Overture (Rain Dance, Book 1) (Rain Dance Series) (63 page)

     
"Yeah.
It's the color of the sky right now."

     
"…Ah, I
see it! Oh, wow! It's like a mirage." She paused, pulling her head away to
glance at me. "That's how he found you, right? Your painting."

     
I nodded.
"It had been raining all day, but that evening the sun decided to come out
for a few minutes. The sky was full of fluffy golden clouds. It reminded me of
heaven. Actually, on evenings when the sky is colored with pinks and lilacs and
other pastel colors, the building looks almost like cotton candy."

     
"It sorta
sounds like some kind of magical wonderland," Jillian said dreamily.

     
About a minute
later, Dale returned and decided to put an end to our inner musings. "You
think anyone's ever jumped from here?"

     
"I doubt
they would be able to," Jillian answered, pointing towards the wire
fencing that would prevent any accidental falls.

     
"A baby
might fit."

     
"Fucking
hell, dude."

     
"You wanna
have lunch here?" he asked with a small chuckle. "There aren't too
many people, so we might not have too much trouble getting a table."

     
Just as its
name implied, the SkyCity restaurant rested at five hundred feet above the
ground. Not only did it have a panoramic view, but the damn place even rotated.
Okay, so it didn't move anywhere near the speed of light, but it was still
pretty bizarre. I much preferred the view of the lake instead of the city
during the daytime, but I had no doubt that I would feel differently once it
was dark outside. City lights sparkling in the night being one of my favorite
things, I vowed to come back here again one day for dinner.

     
Most of the
menu included seafood, which made sense considering how close the bay was. I
played it safe with yet another sandwich - chicken, of course. For dessert, I
opted for the chocolate cheesecake parfait. Coops had the white chocolate bread
pudding, and to finish off her grand Seattle experience, Jillian ordered the
famous Lunar Orbiter, which included two scoops of ice cream served on dry ice.
We may or may not have screamed quietly like little kids when it caused a
thick, white mist to begin dancing over the entire table.

     
By the time we
got home it was nearly three. Dale and I stayed in the living room with Jillian
while she packed her things.

     
"Maybe I
ought to move up here. You two seem to be doing super well," she said as
she expertly folded her new clothes to fit into her suitcase.

     
"You love
California," Dale reminded here gently.

     
"True. I
would certainly miss the weather. Although...it wasn't exactly pouring down
cats and dogs like I thought it would be over here."

     
"A myth.
This place gets less rain than people actually think it does."

     
"Rainy
season is basically here, though," I said excitedly.

     
"You and
your rain..." Jillian sighed. "Since I used my vacation time earlier
than planned, I might not be able to visit again until summertime."

     
"Baby and
I were talking about taking a trip back home to see you."

     
"Really?" She turned to me with hopeful eyes.

     
I could only
nod and smile back. Was I overreacting in thinking that it might be dangerous
for them? But either way, so long as there was even a small chance…After all,
that place was basically the home of where Wilhelm operated. So no Disneyland
for me unless I took matters into my own hands and found a way to blow the rest
of the world and all its underworld inhabitants to smithereens.

     
"God, I'm
going to miss you guys." Jillian heaved her body onto the couch.
"Let's play some cards one last time."

     
We were able to
get through two rounds of Go Fish before it was time to take her to the airport
in SeaTac. It was a twenty-five minute drive, most of which was spent singing
along to the radio. Her flight would be leaving at five-thirty, and we wanted
to make sure she had plenty of time. We sat with her during the wait, trying to
spend every last second together that we could. By the time they called out her
flight, we were all starting to get a little teary-eyed. It was a bittersweet
goodbye as the three of us formed into a group hug.

     
"Call or
text us when you land," Dale ordered.

     
"And then
again when you arrive home safely," I added.

     
Jillian
laughed, "Alright, mom and dad." She pulled away and picked up her
carry-on. "Keep looking out for each other while I'm away, okay?"

     
I tried to
smile. "Look out for yourself."

     
She smacked a
loud kiss on her fingers and waved them goodbye to us. "I will. Love you
guys! Talk to you soon!"

     
Dale held on to
my hand as we watched her leave. We waited until after her plane took off to go
home. It began to drizzle on the way back to the car. As soon as we got inside,
the change in the atmosphere was all too noticeable. The sunshine was gone and
the dreary gray had set in.

     
"It's so
quiet," I said.

     
"Yeah," he replied in a soft voice, looking out the window
thoughtfully. "…Well, I know what'll make it a little better." He
reached into his pocket for his phone and plugged it into the speakers. I
waited while he went through his playlist. Seconds later, 'Damn It Feels Good
To Be A Gangsta' filled the car.

     
I grinned. It
definitely helped. We were no Jillybean, but we did our best to sing along to
the best of our ability.

     
"I'm gonna
take a shower and maybe a quick nap," Dale yawned when we got home.
"Then I was thinking about ordering some Chinese later on. What do you
think?"

     
"Yes,
please."

     
"Oh, by
the way," he called from his room. "I'll be leaving next
Wednesday."

     
"…Already?" Though I guess by then it would have been a month
since he was last gone. "Where are you headed to this time?"

     
"Chicago.
I should only be gone for a few days. We're just going to do a check-in on the
site. It'll probably be about another two or three weeks before the job
officially starts. Not exactly sure how long a project it'll be yet."

     
"Chicago,
huh? That's pretty far."

     
He peeked his
head out of his bedroom door and smiled. "Yeah. All the more reason to
check in often and make sure you aren't throwing orgies or holding satanic
rituals."

     
"No
worries. There's no dungeon here so there's little point in having either of
those. Such parties require a certain kind of atmosphere, you know?"

     
While Coops
went to take his shower, I decided to upload the photos I'd taken onto my
laptop. I headed for my room, digging through my bag to pull my phone out. I
hadn't checked it since this morning. I was surprised to find three missed
calls from Ethan, plus one text:
Call me as soon as you get the chance.

     
It wasn't often
that he called me so I wondered if something was wrong. It was well after six
now, so he should have been finished with work. I dialed his number.

     
"Daphne," he answered after the second ring.

     
"Everything okay?" I asked.

     
There was a
brief pause before he answered. "Are you alright?" Aside from
sounding tired, I also noticed that he sounded slightly confused.

     
"Of
course. Why wouldn't I be okay?"

     
When the next
few seconds passed in silence, I knew something was wrong.

     
"I just
wanted to make sure," he finally replied. "Are you coming in to work
tomorrow?"

     
"Yes. Are
you
okay?"

     
"I just
wanted to hear your voice," he spoke quietly. "Jillian is gone,
then?"

     
"Yes. I
take it you were too busy to bother tracking me at all."

     
"...I may
or may not have noticed that you paid a visit to a certain landmark," he
admitted. I loved that he was using my little phrase now.

     
He won't
tell me what's wrong, though.
I leaned back in my seat and sighed.
Work,
maybe?
Whatever it was, I couldn't really help if he didn't want to open
up. But if my voice was what he wanted, I would just have to do what I could.

     
"I found
the Luxadigm in record time," I stated proudly. "Of course, I knew
what to look for, but I should still get props seeing as it's practically built
to camouflage itself. I also saw the Lunar Orbiter in action. Didn't know ice
cream could be so exciting."