Experiment in Terror 04 Lying Season (26 page)

That hot, wet feeling of tears appeared again at the corners of my eyes and I immediately looked up to the high ceiling and the lights.

“
I’m sorry,” she said quietly. She scooted her chair closer to me and put a slender arm around my shoulder. “It sucks. It’s stupid. I wish more than anything that you were with him, not her. He may be like an overgrown child at times, but there’s just something about you both that just…you belong together. That’s just what I think.”

“
I think so too,” I mumbled, and finished the rest of the martini in one go. She did the same and then grinned broadly, her face becoming aglow.

“
Hey, now that we’re all sappy and drunk, how about we do some shoe shopping? Let’s see if we can get something the Amish would spit on.”

A tiny smile tugged at my mouth. Despite the feeling of sorrow, the touch of truth I was trying to bury away, I still felt a layer of warmth around my heart, knowing there was someone who was on both our sides.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Rebecca pulled the car up to the apartment after our successful outing to the shoe store. It had taken me quite a while to settle on a pair of shoes for the Christmas party, especially since the shoe was a madhouse with sales and early shoppers beating the season’s rush, plus the amount of gorgeous shoes in that place was staggering, at least to someone like me.

Eventually I settled on a pair of shoes that would have made Ada proud. At least Rebecca looked impressed. They were stilettos but with a 1.5-inch platform so the angle wasn’t too unbearable. They were raspberry red, almost magenta, and a smooth suede. I knew they didn’t match the teal dress but I found the color combination intriguing. Plus they took me from 5’2” to 5’7” and the feel of that height was intoxicating. The only problem was they were slightly too big but Rebecca got me to buy toe pads to stick at the bottom so I wouldn’t fall out as easily.

I gathered up the shiny bag and glanced up at the apartment. I had texted Dex to let him know I was on my way but he hadn’t responded.

“
Well, thank you so much for lunch,” I told Rebecca.

“
No hugs goodbye?” she asked, looking hurt, her maroon-lined lips pouting.

I blushed, not used to random hugging, and leaned over in the car to hug her. As I did so, I caught of whiff of heady wildflowers and Jasmine in her hair.

“
Oh, before I forget!”she cried out and flipped open the console between us. She brought out a clear baggie of marijuana and put it on my lap.

“
That’s for Dex,” she said simply.

I eyed the bag of weed in my lap. There was at least a quarter pound of it. “Um, what?”

“
That’s what the money was for,” she said.

“
Um…”

“
He goes through stages. I guess because he’s quitting smoking that he’s doing this now. I don’t know. We used to hang out a lot of Dean’s place and smoke but Jenn got suspicious and uppity about it. So don’t show that to her. You’ll get him in deep shit.”

“
Okaaaay,” I said and placed the drugs in my purse, feeling paranoid and sketchy as I stepped out of the car and onto the rainy street.

I waved goodbye and was about to shut the door when she leaned forward.

“
Wait, what are you doing before the Christmas party on Friday?”

I shrugged impatiently, wanting to get inside. A young couple with a baby walked past and they gave me a funny look. Oh, they could totally tell I was packing.

“
How about I drop by before and we can get ready together. I’ll bring Emily. It’ll be fun.”

It did sound fun. I never really got to experience the whole “girls night out” primping ritual, even in college.

I smiled at her, feeling oddly touched and said, “That would be awesome.”

“
Perfect,” she said and wiggled her ivory fingers at me. “See you then!”

I shut the door and then she was off.

I checked my phone to see if Dex had texted back but there was nothing. They had better be home; otherwise, I was shit out of luck.

But when I buzzed their apartment, I was let in with another anonymous click.

Turns out they were both home. Jenn let me in, giving me a strange look.

“
I heard you went out for lunch with Becky,” she said. Her voice didn’t sound pleasant. It was almost jealous, if you could believe that. Then she spied the shoes.

“
And you went shopping! What did you get?”

I decided to indulge Jenn. I placed the bag on the kitchen counter and took out the shoes. While she oohed and aahed over them, I looked around for Dex. He was nowhere to be seen but the door to the den was closed. I wondered how he was doing. The fact that I had messed with his meds hadn’t left my mind all afternoon.

“
Where’s Dex?” I asked innocently.

She nodded at the room while rolling her eyes. “In there, working.”

She put the shoes back in the box and then looked me over, as if she couldn’t believe that I would be wearing them. Well, to be honest, I couldn’t really believe it either.

“
Are you going to break them in?” she asked.

I frowned. “Break them in?”

“
Yeah. You can’t just wear those straight out of the box, honey,” she said with an amused laugh and a hair toss. “You better start wearing them around the house. Today.”

I looked at the shoes like I was sizing up a new enemy. Who knew shoes came with so much responsibility?

“
Actually I have a great idea,” she said, smiling and taking a step closer to me. My instinct was to step back, away from her, but I held my ground and tried to match her grin, which was predatory in nature. “You and I should go out tonight.”

Now Jenn wanted to go out with me? What the hell was going on today?

“
Go out?” I repeated. “Like just us two?”

“
Yeah. There’s a new club that opened near Pioneer Square. I think it would be fun. We haven’t had a chance to get to know each other yet.”

Oh, God, this was the worst idea on earth. Clubbing with Jenn? I couldn’t imagine a greater hell.

“
I’m not really much of a club girl,” I admitted as politely as possible, hoping she got the hint.

“
Neither am I. I mean, look at me. I’m thirty-one. I’m way too old for that shit, but that’s why it’ll be fun. And then you get to break in your shoes too.”

I’d rather break in my shoes by standing in a pile of Fat Rabbit’s shit, but I didn’t say that. I had to wonder what the hell was in it for her.

She put her tawny hand on my shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. She looked me straight in the eyes. Hers were all glittery and emerald and doe-eyed. Damn her, was she trying to glam me or something?

“
I think it would make our man really happy if we did this,” she added.

I flinched. Our man? This was getting to be too much.

“
I’ll think about it,” I said and turned away from her, picking up my bag and heading over to the den before she said something else that made me want to punch her lights out.

I hesitated at the door and listened. I couldn’t hear Dex working away inside. I looked sideways at Jenn, who was watching me, her arms crossed, then I knocked.

No answer. I knocked again.

“
Dex?” I said loudly. Suddenly I had an image of him passed out on the floor, blood streaming from his nose, a tragic consequence of having played God with his medication. I pounded harder at that thought, the door rattling.

“
Dex!” I yelled.

Finally it swung open and Dex was looking at me, worried as anything, but alive.

“
What, what is it?” he said. He looked at me and then over at Jenn, who just shrugged at him and turned her attention to the fridge.

My heart was still beating fast but I gave him a look as nonchalant as possible. “Sorry, I didn’t think you could hear me.”

“
I had my earphones on,” he explained and opened the door wider for me.

I walked in and he took his seat at the computer. He was in the middle of editing the footage we took. I paused and gestured to the door.

“
Do you mind if I close the door?” I asked.

He was puzzled but didn’t protest when I did so. I was sure Jenn wasn’t going to be too happy about that.

I sat down on the bed as he turned in his chair to face me, leaning forward, elbows on his thighs, hands clasped.

“
What’s the problem? Are you OK?” he asked. His eyes roamed my face inquisitively.

“
Are you OK?” I blurted out.

“
I’m…OK. A bit dizzy, actually, and tired, but I’ve been staring at this fucking screen for the last few hours. Why? Do I look wonky?”

His eyes were a bit droopy, now that he mentioned it. But I was relieved to see that he seemed to be functioning relatively normally. And I knew that the dizziness was just the Valium working through him. He would have had to take another dose of his pills while I was gone.

“
You look fine. But I have something for you.”

I reached into my purse and pulled out the baggie of weed. I held it in the air without giving it to him. His eyes lit up.

“
Ah, my sweet Rebecca,” he said and reached for it.

I held it back. “No. First, tell me why you’re buying a quarter pound of pot.”

His mouth twisted into a confused smirk. “For the same reason I buy 26 ounces of Jack Daniels?”

“
So you quit smoking but you’re smoking pot instead now. How does that work?”

“
I don’t know, Perry Mason. It’s something to smoke. Since when did you become a narc?”

“
I’m not a narc,” I said, looking down at my feet, but couldn’t find anything to add to that. The truth was, I didn’t really have a problem with him smoking pot. It was the fact that he would be doing so while on Valium, missing meds and taking the rest of his mystery pills. But I couldn’t say anything about that without blowing my cover.

“
Perry?”

I looked up at him. He leaned in closer to me.

“
What’s wrong?” He reached over with his hand for my knee. I moved it out of the way.

“
Nothing, sorry. I guess I’m just weird about drugs now.”

“
As you should be. Just don’t worry about me, OK, kiddo?”

I nodded and then gave him his weed. I wondered if he was going to place it in yet another hollowed-out book but instead he just stuck it in the top drawer of his desk. Interesting how it wasn’t as secret as his meds.

“
So how was the lunch?” he asked.

“
Great. Rebecca is…really cool.”

“
I knew you guys would hit it off,” he said with a knowing grin and turned the chair to face the computer. “I’ve been going through our stuff and it’s looking fucking rad so far. Still waiting to hear back from Dr. Hasselback about tomorrow night, though. We don’t have quite enough here for an episode but what we do have is fucked up. Take a look at the handprint.”

I got up and peered over Dex’s shoulder at the screen. His black, shiny hair smelled like shampoo and some natural musk of his. I’m ashamed to admit that I closed my eyes for a split second and breathed it in deeply like a love-struck weirdo.

I turned my attention to the screen before Dex caught on. The handprint that we saw through the screen last night looked really good and bright on the computer. Clear as day, almost.

Then Dex zipped the edits back and showed me the shots that the camera got from being propped up on the sink inside the room. You could clearly see the doorknob turning back and forth. Of course, even though we knew we were the only ones there, it was one of those shots where the audience would probably assume it was faked.