Red Ochre Falls

by Kristen Gibson

“I dunno,” the dark-haired brute said. “Let’s ask her.” He stood up tall and brushed his hands down the front of his shirt leaving rust colored marks. “I’m Sledge,” he said with a smoke-and-whiskey voice. “This here’s Manny.” He put his hand out to shake mine.

  “Hi, I’m Mattie.” Sledge withdrew his hand when he realized there was stuff on them. He had knobby knuckles and coarse skin, but his smile seemed welcoming.

  Manny pushed his way forward to shake my hand. “Are you the new girl?”

  “That’s me.”

  “We’re the dead guy disposal team,” Manny laughed.

  Sledge gave Manny a sideways glance. “Don’t mind him, he has the manners of a goat. We’re glad to meet you. When things are hopping, you’ll see us a lot. We’re the body guys.”

  I could see him do something that looked like he was shaking off what he just said, like he wanted a do-over.

  “I mean we’re the removal service. We bring the deceased here for proper preparation and burial.” It almost sounded rehearsed, maybe the work of his boss, or Grandpa Stanley.

  “Ahem,” Manny cleared his throat and waited.

  “You may already know this, but we get a call when a person dies,” Sledge explained. I shrugged to indicate I didn’t know. “Then we show up at the location of the deceased and bring them to funeral homes around town. The rest you’ll mostly learn from the Mackenzie family.”

  “Thanks, for the heads up. I’ll try to remember.”

  “You got a pickup, just call us.” Sledge and Manny departed.

  I had a lot to learn about this business. Not sure I was psyched about it, but this work beat life in a cardboard box. I carried the books upstairs. Mom greeted me with lunch.

  “Looks good.”

  She’d placed a couple turkey sandwiches and a salad with cucumber and tomatoes out for us. It looked good, so we washed up and dug into the food.

  “How was registration Miss College Co-ed?”

  “Fine.” I told her and took a bite of the sandwich. It was quiet for a moment, but she kept here eyes on me. She wanted details.

  “Okay, campus is cool, parking tough, and I picked up two classes. Thanks for the encouragement, mom.”

  She smiled at me and enjoyed a few bites of salad. We washed our food down with some lemonade she’d made from scratch, better than any stuff you could get from a packet or restaurant dispenser. It hit the spot.

  “Zack and Tony head back to Louisville?”

  “Yes. Zack wanted to take you out for some fun, but he had to work. He and Tony said they’d come back in a few weeks to check on us, and move the couch again, if needed.” Mom laughed. Stress was noticeable around the crinkle in her forehead, but it was such a relief to see her joking.

  “How is Stanley?”

  “He’s fine, but we have a lot to discuss. I’d like to unwind a little before we get into it.” Her smile faded and I knew she needed some rest.

  We finished with a couple wafer cookies and I helped get her set up on the living room couch with some books and magazines. She propped her feet up on the ottoman and put on her horn-rimmed glasses. They looked nice with her creamy skin and short reddish bob.

  The window air conditioner kicked on and cooled the room fast. I put a lightweight blanket over mom and headed back to the kitchen then cleared the table. Mom was zonked, so I went ahead and balanced the checkbook, paid a couple bills, and scanned my textbooks. I was searching jobs online when Chloe’s mom called.

  “Hi Mrs. Ellis. How are things going?”

  “Hi, Mattie. I’m doing all right. How’s your mom?”

  “Doctor says she’s doing better since surgery.” I thought about how far mom really had come the past few months. “We’re trying to make sure she rests and keeps her stress levels down. It seems to be working.”

  “I’m glad she’s improved. Give her my best, would you?” Her voice sounded off.

  “Are you okay Mrs. E?”

  “Actually, I called to ask about Chloe. It’s been a couple days since we spoke. Have you heard from her lately?”

  “We talked a couple days ago,” I answered. “She sounded fine to me, just busy with work.”

  “Chloe mentioned working on a case when we talked, but I haven’t heard from her since. It’s starting to worry me, Mattie.”

  “She’s probably just busy,” I reassured her. “We’re supposed to meet up tomorrow. I’ll see if I can find anything out, and let her know to call you.”

  “Thank you, I really appreciate it. It’s probably nothing. Maybe I’m being an overprotective mom, but it’s always best to check things out.”

  “No problem, Mrs. E. Take care.”

  “You too. Thanks.” She disconnected and I started to worry.

  Chloe and I hadn’t talked in a long time, but she reached out about an important case. Next, her mom called to ask if I’ve heard from Chloe because she hasn’t talked to her in a few days. Something about the coincidence unsettled me. Hopefully, there’d be a good explanation for it all tomorrow. Maybe I couldn’t solve the Ellis family problems today, but I could work on my own. It was time to talk with Jocelyn and let off some steam.

  Jos and I finalized plans to hit a couple hot spots. I threw on my best going out clothes. I’d been a social hermit most of the summer and wanted my debut to be a good one. I pulled on a soft pink top dotted with sequins and a black skirt, then styled my hair with sparkly clips and dabbed on some perfume. I sighed. It’d been a while since I really looked at myself in the mirror. I cleaned up pretty good, but seriously needed to relax. Tonight was the night to slip away and feel like my old happy self again.

  “Hey, girl!” Jocelyn called from the parking lot. She wore a short denim dress and wedges. We met at Granger’s Pub. My idea since I owed her an explanation about our new living situation before she saw it first-hand.

  We ordered appetizers and drinks. I’d twisted up my napkin until it started to fall apart, then summoned up some courage and told her where we moved. She looked at me like I had horns coming out of my head.

  “Is that why you’ve been avoiding me?”

  “Kind of. Yeah.”

  “We’ve been friends forever. Do you think I care where you live?”

  I shrugged.

  “Your family hit hard times and did what was necessary. That’s smart. Besides, I’m glad you’re there.”

  “Why?”

  “It means we get to hang out again.” Jos knew just what to say.

  By the time we made it to the dance club, we’d caught up on everything and were invigorated to be out on the town.

  “I just want to dance, it’s been so long.” I followed Jocelyn inside The Boxcar and she found us a spot near the dance floor. Drinks flowed under the neon 80s Night sign, so we grabbed a couple and hit the floor right away.

  The club was fairly clean, but it’s mostly a meet market. Tons of students and young execs, with some random dance-hungry girls like us thrown in the mix.

  “I love this song! It’s Howard Jones.” Jocelyn shouted as we got to our spot on the dance floor. It was crowded, but tonight crowded felt energizing. It was time to shake off anxiety and have fun.

  On campus, Jos and I got a reputation for dancing. We didn’t dance for anyone but ourselves and we never held back. People used to stop and stare, while others joined us. Tonight was no different—dancing was our workout and tension reliever rolled into one. A couple guys approached us, but we weren’t here to snag dates. Jos and I just needed to unwind, so we ran interference for each other.

  A young looking banker-type and his wingman approached us as we made it to the bar for another round. They bought us drinks and we thanked them, but made it clear we were here for fun, not hook-ups.

  After the second round, we felt pretty good. The vibe was electric and we danced out butts off for a while. Sweat beaded up on my neck while we kept up with a thrumming bass. I moved my arms under my hair to flip it up and get some air to my skin. As I let go my arms
caught someone on the way down.

  I kept dancing and turned to apologize for slapping the innocent bystander when his eyes meet mine. He looked amazing—clean-shaven and lightly tanned, dressed in a casual t-shirt and jeans. He smelled even better—a crisp, musky scent mixed with his body heat and pheromones. I could’ve eaten him up, but I needed to maintain my composure.

  Someone bumped me from behind and I stumbled into Garrett. He steadied me at the waist and gently placed one of his hands on the small of my back. So much for remaining composed. His blue eyes mesmerized me. Heat shot into parts of my body I didn’t know existed.

  “May I have this dance?”

  “Yes,” I whispered. He pulled me close to dance. My heart fluttered when I placed my arms around his neck. Our eyes locked. His blue pools of awesomeness looked darker than usual. I hoped it was a good sign. As he pulled me even closer the whole arm-flexing thing distracted me. I didn’t know how much more of this I could take before I completely melted into him. This was bad. Very, very bad, but felt so very, very good.

  He leaned in and gently pressed his lips to my ear. I felt his breath as he whispered, “Nice moves.”

  He made me feel really good. Better than I should have felt, considering the desire to do more with him was overriding my common sense. I shivered and he pulled back. My attention moved from his soft, decadent lips to his gorgeous eyes.

  “But, you hit like a girl.” His lips pulled up into a sly grin. I knew he referred to the hair flip-and-slap incident from a minute ago, but it took a moment for me to respond.

  “Very funny.” I playfully punched him in the arm, a little harder this time.

  “Umph. Just kidding, there’s no need to get testy. Although, I like the feisty side of you.” His comment shocked me enough my mouth may have dropped open. He placed his hand under my chin as if he was going to close it. Or, was he going to kiss me? I felt breathless. What’s he waiting for? I’m here! Take me now! It got really loud in my head.

  “Don’t let me stop you, big guy,” Jocelyn must have decided it was time for Mr. Handsome to get the once-over while I stared at, no, drooled over him. “I just wanted to see the first person to ever render my best friend speechless.” Jos was a great friend. She came to make sure I was ok, and not getting hit on by a crazy stalker. This is not a crazy stalker guy, Jos. Really. I hope she read it in my expression and got the hint.

  “Jocelyn,” I said, a little disheartened she was still standing there because I really wanted to dance with him again. “This is Garrett.”

  “Nice to meet you, Garrett. I’m Mattie’s best friend. We’re dancing tonight to help her forget her troubles.”

  “Troubles?”

  “Yeah, she’s had a tough year. Her mom’s been sick, they lost their house, and they just moved into a creepy new one.”

  I wanted to crawl under a table. Was there one around here somewhere? No? I had to face this head on. Only, Garrett beat me to it.

  “I’m Garrett,” he shook her hand. “Owner of Mattie’s creepy new house.”

  “Oh, really?” Jocelyn eyed me as though I owed her a long and detailed explanation. I wanted to argue, I just gave you an explanation even if I left out some of the good parts. Jos smiled at Garrett. Did she just bat her eyes at him too? OMG! What level of hell was embarrassment? “She never told me you were so…young.” At least she didn’t say hot. “And hot.” Jos nodded in my direction.

  I guess I deserved that. Not only had I kept my address quiet, I kept the hottie boss a secret too. I had a lot of explaining to do.

  “Thanks for the compliment,” Garrett said to Jos before he eyed me. “So, do you think I’m a hottie, Mattie?”

  Did he really want my answer? Could I give him an answer? What would happen if I told him he was hot? I grabbed him to steady myself.

  “Whoa, there. Either it’s the answer I hoped for, or you’re a lightweight.” He held me and I wanted to say something, but couldn’t.

  When I looked to Jocelyn for help, her face went blank. I followed her eyes over to a dark corner of the bar. It was Tab. He saw us, and walked over to where we were on the dance floor. Even over the booze of the bar and a hundred sweaty co-eds, I could smell him—drunk, again.

  “Hey ladies,” he flashed a greasy smile at us. “Looking good Mattie.” He took a step, but Garrett stopped him.

  “Garrett Mackenzie,” he shoved his hand out to block Tab and shook his hand, firmly. “And you are?” Garrett did not sound happy. Tab must have picked up on it. He eyed me then Garrett and decided to play with him.

  “Oh, I’m here for Mattie. Didn’t she tell you?” He smoothed out his voice. “Sweet little Mattie used to be jealous of what I had going with her college roommie. She decided she wanted a piece, so I’m gonna take her back to my place and—” Tab raised his hand to touch me, but Garrett twisted it back so swiftly we barley saw it happen before Tab yelled out. “Ow!”

  Garrett applied more pressure judging from the pained look on Tab’s face. Even with his hand incapacitated, the drunk lashed out. “Hey man, don’t start something you can’t finish.” Tab wriggled to free his hand, but Garrett held tight.

  Knowing he had no place to go, Tab stopped moving. “I was just having some fun with the ladies. You like having fun. Don’t you, girls?” He reeked of booze and violence, and it scared me.

  Then, in a low, calm voice Garrett said something, and Tab went white.

  “Tab’s going to leave now.” Garrett pulled Tab’s arm tighter, not caring whether he broke it off, and walked him out the front door. Whatever Garrett told him must have been meaningful, because Tab didn’t bother to resist or come back.

  “What a creep!” Jos spoke first. She crossed her arms. Chloe’s ex- rattled us both.

  “Hasn’t changed a bit, has he?” I jabbed.

  The guy was bad news. I didn’t like the fact he showed up just as Chloe and her mom seemed to be reaching out for help. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this, Jos. I heard from both Chloe and her mom this week.”

  Jos looked at me and I shared the worry in her expression.

  “I know, I think Tab may be up to his old tricks. I’ll know more after I meet with Chloe tomorrow.” It was all Jos needed to hear.

  We headed to our table and ordered waters. Jos described a couple recent incidents between Chloe and Tab. He supposedly looked her up to apologize for hurting her. Something about making amends in his effort to get sober. She must have loved the guy, or the sex, because he ended up charming her into bed, again. They went public with the relationship, and it seemed fine for a couple weeks.

  Jos told me he showed up drunk at her house one night when she and a co-worker were going over a case. Tab went nuts, and started beating Chloe. When her co-worker tried to stop it, Tab started beating him. The guy ended up in the hospital, but was too afraid of Tab to press charges. Chloe told the police, who recommended she get a restraining order. Instead, she called Tab’s father and they took him back to rehab.

  Apparently, he’d gone off the deep end without Chloe. This was worse than I thought.

  When Garrett came back, I didn’t know what to say. How do you tell a guy you and your mom work for, but you barely know, a) Thank you for getting rid of the threatening lunatic we attracted, and b) You smell good, I want to be more than friends—what does one say in this position?

  Garrett came back to check on us. He helped me off the stool without saying a word. He didn’t look mad, but he kept quiet. We walked Jos to her car and made sure she drove off safely before we headed over to my car.

  I reached for my key to unlock the door and started to shake. Garrett put his arms around me. “It’s okay, I’ll make sure you get home safe.” He squeezed me tighter. “You don’t even have to give me your number—I already have it.”

  It made me laugh, which was good because laughing seemed a lot better than crying in front of him right now. He opened my door and went around to the other side of the car. He got in the passenger seat an
d told me where to find his car.

  I dropped him off next to a gorgeous black Maserati. If my car could blush from embarrassment, it would. Instead, it made a metal screech, kind of like an angry cat. When Garrett looked over, Old Bessie shut-up.

  “Follow me. You’re parking in the garage tonight.”

  I didn’t know what that entailed, but I trusted him. Sure enough, he drove up on the other side of the funeral home and stopped in front of the garage. He pointed to the second of four bays, then got out and raised the garage door. I pulled in next to a black hearse and cut the engine. He parked outside in one of two spots near the garage entrance and came inside. Then I watched as he pulled down the garage door and locked it.

  We walked through the hallway, past the room where I saw Jimbo the body, and into the office. Garrett stopped me.

  “Are you okay?”

  I nodded ‘yes’, but it must not have convinced him. He led me through the office and to the stairway leading to my apartment. “Everything’s going to be okay.” He gave me a reassuring squeeze. I smiled and went upstairs. After I reached the landing at the top, I peeked down to see if he was still there. He waved. I got inside safely and double-checked the locks.

  Mom was asleep, so I did the bare minimum to get ready for bed, and hit the sack.

  CHAPTER 6

  The smell of toast and eggs woke me before the alarm. Mom must have gotten up before me. I met her in the kitchen and poured us both some orange juice. She asked about my night on the town as we shared breakfast.

  I ate a forkful of eggs and tried to decide how much information to give mom. We’re pretty close. Sure, we’ve had our disagreements, but we depended on and trusted each other—the way it’s always been. She needed to know what happened, so I drank some OJ, and gave her the details. Not to worry her, but to make sure she stayed alert because I didn’t know what Tab might do. I may have left out the part where I drooled over Garrett, but she knew he helped Jos and me.

  As soon as we cleared the breakfast dishes, I grabbed a few things and stepped into the shower. I put my head under the hot water and waited for it to perk me up for the interview, errands, and meeting with Chloe I had planned.