Lainey Quilholt Mysteries Collection

Chapter 4-4

“Looks like their party"s over,” Brett commented as we watched the Harleys, one by one, rumble out of the parking lot.

Once their noisy bikes were but a corruption in the night, I said, “I"ll see if my aunt knows of some place. She"s got a friend who is a Realtor.”

“Oh, good. Thanks.”

“How many bedrooms do you need?” I asked.

“Four, maybe five.” He shrugged. “Depends.” He was being evasive, which was fine. Maybe he, himself didn"t know how many of them were going to go in on an apartment. People change their mind at the last second.

In the lot, we stopped next to a white, somewhat rusty and beaten van. On the other side of it was Arline"s red Mustang. Across from it was another convertible with the dealership license plates. I momentarily remembered seeing that car, but couldn"t place where or who had been driving it.

Brett used his fist to bump the side of the van a few times, making a hollow noise, which turned my attention back to him. He chuckled, looking at it. “Our van. What a statement.”

“Your band"s van?” I said, following him around to the back of it. Cigarette smoke wafted on the air. The fog and almost no light made any efforts to see further than fifteen feet impossible, but there was a dark shadow in the shape of a human leaning against the split rail fence across from us. I couldn"t see his face, just his shadowy outline. I wondered who it was. He seemed to be waiting for someone. I got the sense that he wasn"t with any of us.

Unnerved by that presence, I wanted to fill the quiet with our voices, so that the stranger knew I wasn"t alone.

“So, you"re moving here? Why?”

“Closer to college,” he said.

“Talk about coincidence,” I managed. We were beginning to recycle our earlier conversation. Maybe it was a good thing I"d be leaving soon.

“Hey, have you seen Wendy?” Nadine"s voice filtered to my ears, making me pull away from Brett.

Nadine"s shorter frame emerged from the fog. “That is you, isn"t it? Good,” she said, sounding slightly unnerved. “I can"t find Wendy,” she repeated.

“I haven"t seen her.” I looked around. Only that one guy standing there smoking. “She might have had to go pee again.” I snickered.

“She was drinking a lot of beer,” Nadine said, snickering along with me. She paused to take us in and then looked around. “I forget where you parked.”

was“Over there.” I pointed to my car further back in the lot.

“I"m worried about Wendy. She doesn"t know we"ve left the party,” Nadine said, turning back toward the entrance of the park.

“Your brother will tell her we"ve left,” I assured. “Plus, she has her cell phone.”

“Yeah.” She pushed her large glasses back up he little nose while looking at her own phone.

The sound of large feet pounding down the trail alerted us. Wendy"s tall form emerged from the murkiness. She came to a gradual halt a few yards from us, gravel crunching and spitting beneath her Doc Martins.

“Oh, there you are.” She was slightly breathless. She must have ran all the way down the trail to catch up to us.

“A good thing you were queen of cross country,” Nadine said.

“What happened to your legs?” I said, noticing she had mud all over them.

“What?” She looked down. “Oh, s**t. I fell.”

“Where"s your hat?” Nadine asked.

“I don"t know. Must have lost it.” Wendy"s words were a little slurred. Just how much had she to drink?

“I"ve got some wipes in my car.” I dug out the keys. “Go and clean yourself off. They"re in the middle compartment.” I threw Wendy the keys and both she and Nadine walked away. Loud kissing noises from Nadine as they strode away threw new embarrassment into me.

“Friends,” I said in an apologetic tone to Brett.

“That"s what friends are for,” he said. “Interruptions and rude remarks.”

I made a rude sound with my tongue after them.

“I guess I"d better let you get home, then,” Brett said as the voices of my two friends carried on the night air, which was becoming cooler. Chill bumps along my arms began to erupt. The mosquitoes, at least, had quit biting me.

“It was great seeing you again,” I said. “When can we get together?” Well, color me aggressive. I couldn"t help it.

“On that point, let me have your number.” He pulled out his phone. We exchanged numbers and I began backing away, but he grabbed my arm and gently pulled me back. He was several inches taller than me, and he lowered his face to mine while putting his finger under my chin to lift it. Our lips met lightly. A thrill went through me that I thought would make me fall over on the spot.

“Good night, Lainey.” He stepped back a couple of steps, waved and step-hopped away and disappeared into the fog.

When I found my heart slowing back to a normal beat, I walked toward my car where my friends made soft conversation. My head now filled with memories of Brett and what we had just shared. He"d kissed me! A smile was permanently etched on my face. This never happens to me. Never. Sure. I"d been kissed before, but this was… different.

He"d kissed me!Moving for my car, I noticed another pick-up truck was parked next to me. I only half-noticed it, not really registering its color, or plates. My only thought, as I got into my car, was about Brett and his kiss. But I also wondered, in the back o my mind, why had Arline and AJ come here to begin with. Her car was still here, but AJ"s red truck was gone.