Out of Place (20 page)

Chapter 37

After some debate, Zack convinced Emily to head back to New Jersey. He felt that there might be some clues as to the identity of Harry’s partner inside his house. She was reluctant, but he could be convincing. But the main reason was to get on familiar turf. If someone was going to come at them, Zack wanted it to be on his terms.

T
hey drove through the night and were heading back into her old neighborhood. He glanced over at Emily. She was still sleeping and had been for a couple hours now. They had enough time to break into the house before dawn.

He parked on the next street over in the lot of a small park and shut off the car.
Reaching over, he touched Emily’s arm.

She woke up and looked at him. “Are we there?”

“Yeah.”

She stretched.
“Do you want to sleep a little?”

“No, I’m ready to go.”

They headed out into the dark neighborhood. The streets were wide and clean and wholly suburban. Bright halogen street lamps lit the way and offered them little cover, but they reached Harry’s house in no time.

Zack
looked over at Emily. Her face spoke a thousand words. “You okay?” he whispered.

She nodded. “Let’s do it.”

The smell from the burnt house in the next lot was still pungent. Zack couldn’t imagine what Emily was feeling right now, but she seemed like pure determination could carry her anywhere she ever needed to go. They slid under the crime tape and around to the back of the house. The backyard was more private and offered good cover of darkness.

Zack
crept up to the back door, wondering how to get in when Emily went right over to the planters, picked up a hide-a-key rock and removed a spare key. She held up the silver piece of metal, stuck it into the back door, and entered the house.

There were neighbors across the street
, so Zack was careful where he pointed his flashlight.

“This way.” Emily led him up the
carpeted steps and into a large master suite. She started looking around the room and stopped, looked back to Zack. “What’re we looking for?”

Zack
shined the light around the room. “Anything.”

“Kinda random.”

“It’s all I got. Hey, you know this guy, maybe you know what to look for.”

While Emily started sifting through the dressers,
Zack went over to the closet and looked along the top shelf. There was nothing interesting looking. There were some empty spaces around the shelf marked with a yellow piece of tape and with a number. He didn’t have to be that smart to realize those were probably corresponding numbers to the police evidence tags for things the police had confiscated.

Sliding some clothes over to the side
, he saw more of the same, some shoes and a wooden lockbox at the bottom corner. Just for the heck of it, he picked up the box. It wasn’t locked, so he peered inside.

There was nothing too special in there, except for two chess pieces, a white marble rook and a black marble knight. “Hey,” he shined the light on them towards Emily. “Guess Harry was a chess player after all.”

Emily stepped over to him and looked at the pieces. “You don’t suppose there’s a matching set somewhere?”

“I’d bank on it. And I’d bet our accomplice has them.”
Zack stuffed the pieces into his pocket and placed the box back into the closet.

***

While Zack was looking around Harry’s room, Emily wandered around the other rooms, not really sure what she was looking for. Memories of all the times she’d spent in this house were coming back with each step. Although now she didn’t want to remember them. All the time she’d spent over here as a kid seemed wasted and ugly.

At the end of the hallway
, she came to the one room she’d never really spent any time in. She opened the door to Cheryl’s room and ventured inside. Her tiny flashlight lit up a pink room that looked like a twelve-year-old girl lived in it. There were posters of pop stars on one wall that were years out of date. A large mirrored vanity spanning across the other wall had several unicorn figurines. Even the bed had a pink bedspread with rainbows and butterflies.

M
aybe it wasn’t as strange as she thought. After all, Cheryl had apparently been a little bit immature and strange from what she’d always known and heard. The truth is she didn’t really know her at all. When they were very young, they used to play together, but not as they got older.

She shined the light around the room some more, just checking the general layout of the place, but there wasn’t anything to see
, really. Zack came in behind her.

“Find anything interesting?”

She shook her head. “Not really.” Then she did see something on the desk, but was quickly overwhelmed by the smell of smoke. Emily put her nose in the air and took a big whiff. “You smell that?”

Zack
sniffed a few times. “Yeah, what is that?”

Emily went to the front of the house and saw smoke billowing up from the front porch. “Oh my God, the house
is on fire.”

They hurried down the steps
, but the fire had already invaded the front door of the house and was creeping up the stairs. The heat blasted them in the face and the windows to their right exploded.

Zack
swung around her and kicked the railing down, leaped off the top of the steps and looked back up to her. “Jump!” She didn’t expect him to make that move, but she followed him and launched to the floor below.

Once on the tile floor
, they took off through the hallway into the kitchen. Zack stopped when he didn’t see a back door, but Emily knew there wasn’t one in here.

“This way,”
she said and took off towards the second family room in the basement. Quickly down the steps, they came into the finished basement, but Emily knew there was a way out here.

Into a breezeway and down a short hallway
they came to sliding glass door. Emily flicked the lock and they plunged out into the night.

They hurried
through the backyard, past the fence, and couldn’t believe how much of the house was already engulfed in flames. They ran across to the neighboring yard and out to the street. A few neighbors were already out on the sidewalks looking at the blaze, so they ducked back behind the houses and ran back to the park as quickly as possible.

Back at the car
, they quickly jumped in. Sirens screamed in the night and lights seemed to be heading towards them. A police car sped into the lot behind them. Zack looked back, then jumped across the seat and threw his arms around her and started kissing her.

Emily was completely confused for a second
, but then she understood what he was doing, so she kissed him back. After a couple of seconds, she totally forgot what she was doing and where she was. She just let Zack’s lips rule over hers, reacting to his every move. Their tongues fought hard as his hands moved through her hair and on the back of her neck. She started pulling his shirt off.

The knocking on the glass didn’t even seem to be real
, but it didn’t stop her either. After another few knocks, Zack pulled away. She looked up and saw a cop with a flashlight blasting her in the eyes. It wasn’t easy to sit up, her head was spinning from the intensity of that kiss. Her breath was heavy but started to return.

She
wiped the moisture from her lips and smoothed her hair out of her face as Zack rolled down the passenger window.

“Hello
, Officer, what’s the problem?” Zack said.

The cop bent in the car and shined the light
at them. “This park closes at ten.”

“Oh, we didn’t know.”

“You two have ID?”

Zack
took out his wallet and handed over his driver’s license. The cop looked at it for a second and handed it back. Then he asked Emily, “What about you, miss?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t get my new license yet.”

The young cop looked closer at her. He realized who she was. “Oh, okay, I didn’t recognize you, Miss Bontrager, my apologies. Did you two see anyone or anything suspicious? We have a fire down the street and a report of two kids fleeing the scene.”

Emily shook her head. “I didn’t see anything, we were…I was just—”

“It’s okay,” the cop said. “But I’m going to have to remind you two to please make sure you keep it civil in here. There’re kids in this neighborhood and a lot of nosy parents who walk dogs here in the early hours.” He turned away and then stopped and looked back. “For the record, what you two did was incredibly brave. If you ever need anything from the department, don’t hesitate to ask.”

They watched the cop car pull away from the park.

Chapter 38

Zack
drove slowly out of the neighborhood. Glancing over at Emily, he could tell she was still a bit disheveled from that little kissing scene he had to create. He felt bad about it. That totally wasn’t his style to just force himself on someone. “Hey, I’m really sorry.”

She twirled her hair in her fingers and looked at him
, but didn’t say anything.

“I just felt like it was a good way to
explain why we were all sweaty and in a park in the middle of the night.” She still didn’t say anything, so he kept talking. “I’m just…that’s not me, I wouldn’t do that normally. I need you to know that.”

After a few moments of silence, Emily said, “I know. You did the right thing.”

He nodded and turned out onto the main road out of the development. “Someone either followed us, or knew where we were going.”

“Kinda spooky.”

“We know neither one of us are bugged.”

“What about the car?”

“That’s what I was thinking. And I think I have a plan.”

***

They checked into the Marriot Hotel before dawn. Emily walked into the room and had a wow-moment. This was by far the nicest hotel room she’d ever been in. Zack insisted on paying this time and this honeymoon suite was the only room they had. Apparently, there was a huge comic book convention down the street and just about everything within a twenty mile radius was booked. Between the heart-shaped bed and the hot tub in front of the fifteen story windows, Emily wished they were here for another reason. But they weren’t here to stay for long. They were here to set Zack’s plan in motion. They just needed to waste some time first and set things up.

Emily sat on the edge of the bed and slumped back, looking up at the plain white ceiling. Her mind kept drifting back to that moment in the car. She and
Zack had shared a couple kisses before that, but that was the first time she was absolutely ready to give herself to him. If that cop hadn’t knocked on the window, there’s no question in her mind what she would have done. Her body was still tingling.

Zack
entered the room and closed the door behind him. “Whoa.” He tossed their bags on the bed behind her. “This place is unreal.”

She nodded. “Yeah, it’s too bad we’re not here to enjoy it.”

He looked at her and sighed. “Truer words were never spoken.” Flopping on the bed behind her, he said, “I’m just going to crash for a couple hours. Wake me up before seven.”

Emily went over to the long leather couch and
plopped down. She’d slept quite a bit on the ride up here and wasn’t really sleepy now. The urge to turn on the television just wasn’t there. Not only didn’t she want to keep Zack awake, but she just wanted to enjoy the silence. She sat there for a long while, just letting the calm wash over her.

Restlessness started to set in
, so she got up and walked up the three red-carpeted steps that led to the hot tub. It looked so good. She pressed the button on the control panel and the tub sprang quietly to life. Blue and white LED lights glowed from the bottom of the tub, giving the churning water an almost dream-like quality. It was way too cool to leave alone.

The room was dark
. She glanced back once at the bed to see if Zack was sleeping. Part of her wished he wasn’t. She slipped out of her clothes and stepped down into the bubbling water.

It was so warm and relaxing. She just wanted to enjoy a few moments of this while she watched the
New York City skyline. The orange glow from the approaching sun was just a small sliver in the background of the cityscape.

She closed her eyes and leaned back. Falling
asleep in the water wasn’t a smart idea, but she managed to balance on that fine edge of rest and sleep until she started to feel so perfect. Opening her eyes periodically to look at the skyline kept her from being too relaxed. It proved a good recipe. The next time she looked up, Zack was walking up the steps to the window.

“The sun should be up soon
,” he said.

She felt a little nervous about being naked under the water
, but she knew he would look away when she climbed out if she asked him to. But she wouldn’t ask him to. She stood up and let the water roll off her body for a few seconds until he turned to see her in the dim light. She felt her heart quicken as his eyes fell on her naked body and lingered.

He blew out an audible sigh and said quietly, “Lord have mercy.”

She climbed up the steps to the landing and started pulling off his T-shirt. He didn’t argue with her and she wasn’t over-thinking it this time, she’d waited long enough. Life was too uncertain.

Reaching up
, she wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and pulled his lips onto hers. The passion he’d ignited in the car earlier rekindled instantly and an intense kiss took over. Her hand glided to the button on his jeans and she snapped them open, letting the loose denim fall to the floor.

Pulling away from him, she took his hand
and turned around, walking him back into the hot tub and easing him down onto the seat that ringed the tub. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in.

He pulled away
. “Are you sure about this?”

She met his eyes
. “As sure as I am that sun is going to rise.” She leaned into his lips, wrapping her arms around his neck, letting her legs slide around his waist. His hands moved up her side, sliding up her ribcage and up to her shoulders and neck. The feeling of his hands as they moved up to her face and intertwined into her hair brought her to a feverish intensity. She gripped him tighter and their kiss became more passionate.

She felt him under her, searching.
Leaning into him, she tilted her hips back so he could complete their embrace. She had to stop kissing him as she nearly lost her breath. Their panting grew rapid, his lips sucked into her neck and he thrust up to meet her rocking hips. Everything she’d ever known about making love quickly became completely irrelevant as he ignited something inside her that she didn’t know was there. It felt so amazing. She could feel every pore of her body completely immersed in the moment.

Every nerve ending both inside and out swelled in anticipation. A rush of intense heat flooded her
until it felt like the very molecules of her being were going to catch fire. With a few more grinding hard moves, she shuddered, unable to hold back the moan she wanted to quell turned it into an involuntary screech as she exploded into a quivering fit that didn’t seem to stop. She had to grip him with all her strength just to keep from falling into pieces as their fervor slowed to a writhing embrace.

She stayed there, locked into him for several minutes trying to catch her breath
, but it was taking longer than usual. Reluctantly she slid off his lap and sat on the seat next to him. His hand found hers under the water, and interlaced with her fingers. He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it.

H
e put her hand on his chest, over his heart. “Do you feel that?” he said. He pressed her open hand against his flesh.

She nodded.

“You own it now.” He leaned over and kissed her softly, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back to his chest. “Use it wisely.”

They just sat there, looking out at the sky, waiting for the sunrise.