"Translation: Sienna and Belle have to spend the next five hours doing their hair," Brad joked. He took down the umbrella and folded it up.
"And I have to spend the next five hours party-proofing the house," Zach put in. "My father's afraid we'll trash the place."
"See you guys at the party," Sienna said. She'd wrapped a sarong around her waist and it clung to her hips as she picked up her beach bag.
"I don't know," Tyler said. "I haven't been invited to this infamous party."
"Infamous?" Zach queried.
Jason rolled his eyes. "Danielle is pissed because my mom won't let her go. They've been fighting about it all week."
"Why can't she go?" Zach asked, frowning. "She's always welcome."
"My mom freaked out about Carrie, and I don't blame her," Jason said evenly. He knew Zach would understand what he really meant: that maybe he didn't want his little sister hanging out in a house full of vampires.
Zach thought about that, then nodded.
"But you should come, Ty," Brad put in. "Mrs. Freeman can't tell you no."
Tyler shrugged. "That's up to Jason."
"Well, of course Jason wants you to come," Belle said. "Don't you, Jason?"
Jason hesitated. The last time they'd partied together hadn't gone so well, It won't happen again, Jason told himself. Tyler said all that was behind him.
"Sure, we'll be there," Jason said aloud. What was friendship without trust?
● ● ●
"Maybe just a movie," Dani was saying later as Jason pulled the VW into the driveway of the house later. She'd been on her cell ever since they'd left the beach. "Hello? Billy?" she said, raising her voice. Frustrated, she hit end. "I lost the signal," she complained.
"Why didn't you make plans with him while we were at the beach?" Jason asked. He found it baffling how much time she spent on the phone with her friends. She'd called Billy about three minutes after saying good-bye to him in person.
Danielle ignored him, shoving open her car door and climbing out. Tyler swung himself over the side of the convertible without bothering to use the door.
"It's a little cramped in the back, bro," Tyler joked. "Not enough room for me and all the beach gear."
"When I get a car, it'll be bigger," Dani said. She pulled the wet towels out of the backseat and shoved them into Tyler's arms, then grabbed her straw bag. "Straight to the laundry room," she told Tyler. "Mom hates when we leave towels around."
"Got it." Tyler took off toward the house, Dani following.
As Jason started toward the front door, a cell phone chirped from the car. He turned around and scanned the VW, finally spotting Dani's phone - gray faceplate today - on the front seat. Jason figured it was probably Billy calling back.
He grabbed it and hit talk. "Hello?"
"Time is running out," said the guy on the other end.
"To get movie tickets?" Jason asked.
There was a pause, and Jason wondered if the signal had died again. "Hello?"
"Don't try to be cute," came the reply. "You have your deadline. After that, I get really upset."
Jason rolled his eyes. "Dude, it's Malibu. What is there to be upset about?"
"Malibu?" Laughter filled his ear, and then the guy said, "Thank you. Remember, thirty-six hours."
"What are you talking about?" Jason asked. "Billy?"
But he heard only silence. Jason pulled the phone away from his ear and glanced at the screen. It was empty. The guy had hung up.
"Who were you talking to?" Tyler asked from behind him.
Jason turned and shrugged. "I thought it was my sister's friend Billy, but he was being really weird. Maybe it was a wrong number."
Tyler strode forward and snatched the phone from Jason's hand. "That's my phone, moron," he snapped. He hit a few buttons, calling up the phone log.
"Excuse me?" Jason said, annoyed. He and Tyler trashed each other a lot, but they were always just joking around. This time, Tyler didn't sound amused at all. "Did you just call me a moron?"
"I heard you tell him you were in Malibu," Tyler said angrily. "What the hell did you do that for?"
"Because I thought it was Billy," Jason retorted. "What was your phone doing on the front seat?"
"It must've fallen out of my pocket when I got out," Tyler said. "But I bet Danielle wouldn't appreciate you answering her phone either."
"She wouldn't go all psycho on me," Jason said. "What's your problem?"
"What else did he say?" Tyler demanded.
"He said something about thirty-six hours and how he'd be upset if you missed the deadline," Jason replied. "Now why don't you tell me who that was and what the hell is going on?"
Tyler looked him up and down, his eyes dark with fury. "You know, man? It's none of your business," he said. He turned and stalked into the house without another word.
Jason stayed rooted to the spot, replaying that phone conversation in his mind. Clearly the guy on the phone was threatening Tyler. But why?
Now, at least he knew one thing for sure: Dani was right. Tyler was in trouble.
Serious trouble.
EIGHT
“At eight o'clock, Jason decided it was time to go talk to Tyler. His friend had vanished into the guest room after their argument out front, and he hadn't come out since. But Zach's party started in half an hour, and Jason wanted to clear the air before that. Besides, if Tyler was in need of a friend, Jason would step up - if Tyler would let him.
"Ty, you awake?" he called, knocking on the bedroom door. There was no answer, but the door swung open a bit. Jason stuck his head in. "Tyler?"
The room was empty. Glancing around, Jason spotted Tyler's prescription bottle sitting on the dresser. Except he knew that it wasn't Tyler's prescription - there had been someone else's name on it. Guiltily, he went over to check out the bottle. Maybe I just read it wrong, he thought hopefully.
Ryan Swank, the label read. Not Tyler Deegan. Not even close.
Jason squinted at the rest of the info, which included a doctor's name and a phone number from Detroit. And the name of the medication: Ritalin.
Ritalin. Another lie, then. Jason knew Ritalin wasn't a painkiller. It was for ADD, but could be abused for a high.
And Tyler didn't have ADD.
Jason's heart sank. Tyler had promised that he was done with drugs. But the fact that he had a bottle full of Ritalin seemed like more than mere coincidence. Jason shook the bottle. He'd only held it for a second yesterday, but he was pretty sure it had felt heavier then. It seemed that Tyler had taken some of the pills. Well, that explains his ability to go from exhausted to manic in sixty seconds, Jason thought grimly. He sighed and put the bottle back down.
Out in the hallway, Jason went over to the bathroom door and pounded on it. "Tyler, you in there?'' he yelled.
"In the shower!" Tyler called back. "Be out in five."
Jason hesitated. He'd been worried about taking Tyler to Zach's party before, but now he really didn't want to. If Tyler was still taking drugs, there was no telling what he'd do at one of the wild DeVere Heights blowouts.
"Listen, you want to ditch on this party tonight?" he called through the door. "Maybe hang with Dani and her friend?"
"No way," Tyler replied. "Sounds like this party is a primo event.”
Like Tyler would ever turn down a party. Jason couldn't come up with a solid reason why they shouldn't go. He wasn't ready to confront his friend about the drugs. He needed to think of a game plan for tackling that one without alienating Tyler. In the meantime, he decided he'd have to hope for the best. But he was not looking forward to partying with Tyler tonight.
"Have fun," Dani said, twenty minutes later.
"You could not sound more insincere if you tried," Jason told her with a grin.
"Don't worry, we'll pour one out for you," Tyler said as Jason pushed open the front door and stepped out into the cool California night.
"Have two. I'd have two if I were there," Dani shouted after them.
"Be good at the movies," Jason called back as she closed the door.
"Why doesn't she just tell your mom she's going to the movies and then come with us?" Tyler asked.
"She did that once," Jason said. "And that was the party where someone died."
"Ouch," Tyler replied.
"Yeah. I think she's too spooked to try that again." They got into the bug, and Jason pulled out. He drove slowly down to the main road in DeVere Heights, taking as much time as possible to get to Zach's.
"These parties really as good as Dani says?" Tyler asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice.
"Yeah. It can get pretty wild." Jason glanced sideways at his friend. "We can still blow it off, if you want.”
"You don't want to take me to your precious party, do you?" Tyler suddenly snapped. "That's why you're talking about skipping out, right? You're still stuck on that one time I took your car. Just get over it already!"
"Look, you told me you were done with the drugs, but I know you're lying. So who knows what else you're lying about?" Jason retorted. So much for his plan to approach the subject carefully. But his temper had trumped his good intentions. "I'm friends with these people, Tyler. I don't want you making an ass of yourself tonight."
"Well, don't worry. I'm not going to embarrass you in front of your special new friends. I'll be invisible," Tyler muttered.
Jason took a deep breath and didn't comment on the extreme unlikelihood of Tyler ever being invisible. He'd been arguing with Tyler all afternoon, but he didn't feel angry. He felt worried. "Ty, listen," he said. "What's really going on? I know you're not just here for a visit. You're in some kind of trouble, right?"
"Yeah." Tyler's voice was so quiet that Jason could barely hear him. “I’m in big trouble."
"Well, tell me what it is," Jason said. "I can help you.”
"No, you can't, Jason," Tyler said. "Nobody can help."
"Whoa. That's pretty negative, dude," Jason said, surfer-style, hoping to get a smile out of Tyler. It didn't work. "How do you know I can't help if you don't tell me what's going on?"
"I just know, okay?"
Jason shrugged and focused on the road. Whatever. He wasn't going to beg.
"Unless your dad's so rich now that your allowance is a couple thou," Tyler muttered.
"You need two thousand dollars?" Jason tried to keep the shock out of his voice.
"Five, actually," Tyler admitted.
Jason let out a long, low whistle. That was a serious lump of cash.
"See, Freeman, there are things even you can't fix," Tyler said, wiping his hands nervously on the legs of his jeans.
"How'd you get in so deep?" Jason asked. "Credit card?"
Tyler snorted.
"Betting on b-ball?" Jason suggested. Would any bookie let Tyler run up that kind of tab? he wondered. He'd have to be one stupid illegal businessman.
"What does it matter?" Tyler sounded pissy now. He always sounded pissy when he was scared. Jason remembered the time Tyler had almost got bitten by a rattlesnake on a Boy Scout hiking trip. Well, actually, the time Tyler saw a rattlesnake on a Boy Scout hiking trip. He had been so scared that he'd cursed the thing out for two solid minutes, using words in combinations even the Scout Master hadn't heard before.
"I guess I just thought knowing who you owed the money to might help us come up with a plan," Jason answered.
"'Us,'" Tyler repeated. "There is no 'us' in this situation. There's just me."
"Hey, you showed up at my door with a problem. You brought me into it." Jason pulled through the massive iron gates leading to the Lafrenière property. "So spill it. How'd you rack up that kind of debt?" He flashed on the bottle of Ritalin in Tyler's room. "Ritalin?"
"Everyone needs some recreation once in a while," Tyler answered, without really answering. "It's nothing."
A valet in a black suit and a narrow black tie signalled Jason to a stop. Tyler jumped out of the car without waiting for Jason and headed up the long driveway. Jason took the claim check from the valet and followed Tyler, not bothering to hurry. He wasn't eager to get to the party. He was in an even less celebratory mood now than he had been when he left the house. Some Thanksgiving vacation, Jason thought. Let's all give thanks for pissy, drug-abusing friends who won't tell you anything.
"There are probably five thousand bucks' worth of those candle thingies in the trees,” Tyler commented when Jason caught up to him.
"Possibly." Jason glanced at the trees lining the drive. Hundreds of clear glass globes had been hung from the branches, and each one held a short fat candle and glowed with golden candlelight. More candles gleamed from the decks and balconies that jutted out on all the levels of the house.
"Where do they get all their cash?" Tyler asked.
"Mom's a screenwriter. Dad's a music producer," Jason said, wishing Tyler would get off the subject. People in Malibu didn't walk around talking about how much stuff cost or how anybody got the money they had. It was tacky.
"So that chick over there who looks like the actress in that cheerleader movie, but skinnier?" Tyler indicated a direction with a slight jerk of his chin. "That's actually her?"
Jason tried to look without looking like he was looking. "I'd say yeah."
"Do you think she'd like to know that I have a poster of her over my bed?" Tyler joked. "Or do you think I need a different approach?"
"I'm sure she'd find that truly flattering," Jason answered as they stepped through the double front doors and into the house. "She being beautiful and famous. And you being you."
"I'll hit on her later," Tyler decided. "Give her time to watch me from afar and become intrigued."
"Good idea."
Tyler headed over to the bar that had been set up in the entryway, complete with a hottie bartender, who was flipping bottles like she was half-juggler. "The signature drink of the evening is the pumpkin martini," she told them. "Tinis of all sorts are available: apple, chocolate, clean, dirty. And pretty much any other kind of alcohol you want.”
"Only party I've been to where there's not a line by the booze," Tyler commented.
"Well, you only have to go a few feet to find another bar," the bartender answered.
"I'll go with the pumpkin." Tyler grinned at Jason. "This is definitely the place to come if you want to forget your problems for a few hours."
Jason thought that over for all of two seconds. Tyler had a point: They could deal with all this shit post-fun. "Beer for me."
"You've got to give me more than that," the bartender told him.
"Surprise me," Jason said. She handed him a Heineken. He wasn't sure what that said about him. Maybe that he hadn't yet completely assimilated to Malibu, home of designer beer.
His eyes swept over what he thought was the living room. All the furniture had been moved out to make space for dancing, and a DJ kept everyone moving with a hip-hop/reggae mix. Clips from movies - Adam would probably be able to identify every one - were being projected on one wall. A baby floating in space. Keanu bending under a bullet. Chewbacca roaring. John Travolta disco dancing in a white suit. Mike Myers in a kilt. That freakazoid girl from The Ring crawling out of the well.
"So this is your life now, huh?" Tyler asked. He took a sip of his martini.
"Not quite. I still have to take out the trash," Jason answered.
"Great. Malibu party boy surrounded by excess whines about the one chore he has to do." Adam approached, his camera stuck to his face. "I think I have to use this for the trailer."
"Happy to be of service." Jason shook his head. "That thing is going to become permanently grafted to your eye if you don't put it down occasionally. You ever think of, maybe ... I don't know, leaving it at home?”
"And face the world - and people - without my layer of ironic protection?" Adam protested. "Besides, you never know when a really good docudrama is going to unfold."
"Glad you guys could make it," Zach called over the music. He joined them, shaking hands all around. "Adam, my m
om scored a print of the new Tarantino flick. In the screening room at midnight."
Adam lowered his camera. "You," he said slowly, "are a god."
"I have to pass on one rule from my parents," Zach told them. "We can do anything we want to the first floor and the basement - short of burning them to the ground - but the top floor is off limits."
"And you expect us to stay?" Jason joked.
"The pool and the grounds are also available," Zach told him.
"Oh, well then, I guess we can hang for an hour or so,” Jason said.
"Speak for yourself," Tyler put in. "I'm never leaving."
Zach smiled. "Let me know if there's anything you want that you can't find," he said, and headed to the entryway to greet some new arrivals.
"Cool guy," Tyler commented.
"He was almost chatty," Adam added "Those may have been the most words Lafrenière has ever said to me at one time. Maybe our birthday friend has been enjoying something more exotic than the martinis."
Jason shot a glance at Tyler. He hoped his friend wouldn't go looking for anything stronger than the drink he had in his hand.
"I think I must have stretched out my stomach with yesterday's gorge," Adam said. "Because I'm hungry. In my travels, I saw this phenomenal dessert station. There's actually a chef making bananas Foster."
"Do you think they have pumpkin pie?" Tyler asked. "You know it's not good to mix bananas and pumpkin." He waved his martini glass. "That's a recipe for vomit."
"Are you kidding?" Adam asked as they wove their way across the dance floor. "Clearly I haven't expressed the scope of this dessert bar. It's monster." He led the way out to the huge deck that surrounded the pool. The dessert table went on for a mile, the scent of banana liqueur and hot sugar mixing with the salty breeze coming off the ocean.
"Check it," Tyler said.
Jason watched as the chef scooped up a ladle of liquid from around some simmering bananas and torched it. He poured it back into the pan - a stream of fire hit the bananas with a whoosh of blue flame.
"Wait. I hear my name. Someone's calling me." Adam headed toward the chef.
Alex Duval - [Vampire Beach 02] Page 6
