Page 34 of Stone Deep
Not wanting to draw attention to ourselves, we fell in behind a car that was traveling behind Damon’s jeep. “Let’s just say, I like a little intrigue, and you seemed to come with a good dose of it. Then there was that first night in the cheap motel. Another big incentive. I know it makes me sound like a shallow, sex-craved asshole, but I’ve always been known as the blunt Stone brother.” He turned the corner that Damon’s jeep had disappeared around. “You know, Britton, I really haven’t stopped thinking about you since that first night. And I don’t say that to too many people.”
There it was again, that tiny window into his heart and mind, where it seemed that I wasn’t imagining that we were heading toward something more than an impulsive road trip. “I feel the same way, Slade. My life’s been kind of upside down and complicated lately, but this trip with you has made me forget the crap following me around.”
“That’s one of the reasons we’re here, right? To turn stuff right side up for you?”
I smiled weakly. “Yep, that’s why we’re here.” Inside, I was berating myself for not being completely honest with him, but I was sure one more layer of problems would send him off for good.
Damon had pulled onto the off-ramp, and we were heading into a neighborhood. “Looks like we might be getting close,” Slade said.
Another round of stomach flutters gripped me. “Now that we’re on small streets, has he noticed us? This was my sister’s car, after all.”
“I don’t see him looking in his rearview, and I’m staying far enough back, I think. Never really done this before. Besides, he’s probably not expecting anyone to follow him.” Slade was wearing his usual confident smile, and he looked completely at ease. I, on the other hand, felt stiff as a concrete statue afraid that if I moved or let myself think too much about the whole thing, I’d crumble into a pile of cement dust.
“Tell me, does anything ever make you nervous?” I asked.
“Hmm, let me think.” He seemed to be contemplating the question. He turned to me. “To be honest—” He moved his finger back and forth between us. “Thiskind of makes me nervous. Not following Damon home, but you and me. Not completely sure what’s happening here, and when I’m not completely sure, I get a little uneasy.”
“Guess I’m wondering aboutthistoo.”
His attention turned ahead again. “Here we go. Lookslike the eagle has landed or in his case the eagle crap has landed. He’s parking in a driveway.”
Slade pulled over to a curb four houses away. It was a neighborhood of small, matching homes built in the adobe style of square walls with a flat roof. Damon stopped the jeep in front of a shabby, tan-colored house that had a sandy front yard with several cactuses and not much more. There weren’t any other cars in the driveway.
“It looks like he’ll be the only person home,” Slade said. “Unless he has a carless roommate.” The confident set of his shoulders and his relaxed expression helped alleviate some of my anxiety. “Do you know what you’re going to say?”
I chuckled nervously. “Not a friggin’ clue. I’ll probably start with ‘I’m here to pick up Perris’s things.’”
“Sounds like a good place to start. You ready?”
“Uh huh. Let’s just do this before I lose my nerve.” We stepped out and both immediately felt the static electricity in the air. In the distance, a towering gray cloud formation was pressed into the deep blue sky, unmoving and daunting, as if it was just watching and waiting to pour its contents onto an unsuspecting desert.
“Whoa, I guess that’s one of those thunderstorms the date guy warned us about,” Slade said.
“It looks like it’s not moving at all, so maybe we’ll be done here before it rolls through.” Slade caught the waver in my voice. He reached for my hand but didn’t say anything. It was the second time he’d taken my hand into his strong, confident grasp, and it was something I could easily get used to.
We reached the stone path leading to the weatherworn front door. I took a deep breath. “Here goes.”
We climbed the two steps to the front stoop. A familiar clamor came through the open window. Damon was walking around tapping out beats with his drumsticks. Perris used to complain that he’d even bang out a tune on the shower tile. It annoyed her, but she never said anything because according to her, ‘drumming was his thing.’
Slade shot me questioning glance.
“Damon is a drummer, and he’s got drumsticks glued to his hands,” I explained. I took a deep breath and knocked.
“Hey, babe, did you forget your key?” Damon called as he stopped tapping his sticks long enough to cross the room to the door. He yanked it open. For a brief moment, his face blanched and his mouth dropped open as if he was looking at a ghost. In a way, he was.
He released the breath he’d been holding. “Shit, Brit, it’s you. For a second?—”
“For a second you thought I was Perris? Yeah, I get that a lot, only Perris doesn’t show up to any doors anymore.” I’d been nervous up to the second he opened the door and nearly wet himself at the sight of me. It reminded me what a weasel he was and how much I disliked him. My fury at him came right back.
He’d grown a flimsy excuse for a beard, which only served to make him look meaner. I’d always disliked his sneering smile, and it crossed his face in one ugly grin as he shook his head. “What the fuck do you want? And what’s with the little boy haircut?” He looked for the first time at Slade, and I wasn’t imagining a tiny twitch of nerves in his cheek. “Who the hell is this?”
Slade looked at him with a hard expression that made Damon take a small step back. “As far as you’re concerned, I’m her guardian fucking angel.”
I knew Damon well enough to know that he was sizing Slade up to see if he could take him. It seemed he came to a fairly quick conclusion that there was no damn way.
I stepped forward. “I came here to get Perris’s stuff, and I think I deserve some questions answered. Unless you’ve got something to hide.”
“I don’t have a damn thing to hide. Already made my statement to the cops.” He looked anxiously at Slade.
