonna get this son of a bitch, okay?"

"I promise, Landon," I replied, echoing the gesture of crossing my heart. Landon ran his hand through his hair as he glanced back towards the car.

"I'll write to you, Avery."

"I expect you to be a well-versed poet by the time you get out of there, Landon," I quipped.

"Oh, you can forget about Shakespeare. I'll be the new thing they learn about in schools, decades from now. Once civilization has ended, and the night cometh, Landon Thompson's works will live on." He proudly lifted his head and saluted the air.

"I'm sure, Landon." I saluted him back and then wrapped my arms around him. "I'm really gonna miss you."

"I mean, who wouldn't?"

"Can't think of a soul who wouldn't miss The Landon Thompson."

"Of course you can't," he scoffed. He hugged me back, letting go when he recalled that his mother was waiting patiently for him. "Bye, Avery Carter. I love you."

"I love you too, Landon." I watched him sulk out of the house, flashing me a sad smile before he softly shut the door.

Katherine joined me on the staircase and heaved. "I...I wanted to ask him more..."

"You were gonna ask him if he killed Carson. Or if he knew who did. Right?"

"Right. You don't believe him that he'll stop lying to you?"

"...Right," I sighed. "So, wanna get back to this case?"

Katherine smiled. "Yeah, sounds like a plan."

Katherine sat opposite of me on my bed. "Okay, so I was thinking that maybe we're going about this all wrong. We've just been following leads that happen to fall in our laps instead of doing actual research. We need to look for why Xander Masefield would want to hurt Carson, who he's connected to, and anyone else that would want Xander dead."

"Like, besides Hunter, Landon, Pierce, Jane, etcetera?"

"Hunter, Landon, Pierce, and Jane didn't want Carson dead. Maybe we're just suspecting them because we want to suspect someone."