The 45th Parallel

by Lisa Girolami

She looked at a photo of her mom helping her get a bowl from a cupboard in the kitchen. Val was probably six and her mom was holding her up. In it, Val clutched the bowl, her face full of victory.

  “I wish I could have helped you.” Val touched the picture. “I should have been there when your heart started hurting. Maybe I could have gotten you to the hospital faster. I should have done something.”

  She looked up from the image and said, “Maybe I can now.”

  On the counter of a sideboard in the living room sat a pile of recent mail, a few stacked books, and a flower growing in a pot. For a moment she paused and stared at the sideboard mirror. She reached up and touched the bandage, then pushed her fingers into her eyebrows to relieve some of the ache.

  The phone book lay in the top drawer, and she fished it out and dropped it on top of the sideboard. Staring at it as if it was supposed to tell her something, she waited.

  “Should I?” she said.

  The phone book didn’t respond.

  “What the fuck should I do?”

  With a fist she gently punched the cover, prodding it for more of an answer than just people’s names and numbers.

  Pushing off from the sideboard, she turned and held her side, gingerly pacing the living room.

  One call could help. But then again, it could be a huge mistake.

  Returning to the phone book, she finally opened it and searched for a listing. Her heart beat faster as she dialed.

  “Hi,” she said, her throat feeling suddenly so dry she might cough. “I know this might sound strange, but I need your help.”

  Chapter Eight

  When the doorbell rang, Val jumped as if not expecting it. But in truth, she was nervous because she was expecting it. She opened the door.

  The perfectly cute smile suddenly dropped from Cam’s face. She stepped in. “What happened to you?”

  Val led her inside and walked toward the couch. “I was attacked tonight.”

  “What?”

  Val wasn’t one of those face readers, but Cam seemed to be genuinely surprised.

  “The police called it a type of home-invasion robbery.”

  “My God, are you all right?” Cam sat when Val did.

  “Yes, but I’m more confused than injured.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Something very bizarre is going on, Cam. Sunday, during the open house here, someone rummaged through my things. Then Tuesday, while I was at your house for breakfast, someone got into that motel room and did the same.” She pointed to her forehead. “Now this. These guys came in and stole my keys.”

  Cam’s eyebrows crunched together like two thin caterpillars arching up in ire. “Fuck,” she said quickly. The caterpillars stayed where they were. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”

  “They were looking for something.”

  “Like, to steal your car?”

  “I don’t know. Whatever it is, they’re determined to get it.”

  “Did they take anything else? Money?”

  “No.”

  Cam’s jaw tightened. “Those assholes beat you up for your car keys?”

  Val nodded. “And one of the people in the car that they drove was that girl I got into the car accident with.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Strange, huh?”

  “Do you know her name?”

  “Not her last name. All I remember is Cindy.”

  Cam shook her head. “That doesn’t ring any bells. But I’m not surprised. People roll through here all the time, hitchhiking up and down the coast and stuff.”

  Val closed one eye and rubbed her head, and Cam said, “How much does it hurt?”

  “Like a twelve-pack hangover.”

  Cam got up, looked around the room, and headed for the kitchen. “I’m going to get you some aspirin.”

  “That’s okay, really.”

  She could hear Cam opening a cabinet and running the faucet.

  “Here. Take this,” she said as she came out, holding a glass. “Bathroom?”

  Val began to get up and she waved her off, so Val pointed.

  A moment later Cam came back and held her hand out, palm down.

  Val reached up and caught two aspirin.

  “That’s it,” Cam said. “Give me your phone.”

  She took it and typed, saying, “Here’s my cell number. I should have given it to you earlier.”

  “Thanks.” Val popped the pills into her mouth and drank some water.

  “You know,” Cam said, “I’ve been thinking about what you told me at breakfast. That the gas company said the leak was from the stove burner being on. If it’d been on since your mother’s death, you would have smelled it the moment you first came into the house.”

  Val swallowed some more water and put the glass down. “I know. And I didn’t. I haven’t touched the stove since I’ve been here.”

  “Do you think someone did it deliberately to get you out of here?”

  Val shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  Cam sat down and squeezed her hand. Val still wasn’t sure if she should believe what Donna had said. Maybe she couldn’t trust Cam. She’d certainly steered clear of her in high school. But most of her class would have done the same to her if they’d known she was gay.

  Cam’s hand felt warm and strong. Should she trust her?

  “I need your help.” She told herself she needed to closely watch Cam, just in case.

  “Name it.”

  “I don’t think that seeing the girl Cindy tonight was a coincidence.”

  “Okay. So what’s the connection?” Cam’s hand remained curled around Val’s.

  She’d heard somewhere that if two people held hands, it would be that much more difficult to yell at each other. Did that philosophy apply to lying, as well?

  “So you and the girl have an accident,” Cam said, “and she then gets your address from Mack’s, and she and her buddies set out to rob you of…something.”

  “I know, it’s plausible, but it’s full of holes.”

  “The biggest being why?”

  “I just can’t figure out what they wanted. Or still want. Whatever it is, they’ve tried three times and haven’t gotten it.”

  “I’d put my money on the possibility that Mack’s involved.”

  “Why do you think that?”

  “Well, you might think it’s because I’m pissed that my ex cheated on me with Mack,” Cam said. “Okay, that’s pretty much it. But I didn’t like Mack before. He’s an ass and a bully. He’s pretty much a pig of a man, plus he’s a bit weird.”

  “Any more than pretty much everyone else in this town?”

  Cam smiled.

  “Maybe they’ve got some sort of theft ring going on.” Val doubted it as soon as she said it. “What do I know? This town is probably too small to do something like that unnoticed.”

  “I wouldn’t rule anything out at this point. Did you tell the police?”

  “No. Not yet.”

  “I think you should call them. Now. I mean, really, Val. This is bad.”

  Val doubted Cam would have said that if she were also somehow involved. But Donna was pretty adamant about Cam’s shady past.

  “That’s not the worst part,” Val said.

  Cam put her other hand over Val’s. The gentle squeeze felt reassuring.

  “What else did they do?”

  “It’s not what they did. It’s what my friend did.”

  Cam waited, her eyes fixed on her.

  Val reached for the manila envelope and held it up. “She told me that all of this might be because of my mother’s living trust. She left me some money.”

  “That’s feasible.”

  “I never told her about mom’s living trust. It’s been sitting in a safe-deposit box for almost five years.”

  Cam’s expression shifted slightly, as if it were an expanding balloon filling with a little more air.

  “But,” Cam said, “maybe your mom told her about it
.”

  “They weren’t really friends. They probably saw each other out at the store or something, but Mom wouldn’t have associated with her.”

  “Do you think she’s involved in this?”

  Val stared at the coffee table, almost afraid to admit it and wondering if the blow to the head or the gas episode might have jumbled her noggin. “I hope she’s not. We grew up together. We went to grade school, junior high, and high school together. I haven’t really been close to her in twenty years, but I just can’t believe she could be tangled up in this.” She looked up at Cam, whose face seemed to be filled with authentic concern. “But if she is,” Val added, “I need to know.

  “I think it’s time we let the police handle it.”

  Val wasn’t sure if Cam’s reference to “we” was sincere, but she hoped so.

  “I’ve got to find out for myself,” she told Cam. “If all the police do is arrest that girl and those guys that beat me up, I might never know what they wanted or if Donna was involved.”

  Cam suddenly looked shaken. She hesitated, as if a ghost had just flown past them.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Donna,” Cam said, as if she hadn’t heard right.

  “Yes…”

  “Donna Laufstrom?”

  She nodded. “From high school. Why?”

  “Val,” Cam said slowly, “Donna’s my ex.”

  Val stared at Cam. “Donna…?”

  “Donna’s seeing Mack. He’s the one Donna cheated on me with.”

  “You’re serious.”

  Cam’s silence answered loudly.

  “You were with Donna?”

  “Yeah. And I guess you were too. You two were more than just close in high school.”

  Val looked at Cam, who dipped her head and stared through her eyebrows, challenging her.

  “It was obvious to me.” Cam looked down at her hands and squeezed Val’s. “The plot thickens, doesn’t it?”

  “I wish this were just a book. That way, I’d be sitting somewhere, like on a plane or at the beach, reading about some bizarre situation and being glad it wasn’t my life.”

  “Welcome to the 45th parallel.”

  Val smiled. “It was the coffee mug, wasn’t it?”

  “Yup. Shouldn’t have bought it. Now you’re cursed.” Cam’s smile, which was a little crooked, reminded Val of a lopsided bow tie on a little kid. “What do you want to do, Val?”

  What did she want to do? How about go back to the airport and forget this all happened? Or how about wishing her mother hadn’t died and that she’d visited her more often so she’d know what the hell was going on in this town? The photo albums still lay on the coffee table, and she focused on the one that was open. The photographs were taken when Val was about ten. One in particular was of Val and her mother in the kitchen, her mother holding up a bag of chocolate-chip cookies. Val remembered the picture because right before it was taken, her mother had told her to act like they were famous chefs. She and her mom had stood tall and stared seriously into the camera. Val smiled at the memory.

  If she could only go back.

  “I know what I want to do.” She looked up at Cam. “Go back to the beginning.”

  “The beginning,” Cam said, looking at her as if trying to read her mind. Slowly, she began to nod. “You want to go to Mack’s garage. To the car.”

  “Yes. It all seems to have started there. Something’s going on. I can’t explain it and I have absolutely no proof, but if I don’t take a step forward, I’ll just be waiting for someone else to run me over.”

  Val searched Cam’s eyes for a hint of hesitancy or some kind of dubious caution, but she saw the bright-eyed gaze of concurrence. Val nodded as if giving the command to drop the bomb.

  Cam laughed and leaned forward until their faces were inches away, and Val’s breath caught in her throat. Cam reached up, and her soft fingers stroked the area around her bandaged forehead. Slowly, gently, she moved closer and placed a sweet, innocent, but drawn-out kiss on her lips.

  And it was perfect. Val felt the warmth of Cam’s lips and the sincerity of her intentions. It was not too much but enough to say, “I like you.”

  Val placed her hand on Cam’s cheek. Her soft skin was as warm as her lips, and the deep desire to explore her whole face and neck, to take in all the details of her beautiful face, pulled at her with a force she hadn’t felt in years. Since her last breakup, many desires had deserted her and, until now, had failed to return. But Cam brought them back as a slow spark, promising to ignite a dry pile of kindling.

  She let her fingers linger on Cam’s cheek before pulling slowly away. “I haven’t been kissed like that in a long time.”

  Cam opened her mouth to say something and Val held her breath, waiting because it seemed that the look in her eyes boiled with as much desire as she suddenly felt between her legs.

  As unexpectedly as a drop of unforeseen rain splashes on someone’s nose, Cam’s expression appeared to jump in reaction. “Those bastards. Let’s go.”

  The letdown jarred Val. Maybe she’d gotten too far ahead of herself. Cam might not have the same feelings at all. Val had experienced both directions of a one-way street many times, and now she just might be facing the wrong way.

  She forced her overly active hormones to take a backseat and tried to say something, but all she could do was nod.

  Chapter Nine

  When Cam got to Mack’s garage, she pulled down a side street and parked. They got out of the car and closed their doors as quietly as they could. There were buildings on both sides of the coastal highway, but in this part of town, only a few were actually in business. Most were empty and boarded up. And at this hour, everything was dark and closed for the night.

  Farther down the side street they’d parked on, Val could make out the silhouettes of small beach houses through the incoming darkened fog. They were far enough away that Val wasn’t too concerned about anyone noticing them.

  Val, however, did feel a bit disconcerted and realized the mood was coming from Cam’s reaction to their kiss. It was so odd, like she regretted initiating it. Val would have wagered her entire 401K that Cam liked it as much as she did. Kisses told a more authentic truth than most other methods of communication, and she could have sworn she’d felt Cam’s truth. But it was like Cam suddenly woke up from a dream and remembered she was late for work or something.

  Even though Cam had instigated the whole thing, she decided to let it go. It wouldn’t be good for Val to go all psychologist on the situation and try to analyze what the hell was going on.

  But, damn, it had felt so good.

  They walked around to the front of Mack’s, and Val winced, walking as slowly and carefully as she could.

  “Are you okay?” Cam said, reaching out to her. “Maybe it’s too soon to be out.”

  “I’m fine,” she said. She knew, whether she was lying in bed or walking around, that she’d feel like shit for a while. The aspirin seemed to help, though.

  Every so often, a car or truck would drive past on the dark Coast Highway, and Val and Cam would stand still until the silence of the night took over again.

  Val made her way over to the front door and peered in through the glass. The darkened waiting room was empty so she pulled on the knob, but Cam’s hand was right there to stop her.

  Cam pointed. “The office and waiting room are alarmed, see?”

  An electronic eye blinked like a small cyclops that hovered up in the corner, watching them.

  “I don’t think the garage itself is wired. His office has the cash register, and it’s a well-known fact that he takes his money with him every night.”

  “Then why would he alarm the office?”

  Cam blinked as she realized the same thing. It didn’t make sense at all.

  They heard the rumble of a truck approaching so they moved down the side of the building until they were in shadow. The eighteen-wheeler passed by and boomed down the road, switching gears as if clearing
its throat a couple times.

  “Look,” Cam said as she pointed into the windows of the garage area. “See that tool shed? That’s locked up like Fort Knox, but otherwise, the rest of the place is clear of alarms.”

  Val surveyed the room, looking for other red eyes, but found none. “The bay doors are locked up pretty well, but maybe there’s a better way in out back. Let’s go look.”

  A back alley served the garage. It was made of hard-packed sand, and their shoes crunched so loudly they were forced to take slow, quieter steps, just in case.

  “There,” Val pointed, “Mack took us out to that shed when I was here last. We came out that door.” She swung her arm toward a wooden door that sat crooked on its hinges.

  Cam pulled on the ceramic doorknob. The rickety door yielded a little, and paint chips that had held on for decades broke off and floated to the ground, but it didn’t give way.

  Cam backed up. “All it needs is a good kick.”

  Val reached up and grabbed her arm. “Look.”

  “Where?”

  “Past the shed. That’s the girl’s car! The one that hit the deer first!”

  They went over to it, but Val let Cam get a few steps ahead. When Cam bent over to examine the front, Val grimaced in anticipation. “Are there deer guts all over it?”

  Cam didn’t answer right away. Val watched as she clicked on her cell-phone flashlight app and bent over to inspect the grill. When she got down on her knees to peer under the frame, Val’s arousal flared, and pictures of Cam in that same position, but in bed, made Val moan under her breath. She was unbelievably hot and sexy. Those strong arms and legs and beautiful mouth were made for pleasing women.

  And she probably doesn’t like me that way, Val thought. It was probably for the best. Cam had an illicit past that Val couldn’t prove had remained there.

  Cam banged on something, and Val wondered if she’d found deer parts under there. “Poor thing…I hope it didn’t feel much.”

  “It didn’t feel anything,” Cam said.

  Val craned her neck and took a step forward. “That’s good.”

  Cam stood and turned to her. “It didn’t feel anything because a deer didn’t hit this car.”

  “What do you mean?”