Pier Lights (17 page)

“She won’t stay, you know. The girl is more
vain than you are. Arrogant. She’ll take one look at you and run. I
know the type.”

“What
did you say to her?”

“The truth, Diomedes. That you fell for her
for her looks and her talent and it’ll be no more than that and
when she finds the truth, she won’t like it. And that when she
looks inside far enough to find the truth about herself, she won’t
like that, either, and she’ll realize she’s not right for you, and
that you deserve better. She’s all cockiness and false vanity,
Diomedes. Nothing but that. That’s what I told her. And it only hit
her so hard because she knows I’m right.”

His heart hurt. Dio put a hand over his
chest and forced himself to breathe.

“She would have left you when you showed
yourself.”

“No.” It came out a whisper.

“Son...”

“No. She didn’t. And you’re
wrong.” He felt his knees try to buckle. “I took it off for her.
She didn’t even flinch. She ... she caressed my face, and still
looked at me like ... like I was her prince or something. Like
I
was
someone,
like I
am
someone.
She sees me, Mom.
Me
. As I am. How could you do this?”

“She saw you?”

“Yes. She saw me. All of me. As I am.”

“And she still...”

Dio headed back out the door as she called
to him. He had to find her. She couldn’t have gone far. Unless she
got a ride. A taxi. Dio skipped the elevator and jogged down the
stairs and out the door. He looked both ways down the sidewalk but
it was dark. He couldn’t see far. Which direction would she head?
Toward ... the beach. She would go to the beach. But it was eight
miles or more.

She would have called Harry.

Dio went back inside and asked for a phone.
The registration attendant pointed him toward a hallway. Why hadn’t
he bought himself a cell as his mom kept saying he should? He
didn’t like the things. But now it would be convenient. Finding a
payphone these days was about like finding a dragon.

Finally, he grabbed the receiver and paced a
few steps each direction back and forth until Nelda answered.
“Nelda, did she call Harry? Did he pick her up? Where’d they
go?”

“Whoa Dio, what are you talking about? A
little slower.”

“Caroline. Lina. Whichever name she gave
you. Did she call Harry for a ride?”

“When, honey?”

“Now. A few minutes ago.”

“No. Haven’t heard from her today. Figured
she was with you. Isn’t she?”

“She was. Thanks. I have to go find her.” As
he started to hang up, he heard Nelda call his name. She asked
where he was and what happened. He told her briefly and said he’d
call back to check in with them now and then until he found
her.

He hurried to his car and headed the
direction he figured she would go. To the spot they met, he hoped.
Would she go wait for him there?

She wouldn’t like what she
saw when she looked inside herself.
What a
vicious thing to say. Especially since Lina ... since she would
believe it. She was covering much of who she was. Dio knew she was.
He didn’t care. Her inside truth might well be deep and dark, but
he didn’t care. He wanted her.

He loved her.

He swallowed hard at the thought and kept
his eyes peeled on the sidewalks on both sides of the road. If she
was trying to avoid him, she might have gone down a side road
instead. She would know he’d go the most direct route to their spot
first. She would know.

Dio hoped she would make it easy for him to
find her. She’d asked if he was keeping her. She acted as though
she wanted to stay. She... She didn’t turn away when she saw him.
She looked at him like ... like she loved him, or could.

Maybe she could.

But why did she run? She could have got away
from the old woman and just waited in the lounge, at the entrance,
somewhere he would see her. Why would she run? Limp. She couldn’t
have gone far.

Lina made her way down the beach, just off
the sand where it was still grassy. She’d head to the tall grasses
beside the palm trees. It would be a good hiding spot to lie down
and rest a while. He wouldn’t look there.

She could hear music drift along on the
breeze from the pier. She wanted to go closer, to hear better, to
sit up on the pier and look out over the water and ... and eat.
Something. Anything. She was so hungry. So exhausted.

A group of kids came her direction. Boys.
Early twenties, she guessed. They laughed and pushed at each other,
stumbled... Lina veered away from them, but then she was in the
sand and it was harder going and she was too fucking tired to take
the harder path just because the three bombed stooges were
perilously close.

“Hey, need a lift?” One of them looked over
at her and laughed.

“Yeah, piggy back ride. What do you think,
sweetheart?” A different one. They headed toward her.

She veered farther away.

“Aw come on, we’re just offering a ride, you
know, on our backs. ’Course if you wanna be on your back, we can do
that for you, too.” More laughter. They moved in.

“Come any closer, gentleman, and I’ll use
these crutches to take away your interest in me or any other woman
for days to come. Got it?” Lina did her best to sound not tired and
not starving and not scared.

“Ohh, big talk from a little girl.” More
laughter.

“Don’t think I can? Trust me, I can. Won’t
be the first time I’ve broken a guy’s balls and I don’t mind doing
it. So get the hell away from me and go jump in the ocean to cool
yourselves off.” She set her right foot down just enough for
stability and wielded her crutch the way Dio wielded his sword, in
warning.

One of them pulled at the other two. “Leave
her alone, she’s not in the mood to play.”

“Yeah, not worth it. Let’s find some who
are.”

Lina took a deep shaky breath as they left
and watched them long enough to be sure they were leaving and then
lifted her foot. It throbbed. She should have whacked at least one
of them just for scaring her, for making her use her energy that
way, for making her foot throb again.

Putty and bluster. All of them.
Assholes.

With the strength that came from a battle
won, Lina maneuvered back up to easier ground and sped her pace. By
the time she got to the tall grass, she nearly fell into it, into a
small cleared spot, curled into a ball, her crutches in her hand,
and closed her eyes.

Dio couldn’t care any less if he scared
everyone on the beach. He stopped anyone he saw and asked about
her. Some tried to back away before he could ask but he yelled
behind them, said she needed help and he needed to find her. He
only got empty stares and shakes of the head.

Oh Lina, come on baby. Come find me.

“Hey Dio, slow down for an old man.”

He turned to the dark figure. Only the voice
gave Harry away and Dio went to meet him.

“Nelda says you lost your girl already. Just
imagine that, would you? Think she’s here somewhere?”

“Can’t imagine where else she’d be, but I
don’t know.” Dio shoved a hand through his hair. “She could have
left town for all I know.”

“With all her stuff at my place, and her
car? Calm down now. We’ll find the girl and then it’d be best to
keep her away from crazy Cleo until she’s more hooked on you.”

“Harry...”

“Dio, you gotta face facts. That woman is
crazy. Yes, she can be sweet as pie but she can also be one of the
nastiest witches you ever did see. You know it’s true. So did your
old man, bless his soul for putting up with her. You didn’t warn
the girl first, did you?”

“To an extent.”

“All right, we’ll fix it, but let’s get on
to finding her. With this dark, it’s gonna get cold soon. Here.” He
pushed a large flashlight into Dio’s hand. Where’ve you already
been?”

He couldn’t even say. He’d wandered, jogged,
up and down and back and forth, starting with their spot and he
couldn’t say from there. Harry shook his head and laid out a search
pattern and shoved Dio out on it. “Oh.” He handed Dio a whistle on
a string. “Give it three short blasts if you find her and I’ll do
the same so we can find each other again. Wife and I use this
method to hunt for a pup when one goes astray.”

Grateful for the help, and that Nelda was
home by the phone in case Lina called there, he took off on his
given route. And he listened carefully for the whistle.

He slowed some time later, aware of fatigue
in his muscles, and checked his watch. Nearly eleven. He’d been
searching for ... more than three hours. And he wished he’d brought
some of the food with him. At least he’d given himself a head start
and ate the extra biscuits he ordered as he drove back to the
hospital. He’d been starving. Lina had plain worn him out and ...
and she hadn’t eaten. But she would have stopped somewhere, grabbed
something. He hoped.

Come on, Lina. Answer me.

Dio pressed on and became aware that the
path Harry gave him included the pier. He couldn’t go up on the
pier. Too many people. They had music tonight. It was crowded. But
maybe she would be there. In the crowd. Hiding. And not hiding. She
had to know it was about the last place he’d want to be. Damn
Harry. He could have gone this path himself. He had no issue with
being in public. He had no problem chatting to strangers or
interrupting conversation to ask questions.

Would she be there?

An hour left before he was to meet Harry at
the agreed spot to make a new plan, if needed. Dio gritted his
teeth and headed to the pier.

The music grew louder,
voices started to float across to him. He stopped. The pier. A
crowd.
Hell, Lina. Why? I didn’t do
it.

Dio reclined onto the sand,
his legs in front of him and his arms behind. The way she sat in
the grass, at his house. Naked. Waiting. The image filled his
thoughts and he replayed the moment, his pulse racing as he
approached her, his palms sweating. His groin trying to reach her
through his jeans, the aching. The incredible luscious inviting
ache for her.
Lina, come on baby.
Come.
He lowered over her in his thoughts,
took full control as she let him take full control. She’d said it
was her turn tonight.

With a snicker, Dio realized she’d sure done
that. She’d taken control. Every fiber of his being was wrapped up
in finding her, of taking her home, of letting her take full
control of him in a much more pleasant way.

He turned his head toward
the music, the crowd. The row of bright lights stretched out along
the long dark pier like a marquee. Like an invitation, a silent
scream to pull lone dwellers in. Come. Come. Come and find me, it
said.
Come and find her
screamed in his thoughts.

Dio stood again and brushed off the
sand.

Fine. He would go to the pier. Let the sea
foam land where it may.

He saw the heads turn as he got close, saw
people veer away when the lights reflected on his mask. He only
looked at the faces long enough to know they weren’t the one he
wanted. A few more feet and he would be on the pier. He slowed.
Nearly stopped. But he couldn’t stop. He needed to find her. Breeze
off the ocean picked up, a chilly breeze. She was in only a skimpy
T-shirt and jeans and her sandals. He hadn’t even asked her yet
what happened to her foot. He should have asked. He should have
finished the story of his face, then maybe she wouldn’t have taken
the old woman so seriously. Harry was right. She was crazy. As
often as he tried not to admit it to himself, Dio couldn’t deny it
anymore. She was crazy. And all he’d done the past few years was to
feed into it, let it go, to placate her.

It was his fault. Lina had left because he’d
refused to admit it.

Time to stop hiding.

“Hey.” Some uniformed guy with a nightstick
at his side, his hand clenched over it, stared at him. “You can’t
go on the pier like that.”

Dio sighed. And he nearly argued.

Time to stop hiding.

Fine. “If you say so.” He clenched the mask
in his hand and pulled the thing off. The guard stepped back a half
a foot or so. “Better?”

“Uh... I...”

“I’m looking for someone. A woman. About
five-six, light brown hair, medium length, incredible build, on
crutches. Have you seen her?”

“Uh...”

“Yes? No? You would remember if you
had.”

The guy was still staring at him, as were
several people around.

“Anyone see her? She’s my girlfriend.” They
exchanged glances. “Yeah I know. Surprises me, too. My mother
chased her off and she’s upset. I need to find her. Have you seen
her?”

They relaxed enough to at least answer that
they hadn’t.

“If you do, tell her ... tell her Dio is
here on the beach and we need to talk. She’ll be tired, her palms
are sore, so if you’d have her sit and rest and come get me, I’d be
grateful. After the pier, I’m headed toward the marshland. I’m easy
to see ... with my flashlight.”

A couple of girls chuckled as he ran it up
and down his body. Then he moved onto the pier. The stares at least
broke conversation so it was easy for him to ask about her. Most
shook their heads as they stared. Some just stared. He asked all
the way up and it took forever to get to the end of the thing. He
asked there, also, on each corner and in the middle.

A girl recognized him from the club and
approached slowly, studying his face. “You’re Dio from Exotica. So
that’s why you wear a mask.” She kept some distance.

“How about you don’t spread that
around?”

“Yeah. No. I won’t. You’re my favorite
performer. It’s why I’m always there. You’re really hot with those
swords.”