Page 19 of Heart of Stone
Rincon stiffened, then an unexpected laugh shot fromhis mouth. “Impossible. I don’t know who these clowns were or how you extracted this supposed information, but you’re wrong.”
“Figured that’d be your response. Someone who knew the coordinates was in on this. Ace was the only person who knew on the other side.”
His jaw tensed with anger as he got up and walked to his bar. He poured himself a shot and then smacked the glass hard on the granite counter. “I’ll talk to him later. Damn, and my day started out so well, but now it’s turned to shit.”
“Sorry about that. We can see ourselves out. But next time, no one knows the coordinates but you. Otherwise, you’ll need to find yourself another boat.” I motioned for Slade to follow me. He looked longingly out at the pool.
“Next time you come, plan to stay longer,” Rincon said. “The girls will be pissed that you left so soon.”
Slade shot me another pleading look like a kid being dragged out of the pet store where they’re giving out free puppies.
“Yep, next time,” I answered. My disappointed brother plodded behind.
We got out to his car and climbed inside. “Don’t know why we couldn’t have stuck around for awhile.” Slade slammed the car door hard. “A week ago you would have been the first to suggest it. This thing with Street has you walking around with your underwear jammed up your crack.”
“What the hell are you talking about? She’s got nothing to do with this. Just didn’t feel like hanging out there.”
“Yeah, right. Nothing to do with it.” He turned the cararound and headed down the steep driveway. “You need to take a good long look in the mirror, bro, and see just how twisted up you get when Street’s not around. Reflect, buddy. Reflect on your reflection.”
I looked over at him and took another hit on my cigarette. “Reflect on my reflection? Thank you, Dr. Phil, for that brilliant fucking suggestion.” I leaned forward and cranked the radio. Led Zeppelin blasted through the speakers. Of course it wasthesong.
Slade laughed and pointed at the radio. “Hey, it’s the song about the street corner girl. I guess even the damn radio is trying to tell you something.”
I slumped down in the seat. “Just drive.”
ELEVEN
AMY
Iturned the corner toward home. The usual blanket of fog wasn’t hanging over the town but the moon was nonexistent. It was hard to see where the sea ended and the coast began. Most of the houses were dark. Our neighbors were quiet, keep-to-themselves types and most liked to look the other direction when it came to the two shabby houses in the center of the block. I suspected that had more to do with the people living in the houses than the overgrown front yards and peeling paint. They’d also looked the other way when the houses weren’t so rundown and the brothers were struggling to survive a horrible childhood. When I was younger, my mom would stop and talk to neighbors on her stroll to the mailbox or picking up the paper, but that had stopped long ago when she’d decided everyone was out to get her.
Our television flickered through the broken blinds on the front window. The new medication was making her sleep a lot, and I was actually thankful for that. She couldn’t tape up the house or hit people with vases or poison her only kid with cookies when she was sleeping.
Tonight had been my third date with David. The first dinner had gone all right, but he’d seemed preoccupied by something and I wasn’t feeling myself either. Our conversation hadn’t flowed like it had in the coffee shop, and I was still being constantly plagued with the stupid habit of mentally comparing David to Hunter. David was always coming up on the short side of the comparison.
Tonight, we’d given it another try. As usual, he’d been a perfect gentleman, something I wasn’t used to. So far, he’d only kissed me and taken hold of my hand. Tonight, he’d picked me up after my shift at Lazy Daze. We drove to the beach with a blanket and bottle of wine. We talked awhile and kissed a lot, but I wasn’t ready for anything else. David had accepted that with some disappointment. But he’d kissed me goodnight and told me he wanted to see me again.
My head was swirling like fudge ripple ice cream when it came to David. One minute I thought he might be someone I could fall for, and the next, I was telling myself to end it before things got deeper.
Hunter’s motorcycle was in the driveway, but the house was dark. I had a strange, very fleeting desire to talk to him about this new situation with David. Hunter was the person I always went to when I needed to talk. Jade was fairly new in my life and our friendship had been sealed almost immediately. Still, there was only one person who I’d always told all my deepest secrets and feelings to and that was Hunter. He knew me better than anyone, and while he wasn’t always the best listener or advisor, I had always counted on him to be there for me. I smiled at the idea of discussing my newest dilemma with him.
I saw the tiny red glow of a cigarette or joint on his front porch as I pulled into my driveway. The giant silhouette sitting on the front porch was easy to recognize. No one else had shoulders that nearly spanned the entire top step. Immediately, my pulse raced. That alone might have been the reason I was so on the fence about David. He hadn’t made my pulse race or my knees weaken or even my hands tremble, physical reactions I always had when I saw Hunter.
I stepped out of the car on jelly knees. His handsome face was halfway hidden by the shadows of the porch, but I could tell he was looking at me. We hadn’t spoken in a week and everything about that felt wrong, almost as if I hadn’t taken a decent breath for seven days.
“You’re out late,” he said.
The sound of his voice caught me off guard. It was a sound that could leave me breathless or filled with heartbreak. I willed my feet forward. “And you’re in early.” I pushed out my most casual tone but just having topushit, made it sound completely forced.
I sat on the porch next to him, took hold of the joint and stuck it between my lips. He stared out at the street. It seemed he was straining not to turn and look at me.
“Jade said you met someone.”
“Huh. Did not expect you to lead with that.” I handed him back his joint.
“Seemed like a good topic.”
Jade had a theory that the only thing Hunter needed was a little shove, and she was sure me dating another guy would do the trick. But I wasn’t at all convinced she was right. “Guess I was tired of going in circles, chasing my taillike a puppy.”
