Unexpected Lightning

by Cass Sellars

  “The problem is convincing a woman that I’m worth the move to this burg. I haven’t had a date in a year.” She spoke with resignation as she started stocking clean glasses onto the shelves behind her. “You can call whoever you need to. Your car is on mile marker 24 just west of the turn-off for Pebble Creek on State Road 17.”

  “Thank you. You’re a regular GPS.” Parker brought up the auto club homepage before she dialed the emergency number. After she gave them the information, she handed the phone to Charlie. “Do you mind giving them a call-back number and an address?”

  Charlie delivered the information and clicked the off button on the phone. “Sorry to tell you this, but they said ninety minutes before they can come out. I guess you’ll have to watch me set up. You can pick your poison.” Charlie swept an arm over the mirrored bar shelves packed with bottles and held up a tall glass.

  “A ginger ale over ice would be great. Thank you.” Parker thought she would have accepted a drink if she hadn’t still been so hot. It had been a hell of a day, and it was only two in the afternoon.

  “Need to call anyone else? Office? Girlfriend?” Charlie held the phone toward her.

  “What makes you think I have a girlfriend instead of a boyfriend or husband?” Parker was genuinely intrigued since people rarely pegged her as a lesbian.

  “I’m no detective, but the ‘my girlfriend loves me’ keychain might have given it away.” Charlie chuckled as Parker felt the blushing heat rise in her cheeks.

  “Yeah, well, it was that or a tattoo that said Property of Hyatt on my forehead.” Parker scrubbed her thumb over the metal square and thought how much she was missing Sydney at that moment.

  “I don’t blame her. If I had a girlfriend, I’d probably do worse things to keep the public on notice.” Charlie resumed her stocking duties after placing a glass of ginger ale in front of her. “Feel free to call her if you want.”

  “Well, it’s only the middle of the afternoon, so I think I’ll wait. We’ve been going through some scary stuff lately, so the less I can worry her during what’s left of her workday, the better. She isn’t expecting me until five thirty or so anyway. I should be back in plenty of time to recount my lunchtime ordeal.” Parker guiltily thought she was enjoying the relative solitude for just a moment. She could be assured that no one would deliver a scary note to a random bar in the middle of nowhere.

  “You never told me your name.” Charlie’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

  “Oh. Sorry! It’s Parker Duncan.” She held out her hand as if they were meeting for the first time.

  Charlie smirked and took the proffered handshake across the bar. “Charlie Harris. It’s a pleasure.”

  “Thank you for everything, really. You may have saved me from being found in a ditch suffering from heat exhaustion.”

  “For a while there, I thought I was going to have to drive you back tied to the trunk. I didn’t think you were going to accept the ride.” Charlie kept busy as she spoke.

  “Well, considering I was in the middle of nowhere without even a phone to beat you over the head with, I felt pretty vulnerable, and I don’t do that very well.” Parker was honest about a revelation she normally wouldn’t put into words. Certainly not to someone she’d met only moments before.

  “Understood.” Charlie stopped and watched Parker shred the wet cocktail napkin and roll it into rice-sized pieces. “What kind of scary stuff has been happening lately, if you don’t mind my asking? The best bar confessions I get around here involve Betty Jean getting it on with Stan Truman’s wife in the back of their tack barn.”

  “Sounds fascinating,” Parker said, honestly intrigued.

  Charlie shook her head. “Small-town gossip like that swirls around here nightly. I honestly doubt any of it is even remotely factual.”

  “We might have to come hang out here sometime. I think it would be fun.” Parker raised her eyebrows at the thought of the potential entertainment value.

  “Trust me, you would get bored. I live for a chance to spice up my life at someone else’s expense.”

  Parker started to give the highlights of their life over the past few weeks, and the recount to a stranger felt strangely unburdening.

  Parker watched Charlie reach under the bar and was intrigued by the stranger that had successfully convinced her to come back to her deserted bar. She was amused by how she would frame the story for Syd. A loud crack punctured the silence of the small tavern, and Parker felt her body topple from the stool.

  ***

  Syd threw socks and underwear into her large canvas duffel before tucking jeans, T-shirts, and a few pairs of shorts on top of the stacks. She left a few collared shirts on hangers near the suits she was bringing for Parker. She neatly folded similar items for her into a small, hard-sided roller bag and placed in the shoes she had seen her wear with the suit selections.

  She put on gym clothes and forced herself into a cursory workout in the spare room. It was a legitimate attempt to quell her compulsion to go search for Parker, who was in another town without a phone and with a stalker at large. She knew that Parker was more than capable of taking care of herself, but Sydney didn’t do helpless well at all.

  She pushed extra weight and forced herself to focus on her burning muscles instead of the sense of unrest that stole any hope for serenity. She should have been working like she told Parker she would. A few projects needed her attention, but she was far ahead of schedule, and her mood wouldn’t allow her to be very productive on this particular afternoon.

  After an hour of sweating off the buzz she attributed to her being a control freak, Syd racked the bar and wandered toward the shower. She spun the hot tap hard and tried to quell her disappointment when she found no notice of missed calls on either her phone or Parker’s. A twenty-minute shower made her body feel better, but her mind still raced. She reached for her phone again.

  Jenny picked up the phone quickly. “Yes, Sydney?”

  “Have you heard anything?” Sydney tried to sound casual.

  “Syd, she has only been gone a couple of hours.”

  Syd could almost hear Jenny biting back a lecture, but she knew Jenny was concerned as well. “But you left messages, you said, right?”

  “Yes, but for all I know, she met them at the site, not in the job trailer. If we haven’t heard from her by five, I’ll go look for her myself, okay?”

  “Yeah, okay. Just tell her to call me when you hear from her.”

  “I will. Try to relax, okay? We’ll hear from her soon.” The tone of Jenny’s voice told Syd that Jenny was worried, too.

  Syd put their clothes into the car and laid the hanging garments flat over the top of the bags. As she locked the trunk, she heard Mia’s truck pull in next to her.

  “Wow, you’re home early,” Syd said as Mia stepped out of the vehicle.

  “Don’t be too impressed. I have to go back at eight tonight for a teleconference briefing on the West Coast. You would think working for a lawyer, we would at least have regular business hours sometimes.” Mia headed toward the door with Syd close behind her.

  “What’s the case, if you can tell me?” Syd was grateful for any distraction that didn’t involve her missing girlfriend, deranged stalkers, or relationship discord. She forced herself to focus on Mia and not the turmoil.

  “You’re welcome to come in and have a beer, if you…um, feel safe with me in my apartment.” Mia crinkled her nose, her expression apologetic.

  “I believe I can manage.” Syd winked at her and followed her into the loft, avoiding the end of the bar. Mia slid an amber IPA in front of Sydney, who took an appreciative draw from the glass bottle.

  Mia began to review the case she had been working on for weeks. A civil suit involving a shady strip-club owner in Modesto, California, who was being sued by their client in Silver Lake. The client had reported a harrowing experience, five years ago on a blind date, when she claimed to have been raped.

  “Did you know that there is no sta
tute of limitations on rape in the Commonwealth of Virginia?” Mia asked Sydney, who was listening carefully.

  “No. I wouldn’t have guessed there was anywhere like that. A rape that long ago would be hard to prove, though, wouldn’t you think?” Syd nursed the beer.

  “Yeah, but this is a civil case for us now. And the burden is substantially lower, as you know. She waited for the criminal justice system to take action but gave up when it was pretty clear that it wasn’t going to happen. She has pictures of bruises and a pretty disturbing 9-1-1 tape. The cops filed charges three years ago but failed to be granted extradition since the case was so circumstantial. So, unless he comes back to Virginia, he’ll never be arrested. That’s why he’s responding to the civil case by video conference. He could be compelled to appear in person if the civil case goes to trial.”

  “Which is good for your client since he’ll be more apt to settle from the safety of California.” Syd finished the thought.

  “Exactly. Unfortunately, any settlement would likely require her to drop any pursuit of future criminal action, so she kind of has to weigh it. I guess she’s kind of making a deal with the devil.” Mia shrugged and poured herself a glass of white wine from an open bottle in the fridge.

  “You mean possibly putting a rapist back on the street to do it again.” Syd made designs on the napkin with the condensation from her bottle. She felt the affront on behalf of every victim of violence, but sexual violence was something else entirely. She quietly raged at the entitled scum that exercised their privilege over another person. She knew the helplessness she was feeling in her own life at the moment fueled her fury.

  “That’s the way I think about it, too, but the reverse is that he won’t answer the charges in Virginia anyway, unless he’s a total idiot, so he’s walking free regardless. He has deep enough pockets to continue to fight if the courts try to get him here.”

  Sydney brooded about the justice system that regularly forced victims to accept the lesser of numerous evils rather than grant them anything resembling absolute justice. “I guess we take what we can get. Hit him in the wallet. It’s often what bothers them the most anyway. Rapists are violent and narcissistic. Rich rapists aren’t any different, but the money hurts them more than anything because that’s how they qualify their worth.” Sydney tried not to fume at a battle that wasn’t hers to fight. Violence, especially sexual violence, was a particularly hard fact of society for her to accept.

  “Agreed. I don’t think you could sit on the calls with this smug guy without wanting to rip his face off.” Mia gave Syd a small smile. “Everyone knows you have a habit of stepping into battle. I saw it myself when you and Mack went after the guy who shot Sandy.”

  “I guarantee you, I couldn’t be on those calls.” Syd shook her head, trying to drive the images from her mind. “One of the first cases I worked on for the DA involved a serial rapist and murderer who would lure teenage girls from parties he threw. Because the parties involved drinking, the girls often made up stories about staying over with friends. Parents didn’t start to question their whereabouts until much later, too late to save them from that monster. He raped them repeatedly before choking them to death.” Syd had questioned her ability to look past the depravity and do the job she had been hired to do. “I almost quit. That is, until the juror who cast the swing vote attributed the guilty verdict to the video I made.”

  When Sydney refocused on the present, Mia was staring at her.

  “Where did you go?”

  “Sorry, I was just thinking. There are a few cases that never leave you, I guess.” Syd shook her head, hoping to reset her memories.

  “Things always haunt you from somewhere.” Mia’s voice faded.

  “Are things any better for you?” Syd watched Mia’s expression transform from haunted to smiling.

  “Actually, yes.” Mia brightened. “An attorney from an affiliate firm actually asked me out the other day. I told her no, of course, but for the first time, I didn’t feel like I was cheating on Sandy when I considered it.” Mia looked relieved.

  “Then why did you tell her no?”

  “Because she looked like a swimsuit model, and I don’t need anyone who takes longer to get ready to go out than I do.” Mia chuckled at Syd, who nodded knowingly.

  “Understood.” Syd wanted to be fully into the conversation, but her instinct that something was wrong was hammering at her, making it hard to focus.

  “What else is happening with you? You aren’t over here with me in the middle of the afternoon because you have nothing better to do with your day. What’s up?” Mia waited with her arms folded on the bar top.

  “We’re still dealing with the creeper. I found another note today on the front door, and it was pretty bad. I think he’s accelerating. To make matters worse, when I went to pick Parker up at the office, she’d gone to a jobsite and left her phone. So, I have no way to get hold of her, and I don’t know where she is. It’s making me crazy.”

  “Ah.” Mia nodded knowingly. “Superman has lost Lois and can’t function without her?”

  “Of course I can function. I just prefer not to.” Syd caught herself smiling at Mia and felt suddenly ridiculous. “We just don’t know anything about the guy who is doing this. We don’t know what his goal is or even have a clue who he is. I just need her to be safe.”

  “And she needs her brand of normal, Syd. Don’t strip her of that because you need to be her bodyguard. She’s aware of the danger, and everything you know about Parker should tell you that she’s very careful. We’re all worried, but it can’t stop us from going on with our lives.” Mia held Sydney’s gaze. “You know, when we first got together, Sandy used to call me every other hour while she was on patrol to ‘see how I was doing’…aka check on me to see if I was still breathing since the world is full of terrible things and dangerous people. You’ve seen the worst of the worst, like Sandy and Mack, but you can’t make Parker live that life, or she’ll fold under the weight of it.”

  “Why are women always telling me to back off and stop smothering her?” Syd rubbed the tension from her shoulders.

  “Because they see it. Trust me, there is nothing sexier than being with a protective, accomplished, and confident woman—right up until you force her to become the child you have to manage through a cup of cocoa because she’s suddenly incapable of drinking it on her own.”

  Syd processed Mia’s words and let them settle over her.

  Mia continued. “Women don’t find themselves in relationships with women like you because they want a shrinking violet who requires their every need be tended to. They want someone to be the yin to their yang, excuse the cliché. Why did you fall for her in the first place?” Mia’s question was obviously rhetorical as she didn’t stop for an answer. “You told me that you liked the fact that she was a strong person who could make it on her own, but someone who would let you be who you were naturally. That hasn’t changed, Syd. She’s still okay if you want to be a little stronger or tougher than her sometimes; just don’t achieve that by forcing her to be weaker.”

  Sydney stood up and walked to Mia. “I think you might be one of the smarter people I know.” She hugged Mia tightly and kissed her happily on the cheek.

  “I’m counting on the universe discovering this one day,” Mia said grandly as she followed Syd to the door. They both seemed to be grateful to be past the awkward legacy of the notorious kiss. “Be good.”

  “I will.” Sydney slipped into their home and grabbed the last of the belongings she would take to Mack and Jenny’s. She heard the warnings and considered them all. Parker deserved to be treated as an equal. Syd could do that better than she had, certainly, but she wouldn’t be convinced to stop hunting this bastard interfering in their lives. She sped out of the drive to find Parker.

  ***

  As soon as she walked through the door of her friends’ little blue bungalow, Jenny greeted her. “Don’t go crazy, Syd, but Parker called the jobsite and told them she had a
flat tire. She said she was waiting for the auto club and would likely miss the appointment.”

  Syd fought the urge to react and instead forced herself to speak calmly. “Okay, I’m sure she’ll be here shortly. She’s more than capable of finding a way to call the auto club even without her phone. Of course, I wish she had called me, too, but I know she can handle a flat tire.”

  Jenny peered at her as if she was a science experiment. “Excuse me, I need to go find my friend Sydney, who you apparently hit with your car on the way up the drive.”

  Syd managed a wry grin. “No, I’m right here, and I’m fine. She would normally be home by five or five thirty, so there’s no reason to panic. I’d like to take a ride out that way just in case she’s sweating alone by the side of the road, and you’re more than welcome to accompany me.”

  “I really think I should, since you appear to be in no condition to be by yourself.” Jenny reached for Sydney’s forehead.

  “Funny girl. Mack should watch you in case the comedy scouts come calling.”

  “Yeah, well, you’ll need me to show you her shortcut anyway. She never goes on the main roads.” Jenny looped her purse over her shoulder and palmed her keys.

  Sydney took an exaggerated breath. “See? My girlfriend, the target of a stalker, is lost on some isolated road in the middle of nowhere with a flat tire, and I haven’t killed anyone yet. I think that’s major progress, don’t you?”

  “I do indeed. I am, of course, afraid that your head is going to blow off at any minute. We’ll take mine in case we need more than two seats. I’ll even let you drive.” She dangled the keys in front of Syd, who walked quickly to Jenny’s car, fighting the pangs of fear and regret that she hadn’t started her search earlier. Righteous justification was nice, but it didn’t put Parker any closer to her.

  ***

  Charlie dropped the soda gun and grabbed on to Parker’s arm, trying to break her fall to the dusty floor of her bar. “I’m really sorry about the stool. Preston Sinclair usually sits on that one, and he’s not a small guy. I guess it was only a matter of time before the cheap wood gave in for an easier life in the fire pit.”