"You remember how it happened?"
There was a faint suggestion of a smile on her face. "It wasn't that long ago."
"Long enough. Do you remember?"
"It was winter—"
"Yes. January."
"Right after my birthday...and it was snowing." Slowly she traced the name with a few fingers. The stone felt like sandpaper.
"Yes. It was snowing and the city looked so peaceful. Quiet, you know how it gets when there is a lot of snow. Muffled. No one was out."
"Except us." The air was cool. He shivered. And took another sip of the half-empty bottle he was cradling in the crook of his arm.
"And the bar was practically empty."
"Good thing, cause we were making fools of ourselves."
She smiled, there was no question about it this time. "Hey, speak for yourself," she said, then elbowed him. Still smiling, to show it was a joke. Just a joke.
"Okay, fine. Me and Jack were making fools of ourselves. Lots of money to spend after winning that poker game."
"Racetrack was so angry..."
"He's a sore loser." Silence for a few minutes after that. A few long minutes where she traced the name again, and he kept drinking. She wass counting the sips and reached for the bottle. "When we finally came out it had stopped snowing–"
"–and you could see the stars. But no moon. Thank God."
"Right. So it was still dark."
She wiped her whiskey-soaked lips with the back of her hand. "And we looked at each other, and we knew."
"Yeah. That that was the night. Things had fallen right into place, without us lifting a finger."
"It was perfect," she sighed, her eyes drifting to the sky that was above them now. Clouded over with grey-purple clouds. No moon.
"Yeah. Perfect. He even got us lost..." He lay back, settling his head on her thigh. Her fingers fell into his hair, winding themselves around and around. An old habit.
"Down by the docks. Where the snow had been piled up..."
"And it was easy to hide him after it was all done."
She kissed his forehead. "You were so brave. So brave."
He seemed to not hear her. His eyes were on the stone. "They didn't find him until March."
"And by then, you were already leader." Her fingers tightened in his curls. "And everybody loved you. And they love you still."
"But what about David? He always suspected..."
"David won't be a problem."
He shifted some to look her in the face, eyes full of questions. "No?"
But she didn't catch his gaze. Her dark eyes were on the stone instead. "No. It's almost winter."