Lovely Shadows (24 page)

I needed to clear my head and put my relationship problems on the back burner. All my focus needed to be on meeting Laura. I indulged in a long hot shower. Halfway through, Aidan joined me. He complained about not feeling the temperature but had no problem feeling me. My concentration shattered as his hands worked me over good. My knees buckled and he caught me before I crashed completely. His amused and satisfied smile made me laugh.

“You're so proud of yourself,” I teased, somewhat breathlessly.

“Yes, I am.”

I playfully smacked him. “You shouldn't do that to me, not this morning. I need full concentration. What time is it?”

“Ten o' clock.”

“Crap! I need to get moving.”

Aidan helped me dry off then hovered while I obsessed over my hair and clothes. When I left Browton I only packed the minimum items necessary. What I wanted more than anything was my curling iron and my purple wedges. Instead, I settled for boring straight hair and my gray ballet flats. Aidan kept complimenting me but it only made me more nervous.

When we left the room, I turned in my key. There was a finality about the exchange. The receptionist smiled and said she hoped I enjoyed my stay. Thinking about last night, I told her my stay was fantastic.

Aidan held my hand as I drove to the public access. When we arrived no one else was around, which made Aidan anxious.

“No witnesses,” he muttered, glancing around.

“What, do you think she's going to kill me or something?”

“If Darren follows her, then who knows what will happen?”

“Nothing is going to happen. Let's relax.” I kissed his hand and smiled. “So, last night?”

He grinned. “Best night of my existence. If I crossed now, I'd be the happiest man in eternity.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sex, the way to a man's heart.”

“No,” he countered, shaking his head, “true love, the way to a man's heart.”

“I like that. Is that your sister?” A red car pulled into the access and parked across from us.

“I don't know. I've never seen that car before.”

A few seconds later a tall, slender girl with reddish brown hair stepped out. She could have been Aidan's twin. There was something vaguely familiar about her...I couldn't put my finger on it, but I had the distinct feeling I'd seen her before.

“Laura,” he whispered painfully. His face contorted into a weird shape.

“You don't have to do this, Aidan. I can talk to her alone.”

“No, I'm fine. I'm not leaving you. Let's go.” He slipped through the door as I got out. Taking my hand he marched us forward until we met Laura in the middle of the lot.

“Well, you're nothing like I imagined,” she greeted me. “I was expecting a mousy little girl.”

“You're not exactly living up to my expectations either,” I retorted. Aidan squeezed my hand. I took a deep breath. “Let's go sit over there.” I nodded towards a picnic table.

We sat down under the shade of an elm tree. She pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head. Her eyes were the exact same color as Aidan's. It was striking.

“Now, please explain why you think Darren is trying to kill me.”

“Well...” Aidan squeezed my hand again. “I came across an article about Aidan's death on the internet. For some reason, it became an obsession. I decided to investigate what happened. Every door I tried to open was locked, or was opened but slammed in my face. So, I came to Blue Rapids to see what I could find out. Darren Foster was willing to meet with my friend Billie and me. He was extremely defensive then warned us to drop the investigation. Needless to say, that raised a red flag.”

“I can understand that,” she said.

“Anyway, I couldn't shake the feeling that Aidan had been killed. And Darren's attitude didn't help matters.”

She held up one hand. “Let me get this straight: Because Darren Foster got rude, you automatically assumed he killed Aidan?”

“Yeah.” It did sound stupid.

“Wow. So how did you come to the conclusion he is trying to kill me?”

“He had nothing but nice things to say about Aidan. You, however, not so much. In fact, he was completely hateful. Billie and I began to wonder if maybe you were supposed to die, not Aidan.”

“You really know how to make a mountain out of a molehill, don't you?” she scoffed.

Obviously, I'd already lost her. She wasn't taking me seriously at all. I looked to Aidan for help, but he shook his head. I knew we'd lost the battle and the war.

“I'm not the kind to be dramatic,” I assured her halfheartedly. “Darren gave us bad vibes though, and the way he spoke about you...Look, I cannot convince you that you're in danger. In fact, I believe that's an impossible task.” I stood up and stepped away from the table.

“For your sake, I hope I'm wrong. Just promise me you'll be careful—for your sake.”

“Whatever.” She stood as well and started to walk away. Then she spun around. “By the way, how do you know my brother if you just found out about the accident on the internet?”

Oops. How could I gracefully recover from this?

“Maybe it feels like I knew him,” I replied slowly. “I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out his death.”

“It was a straightforward accident. What else is there to know?”

“Sometimes, things aren't always as they seem.”

“Well, isn't that the truth?” another voice chimed in from somewhere to our left. The three of us looked up the small incline that led to the road. Coming down the hill was a guy no bigger than Aidan in height but with twice the brawn and infinite times scarier. Both hands were jammed in his coat pocket, which was weird because who wore a coat in Kansas in August?

Laura took a large step back. “Andy, what are you doing here?”

“Andy,” Aidan whispered.

“The Andy?” I screeched, “As in Joey's dad?”

Andy laughed. “Clever, aren't you? You must be the infamous Jessa, superhero of the undead.”

“Um, I guess?” Small spasms of fear made their way up my spine.

He walked until he was an equal distance from Laura and me. He sized me up before turning his attention to Laura. “You still look good,” he told her, “you look real good.”

“Thanks,” she said dryly.”

“Run Jessa,” Aidan suddenly whispered.

“What?”

“He has a gun. Run.”

“How can you tell?”

“Back pocket.”

I looked where Aidan directed. Sure enough, the outline of a small pistol was visible from where I stood, the gleaming silver handle sticking up from his jeans. So if Andy was here, where was Darren? Was this an ambush?

“I'm not leaving her,” I told Aidan. “No way in Hell.”

“Look, if you leave, you can get help...”

“Or I leave and he shoots her.”

The entire time Aidan and I spoke, Andy never looked away from Laura. It was like I didn't exist. I took a few small steps to the side. He never even flinched.

Laura, however, looked petrified. Andy stepped towards her; she automatically stepped back.

“What do we do?” I whispered.

Aidan shook his head. “I'm thinking.”

“Think faster!”

I looked on the ground for any rocks that might do some damage. I found a few the size of a half-dollar and curled them in my fist . Now, I just needed to distract Laura and give her a chance to escape.

“Hey Andy,” I called out.

“What are you doing?” Aidan hissed furiously.

“Trust me,” I murmured. Run, Laura, run, I thought, hoping she might somehow get the message.

Andy slowly turned and faced me. “What?”

Why did you kill Aidan?”

His face drained of color, then turned bright red. “How do you know about that?”

“You mean it's true?” His admission caught me off-guard.

“Yes.” He looked confused for a moment. “What do you know about it?”

“Only that you and Darren somehow conspired to run Aidan off the road. I mean, what else is there to know?”

Andy howled with laughter. “You think Darren had something to do with Aidan's death?”

“Yes, but I think killing Aidan was an accident. I think Darren was trying to kill Laura.” I looked at her. She still looked terrified. She hadn't moved an inch. Come on, run!.

“You are the worst investigative reporter ever. You think Darren would kill Laura? Where would you ever get that idea?”

“Because when I met him, he talked about how much he hated her...”

“Really? He's better than I thought.”

“Better at what?”

“Lying.”

Dropping the rocks, I pressed my fingers to my temples. I was so lost and confused. I felt like I was missing something big, some major pieces to this screwed up puzzle.

“Play along, Jessa,” Aidan said. “I'm going to see if I can't get Laura to move.”

“Fine,” I muttered. “What is Darren lying about?”

“Everything, apparently. He doesn't hate Laura. God, I've never seen someone so obsessed with another person.”

“He's not obsessed!” Laura shouted coming to life. “You're just a jealous asshole!”

“And you stole my best friend!” he shouted back. He reached behind his back as he spun to face Laura. “He was my best friend until you convinced him I was a bad influence.”

“You are! Just look at all the hell you've put Amber through!”

“Amber is whore,” he retorted, the gun shaking in his hand as he pointed it at Laura. “That lying cheating bitch gets everything that's coming to her.”

“You're such an idiot, Andy. She's never cheated on you.”

“Then why isn't Joey mine? She told me he's Aidan's.”

“Aidan never slept with her! Do the math, Andy. They split two months before she got pregnant.”

“Just another one of her lies.”

I couldn't take it anymore. What the hell was I missing?

“Can both of you just shut up for one second, please?” I pointed at Laura. “Why the hell are you defending Darren? He tried to kill you.”

She shook her head. “No, he didn't.”

Andy waved the gun towards her. “Looks like Darren isn't the only liar around here. You haven't figured it out yet, Sherlock?”

“Figured what out?”

“Laura and Darren have been dating for over a year. They eloped two days ago.”

19.

“What?” Aidan and I shouted in unison. Startled, Laura glanced over her shoulder towards Aidan while I checked out her left hand. Sure enough, on her third finger a thin gold band glittered in the morning sun. I couldn't believe it. Nothing made sense.

“But he said such horrible things about you. How could you marry him?” I questioned, confused.

She looked back at me. “I know what he said. It was a ruse. Our families didn't know we were dating, and they certainly don't know we're married. When you started asking questions, he panicked.”

“But, but...” I sputtered, at a complete loss for words. I could not get the image of an evil Darren out of my head. What confused me more was she married her brother's killer.

“How could you be so stupid?” Aidan asked. “Do you have any idea what this will do to Mom?”

Andy waved the gun between us. “Who cares who knows what? All I know is you married my best friend!”

She scoffed, “What the hell do you care, Andy? You have Amber; is Darren supposed to not have a life? I mean, I honestly don't get why you hate me so much.”

“You weren't supposed to choose Darren!” His hands shook from rage. “I was the one that loved you. I was the one that sent flowers on your birthday. I was the one that wrote you love letters. It was me, Laura, not Darren. Darren didn't do a damn thing to prove he cared. Yet, you never saw me. You still wanted Darren.”

“Because I love him,” she said softly, almost pleading. “Andy, please understand. Nothing you could have done would have made a difference.”

“You didn't even try! You knew I loved you. You even told me you loved me...”

“In the tenth grade! Andy, we dated for a month. I was young and stupid, okay? I didn't know what love was then. I know now what it is, and I have it with Darren.”

Aidan's head snapped back and forth between Andy and Laura, his face an array of emotions. I couldn't begin to imagine what he felt, or how all of Laura's lies impacted him now. Even to me her revelations were astounding. One one question remained: What did any of this have to do with Aidan?

I took one big step closer to Andy. I don't know what I was thinking; I knew I should start running far from him. However, the need to protect Laura, to protect Aidan's sister, gripped me. He'd already lost so much; I wouldn't force him to lose his sister all over again.

Andy remained focused on Laura. I kept praying that someone would feel the need to stop here. We were at a public access to a major river. Someone was bound to take a boat ride or go fishing, weren't they? Aidan shifted his stance, planting himself more firmly between Andy and Laura. I took another step towards Andy. My foot hit a piece of loose gravel. Andy swung around and glared at me.