“What do you want? I have cereal or cereal.” He teased.
“Cereal will be fine.” She laughed, snuggling in closer.
“You’re making it impossible to get up you know.”
“I’m having the same problem.” She smiled.
Max rolled her onto her back, and his lips swept up and down her delicate skin. If heaven were a place on earth this would be it, she thought. Lying in this little tent with this gorgeous man was absolute perfection.
By mid afternoon the sky was growing increasingly dark and storm clouds rolled in, one after the other. In spite of that, Kylie and Max played in the stream like they had all the time in the world.
“What is that?”
“A salamander, we used to call them mud puppies when I was little.” Max held it out and Kylie examined it thoroughly then he put the creature back in the water.
“You make me feel like a kid again!” Kylie splashed around the pool of water, her toes poking out above the surface.
“That’s a good thing,” he smiled, “but you don’t look like a kid to me.” He jumped at her, grabbing her slippery wet body and sliding his hands up over her breasts.
“Next time we come here, no bathing suits allowed.”
“Oh really!” Kylie giggled hysterically and wrapped her legs around him.
Why don’t we just take them off right now!”
“Are you sure you’re the same girl I live with?” His eyes were glowing but he tried to appear shocked.
“No…I don’t know. You know, I feel different.”
“You don’t feel any different to me.” He gathered her close and held her against him for another minute, until thunder rumbled threateningly not so far away.
“Time to go.” Max looked up at the sky.
“No! I don’t want to go back!” Kylie shrilled. “I’m staying here in the park, naked, for the rest of my life. I’ll be like the sasquatch only better!”
“Well you’d be a very sexy female sasquatch, until you had to grow hair all over you to keep you warm.” He kissed her then got out of the water.
“Can’t you call in sick tonight?” She blurted out.
“I can’t, there’s already somebody missing. I’m sorry.”
Kylie frowned then sank deep into the cool, clear water, letting out her air. She hit the rocky bottom and lay there like a ship wreck until her lungs protested.
When they arrived back home it was raining cats and dogs. Kylie ran into the house and shook herself off.
“I’m kind of glad we’re home.” She placed her pack sack on the floor.
“I told you.” He said, preoccupied with the fact that he was leaving to go to work in a few hours and didn’t want to.
“Actually, sleeping in a wet tent with you would be better than not having you here at all.” She tried to cheer him up when she saw the sad look on his face. “But there will be tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that.”
He dropped some of the camping gear on the counter and came over to see her. He wrapped her in his arms and saw the desire that was written all over her face. He wanted to take her into his room and make mad, passionate love to her. But after everything he’d said, he needed her to trust him, so he kissed her deeply then let her go.
“Why don’t you go and stay with Lucy tonight. I’ll take a few days off after that.”
“I’m going to go soak in the tub.” She wasn’t going to commit to anything, but she’d think about it.
Max shook his head, he knew how unbelievably stubborn she was.
“Alright, I’m going to take a shower.” There was no point in arguing with her. “I’ll come and see you before I leave.”
Kylie went upstairs and unpacked some things. Then she ran the tub and dialed her sister. The phone rang only once before someone picked up.
“Where in the hell have you been! We’ve been worried sick!”
It was not uncommon for Lucy to sound hysterical, but this time it gave Kylie a knot in her stomach.
“I was camping.”
“Camping! With who?”
Kylie waited a moment then reminding herself that she didn’t need to feel any guilt. “With Max.”
“Max? Have you lost your mind! Paul has been by several times looking for you, and all I had for him was some disjunctive message you left me about some business you needed to take care of.”
Kylie was too impatient to talk about Paul. She felt like blurting out, that asshole can go to hell, but knew better. If Lucy had any knowledge of what had happened between them it would get extremely messy, and she didn’t want that. She tried to find the right words to deliver the news about her and Max but didn’t know quite how to put it, so she said it plain and simple.
“Lucy…I think I’m in love with Max.”
There was silence on the other end. Then finally she spoke. “You hate Max. What’s wrong with you?”
“Look Lucy I’m tired of being pushed. Things didn’t work out between Paul and I and that’s it.”
“Did you give it a chance? I don’t think so! You barely made it through two dates and your abandoning ship because Max flashed his pearly whites at you again and said let’s go camping Kylie?”
“Look why don’t you come over tonight. Max is going to work and I’ll explain everything to you then.” She tried to keep calm.
“All right but I think you should call Paul. He’s been worried sick.”
Kylie got off the phone and walked to the window. The lake looked bleak and desolate. Max was right, the rain had stopped but a fine drizzle had taken its place. She shivered softly, the strange secret fear that gripped her now and then, crept across her skin. Maybe she could convince Lucy to spend the night. Even though, she wasn’t looking forward to the half-truth she would tell her, she’d rather lie and live with it then be alone tonight.”
Slipping into the bubbly warm bath tub, she lay back and examined the length of the lake through the half fogged up window. The water, like the window, held a fine mist on its surface and a thin haze that rose up in certain places. There was only one person standing on their dock some ways down. Kylie sat up, and focused her eyes, unblinking. She squinting then counted the docks that led to Jeffery’s house. It looked like it was either his place or Leslies. It was a good quarter mile and the light was fading but it appeared as if the person was holding binoculars and looking in her direction. Yes, they were definitely looking in her direction. Kylie splashed back into the tub sending the water up and over the sides.
“Shit!” She crouched down, slid forward and pulled the drapes closed without getting out, then peered through the crack.
Whoever it was, decided to leave. They were walking back up toward their house.
Creepy, just creepy, she thought. Did he see her getting into the tub? Was it Jeffery, Leslie or someone else? She wished she was back at the camp ground with Max.
With a sigh she sank deeper into the water, wondered about the connection between Paul and Leslie. There were pieces of conversation that didn’t add up. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on but sensed wasn’t right. Paul had a very personnel conversation with Leslie about Max yet they were almost an item before Max came along or…before she came along? Why exactly weren’t they together, anyway? Did Leslie dump Paul because of Max or was it something else? Anyway, the whole affair with Paul would soon be over and she wouldn’t have to think about it anymore. She would call him tonight. She owed him a brief explanation and that would be it.
Trying to relax, she lazily closed her eyelids and her hands moved softly over her skin. Memories of Max swept over her like the mist on the lake. She could feel his tender kisses and hear his contagious laughter. Suddenly she wanted to get out of the tub and go see him but she heard the doorbell ring and stopped short.
“Now what.” She had a bad feeling.
It rang four times but she didn’t hear any voices. Then there was a knock on the patio door. She slipped across the tub to the window a
nd peeked through the curtain once more.
“Jesus, it’s Paul.”
There was barely any light left but she could make out his silhouette as he backed off the porch onto the grass. Then the voices came quick and loud. She fumbled for the crank and opened the window a crack to hear what they were saying. Max was using words like asshole. His anger was clearly audible. Kylie ducked down, took a deep breath and peered back out again. This time the two had calmed down and it looked like Paul was trying to explain himself.
She concentrated on what they were saying but could only make out a word here and there. That’s when Paul looked up at the window and Kylie vaulted back impulsively, causing the water to surge out of the tub for the second time.
“Look, I don’t know what you’re playing at but Kylie and I had a good time the other night. She knows what happened and who’s responsible for it.”
“You must be kidding? You had every intention of bringing her back to your house. What were you going to do if she hadn’t climbed out the window?”
Max wanted to beat the man to a pulp but held on to his reserve for Kylies sake.
“Just what are you implying? You think if you turn her against me she’ll go running into your arms but your wrong!”
“Too late asshole! Now hit the road!”
Paul wasn’t going to let this man ruin his chance with Kylie. “How are you going stop me from seeing her? Your nothing to her!”
“You don’t get it do you? She doesn’t want anything to do with you!” Max turned to leave but saw the sharp corners of Paul’s angular face tighten and twist in the twilight. “Just leave her alone Paul, go home and don’t ever step foot on this property again.”
“Or what?” Paul coaxed. “What is it you’re going to do?
Max glanced questioningly in Paul’s direction. “What?”
“What are you going to do… murder me?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Max said mildly even though his instincts told him otherwise.
“You know what I’m talking about!” Paul sneered, turned, then walked around the house and disappeared.
Max locked the patio doors and pushed the dining room chair out of his way. He felt his pulse pounding in his head. He was enraged from the minute he saw Paul’s face at the door, and he couldn’t have held back even if he’d tried. His hatred for him was now tenfold. But despite that, he knew now that he’d gone about it in the wrong way. This was a cop, with connections. What Paul said was either an unconscious question or a malicious threat and he believed the later to be true.
Kylie pulled her bath robe on and raced downstairs, then waited at the bottom of the stairs until she heard Paul’s jeep drive away. Max was rounding the corner when he came to a halt. He looked up into her angry eyes and hesitated.
“Paul was here.”
“I know that.” She stepped away from him.
“I should have pounded his head in.”
“No, you should have minded your own business!”
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I don’t understand. Do you still have feelings for him?”
Kylie’s face tightened up. “No I don’t! But you had no right to say anything because I asked you not to! I was going to tell him but my way. He didn’t need to be accused of anything by you. You went overboard Max!”
Max knew she was right but her accusations just irritated him further. “Suit yourself Kylie.” He said, grabbing his coat and pulling on his shoes.
“What do you mean suit yourself?” Her expression turned uneasy.
“I mean go ahead and talk to him if you want to. I thought you’d be happy that you never had to see him again but I guess I was wrong. I’m leaving.” He walked to the door and felt his strength slipping away but hung on. “Oh yeah, your sister called and said she’d be here in a few minutes, go stay with her tonight.”
Max opened the door but didn’t bother closing it. Kylie walked over and watched him walk away then she bolted it shut.
He was jealous and had no reason to be. She leaned up against the door and drew a deep breath. She’d call him at work later and smooth things out.
In a way he was right, she should be happy he’d taken care of Paul for her, but her good sense told her that Paul wasn’t going to give up that easy. If she knew men, she knew that Max just gave Paul something to prove. What a mess. She shouldn’t have waited so long to talk to Paul, she should have told him how she felt and got it over with.
She was a chicken when it came to relationships, she thought, always avoiding, instead of confronting. Even this house was one of her means of running from them. Move to the country so she didn’t have to deal with people. Somewhere quiet, where she only had to deal with her sister and see the occasional friend, go back to the city to show her art then run back to her hiding place again. She wasn’t that blind that she didn’t know exactly what she was.
On the other hand, she loved the country and life seemed to have known better. It always did. Every time she’d get herself in trouble or just stuck in a rut, there was some kind of divine intervention there to help her out and she was forever grateful. Plus, she didn’t want to hide anymore. She was in love and it made her feel like a million bucks. Despite the argument they had, she knew she could fix it then everything else would fall into place.
Anyway, maybe she would confront Paul with the truth. After all, he should know how she felt the other night, so he never did that to anyone else ever again.
Wow, she really was changing, she mused. Just the intention alone was a step in the right direction.
A second later the phone rang, snapping her out of her daze. She picked it up and Leslie was on the other end.
“Oh, hi Kylie, is Max there?”
“No, he’s gone to work Leslie, I’ll tell him you called.”
“Are you alright? You sound upset.”
“I’m fine,”
“If you want, I’ll come over. Are you alone?”
“My sister’s coming over and I really need to talk to her. We’ll make it some other time, alright?” She said flatly.
“Yes. I understand completely.” Leslie countered then hung up.
Kylie put down the receiver and shook her head. Leslie certainly was a little strange, maybe even unstable and because of that she probably shouldn’t get on her bad side.
On the other hand, Max was in the same situation as she was in. Eventually Leslie would find out about her and Max and she could be a lot more trouble than Paul.
She reflected for a minute then went stone cold. “Jesus.” She said looking out onto the lake. What if Leslie was the one committing the murders. Maybe she’d used Jeffery as an alibi and was able to sneak out of his house somehow. She remembered the figure of the person at the top of the stairs the night she and Paul found someone in the house. It was someone with a small frame…a women!
The creeps slowly slithered up her spine as she tried to make out Leslies house in the distance. The lights were barely visible through the trees. Still, it was too close to Jeffery’s house to tell them apart. How she wished she could get inside those houses but then she would have to buddy up with Leslie and that wasn’t going to happen.
She picked up the phone and dialed her sister. Her throat was so tight she could hardly speak. The answering machine came on and she left a short message, then she found herself turning off all the lights and checking the doors.
Why couldn’t they catch whoever was doing this, she thought to herself? There was always one missing link that someone overlooked, in combination with a couple of clues they should eventually figure it out. And besides, Frank was a good detective. She would know; she was starting to sound like him; she giggled to herself then locked herself in her room.
Feeling a little safer, she realized she was still dripping wet. She grabbed a towel and threw her bath robe to the ground. Things were getting so complicated that soon she was going to forget that she was supposed to be on vacation having fun.
>
It was ridiculous how scared she was when she was alone. No big strong man and she turned into a quivering idiot. What did women do when they lived alone in the country? They had big dogs! That would be first, on her list of things to do tomorrow. She’d always wanted a dog of her own.
As she was walking over to the dresser she looked out at the lake as usual. It was a constant distraction even at night. But there was something there this time. Kylie squinted out at the water. Was that a boat, at this time of the night?
She flicked off the light then slipped on a big t-shirt and a sweater. Her stomach flip-flopped and she sucked in her breath. It was hard to make out but it looked as if it was headed her way.
“Good time to have a gun, forget about a dog!” She bit her bottom lip and picked up the phone again. Just then the doorbell rang.
Lucy and Frank stood outside. Kylie was so happy to see them she flung the door opened and it crashed into the wall.
“Are you okay.?” Lucy looked stunned.
“No, there’s someone in a boat and I think their coming over here and I think its Leslie.”
Frank looked at Kylie strangely then went around the back of the house and Lucy stepped inside.
“What’s going on?” Lucy said softly trying to calm Kylie down.
Kylie raced to the back of the house and watched Frank survey the area, then he disappeared around the side of the house. She looked down at her goose fleshed arms and laughed tensely.
“I’m just a little spooked that’s all,” she shrugged and turned on some lights.
Frank came back in and told them there was nothing out there. No boat, no Leslie, nothing except a fine drizzle. Therefore they both looked at Kylie and waited for some answers.
Kylie knew she was probably making something out of nothing but couldn’t shake the bad feeling. She needed a minute to gather her thoughts.
“I’ll make some coffee,” she headed for the kitchen.
They watched her prepare the coffee, glancing at each other periodically. Then Lucy finally spoke up.
“What is it Kylie, your acting as if you think Leslie is the serial killer?”
A Familiar Star (Romance Mystery) Page 14