Adina sat on the black marble headstone. She leaned her elbows on her knees and stared at the pile of red roses strewn about on that mound of earth. They’d shrivelled and rotted. Clumps of mud were dangerously close to staining the white leather of her runners. An ominous wind whispered her secret as it rustled the leaves of those soaring maples that had assembled. Dravan was gone, and she felt nothing.
Adina looked up, startled, as she watched a large crow fly overhead and into the distance; perhaps to escape the rain which had begun to fall again. It would have been a refreshing summer shower she might have welcomed — in another time. She never noticed the approaching footsteps until they were upon her.
“Enjoying the rain?” Detective McCloud’s voice boomed between the fat water droplets that pattered against the gravestones
“Yes… I mean, no. I’m leaving for New Hampshire tomorrow to visit my sister. I was saying goodbye to him,” Adina stammered.
Detective McCloud opened his umbrella and welcomed Adina with a quick wave of his wrist; she obliged and huddled under the canopy he’d provided. She was sheltered from the rain, yet felt uncomfortable as he spoke.
“It’s such an absolute coincidence that Dravan fell off that cliff where he did. That trail you were jogging on has very few danger spots; he tumbled in the only prohibited area. It was marked and blocked off by warning signs everywhere. You guys didn’t see them as you ran?”
This question had become repetitive and now began to irritate Adina.
“He was ahead of me, I’ve told you already.”
“Yes, you have. What I can’t figure out is how an experienced runner like Dravan could have slipped from such an obviously dangerous path.”
“I warned him not to go, but he wouldn’t listen. He was stubborn.”
Detective McCloud paused, looked at Adina and slowly nodded. “Walk you back to your car?”
They walked. The detective spoke again.
“I’ll need your address in case anything else comes up.”
“Sure, but you could have called me. Why are you here?”
“That’s a very good question. The autopsy revealed something interesting. Dravan died from his fall, but he was also high as a kite. Did you see him take any pills that day, Rohypnol? Ecstasy perhaps?”
“I don’t know if he took drugs. He never told me, and I never noticed, and it’s too late to ask him, isn’t it?” She’d reached her car and drew the keys out of her pocket, then impatiently waited for the detective’s reply, while holding the door handle.
“That’s true. We might never know, will we?”
Adina nodded, then slipped into her seat, closed the door and listened to the calming pitter-patter of raindrops as they tapped on her roof. She watched as that detective slowly drove away, hoping she’d never see him again. Then rested her forehead against the steering wheel, precisely as she’d done two weeks ago — in her driveway.
The memory of those moments flashed in her head almost as if they had just occurred. Adina tightened her eyes shut and recalled exactly what had happened after that.
A sharp rap of knuckles against glass had startled her. It was Dravan. He barked at her in his usual belligerent tone.
“Hey, Adina, the rain stopped. Are you going for a fucking run or not? Otherwise, I’m leaving without you.”
“Uhm… Yes, of course. I’ll get our water bottles from the fridge. Why don’t we try that park by the seashore? It’s got some impressive views to jog along,” Adina replied, while stepping out of her car.
The first time Dravan had beaten her, Adina had tried to reason with him. The second time, she tried to hide from him. The third time, she promised herself she’d find a way to escape his venom. She had planned this day for eighteen months. Adina trembled nervously as she walked into the house and towards the fridge. She reached for Dravan’s water bottle and placed his toxic cocktail firmly in his hands.
Adina had memorized the cliffside jogging route and knew freedom would finally be hers. She was absolutely certain of that.