Danger Zone

by Stacy Claflin

  Nick opened the closet door, and while nothing spilled out, every inch was packed with belongings—everything from clothes to knickknacks to shoe boxes piled from the floor to the ceiling. His heart sank. If the key was in there, it could take days to find.

  Maybe he’d be better off calling Hank’s son who’d sold him the house.

  Colin answered on the third ring. “Nick, is everything okay with the house?”

  “Yeah, I just have a quick question for you.”

  “Shoot.”

  “Do you know where your dad kept the key to the attic?”

  “Key?” Colin asked.

  “The door has a lock. It’s been painted over, but it’s definitely locked.”

  “Hmm.” Silence settled between them for a few moments. “I don’t know anything about that. In fact, I can’t remember anything about an attic. My dad was a private person, and I wasn’t allowed in many places in that house. I’m sure the key is in there, though. He kept his possessions close.”

  “You don’t know about it?”

  “Sorry. I haven’t been there in years—since I had that falling out with him. Wish I could help you, but I haven’t been there in over twenty years. Anything else I can do?”

  “No. That’s it. Thanks, Colin.”

  They ended the call, and Nick stared at the closet. If the key was in there, he would find it. Then he would get into the attic and see what the old man had gone to such great lengths to hide.

  Talk

  Zoey picked up a fashion magazine and smiled at Ari. “I’m so glad we finally get some girl time.”

  “I’m so glad you suggested getting our hair done.” Ariana beamed. “I’m overdue for a new style.”

  “I like it long.” Zoey fluffed Ariana’s layered locks.

  She swiped her hand away. “Mom, stop!”

  “Sorry.” The corners of her mouth twitched.

  “No, you’re not.” Ari grabbed a magazine and flipped through the pages.

  “See anything interesting?”

  “I already know what I want.”

  “You do?” Zoey arched a brow. “What is it?”

  “A surprise.” Her daughter threw her a teasing glance.

  “I can’t wait to see. It isn’t a mohawk, is it?”

  “No!” Ariana shoved her. “You’ve been watching too many retro shows. I’m definitely not going to get anything like that.”

  Zoey set the magazine in her lap and leaned back. “There was a time I wanted to get something wild like that.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I was a little older than you and had a secret crush on a bad boy.”

  “Really?” Ari leaned closer. “A bad boy? You?”

  She snickered. “He was a real trouble-maker, and I was terrified to tell him how I felt.”

  A strange expression crossed her daughter’s face for just a moment. It was too brief for Zoey to interpret. “Did you? Tell him, I mean.”

  “Eventually. Neither of us wanted to admit our feelings to each other. Us being together was just …” Zoey searched for the right way to explain the complicated situation. “Taboo.”

  Ariana leaned even closer. “Tell me more.”

  “There was the age difference, for one thing. And—”

  “An older guy?”

  Zoey shook her head. “He was younger, and everyone would’ve made fun of me. Also, he was my best friend’s baby brother.”

  “Mom!” Ari narrowed her eyes. “You’re talking about Dad. Is this why you brought me here? To try to get me to open up about him?”

  “What?” Zoey struggled to understand her daughter’s reaction. She hadn’t expected her to connect the dots so quickly, or to react so strongly.

  She scowled. “I know exactly what you’re doing. That’s why you brought me here. Not to spend time with me, but to be Dad’s go-between.”

  “It’s not like that. I was just telling you about when I was your age. I can’t help that Dad was the boy I fell for. It’s always been the two of us.”

  Ariana crossed her arms. “Not when you were engaged to Kellen, it wasn’t.”

  Zoey took a deep breath. “No, but do you remember why we broke up?”

  “Because I was kidnapped.” Ari’s tone was sharp.

  “That’s not why we split up. It was because once your dad was in the picture again, Kellen realized where my heart really belonged—even before I did.”

  “Let’s just go home.” Ariana leaped to her feet.

  “Ari—”

  “No! I don’t want to do this, Mom. You didn’t tell me we came here to talk about Dad. That wasn’t what I agreed to.”

  Zoey took another deep breath, then another. “You have to believe me. I really wanted this time with you.”

  Ariana’s nostrils flared. “I knew something was up when you brought me to this salon instead of having Grandma do our hair.”

  “Okay, you’re right. Dad wanted me to try and find out why you don’t seem to like him anymore, but I truly wanted mother-daughter time with you. We get so little of it these days.”

  “Grandma’s going to be upset we hair-cheated on her.”

  “She already knows, and she’s fine with it.” Zoey had already told Alex’s mom what was going on before she made the appointments.

  Ari shrugged. “If you really only want girl time, then promise me we won’t talk about Dad. I’d rather talk about my love life than him.”

  Zoey gave her a double-take. “You have a love life?”

  “I’m serious. Promise me, or I’ll walk home.”

  “It’s five miles!”

  “I’ve been through worse.”

  A stylist came over. “Ariana?”

  Ari glanced at Zoey. “Promise?”

  Zoey nodded.

  Ariana followed the stylist away.

  Tension squeezed Zoey’s body. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. Alex sure wasn’t imagining Ariana’s disdain for him. But what was the cause? Something to do with the love life she mentioned? Ari hadn’t mentioned a boyfriend in some time.

  “Zoey?”

  Time to get her hair done. She opened her eyes and forced a smile. The stylist introduced herself as Amanda and chatted as she led Zoey to the chair. Ariana was over at a sink getting her hair washed.

  “What are we doing today?” Amanda asked.

  “I’m in the mood for a real change. Give me the most popular cut of the season.”

  She lifted a brow. “It’s significantly shorter. Are you sure? Let me show you a picture.”

  Zoey shook her head. “I want to be surprised.”

  Ariana and Zoey hardly had any time to talk while getting their hair done, so when they were done, Zoey suggested they grab Italian sodas.

  Ari ran her fingers through her now shoulder-length hair with electric blue streaks. “Sure, but only if we avoid a certain subject. Love your hair, by the way. Short looks good on you.”

  Zoey felt her shoulder-length bob. “Thanks. It’s not really short, though. More like medium.”

  “It’s short compared to how long you’ve always had it.”

  “You think Dad’ll like it?”

  “He’ll love it. Can we go?”

  “Sounds good. I want to hear about my daughter’s love life.”

  “Ugh.” Ariana rolled her eyes and marched for the door.

  Once they were seated with their drinks, Zoey gave her a tired smile. “I really like your hair. It suits you, and it makes you look older.”

  Her eyes lit up. “It does?”

  “Yes, it—” Zoey stopped herself. She was going to say it would make Alex go crazy to see her looking so mature. “It’s really pretty on you.”

  “Thanks.” Ari sipped her blue soda, seemingly unaware of what Zoey nearly said.

  “Who are you trying to impress?”

  Pink colored her cheeks. “His name is Damon.”

  “I haven’t heard you mention him before. Is he nice?”

  Ariana nodd
ed. “I didn’t know him until recently. We’re in the same study group after school.”

  “Are you helping him with his essay?”

  “No. He’s better at English than me.”

  “You should invite him over for dinner. I’d love to meet him.”

  Ari’s eyes widened. “No! I mean, we’re just friends. It’s no big deal.”

  “But you got this haircut for him?”

  She shrugged. “I wouldn’t say for him. More like, I want to look my best. In general, for me.”

  Zoey nodded. “Good, I’m glad to hear it. Don’t change yourself for a guy.”

  “I wouldn’t.”

  “Well, any time you want to have him over is fine.”

  “Okay.”

  Silence rested over the table. Zoey wanted to get her talking, but didn’t want to upset her again. She’d have to tread carefully. “Have you spoken with Scout recently?”

  “We broke up when he moved away, remember?”

  “I know, but aren’t you friends on social media?”

  “He closed his accounts. It was too much after the shooting. People were bugging him—that was before he moved.”

  “Kids were giving him a hard time over that?”

  “Yeah.” Ari sipped the last of her drink, making a loud noise. “I’m going to use the restroom.” She got up and hurried away before Zoey could respond.

  They’d need to take a week-long vacation to get anything out of that girl. Not that it was surprising. Zoey had been a teenager not that long ago—or at least it didn’t feel that long ago—and she had been far more closed off than her daughter. No way Zoey would’ve admitted liking any guy to her mom. Even if her love interest had been someone her own age, she still wouldn’t have said anything.

  Her phone played a peppy tune in her purse indicating she had a text. She dug it out and checked the screen for the notification. It was in response to one of her interview inquiries.

  He wanted to interview her the next day and was looking to hire someone right away.

  Special

  Ariana’s hand ached from writing so fast. Damon had handed back their essays with notes and corrections. Her paper seemed to have more red on it than anyone else’s. Maybe it was her imagination.

  “Five more minutes,” Damon said. “We’re getting closer to the deadline. Remember, I want these drafts to be as close to perfection as you can get them.”

  Groans sounded all around. Everyone was there because they’d bombed the last essay. Ariana had never seen such a low score in all of her life. She’d heard her English teacher was difficult, but the woman was a tyrant.

  Ari massaged her sore hand before quickly scrawling out the rest, making sure to follow each of Damon’s suggestions and corrections. This was the best she could do. If it wasn’t good enough, she’d have to learn to live with a B marring her record. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be worse than that. She had prestigious colleges she planned to apply for in two or three years.

  Damon clapped. “Time to turn in these works of art. Make sure you bring your laptops tomorrow because you’re going to type out your next draft and email it to me. That’ll be the last version of your essays I’ll look over. Make it count.”

  Ari’s stomach twisted. Not only because of the importance of the stupid essay, but also because she’d have no more reason to spend time with Damon after this. He went to the high school, and she was just an eighth grader. She added two more lines before getting up.

  The other kids were already gathering their things after handing in their papers.

  Damon flashed his mind-numbing grin at her. “You were working harder than anyone else.”

  “Just trying to get it right.” She handed the paper to him, and again their hands brushed. Heat flooded her face as she gazed into his eyes. She was staring but couldn’t pull away.

  “Have a seat.” He pulled a chair close to hers.

  Heart thundering, she sat. Her knee pressed against his. She couldn’t hear anything over the sounds of her pulse pounding in her ears.

  Thankfully, Damon was distracted with the pile of papers. It gave her a moment to pull herself together. Which she needed to do desperately.

  Ariana took several deep breaths as quietly as she could.

  Damon turned to her, giving her a crooked grin that showed off his dimple.

  Her stomach tingled and she felt lightheaded.

  He leaned a little closer, and his hand rested on the edge of her leg just above her knee.

  Didn’t he realize it? Did he think his hand was on his knee? That had to be it.

  She struggled to breathe. To act naturally.

  Damon held her gaze. “I have an idea and wanted to run it past you, see what you think.”

  Ari nodded, unable to speak. His hand felt like a blazing fire on her leg.

  “The study group will be over after this week.”

  “Right.” She tried to hide her disappointment.

  “And I was thinking that maybe we could continue tutoring beyond the group.”

  She swallowed. “We? You mean everyone?”

  His mouth curved up. “No, Ari. I mean you and me. I’d like to be your personal tutor, unless you think you don’t need that kind of help. You’re obviously brilliant. One of the smartest people I’ve ever worked with—that’s why I’d like to keep helping you.”

  “You … you … want to tutor me alone?”

  Damon nodded. “I know you have all A’s, and this class is putting that in danger. Not that I’m surprised. Mrs. Kellerman has been ruining perfect four-point-ohs for many years. I don’t want to see you become another statistic.”

  Ari stared at him. He’d looked at her grades? And he wanted to help?

  “What do you say? You don’t have to agree, obviously, but I’d like to help you out. You’re really special, Ari. I hope you know that.”

  Her heart skipped a beat.

  “Is that a yes?”

  Ariana struggled to find her voice. “Is it going to cost anything? I heard tutoring like that is expensive. I’d have to ask my parents.” She cringed. Why had she just said that? She sounded five years old.

  He raked his fingers through his hair and gave her a reassuring smile. “No cost. I’m getting extra credit for my tutoring. Let me level with you. If I don’t tutor you, I’ll have to work with some dumb jocks at my school who are close to being cut from the team. They don’t care about school and will make my job difficult. Don’t make me do that. If you let me tutor you, you’d be doing me a huge favor. I’d owe you.”

  She gave him a double-take. “I’d be helping you out?”

  “We’d both be helping each other out. You’ll get your A, and I’ll get my extra credit without having to deal with dudes who hate learning. And you won’t even have to tell your parents. Especially not your helicopter dad. It’ll make him go even crazier knowing we’re having study dates.”

  A slow smile spread across her face. “Let’s do it.” Her face flamed. She’d just told Damon they should do it.

  Luckily, he didn’t seem to notice. “Great!” He squeezed her knee and grinned.

  Her heart skipped a beat. He squeezed her knee.

  “Do you want to meet here again?”

  She struggled to respond but couldn’t. He had to think she was an idiot.

  “Or we could get off campus and do it somewhere else. There’s a coffee house over on Elm that’s the perfect place to study.”

  Now he said they should do it. Her palms and pits simultaneously grew sweaty.

  “What do you think?” he asked. “Here or there?”

  “On Elm?” Her voice cracked. “I’d have to take the bus.”

  “Or I could pick you up. I don’t mind.”

  Her dad would kill her if she got into a car alone with a high school boy. If he found out. Which he wouldn’t.

  She smiled. “Sounds great.”

  “Perfect.” Damon rose and helped her up. “We’ll get through this week with the group,
and then on Monday I’ll pick you up in the back parking lot.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  “Look for the cherry-red convertible.”

  She was going to a coffee house in a convertible with a hot high school guy? It was time to pinch herself and see if she was dreaming.

  Message

  Alex drove up the long driveway and took in the two-story house with large windows against a backdrop of trees and a huge field off to the side. Nick’s new place was even nicer than he’d imagined. It needed some paint and the bushes needed to be cut back, but even with all that, everything was impressive.

  Before Alex reached the porch, the front door opened. Nick appeared, two sodas in hand and he gave one to Alex. “Welcome to my humble abode.”

  “I really like it. You guys have so much room.”

  Nick glanced over at the field. “Now Genevieve wants to have our wedding here. I don't know if we’ll ever be ready for that.”

  Alex sipped the drink. “You could always hire someone.”

  “On two police salaries?”

  He shrugged. “You’ve been saving, right?”

  “Do you remember everything I ever say?” Nick chuckled and motioned to the bench.

  They sat, and Alex laughed. “Maybe. So, how are things going with the inside? Getting everything sorted? Was it worth the financial savings?”

  “Slow down on the questions. I shouldn’t have given you a caffeinated drink.” Nick shook his head. “It’s coming along. I’m glad I took the week off—I’ve really needed the time. We also bring the kids each afternoon to work on their rooms.”

  “So, fixing it up and going through the previous owner’s belongings isn’t so bad?”

  Nick finished off his pop. “It is strange going through someone else’s life, and it’s kind of sad he didn’t have anyone in his life who wanted to do it. His son just wanted to be free of the property. Said if we found a million bucks inside, we could keep it.”

  Alex arched a brow. “The owner wasn’t a nice guy?”