No Return (8 page)

“You’re taking both cars,” Monroe cut her off.

Dione pasted on her putting-up-with-the-talent smile. “You can rent a car for the day. We’ll pay for it.”

“So I have to rent my own car now?”

“I’ll take care of it,” Tony said, jumping in.

“Whatever,” Monroe said. “I’ll be in my room. Tell me when the car’s here. And not one of those crappy subcompacts.”

As Monroe walked away, Dione mouthed “Thank you” to Tony.

“She
does
know how to drive, right?” Alison asked, keeping her voice low.

They all silently stared at one another.

“I, um, assume so,” Dione said.

“Has anyone actually seen her behind the wheel?” Alison asked.

Shaking heads all around.

Tony groaned. “Please tell me I don’t have to drive her around.”

“Absolutely not,” Dione said. “She can drive herself if she wants to go anywhere, whether she knows how to or not. I want you to make a list of what we’re going to need tomorrow. We’ll be on the road most of the day, with no stores nearby that I know of, so you’ll have to get supplies tonight when we get back. When you’re done with the list, write up the production report for yesterday and today. I’ll take a look at them later.”

Dione glanced at Danny and Wes. “All right, guys. Shall we hit it?”

Danny retrieved his camera from the Escape and put it in the other SUV.

“So you’re going to be all alone?” Anna asked Wes.

“Looks that way,” Wes said.

She glanced at Dione. “Mind if I join him?”

An odd smile formed on Dione’s face. “Fine by me.” She opened the driver’s door of the Highlander, then asked Wes, “Which way are you going to head?”

He shrugged. “Thought I could go north.” He pointed at the far end of the valley, where the hills met the Sierras. “Get some of the volcanic stuff.”

“Great idea,” she said as she climbed in. “We’ll go east toward Death Valley.”

“Death Valley?” Whatever else Danny added to his protest was rendered unintelligible as Dione pulled her door shut.

“You want me to drive so you can shoot?” Anna said to Wes.

“Maybe in a bit,” Wes replied.

A few moments later they were on the road, air conditioner blasting.

“I think Dione might know,” Wes threw out.

“Know what?”

“About us.”

“Of course she does,” Anna said. “I told her.”

“You
told
her?”

“Dione’s one of my best friends.”

“I thought we’d decided to keep things quiet for a while.”

“Do you see me shouting about it to everyone?” Anna asked. “Besides, you told Casey.”

“Casey’s my roommate. I didn’t have a choice if you were going to stay over.”

“Well, you had a choice. You could have just not had me come over.”

“That was not an option, either.”

Anna turned so that her back was to the door and she could take a good, long look at him. “Anyone else you tell?”

“You’re changing the subject.”

“Maybe I am, but I want to know. I know you haven’t told Alison yet.”

Wes shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He and Alison had hooked up for a short time a year earlier. Anna knew all this, of course. It was the worst-kept secret on the crew. And while he was okay remaining friends, it was obvious Alison was still open to the possibility of more.

“She’ll find out soon enough.”

Anna watched him for a moment, the hint of a smile on her face. “So who else?”

He shook his head. “No one you’ve met.”

“So there is someone else. Now I’m really intrigued.”

Wes brought the Escape to a stop at the intersection of China Lake Boulevard and Inyokern Road. A turn to the right would take them to the front gate of the base, and a turn left would eventually take them to the highway. Wes turned left.

“Who?” Anna asked again.

Wes frowned. “Okay. My mom.”

Silence.

“You told your mom about me?” Anna’s tone was stunned.

“Yeah, I told my mom about you. It’s not a big deal, okay?”

“You told your mom.”

“Look, she always asks me if I’m seeing anyone, and I’m always telling her no. Last time when she asked, it just kind of … slipped.”

“How does something like that kind of slip?”

“You don’t know my mom.”

Wes was afraid to glance over at her, scared of what her reaction would be. Would she think he was some sort of thirty-three-year-old mamma’s boy, or maybe think it was too soon for him to say something to his mom, or, worst of all, realize that he was more serious about her than she was ever going to be about him?

Finally, he couldn’t help himself and took a quick peek at her.

She was still staring at him, but not in the get-me-out-of-this-car kind of way he’d almost been expecting. She was smiling.

“What?” he asked.

She swiveled around so she was facing front again, then she put her arm on the back of his seat and began softly stroking his neck.

“I told my mom, too.”

THEY ALL ENDED UP AT DELTA SIERRA’S AGAIN
that evening. This time, to the surprise of everyone, Monroe joined them.

“I’m still trying to figure out how the hell you ever lived here,” Danny said, already working on his third beer. “I’ve never seen so much dirt in my life.”

“I’m not quite sure how they did it in your family, Danny, but in mine, where I lived was, strangely, determined by my parents.” Wes smirked.

“I thought you were from San Diego,” Tony said.

“He moved to San Diego when he was a junior in high school,” Alison informed everyone.

“Why?” Danny asked. “Your dad get transferred?”

“Divorce,” Wes said before Alison could show off more of her knowledge of his life.

There were nods around the table, several in the knowing fashion of those who’d lived through the same thing.

“Any family still here?” Tony asked.

Wes shook his head but didn’t elaborate. His dad had stayed in Ridgecrest, but had died a year and a half after Wes had left town. The funeral had been held in Whittier, east of Los Angeles, where Wes’s dad had grown up and his uncle still lived.

More pitchers of beer arrived, and the focus moved from Wes to Dione to Danny, and, inevitably, to Monroe.

“I know I’m not supposed to talk about it,
but
,” Monroe said, the glaze of alcohol in her eyes, “my agent thinks I have the inside shot at a pilot for ABC.”

“Really? That’s great,” Dione said. “What’s it about?”

Monroe looked around the table. “You’ve got to keep this to yourself.”

“Of course,” Dione spoke for the group.

“It’s an update of
Mork and Mindy
.”

Danny nearly spit his beer across the table. “
Mork and Mindy
? Are you serious?”

“Why? What’s wrong with that?”

“Who’s going to play Mork?” Danny asked.

“See, that’s the twist. In the remake … Mork’s a woman!”

Everyone stared at her.

“So are you saying you’re going to play Mork?” Anna asked slowly.

“Well, the character’s name is different, of course. I’m not allowed to tell anyone that. But, yeah. That’s the part I’m up for.”

The silence that followed had almost reached the awkward point when Dione said, “Couldn’t be happier for you, Monroe.” Even halfway to drunk, she was able to fake it for the show’s host.

Monroe beamed.

“We should celebrate,” Dione suggested.

A devilish looked entered Monroe’s eyes. “Tequila shots! A hundred bucks to whoever drinks the most.”

There were groans and averted gazes around the table. All, that is, except for Dione. Her eyes narrowed as she announced, “You’re on, Morkette. Tony, get the waitress.”

Six shots arrived a few minutes later and the two women matched each other glass for glass.

As they were waiting for another round, Wes stood up and headed to the men’s room. The bar had filled up a bit more, so he had to navigate around several groups before he entered the hallway that led to the restrooms.

“How do you think you get up there?”

Wes looked back. He hadn’t realized Danny had followed him. “Up where?”

“On the wall. The pictures of the planes and the crews. Think you have to be regulars here?” Danny opened the bathroom door and let Wes pass through. “You know, like the shamrocks at Tom Bergin’s back home on Fairfax. Or do you have to do something special?”

“I have no idea.”

Danny finished first, washed his hands, then headed for the door. “You coming?”

“Go ahead,” Wes said. “I’ll be right there.”

Wes stared into the mirror as he finished washing up.
The photos
. What if the pilot he’d seen at the crash was in one of them? If he was, Wes could show the picture to Lars as proof that he hadn’t been seeing things.

He exited the bathroom with purpose, intent on closely examining the walls, but was immediately derailed when he found Anna standing in the hallway outside the women’s bathroom. She started shaking her head the moment she saw him.

“Where’s the paparazzi when you need them?” she asked.

“What’s going on?”

She motioned toward the bathroom door. “Monroe is doing a little unintentional weight reduction.”

“Oh, God.”

There was a muffled retch from beyond the door, followed by, “Don’t worry. You’re not going to fall in.”

“Dione?” Wes asked.

Anna nodded. “Best-friend duty. Though she’s not that much better off herself. Help me take them back to the hotel?”

“Sure.”

A few minutes later the door opened and Monroe and Dione staggered into the hallway, but not before bumping into the door frame and breaking out in laughter.

“Hey, Wes,” Dione said.

“Wes!” Monroe echoed, none the worse for her time hovering above the toilet.

“Hey, I have an idea,” Wes said. “We’re going to head back to the motel. You want to come with us?”

Monroe shook her head. “Too early. I want to—” She stumbled against the wall, then closed her eyes and put her hand on her forehead. “Uh, yeah. Okay. Maybe that would be a good idea.”

It turned out that everyone except Danny was ready to head back.

Wes took control of Monroe, while Anna and Alison acted as Dione’s guides. By the time they reached Monroe’s room, she was telling Wes what a great guy he was, how cute he was in that older, mid-thirties kind of way, and outright offering him a spot in her bed that night.

Wes politely declined, then waited outside as Anna and Alison dealt with getting
Close to Home
’s star under the covers. Dione had waited with him for a few minutes, trying not to sway, then wandered off to her own room before the other two women came back out.

“Well, that was fun, wasn’t it?” Alison said, then yawned.

“Don’t do that,” Anna said. She tried unsuccessfully to keep from yawning herself. “Fine. I’m officially tired.”

They started walking together in the direction of Anna’s and Alison’s rooms. First, though, they reached the corridor that led out to the parking lot and the side of the hotel where Wes’s room was located. They paused there.

“You guys sleep well,” Wes said. “I have a feeling some people are going to be cranky tomorrow.”

“Think I’ll be asleep before I even get in my room,” Alison said.

“I know the feeling,” Anna said.

But no one made the first move. Wes and Anna exchanged a glance while Alison leisurely hunted through her purse for her key.

Finally, Wes said, “All right. I’ll see you both in the morning.”

He headed off down the hallway without looking back. When he got to his room, his motel phone was ringing.

“Hello?”

“You’re going to have to tell her.” It was Anna.

“I know. I know,” he said. “Did she say anything?”

“Come on, Wes. She didn’t have to.”

Wes frowned. Telling Alison about his relationship with Anna was not something he was looking forward to. “I’ll try to find time tomorrow.”

“I think that’s an excellent idea.” She paused. “So … you want me to come over?”

“Absolutely. You still have the extra key I gave you, right?”

“Why? Aren’t you going to be there?”

“I thought maybe I should go back and check on Danny.”

“Danny? He can take care of himself.”

Wes laughed loudly.

“Fine,” she said. “But he is
old
enough to take care of himself.”

“I won’t be long,” he said. “I’ll make sure he’s fine, then come right back. Wait for me here?”

She was silent for a moment. “If I’m asleep when you come in, you’re not getting any.”