There hadn’t been one boring minute in the car with Slade. I loved his company, and he seemed to feel the same. This whole thing seemed to be going in a more serious direction fast. Maybe too fast. It was something I wasn’t at all ready for yet. Of course, I reminded myself that I might just have been imagining it. A guy like Slade would have a trainload of girls waiting for him back home. There had never been any discussion of us after this unusual and hastily planned road trip was over. That was probably for the best, but my heart felt heavy at the thought of not seeing Slade afterward.
I took a sip of the cold concoction of banana and date ice cream. It was pure bliss and helped ease the flutter of nerves I’d been experiencing during our last leg of the road trip.It had been easy enough to find the main office for Blue Lagoon Pools near Palm Springs. Our amateur stakeout plan was to sit near the main office and wait for the work trucks to return from the construction site. Then we’d follow Damon back to his place. The one thing we ignorantly hadn’t taken into account was the triple digit temperatures in the California desert in the middle of summer. We’d chased every bit of shade we could. Not an easy task in a stretch of land where the only shade is provided by palm trees and spindly desert shrubs. According to the internet listing for the pool company, the office closed at five. We’d decided to spend an hour in a nearby store that was filled with nuts and dates and air conditioning.
Slade was across the way looking at drinks in a refrigerator. He’d yanked a black cap on over his thick, light brown hair and he was wearing a tight tank shirt that showed his well-inked arms to their best advantage. His appearance could shift from hardcore badass to male model with just a flash of his white smile. Two teenage girls who had walked in with their parents had made no effort to conceal the fact that they were following him around the store.
“Best banana date shake I’ve ever had,” I said enthusiastically. “Of course, it’s also the first I’ve ever had, but I’m sure there can’t be any better ones out there. So I feel pretty confident about my proclamation.”
Slade sucked on his straw and the last few drops vibrated in the cup. He sighed with satisfaction. “Got to say, it really hits the spot. Only now I’m thirsty. I’ll get some waters for the road.” We’d decided to drive back part way tonight and head the rest of the way home tomorrow. I had to be back at work on Wednesday. The road trip was coming to its final, dramatic conclusion. The entire purpose for the trip had been for me to meet up with Damon, to confront him. But I wasn’t completely sure what I wanted to say to him.
I picked out some snacks, and Slade grabbed some water. The television over the counter was on a news channel. A red ribbon rolled across the screen warning of the potential of a flash flood. I glanced out the window of the shop and looked back at the cashier, an older man with a gray goatee and a gold hoop in his ear.
“Flash flood? The sky is solid blue,” I said.
He smiled. “Guess you’re not from around here. Thunder clouds roll in fast, and when you least expect it. And when the rain falls, it comes down in sheets, so be careful out on the road. I’ve seen half-ton trucks get picked up and carried off by the flood waters.”
“We’ll keep an eye out for clouds.” Slade opened his water bottle. “Thanks.”
It was late afternoon, but the sun was scorching hot. I stomped along feeling as if I was walking through tar instead of clear, hot air. “Whoa, feels like Earth got pushed closer to the sun. I don’t think I could survive in the desert.”
“That’s because you’re adapted to living in enchanted forests.”
I looked sideways at him. “That whole fairy thing still has you entertained, doesn’t it?”
“Yep, I’ve got to admit, it does. But only because you are the cutest fucking Tinkerbell in the world.”
“I’m pretty sure the real Tinkerbell might argue that point.”
Slade had finished his first water bottle before we even reached the car. We climbed inside.
He put the key in the ignition but could only hook a finger on the steering wheel. “Fuck, now I know what a pizza feels like when it gets shoved into one of those pizza ovens. I’m surprised the inside of the car isn’t one big melted blob of plastic and vinyl.” He looked at the clock on the car dash. “It’s five o’clock. Guess it’s time to go stake out the pool company.” He looked over at me. “How are you doing, Tink? You ready for this?”
I pressed my arm against my stomach, wishing that I hadn’t downed the entire shake. “To be honest, I’m nervous as hell about this. Damon and I weren’t exactly friends. In fact, it’s safe to say that we hated each other. It put kind of a strain on my relationship with Perris, but she knew he was an asshole.” I reached for his hand. “Having you with me gives me courage though. Thank you for being here. Hopefully, I’ll get a clearer picture of what happened to my sister. I know this sounds crazy, but my intuition keeps telling me there was more to the story.”
Slade leaned over and kissed me quickly. The air conditioner had cooled the car enough for him to be able to touch the steering wheel and stick shift. He pulled out onto the highway.
“Of course, there’s always a chance that Damon won’t even show up at the office.” There was a sliver of hope in my tone for that much simpler outcome.
“Yep, that’s possible.”
After the months I’d spent trying to figure out where the jerk had disappeared to and then chasing down his brother to the far-out edge of insanity where I’d pulled a fake gun on him, I was feeling less than confident. I’d played and replayed the scenario where I faced Damon and asked him how the hell this had happened. But now I had images of myself asking politely for her things, grabbing the box and skulking out the door.
Slade pulled up in front of the window installation business next to the pool company. “I’ll have to keep the car running, otherwise we’ll be cooked alive. I’ve got to say, I’ve grown a newfound respect for stalkers. This shit isn’t easy.”
The first work truck pulled into the lot in front of the pool office. Several men climbed out. “None of those guys are him,” I said.
A few minutes later, another truck pulled in. My heart sped up as I immediately recognized Damon’s face in the front passenger seat.
Slade sensed my silent reaction. He watched as the men climbed out of the truck. “Let me guess, the tall guy with the black ponytail?”
I nodded and pressed my arm against my stomach again. “Really wish I hadn’t drank that shake.”
Slade reached over and took hold of my chin. He turned my face toward him. “If you want, we can turn this car around right now and head out of town. Aside from the incident with my buddy Bradley’s elbow, I’ve had a fucking blast on this trip. Either way, it makes no difference to me. But, Britton, if this is going to keep eating at you, then you should face this guy.”
We looked through the front windshield. Damon was climbing into a jeep. I’d forgotten the arrogant way he’d always carried himself, a posture that always let anyone around him know that he was a complete asshole.
Slade picked up on it right away. “That guy looks like he should have douchebag tattooed across his back.”
“You, Mr. Stone, have an incredible sense of intuition when it comes to judging people. Except when it comes to me. If you’d realized, earlier on, just what a basket case I was, then we wouldn’t be sitting here sweltering on the desert highway.”
“No, it didn’t take me too long to know you were a little off balance.” He put the car in gear and looked at me before pulling away from the curb. “Or did you forget our first meeting?”
“I didn’t forget, and again, I can’t figure out why you didn’t run the opposite direction.”
Not wanting to draw attention to ourselves, we fell in behind a car that was traveling behind Damon’s jeep. “Let’s just say, I like a little intrigue, and you seemed to co
me with a good dose of it. Then there was that first night in the cheap motel. Another big incentive. I know it makes me sound like a shallow, sex-craved asshole, but I’ve always been known as the blunt Stone brother.” He turned the corner that Damon’s jeep had disappeared around. “You know, Britton, I really haven’t stopped thinking about you since that first night. And I don’t say that to too many people.”
There it was again, that tiny window into his heart and mind, where it seemed that I wasn’t imagining that we were heading toward something more than an impulsive road trip. “I feel the same way, Slade. My life’s been kind of upside down and complicated lately, but this trip with you has made me forget the crap following me around.”
“That’s one of the reasons we’re here, right? To turn stuff right side up for you?”
I smiled weakly. “Yep, that’s why we’re here.” Inside, I was berating myself for not being completely honest with him, but I was sure one more layer of problems would send him off for good.
Damon had pulled onto the off-ramp, and we were heading into a neighborhood. “Looks like we might be getting close,” Slade said.
Another round of stomach flutters gripped me. “Now that we’re on small streets, has he noticed us? This was my sister’s car, after all.”
“I don’t see him looking in his rearview, and I’m staying far enough back, I think. Never really done this before. Besides, he’s probably not expecting anyone to follow him.” Slade was wearing his usual confident smile, and he looked completely at ease. I, on the other hand, felt stiff as a concrete statue afraid that if I moved or let myself think too much about the whole thing, I’d crumble into a pile of cement dust.
“Tell me, does anything ever make you nervous?” I asked.
“Hmm, let me think.” He seemed to be contemplating the question. He turned to me. “To be honest—” He moved his finger back and forth between us. “This kind of makes me nervous. Not following Damon home, but you and me. Not completely sure what’s happening here, and when I’m not completely sure, I get a little uneasy.”
“Guess I’m wondering about this too.”
His attention turned ahead again. “Here we go. Looks like the eagle has landed or in his case the eagle crap has landed. He’s parking in a driveway.”
Slade pulled over to a curb four houses away. It was a neighborhood of small, matching homes built in the adobe style of square walls with a flat roof. Damon stopped the jeep in front of a shabby, tan-colored house that had a sandy front yard with several cactuses and not much more. There weren’t any other cars in the driveway.
“It looks like he’ll be the only person home,” Slade said. “Unless he has a carless roommate.” The confident set of his shoulders and his relaxed expression helped alleviate some of my anxiety. “Do you know what you’re going to say?”
I chuckled nervously. “Not a friggin’ clue. I’ll probably start with ‘I’m here to pick up Perris’s things’.”
“Sounds like a good place to start. You ready?”
“Uh huh. Let’s just do this before I lose my nerve.” We stepped out and both immediately felt the static electricity in the air. In the distance, a towering gray cloud formation was pressed into the deep blue sky, unmoving and daunting, as if it was just watching and waiting to pour its contents onto an unsuspecting desert.
“Whoa, I guess that’s one of those thunderstorms the date guy warned us about,” Slade said.
“It looks like it’s not moving at all, so maybe we’ll be done here before it rolls through.” Slade caught the waver in my voice. He reached for my hand but didn’t say anything. It was the second time he’d taken my hand into his strong, confident grasp, and it was something I could easily get used to.
We reached the stone path leading to the weatherworn front door. I took a deep breath. “Here goes.”
We climbed the two steps to the front stoop. A familiar clamor came through the open window. Damon was walking around tapping out beats with his drumsticks. Perris used to complain that he’d even bang out a tune on the shower tile. It annoyed her, but she never said anything because according to her, ‘drumming was his thing’.
Slade shot me questioning glance.
“Damon is a drummer, and he’s got drumsticks glued to his hands,” I explained. I took a deep breath and knocked.
“Hey, babe, did you forget your key?” Damon called as he stopped tapping his sticks long enough to cross the room to the door. He yanked it open. For a brief moment, his face blanched and his mouth dropped open as if he was looking at a ghost. In a way, he was.
He released the breath he’d been holding. “Shit, Brit, it’s you. For a second—”
“For a second you thought I was Perris? Yeah, I get that a lot, only Perris doesn’t show up to any doors anymore.” I’d been nervous up to the second he opened the door and nearly wet himself at the sight of me. It reminded me what a weasel he was and how much I disliked him. My fury at him came right back.
He’d grown a flimsy excuse for a beard, which only served to make him look meaner. I’d always disliked his sneering smile too, and it crossed his face in one ugly grin as he shook his head. “What the fuck do you want? And what’s with the little boy haircut?” He looked for the first time at Slade, and I wasn’t imagining a tiny twitch of nerves in his cheek. “Who the hell is this?”
Slade looked at him with a hard expression that made Damon take a small step back. “As far as you’re concerned, I’m her guardian fucking angel.”
I knew Damon well enough to know that he was sizing Slade up to see if he could take him. It seemed he came to a fairly quick conclusion that there was no damn way.
I stepped forward. “I came here to get Perris’s stuff, and I think I deserve some questions answered. Unless you’ve got something to hide.”
“I don’t have a damn thing to hide. Already made my statement to the cops.” He looked anxiously at Slade.
Slade held up his hands. “Just here to make sure she’s all right.”
Damon relented and opened the door wider for us to come in. I knew right away that he wasn’t living alone, and it was obvious from the curtains, pillows and throw on the couch that his housemate was a woman. And after hearing his question before opening the door, I could only assume he was living with a girlfriend.
Damon’s metallic blue drum set sat in the corner of the cramped front room. Perris’s shiny silver lamp with the modern lampshade sat on the end table next to the couch. I’d been out shopping with her when she’d bought it. It had been one of those awesome, easy days where we laughed, and shopped and feasted on corn dogs and lemonade.
Damon hadn’t taken his distrustful gaze off Slade. “Wait, you’re that tattooed punk that came after my brother and his friends at the bar.”
“They were tossing Britton around, so I stepped in. But maybe those are the kinds of uneven fights your brother and his friends like to pick. You know, three guys against one small woman.”
Damon picked up his drumsticks like a little kid with his favorite blanket or toy. In this case, he seemed to think he had some protection against Slade with his thin, battered sticks because he lifted his chin defiantly and his mean sneer reappeared.
“Guess they gave it to you good,” Damon continued. At this point he was far more focused on Slade than on me. “Heard they put you in the hospital.”
“Yep, three guys with a knife against one unarmed man. Like I said, they like uneven fights.”
Damon leaned against the counter that separated the kitchen from the front room. He glanced my direction, and I could tell it was still disconcerting for him to be looking at my face, at my sister’s face. “Hate to tell you, but I tossed the box of Perris’s things. I didn’t have room for them, and they were making Becky uncomfortable.”
It felt like a face slap, and I blinked to keep
back tears. “I told you I wanted that stuff. That’s, of course, why you dumped it. Because you’re an asshole, and you’ve always been an asshole. And who the hell is Becky? You moved on fast.”
His laugh was as cruel as his sneer. “Moved on? Fuck, I was dating Becky when I was still living with Perris. That’s why she’d been hitting the drugs extra hard. I’d told her I was leaving her and her sorry, wasted-junkie ass. But I didn’t know she’d OD. I knew she was nuts, but I never thought she’d off herself.”
I gritted my teeth in rage as he spoke. Slade hadn’t moved a muscle, but I could sense a heated tension radiating off of him. Something I’d never felt from him before.
I pulled in a shuddering breath. “In other words, you broke it off with her, and you knew she was depressed about it.”
He shrugged. “She had a big meltdown, and I knew she was upset. But her death wasn’t my fault, and the cops know that I wasn’t at home. So, I guess I’ve got nothing more to say.” He started tapping the drumsticks on the stool in front of the counter.
I took a step toward him, but Slade put out his arm to stop me. He shook his head so slightly that I might have been just imagining it. He didn’t turn to face me but kept an unflinching gaze on Damon.
“So, you weren’t around when Perris died?” Slade asked suddenly.
Damon shot him a cold glare. “Just said I wasn’t at home, so you can shut down your interrogation now, asshole. You know all that ink doesn’t make you any tougher.”
Slade kept his cool. I, on the other hand, wanted to pound my fists into Damon’s obnoxious face.
Slade looked at me. “Britton, play your sister’s voicemail.”
I stared at him, not completely sure I’d heard or understood his request.
“Let him hear it,” Slade said with an encouraging look. I had no idea what he was up to but all I really wanted was to get the hell out of there.