I didn’t hesitate for long. What slowed me wasn’t sneaking away, but desire. I was crawling very close to one of those cutting edges, knew it, and still followed her long legs and suede bottom.

Alexis’s low slung, open air Saab, was almost as breathtaking as she. Creamy pearl-gray exterior with white trim, wire wheels, and a plush coffee interior. No kiddy carpools for this classic, updated and restored landshark.

Alexis pressed a red button on her key-ring and the fat tire’d four wheeler flashed its eyes.

“Doesn’t seem like a town where you need that,” I said, twisting my tingling body into the lush leather bucket.

“Every town is that sort of town,” she replied. “Anyway, it’s a habit, the way I try to live my life.”

“Why don’t I believe you?”

Alexis smiled, opened her legs under the padded steering wheel and looked me over. “I don’t know, why don’t you?” She glanced into the rearview mirror and deftly pulled onto the street. I grabbed the crash handle anticipating multiple g force.

“No need to hold on,” she said smoothly shifting into second. “I don’t drive as fast as I look.”

“Should I be disappointed or relieved?”

Alexis laughed and aimed the car out of town. “Getting away is the relief.”

“Not big on these annual get-togethers?”

“The party was fine, better than most. Lauren actually had the place looking decent.”

“It’s the house you don’t like?”

“I love the damn house. I hate what’s happening to it.”

“You want to explain?”

“Have you seen the Hacienda in the daylight? Rotten clapboard, cracks in the brick pillars under the porches, mildew on soffits—and the foundation has serious problems. The main beam needs work and the furnace truly frightens me. It should have been replaced years ago. Also, someone is going to break their neck on the goddamn front stairs.” Alexis’s voice rose as her grip tightened on the plump steering wheel. “I haven’t even mentioned the chimney and roof. My wonderful mother won’t spend a dime on the place and by the time she finally sells, it will be worthless.”

Alexis noticed my open mouth because she burst out laughing. “Don’t look so surprised, I’m in real estate.”

“Passionate about it too.”

“About the Hacienda. It’s a very special place and I hate to see it neglected. Watch, now that Lauren and Lou are an item, she’ll manipulate you into playing handyman.”

“It must be difficult for your mother to care for the Hacienda by herself.”

“If that’s what she’s telling you, it’s bullshit. My father works his ass off on the house. He spends an enormous amount of time keeping it upright. And believe me, he puts up with an earful from ‘Little Orphan Annie’ because of it.”

We left the town behind, speeding our way through a series of curves and back loops. Alexis concentrated on the dark, winding road and I hunted the Euro dash for an ashtray. I found it, noted the empty, gleaming interior and lit up anyway. I hoped she didn’t have the same low opinion of body abuse that she had about house neglect.

The longer we remained silent, the louder my anxiety. “It didn’t seem like you or your father think much of Lauren’s worry about being followed,” I said, rolling my guilt about being with her into the one concern I was willing to contemplate.

“I can’t speak for him since he won’t talk about it. For me it’s just another family drama, “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

“Your mother isn’t an idiot, Alexis.”

“My, my, a literate gumshoe.”

I was torn between watching the road and her nearly naked legs. Legs won. “The only gumshoes I know are in paperbacks. Anyhow, ‘literate’ is too fancy to describe my taste.”

“What’s the line from that Brando movie?” Alexis asked.

“I coulda been a contendah.” Wonder why I picked that one?

“I’m thinking of the one where the woman says...”

“I’ve always relied on the kindness of strangers,” I said showing off.

“Well, with my mother, it doesn’t stop with strangers.”

“You do have a mad-on.”

“Not really. From the outside, Lauren’s life looks like a model of courage. The original brass-balled broad. Progressive politics, experimental lifestyles; a lot before any of it became fashionable.

“Unfortunately, living on the inside wasn’t nearly so wonderful. She did the experimenting and the rest of us paid the price. Lauren dragged us through one strange trip after another, no matter the cost. Now it’s this stalking bullshit.”

“So you’re not worried?”

“About someone stalking my mother?” Alexis kept her eyes on the road. “Are you taking her seriously,” she asked, shaking her head.

“Enough to check.”

“Did you discover anything?”

The only thing discovered had been me but I wasn’t gonna tell. “Not yet.”

“And you’re a professional.”

“Thanks.”

Alexis grazed my face with a sideways glance. “If you’re not careful my mother will run you in circles. I’d drop the whole ridiculous thing if I were you.” As if to soften her remarks Alexis added, “Tell you the truth Matt, I think my mother’s relationship with Lou has unsettled the family. He’s very different than anyone she’s ever spent time with and she’s very different when they’re together. It has everyone unhinged—including me.”

The speedometer climbed to eighty and I reached for the strap.

“Relax, I’m not going to kill us,” Alexis said unconvincingly. We have a long way to go.

Before I could ask where she was taking us Alexis said, “My mother lives in her own imaginary world.. On top of which, she hands my brothers built-in reasons for their personal failures. Look at Ian’s accident.”

Alexis used the same euphemism all of them used. Maybe anyone would. I didn’t know whether it was the sound of Ian rolling onto the Bimmer’s floor, but I couldn’t help asking, “Why does everyone call Ian’s suicide attempt an accident?”

Alexis gave no outward indication she was bothered by my question, though her accelerator toe tilted forward. “Because no one believes he ever intended to seriously hurt himself. He just fucked up. Hence, accident.”

“He didn’t cut himself shaving.”

“He’s had plenty of practice fucking up,” Alexis said in a chilly voice. “He should know better than to play with knives. Ian continually finds pathetic ways to beg for attention.” A less than amused grin rearranged her lush lips. “We’ve had some real doozies. My father had to fly down to Orlando to pick him up from Disney World. Seems my little brother ate enough acid to take center stage during a performance and tried to convince the tourists he was the reincarnation of Walt. It took seven security guards to remove him. Plus

Ian’s also Bruce Lee if kicking at yourself in a mirror earns a belt.”

“How’s he doing?” I asked mildly, hoping to throttle back her foot. And her.

Alexis’s mouth tucked into harsh, “Don’t know and don’t care. But if he weren’t okay, my mother would be bedside holding his hand.”

Ian was clearly not a topic to pursue if I wanted to pursue Alexis. And despite a continuing undercurrent of conscience, pursuit was exactly what I wanted. Bullshit, I wanted to catch. So she wasn’t a warm and tender mother, brother lover; I wasn’t sitting here for warm and tender.

“Well my friend, you got yourself mixed up with a real zoo.” Alexis tossed her head in a way that reminded me of Lauren, but I didn’t think it wise to point out the similarity.

Or wise to be where I was. Part of me wanted her to turn the car around, most just wanted to rid her of her hostility. So I kept silent and watched the Saab’s sloping hood chow down the onrushing white line.

Alexis hooked a sharp right and pulled onto a secondary highway. The engine noise rose, though the front seat stayed remarkably wind free. Alexis pushed a button and all four door windows rose simultaneously. The night sky was still our roof, but big bucks also bought quiet.

We rode in silence while Alexis chewed on our discussion. Literally. Her high cheekbones and jaw shifted until she finally said, “I dislike perpetual victims. You have a problem, I say fix it. Victims don’t think like that. It’s always someone else’s fault. Welfare is stuffed with victims and so is my family.”

“Stuffed?”

“Well, Dad’s different. He’s a loyal guy and had the lousy luck to fall head over heels for Lauren. But as soon as he stopped taking orders she dumped him. But look at the rest. Ian, Stephen, my mother—despite her various poses.”

I looked at Alexis instead. “Stephen just seemed dour.”

“Just dour? He must have been high.” She suddenly shook her head and grinned, her anger forgotten. “Let me guess, you were getting stoned with him when you disappeared from the party.”

I nodded, “Him and Heather Heywood.”

“Funny how things work. Lou seems so damn normal.”

“Lou is normal.”

“And you?”

“I usually don’t fit in, that’s all.”

She caught my eye and winked, “Maybe you fit in better than you think. Anyway, you’re doing okay with me.”

“It’s an unusual night.”

“I hope so,” Alexis grinned wickedly. “Could you believe Heather’s clothes and make-up? Black and white is all she ever wears.

“Portrait of a young woman as a dead artist.”

“Only she’s very much alive and talented. Her work is really very good.”

“You’re kidding? She seemed like an air-head.”

“Anything but. Heather is soft, but she’s not dumb.” Alexis glanced at me then shifted her eyes back to the empty highway. “If you hang around long enough you’re going to discover that people in this family are not always what they seem.”