Heat Wave

by Jill Marie Landis

  If you only knew.

  R.J. made it hard to focus. Hard to remember Dodge, how much she’d loved him and everything they once had. She combed through her memories, reminded herself why she’d come to Twilight and what she still had to do.

  A thump against the hull made them both jump. R.J. hurried over to the ship’s ladder. She followed him, half expecting to see Ty, boarding the ship like a pirate with a gleaming cutlass clenched between his teeth.

  “Hel-lo?” One of the teachers from Nebraska was craning her neck to look up at them, one hand anchoring her floppy straw hat to her head. “Yoo-hoo? Captain Johnson?”

  Sunny heard R.J. clear his throat before he asked what he could do for the woman.

  “Everyone’s gone but my friend and me, and I can’t find my car keys. There’s a purple puppy, like a Beanie Baby, on the key ring.” She sounded frazzled and frustrated.

  “Did you look through your purse?” Sunny stared at the woman’s bulging straw bag with its countless pockets inside and out.

  “I dumped it out and went through everything. May I come aboard and search?”

  Sunny could tell R.J. was as relieved by the interruption as she. He flashed her a thoughtful look as the woman started up the ladder. Twenty minutes later they’d thoroughly covered the open decks, but found nothing.

  “Looks like your keys are gone.” He scanned the deck again. It was getting harder and harder to see as dusk settled over the harbor. “You didn’t lock them in the car, did you?”

  The woman shook her head. “No. I’m sure I took them out. I didn’t see them hanging in the ignition, either.”

  “Hide-a-key?” R.J. sounded hopeful.

  “I don’t have one,” she moaned. “My husband keeps saying he’s going to get one made, but he never does. I have to get my car started. We have to check out of the hotel and be on the road tonight in order to make it back to Nebraska in time for my niece’s wedding.” The woman rubbed her plump hands together. Her friend fidgeted beside her, clucking and tsk-tsking.

  R.J. called the nearest locksmith, but he couldn’t get there until morning.

  “You can leave the car in the lot until morning. It’ll be fine,” he told her.

  “You don’t understand. I have to leave tonight.” The woman was becoming hysterical. “Can’t you do anything? Isn’t there any way to get the car started?”

  Sunny touched Ron’s shoulder. “Have you got a slim jim and a spare flathead screwdriver? And a hammer?”

  He paused, nodded. “You thinking of hot-wiring? It’s not as easy with a newer model. We’ll need a key.”

  “Just get them.”

  R.J. disappeared into the cabin and was back in a few seconds. Sunny stayed with the frantic woman, whose friend, another teacher, had paced to the end of the dock and was standing beside the Stargazer, waiting.

  The car was an early nineties Buick.

  Piece of cake.

  Sunny waited as R.J. fumbled with the slim jim for a couple of minutes.

  “Let me,” she offered, stepping up close beside him. He shot her a yeah, right look, but moved aside with a shrug. She slipped the slim jim into the door frame, and in less than a second had the lock popped and the door open.

  She slid into the driver’s seat, ran her hand over the floor mat in front, and then around the console, but didn’t find the keys. As the car owner started to whine about missing the wedding, Sunny knocked the flathead screwdriver into the ignition and flipped her wrist. The engine started right up.

  It had taken all of four seconds.

  She stepped out of the car and wiped her hands on the back pockets of her denim shorts and nodded toward the idling Buick.

  “You’ll have to start it with the screwdriver until you get home and have the ignition fixed. Just don’t lock the door.”

  The woman thanked Sunny profusely and began fumbling in her purse. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am. I told Sam not to let our Auto Club membership lapse. It’ll serve him right to have to replace the ignition.”

  Her companion was already belted into the passenger side. The car owner found her wallet, dug around inside, and thrust a crisp twenty-dollar bill at Sunny.

  “Thank you so much, honey. I don’t know what I’d have done.”

  Sunny glanced at R.J., afraid of questions. He was holding the slim jim, listening to the exchange, staring at her as if he’d never seen her before.

  “No, thanks, ma’am. Keep your money,” Sunny said.

  “Well, if you’re sure . . .” The twenty disappeared back into the wallet with lightning speed.

  “No problem. Drive safe.”

  She stepped back as the woman drove away. It wasn’t until the Buick cleared the parking lot that she finally turned to R.J. He was still staring intently.

  “Where’d you learn to start a car like that?”

  Darkness was gathering. The breeze off the water had picked up. She reached up to tug her hair off her face and shrugged.

  “The Internet.”

  “Not bad for a girl.” He looked around the deserted lot. “It’s getting late. I’ll walk you to your car.”

  “I don’t have my purse.”

  He glanced back at the Stargazer riding dark and silent in her slip. “Run and get it. I’ll wait here.”

  “Are you afraid of being alone with me now?”

  “I’m not afraid of you at all, Sunny. Go get your purse.”

  Starting the car had her adrenaline pumping. She wished she’d kept her big mouth shut just now. She was on the verge of jeopardizing not only her job, but R.J.’s friendship—with her and with Chandler. She didn’t need or want any heavy-duty attachments here.

  Things were tough enough. She should have left long before now, but every time she looked at Alice and thought about what she was going to have to do, she felt like puking.

  She tried backtracking. “Look, I’m sorry, R.J. I didn’t mean to push it.” She lowered her eyes so that he wouldn’t see her tears, and suddenly the confusing truth rushed out. “When I look at you, I feel things I can’t even think about.”

  But she had thought about him, late at night when she awoke in the little room in Chandler’s house, when the sea breeze was lifting the curtains in their moonlight dance. She had no idea how to describe what she felt for R.J. She’d fallen in love before, but this was different.

  What he inspired was a heat that dispelled the cold, dead nothingness that had taken up residence inside her, along with the constant worry and the weight of her responsibilities.

  What she felt for R.J. was unique and tempting, while at the same time comfortable and familiar. As if they’d been in love before, in another place and time.

  “I don’t know what it is, but it’s special. Don’t you feel it?”

  She knew she’d really blown it when he didn’t answer right away. She wished he’d say something, anything, instead of letting her stand there like an idiot.

  He stared across the lot, into the twilight glow beyond the streetlights, until he finally shook his head.

  “No.” He spoke softly at first, and then with more conviction, “No, Sunny, I don’t.”

  Mortified, she ran to get her purse. When she got back, he was waiting for her beside her car. Whether or not he hung around to watch her drive out of the parking lot, she had no idea. She couldn’t see through her tears.

  WITH THE NIGHT breeze at his back, R.J. headed for the bar at the Sail On Inn. He hoped they stocked a good supply of Crown Royal. He’d need it tonight. Sunny’s confused admission still echoed through his mind.

  “I don’t know what it is, but it’s special. Don’t you feel it?”

  He ordered a shot, knocked it back, then stared down at the empty glass.

  More than you know, Sunny. Mor
e than you’ll ever know.

  Chapter 27

  AFTER KAT SPOKE with Fred Westberg around noon, she couldn’t resist turning on the computer. Surfing the Net somehow ate up the hours, so much so that she forgot to eat. She didn’t look up until it was so late, she decided she’d postpone leaving until the next day.

  Lost in a world of fast cars, auto theft, and new terminology, she quickly learned way more than she wanted to know about rival car gangs, domestic versus import racers, customizing and modifications for speed.

  Big money bets went down on illegal drag races held in empty parking lots and deserted stretches of roads all over California. Checking the DMV for information, she found the number of people cited for engaging in the quasi-organized, illegal speed contests had steadily increased. Things had gotten so hot that the state of California had passed a law that made observing street racing illegal.

  As Kat scanned articles from various news sources and bulletin boards on street-racing websites, it was easy to see there was more to what was going on along dark, deserted byways and in dangerous chases through city streets and freeways than the riverbed drag racing of the old fifties’ films.

  DVDs and videos of the latest illegal races were for sale on the websites, not to mention steamy porno shots of hot girls spread across hot cars. Thankfully, she hadn’t seen any photos of Sunny on any of the racing websites.

  News stories indicated drugs and guns, as well as auto-parts scams, were controlled by some of the gangs.

  And street racing apparently appealed to young women as well as young men.

  An equal opportunity pastime.

  She started reading graphic news accounts detailing tragic accidents that had occurred all over the country as the result of street racing. The headlines, names, and ages of victims who had been disabled, badly burned, or killed reminded her so much of the accident she’d been in on Kauai that she had to turn away.

  Twilight enveloped the landscape outside the office window. With her chin propped on her hand, Kat looked out into the gathering purple haze and watched the luminous orange glow fade from the sky.

  Elijah Chandler, Ty’s ancestor, had surely stepped ashore at this time of evening. It was easy to see how he’d been inspired to name the cove Twilight.

  She stretched and tried to relieve the kink in her neck, and suddenly, the image of Sunny opening the hood of the Camry to check out the engine flashed through her mind.

  How many nineteen-year-old girls were more concerned about the engine of a car than they were the outside? She knew it was a sexist thought, but how many girls would actually know what they were looking at under the hood?

  Just then the phone rang, startling her. There wasn’t a single light on in the house save the one Jake had set up on a timer in the corner of the living room. She flipped a switch on the office wall and dispelled the darkness.

  “Hello?”

  “Kat? This is Sunny.”

  “Oh. Sunny. Hi.”

  “Look, what I do with my life is none of your business.”

  “What are you talking about?” Kat glanced out the front window, suddenly wary. Sunny sounded as if she knew exactly what Kat had been doing all day.

  “It’s no business of yours what I do or who I do it with. R.J. told me that you and Chandler think we have something going on. I have a feeling this is more your doing than Chandler’s.”

  Kat wasn’t about to let herself be pushed around by a nineteen-year-old, even if she was Ty’s daughter.

  “Your dad thinks you’re too young to get involved with someone that age.”

  “Don’t blame this on Chandler. I’m telling you there’s nothing going on between us.”

  “Actually, I told Ty that I thought someone like R.J. might be good for you.”

  “Yeah? Well, Chandler doesn’t see it that way.”

  “Ty’s doing the best he can, Sunny. He’s just worried because he cares about you so much. You and Alice.”

  There was dead silence on the other end of the line, then Kat heard Sunny softly say, “I know he does.”

  “He loves you both.”

  “What do you know about love? You don’t even let yourself fall in love.”

  “I—”

  “Look, please just stay out of my life, okay?”

  Kat thought of all the information Westberg had given her on Jamie Hatcher.

  “Sunny, if you ever need to talk—”

  “As if I’d ever tell you anything.”

  Curt, cold, final. Sunny hung up without another word.

  Kat stared down at the phone. She had the information she needed to dig deeper into Sunny’s friend Jamie Hatcher. Maybe even enough to find out what had happened to the late “Dodge.”

  And if Sunny had been part of an auto-parts theft ring—or worse—Ty deserved to know, so that he could help her out of it. But she wanted to be absolutely certain first.

  She walked out of the office and into the living room. It was too late to head south now, but she was packed and ready to go first thing in the morning.

  The sooner she could get to L.A., the sooner she could start trailing Hatcher.

  She chose one of the classic videos she’d brought along—Chuck Norris in The Hitman—and slipped it into the machine. Pushing play, she sat down and watched without really concentrating on the film. By the time the last kick was thrown, she’d convinced herself that if she discovered Sunny was into any of Hatcher’s gang’s illegal activities, there had to be something she could do to help her out.

  TY WAS STRETCHED out on the couch watching a newsmagazine piece about another new strain of infection resistant to antibiotics when Sunny came barreling through the door. She closed it with something slightly less than a slam and tossed her purse on a chair.

  With her fists on her hips, she planted herself between the sofa and the television. Her cheeks were bright pink, but from anger, not the sun.

  “How could you?” Her eyes flashed, her lips were set in a tight line. She reminded him of Amy, of the heated, frequent arguments they’d had before she left town. He should have known it was the beginning of the end back then, but he’d deluded himself into thinking he could fix her. That he could save her.

  For the first time since Sunny had shown up, he wondered if he’d fail with her the way he had with Amy.

  “How could I what?”

  “Talk to R.J. about me. Make him promise to stay away from me, like I’m some kid. You had no right to do that, Chandler. How do you think that makes me feel?”

  Ty hadn’t expected R.J. to tell Sunny about their conversation and couldn’t figure out why he’d mentioned it to her in the first place, unless it was just to piss her off. He aimed the remote at the television, hit the power button, and the screen went black. He tossed the remote on the coffee table and sat up.

  Sunny was livid. “I’ve already called and told your little powder puff private eye to keep her nose out of my life from now on. I’m not a child. Alice is a child. Look out for her, not me.”

  “You’re the one standing in the middle of the room yelling. Why don’t you sit down so we can discuss this?”

  She lowered her voice but didn’t sit. “There’s nothing to discuss.”

  “R.J.’s too old for you.”

  “That’s ridiculous. Besides, you don’t know anything about me. Maybe Dodge was older than R.J. You don’t know.”

  “I don’t know much about you at all, Sunny. Only what you’ve been willing to share. And I don’t care about the past. All I want is what’s best for you and Alice now. R.J.’s too old for you.”

  The sight of her eyes so huge and bright and full of tears nearly broke his heart. He forced himself to calm down.

  Seconds passed as they exchanged stares.

  He didn’t want to a
rgue. What he really wanted was the power to turn back time, to have been there to watch her grow up, to guide her, help her pick out her school clothes, teach her to cross the street alone, to ride a bike, and put Band-Aids on her cuts and scrapes.

  He wanted to have helped her make all the little decisions before she was faced with the really big ones. Maybe by now he’d have earned her trust. Maybe by now she’d have grown to realize he was only thinking of her and of her future.

  He didn’t want to be controlling and manipulative like his mom, or a nonentity like his dad. He wanted to be there for Sunny and Alice, wanted the best for them.

  He wondered how anyone ever successfully raised children, saw them safely through their teens, sent them off to college, or helped them get established.

  Did some parents really have all the answers, or were they just luckier than others?

  She was still tense and silent. Ty took a step toward her, tried to hug her.

  “Listen, Sunny, I don’t know how to be a dad any more than you know how to be a daughter—”

  She shrugged him off. “I just want some space. I don’t like people snooping around in my life or talking about me behind my back. I don’t see why this is such a big deal. R.J.’s your friend. He’s a good guy.” Sunny rolled her head back and forth to ease the tension in her neck, then let go a tired sigh. “Better than you know.”

  “When Alice is your age, maybe you’ll understand,” Ty said.

  “Yeah? Well, hopefully I’ll remember to cut her some slack.”

  He hoped he was around to see it. For now he kept his opinions to himself. His argument wasn’t with Sunny, it was with R.J. for telling her that he’d been by to see him.

  He had to back off, or risk losing her.

  “Why don’t you go on up to bed?” he suggested.

  “I’m gonna take a shower first.” She turned to walk through the kitchen on her way to the outdoor shower, then paused to linger in the doorway.

  “Kat’s not in love with you, you know. She’s never going to love you.”

  His stomach already felt like he was getting an ulcer.