16. Chapter 16
Danzig
Saturday morning, Bec declared that she had to study. She said we could stay, but only if we remained quiet and didn’t bother her. We were both good at self-entertaining, so we got comfortable.
For the next hour, I watched my mate pretending to study.
It was clear that she was deeply distracted. She would stare at her computer screen, click a few things, then shuffle papers, open a book, close it, then go back to the computer. It was as if she couldn't focus on any one topic very long.
Marduk was sitting peacefully on the couch, head back and earbuds in. He was probably listening to his favorite opera. He’d badgered me into going to many shows over the years. I usually fell asleep. It was one of the rare joys we didn’t share.
It would be interesting to see Bec’s reaction when Marduk got the courage to introduce her to his favorite operas.
But that was for another day. Today I wanted to do something fun with Bec, especially since she was growing visibly frustrated with the work materials in front of her.
I leaned back and moved the window curtain far enough to accommodate my phone. I took a picture of the beautiful blue sky outside, dotted with a few fluffy clouds.
Even though it was slightly out of focus, I opened PixUs and sent it. She grabbed her phone the moment it chimed, eager to do anything but study. When she saw the DM from me, she grinned and looked up.
“I don’t see any shapes in the clouds,” I said, referencing the picture of an elephant shaped cloud picture I’d sent a few days ago.
“No shapes to find,” I said. “I only wanted to show you what a pretty day it was outside.”
She glanced past me to the window. “I guess.”
“It’s too pretty to stay inside all day,” I said. “We should go up the coast and have lunch in San Juan Capistrano.”
“I really need to study,” she said, but it was clear she was tempted by my words. “I’m already behind schedule.”
I tilted my head. “Whose schedule?”
“I have worked it all out on how many hours and days I have to study to take the next bar exam,” she said.
“And if you miss that date, will there never be another one?” I asked.
“They’re offered every February and July,” she said.
“So there’ll be another one,” I said.
She did a strange half nod, half shake of her head. It was adorable. “Yes, but I’d have to wait a long time.”
“You seem very set on getting your California state credentials," I said, sitting forward in my seat. “Help me understand your process. Do you have plans to open a practice soon?”
She let out a long sigh and shut one of the books. “Honestly, I’m not sure I want to go back to being the same lawyer I was back in South Dakota. Helping people with their prenuptial agreements, wills, and power of attorneys was fine, but I feel like I want to do something more challenging.”
That explained the underlying restlessness I’d felt coming from her over the last two months.
“That’s not surprising. You should talk to Rissa,” I said.
“She assists a lot of people with things like finding housing, jobs, and getting enrolled in programs. She’d know where your talents would be the most useful.
But the important thing is that none of it needs to happen on a strict timeline.
You’re trying to enjoy life more, remember? ”
She rubbed her hands over her face. “Adventure. I'm supposed to be more adventurous.” Her words were muffled by her hands, but I heard the frustration. “I'm turning into the same old me. I can't fix myself!”
“Hey, look at me.”
She dropped her hands to the table with a thump. “What?”
I sat forward in my chair and gave her a big, confident grin. “You’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself. Isn't that what the old Bec did?”
“I know,” she grumbled.
“I have a solution,” I said. When she gave me an expectant look, I continued. “What could be more adventurous than riding on the back of a motorcycle? It’s as close as you'll get to feeling like you’re flying without wings.”
I could tell she was close to agreeing to go so I tossed in a last temptation. “I could give you a lesson on riding.”
She gave her study materials and computer one last look, then shut the laptop with a decisive click. “Yes! We're doing this. Lunch is my treat.”
I reached a foot out and tapped Marduk’s leg. He opened his eyes and pulled out an earbud. “What?”
“We’re taking Bec for a ride,” I told him.
He jumped up, excitement on his face. “Yes!”
Bec chuckled at his enthusiasm. “Let me go change,” she said. She was wearing lounging shorts and flip-flops.
“Jeans and boots,” I instructed. “Hiking boots are fine.”
“I’ve got a pair,” she said, standing and heading up the stairs. Marduk and I faced each other.
“Who gets to ride with her first?” he asked.
I held up my hands. “Rock, paper, scissors?”
It took three times before there was a clear winner. Marduk got her first, then me. I didn’t mind. I’d already won by being the brother who convinced her to take a break.
“I’m going to take Hugo out before we go,” Marduk said.
“I’ll get the jacket and helmet we bought for her,” I said. “I put them in the guest room so they wouldn’t get dirty by spending all day and night strapped to the back of your bike.”
Today was going to be a good day. I could feel it.
Bec
When Danzig said riding a motorcycle was as close to flying as you could get without wings, he’d been right!
The scenery whizzed by as we hit the on-ramp to the freeway heading north. I was safely tucked behind Marduk, my arms around his waist and my body shielded by his bulk. Despite the speed and the risk, I felt nothing but excitement.
I’d always wanted to ride a motorcycle, but never acted on the impulse because it was too dangerous. Now that I was enjoying this intense sense of speed and freedom, I wished I’d tried this sooner.
The wind was strong and when I peeked my head out from behind Marduk’s broad back, I felt it pushing at me. I was thankful for the full-face helmet the guys had let me borrow, especially when a big fat bug smacked into the clear face plate over my eyes.
Eww!
I giggled. The sound activated the communicator linking all our helmets together.
“Having fun?” Danzig asked.
“I have bug guts slowly sliding off my helmet,” I answered.
Marduk chuckled. “I’ll clean it off at the next stop.”
Three more bugs hit my helmet, and I tucked my head back behind Marduk.
“Bug guts everywhere!” I exclaimed with a laugh.
“I’m getting hit too,” Marduk said. “But don’t worry, they won’t affect the ride.”
I didn’t think anything as small as some bug juice would bother him, but I’m glad he said that.
“Remember when we hit that swarm in Oregon?” Danzig asked. “That was the worst.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“We were so covered that we were dripping green juice,” Marduk said.
I made an exaggerated gagging sound. “That sounds horrible.”
“It felt good to get into a shower at the end of the ride,” Danzig said. “And then I took my gear off!”
The mental image of Danzig walking into a shower with all his clothing and motorcycle jacket on made me grin.
Marduk and I were riding in front and Danzig was behind us. The freeway followed the coast, and I could smell the briny sea air as we zipped along. Marduk skillfully moved through traffic but never made me feel unsafe.
I knew one word from me would slow him down or have him pulling off the road to give me a break. It made the ride feel like I wasn't simply a passenger but a participant even though I wasn't in control of either one of the bikes.
“This is amazing!” I said as we caught a section of freeway without too many cars and Marduk twisted the throttle, sending us sailing forward.
“We should take you into the mountains,” Danzig said. “That’s way more fun than the freeway.”
“Let's do that after lunch!” I said.
“Deal!” both of them answered at the same time.
As we rode, the brothers kept up a constant chatter, identifying cars changing lanes, spotting holes in the traffic, and a few snide remarks about drivers who weren’t paying attention. Some of the things they said, like the term “cagers” referring to people riding in cars, made me laugh.
By the time we parked in front of a popular cafe with a view of the ocean, I was ready to pull the helmet off. The ride had been fun, but I’d never worn anything more than a bicycle helmet before and the braid I’d put my hair up in was hurting.
“Oh, that’s better!” I sighed the moment Marduk helped me get it off. I tugged at the elastic holding the braid together and unraveled it.
“Did the helmet hurt?” Marduk asked at the same time as Danzig rushed off his bike to tug the helmet out of Marduk’s hand and examine the inside.
“There’s no scorpions in there,” I said with a grin, running my fingers through my loose hair. “Today I learned not to wear a braid with a motorcycle helmet, that’s all. Or at least not a French braid. It made a pressure point at the top of my head and was uncomfortable.”
They both nodded, and Danzig spoke. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think of that.”
Impulsively, I grabbed his jacket front and tugged him down. I gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “We live and learn. I’m sure it’ll be fine now that the braid is out.”
He looked surprised and pleased by the kiss, putting his fingers to his mouth as if we hadn’t kissed so deeply that we played with each other’s tonsils last night at the party.
"That's the first time you’ve voluntarily kissed me,” he murmured. “You weren't teasing or trying to distract me. You kissed me to show affection.”
I felt a little guilty. Sure, the guys had been obnoxious before, but now we had an understanding.
I took his hand in mine. “There'll be more kisses in the future.”
“Do I get a kiss?” Marduk asked.
I crooked a finger at him, and he leaned over. I gave him the same kiss, then grabbed his hand in my free one. It felt as good today as it had last night.
“Oh hell yes, you go girl,” a woman passing by shouted at us.
I snorted and the men beamed.
“Let’s get food, I’m starving!” I said, and we all walked into the cute cafe together.
We were quick to be seated. It only took a glance over the menu for me to decide on the eggs benedict. We all ordered and chatted about where to ride next.
When the food arrived, we all went silent as we devoured our meals. About halfway through, my phone dinged. I pulled it out to finally find a DM from a PixUs account I didn’t follow.
RealEstateGale
I can see you have the dog in your pictures. Meet me here in 1 hour to give the dog back.
That was followed by an address. I frowned and looked at the account. It had been created today and had one post of a house that looked like it had been taken from a real estate site.
TheNewMe888
I’ve been trying to call and text you. Why haven’t you answered me?
RealEstateGale
My phone account was hacked. It’s locked down right now.
I haven't been able to get it back yet. I have a new number but I couldn’t get access to any of my old information.
It didn’t take long to find you on this app when I found out you worked for Masel Investigations.
You’ve posted about your job a few times.
Now I was sure this wasn’t Gale. She already knew I worked for them. She had met me at the office!
“You’re making annoyed sounds, what’s going on?” Marduk asked. He was sitting across from me and Danzig was next to me. I turned my phone so Marduk could see it, then showed it to Danzig.
“Gale is the woman who hired you to find Hugo, right?” Danzig asked. I nodded. “Then that makes no sense.”
I set my phone down and thought about it.
“We know three things for sure. One is that this isn’t Gale.
Two is that Gale’s phone has been off, at least since I found Hugo.
Third is that Lief is dead. The question is; are all these things connected, and if so, how?
And why does everyone want Hugo? I mean, he’s cute and all, but he’s an average dog.
He doesn’t seem worth stealing, then hiring me to find him, then pretending to be someone else to get him. ”
“It’s all a big mystery," Danzig said, then looked at his brother and grabbed his wrist across the table. They had one of their silent conversations and Marduk finally nodded.
“You’re right,” he said.
“Danzig is right about what?” I asked.
Marduk popped the last half of a spring roll in his mouth as Danzig talked.
“This is a mystery and we’re investigators,” he said.
Excitement made me sit up straight. “So we’re going to the address to find out who is pretending to be Gale?”
“We are not taking Hugo!” Marduk warned.
“No, of course not,” I said. “Until we figure this out, he’s not going anywhere. Not even if Gale finally contacts me.”
It only took me a few taps to map the address. I held up the phone again, displaying the route. “It’s not far from here. We could drive by first and see if there’s anything obviously wrong.”
“Like someone dragging a body wrapped in trash bags from the front door to a car trunk?” Danzig teased.
“Something like that,” I agreed. “Or maybe a bloody hammer on the front lawn or a trapdoor with a pit trap built into the front porch.”
As Danzig chuckled, Marduk frowned.
“One of us goes to the door first, and you stay with the other, on a bike, with the engine running,” he declared.
I didn’t care about the extra rules. The guys were far tougher than me and could always turn into almost indestructible serpents.
“Sure, you can knock first,” I agreed. As long as I got answers I didn’t mind them going in ahead of me. “Hurry and finish eating, we have clues to follow!”