Lucas was walking around the car looking for any possible damage. He stopped suddenly, as though he had just noticed her presence, and turned to face her. With his eyebrows furrowed he said, "I thought you were going to stay in the car. I wasn’t kidding when I said that you needed to take it easy."
"I know. I just didn't want to be in the car anymore.” Haley hoped she sounded better than she felt. “I'll just stand right here. I won’t get in your way. I promise."
Lucas stared down the road where the other car had disappeared around the corner. He was silent for another moment and then nodded his head. "Yeah, okay. You feeling better is the important part."
Haley gave him a weak thumbs up and watched him continue his walk around the car. When he stopped and then completely disappeared on the other side of the car, she moved around to see what he was doing. He was crouched down, his head tilted to look under the car. Haley stopped short as her first sight was of his normally baggy jeans molded to his very fine backside. She frowned at her reaction just as he glanced over at her.
“Is everything okay?” she asked quickly, hoping he had missed her first reaction and mistook her frown for concern over the car.
“It looks like you went over a big rock and it scraped a little underneath.” He stretched his arm underneath the car.
“Is that bad?”
“It could be but it looks like it missed everything important.” Lucas stood up, dusting off his hands on his jeans. “Nothing is leaking and there doesn’t seem to be any damage. We’ll be fine to continue on.”
“Well, that’s a relief.” Haley had been worried about her car having suffered damage from the other car or the tree. It had not even occurred to her that they might have been stuck there on the side of the road. She looked up and down the road and shook her head. “I guess we should get back on our way.”
Lucas met her at the driver’s side door. “I can drive if you want.”
Haley straightened her shoulders and looked up at him. “No, it’s okay.”
“Are you sure?” Lucas seemed to search her face for a deeper answer.
She looked up ready to argue that she was perfectly capable of driving. His look of concern made her stop. “Yeah. I just want to get back on the horse, so to speak. I can’t let jerks like that get to me.”
“Well, you did a great job of staying calm during all of that.” He put an arm around her shoulders in a quick side hug.
“Thanks.” Haley managed to say, fighting the urge to rest her head on his shoulder.
Lucas released her and moved to the other side of the car. “I was really impressed.”
“I was just focusing on trying not to hit anything or careening off into a ravine or something,” Haley said with a wave of her hand. She got back into the driver’s seat, trying to ignore the fact that she was still feeling a little shaky. It was silly of her to care but she didn’t want Lucas to think she was overreacting.
Lucas got into the passenger seat. “I feel darn lucky that you were able to get off the road at all.”
Haley started the car and eased back onto the highway. “Everything happened so fast, I didn't even get a good look at the driver.”
“It wouldn't have mattered. The car’s windows had pretty dark tint and the driver was wearing a hat and sunglasses.”
“Ugh. Sounds like the car was driven by the invisible man.”
“I don’t want to scare you but I am a little concerned about the whole thing.” Lucas looked behind them. “It just doesn’t seem like a random act to me.”
“Me either. I had seen that black car several times over the last hour or so. It would always come up behind us fast but then fall back and disappear,” Haley explained. “I wasn’t entirely sure it was the same car each time, but at this point, how could it not be?”
“I have to agree with you. It seems like every piece of information just creates more questions. The most important question is…why?”
Haley had been asking the same question, never coming up with a good answer. “No idea.”
"I was already worried; this just adds to it." Lucas turned away to look out the passenger window.
Haley could see the scowl on his face in the window's reflection. "What do you mean?"
"I am probably just being overprotective." Lucas sighed. " I am worried about Bri. I've talked to Mom and she seems fine with Bri's reasoning for moving to Sampson’s Quarry."
"You mean the whole job excuse?"
"Yeah, I just don't buy it though. Sounds like you don’t either,” Lucas added.
Haley grimaced. “Not at all.”
“I know that Bri isn't real big on planning but it was too sudden.”
"Even for Bri," she agreed. Bri’s announcement had been so unexpected that Haley hadn’t believed her at first. Even after she had accepted Bri’s news, Haley still wondered if Bri was going to suddenly tell her that it was all a big joke.
"Exactly. And talking to Bri didn't help. She was so evasive that I am now even more convinced that something is going on." Lucas let out a sigh.
Haley felt bad for him, clearly upset about his little sister. “Bri can be pretty stubborn.”
"I hate that I have been gone so much. I could have been here and maybe found out what was going on before she moved away from Fairview."
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Haley said. "I understand you want to be there for her, but Bri is an adult and makes her own choices."
"Yes, she has made that very clear to me on several occasions."
"I don't doubt that at all." Haley had seen plenty of arguments between the two siblings.
“What are your thoughts on Curtis?”
“Curtis?” Haley was confused for a moment. “Bri's ex, Curtis? You mean Curtis Tomlinson?"
"That's the one," Lucas said drily.
"Honestly?" Haley paused. "I never really liked him, which made me feel extremely guilty at the beginning because Bri wanted so much for me to like him."
"Same here." Lucas held up his hands. “I tried to like the guy; I really did.”
"Me too. There wasn't anything I could pinpoint as being particularly wrong with him, but sometimes he seemed fake---like he was putting up a front. At first, I gave him a pass because we had just met and I can understand meeting your girlfriend's best friend can be a little nerve-racking."
"And later?"
"Later? It got worse."
"What do you mean worse?"
"It was still weird between the two of us but even more so between him and Bri. He could be a little bossy with her and then would say rude things and laugh like he was just joking, but I know that it upset Bri every time he did it."
"I can't believe she would put up with that," Lucas said.
"Well, that's why she broke up with him." Haley frowned. "It was a rough breakup too."
"How long ago was that?"
"It's been a while now, probably eight months," Haley said, almost sounding like a question.
"So right before she moved?"
"It had to have been," she glanced over and their eyes locked. "You think she moved because of Curtis?"
"I am more than positive that the rat is in the middle of it somehow."
They had both been quiet for several minutes when Haley said, "I don’t know if this will make you feel any better, but I have wondered for a long time whether Curtis was a big factor, or maybe the only factor, in Bri’s decision to move.”
"You have? Okay, so it's not just me." Lucas nodded, clearly unsure if confirmation was a good thing or not.
"No, it's not. I have asked Bri about it a number of times."
"What did she say?"
Haley rolled her eyes. "She denies it every time. She says that her breakup with Curtis had nothing to do with her looking for a new job or moving away."
"You don't sound like you really believed her."
"Because I didn't. That's why I asked her so many times." Haley had been thoroughly confused by Bri's behavior. Sure, Bri co
uld be impulsive and spontaneous, but in the sense of suggesting they drive an hour away to get pie for dessert at the diner they stopped at on that one road trip during college, or that both of them call in sick so they could watch all of the Star Wars movies. Picking up and moving away without any notice was something very different. "When she told me that she was moving from Fairview, the first thing I asked her was if her breakup with Curtis had anything to do with it."
"I am guessing she denied it from the start."
"Absolutely. Bri told me that it was simply a matter of her wanting to find a new job. She needed to shake things up."
"Shake things up? Seriously?" Lucas sounded disgusted. "I tried to talk to her about it and she just brushed me off. I wish she would just talk to someone about this."
"I was serious earlier when I said that I'm going up to Sampson’s Quarry specifically to try to find out what's been going on." Haley checked the GPS and then added, "None of it made any sense then and it makes even less sense now."
"Do you think she'll talk to you?"
Haley had been thinking about little else for the last two months. It had been difficult for her without Bri in Fairview. "There's nothing much left for me to do. I just hope that I can get Bri alone and maybe she will feel safe enough to tell me the truth."
Lucas blew out a long breath and said, "I really hope she talks to you. I hate that she might be in trouble and won't let any of us help her."
"It certainly doesn't help that her work schedule is so busy now." Haley had been worried about not only the circumstances of Bri’s move, but also the insane number of hours she seemed to work now that she had moved away.
Lucas suddenly sat up straight.
"When was the last time you talked to Bri?"
"Last night," Haley answered easily, not missing the fact that he had changed the subject.
"You actually talked to her, like on the phone?" He shifted in his seat to look at her. "You heard her voice?"
"No, we were texting back and forth," Haley replied. "Why?"
“I haven’t talked to her on the phone in months. Every time I call her I get her voice mail, and then some time later that day she will send me a text apologizing for being so busy. Then we text back and forth.”
“Now that you mention it, I haven’t spoken to her on the phone in months either.”
“You haven’t?” Lucas seemed surprised. “I was sure you would have talked to her. I thought she was just mad at me.”
“No, it has nothing to do with you. I used to talk to her every day.” Haley couldn’t believe it that she hadn’t realized it herself. “Lucas, what’s going on?”
“I don’t know.”
Haley nodded at the phone in his hand. "Why don't you call her?"
“What? Right now?”
“Yes.” Haley wanted to do something, anything that might help them get closer to an answer. “Bri knows that I am driving up today. She has to be near her phone.”
"Good idea.” Lucas leaned forward to unzip his backpack. “Hopefully, we get cell service out here."
Haley forced herself to focus on the road and ignore Lucas’s phone call. Not that she didn’t want to listen in, but given what had happened to them earlier, she knew that it was very important for her to pay attention. She checked her mirrors every chance she could; paranoid now, she wanted to know what might be coming her way.
“Hey, it’s your brother, just calling to say hi. Call me back.” Lucas swore under his breath. “It went straight to her voice mail.”
“I don’t understand why we haven’t talked to her.” It was really making Haley worry, but she didn’t want to upset Lucas any more than he already was. “I mean, it’s definitely Bri that I have been talking to, even though it’s all been emails and text messages.”
“Good point,” Lucas agreed. “And she posts messages and recent photos on social media.”
“Right, there has to be a reason that she doesn’t answer our calls. I know she will claim it’s because of work, but that can’t be it unless she is on the clock twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.”
“Which is unlikely.” Lucas picked up his backpack and set it on his lap. After a minute or so of digging around, he groaned.
“What’s wrong?” Haley glanced over to see him staring at his phone.
“It looks like I left the cord for my phone charger at home.” Lucas held up his phone. “It’s nearly dead now.”
“I have an extra cord in the glove compartment.”
Lucas opened the compartment and pulled out the cord. “Of course! It won’t work; I have a different phone.”
Haley peered at his phone. “Oh, I thought we had the same kind.”
“Technically, it is. Mine is just the latest model and they changed the cord design.”
“That makes sense. I can upgrade but I don’t want to put out the money for a new phone quite yet.” Haley pointed down at her phone sitting in the center console. “I have cords for my phone and it’s fully charged. We can use mine until we can buy you a new cord.”
Before Lucas could respond, his phone beeped. “How much you wanna bet it’s Bri?”
“No bet. I couldn’t take your money like that.”
Lucas read from his phone. “Hey Bro, sorry that I missed your call. Work is crazy! I’ll text you on my break a little later. Heart emoji, Bri.”
“So weird.”
“It’s very strange.”
They fell into a heavy silence and Haley turned on the radio, hoping some music would ease the tension. Instead of music, a news report was already in progress.
…reported missing this morning. The missing woman was last seen in Fairview when she left the trendy restaurant, Deck Five, on Wednesday night. The Fairview Police are asking the public to contact them with any information regarding the missing woman or her car.
Lucas leaned over and turned off the radio. “I Spy or a hundred bottles of beer.”
“Oh please, no singing,” Haley said.
“I Spy it is,” Lucas said.
5
"Oh good, there's a place to stop coming up," Lucas said pointing to the billboard on the side of the road.
"What? No." Haley groaned, thoroughly annoyed with everything changing and the long list of unexpected delays. She had made preparations that included a timetable, and even though they had fallen behind, she was bound and determined to stick to her original plan.
“Come on. It will be good for both of us to stretch our legs, get some food, and just have a few minutes out of the car."
"I don't know, Lucas.” Haley took another glance at the GPS. “We are already so delayed and we still have hours to go. I just want to get to Sampson’s Quarry and be done with this trip."
"I know, me too, but like you said, we are already delayed. What's another twenty minutes?"
Haley wanted to argue with him, but she knew he was right. For some reason that irritated her though. "You just want to eat again. I have no idea how that is even possible given the amount of food you consumed less than three hours ago."
"I wouldn't mind picking up some snacks, that is true." He shifted in the passenger seat to stretch his long legs in the small space. "A bathroom break would be welcome, and I honestly need to stretch my legs. Anytime I travel I have to be mindful of blood clots."
"Oh, good grief!" Haley exclaimed. “Blood clots? Seriously?”
"It's a real problem for people that travel frequently."
Haley knew that, of course; right then it just felt like another excuse to try to get his way.
"I thought you said you needed to get gas later." Lucas leaned to look at the gas gauge. "It's later now."
Haley looked at the gas gauge and had to concede that he was right. "We are at just passed half a tank. We could go another couple of hours before we are in dire straits.”
“This might be the last gas station before we head into the mountains. Should we chance it?”
“Fine,” Haley said through grit
ted teeth. “We’ll stop, use the restroom, fill up the gas tank, but then we are hitting the road."
Haley could not believe that her vacation had seemingly caused so many problems. What had started out as a relaxing visit with a good friend had turned into this complicated mess. All she wanted was a little peace and quiet. It didn't seem like too much to ask, but it was starting to feel as though fate had it out for her.
It was crazy to think that all of this started by asking for a week off of work. She had worked at the portrait studio for two years, and part of the benefits of working there full-time was having two weeks of paid vacation days every year. It seemed like every time she asked for time off, something would happen and she would have to change her days off, or move her plans around, or even sometimes get called in to cover for someone else. While she was supposed to be only working forty hours a week, Haley almost always ended up with overtime on her paychecks, sometimes working sixty-hour weeks.
It was a relief that she would never have to go back there and deal with Vicki again. Not knowing how she was going to pay rent or buy food was what made her nervous.
"Are you okay?" Lucas asked her.
Haley groaned inwardly; she knew better than to think that she could hide her feelings. "Yeah, I'm just tired and a little stressed."
Lucas frowned. "I wish you would've let me drive after we got run off the road."
Haley shook her head. She didn't want him thinking that he had done something wrong. "It's not only that. I kind of quit my job before I left and I'm a little worried about finding a new one."
"You quit?" Lucas sat back in his seat. "I didn't think you knew how to do that."
"Do what? Quit?" Haley asked in exasperation.
"Yeah, well, quit without having a new job,” he explained. “You're such a planner and you never seem to not know what's going to happen next."
“I used to think that's how I was, but now I'm starting to think that it was all just a façade." Haley had said it to be funny but she realized as the words came out that it might actually be true. "I think I make all these plans and do all kinds of research to cover up all the disorganized parts of my life that I can't seem to figure out. I justify it by having my work life all planned out for the next weeks or months. That way I can tell myself that I have it all together."
The Road to Sampson's Quarry (A Sampson's Quarry Mystery - Book One) Page 3
