Chapter 5
Travis hadn’t always had such a strong urge to smash things. But lately, demolition days were his favorite. He wielded a sledgehammer with satisfaction, taking his frustrations out on doomed walls and rotted porch steps.
Keely was there at the edge of things, her copper-bright hair a constant distraction.
Her hair haunted him, and her eyes were even worse. One look into her glass-green irises fringed by red gold lashes, and his heart tried to jump from his chest. His gaze got stuck, and he struggled to remember all of the reasons why he needed to give his best friend”s sister a wide berth.
Lately, he avoided looking into her eyes at all.
He had forgotten that for just a moment the night before, and all night he’d been plagued by dreams of her. It was a welcome change from his usual nightmares but equally problematic in its own way.
He set the sledgehammer down and went to get a glass of lemonade. He’d timed it strategically, going to the refreshments table when Keely was nowhere in sight. But as soon as he had a full glass in his hand, she appeared on the other side of the table.
She gave him a glancing look without acknowledging his presence and hurried to pull together a sandwich. He drank his lemonade, watching from the corner of his eye as she carried the sandwich to Nat and convinced her to eat.
Nat seemed to be everywhere at once on the construction site, often from dawn until dusk, and Chloe usually had to remind her to eat. It looked like Keely had taken up the gauntlet that day. Chloe had manned the table early in the day but had gone home to rest after lunch.
”Keely, you made it!” Willa’s voice rose above the general clamor as she hurried to embrace her new friend.
Pelican Point loved Keely.
Well, sure. Why wouldn’t they?
”She’s been here all day,” Nat said through a mouthful of food. ”Hauling trash and making sandwiches.”
”And washing my hands in between,” Keely said with a laugh. ”Luckily the place still has one working sink.”
”Are you here for me to put you to work?”
”I can’t stay,” Willa said. ”I just came by to pick Mac up. We’re meeting his parents in San Francisco for a late lunch.”
”Baking extravaganza tomorrow?” Keely asked.
”Absolutely! I bought all of the ingredients from the recipes you sent me, and the kids went wild picking out sprinkles and stuff. They’re so excited.”
”Awesome. I’ll see you then.”
Willa walked past, arm in arm with Mac, and Travis realized that he had been standing next to the refreshments table with an empty cup in his hand for a long stretch of time, straining to hear Keely’s conversation without even being aware of what he was doing. He slammed the cup down, making the platters of food shake, and stalked away.
He passed a couple of young guys on his way back to the work site – high school students trying to puff up their college applications, or maybe students from the local community college earning credit for their mandatory volunteer work. They tended to stand around gossiping without doing much.
”I heard that he got mixed up with the mafia,” one of them said.
The other made a raspberry-like sound. ”There’s no mafia in Pelican Point.”
”Not in Pelican Point, but close.”
”No way. Probably just some small-time drug dealer. Deal went wrong, and the guy pushed him off the cliff.”
”What about the knife wounds, though?”
”So there was a scuffle first.”
Travis swallowed back the sour taste that rose in his throat. They were talking about Adam. Still. He was so tired of hearing people talk about it.
He hefted a sledge hammer and swung it through the air, sending it into a wall with a satisfying crash. He swung it again and again, relishing the impact that reverberated through his body at the sight of the crumbling plaster.
Nat was nearly on top of him by the time he heard her shouting.
”Travis! Drop the sledgehammer.”
”Huh?” He turned to look at her, lowering the heavy tool.
”We were planning on keeping that wall.” Her voice was a low growl.
Remorse hit him like a shockwave. ”Oh no.”
”Oh yes. What is going on with you?”
When he didn’t answer right away, she just waved her hand and shook her head.
”Get out of here, Travis. Come back when you’ve got your head on straight.”
”I’m sorry, Nat.”
”It’s fine. Go pull yourself together. You know where to find us.”
He walked home in a daze, took a quick shower, and collapsed. He slept past sunset, catching up on some of the REM sleep he’d missed out on ever since the incident. It was past eight when he woke up, and he hurried to the bar.
The place was packed, and the only bartender on duty was a bit wild-eyed as he tried to keep up with it all. He gave Travis a quick, grateful look as he took his place behind the bar.
Usually Scot took the helm when things were this busy, but he was nowhere to be seen.
He worked double-speed to get them caught up on orders, filling pint glasses with both hands as he chatted with regulars on the other side of the bar. It was an immense relief to dive into the busyness of eight o’clock on a Friday night and leave his own worries at the door.
Or… almost. He felt normal enough to maintain a veneer of his usual charm. Below that, though, his worries still gnawed at his gut like rats.
As he worked, he spotted a few of the guys who used to come in every week and drink with Adam. They had always been an obnoxious group, loud and rowdy. Just seeing them put the hair up on the back of his neck, but he forced himself to stay moving and look away from the corner table that they had claimed.
They had no idea that he had been there that night. They were no threat to him.
He just had to keep moving forward.
Once everyone had their drinks, he left the other bartender to man the ship for a moment while he went in search of something to eat. There was a still warm plate of fries on the counter that some customer had sent back because they were dotted with tiny pieces of parsley, so he wolfed those down and then went to check on Scot.
”You are here,” he said lightly when he opened the door to the office and peeked in.
”You should be at the bar.” That slight, almost imperceptible slur was back in Scot’s voice again, and he looked more tired than Travis had ever seen him. Travis stepped into the office and shut the door behind him.
”Scot,” he started, but Scot interrupted him.
”I know that I look like something the cat puked up. I don’t need you telling me.”
”Is there anything I can do?”
”You can get back out there and man the ship.”
”All right.” He was halfway out the door when Scot spoke again.
”I’ll call the doctor’s office on Monday.”
”Good,” Travis said simply. He looked back at Scot with a worried smile, and then he left the office and shut the door behind him.
Things were getting backed up again at the bar, so he dove back into the fray.
He was making a mojito when a woman pushed her way through the crowd and stood at the bar directly in front of him. He glanced up at her face, and his heart stopped. Stopped for a full second before it began to be again. For another few seconds, he was wondering if he was hallucinating, or if he was still at home asleep, having a nightmare. Then she spoke.
”I found you.” She seemed pleased with herself. If her face hadn’t been so firmly etched into his conscience, he might not have recognized her. She looked worlds better than she had that night.
That night in the woods, she’d had streaks of mascara all down her face. That was what he had remembered most: two black eyes like a raccoon. He couldn’t tell if it was makeup or bruises or both. Her hair was a mess, and she had been all scratched up.
The scratches were still there. Almost invisible now, like white lines on her skin – the ghosts of past hurts. She had healed quickly.
”It’s me,” she said when he didn’t reply.
”I know,” he said gruffly.
”I’m two weeks clean,” she added proudly. ”No alcohol for me, but I’ll take a ginger ale.”
He refused to look into the corner where Adam‘s friends sat, but he was excruciatingly aware of them. Were they watching?
What if they recognized her? What if they saw them together?
He handed off the mojito and looked at the girl.
”Follow me,” he said in a voice too low to reach any ears but hers. He led her through the crowd, past the bar, and into the small hallway that led to Scot’s office.
”What are you doing here?” he asked.
”I just wanted to see you.” Her gaze went from hopeful to hurt, and her lower lip stuck out in a pout. He doubted that she was more than twenty years old.
”How did you know where to find me?”
”I saw you. Last week, I came to dinner with some friends, and I saw you. I didn’t want to talk to you in front of them, so I came back.” She swallowed, and her carefully manicured eyebrows pulled together in a frown. ”I wanted to thank you. For saving me.”
Travis took a deep breath and put a hand over his eyes. ”I don’t even know your name.”
She brightened. ”Rachel.”
”Rachel,” he repeated. ”I looked for you that night.”
”I ran when you told me to. I got lost. Eventually I found the road. Or a road. It wasn’t the one we’d driven in on, I don’t think. But I was so messed up, I don’t even know.” She took a deep breath and continued, ”A car came along, and a nice old lady drove me all the way to my parents’ house. They got me cleaned up.”
”You shouldn’t come here,” he said gently. ”We shouldn’t be seen together.”
”Why?” Her dark eyes were huge, like a bunny’s. ”You saved my life.”
”It was big news,” he said as if explaining something to a child. Which he essentially was. ”They’re still looking for… the person who did what I did.”
”But what if we just told the truth? It was self-defense. It was an accident. Right?”
”I’m not convinced a judge would see it that way.”
”Oh.” Her lower lip came out again as she thought over what he had said. Then she looked up at him and smiled. ”Okay. If you say so. My lips are sealed.”
”Yeah?” he asked, unconvinced.
”Of course.”
”Great.” He tried to keep the exasperation out of his voice. ”I’d appreciate it if you didn’t come here again.”
”But Bruce came to my house,” she said with fresh worry. ”That’s the other reason I wanted to talk to you.”
A chill went up Travis’ spine. ”Who?”
”Bruce. Adam‘s friend. He just showed up, asking questions about Adam. I didn’t know what to say. I’m scared he’ll come back. Or the cops will. He said they’ve been picking up other girls who knew Adam, asking them questions.”
”What did you say?” he asked tersely.
”Nothing. I told him that I hadn’t seen Adam in months.” She looked down and scuffed at the floor with one pointed shoe. ”I’m not sure he believed me.”
So Adam‘s friends were sniffing around. The police too, if Bruce could be believed.
Had his drinking buddies spotted Rachel?
Would they tip off somebody more dangerous?
”Don’t come here again,” he said. ”I’ll meet you at Half Moon Bay tomorrow, how about that?”
”But I’m going out of town tomorrow. I’m going to Lake Tahoe with my parents. ”
He took a breath. ”When do you get back?”
”We’ll be gone for a week.”
”Okay, then a week from tomorrow. The Leaky Spoon in Half Moon Bay, six o’clock.”
”Okay.” She smiled nervously.
Travis opened a side door and ushered her out. A sudden kick of conscience pushed him out the door with her, and he walked her across the dark parking lot to her car.
”Thanks,” she said. ”For everything.”
”Enjoy Tahoe,” he said, his voice tired.
After everything that had happened, his mind felt blank with exhaustion.
He was glad that she was going away with her parents. It would give him a week to think things over and figure out what was next.