The Caledonian Inheritance (The Athena Effect) (12 page)

“One of those people renting that big place out by the highway?”

“Yep. I heard a rumor they were all a bunch of dope dealers.”

“Do you think Ramon is going undercover or something?”

She scoffed, “Doubt it. They seem like friends. Now hurry up– I’m in the weeds out there.”

Layla heard the door close and looked down to see her hands shaking. Apparently they were all the talk of the town. Maybe her vision of fitting into the community someday was just a pipe dream. Like her grandmother before her, she might never find a way to belong.

She stepped to the mirror and
fixed her hair, lost in thought. When she returned to the table she looked more serious than ever.

Ramon greeted her with a brilliant smile. “I ordered for you. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Why would I mind?” she asked, accustomed to having decisions made for her.

He shrugged, “I dunno, my sister would have a cow.”

“Isn’t that what you just ordered?”

He laughed out loud again, thinking she was making a joke. “Very funny.”

She was puzzled, leaning in to ask in a low voice, “What kind of meat is it?”

“You don’t have to worry about mystery meat!” he laughed again, “What a snob!”

Her face fell, and for a second he thought that she might burst into tears. The girls at Max’s house used to call her a snob because she didn’t dress like them, and the word stung. She looked down at her hands twisting in her lap, thinking that she should never have agreed to come along. 

“Hey,” he said softly. “What’s wrong?”

She looked up with sad eyes, “I’m not a snob.”

He nodded slowly, his eyes full of concern. “I know… I was only kidding.”

She could see he was sincere, and she nodded back. There was an uncomfortable silence as the two of them tried to figure one another out. She could see his curiosity growing stronger, and she had to admit that she was curious about him too.

When Conrad looked at her, he liked everything he saw, but he took her at face value. Ramon’s gaze went deeper, like an x-ray
boring straight into her. The more he looked at her the more confused she became, uncertain of exactly what it was he was searching for. She got the feeling that he wanted something from her, but she had no idea what it might be.

When their burgers arrived Ramon dove in, eating with gusto. He paused for a moment and looked up, surprised to see Layla slicing small bites from her cheeseburger and eating it with a fork. When their eyes met his were swimming in a sea of amusement.

“What?” she asked.

“Where did you grow up?”

She looked alarmed. “Why?”

“Just curious.”

“San Francisco.”

“Was it just you and your brother?”

She put her fork down angrily. “Are you interrogating me again?”

He looked surprised. “No! I was only wondering if
you had any other brothers or sisters.”

“Oh…. Uhm…. No. There was only the two of us.”

There was an awkward silence, and she felt bad for snapping at him. “What about you?” she asked tentatively, “Was it just you and your sister?”

“Nah,” Ramon shook his head. “Rosa and I are the youngest of eight kids.”

She looked amazed. “Eight?” she gasped. “Are your parents still alive?”

He laughed at the look on her face. “Yeah.”

“Wow,” she breathed. “You must have a huge family.”

He smiled, “Enormous.”

“You’re very lucky.”

He shrugged, wanting to put her at ease. “Big families aren’t all they’re cracked up to be… I got picked on a lot by my older brothers.”

“Why?” she asked, looking worried again. He thought she looked particularly cute when her eyebrows drew together.

“That’s what big brothers do, I guess. Didn’t your brother ever tease you?”

She thought about all the years she’d protected Michael, doing her best to shield him from Professor Reed’s contempt. “No,” she said. “Never.”

“Sounds like he’s the perfect kind of brother.”

She flashed on an image of Michael adopting Max as a role model, ignoring her and dismissing her concerns. His attitude had nearly cost both of them their lives. “No,” she said, “He’s not perfect at all.” She saw the confusion on Ramon’s face, adding, “But he’s the only brother I’ve got.”

“You can’t pick your family,”
he laughed, echoing Conrad. Then he added, “But you have to love them.”

She nodded solemnly, finally feeling like she was understood. “Exactly.”

He smiled at her with such warmth that it made her breath catch in her throat. She swallowed hard, looking down to cut another forkful of burger, lifting her eyes slowly, carefully, to find his still glued on her.

“You know,” he said, picking his hamburger back up. “I know lots of people from San Francisco, and none of them eat their burgers with a fork.” He took a big bite to make his point.

This time, she realized that he was teasing her, so she took a deep breath, and using both of her thumbs and forefingers, gingerly picked up her burger. She looked back up at him and took a tentative bite. He smiled his heart-stopping smile at her and they both started laughing, washing the table all around them with a happy turquoise.

His legs kept brushing against hers under the table, and she’d pull back each time it happened, searching his face for signs of ridicule. All she saw was more and more curiosity. He was still suspicious, but his colors were warm and friendly. Extremely friendly. Somehow, she was charming him without even trying.

He asked her about Tripod and they spent the rest of the meal discussing the neutral topic of pets. She explained how they had come to have a three-legged dog, and he told her about a pair of beagles he’d had as a boy. Layla laughed at his funny stories and started feeling relaxed and safe, letting her guard down for the first time in months. She didn’t even consider changing him the whole rest of the meal.

He walked her back to the station, and they climbed into his police car for the return drive to her home. He took a deep breath, turning to face her.

“So… What’s going to happen now?” she asked.

He leaned his head back on the headrest and smiled dreamily. “With us?”

She was confused, her big eyes illuminated by the dashboard lights. “I meant the– the police report.”

She could feel his sudden flush of embarrassment, and it surprised her. He sat up and started the engine, assuming his professional demeanor once more. “Sherriff Brown and I will need to tour the property and check out the scene. See what’s going on up there.”

She was alarmed, “Is that really necessary?”

“It is,” he replied with a tone of finality.

She was silent for the rest of the drive home, fretting about the turn of events. If these people were as dangerous as Calvin seemed to think they were there they were all in big trouble. The question was, did they have more to fear from the drug cartels or the police? Would they shoot at Ramon too? What if they hit him?

They pulled up to her house to find the truck back in the driveway and lights blazing away in the house.

“Looks like your roommates are home,” Ramon pointed out the obvious.

“What should I tell them?” she asked.

He stared straight ahead. “Let them know we’ll be checking out the property this week. We’ll be in contact if we need anything else.”

She opened the door and climbed out, a little taken aback by his sudden change in tone. “Uhm… Well… Thank you…”

He nodded curtly, waiting behind the wheel as she walked towards her door. She suddenly stopped, wheeled around and approached the driver side window.

“Ramon?”

She waited while the window scrolled down.

“Yes?”

“When you go up there… Please be careful.”

She spun around, raced to the front door and disappeared inside. Michael, Cal and Cali were in the front room watching television, and the three of them looked up with surprise when she burst into the front door.

“Where did you come from?” Michael asked. “We thought you’d turned in for the night!”

Cali sat up
straight, “Where did you go without your car?”

“We need to talk,” Layla said.

The four of them gathered around the kitchen table, and Layla told them about her surprise trip to the police station, recounting everything she could remember Ramon asking her.

“How did the cops find out?” Michael cried in dismay.

Layla grimaced, “Conrad told his grandmother.”

“I knew I hated that guy.”

Cali jumped in, “I’m sure he didn’t mean to get us into any trouble. What did you tell Ramon?”

“As little as possible,” Layla recounted, “But they’re still going up to check out the property.”

“Good!” Calvin interjected. “Conrad probably did us a big favor! It’s about time we got some help. If the cops start snooping around, it might scare these guys away a lot faster than a few signs.”

“What about Jesse?” Cali worried.

“He’s not dealing with them anymore.”

“Yeah,” she bit her lip. “But if the growers get caught, they might tell the police. They’d probably try to blame the whole thing on him.”

“Look, don’t worry! Just tell Sherriff Brown the truth– That Jesse’s an old friend of your parents and he’s staying in the cabin to keep an eye on the property. If it comes down to it, it’ll be our word against theirs.” A wry smile crossed his face, “I have a feeling that you and Layla can make them believe you.”

“I guess so…”

“We don’t have any choice,” Layla said. “They’re going up there regardless.”

“I’ll go talk to Jesse first thing tomorrow,” Cali said. “We have to get our stories straight.”

“Okay,” Calvin added, “But I’m going with you. Just to the cabin and back.”

Caledonia nodded, and seemed satisfied with the new plan of action. Then she took a closer look at Layla. “What else happened?” she asked. She could see that there was more to the story than Layla was telling them.

“Nothing really. We… uhm, we kind of went out to eat afterwards.”

“You and Ramon,” Cali said, and it sounded perfectly natural.

“Now you’re dating a cop?” Michael was aghast.

“We’re
only friends!” Layla protested. “Ramon is really nice.”

“I think it’s great!” Calvin interjected. “You can pump him for information about what they plan to do. And if he gets suspicious about anything, you can work your, you know…
magic
on him.”

“I get it,” Michael said, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

“Sure, why not?” Layla replied lightly, her guilty eyes meeting Caledonia’s knowing ones.

Layla got up to
retreat to her room, pausing at the foot of the steps. “Cali?” she gestured for her to come closer.

“What?”

Layla leaned close to whisper in her ear, “What is sex on a stick?”

~

Chapter Eleven

DEA

~

The woman shielded her eyes from the glare, searching until she saw them coming. With a smile as bright as the sunshine she beckoned them, leaving the red brick porch to walk purposefully into the garden. She turned every so often to make sure they were coming, pausing to smell one of the lavishly blooming roses that lined the pathway. She stopped at a rosebush blooming in shades of pink and coral and fell to her knees, a trowel suddenly materializing in her hand...

~

Layla’s phone trilled from her bedside stand, jolting her back to consciousness. She groped for it, answering with a sleepy rasp, “Hello?”

The voice on the line was cheerful, “Good morning. How’s my little gingerbread cookie?”

Something inside Layla recoiled. “Conrad?”

“Did I wake you up?” he asked.

Everything that had happened the night before came flooding back to her. “You told Millie what happened,” she said, her tone accusatory.

“She grilled me and you
know
how she is… No-one can keep a secret from grandmother.”

“Yeah well, she told the police.”

“What are they going to do about it?” he asked.

“They’re going to look into it,” she said sourly. “I had to go down to the station to give a statement last night.”

“So thaaat explains it,” he snickered.

“Explains what?” she asked.

“Grandmother Millie just called me. She heard a rumor that you were going out with that cop.”

“Going out?”

“One of her friends saw you at the diner with him.”

“We went out to eat after I gave my statement.”

There was a moment of silence. “I don’t have anything to worry about… Do I?”

She sat up in bed. “What do you mean by that?”