Alien Abductees Anonymous held their weekly meetings at the Jewish Community Center off Briarwood in one of their meeting rooms on the second floor. As Danny and I made our way down the corridor, we passed by a room on the right full of Cub Scouts, noisily shouting and gluing feathers to pinecones, and a room on the left where I could see a woman in a blazer demonstrating CPR on a dummy for a handful of twenty-somethings. At the end of the hall, a printed paper sign was taped to a partially open door reading AAA.
I pushed in ahead of Danny, entering a room that looked like it served several different purposes throughout the week. An upright piano was tucked against one wall, along with a couple of bookcases filled with various art supplies. A long folding table had been laid out along one wall, laden with trays of cookies, snacks, and a box bearing the Starbucks logo next to a stack of paper cups. Folding chairs were set up in a circular pattern in the center of the room, though only a few were occupied at the moment. A tall guy with a green mohawk sat in one, chatting with an elderly woman in support hose. A few more people mingled near the snacks, though I could tell the meeting hadn't gotten underway yet.
"Welcome to AAA!" A man in a loud Hawaiian shirt and Birkenstocks with black socks approached us. "I'm Dave."
I looked down to give him a smile. Way down. The guy had to be under four feet tall. His dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck…that is, where a neck should be. His chin seemed to blend seamlessly right into his chest. "Hi. Jamie," I told him. "And this is my friend Danny."
Danny raised one hand in greeting. "Hey."
"Nice to meet you both," Dave said, grinning. "I don't recall seeing you here before. Is this your first time?"
I nodded. "Uh, yeah. We're new."
"Well, we have lots of literature for you to take a look at," Dave said, gesturing to a small wooden table by the door that was covered with a smattering of pamphlets. Aliens of the Past. Your Abductees Rights. Surviving Extraterrestrial Intervention PTSD.
"I usually suggest newbies start with this," Dave said, handing me a glossy brochure with a picture of a saucer shaped UFO on the front.
I glanced down at the title. So you've been abducted. Now what?
I bit my lip, thinking it would be rude to laugh. "Uh, thanks."
"What's this?" Danny asked, pointing to a stack of paperback books at the back of the table. He picked one up, turning the cover so I could see it.
A half-naked man was wrapped in the embrace of a green, scaly looking creature with huge, exposed breasts beneath the title: My Lover from the Stars.
That laugh bubbled up in my throat again as Danny waggled his eyebrows at me.
"That's my latest novel," Dave said, pride unmistakable in his voice.
Danny turned the book over, and sure enough, there was Dave's bright smile on the back.
"It's a slightly fictionalized account of my erotic encounter with a Reptilian."
"Slightly fictionalized," I repeated as Danny thumbed through the pages.
"It's in its third printing. Sold almost a million copies in digital."
I blinked, my eyes going from him to the naked lizard girl on the cover. "A million copies?"
Dave smiled and nodded. "Amazing how many people can relate to my experience."
"Yeah, it looks super relatable," I mumbled, thinking I was totally in the wrong business.
"So, what kind was yours?" Dave asked.
"Mine?" I asked.
"Your ET," Dave said. "The one who abducted you?"
"Oh, uh, it was…short. With a big nose. And…hairy?" I said, suddenly wondering if maybe I should have done a little research before coming here.
Dave's eyes narrowed. "Hairy?"
"Uh, maybe it was fur," I said, trying to cover. "But, I-I didn't really get a good look at him."
"Him?" Dave said, eyebrows going into his hair line. "Well, that is quite unusual. The short, hairy ones are almost always female."
"Well, I assumed it was male. I-I don't know."
"It was all so harrowing that she's blocked a lot of the details out," Danny jumped in. "She's still working through it."
"Ah." Dave nodded, giving me a sympathetic smile. "I understand. Start with that." He gestured to the glossy pamphlet in my hands. "A lot of us have repressed memories. You're not alone."
"Thanks," I mumbled, grabbing Danny by the arm and steering him away from the info table.
"You're welcome," Danny said.
"Welcome?"
"For the save." He shook his head at me. "You were describing Alf, weren't you?"
I shrugged. "E.T. seemed too obvious."
Danny laughed. "Hey, the book looked like interesting reading at least."
"Please don't tell me you're into lizard girls," I mumbled back, my eyes searching the rest of the room's occupants. While we'd talked to David, a few more people had trickled in, mostly converging on the snack table.
"I don't know," Danny joked. "Who knows what a lizard girl could do with a quick tongue like that—"
"There she is!" I said, cutting him off before his imagination wandered into too-graphic territory. "Jenna James."
I nodded toward a blonde standing near a tray of cookies in the shape of little green men. She was petite, at least six inches shorter than my own 5'9", and slim through the waist and hips, which were shown off in a tight white skirt with a hem several inches shy of her knees. Tanned, toned legs ended in stiletto heels in a leopard print that perfectly matched her top, straining to hold in a pair of breasts that were much farther down the alphabet than my own. Her hair was a pale bleached platinum, her skin a tanning salon gold, and her eyes big and bright blue, giving her a look of childlike innocence that I had a hunch was a complete illusion.
She was chatting animatedly with a guy in a pair of corduroy pants and a comb-over holding a paper coffee cup in his hands. She seemed completely oblivious to the attention he was giving her cleavage.
"Go work your magic," I prompted.
"On it." Danny gave me a wink, and I waited until he was getting a paper cup of coffee next to the chatting pair before I edged around the other side of the table, pretending to be interested in the finger sandwiches in the shape of pyramids instead of the conversation.
"…so that's when I knew it was in the Orion constellation," the guy in the corduroy pants said to Jenna. "I mean, clearly the three mounds were a representation of the belt, pointing to their home planet like a map."
Jenna nodded, her hair not moving an inch. "So amazing. You think they were here as teachers or researchers?"
I watched Danny step closer to the pair.
"Well, if I had to guess, I think they were here to study us. We are a fascinating species to the ET of the outer belt systems, and—" The guy broke off abruptly as Danny bumped into him, spilling coffee on his cords.
"Oh, wow, I'm so sorry," Danny said, making a show of looking around for napkins.
Jenna grabbed a handful from the table and quickly shoved them at Cords.
"I'm so clumsy. I didn't see you there," Danny continued.
"It's fine," the guy said, frowning in a way that said the interruption was really anything but fine.
"I think I saw a restroom on the way in," Danny offered.
"Uh, yes." Cords' frown deepened. "I'll, uh, just go clean up."
"Sorry, again," Danny said as he and Jenna watched Cords walk away.
As soon as the guy's back was turned, Danny wasted no time.
"Hey, I'm Danny, by the way."
"Hi. Jenna." She gave him a friendly smile. "You new here?"
He nodded. "My first meeting. I'll admit, I'm a little nervous." He flashed her a grin that was all boyish charm.
I turned my back to them, trying to look like I wasn't listening in.
"There's no need to be nervous at all," Jenna assured him, putting a hand on his arm. "We're all survivors of the same thing here. I mean, sure our stories are different, but we all made it home, right?"
"Right," Danny said, though I could tell his grin was holding back a snicker.
"So, was it a Grey?"
"Excuse me?" Danny asked.
"Were you taken by a Grey?" She munched on a cookie, biting off the alien's bulbous head. "With guys, it's usually the Greys. Martin, over there"—she gestured to the guy with the green Mohawk—"he has a theory that the Greys are a predominantly female race."
"Really?" Danny asked, leaning in closer. "You know, I'd love to hear more about your experience, maybe over drinks—"
But before Jenna could reply, a loud voice boomed across the room. "Okay, everyone, let's take our seats and get started," David called out, waving people to the circular ring of chairs.
Jenna gave Danny a smile, then took a seat in a white folding chair near the windows. Danny quickly deposited himself on the one next to hers, and I noticed Cords return from the restroom to take the chair on her other side, giving Danny a dirty look.
I slipped between Mohawk and a quiet woman in mom jeans clutching a purse on her lap.
"I'd like to get started by welcoming those of you who are new to the group." David gestured first toward Danny then to me. "I hope we can help enlighten you about your personal ordeals and provide some comfort in our shared experiences."
Jenna gave Danny a wide smile and patted his hand.
Physical contact. This was an encouraging sign.
Danny scooted his chair just a little closer to Jenna's.
"I'll be happy to start us off tonight," David said, standing and addressing the group. "Hi, I'm David, and I'm an alien abductee."
"Hi, David," the group said in a synchronized monotone.
"I was first abducted seven years ago," David went on, "and it's been a recurring phenomenon in my life, leading to many encounters with otherworldly beings." He sat in his chair and folded his hands in his lap. "Would anyone here like to tell their story tonight?" His eyes went around the circle, pausing when they met mine.
I shook my head.
David cocked an eyebrow at me.
I shook harder.
"I'll go," Jenna said, saving me. She rose from her seat awkwardly, in a shimmy designed to keep her short skirt from riding up to reveal the color of her panties. "Hi, I'm Jenna."
"Hi, Jenna," we all said.
"I was first taken when I was a little girl, but my encounters with the otherworldly really picked up when I got married."
I pictured her husband. I could only imagine.
Danny put a comforting hand on her leg as she sat down, and I noticed Jenna did not brush it away.
Okay, hardly a smoking gun to infidelity, but it was a start.
* * *
Unfortunately, as the evening dragged on, with stories from Cords about his encounters in the Orion constellation and Mom Jeans with how she suspected her daughter's karate instructor was a Reptilian in disguise, our good start fizzled before it ever went anywhere. By the time the meeting ended and abductees dispersed to finish off the alien cookies and coffee dregs, Danny didn't seem to be any closer to winning Jenna's affections.
"Your story was so interesting," Danny said as Jenna shimmied out of her seat again, hoisting a designer handbag onto her shoulder to leave. "I'd love to hear more about your experiences."
Jenna gave him a smile. "I'm always happy to share if it helps out a fellow abductee come to terms with his journey."
"Maybe we could go grab a drink?" Danny offered.
She frowned. "Sorry, I've actually got plans tonight."
"Oh?" I could see Danny's eyes cut to mine over her head. "I'm sorry to hear that. I was really hoping to connect with someone like you who really gets what I'm going through."
Jenna melted under his crooked grin, like I'd seen so many women do before. "You're so sweet. I see why the Greys were drawn to you."
Danny's smile faltered as I could see him trying to make out if that was a compliment or not. "So, what do you say? Rain check on the drinks? Maybe tomorrow night?"
"Jen?" Cords hailed Jenna from the door. "Walk you to your car?"
Jenna nodded. "So nice to meet you," she told Danny, quickly moving past him and toward the exit.
"No luck, Casanova?" I asked, coming up beside him as we watched the wife leave.
He frowned, shaking his head. "I thought I was close, but no."
"Maybe you're losing your touch, Flynn."
"Ouch." He put a hand over his heart in mock pain. "Or maybe I'm just not her type."
"You think Cords is?" I asked, inclining my head toward the door he'd just exited.
Danny shrugged. "I don't know, but she said she had plans tonight. I'm guessing they're not with her husband."
"Or a little green man?" I joked.
Danny laughed. "I don't suppose her being made love to by an existential being will hold up in divorce court."
I shook my head, grabbing him by the arm as I headed for the door. "Let's see what the wife's plans are this evening."
* * *
We followed Jenna's mint green Jaguar out of the parking lot of the JCC and onto the main road, keeping a car length behind her. While it was dark out, streetlights, brightly lit storefronts, and billboards illuminated the road almost as if it were daytime. Danny fiddled with my radio, settling on some jazz station, as I merged into the left lane, staying close enough to Jenna that a red light wouldn't derail us.
"I'm sorry, I don't get jazz," I said as he leaned back in the seat.
"It's music. What's not to get?"
"All that skiddly this and skattily that. And there's no melody. It's just all over the place."
Danny laughed. "That's the beauty of jazz. You never know where it's going to go."
"My life is enough chaos. I don't need it in my music." I watched Jenna make a right at the next light and signaled to do the same.
"So, what's your music then, Bond?"
"Something I can sing along to." I made a right just in time to see Jenna turning again at the next intersection.
"Don't tell me you're the Harry Styles type?" Danny joked.
"Hey, Harry is adorable! There's nothing wrong with Harry." I hung a left at the intersection, following Jenna's lead. "But no, I'm more into the classics."
"Bach? Beethoven?"
"I was thinking more like McCartney and Dylan, but yeah, those guys are good too." I saw the Jaguar turn onto a side street. "Did you ever listen to the Deadly Devils?" I asked Danny.
He nodded. "If I recall, they wore a lot of leather and used a lot of innuendoes in their lyrics. Why?"
"I'm trying to figure what Jenna would see in Drake."
"I'm guessing a fat bank account."
I shot him a glance. "So, maybe that's Jenna's type."
"Dang. I'm outta luck, then."
My phone pinged with a text alert from my purse, and I dug around by feel for it as I followed Jenna's taillights. A quick glance at the readout showed Aiden's name. I swiped it on, eyes pinging between the road and the screen.
Free for dinner?
"No texting and driving, Bond," Danny said, reaching over to grab the phone from my hand before I could stop him.
"Hey, that's private," I protested.
He raised his eyebrows at me. "That sounds exciting." He looked at the screen.
And all the humor in his demeanor faded.
"So, we're still seeing that guy, huh?" He handed the phone back to me.
I shoved it into my purse. "It's complicated," I hedged.
Danny nodded but turned his head so I couldn't see his expression. "Love always is."
His use of the L word made me uncomfortable enough that I shifted in my seat. "I think Jenna's heading home," I said, glad for the distraction as I followed her to the left again and recognized the street name from the address her husband had given me earlier that day.
"She said she had plans," Danny said. "You think she's having someone come over?"
"Either that or she was just blowing you off." I watched as she pulled off the road, onto a short driveway filled with stone pavers leading through the trees. I hesitated a moment, letting her headlights cut a swath through the darkness ahead of us before slowly going past the driveway and making a U-turn to come to a stop across the street where there was a break in the tree line. Through it, I could see Jenna park her Jag outside a large, two-story colonial revival style home, complete with white columns and gawdy statues guarding the door. Lots of uplights highlighted the artful landscaping as well as provided enough illumination to clearly see the blonde make her way to the front door, pull a key from her purse, and go inside the house.
A series of lights turned on, first in the front rooms then slowly trailing up to the second floor as Jenna made her way through the house. I could see a faint silhouette moving against the large window at the front right, which seemed to be where Jenna settled.
"Maybe she's changing to hit the town?" Danny said.
"Maybe." I glanced over at him. "Or maybe—"
"I know, I know. She blew me off."
"I was going to say she's waiting for her ET lover to show up, but that's a possibility too." I leaned over and changed the radio to a station playing oldies. Danny shot me a look but didn't protest.
As the two of us sat in silence, watching Jenna's window, I itched to text Aiden back. But as much as I hated leaving him hanging, it felt mean to do it in front of Danny. While I had no idea if Danny's flirtatious nature with me was old habit, a rekindling of feelings, or just his way of teasing me, the jealousy in his voice had been unmistakable. Part of me loved it. Part of me hated it. All of me didn't know what to do with it. So, I sat in silence, trying to ignore my phone as Elvis sang about his blues and Sinatra crooned for me.
Finally, after about twenty minutes, we watched the lights go out in Jenna's room. No one left the house. No one arrived.
"I think she's gone to bed," I told Danny, stating the obvious.
He shook his head. "Maybe I really am losing my touch."
"Or maybe the wife is faithful," I said, not liking that idea at all. I tried to put thoughts of how unhappy my client would be in the morning out of my head as I turned on my car and pulled away from the curb.
* * *
"Give me some good news," I said, pushing through the glass doors of the Bond Agency the following morning. I noticed Caleigh had beaten me there, already sitting on the sofa in reception with coffee in hand.
Maya popped up from her desk, dressed today in a pair of white capri pants, suede ankle boots, and a loose green blouse that brought out her eyes. "First up, you have a meeting with Drake Deadly. At nine."
I blew out a breath. A meeting at which we had nothing to share with our client other than his wife liked to shop. "I said good news," I mumbled, glancing at the wall clock. Eight fifty. Precious little time to stall.
Maya shrugged. "Well, Caleigh got coffee?" She held a paper cup out my way.
"Thank you." I took a grateful sip, loving that the girls knew just how I liked my coffee. Strong and loaded with flavored syrup and whipped cream. "Anything from Sam this morning?" I asked hopefully.
Maya shook her head. "Not really. She's been at Jenna's place since dawn, but she said the only activity was the housekeeper arriving."
"Well, it's only been a day," I reasoned. "Drake can't expect miracles." At least I hoped not. "Have her stay on Jenna this morning, and maybe we'll get lucky."
Maya nodded. "Will do."
I turned to Caleigh. "Wanna update me on Gammy Manchester's case before Drake gets here?" I asked.
She nodded, rising from the sofa and following me the few paces to my office. "I ran a background check on the boyfriend," she started, sitting in one of the club chairs in front of my desk as I sank into the office chair behind it. "He's pretty clean."
"Pretty clean?" I asked, jumping on the word.
Caleigh shrugged. "A couple speeding tickets, and a bankruptcy a few years ago."
"I like the sound of that. So he needs money?"
"Maybe," Caleigh hedged. "The bankruptcy was in 2017, so he's had a little time to recover. Looks like he went to work for a real estate developer after that, and now he's got a condo in Manhattan Beach and drives a late-model BMW."
I sipped from my cup. "Okay, so not destitute."
Caleigh shook her head. "But not living life in the Manchester style."
"Go on," I said, glancing at the clock. Drake was due any minute. "Any leads on the blonde he was seen with?"
"Not yet. I did visit the retirement village and talk to a few people in the commons and at the clubhouse. I told everyone I was Mary's granddaughter."
"Who's Mary?" I asked.
Caleigh shrugged. "Doesn't every retirement village have a Mary?"
I chuckled. "Okay, so anyone feel chatty with Mary's granddaughter?"
"They were all chatty. I heard about Barb's surgery, Bill's good-for-nothing son-in-law, and the orderly who Sally thinks is stealing from her." She paused. "But no one seemed to know a blonde in animal prints who might be friends with Alejandro."
"But they did know Alejandro?"
She nodded. "By all accounts, he and Gammy are joined at the hip. Janet, who lives in the Tulip block, told me he even took her to dinner last weekend at the country club."
"Sounds nice."
"She also said Gammy paid." Caleigh shot me a knowing look.
"Sounds like what Kendall was describing." I tapped my pen against my desktop. "Still. Being a cheapskate is one thing. Gold digging cheater is another."
"I can see if I can look into his finances more," Caleigh offered. "Maybe see if he's in debt or in need of quick cash."
I nodded. "Do that. And see if you can find out anything about his past relationships too."
"Like who he dated prior to Gammy Manchester?"
"Right. Is there a pattern of dating wealthy women and profiting from it, or is it just his luck Gammy's the generous type?"
Caleigh shook her head as she rose from the chair. "Janet told me about the diamond tie pin Gammy bought him. That's really good luck."
I had to agree with her there. "See what you can find and keep me posted."
"On it," she promised, heading back out to reception.
I glanced at the clock again. Nine ten. I peeked out the open office door, but Maya and Caleigh were the only ones in the lobby. No sign of Drake. Then again, rock stars weren't usually known for their punctuality.
I sipped my coffee, getting as much caffeine fortification as possible before my client showed up. I booted up my computer and checked my emails. Mostly advertisements. No new clients. Nothing that needed my immediate attention. There was one forwarded cat meme from my father's girlfriend, Elaine, but other than that, things were conspicuously quiet.
I sighed, finishing my coffee as I held on to my hope that the warm weather would bring out the naughty side in spouses again. If everyone kept wearing their masks and staying faithfully cooped up together, I'd be out of a job.
I tossed my cup into the trash and checked the time again. Nine twenty. Drake was now officially late. While I hadn't been necessarily looking forward to telling him we had nothing for him, I was starting to wonder if I was being stood up. I was just about to call him, when I heard Maya's voice from reception.
"Jamie! I think you need to see this!"
I got up from my desk and went to the open door to find Maya and Caleigh both staring down at something playing on Maya's computer screen. Whatever they were watching had them totally engrossed, wearing matching looks of concern as they frowned at the screen.
"What is it?" I asked, a small niggle of dread taking hold in my belly as I crossed the room.
"I don't think your nine o'clock is going to show up," Maya said quietly, eyes still on her screen.
I came up behind her and glanced down to find a live news clip playing on her browser. It was a local channel, and a perky redheaded reporter was talking into a microphone, a scene playing out behind her with flashing police lights and lots of guys in LAPD blue.
Maya leaned in and turned up the volume.
"…scene at the Beverly Hotel this morning where a tragedy has struck," the reporter said.
I felt that dread kick up a notch as the scene switched to another view. This one was of the entrance of the posh hotel in Beverly Hills, where police were wheeling a gurney covered in a black tarp out the front doors.
"This morning, the body of nineties rock legend Drake Deadly was found in the hotel's swimming pool, the star having apparently drowned sometime during the night."
I sucked in a breath.
My client was dead.