3 Buried Leads (6 page)

Surprisingly, things went fairly smoothly after Eliot managed to defuse the situation with the mere threat of violence – and his really large biceps. He didn’t actually say he would hurt them, but I noticed that Steve’s brothers were watching him warily from their spot on the couch for the rest of the afternoon. I doubted he sweet talked them, but he was silent on whatever motivation he had provided for their sudden compromising behavior.

It didn’t take too long to load Sally’s stuff in the van – although moving furniture through the restaurant did prove troublesome when Eliot and Derrick started arguing about the best way to navigate the narrow hallway that led upstairs.

After a solid four hours of work, though, the job was complete and Eliot and I were on our way back to the city. The ride was actually fairly quiet – especially given the afternoon’s excitement. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Well, my mom likes you now.”

“Does that make me less attractive to you?”

“Why would you ask that?”

“I get the feeling that you get off on driving your mom crazy. If she likes me, that’s one less thing you can needle her with.”

He had a point.

“You’re still attractive,” I assured him. “I just wish you would have taken your shirt off so she could see your tattoos.”

“Next time,” Eliot promised.

I hadn’t brought up the fact that he’d referred to himself as my boyfriend. I figured it wasn’t necessary. I wasn’t exactly looking to date anyone else – and he seemed relatively content with the fact that I wasn’t boring. That was good enough for me right now.

When we got to my house, I was surprised to see a lone figure sitting on the front porch. As we pulled into the driveway, I could make out the small frame of my cousin,
Lexie.

“Guess she’s out of rehab,” Eliot grimaced.

“Don’t give her a hard time,” I warned him.

“Fine,” he said shortly.

We exited his truck and I walked over to Lexie. She was standing by the time I got to her. “Did they let you out, or are there people in uniforms looking for you because you escaped?”

I was going for levity, but it actually turned out to be a more serious question than I initially envisioned.

“I completed my full thirty days,” Lexie said dismissively. She didn’t look very happy for a woman that had just finished an important milestone in her life.

“How do you feel?” I asked cautiously.

“Fine,” she said noncommittally. A worrisome thought rushed through my mind. I had a feeling that Lexie’s sudden sobriety wasn’t going to be long lived – especially if I couldn’t get her focused on something else pretty quickly.

“What are you doing here?” Eliot asked.

“I need a place to stay,” Lexie answered shortly. “Can I sleep on your couch until I find a place?”

“Sure,” I answered. I never could say no to her. At least if she was staying here I’d be able to control some of what she did.
Crap, that is something my mom would think.

I heard Eliot clear his throat beside me. Thankfully, he didn’t say anything. He just gave me a worried glance instead.

“Are you dating him now?” Lexie gestured to Eliot as she slipped a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. It had gotten longer. In fact, it looked like she needed a good trim.

“Yes,” I said truthfully.

At 4’11” tall, Lexie was slight. She glanced up at Eliot’s face and regarded him for a moment. “If you don’t want me to stay here, I won’t.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You’re obviously having sex. I don’t want to crimp your style.”

“How am I obviously having sex?”

“You look a lot more relaxed than the last time I saw you,” Lexie said simply.

“The last time you saw me we were almost blown up because one of your friends brought a nitrous tank to a gun fight,” I reminded her.

“And I was shot,” Eliot added.

I gave him a sidelong look. He really wasn’t helping matters. He must have sensed that, so he took a step back. “I guess I’ll leave you two to catch up,” he said finally. He didn’t look thrilled with the prospect.

“That’s probably a good idea,” I said.

I followed him over to his truck. Things were suddenly awkward. “Thanks for all your help,” I said lamely.

Eliot smirked. He kissed me quickly, wrapping his arms around me for a second and then pulling away. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said. He climbed into his truck and then turned back to me. “If something happens, call me right away.”

“What do you think is going to happen?”

“With her around? Anything is possible.”

“We’ll be fine,” I promised him. I actually didn’t know what he was so worried about. The odds of something exploding again were relatively long – especially since the last incident was barely a month old.

I led Lexie into the house. She was unusually quiet – even for her. When we got inside, she helped herself to a pop in the refrigerator and plopped down on the couch with a dramatic sigh.

“What’s wrong?”

“What isn’t wrong?”

I waited for her to continue. The whole family is dramatic, but
Lexie could win an Academy Award.

“I have no serious boyfriend. No job. No prospects of any kind. I have a GED. My mom acts like she’s proud I went to rehab, but I know she’s really disappointed in the whole thing. Derrick won’t even talk to me. And now I’m sleeping on your couch and infringing on the only sex you’ve had in years.”

“It won’t be forever,” I prodded, ignoring her sex comment. Actually, I figured three weeks would be my absolute limit. “What do you want to do?”

“I want to be a soap opera actress, but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” she said bitterly.

I could see her point. “Why don’t you aim lower – just to start.”

“Like what?”

“I was at Starbucks the other day and they’re looking for a barista.” She had worked for Starbucks several times over the past few years. I figured she probably wouldn’t have a hard time getting rehired.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “That’s probably a good idea.” She didn’t sound too thrilled at the prospect. I didn’t blame her.

“Just do it until you get back on your feet. Then we’ll think of something else.”

Lexie
nodded and stared at the television as I flipped it on and turned it to Soap Net. We both love
General Hospital
. There is nothing a good dose of Luke, Laura and their extravagant adventures can’t fix.

“I’m glad Genie Francis came back,”
Lexie said finally. “The show hasn’t been the same without her.”

“Me, too.”

We lapsed into silence a few minutes. I could tell Lexie was mulling something over in her mind. I could only hope it was something reasonable, and not like the time when she decided that she wanted to run away from home and join the circus because she thought she could be freak on the sideshow circuit because she was so short.

“I’ve always wanted to teach yoga,” she said finally.

“Have you ever taken a yoga class?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” She looked incredulous.

“I just think you have to actually know the right positions to be able to teach them,” I said calmly.

“So, I’ll take a class.”

“I think you have to be a certified instructor to be able to teach,” I said. Talking to Lexie is like talking to a toddler, I swear.

“How hard can it be to become a certified instructor?”

I had no idea. Lexie had the attention span of a gnat, though, so I doubted she would be able to complete even the basic courses – let alone the advanced. Plus, it’s not exactly like anyone in our family can be called overtly athletic. Watching
The Biggest Loser
is usually enough of a workout for me.

“Why don’t you get a job at Starbucks, take a class and then see how that goes?”

“Of course,” Lexie scoffed. “I’m not an idiot.”

Lexie
and I spent the rest of the afternoon watching television and talking about rehab. She said it actually wasn’t that bad after the first week. “Once I went through detox it was fine,” she said.

“What did you do all day?” My only knowledge of rehab came from what I’d seen in television and movies. I wasn’t sure how true it really was.

“It wasn’t a state run hole, so it was actually pretty nice,” Lexie said. “We had classes inside in the morning and afternoon meditation outside. We were close to the lake, so it was really pretty there.”

That didn’t sound like the
Lexie I knew and loved.

“Plus, there were a lot of hot guys there,”
Lexie amended.

That sounded like the
Lexie I had grown up with.

“I met one really cool guy,” she continued. “His name is Raymond. He is really hot.”

Lexie had spent the fast five years dating black guys. I figured rehab hadn’t changed her sexual proclivities. “Is he black?”

“Why does that matter? You’re really racist, you know.”

“I’m not racist,” I protested. “The last white guy you dated was in high school.” She’d went through a Hispanic phase when she was living in Florida for two years after high school. Since then, though, she not only dated black men, but she actually thought she was black at certain times.

“He’s not black. He’s Dominican.”

“How long is he in rehab?”

“Another two weeks. When he gets out, we’re going to get a place together. I’m supposed to start looking.”

“You barely know him,” I started to argue. I bit my lower lip. I didn’t really know why I was arguing with her. Lexie was proficient at the school of hard knocks. She had to learn every lesson the hard way. Plus, if she stuck to her schedule, that would mean she would be out of my house in two weeks. What? I’m not selfish. I really want what’s best for her – and me.

“Sometimes you just know when you meet your soul mate,”
Lexie said.

Whatever.
I decided to change tactics.

“Where are you going to look for a place at?”

“The city,” Lexie said simply. “I can’t stand living in the suburbs.”

“So, let me get this straight,” I said. “You’re going to get a job at Starbucks, learn to be a yoga instructor, move to Detroit with a guy you just met in rehab and live happily ever after?”

“Pretty much.”

That sounded like a marvelous idea.

Lexie
and I managed to refrain from heavy discussions for the rest of the night. I think that was a welcome development for both of us – since we weren’t necessarily on the same wavelength as far as her job prospects went.

When I excused myself to retire for the night, I noticed that my cell phone was ringing. I recognized Eliot’s phone number and picked it up immediately.

“How are things going?”

“They’re fine,” I lied.

“Really? Are they really fine or do you just not want to tell me I was right?”

Both.
“They’re really fine.”

“What’s her plan?”

Don’t answer that. “She’s going to look for a job at Starbucks Monday.”

“Is she qualified to work there?”

“She’s worked there before,” I replied.

Eliot was quiet for a minute. “Did you lock up your valuables before you went to sleep?”

“You need to learn to lay off her,” I admonished him. “She’s nowhere near as bad as you seem to think?”

Eliot apparently didn’t want to start a fight, so he changed the subject. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

“We’re getting up early and going to breakfast,” I said. “Then I have no idea what we’re doing the rest of the afternoon. Why?”

“What’s your idea of early?”

“I don’t know, 11 a.m.”

“You know that’s actually the middle of the afternoon for some people,” Eliot chuckled.

“Not anyone I hang around with.”

Eliot ignored me. “You want to have dinner tomorrow and see a movie? We both have to be up early Monday morning, so I was thinking we could see like a 3 p.m. movie and then go to dinner.”

“That sounds good to me,” I started. Then I remembered Lexie. “What about Lexie?”

“What about her?”

“What is she going to do?”

“Polish her people skills?”

“You’re not funny.”

“I wasn’t trying to be,” Eliot challenged.

“I don’t want to abandon her.” Of course, for all I knew she had plans to visit her new boyfriend. I opened my bedroom door and called out to Lexie. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

“You mean after breakfast?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m going back out to the rehab.”

“You’re going to see your new boyfriend?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ll be out there all afternoon?”

“Yeah.”

I went back into the bedroom and shut the door. “Dinner and a movie will be fine. She’s going to visit her boyfriend back at rehab.”

The incredulous silence on the other end of the phone stretched into what felt like infinity. Finally, Eliot broke it. “She picked up a guy in rehab?”

“Yeah.” I don’t know why he was so surprised.

“He must be a real winner.”

“I picked up you in a pawnshop,” I pointed out.

“First off, I picked you up,” Eliot corrected me. “Second off, I happen to own that pawnshop.”

I didn’t want to point out that his clarification wouldn’t exactly work for everyone, but I didn’t feel like now was the right time. “The good news is that she will be out of here in two weeks,” I said brightly.

“What’s the bad news? Wait . . . I’m not sure I want to know.”

He definitely didn’t want to know. “She’s moving in with this new guy. They’re soul mates.”

“Nope.
I didn’t want to know.”

The next morning – well, mid-morning –
Lexie and I went to downtown Mount Clemens for breakfast. I didn’t particularly care where we went – but Lexie wanted a good old fashioned Coney Island breakfast, so I took her to the best one in the area.

We both ordered eggs and hash browns. I had tomato juice, while
Lexie had coffee. We shared a copy of The Monitor, with me perusing the news section and her looking through the classified ads. After a leisurely breakfast, we both got up to leave. Lexie grabbed my wrist and twisted it hard. “Don’t turn around,” she whispered.

I was momentarily confused. “Why?”

“Just trust me.”

“How am I going to leave the building if I don’t turn around?”

Lexie bit her lip. “Okay, turn around. Try not to scream, though.”

I slowly turned around. I don’t know what I was expecting. A naked guy with a hangover, perhaps, or maybe a guy dressed up like a clown. What I saw, though, was something completely different. Jake was entering the building. He was dressed casually for the day – obviously he wasn’t working – and he wasn’t alone.

A tall and willowy blonde followed him into the building and they were chatting amiably. He hadn’t seen me yet.

“Do you want to crawl under the table?”
Lexie offered helpfully.

“No,” I scoffed. I considered it silently for a second. No, that will never work. He’d eventually see me.

“What do you want to do?” Lexie’s eyes were so big I thought they were going to pop out of her head. She was panicking. I had no idea why. All I knew is that now that she was panicking, I was starting to panic, too. What a mess.

“We’re not going to do anything,” I cautioned her. “If he notices us, fine, we’ll say hi and go on our way.”

“And if he doesn’t notice us?”

“Then I’ll know I’ve suddenly been imbued with that super power I always wanted,” I mumbled.

“I thought you wanted to be able to turn into the
Incredible Hulk
?” That would be cool.

“Just, let’s go,” I grabbed her wrist and started to lead her out of the restaurant. Unfortunately, I’d inadvertently grabbed her arm so hard she yelped in pain. All eyes in the restaurant swiveled to us – including Jake’s. Crap.

Jake smirked when he saw us. “Avery,” he greeted me stiffly. He was clearly amused by our antics, but still mad from the previous case we had all been involved in together.

“Jake,” I smiled back at him. I could only hope the smile looked genuine and not deranged.

“Lexie.” The tone of Jake’s voice dropped a decibel. He sounded even more disappointed to see her than me. That was at least something.

“Hey, Jake,”
Lexie said smoothly. “How are things?”

“How are things with you?” He raised an eyebrow and regarded her speculatively.

“You know, I just got out of rehab.”

“How did that go?”

Lexie shrugged. I could tell she was nervous. Still, she was trying to hold it together for me at this point. “You know shaking, vomiting, meditating – the usual.”

“Sounds like you learned a lot,” Jake said, motioning for his super model date to take a seat in the booth across the aisle from us. She hadn’t spoken yet – which I was profoundly grateful for. “Hopefully it will stick,” he admonished
Lexie.

“Oh, I’m sure it will,”
Lexie twiddled her thumbs nervously. “I’m staying at Avery’s for the next two weeks – and she won’t let me fall off the wagon.” I think Lexie meant for that to be encouraging. Jake grimaced when he heard it, though.

“She’s staying with you?”

“Yes.” The word came out in an uncomfortable squeak.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?”

“Why not?”

“You know why,” he said. “Why don’t you stay in the apartment above the restaurant?” He turned to
Lexie.

“Sally is staying there.”

“Why is Sally staying there?” Jake had grown up in close proximity to my family. He knew who all the players were.

“She left Steve,”
Lexie said.

“Why?”

“He’s a dick.”

“Hasn’t he always been a dick?”

“Pretty much.”

Watching
Lexie and Jake converse, felt like I was in a weird episode of the Twilight Zone for a second. Their distraction with each other allowed Jake’s girlfriend and me to size each other up. I didn’t get the feeling that she felt all that intimidated.

“So Sally left Steve? Why don’t you go home and move in with your mom?” Jake suggested. What was his deal? Why did he even care?

“I’m only staying with Avery for two weeks,” Lexie pointed out. “I have a new boyfriend and when he gets out of rehab we’re moving in together.”

“You met a boyfriend in rehab?” I could tell Jake wasn’t exactly impressed by that fact.

“Yeah. We want to get our own place in the city. And, besides, with Avery sleeping with Eliot now, I don’t think she wants me around that long.” As soon as she said the words, Lexie realized her mistake. She shot me an apologetic look.

I was frozen in fear – well, not exactly fear, but shock. I knew Jake would have to find out eventually, but I couldn’t imagine a worse time for him to hear the news.

I saw the muscle in Jake’s cheek work for a second. Then he fixed a set glare on me. “You and Kane are officially an item now, huh?”

I thought about lying. I figured that was the wrong move, though. Not only would the truth eventually come out, but if the fact that I lied about our relationship ever made it back to Eliot he would be hurt – and I didn’t want that. I decided to do something I wasn’t accustomed to: tell the truth. “We are.” I squared my shoulders and waited for the diatribe about how dangerous Eliot was to rain down on me. It never came, though.

“I’m happy for you,” Jake said stiffly. I could tell he wasn’t really happy. Still, he was trying not to unload on me – so that was at least something.

“Thanks,” I mumbled.

“This is Shelly,” he finally introduced the woman at his side. For her part, she had watched the exchange with a mixture of curiosity and rampant jealousy. I knew the feeling.

Since Jake was being such an adult, though, I decided I should probably try to do the same. I extended my hand to Shelly and introduced myself. “I’m Avery.”

“You’re the reporter for The Monitor?” I could tell Shelly wasn’t completely up to speed on my past with Jake. I figured that it wasn’t exactly my job to tell her.

“I am,” I said.

“The one that stole evidence from a crime scene?”

I shot a dark look in Jake’s direction.
So much for being adults. “I didn’t steal evidence,” I corrected her. “I borrowed a flash drive and I forgot I had it.”

“That’s called stealing,” Jake challenged me.

“No it’s not,” I shot back.

“Yes it is!” Jake’s face was starting to get red. He was going to pop a gasket.

“I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree,” I huffed.

“I guess so.”

Jake and I stared each other down for a few minutes. Finally, Lexie stepped in and started to pull me away. “We should be going,” she said apologetically.

I let
Lexie pull me out of the building, but not before I shot one last dark glare back in Jake’s direction. “He has a lot of nerve,” I grumbled.

Just before the door swung shut behind us, I heard Shelly’s melodic voice waft through the open space. “It was nice to meet you.”

I made a move to charge back through the doors but Lexie stopped me. “It’s not worth it.”

“She did that on purpose,” I challenged.

“Oh, she’s a total whore,” Lexie agreed. “But if you go back in there things are going to get ugly.”

“They’re already ugly.”

“Uglier,” Lexie corrected herself.

“Great,” I growled.

“Look at it this way, at least you don’t have to tell him about Eliot now.”

Thank the world for small favors.