Beneath Devil's Bridge(61)
The pub is buzzing, and we’re all pumped to burn off steam. A local band plays on a small stage, and the music is loud and upbeat. Bikers and cops mix with loggers and climbers and other local townsfolk. Chief Ray has commandeered a long table of thick wood and is ordering beers and whiskeys and pizza for us all.
Bella with the big hair is opening a bottle of sparkling wine. She shrieks as the cork explodes out of the bottle and fizz spouts over the table. Tucker hurries to put champagne flutes under it.
Ray takes my arm, leans his mouth near my ear. “Your dad would be proud, Rache. This is exactly what you were cut out for.”
I smile and accept a glass of bubbly from Bella. Ray’s words mean more to me than he can imagine. I want desperately to do my dad proud. To prove I have the mettle. Especially after he and my mom supported me as a young mother going through police training. My life goal is to follow in his footsteps and lead the PD, this town, into the future after Ray retires. Luke scoots over on the bench to make room for me at the table. As I slide in beside him, my thigh presses against his. His muscles are solid. His body is warm. Everything about Luke is solid and warm. Comfortable and strong. I glance at his face. His eyes meet mine. For a moment we are locked in an instantly private and silent bubble, erotic, suspended in time. My skin tingles. I feel heat in my belly. I swallow, break his gaze, and raise my glass along with the others, but the feeling of electricity still crackles through me.
“Well done, everyone,” says Ray.
As the drinking and revelry and raucous joking progress, as the alcohol takes effect, I find myself falling into myself and going quiet. I’m worried about Maddy again. I should have gone straight home. But it’s late, and she’ll be in bed anyway, and tomorrow will be a new day with no more working on the Leena Rai case. I know the trial will come. And so will the associated tension with Maddy being deposed and testifying. But that could be a year out, or more, from now.
Tomorrow Luke and I will visit with Leena’s parents. Tomorrow I will turn all my free attention to Maddy’s needs.
But there is more. Something deeper down that cooks silently inside me.
My mind returns to the photo I took from Maddy’s drawer. The one that is now in an envelope and locked in a box of my own things. I think of the locket. And of Leena’s beautiful written words, so full of longing and exploration. And I wonder where the rest of that journal is now. On further questioning, Clay couldn’t answer that question for us. When Luke asked him if Leena had been wearing that locket we found in her hair, he said he couldn’t recall. He couldn’t explain to my satisfaction the thermal burns on Leena’s face, either. He said he thinks he must have lit some of Leena’s cigarettes from her backpack and done it.
My pondering turns to Liam Parks. And his allegedly stolen camera and film. I take another sip of sparkling wine, then tense as I feel Luke’s hand on my thigh.
“You okay?”
His mouth is close. He needs to lean forward so I can hear him over the music and rambunctious laughter and chatter around the table. My body goes hot in spite of my cool inner thoughts and lingering questions. I watch his lips as he speaks. For a moment I can’t breathe. I clear my throat and say, “I . . . was just thinking . . . there are loose ends. Like where is her journal?”
“They’ll be resolved. When this goes to trial, I’m sure all these things will come out in discovery, and via testimony in the court case itself.”
I nod.
“Want to get out of here?”
I hesitate. I should know better. But I say yes.
We take our leave, and as we step out into the bracing cold, we see the night sky is clear and full of stars. An icy wind blasts off the sea. It clears my head.
“I should go home.”
He looks disappointed, but just briefly. “Yeah, I could do with some sleep, too. I’ll walk you to your car.”
“When are you heading back to the city?” I ask as we proceed down the sidewalk.
“I’ll check out of the motel tomorrow. Drive back after we’ve gone to see Pratima and Jaswinder. I can tie anything else up from the Surrey office.” We enter a short alley that leads between buildings to the parking lot on the other side. It’s dark. Shadowed. He hesitates. I stop to look at him. Moonlight catches his strong profile. His eyes glint in the light.
“Want to come to the motel, for a nightcap?”
I open my mouth, then shut it.
Luke takes my hand. Logic deserts me. He draws me closer, and I let him. He tilts up my chin, whispers over my lips, “Come back to the motel, Rachel.”
He bends closer, and I lean up and kiss him. At first it’s tentative, then suddenly it’s fierce, wild, blinding. He’s cupping my buttocks, drawing my pelvis hard against his. His tongue is in my mouth, and my hand goes between his thighs. I feel the erect length of him, and my legs seem to melt. A groan escapes his throat as he leans his erection into my hand.
A light suddenly shines at the end of the alley. Headlights flare brightly on us, exposing us like actors in a spotlight on a dark stage. A raccoon scuttles away and tins clatter. The car turns, and the headlights pan away. I tense, pull back, heart hammering, reality slamming back into my brain.
The sound of the vehicle fades into the distance. I should go home. I need to go home. I must. But to what? Maddy, who is sound asleep? Jake, who no longer loves me, and in some ways started the process of abandoning our marriage, our partnership, months ago?