As Emily walked into her aunt's house, she noticed Officer Burns already seated at the dining table nursing a cold mug of beer. She approached the table and took her place quietly, trying to suppress her uneasiness by breathing slowly.

"Hello there Emily," he greeted. Emily responded with a curt nod, fiddling with the placement mat before her. Officer Burns rubbed his temple and cleared his throat. "You alright?"

"I'm good." Emily responded after a short analysis of the statement. She had to be okay, nothing was to bother her. Emily had to be normal for the man.

"Just checking," Officer Burns paused, "we missed you in the evening." Emily dismissed the polite conversation he was pushing with a grunt. Five minutes later, the Mrs. Stuart and Jordan joined them at the table to enjoy their dinner.

Emily constantly poked at her food, waiting for the bile rising in her chest to quell allowing for a bit sized bite of the food in front of her. She passively listened to the conversation between Officer Burns and her aunt. By the look of things, Emily could tell that he had not yet informed Mrs. Stuart of the new police findings. She dreaded the point at which it would become public knowledge that she purposefully sought out a drug dealer, leading to her being intertwined into the same man's murder. Emily shut her eyes and let out a shaky breath. She couldn't stop wondering what would happen to her. They certainly did not execute law offenders as in the olden days much to her disappointment. And how was she supposed to live being a murderer behind bars?

Emily tried to recall the events of that night, her mind wallowing in the what if's of the situation. How if she had gone straight home she wouldn't be in the mess. Maybe if she had brushed her teeth that morning then her day would pan out completely different.

"Anything the matter?" Her aunt's concerned voice cut her train of thoughts. Emily supported her chin with her left hand to look up. She dared a quick glance to Officer Burns' end of the table. The man seemed too preoccupied with the last bits of food on his plate.

Emily's heartbeat faded behind her thoughts. Shook her head "no" and forced a smile. Her lips trembled and she had to bite the sides to prevent a quiver. Without warning, she turned to Officer Burns with a question; "am I going to jail?"

"Why would you go to jail?" Mrs. Stuart queried. Jordan turned to face Emily with the same question written all over his face. Officer Burns shifted in his seat.

"There's no reason for you to go to jail Emily," Officer Burns began, "unless we find something incriminating on you."

"What did you do?" Mrs. Stuart demanded. Emily shrugged. There were so many variations of what had and would transpire yet none of the phrases Emily formulated in her head seemed right. The Jesus clock ticked away in the silence. "Well?" Her aunt pressed, probing the inside of her cheeks with her tongue.

"The police think I killed a man." Emily's voice was timid. It was the first time she was admitting the accusation out aloud.

"Might've," Officer Burns jumped into the conversation. "You just appeared on the suspect list that's all."

"Who?" Jordan queried. His brows rose up comically, as if what he just heard was the most interesting thing rather than scary.

"The man," Emily sighed, "the trailer guy."

"I thought he wanted to kill you." Jordan commented with a frown. According to Jordan's demeanor, the killing wasn't the issue, the 'who?' is what intrigued him.

"I mean," Emily's shoulders slumped. She risked a look at her aunt who remained motionless. "I don't know."

"You don't know if you killed someone?" Emily fully raised her head to look at her aunt. Her face went through a series of reactions, the last being shock that came with the internalization of her aunt's words. Emily wanted to swear that she did not, scream at the top of her lungs that she wasn't capable of something as grievous as murder, but she couldn't. Her lips remained slightly parted, completely at a loss of words.

"I heard trauma victims barely remember much," Jordan jumped to Emily's rescue. "I mean, if I was pursued by a murderer I'd purposefully erase the memory from my brain." Emily wanted to make a joke out of her cousin's words, about how his brain capacity was barely even able to retain any information. She didn't.

"So now what?" Mrs. Stuart turned to Officer Burns, her eyes glistening with defeat. Officer Burns took a moment to align his words. There was nothing he could say that would comfort his girlfriend.

"Just plain old detective stuff," he forced a chuckle, "really not in my domain."

Mrs. Stuart nodded slowly. She turned back to Emily with another question, "did you do it?"

Emily's shoulders stiffened. "Why would you think that?"

"Just to be sure," Mrs. Stuart sighed. "Did you know the man?" Emily scoffed in disbelief. Her mouth opened then closed to the motion of her arms cupping the side of her face. "Well you can't be a suspect and not connected to a crime, now can you?"

"I believe not?" Emily crossed her legs under the table.

"I'm sure it's not a big deal," Jordan tried to diffuse the tension in the room. "I've watched so many crime documentaries." He seemed proud of himself. "Maybe they just decided to pin it all on everyone within a mile radius." Officer Burns' eyebrows rose. "Like in 1989, the rape case?" Officer Burns nodded in understanding.

"Well I'm sure this has nothing to do–"

"With the way she looks?" Jordan pushed.

"Uh yes..." Officer Burns trailed.

"Maybe she was just at the wrong place, at the right time, and in the need to close your stupid case you're trying to pin it all on her."

"No, you got it all wrong." Officer Burns waved his palm across the table with his words. Mrs. Stuart remained quiet, and so did Emily.

"Well explain then!"

"You are aware that your cousin was to meet up with the deceased prior to his death for a drug deal, right?" Officer Burns inadvertently posed. Emily cursed out loud. She wasn't prepared for one of her aunt's heart wrenching lectures about life and any other subject she'd choose to weave in. Emily decided to leave while she still had the chance. As usual, she would deal with the consequences later.

•|•