In Plain Sight - Part 1

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Kevin couldn't remember when he last worried about money. He paid his February rent with ease, purchased groceries, bought himself a few new shirts and checked his bank account from his phone. "Wow," he said as Aaron tried to peek over at his phone. He wouldn't want anyone to see the five-digit number hanging out in his checking account. After occasionally succeeding in suppressing the crippling guilt, he appreciated the fruits of his investment in Dargle.

"What's so surprising?" Aaron asked since Kevin accidentally interrupted him.

"Oh, it's nothing," he lied. "Sorry I cut you off. What were you saying?"

Aaron continued, "Like I said, shit happens. Lately, there's been a lot of shit, right? After Christopher and everything that happened that night, I'm both always watching my back because, you know, I don't want to be shot or anything – but I also see people trying to avoid me more than ever," he laughed, "Probably because I'm black and there's been a lot of people getting killed lately. Can't say I blame them I guess," he took a drink from his soda. Kevin shrugged. "Have you noticed that people are still pinning this on Ian Avery though?"

Kevin rolled his eyes. It never stopped. Here we go again. "Yeah I noticed."

"The Ian thing happened a year and a half ago in Los Angeles, there's a mass shooting here in South Arbon and people are still finding a way to pin it on him. I mean, I get it. There's a definite link between the rising crime rates happening right after Ian disappeared," Aaron said as Kevin turned to him and listened. At least someone was being halfway rational. "We lost Christopher. He was one of us – but Ian didn't kill him. He wasn't out there on the field that night, I mean, as far as we know. So why are both Robert and Sarah going down their own die-hard routes in trying to find Ian?"

"I don't know, Aaron," Kevin said. It was so refreshing. So nice. So pleasant to hear someone not wanting to put the blame entirely on Ian. On himself. He felt like giving him a hug but restrained himself. "What are they trying to do though? Like, what's Robert and Sarah doing specifically?" He wanted to hear it from someone else – another perspective unobscured by his bias.

"Well Robert's been talking to his frat members and you know how they all have that hive-mind group think sort of thing. After Robert's speech at the memorial, it's not taking much for him to rally a whole bunch of D.O.G.s behind him. I think he's even talking to other schools too. Like he's trying to build some massive bounty or something. I don't know," Aaron explained. A bounty? Great. That's all he needed. "And Sarah, well she's trying to shove her face into the police department and play Blue's Clues. She watches a few episodes of CSI and suddenly she's Sherlock. As far as I know, she got a whole bunch of papers and evidence from the police department all about the Ian Avery case. She's writing some essay or something, doing some heavy research, going above and beyond like she normally tries to do. I think she even scheduled an interview with Ian Avery's parents."

Kevin's eyes darted to Aaron's. "She what?!" It couldn't be true.

His surroundings spun as his little meetup with Sarah at Chronos couldn't come fast enough. He needed to hear it from the source. He needed to know if it were true. Watching the clock made time feel even slower, yet his heart pounded ever faster.

Later on, he found himself there at Chronos waiting for Sarah. He was frantic but did everything he could to keep his composure as he tapped his coffee cup feverishly with his finger. She came through the door as a fake smile spread across his face when he greeted Sarah with a hug. "You seem like you're in a good mood," Sarah commented enthusiastically, "I feel like we both have good news. You go first," she said with a genuine smile.

"Well hey I mean," Kevin raised his eyebrows and shook his head, "the sun is out, we're alive, well and healthy. I feel good and you know what? You look absolutely stunning today if you don't mind me pointing that out," Kevin said hastily without breaking eye contact. It was overbearing. Too much. Sarah blushed immediately though as she shyly looked at her phone – with a picture of the two of them as her background, "and you look cute when you turn red too."

Sarah broke her eye contact and looked out the window smiling nervously, "Wow, Kevin what's gotten into you? Well thank you," she looked back at him, "You look good too. I see you bought a – completely new outfit and you look really good in it too." Damn right I do but that isn't the point.

"Yeah well, sometimes it's good to be a little wild and spontaneous," he said, holding back an impending panic attack. His knees shook back and forth under the table. "So what good news do you have? What are you so excited about? Any plans? Anything new? Anything with the Ian Avery thing? Anything?" He asked quickly.

"Well actually yeah! I'm glad you asked." She took a breath, "I have a lot of evidence copies and statements and all the public domain stuff that the police station gave me but I really wanted that job shadowing opportunity and so get this – I got in contact with Laura and Daniel Avery. Ian Avery's parents. It's really short notice but tomorrow, I'm actually going to be driving out to Los Angeles to interview them and get a few statements straight from the source!"

Kevin looked at her blankly. "Wow!" It was true and he stared in utter disbelief. As if it wasn't even real. "You got in contact with – Ian Avery's parents? How so?"

"It didn't take much. Their information was in the database. I just called them, said who I was and what I was doing, and they agreed. More because I'm a student and not some news person. I guess it's a good thing I'm not in communications or the news, huh!" Sarah said excitedly. "So what do you think? Want to come with me and be my assistant?"

Come with? Kevin couldn't believe her question. To come with her to see Ian Avery's parents face to face. He lost all focus. It was ridiculous and couldn't be done. "I um – I'm not able to go tomorrow. I have some stuff I need to take care of."

"Oh come on, it's Saturday. What do you possibly have to take care of? What about being wild and spontaneous? What could be wilder and more spontaneous than taking a road trip to talk to the parents of a world class criminal?" Sarah pushed.

"I can't do it. I'm sorry. I'm just – I'm not able to. Some personal shit I have to take care of. I mean this is your project, not mine," Kevin stammered. His confidence disappeared. All the money in the world couldn't distract him from the fact that tomorrow, Sarah would be talking to his parents.

"But it will be such a long drive and I really want you with me. Can you please?" She begged with her pretty eyes.

It was Saturday morning and Sarah got into her car, slammed the door and started the engine. She could still see the anger in her eyes from the reflection of her rear-view mirror. Kevin didn't have any personal shit to do, nothing so urgent that he couldn't take a Saturday off, especially since he hadn't done anything remotely productive, ever. Now she would have to make the four-hour drive all by herself. At least at the end of this long and lonely road trip, she would be one step closer to having that job shadowing opportunity. As small as that may have sounded, who else could say they talked to Ian Avery's parents face to face?