Lumen Cove

by Dianne Frost

She shifted and suddenly consciousness was right there, hard and bright, brought close by a myriad of aches and pains. Her face was throbbing and she had a headache. She had to make an effort to pull air into her lungs feeling as if something heavy were crushing her ribs and when she moved her arm she realized her ribs were bandaged tight as was her head. She heard the creak of a chair and opened her eyes just slightly, the morning sun seeming to stab at her brain with a sharp stick. She struggled to focus and once she did she was met with a stormy sea of blue, Alex’s eyes holding hers with worry as he leaned closer to her from his chair.

  “Kelsey,” he said, his voice low, barely a rumble in his chest but she heard him.

  “Hey…” The movement of her jaw hurt like hell. She groaned.

  “Are you okay? Do you hurt? I’ll get the nurse…”

  He made to stand but Kelsey’s hand stuttered towards him and fell to the bed as if leaden, her fingers still stretching towards him. He settled back in his chair and looked pensively across the room. Kelsey felt as if her head were a rusty bolt slowly turning on her neck as she looked to see Reva, curled in what could not possibly be a comfortable position, deeply asleep with her mouth wide open. Kelsey let her head grind back to face Alex.

  “She’s asleep,” Kelsey said her voice low but not quite a whisper. Her fingers waggled at him and he looked at the door before he took her hand in both of his.

  He pulled himself closer, the chair making a soft scraping sound as he pulled it with him, resting his elbows on the bed as he brought her hand to his mouth. He pressed his lips to her knuckles and then lowered his head, breathing slowly through his nose and out his mouth at the terrifying well of emotion the contact brought him. This wasn’t right. He shouldn’t be here.

  “The Echo Delta,” Kelsey rasped and Alex looked up at her, her brown eyes hazy but the most alert he’d seen them since coming here. “You still have her right?”

  Alex blinked and the stone that had settled into his stomach since he’d agreed to sell to Samson Grath seemed to double in weight.

  “I’m turning over the slip today,” Alex said quietly and a smile tugged at her cracked and busted lips.

  “You don’t have to-”

  They were interrupted by a knock at the door and Alex dropped her hand, sitting back in his chair immediately. His eyes widened as he saw Sheriff Lockheed followed by Blake Braum, Elliot’s older brother and then Elliot himself. Kelsey blinked at what in her hazy, drugged state seemed like a firing squad, everyone in police tans except for Elliot who wore his usual gray hoodie.

  “Sheriff Lockheed?” Kelsey asked, blinking at him and she ran a dry tongue over her cracked lips. “What… what are you….” She couldn’t complete the thought, felt it carried away as if on the wind.

  The sheriff removed his hat. “Well… Elliot needed his brother to take him up here, since apparently he was grounded from using the car,” Sheriff Lockheed gestured to Elliot who blushed and looked at his shoes. “And rather than spend the day watching Kurt do all the paperwork he’s neglected for the last three months I decided to tag along.” Sheriff Lockheed looked around the room as if interested in the decor and then his eyes fell on Reva. “That Reva Sarno?” Kelsey started to nod but found her chin already tucked against her chest. Holding her head up to look down the bed at him was giving her a headache and her tongue felt scaly and dry.

  She felt Alex lean close to her, reaching for something next to the bed, and she could smell the ocean in his hair. Had he been sailing yesterday?

  “It was cold yesterday,” she said to him without thinking as he sat back in his chair, a remote control in his hand. He blinked at her before realization lighted his eyes and he pressed his lips together, giving a slight nod before looking down at the remote.

  “Would you like to sit up?” He asked and again she tried to nod but only succeeded in giving herself vertigo. She smacked her lips trying to drum up some saliva but it didn’t help.

  The bed made a loud whirring sound as Alex pressed the button that lifted her into a sitting position. She breathed slow in through her nose and out her mouth, gritting her teeth against the pain of her ribs settling into a new position. She was about to lift her hand to tell him to stop when he set the remote down next to her on the bed. She felt a smile try to pull at her lips as she looked at him but he refused to look at her and that’s when she remembered their audience. She looked back at the sheriff who had watched all of this with a blank expression.

  “Thanks for coming to check on me,” Kelsey said after a moment, not really knowing what else to say and feeling a little like a freakshow with them all standing there in a line like that. She smacked her lips again.

  “Course,” Elliot said finally breaking rank and stepping towards her.

  He looked almost as if he were in pain just looking at her and she wondered just how bad her face looked. She reached up to touch her face and hissed remembering her injured wrist. Elliot’s hands lifted and reached but merely hung in the air for a moment before they dropped back to his sides helplessly.

  “You came up to Mobile to buy a car is that right?”

  Kelsey’s stomach knotted, swallowing hard on a sandpaper throat. She winced and looked around for water but didn’t see any.

  “Mr. Braum,” Alex said softly and both Elliot and Blake looked at him. He pointed to a yellow plastic cup on the bedside table.

  Alex watched Elliot spring forward, struggling to step around Reva’s chair without waking her and it was clear to him, this was who Kelsey should be with. Someone who could kneel next to her bed and hold the straw in her cup for her so she could take a drink. Someone who could actually worry about her and care for her without consequence or fear of ramifications. Someone who didn’t have a felon for a brother and got her beaten up when she was just trying to buy a car. When did she decide to buy a car?

  Alex glanced at the group and saw that the Sheriff’s eyes were on him, his expression speculative. Alex looked down at his hands which were pressed together in his lap.

  “Why…why do you want to ask questions? You can’t do anything,” Kelsey said and there was no accusation in her voice, just confusion. The Sheriff gave her a short smile.

  “You’re right, we don’t have any jurisdiction,” he said looking around and gesturing with his hat again. “But one of the captains here in Mobile is an old buddy of mine from my Atlanta days. Thought he wouldn’t mind the help and I’m right curious about how all his happened.”

  Kelsey wiggled on the bed which caused her ribs to ache. “I got mugged, Sheriff. Surely you’ve seen a mugging victim before.” She crossed her arms over her chest very carefully.

  “Yes I have,” Sheriff Lockheed said and stepped forward to begin his line of questioning anyway. “You arrived in Mobile a little after 5 pm yesterday. Took the Greyhound.” It wasn’t a question but Kelsey nodded anyway.

  “Mr. Ludlin told me you came up here to buy a car.” Kelsey nodded again. “He had Cheryl over at Lambency Bank draw you up a certified check is that right?”

  “Yes,” Kelsey said beginning to feel a tightness in her chest that had nothing to do with her injuries and everything to do with anxiety.

  “A check for eleven thousand dollars.”

  “I told him I only needed eight,” Kelsey said and she felt Alex shift in his seat. The Sheriff’s eyes flicked to him briefly before returning to Kelsey. “The dealer said if I had cash I only had to pay eight. Mr. Ludlin insisted on me taking the full asking price.”

  The sheriff hummed. “You cashed that check out. Went to the Wells Fargo down from the bus station?”

  Kelsey blinked. How did he know where she cashed the check? She glanced at Alex who had narrowed his eyes with suspicion and she looked away immediately. “Yes…”

  “Why would you do that?”

  Alex shifted again and Kelsey looked from the sheriff to the others in the room as if asking if they had heard the question too. “I told you. The guy at the dealership said he’d gi
ve me a deal if I brought cash.”

  “Oh my God, Kelsey,” Alex muttered, bringing a hand up to his forehead and she looked at him and then at everyone else in the room. The Sheriff was shaking his head.

  “What?”

  “When they say that they don’t mean literal cash, Kels,” Elliot said quietly. “They just mean you’re not getting a loan. The money is there in your bank account.”

  “Well…” Kelsey said her brows furrowing as she made herself look embarrassed. “How… how was I supposed to pay them? The check was made out to me?”

  “You sign it over,” Alex said through gritted teeth and Kelsey looked over to find him pinching the bridge of his nose which he only did when she was severely trying his patience.

  “I understand the confusion, Kelsey. No one had ever told you. We’ll get back to the money in a moment. What I’m interested in is where you were from about five-thirty to ten pm. That’s when the 911 call came in.”

  Kelsey shifted. “Well… I went back to the Greyhound station to try and get a taxi but they’d all left. So I called an Uber…” She trailed realizing Blake was taking notes. Could they check her Uber history? If they could she was so fucked…

  “What did the driver look like?” Blake asked distractedly, still scribbling on his pad.

  “No wait…” Kelsey said and scrunched her face up in confusion. “No I did take a taxi. I was about to call an Uber when one pulled up.” She let herself blink a few times then looked up at Elliot helplessly. “Everything is all fuzzy and jumbled.”

  “It’s okay,” Elliot said, immediately placing a hand on her shoulder. “You have a concussion. It’s normal you don’t remember stuff.” Elliot looked over at his brother and the sheriff. “Right?”

  The Sheriff pursed his lips in thought. “I suppose.” He paused and thought some more. “Where’d the taxi take you?”

  “To the dealership,” Kelsey said with a nod and both Blake at the Sheriff blinked at her. “What?”

  “There’s no record of you being at the dealership, Kelsey,” Blake said his eyes sliding to his brother and Kelsey looked up at him as well, seeing Elliot’s eyes wide with concern. She looked at her lap then, her expression one of confusion and thoughtfulness, chancing a look at Alex out of the corner of her eye. His face was completely blank but his eyes were stormy.

  Just then Reva gave a loud snore, startling nearly everyone in the room except the sheriff who merely looked her way. Her head had slid off her arm, her foot thumping to the floor as she pulled herself into a sitting position. Kelsey wasn’t entirely sure if she was even really awake. Her answer came soon enough as Reva looked around briefly through slitted eyes and then realizing she was in a room full of men her eyes flew open, her hands reaching to cover her face.

  “Oh God!”

  “Good morning, Reva,” Kelsey said, a giggle escaping but it melted to a hiss as her ribs ached.

  “How… how… ugh,” Reva flopped back into her chair looking exhausted. “What are all of you doing here? Sheriff? Is that you?”

  “Good morning, Miss Sarno. Glad you could join us,” Sheriff Lockheed said with an amused smile and Reva rubbed her face hard. “Now, Kelsey do you remember talking to anyone at the bus station? Maybe you asked someone for the nearest bank?”

  “No,” Kelsey said closing her eyes and leaning her head back against her pillow. She hadn’t planned on this. She figured a uniform would take her statement and that would be the end of it. She hadn’t expected to have to account for her time.

  “What’s going on? Why are you asking her these questions?” Reva asked, her voice sharp now that she was more coherent and Kelsey felt uneasy. Reva could always tell when she was lying.

  “There are about five hours Kelsey can’t account for yesterday,” Alex said plainly and Kelsey opened her eyes in time to see Reva’s neck jerk, her eyes falling on Kelsey, her expression growing worried.

  “I mean… I took… I took a cab. I told him to take me to the dealership. To McConnell Automotive. It’s on Dauphine Street it’s only 10 minutes from the bus station-”

  “Do you remember being brought here?” The Sheriff interrupted and Kelsey looked down at her lap, thinking. This part she didn’t have to fake.

  “Sort of.”

  The Sheriff nodded then looked back at Blake. He gestured for him to step closer and whispered something to the young man who nodded, flipped his notebook closed and exited the room.

  “Did anyone tell you where you were found?”

  “N-no,” Kelsey stuttered, feeling her heart beat watched up.

  “Shell station about a block from the dealership,” Sheriff Lockheed said, crossing his arms over his broad chest and stepping up to the end of her bed. “You were out back, just outside the bathrooms. Some biker found you.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  It was Alex, his head inclined towards the sheriff, a look of disbelief on his face and Kelsey wished he would look at her. He had to hold it together. Alex cocked his ear more towards Sheriff Lockheed and the older man waited a beat before saying,

  “A gentleman from a motorcycle club. He’d gone around back to use the head and found her. Alerted the cashier to call 911. Mobile PD took his statement.”

  “They did?” Kelsey asked surprised and the Sheriff’s eyes immediately locked on hers. She looked away. “Do… do they have his information? S-so I can thank him?” She shifted uncomfortably on the bed. Her ribs were really starting to ache and all this talking was making the side of her face throb.

  Sheriff Lockheed gave her a small smile. “I’ll see if I can get it for you.”

  “Do you think it was the taxi driver?” Reva asked, her hand reaching for Kelsey’s automatically and Kelsey let her hold it even though it really hurt her wrist. “That did this?” Her eyes widened and then she looked at Kelsey with horror. “Oh my God did he… like… touch you? If he touched you I will KILL him.”

  “No!” Kelsey exclaimed, her face scrunching up in disgust which hurt immensely. “Jeez Reva.”

  “Miss Sarno, please,” Sheriff Lockheed waved a hand at her and Reva settled back in her chair, eyeing Kelsey suspiciously. “You have no memory of arriving at the gas station?”

  “No,” Kelsey said shaking her head.

  “Do you remember getting into the cab?” He asked.

  Kelsey paused to think and then, injecting real fear into her voice she softly said, “No.”

  “Did you ever feel as if someone was following you? Anyone that stood out to you and gave you the heebies?” Sheriff Lockheed asked and Kelsey blinked at his choice of words. “Think now, at the bank? Or even on the bus with you.”

  Kelsey just shook her head for a third time and looked up at him apologetically. “No. Sheriff I’m sorry. I just…” She looked down at her hands in her lap and squirmed uncomfortably. “It’s all blank.”

  Sheriff Lockheed paused and then nodded reluctantly. Kelsey let loose a slow breath, her shoulders sagging in exhaustion. That seemed to be the end of it. Or so she thought until the sheriff’s eyes narrowed again.

  “Aren’t you worried about the money?” He asked and Kelsey looked at him, confused for a moment before realizing she was supposed to have just lost eleven thousand dollars. Her eyes widened.

  “Did you find it?” She asked looking at him hopefully and the sheriff gave a short laugh before shaking his head. Kelsey let her head fall back against the pillow and looked up at the ceiling. “Mr. Ludlin is going to kill me.”

  “Mr. Ludlin is only worried about your safety, Miss Charming,” the Sheriff said sternly and she looked at him then. It was weird to be called Miss Charming by anyone but Alex now. She glanced over at him and he had his head bowed, looking at his hands.

  “But my car…” Kelsey trailed feebly and Sheriff Lockheed gave her a sympathetic smile.

  “There’ll be other cars,” he said assuredly and and Kelsey let herself sigh. “Reva? Elliot? Would you mind stepping outside with me? I want to ask you guys s
ome questions. Kelsey looks pretty tuckered out, maybe we should let her rest.” Sheriff Lockheed’s eyes fell on Alex. “You don’t mind sitting with her do you Mr. Danvers?”

  Alex looked up at him abruptly and then glanced at Kelsey who immediately looked away. “Uh… I mean… sure. Yes. Yes of course.” Alex cleared his throat and sat up more in his chair.

  The sheriff eyed him a moment longer before gesturing to Elliot and Reva to follow him out of the room. Reva gave Kelsey a painful pat on the arm before she got up and filed out the door behind Elliot and the sheriff. The door fell closed behind them with a soft snap.

  Kelsey jumped as she heard the scrape of Alex’s chair and he was suddenly right there, mere inches from her face. “Kelsey I need you to tell me what the fuck is going on right now.”

  Kelsey swallowed hard, her stomach rolling over itself at the low angry tone of his voice. His face was calm but she could feel it radiating off of him. Alex’s eyes stayed trained on the side of her face, the unwounded side and with her head tilted down like that it was almost easy to pretend she wasn’t hurt. She moved to pull her bottom lip between her teeth and winced at the pressure it put on the split.

  “I took care of everything,” she said, her voice small and quiet and Alex blinked at her.

  “You what now?” he asked, leaning closer still, his hand bracing himself on the rails of the bed by her head.

  “I said… I-I took care of everything. Our problem. With… with those people,” she said still looking at her lap, but her eyes cut to him briefly and saw astonishment mixed with the anger and fear. He coughed out an unbelieving laugh.

  “You… you-“

  “I took the bus here and then went to the bar where you were supposed to meet them tomorrow. I gave them the money and they promised it was over.”

  “Have you lost your Goddamn mind?” Alex asked in a heated whisper, his eyes blazing and Kelsey cringed away from him. He breathed sharply out his nose and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose hard. “You could have been killed,” he said, his voice even as his hand fell to his lap. “Do you understand that, Kelsey you could have been killed!”