Chapter 2, Fiery
Unusual
Heroes are sometimes the unexpected mixed with the expected. The Greatest team
of all is misfits of the vast differences of character. ~ Destarti
McQueen
Rain splashed on the glass only to be
swatted away by the windshield whippers, which seemed to be going to the beat
of the rock music being played in the vehicle.
London Kidd tapped her Land Rover’s
steering wheel as drove through the windy back road. Wet trees surrounded her
on either side. Alone in her car she could think or not if she choose.
It felt good to get away from work.
The last few weeks had been tough. There
had been lots of paperwork and reports to turn in. People didn’t realize how
work places really did deal in paper and ink. The thought that someone made
paper for a living was as crazy as thinking people went to college to file
paper for money.
Now London could let go and not feel
like a sponge. Soaking life in had been a little too much for three weeks. Life
and people could get to the point of no return in her book.
The drums and electric guitars blared
through her rover. Some people just didn’t get that it unwound nerves like
hers.
However she wasn’t going to exactly get
much rest on her trip. She was going to a school reunion, a reunion that she
wasn’t thrilled to be attending.
Pressing her lips together, London stopped
tapping to the music. Flashes came back to her mind.
Head
bashed into a locker.
Water.
Depth,
gasping for breath.
Face
slapped.
Blood
dripped onto the cold cement floor.
She reached down and rolled down the
window. The smell of rain wafted in. The sound was calming as was the spray
from the drops onto her face. Clutching the wheel, she tried to push the
memories out of her head.
Dark memories were back and she wasn’t
sure if she wanted to relive them, again. There were just too many of them.
When she had accepted the invitation, she didn’t get why she had. Nothing was
back there for her, there never had been.
She looked up into the mirror. Nervous
black eye liner brown eyes looked back at her. Going in blind was never her
first call in anything.
Her cell rang ‘the godfather’ theme
music. Sighing she clicked the answer button on her cd player. “Hey, there
Marko.” Her partner, the Italian mobster want-to-be. “How’s the trip been so
far?”
“Quiet.”
“Sure it has been,” Sarcasm dripped in
his heavy accented voice. “I bet you haven’t been playing any of your rock
music or let’s not forget the rap.”
London smiled. He had started to figure
her out after four years of working together. “I didn’t say I wasn’t listening
to music. What got you to give me a call at this time?”
“Well, I did want to check on you.”
“Marko, spill it.”
“Okay it is also work related.”
She knew it. “Yeah, so tell me.”
Marko’s chuckle floated through her
rover, making it a little lighter. “I knew you would want to know.”
London never felt too lonely with her
friend. He was good at taking down her defenses and easing the tension. That
day they first met was a pip and she never would forget it not like she really
forgot anything. They had been thrown together because people judged things
about them without trying them first. Now everyone wanted to be a part of their
work.
“I’m waiting, Marko?”
“Oh, right. I know your heading to your
school reunion and all, but something came up that may have to do with it.” He
paused and breathed.
“Go on.”
“Well, the local feds just found three
bodies. Looking into their histories and all, they found that they went to the
same school as you.” Weird there was no one who was from her town let alone her
school. “Now I couldn’t remember what
class you were from, so I don’t know if you would know them. High schools are
so big.”
“What class year?”
“2009.”
Chills ran down her back. London glanced
at the radio Bluetooth. No way, this
can’t be. Moments passed.
“I take it that was your class?”
“Yeah, yeah it was.” She found her voice
again. “What were the names of the victims?”
“There was a Devon Vance, Trent Avery,
and Sarah Beth Longmont.”
All three were daunting names from her
past. All of which she had been dreading to face back at school, but now all
three were dead.
“Kidd? Are you still there?”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“Are you okay?”
“Mm…what? Oh, yeah.” She cleared her
throat. “Do you know what happened?”
“As far as we can tell, they were
murdered.”
“Murdered!?” Her brow tightened. “How
and when.”
“The when was over two day period. Devon
was killed first by what the coroner told us. Then the next night was Trent and
Sarah Beth.”
Her agent juiced started coursing. “They
were night killings?”
“The times of their deaths point to it.”
“That’s interesting.” Her mind was
spinning to the past glued to the present events.
“The how is rather complicated.”
“Oh, how complicated can it be?”
“Enough to say the pictures are rather
graphic and the reality even worse. I would say an angry and insane man was working
on this.”
A tone in his voice gave off what he was
trying to say. “So are you sending or bringing me the files, Marko?”
There was silence for a minute or so.
“Which would you prefer to hear?”
She moistened her lips. “When are you
getting to town?”
“I should be there the day after
tomorrow,” he replied. London clearly heard the smile in his voice. “Check your
email as soon as you can. Try to find me a place to stay while you’re there.
Later, Kidd.”
Ending the call, London released the
music to play again. So much for escaping work, yet here it was. It always
managed to find her no matter the time or place. In a way she was relieved to
have something to do. The distraction was welcoming especially with the reunion
in her home town and all that was going to come with being back.
She turned down another side road.
