A Familiar Star (Romance Mystery) (13 page)

“A number of reasons. One of them being the accident.”

“Right.”
Kylie acknowledged what he was saying.

“You know about the accident?”

“Yes. Someone around the lake told me about it.” She hesitated. “I guess it was what else she said that I found interesting.

“And what was that.”

“Something about him having an accomplice I guess. She said
they
were always up to something. Do you know who she’s talking about?”

Paul’s face went stone cold.
“I know exactly who she’s talking about but it’s all nonsense.”

“Who?”
Kylie urged impatiently.

“It’s not
really your business.  You shouldn’t get involved Kylie.” He said coldly.

Kylie was shocked.
“What happened to your assistant detective; partners remember?” She stopped moving then glanced at Max who was still looking at her.

“I’m sorry, i
t’s just that she’s done nothing but be there for Jeffery. To think that people…”

“Who are you talking about?”
Kylie cut him off, sensing who he was going to say it was.

Paul gazed across the lake fixing his eyes on Jeffery’s house.
“I think she’s talking about Leslie.”

“Leslie!”
Kylie knew it.  There had to be some kind of connection between them.

“You can’t tell me you believe any of this?
Leslie is a wonderful person.”

“H
ow well do you know her?” Kylie asked bluntly.

“Kylie we’ve checked out both Jeffery and Leslie and their clean.
One night we staked out Jeffery’s when Leslie was there, the last murder took place that night so they’re not even suspects anymore.”

“Oh.”
  Kylie felt ashamed of herself. “You were watching them?”

“Yes, they were prime suspects but they’re not anymore.
Look, she went to my high school, I knew her husband. Enough said. Let’s go inside.”

He led her back into the house and they got a drink.
Kylie went to the washroom and refreshed herself then went back out and joined Paul. The house had a natural coolness and Kylie leaned back on the icy wall and sipped her drink. The people who had crowded the room earlier had all but disappeared.

“What else is bothering you Kylie?”
Paul asked her.

“Nothing.”
Kylie looked away.

“
I don’t know you all that well but I think it’s something.  You can ask me anything you want, you know.”

“Oh really,” Kylie tilted her head to one side.
  “Alright. Why are you so protective of Leslie?”

“I told you.
She’s a friend of mine.”

“No, you didn’t tell me that, you said she went to high school with you and you knew her husband.”
She rebuked.

“Do you have something against her?”

“No, I wasn’t implying anything like that.  I’ve met her and she seems very nice.” She lied.

“And she likes Max.”
Paul countered.

“Why do you say
that?” Her eyes flew opened.

“We’ve talked about it.”

“What else did you talk about?” She stiffened.

“All right, I might as well tell you this now before you hear it from someone else.”
He scanned the people in the room before continuing. “Leslie and I were almost an item before Max came along.”

Kylie’s long lashes hit her brow
and her jaw slacked in astonishment. “You and Leslie!”

Kylie hugged herself and moved off the wall.
She was suddenly chilled and her head was spinning.

“Well it looks like she and Max are together now.
I saw them making out on the dance floor earlier.” Her blue eyes concealed her agitation.

“Well I spoke to Leslie when you went to the washroom.
She was looking for Max. Then Max came in looking for you. They didn’t look like a couple to me.” He said sarcastically.

Kylie di
dn’t like his sarcasm, her brows knit, forming a line of annoyance between them. “Why didn’t you tell me Max was looking for me?

“Do you care?”
He was getting angry.

Kylie felt like things were getting ugly again and her head was still spinning.
“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”
He met her gaze evenly.

“If Max doesn’t want to be with Leslie, do you?”

Her question shocked him and he shook his head disbelievingly.

“Don’t take what I say wrong Kylie.
I’m with you and I intend on keeping it that way.” He pulled her close and held her tight. It was a beautiful night, and he intended on making her his, he thought. He needed to release the tension that had been building up in him for a whole week.

“Let’s go to my place.”

His humorless eyes, told her he wasn’t teasing.

“For the night?”
She asked meekly.

“For as long as you want.”
He breathed.

The heat in his voice made her shiver and she felt dizzier than before.

“I…I can’t…You know I don’t feel so good.” She steadied herself on the bar; her legs began to wobble beneath her like two flimsy sticks.

Paul grabbed her arm and steadied her.
“Are you okay?”

“I feel really strange, like I need to lie down.”

“Well let’s go get a seat.”

Kylie didn’t make it half way across the room.
The struggle to walk was too much, her knee’s buckled under her, and the last thing she remembered was hitting the ground with a hard thud.

She was feeling like a wet mop, rotting in someone’s stinking basement when she opened her eyes. The smell of vomit was so strong it almost made her gag. She was lying on someone’s sofa; a soft flame glowing from a fireplace was the only light she registered. She sat up and her foot almost tipped over the bucket of vomit.

“Hey, how do you feel?”
Paul jumped off the rocker seated in the dark.

“What happened?”

“It looks like you had a little too much to drink but you’ll be okay, it came back up on you.”

“
I hardly drank anything at all.” Kylie remembered feeling fine until the last drink at the bar.

“I was fine until I took a sip of the drink you gave me.”

“So what are you saying?”

“I don’t know, it was like there
was something in it.”

“You think it was drugged?”

Kylie could hardly believe her ears, who would want to drug her?

She tried to talk
but her words were slurred. She looked around confused.

“It’s ok, you’re
at my place.”

“Why didn’t you bring me home?”
She said pronouncing every syllable carefully.

Paul frowned at the question.
“Well I wanted to make sure you were alright, you know, take care of you.”

“Does Max know I’m here?”
Her head started clearing.

“He knows.”
He snorted.

“Oh,” she
said, her head beginning to pound. “I need a shower, I should go home.”

“You can take a shower here, I don’t mind.”

Kylie got to her feet and swayed a little. Paul turned on a light and she raised her hand to shield her eyes. She was weak, but at least she didn’t feel sick anymore.  She regarded the room, its pine paneling, ledge stone fireplace and low, beamed ceiling was definitely Paul’s country style.

“Why would someone drug me?”
She asked wearily.

“As I see it, there may be two reasons.
To get you to go home, or as a joke.” He raised his brows questioningly.

A strange look registered across her face.
“You think it was Max?”  Kylie was stunned.

“No
, I didn’t say that.” Paul said unconvincingly.

Nevertheless,
Kylie knew with her last drop of energy that Max would never do anything like that.

“It wasn’t him
.”

“
Maybe not but he came by when you were in the washroom.  He could have slipped something into your drink.”

“Didn’t you say that Leslie came by also?”
She challenged.

Paul took a minute to answer.
“I think we’re making too much out of this. It was a long night and drinking without eating is hard on the system.”

“Right.”
Kylie surrendered. She didn’t want to get into this right now. She just wanted to go home, take a shower and get some sleep. “Could you drive me home?”

“Please stay.
Go take a shower, I’ll get you some clothes, and we could just relax.” He lifted her chin to his. “Please stay and let me take care of you.”

She nodded weakly in affirmation.
She was too exhausted to argue.

Paul led her to the bathroom and started the shower.
He helped her undo her dress and she let it fall to the floor. She was extremely wiped out and couldn’t care if he saw her half naked or not.

“Do you want me to get in with you?”
He asked seductively.

“No
thanks.”

“Well, your still unsteady on your feet, don’t want you to fall.”

“Yeah, right.” Kylie laughed weakly as she stepped into the shower, closed the frosted glass door and pulled off her panties and bra. “I’ll be okay, I promise.”

The water poured down over her face.
She pulled her hair back and arched upward feeling it perform its magic. Paul waited outside the shower doors watching her softened form lathered in suds.

Feeling his presence and knowing he was watching, Kylie tried to make it fast.
Was he actually going to try and do something?  She didn’t think she had the strength to do anything with him, and this certainly wasn’t the time for it. She wanted everything to be perfect. With Max she had come so close to the edge of wanton, with Paul she wanted romance and love. What in the world was going on?

Slipping the shower door opened a crack, she politely asked for a towel.
Paul pulled the door opened a little more and held the towel away from her, so she had to step out of the shower to grab it. Her body was glistening and droplets of water hung off her nipples. Paul felt his manhood stiffen fully and suddenly ached to have her right away.

“Let
’s go in my room, I’ll dry you off.” He said in a husky voice.

“
I should go,” she winced, trying to pull the towel around her.

“To where?”
He said as he tugged the towel back. His lips came down on hers and she was finally able to snatch the towel out of his hands and drew back.

“Paul I’ve got to go!
I’m sorry. I’m not feeling good.” She growled, but he picked her off her feet and headed for the bed.

“Oh! No, no, no, no, no.
You don’t understand.” She was speed talking, her heart thudding uncontrollably. She moaned a wordless prayer as he shot her onto the bed. 

She bounced a second then wiggled frantically to the other side
and slid off; holding onto the towel that barely covered her.

Paul’s expression signaled confusion
.  He ran a hand through his hair and cleared his throat.

K
ylie inched her way back, banging her foot on a chair.

“It’s alright Kylie
. Jees, I’m sorry. I just wanted to help you, honestly, no pressure.” He put his hands in the air and shrugged.

He started making his way around the bed
, and Kylie froze. When he reached her he just stood there, resisting the urge to touch her again. “We’ll just lie down and talk then.”

Kylie wrinkled her nose.
“It’s my breath…my breath is foul,” she said anxiously.

“You can use my toothbrush.”
He slid his hand down her silky, wet back slowly.  It was impossible to keep his hands off her, he thought to himself.  “When you come back I can give you a back rub, it’ll relax you.”

“Oh, ok
ay,” she moved quickly, wrapping the towel around herself in an attempt to escape.

He let her pass this time.  S
he walked back into the washroom, checking behind her all the while.

“Could I just have a minute?”

“Of course.” Paul’s voice was strained.

Kylie closed the door behind her and clicked the lock as softly as she could.
 

This was worse tha
n a mess, this had disaster written all over it. He wasn’t letting up and he wasn’t letting her go.  She picked up her dress and her underwear and looked around the small bathroom. What in the hell was she going to do? Going back out there would just get her in trouble. Would he really listen to her if she insisted on going home? She was going to have to start an argument. But what if he still didn’t listen? She wasn’t going to take that chance.

“Kylie
, are you okay?” He called from behind the door.

“I
think I’m going to be sick again! Just give me a couple of minutes, alright!”

She dropped t
he towel and pulled on her dress. She left her undies on the sink then flushed the toilet and cranked the window opened, removing the screen.

This was crazy but it was all she could think of.
  Moving quickly, she sat on the edge of the window and swung her feet around. She heard her dress ripe as it got caught on the siding, but she pulled it loose.  Feeling the course wood of the window frame slide past her bottom, she hit the ground with a resounding thump. This
really
was crazy. She looked down and realized she had no shoes.

Waiting for her eyes to adjust, she listened but all was quiet, he was still waiting for her
in the bedroom.  Barefoot she walked over the cold ground to the corner of the house then tiptoed towards the bushes and down the drive. It would be a while before he realized she was gone. By then, if he came after her, she could hide in the bushes until he’d pass her by.

She could hardly make out where she was going it was so dark.
She stumbled out of the driveway and onto the road then realized she didn’t know which way to go. Left looked good to her, so she hurried along awkwardly and tried to avoid falling in the ditch.

Gravel and dirt
wriggled its way between her toes then something split the air in the distance, a storm moving in, Kylie thought.  But the sky overhead remained a harmless blue, black, with the faintest hint of stars.

She pictured
Paul breaking the door down. By now he’d probably thought that she fainted and was in a panic.  She wondered how pissed off he was going to be when he saw she was gone. She giggled at the sheer stupidity of her situation. Maybe she should have acted like an adult and insisted he take her home.  Oh well, it was too late for that now.

The ditch ended
, so she stayed close to the tree line, trying to stay in the grass for her feet’s sake. She was still a little weak but she moved as quickly as she could, avoiding the branches along the way.

Thinking back
, she attempted to figure out who would have put something in her drink. Movie scenarios flashed through her mind but she wanted to be rational. She actually didn’t have that much to eat for dinner, but she hadn’t drunk that much either, and she felt fine up until that final drink by the bar. Yes, it was definitely that last drink. But who and why?

Leslie
would definitely profit from getting her out of the way. She imagined if it was Leslie, she would think herself very clever for her success. Probably laughing to herself and making love to Max right now. She pushed the thought out of her mind.

Then there was Paul.
How badly did he want her to come back to his place? Was it bad enough that he would slip something into her drink? She shivered thinking about it and looked back to make sure she wasn’t being followed.

Half way down the road she saw headlights coming towards her.
The car was going really slow as if they were looking for an address. Or it could be a crazy drunk, she told herself. She went to step behind some bushes but when the car moved past the street light, she couldn’t believe her eyes.  She stepped out of the shadows just to be sure then she saw it perfectly.  It was a black BMW with a Planet Earth license plate in the front. What in the world was he doing here?

The car slo
wed down as it came towards her then it came to a stop.  The window rolled down and Kylie bent and looked inside. The face looking back at her was as shocked as hers was.

“What
in the world are you doing?” Max groaned.

“Maybe if you let me in I could explain it to you.”
Kylie opened the door and hopped inside, rubbing her feet one at a time.

“You might want to get out of here,” she muttered.

“Why?”

“Please don’t ask questions
, just go.”

Max made
a quick u-turn and the tires squealed in protest. When they seemed a safe distance away, she leaned back in the seat and felt the last of her energy drain out of her system.

“So?”
Max waited patiently.

“How about you
go first?” She coaxed drowsily, so happy to be safe that she was drifting towards sleep already.

“All right.
I spent the night in jail, just got out and came over to kill your boyfriend.” He growled.

“Why were you in jail?”
  She woke slightly.

“Long story.”

“We have time.”

“No, it’s your turn actually.”
He glanced over at her.

“Well it’s an even longer story.”
She stalled.

“We’ve got time.”
  He grinned eyeing her dirty bare feet.

“Can’t it wait?”

“What could be so complex that would lead someone to walk down the road all alone in the middle of the night, with no shoes on, smelling like Irish Spring and vomit?” He said sarcastically.

“He fell asleep and I decided to walk home.
End of story.” She lied.

She looked over at him
, thinking he was going to say something else, but he merely looked surprised. She was grateful that he didn’t pry any further. She was so worn out; she wouldn’t know where to start.

They drove back to Forest Lake in silence.
The sun was slipping over the horizon and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day. When she stepped out of the car it seemed as if a century had gone by since she stood outside of her house. It was as though she were seeing things for the first time. The huge jack pine, old and twisted but strangely enough it’s what made it so beautiful. The flower garden was a mess, the weeds had taken over and she hadn’t even noticed. She looked over at Max but he was already headed inside.