Eli Elson kept writing.
He had been in the police station since this morning. He’d gone from interrogation room to interrogation room, with a few stops at various desks to tell officers the same information over and over again. He was without a computer, but he had managed to get his hands on a lot of paper, and a decent pen. He was scrawling everything that was happening, everything he was feeling, and how the Sioux Falls Police Department was going to be a frequent target of his news blog. He glanced up at a clock, realizing his Twitter account hadn’t been updated in almost ten hours. He heard a door open, and he quickly started massing his many sheets of paper together. He looked up again and saw Captain Hale walking over. He dropped a Z’kota bag in front of Eli as Eli kept gathering his papers. “Relax…I’m not taking your notes” Hale said as he sat down. Eli looked up and at the Z’kota bag.
“What is this, good cop, bad cop?”
“That depends on if you’re hungry or watching your figure.”
Eli chuckled. “What’s in the bag?”
“Bacon double cheeseburger, with waffle fries and a few packets of ketchup and mayo.”
Eli sat his pen and papers down, and cautiously opened the bag. “I’ll be damned. It’s like you read my mind.”
“More like your blog. At least three different entries talk about this being your guilty pleasure, and how Z’kota is your favorite burger joint. I’d have to agree to an extent.”
“You…you read my blog?”
“Well, just today, but my daughter filled me in on where to find it. Now, why don’t you finally eat something and then we can talk about who brought you here, and how we can maybe fill in some blank spots on our end about Phil and Bob.”
***
Phil’s life was flashing before his eyes. At least, his life with Michelle.
He remembered going out to meet up with an old girlfriend who never made it, and somehow winding up sitting at a table with another old college friend. Michelle was a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend, but they wound up sitting by each other. Phil could still remember the way Michelle offered up some of her fries that night. He thought about their first “date” which consisted of ordering pizza and watching a marathon of “Family Guy” on Cartoon Network. Their first kiss was that night, and Phil could almost feel her lips and taste her strawberry lip gloss for a flickering moment. They were inseparable for those early days, and soon moved in together. He thought back to the three hours he spent at Riddles looking for the perfect ring, and the look on her face that told him it was three hours well spent. Happiness was finally with him…
…then it left. He now saw signs that there was trouble, or maybe he was rationalizing that night he came home to a half empty apartment. He read the note she had left, and he cried all night long. The pain was so unbareable to him then, and now he was starting to feel it over again as she started to stand up.
“Michelle, just hang on” Bob said, snapping Phil all the way back to the here and now.
