Stand-in: Take 3 of the Kanyon and Daylen Series

by K. B. Draper

  “Yep. Thanks, Frank. Let me know if you get anything more,” Lt. Boston said before hanging up. “Oh goodie, the blonde Charlie’s Angel. What do you want?”

  “I was checking to see if you’ve come up with anything new.”

  The lieutenant closed a file on her desk and picked up another. “The B&E at the apartment didn’t turn up much. Looks like the standard toss job. The perps were obviously looking for something; drugs, cash.” She gave a shrug. “Crime techs pulled a few prints, but I’m not hoping for much as the place doesn’t look like it had ever been cleaned. So, it will likely show the brothers’ prints, the tenants before them, and everyone in between.”

  “How about in Cody’s bedroom, the burn mark?”

  She got another shrug. “Don’t know. They’re checking for accelerant residue. My guess, water bong incident.”

  “So, drugs are what you’re thinking?” Daylen asked, disagreement in her voice.

  “It plays that way.”

  “Calvin admit to using?”

  “Nope. Says their dad would kill them and their mother would be right there with a shovel to bury their bodies.”

  “But you don’t believe him and still think it’s drug related?”

  “I said it plays that way,” Lt. Boston answered, steepling her fingers to look over them at Daylen. She assessed her for a long moment then sighed. “Listen, I think Calvin is on the level. I think he’s telling me the truth or what he believes it to be anyway. Maybe we got a Cain and Abel thing going on here. Good son, bad son. I don’t know. Not yet. But what I do know is we got two kids unaccounted for and someone, or maybe a couple of someones are looking for them or something they have and they’re willing to commit B&E and assault to get it.”

  Something like an article. “Agreed. Well, I don’t have much either.” Daylen stood. “I guess I’ll head back to my office and see if I can get anything from my resources.”

  Lt. Boston leaned back in her chair. “Your resources,” she repeated suspiciously. “Right. Whatever. I probably don’t want to know. If you happen to get something useful from these resources, let’s try telling me this time so maybe we can avoid the catastrophe part of solving this little mystery.”

  “And where’s the fun in that?” Lt. Boston gave Daylen an unamused glare. “Fine. Geez. I’ll let you know if I dig anything up.”

  “Good. Now go away,” Lt. Boston replied, dismissing her with a wave.

  An hour later, Daylen dropped her bag on her aunt’s kitchen table, grabbed a bottled water from the fridge, then headed upstairs eager to talk to her aunt about the encounter with the walking, talking flamethrower. She knocked as she entered her aunt’s office. “Hey, Aunt Ru–” the greeting died as she realized no one was there. She looked down the hall to the restroom, but the door was open and all was quiet. She listened for noise from the third floor, her aunt’s private living area. Nothing. She moved to the stairs to call out anyway. “Aunt Ruby?” No reply. She waited a second then called out again. “Aunt Ruby, where are you?” Still nothing. Odd. She’d sworn when she walked in she’d heard footsteps overhead. “Eddie?” she tried instead, although Eddie was semi-retired and not around much anymore. Nothing. She checked Theo’s office, glancing in her and Kanyon’s office as she passed. Nothing. “Guess I’m hearing things.”

  Nearly two hours after her duck and hide routine, Ruby was pacing and getting more claustrophobic by the second. “That’s it. Isadora,” she whisper-yelled, spinning on a heel when she felt the woman materialize behind her.

  “I was curious just how long it would take for you to request my presence.” Isadora grinned.

  “Stop grinning. I need your help.”

  Isadora raised a playful eyebrow. “I will be happy to assist you as you seem to be in … distress.” She fought the urge to lift the corner of her mouth again as she watched Ruby bounce from foot to foot.

  “I have to pee worse than a kid after a 7-11 Big Gulp and a five-hour bus ride.”

  Isadora couldn’t help but laugh softly. “And exactly how would you like me to assist in this matter?”

  “Can you poof a toilet in the corner over there?”

  “I have many powers, but plumbing is not one of them.”

  “Crap.” Ruby began to pace again. “My freaking workaholic niece. Jesus, why couldn’t she get a night hobby like star gazing or street walking or something?”

  “And we are hiding ourselves from Daylen because?”

  Ruby glared. “You know, because.”

  “Amuse me.”

  Ruby growled. “Because I’m in Seeker timeout and the tight-asses upstairs stripped me of my powers.” She threw up her hands as she began duck-walking again.

  “I warned you there would be consequences to your actions,” Isadora replied.

  “Thanks, Surgeon General. Did the brainiacs take into account that if I’m not able to shield, that Daylen is going to be able to read me like an open book and will know that I, well, you know ...”

  Isadora nodded. “Your answer to this punishment is to avoid Daylen by locking yourself in a secret room with no facilities?”

  “Seemed like a good idea at the time.”

  Isadora fought back another laugh then simply waved a hand in the air. “There.” Ruby turned as she heard a faint phone ring through the walls. “Give it a minute or so and you should be clear.”

  Ruby sighed audibly. “Oh my god, thank you.”

  “You can thank me by fixing this little matter.”

  “Fine.” Ruby huffed.

  “Thank you,” Isadora offered smugly, then disappeared in a puff of silver light.

  “In a couple of months,” Ruby muttered. No sooner had the words left her mouth when she felt invisible fingertips tickling her rib cage. She squirmed as she fought back a pee-releasing laugh. “Not funny. Not freaking funny.”

  Daylen’s phone rang. Theo. “Hey, Theo, what’s up?” When she didn’t get a clear reply, she pressed her ear harder to the phone. All she could hear was music and loud bar noises. “Theo,” she tried a little louder, then listened for any signs of distress.

  A woman’s sex laden voice came over the phone. “Yeah, totally. I’m so into role-play.”

  Then Theo’s voice, slow and slurred came across the line. “I roleplay every night and sometimes on Saturday mornings with a whole group of people out in the park.”

  “Kinky,” the woman purred. “I’d be game for that.”

  “Oh my–” Daylen pulled the phone away from her ear and her thumb hit the end button before her brain could conjure up a full visual. Daylen stared at her phone. “Theo is getting hit on by a woman. An open for group activities in the park kind of woman. Crap!” She quickly dialed Theo back. “Come on. Come on, Theo. Answer.”

  “Hellllllllo, Daylen. You’re soooo not going to guess what’s happening right now.”

  “Theo, I need you to listen to me.”

  “I’m going back to this girl’s house. I asked her to come back to my house for a little D&D but she said I could come to her house and do S&M.”

  “Theo, please stop,” Daylen broken in. “I need you to listen right now.”

  “I don’t know what S&M is, never played that game before.”

  “Theo.”

  “Maybe it has something to do with spies. That would be cool, spies. I like spies. But I don’t know what the m stands for … m, m, m, mmmmmmm.”

  “THEO!”

  “Macaroni.”

  “Spies and macaroni.” He gave a little drunken laugh. “That’d be cool. Spies and macaroni. Whoa, I just realized I’m kind of hungry. If this room would stop spinning, I’d go get some macaroni. You think she’d be mad if I had some nachos instead of macaroni? S&N. I mean, it kind of sounds the same. M, n, m, n …”

  “Theo! Damn it! You need to listen to me right now,” Daylen broke in sharply.

  “You sound mad. I don’t want you to be mad. I’m sorry. Ahhh, who is this again?”

  Daylen groaned heavi
ly, then spoke slowly and clearly. “Theo, this is Daylen. Where are you?”

  “Helllo, Dayylllen.”

  “Theo, quit Barry White-ing my name and listen.”

  “Okay, but that’s my sexy voice.” He dropped his voice again. “Hellllo, Day–”

  “Yep, great.” Daylen spoke over him. “But stop it. Where are you?”

  “I’m ah– I’m at … I’m at a table,” he answered triumphantly.

  Daylen slapped a hand over her eyes. “And where is this table?”

  “Oh, umm,” Daylen didn’t need to see him to know that he was actually looking around the room. “The table is in a bar.”

  “Good. Now, where is this bar? Or better yet,” she stopped before they went down the path of, the bar is on the street, the street is in L.A., L.A. is in California, and so on. “What is the name of this bar?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Blue something.”

  “Blue something? Like a jazz bar?”

  “No, Blue like a color. You know blue, green, and yellow makes. No wait, yellow and blue make–”

  “Blue, as in the color, got it. What else? Do you know the rest of the name?”

  A woman’s voice purred into the phone. “Sweetheart, you don’t have another woman on the line, do you?”

  “Yeah, Daylen. You know Daylen Elliott? She’s totally awesome. She played–”

  “Theo! Back to me. Blue, what?”

  “Ohh, helllllo Daylen.”

  “Theo, please focus. I need you to tell me where you are.”

  “Oh, I’m at a table.”

  Daylen groaned. “The bar! Blue, what?”

  “It’s like an animal.”

  “Like the Blue Giraffe or something?”

  Theo laughed. “That’d be awesome. Blue Giraffes. Like Smurf giraffes. Or Avatar giraffes! Dude, that’d be an awesome movie.” Daylen let Theo’s drunken mind entertain itself as she began Googling L.A. bars with the word Blue in it.

  “Sugar, hang up the phone. I want you all to myself.”

  “Theo, you listen to me. Don’t you dare hang up this phone until you tell me where you are.”

  “Oh, I’m at a table,” Theo slurred.

  “Yes. We established that.” Daylen growled. “Name of the bar?”

  “Oh, it’s a color!”

  Daylen slapped her head. “Theo, can I please talk to the lovely lady next to you.”

  “Sure. Mona, Daylen wants to talk to you.”

  After the failed handoff, phone clattering to the floor, scrambling footsteps, and a crash, which she was pretty sure was Theo’s head colliding with the table, a woman’s husky voice came on the line. “Listen, sweetheart, he’s mine for the night. If you want him, you should’ve kept him happier at home.”

  “Yeah, see, you got it all wrong. I don’t have a problem with him being there.” Daylen dropped her voice to her own husky whisper. “I have a problem that I’m not there to join in. You give me the name of the bar and we can,” she added a little playfulness to her voice, “double the evening’s fun.”

  “Mmmm. Mona likes, but it’ll cost you extra. If you’re good with that, we’re at Pinky’s Clam Shell and Gentlemen’s Club.”

  “Looking forward to it, Mona. Why don’t you buy yourself a drink on me and I’ll be right there.”

  “Well, you hurry up, sweetheart, ‘cause I can’t wait to show you why they call me Moooannna.”

  Daylen nearly stumbled as she hit the stairs. “I ah, can’t wait either.” Already depressing the end button as she sprinted down the steps. “I’m so going to kill him.” She snatched her bag from the kitchen table, but halted suddenly as she heard running footsteps overhead then a door slam. What the– She started back but the thought of Moooannna and the drunken Theo won the emotional tug of war.

  Thirty minutes and three, okay seven if you were being super picky about the law, traffic violations later, Daylen arrived in the parking lot of Pinky’s. She gave the place a once over, then riffled through her bag and grabbed a travel-size bottle of hand-sanitizer. She squirted a generous amount in the palm of her hand. “Yep, sooo going to kill him.”

  Two huge doormen eyed her suspiciously as she approached. She looked down at her casual jeans and shirt. She looked back up with a smile. “Sober chauffeur. Just here to pick up a friend.”

  “That’s what they all say. Fifty bucks and some ID.”

  “Fifty bucks?”

  “Want to play? You have to pay,” the other guy said.

  Daylen pulled out her wallet and held out her driver’s license. “What’s the price if you don’t want to play? Don’t even really want to get anywhere near the playground?”

  “Fifty bucks,” Doorman number two said as he handed back her ID.

  “So going to freaking kill him,” Daylen muttered as she handed over the bills.

  “No touching the ladies,” Doorman one ordered as he opened the door for her.

  “Not going to be an issue,” Daylen retorted as she stepped into the darkened room. The low beat of music was thumping in the background. Daylen was surprised at the somewhat subdued atmosphere of the bar. She began to move around the room, squinting in an effort to find Theo in the low lights. “Damn, would it hurt if someone turned on a light around here,” she mumbled to herself as she nearly collided with a pillar. As if she willed it, the beats intensified and multicolored balls of light started dancing on the ceiling.

  “Next on the stage, ladies and gentlemen, we have a super sweet treat that’ll make your teeth ache. Welcome, CCCccannnDy!”

  Applause and wolf whistles erupted from the crowd. Daylen watched as a petite redhead danced out in what she was pretty sure was a red licorice thong and lollipop pasties. Daylen had a sudden urge to brush her teeth. She shook her head and turned back to the room, using the light from the show to search the faces of the crowd. She finally spotted Theo within a group of guys in the far corner.

  A woman was wound around Theo like super slutty ribbons on a maypole. Theo’s head flopped drunkenly over to one side, a stupid grin on his face. Daylen saw eight similar grins on his companions. Each one of them had a woman, or in a few cases, two women draped on them. They were all relatively good-looking guys, but Daylen doubted they were dropping the kind of cash that drew this kind of attention.

  Or article? Her thought was cut short as two of the women went full under-the-bleacher, high-school make-out session, an act that apparently activated all the other women’s libidos. The ones that weren’t already playing lap jockeys led their guys toward the back room by their shirt collars. Daylen found Theo in the mix, being escorted by his own belt, which was looped around his neck like a dog collar.

  “Crap!” Daylen spun around and snagged a lighter from a guy’s cigarette pack. “Can I borrow this? Thanks!” She used a stool to leap onto the bar.

  “Oh yea! Coyote Ugly it over here, hot stuff.” the man whopped in a drunken slur.

  Daylen was just flicking the lighter when the bartender made a grab for her ankle. “Bar top is for dancers only, lady.”

  Daylen skated out of his grasp, holding the cocktail napkin torch up toward the overhead sprinkler.

  “Off! Now!” The bartender took another swiping grab for her legs.

  “Take it off, Lady Liberty!” the man whooped.

  “I’m guilty! Here’s my fine, take me to jail!” Another yelled, waving a wad of bills.

  Daylen dodged another grab from the bartender. “Come on!” she yelled, as she desperately waved the flames under the sprinkler head while trying to search through the crowd for Theo, finding instead the two doormen coming at her. “Crap. Come on!” she pleaded. She risked another glace at the doormen who were halfway across the room. If their faces were any indication, they weren’t all that happy. Up on her toes with the heat of her makeshift distraction getting dangerously close to her hand, she mapped her escape route. The bartender grabbed Daylen’s ankle and tugged just as water burst from the pipes, soaking the room.

  The su
dden downpour sent the women of the crowd into a whirling, screaming mass of chaos. The men started chanting “Wet T-shirt contest!”

  Daylen kicked out once, pulling free from the bartender’s grip. She ran the length of the bar and leapt off the end as she caught a flash of Theo being yanked through the side emergency exit.

  “Get back here!” one of the doormen yelled. Daylen looked over her shoulder to see the two men plowing their way through the stream of escaping patrons.

  Daylen double-timed it, pushing through the crowd until she broke out the other side. She hit the crash bar of the emergency door where she’d last seen Theo. She searched right and left. Freakin’ Mona. The doors crashed hard against the wall behind her. Double crap. Daylen spun toward the sound.

  “Hold it right there. We need to talk,” the first guy out the door said, a beefy finger pointed at Daylen.

  “Yah. Talk,” the second confirmed as he stepped alongside his partner.

  Daylen began to backpedal. “You know, I’d love to stay and chat, but I have a, um meeting. Very important and I don’t want to be late so–”

  “The only meeting you’re going to be making tonight is with us.”

  “Yeah. Meeting with me and my two pals,” the second guy added as he raised first his left fist then his right.

  Daylen laughed nervously. “Very attractive offer guys, but I kind of already had these other plans so next time, okay?”

  The bigger dude pretended to ponder. “Nah, I think this time is good.”

  “Yea, this time good,” the dumber dude replied while taking a step forward.

  “I’m sure we can come to some agreement here.” Daylen took a step back, then another, hitting something solid. She reached a hand back expecting the metal of a car, but felt denim instead.

  “Need some help?” Kanyon whispered in Daylen’s ear.

  Daylen sprang forward.

  Kanyon grabbed Daylen’s elbow and pulled her back out of reach of the two advancing men. “He butt dialed me,” Kanyon offered, nodding toward the men. “I guess they weren’t fans of your little bar dance?”