Chance Of Rain
Authors: Laurel Veil
Chance of Rain
Laurel Veil
Copyright © 2013 Laurel Veil
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 1492225401
ISBN 13: 9781492225409
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013920591
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
North Charleston, South Carolina
For Mama who said I could.
And, for Dylan who said I should
.
Contents
Prologue
T
he icy, hard barrel of the gun was pressed to the center of my forehead. I was seconds away from paying the ultimate price for something that never should have involved me.
A lifetime of memories flashed at warp speed through my mind as an explosion suddenly tore through the silence. It echoed high above the treetops, sending frightened birds into flight and leaving our faces speckled with blood.
I
No Chance
I
flinched every time a vehicle passed and lit up the inside of the car. I felt as if everyone knew we were up to something.
“Thanks for doing this, Bri.” My voice was shaky.
“No problemo, babe. Hopefully you’ll get to see him.”
I nodded nervously. “He’s definitely here. I saw his truck over there.” I motioned with a flick of my eyes.
Brianne turned the radio volume down to zero as she eased through the parking lot. The silence made everything feel more serious. I suddenly got a bad case of the jitters and dropped my fake ID.
Bri reminded me to breathe.
My confidence was gone.
She switched off the ignition. “Ready?”
Other than a blue neon sign that flashed Open, the bar was windowless and dark.
Bri and I walked slowly to the entrance. Along the way we passed two guys who were trying to keep their voices low, but I could tell things were getting heated. They stopped long enough to yell something perverted at us then continued to argue.
I seriously didn’t know what they were talking about. We weren’t trying to look hot, more like business casual. We didn’t want to draw attention, just look old enough to get inside.
Sure enough, someone was sitting at the door checking IDs, and we wouldn’t be able to slip in unnoticed. I began to tremble; I couldn’t believe I was doing this, but I was desperate.
“
Ashley
. Keep it together, Ash,” Bri whispered out of the side of her mouth.
“I-I am. I’ve just got a chill is all.”
Bri knew better. She strutted up to the bouncer and confidently handed him her ID. He glanced at it then waved her through as he watched her rear end the entire time.
I would have been offended, but he was so distracted that he barely knew I was there, and I wanted to keep it that way.
As I reached to take my license back, he hesitated. My heart was no longer beating; it was vibrating!
He squinted as he studied my ID.
Come on. Come on
, I thought anxiously.
Of course I had memorized all the info on it in case I was questioned. But at the moment, I couldn’t even remember the name on the ID.
Bri stepped back through the doorway and gave a flash of her pearly teeth outlined in pink gloss. Her lips looked like she had just finished gnawing on a greasy pork chop.
She smiled. “Is something wrong?”
The bouncer looked up and grinned at her, but he didn’t seem quite as mesmerized this time. “Actually
—
” He started to respond, but then he shoved my ID at me as he suddenly leaped from the stool where he’d been sitting.
He quickly raced to pull apart the two men who were arguing in the parking lot. They now had each other in headlocks. Bri took advantage of the commotion to sneak me into the smoky atmosphere, and I let the door close quickly behind us. We pressed ourselves against a wall and hid in the crowded darkness.
“There he is,” said Bri. “He’s sitting at that table.”
I was both happy and afraid.
“Well, go on,” she coaxed. “This is what you’ve been waiting for. Go talk to him.”
I nodded and held my breath as I walked toward him then sat down on the other side of the table.
“Hi.” I gave a small, nervous wave as he looked up.
The lines on his face looked a little deeper – a sure sign of too much worry and stress, I thought. His eyes were as blue as ever, but they were tired and his new scraggly beard made him look older than he was.
For a split second, I could have sworn he was happy to see me too—but only for a second. He pulled the bill of his baseball cap lower. His sandy blonde hair curled up around the edge of it.
“What in the world are you doing here? How did you even get in?” he demanded, as his eyes flitted around the room.
Even though he was livid, this was the first time I’d seen him in weeks, which made it worth it.
“I know you said you were fine on the phone,” I told him, “but…I don’t know. I didn’t believe you. I just wanted to see you with my own eyes…to make sure you’re OK. That’s all.”
He didn’t look as upset anymore. “It may not look like it, but you know I’m working, Ashley. I’m not in this stink hole because I
want
to be. Drug deals don’t usually take place in tearooms. I don’t want anyone seeing you with me. It could be dangerous for you. I’m just trying to keep you safe.”
“But…
Dad
…”
“My assignment will be over very soon. We’ll do something then. I promise.”
“
We’ll
…as in Mom too?”
“If she wants to be around me, sure.”
“Maybe we can go to the range for target practice. We always have a good time when we do that. Loser buys pizza and a movie.”
“I’m sure going to the range is
just
what your mom has in mind for a fun evening out.” He chuckled softly, but his eyes looked weary. “I’m going to step outside now. I’ll be watching to make sure you leave.”
“You promise you’re OK?”
“Yes. I love you, Ash. Please be careful.”
As soon as we got back in the car, Bri asked, “Feel better now?”
“No.”
“Why? Your dad looked fine to me.”
“My dad’s worked undercover a zillion times. But this is different somehow. Something’s wrong.”
“How do you know?”
“Just a hunch. I feel it in my gut.”
“You and your gut—you’re just like your dad. Forget about being a weather girl.”
“
Meteorologist
.”
“You should be a cop too,” Bri said. “Y’all can be partners and drive around in a squad car all day. When a call comes in, you can answer, ‘Ten-four. We’re on it!’ No…wait. I know—you could open your own private detective agency. Devoe and Devoe. Or you could…”
Bri and I met in junior high. We both had Coach Rye for PE. Our class was playing soccer when Lacey “the Witch” Sanders elbowed me in the stomach. I fell to my knees in pain. Bri helped me up then nailed Lacey with a swift kick to her shin. We’d been best friends ever since.
“I’m leaving, Mom!” I shouted as I stepped outside a couple of weeks later.
She said something in response, but I pretended not to hear and quickly closed the heavy door behind me.
Since my parents had separated, my mom had become a bit overprotective and was getting on my nerves. I loved her, but I needed her to back off and give me a little more space.
I inhaled a lungful of crisp air. It already felt like fall was nipping at summer’s heels. I stuffed my hands deep into the pockets of my light cotton jacket and pulled it snugly around me. Then I sat quietly on our large wooden swing and looked across the overgrown field and into the dense forest that surrounded our little house. Lost in thought, I rocked back and forth, hypnotized by the squeak of the rusty chains. Now and then the barking of the neighbor’s dog pulled me back to earth.
I gazed up at the aquamarine sky. Cumulus clouds were thickening and closing in on one another. Sadly for me, though, there wasn’t a sign of a single drop of rain.
Bri thought my fascination with weather was weird. “Why do you like the rain so much anyway?” she had asked me shortly after we’d first met.
“It’s not so much the actual rain,” I’d told her, “as it is the chance of rain and all the possibilities that could come along with it. Ya know?”
“No. You’re strange, Devoe.”
“It’s just that I enjoy a good thunderstorm over boring blue skies and sunshine any day.”
Once in a while, a car passed along our quiet street, and I looked to see if it was Brianne. I was spending a considerable amount of time these days sitting on the front porch waiting for Bri to pick me up. I had a license but not a car.
Brianne and I worked part time at the Star-Lite Theater, and I loved it. The hours weren’t too bad, and we got to see a free movie occasionally. My favorite was when my boss, Mack, had retro movie nights. The theater was a two-hour time machine. Just last week Bri and I watched
Gone With the Wind
. We really liked it. It took Bri an entire day to quit imitating Scarltett O’Hara. Bri must have said
fiddle dee dee
at least a hundred times. I didn’t think she was ever going to get it out of her system.
I had saved almost every dime I’d earned and had more than a thousand dollars. I wanted to buy a car but was putting that on hold for a while.
Honk! Honk! Honnnnk!
Finally
. I looked to my right and saw Bri waving.
Yes, Bri. I see you. The whole world sees you
.
She’d be hard to miss even if she weren’t laying on the horn. She had the top down on her ’64 Chevelle. It was mostly black, with a little Bondo peppered here and there. Its exterior was dull and faded from too many decades in the hot Texas sun. The interior was still in pretty good shape, though. With a decent paint job, it would be a dream.