A Familiar Star (Romance Mystery) (18 page)

“So are you going to tell Mom?”
Lucy picked up the runaway popcorn off the counter.

“Tell her what
, that I’m going to sleep with the guy I’m living with?  Are you nuts?”

“When they come up to visit their going to meet him you know.”

“So they’ll meet him. We have separate rooms, so they don’t need to know anything more than what they already know. You never told Mom you were living with Frank before you got married, did you?”

“She knew.”
Lucy said nonchalantly.

Kylie laughed then went to the window.
“Did you hear a car?”

“No I don’t think so.”

Kylie peered out into the night. Blackness cloaked the driveway.

“I must be hearing things.”
She said puzzled.

Lucy stopped the popper and walked into the living room.  “Now what is it?”
She said when she saw Kylie straining to hear something.

“Now I think I’m hearing voices.”

“It’s probably just the wind.” Lucy countered, feeling her sister’s nerves.

“Y
eah, I guess.”

“Just how edgy are you about all this?”

“Pretty damn edgy.” Kylie confessed looking back at her sister.

“
Well then why won’t you come and stay with us?”

“Because I want to be here when Max comes home.”

“For God sake Kylie you can come back in the morning, or Max could come over and stay with us then. Either way I don’t mind. But seriously, I’m not so crazy about staying here myself, but I don’t want to leave you alone while you’re feeling this way.” She passed the popcorn to her sister then stopped suddenly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Now I’m hearing things.” She stared at Kylie.

They both ran to the front door.
A car was pulling out onto the road, its tail lights were all they could see.

“Can you tell who it is?”

“No.”

“Why aren’t their headlights on?”

“I don’t know…I’ll call Frank!”

Kylie stepped back and watched her sister dial the phone frantically.
She turned back in the direction of the door and sighed. This was crazy. It could have been someone who had the wrong address or maybe someone had just pulled over on the side of the road to make a call.

A helpless feeling
came over her. “I want to call Max after you’re finished.”

Lucy left a message for her husband and handed the phone to Kylie.

“He left work, how long ago?” Kylie looked up at her sister and frowned.

“That’s strange, Max left work a half hour ago.
They said he wasn’t coming back.”

“How long does it take him to get home?”

“About fifteen minutes.”

The girls sat quietly in the kitchen waiting for Frank to call back or
show up.

“Why doesn’t Frank keep his phone on?”

“He does but the mountains block the service.  You’re in the country Kylie.”

“Yes, I know,” she said thoughtlessly
, wondering why Max had left work.  An uneasy feeling began to set in until she heard her sister’s wheezing and burst out laughing.

“Do you have a cold or are you hyperventilating?”

Lucy turned to her and frowned. “I’m glad you think this is funny.”

“Well look at us, we’re like two scared chickens waiting for the wolf to show up.”
She got up and opened the fridge.

Lucy’s face was perfectly straight.
“This wolf is deadly.”

“All wolves are.
But the point is, the hen house is all locked up so stop deep breathing or you’re going to pass out.” She grabbed a box of strawberries and began to cut the tops off.

“And did you pick that because it came with a knife?”
Lucy joked.

A car pulle
d into the drive and flashed its headlights through the kitchen window.

“Frank!”
Lucy exclaimed.

“No it’s…Max!”
Kylie dropped the knife on the counter and ran to the door.

A soaking wet Max entered the house with dripping wet flowers in his hand.

“Hi.” He said apologetically.

“What happened to you?
I called your work.” Kylie asked.

“I left work about twenty minutes ago, you must have missed me.
I told them I had something really important to do. I felt so bad I just couldn’t stay there. I got out at the entrance to Forest Hill and picked these for you.”

Kylie took the flowers from him and sniffed them.

“It now says orest Hill.” He gave her a heart stopping smile.

Kylie sighed with relief and grabbed his coat from him.

“Hi Lucy, how are you?”

“A little spooked but I’ll live.”

Max flashed a look at Kylie. “What happened?”

“Oh, someone just stopped on the side of the road then drove away about ten minutes ago.”

“They were probably lost.” He concluded quickly then walked up close to Kylie. “I’m sorry, really sorry.” He whispered softly.

“I’m sorry too.”
She wrapped her arms around him and purred into his chest.

“I’m sopping wet Kylie.”

“I don’t care.”

Frank rushed in a moment later, damp from the rain himself.
He listened to their stories patiently then asked everyone to sit down.

“Obviously everyone here is stressed by the circumstances that are surrounding us right now but what you don’t know is we are very close to catching this guy.”

Max looked at him pointedly. “What do you know?”

“I can’
t tell you everything but there’ve been some leads. We think he’s about to make a mistake.”

Kylie sniffed in disgust.

Frank put his head down and regained focus. “What I do want you to remember is that you have choices right now. Everyone around the lake does.”

“What are they?”
Max asked.

“To leave for a while until this whole thing blows over.”
He stared at Max straight in the eyes. “You and Kylie are welcome to come and stay with us.”

Lucy smiled at Max then at Kylie and nodded her head in agreement.

Max leaned back in his chair and looked over at Kylie. “Is that what you want?”

“Well
, what do you think?”

“I think it’s a good idea personally.
I just have to pack some stuff.  I mean as long as you’re sure it’s not an inconvenience.”  He addressed Lucy and Frank.

“No, no problem at all.”  Lucy beamed, she was so happy.

Kylie shot him a look. She didn’t think he would go for it at all, but maybe he was more sensible than she was.

“All right.”
She said hesitantly.

Lucy jumped up off her chair in delight.
“Come on Kylie, we’ll get your stuff.”

“Wait!
Can’t we stay here tonight and join you guys tomorrow. I’m too tired to pack tonight.” Kylie asked.

“
You can come back for your things in the morning!” Lucy began to argue with her.

Kylie looked at Max longingly.
She wanted to be alone with him. “Tomorrow Max,” she said alluringly.

Lucy understo
od but was frustrated nevertheless. She grabbed her bag. “I give up.” She headed for the door. “You win Kylie. I’m going home to make love to my husband and I’ll be back in the morning. Early in the morning.” She looked over her shoulder. “Lock up good, really good.”

Kylie smiled at her.
“I’ll lock up really good. I promise.”

Kylie opened her eyes but didn’t move, the warmth from Max’s body felt too good. She breathed in and said a silent prayer. Who would have thought that God would deliver the perfect man on a platter; and right in her own home no less.

This had to be too good to be true.
No! She wouldn’t go there she thought. This time it would work, it just had to. She was taking a huge risk putting all of her heart into this, and she simply couldn’t fathom anything going wrong. This was forever, she knew it and she was ready to let this man have her, body and soul.

Making up
last night had lasted well into the wee hours and she was no longer extremely infatuated with him, but deeply in love with him. He had left work to be with her, to apologize and tell her how he felt, and to love her. He talked about the future, the things they would do together, the places they would go together and the things they would do to the house. He was talking about forever and Kylie believed every word.  This was it, love, and it wasn’t to be taken for granted. Love was like the stars in an otherwise black sky. Without them the world would be a dark and lonely place.

She lifted herself a little and glanced out the window.
It was a picture perfect day. She would get Lucy to spend the morning by the lake and they could leave in the late afternoon. It was a shame to have to abandon her home because some lunatic was smarter than they were.

Frank said they’d catch hi
m soon, that he would trip up but what if they’d missed something. In the meantime there was something they’d overlooked. It was a gut feeling that kept nagging at her. Maybe she was playing detective again, but she just couldn’t help it.

Max shifted and his breathing changed.
Kylie turned to look at him and he gave her a big gorgeous smile.

“God it’s nice to see you in the morning.”
His muscles flexed as he stretched out, his body curling back around her.

“You too.”
She purred.

“What time is it?”

“Almost time for our kidnappers to come and take us away.” Kylie sighed.

“Does she really get up this early?”

“Yes, even when she has the day off, like today.”

“We’ll pray Frank kept her busy all night and she needs to sleep in.”
He slipped his hand under the covers and it slid up her waist.

“Let’s
stay here.”

“Until that doorbell rings that’s exactly what I intend on doing.”
His hands slipped over her nighty and brushed her nipples.”

Kylie could hardly think.
“No, I mean why do we have to go stay with them, we’re fine here.”

“You heard what Frank said Kylie.
Why should we put ourselves in harm’s way? Let them get this thing cleared up.” He kept making circles around her nipples and she wondered how he managed to keep a hard on for this long and not use it. She certainly felt her last bit of restraint dissolve.

“I just want to be alone with you.”

“We have a lifetime to be alone.  And if she puts us in separate beds, I can always sneak over in the middle of the night like a bad boy.”

“You are a bad boy!”
Kylie giggled.

Max kissed her lips sensually and she immediately softened beneath him.
Their eyes locked and he moved on top of her. It was the wrong thing to do. He had woken up ready for action and now he was throbbing out of control. He was touching her but it wasn’t enough. He wanted to pull the nighty off her and devour her. He lifted himself up for a moment to get some relief but she pulled him back towards her. Her body was wiggling ever so slightly underneath him.

“Kylie…do you still want to…”

The door bell rang mid sentence.

“Do I want to what?”
She mewed not really caring if her sister waited outside all day.

“There’s our kidnapper.”
Max laughed then slipped out from under the covers and pulled on his jeans. What timing.  “Could you go answer it please?” He disappeared into the washroom.

Kylie moaned then gathered her clothes and started to dress, still feeling the flush of warmth on her skin.
She pulled on her shorts then looked out over the lake, she didn’t want to leave; it wasn’t fair.

She turned and slipped on her t-shirt then shot another look outside.
Was that something by the dock? What was that down there? She stared at it for a couple of seconds then her heart sank.

“Max!”
Kylie screamed then flew down the stairs.

Sh
e flipped the lock for Lucy and ran past her. Max was right behind her but Kylie was running full speed ahead.

“Kylie
, wait!”

“There’s someone in the water!”
She ran around the house.

Lucy and Max finally caught up to her.

“What is it Kylie?”  Lucy backed up on the grass.

Kylie stood there looking down.
Her hand flew over her mouth then her knees went weak. The body floating in the water wasn’t moving.

Max approached her then pushed her back.
“Go get help!”

Kylie couldn’t move.
Adrenaline was rushing through her blood but she was frozen to the spot.

“Kylie
, go call an ambulance!”

“I’ll go!”
Lucy ran up to the house while Max turned the floating body over.

Kylie gasped, covering her eyes with her hands
; she whirled around swiftly and faced the house.

Max came up behind her and grabbed her unsteady body by the shoulders.

“It’s alright.”

“It’s not alright!
Who did this?” She sobbed. “I…I thought…it was her who was…!” She couldn’t finish. Max wrapped his arms around her but she pushed him back and turned around. She needed to confirm that what she was seeing was real.

“Kylie
, don’t.” He tried to pull her back.

She stared down at the blue, slightly bloated face of the women she knew and it scared her
half to death.

“Come on Kylie.”
Max ushered her back into the house.

He got her inside and wrapped a blanket around her.
She was shaking uncontrollably.

“Sit,” he brought her down onto the sofa and bent to meet her eyes,
resting his hands on her knees.

“Kylie look at me.”
She tried but her vision was blurred. “The police are on their way and they’re going to take care of this. We have to be brave.”

“I am being brave.
I just feel…so…bad.” The words quivered out of her mouth.

Lucy stood there fighting back her own tears.
She felt very shaky herself but wasn’t going to let Kylie feel it. She sat down next to her and wrapped her arms around her. “It’s hard because you knew her.”

“It’s not just that!”

Max and Lucy exchanged looks. “What is it Kylie?” He prompted her to continue.

“I could have gotten us all killed staying here last night!
I was being so selfish! I’m so sorry!” She was sobbing.

“It’s not your fault, come here.”
Max sat down next to her and pulled her into his arms.

Kylie felt her insides twisting and trembling.
“Where did this happen? Was she out there all night?” She spoke more to herself.

“I don’t know.
An autopsy will tell us.” Lucy answered this time.

Then there was silence.
Kylie had a million questions but there were no answers just yet. This was beyond her control and it made her weak. Her stomach rolled every time she thought of how she had accused this woman of murder. She hadn’t sufficient proof of anything, why had she tossed accusations at this poor soul. What was wrong with her? She couldn’t even say her name. She huddled between Lucy and Max, struggling with her guilt until the sirens signaled the police were finally approaching.