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Shandi climbed up into the old truck, smiled at Jake, and buckled her seatbelt. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he said.
Jake looked concerned, but returned her smile. She worried that his concern had been caused by her, even though she couldn’t think of a reason why. Since the moment they shared two days earlier, there had been no other indication that their friendship might be turning into something more. She wondered whether she had imagined it.
She knew she could make the next move. She wanted to, but she hesitated. Things had moved fast, but when she distanced herself from her feelings, she couldn’t shake the thought that it had only been a few days since Jake seemed to want to be with Deirdre. Shandi needed a stronger sign from Jake.
Tuesday evening had been great. To her relief, Shandi had come home late to find Jake helping Macy with her calculus homework—she was little help in that realm. After dinner, the three of them played games together at Jake’s tiny kitchen table. It had been a nice, comfortable evening, but there had been nothing definitive to indicate that Jake had feelings for her.
Shandi focused in on the road as they left the square and headed up the hill to the only stoplight in town.
“How’s Bernard?” she asked, breaking the silence.
Jake’s concern intensified. “He wasn’t there today. Second day in a row. Mikey says he hasn’t seen him either.”
“Weird.”
“Yeah. He’s missed his fair share of days. It’s not like our games are set in stone. But two days in a row? I think I’m going to drive out and check on him after the appointment today.” He seemed to relax just having said it out loud. Shandi realized that his anxiety came from his concern for Bernard, not from anything she’d done.
“Sounds like a plan. I’m sure he’d love the company.”
Jake nodded as he navigated his way to Arrowhead Research. Shandi wondered if apprehension clouded Jake’s mind. It would be the first time he and Deirdre had spent time together since their date. Non-date? Whatever it is they had shared, she thought it best not to bring it up.
The conversation fell into silence as Shandi watched the town scroll by. As they passed one house, Shandi noticed a man outside his window with a hammer, affixing boards to the frame. Shandi knew from experience that the reinforcements would hardly provide any protection, but she could understand the desire for safety. Was boarding up windows really any different than planning an infiltration of Arrowhead Research? Just a different way to deal with the reality of a monster rampaging through town.
“How’s work so far?” Jake asked.
“Good, I guess. This town has a strange memory. They remember Starla Batson’s top coming off at the tenth-grade pool party with vivid clarity, but the beast disappears for a few days, and they’re over it.”
Jake grinned. “I remember that party. Best day ever.”
Shandi punched him on the arm, harder than she meant to. He immediately grabbed his bicep and feigned pain.
“Ouch! What? I love swimming.”
Shandi shook her head.
“Heard anything from Skylar Brooks?” Jake asked.
“Nah, nothing. Not from the hive mind either. They’re still in town, though, so Cam didn’t run ’em off like I’d hoped.”
Jake nodded as he came to a stop at the red light. Once it turned green, it would just be highway until they got to Arrowhead Research.
While they waited for the light to change, Jake glanced over at her, really looking at her for the first time since she had gotten in the truck. “You look nice.”
Knowing she would soon have to convince some reluctant people to give up information, Shandi had put a little extra effort into her appearance. Her hair was bunched up into a ponytail like normal, but she wore dark eye makeup and a bold shade of lipstick. The jeans she’d wriggled into were a touch uncomfortable, but they accentuated her curves in a flattering way.
She smiled flirtatiously. “Why, thank you. Rule number one of being a super sleuth. Always look good.”
“Aww. And here I thought you got dolled up just for me.”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Jake Rollins.”
He laughed his easy, casual laugh, as if the joke didn’t consume him as much as it just comfortably sat with his soul. She enjoyed partaking in his quiet confidence.
“Any word on the door repairs?”
Shandi panicked as she considered whether he meant to kick her out. Did he not like having her at his place? Or maybe he only wanted to keep the conversation moving. She supposed it must have been annoying to have two women taking up half of his house.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “They should finish today. Fun fact: Your door being shattered by a giant monster-man is considered an act of God by insurance companies.”
He laughed again. “I did not know that. I’m surprised they knew that.”
“Yeah. Insurance companies have contingency plans for everything, apparently.”
The conversation went silent. He didn’t ask when she would be moving out. She took that as a good sign, but felt obligated to offer up the information anyway.
“So, yeah. Macy and I will be out of your hair tonight. Finally, you’ll get some peace and quiet again.”
He didn’t answer right away. Shandi studied his face, looking for some evidence of how he felt about her leaving. Eventually, he replied, “I don’t really miss the peace and quiet as much as I thought I would. It might be hard to adjust back.”
Shandi smiled to no one in particular as she answered, “Well, given that I have a grown-up’s kitchen, maybe we’ll have you over for dinner sometime.”
“Ouch! You didn’t like my toaster oven garlic bread and Velveeta Shells & Cheese?”
She took a fake solemn expression. “Oh no. It was wonderful. A gourmet experience. Just seems like I should return the favor.”
Jake nodded, his voice imperceptibly softer when he answered. “Yeah. I’d like that.”
He turned the corner and pulled up to the guard gate at the perimeter of the Arrowhead campus. Given that the truck didn’t have a working air conditioner, the windows were already rolled down. Shandi braced herself to provide a reasonable excuse as to why she accompanied Jake. She had considered a few possibilities in advance just in case the guard interrogated her.
The guard stepped out of his shack and walked up to the driver’s side window. He looked at Jake, then at Shandi. She flashed him her best smile before he turned back to Jake.
“Hey, Jake,” said the guard. “Here for a checkup with Dr. Valentine?”
“That’s right. My last one, she says.”
“No kiddin’? That’s great, man. You’ve come a long way.”
Jake nodded. “Yeah. I’m happy to be able to put all of this behind me.”
“I hear that,” the guard said. “Hey. Were you guys at the game on Friday? I about crapped my pants, man. That’s some scary shit.”
“Yeah. Pretty insane,” Jake curtly responded.
The guard took a beat, letting the silence hang, as if he hoped that one of them would continue the conversation. When neither Jake nor Shandi offered anything more, he tapped the window sill twice and said, “All right. Y’all be careful, now.”
“You, too,” Jake said as he pulled the truck forward. Shandi gasped for air, realizing that she had been holding her breath.
“Well, that was easy,” she said.
“I wasn’t worried. I’m a regular,” Jake said. “Besides, it’s not like this place is Fort Knox. They take visitors all the time. The only guard I’ve ever seen is there at the front gate.”
Jake pulled the truck up to the outbuilding where he had his appointments. Shandi had never seen it before. The tiny, portable building seemed like it would be too heavy to sit so comfortably atop the gray cinderblocks underneath. A few small windows dotted the corrugated metal of the outside walls, but none low enough or large enough to provide a view into the building. A set of metal rollaway stairs led up to the door. It didn’t look like a place to get adequate medical treatment.
“All right,” Jake said as he popped open his door and pointed towards the main campus. “Main campus is about half a mile that way. I have no idea what’s what up there.”
Shandi studied the campus from afar. Strangely, no previous story had ever sent her to Arrowhead Research. The times she’d needed to talk to them, they had always sent someone into town to meet her.
Buildings snaked throughout the campus, most of them one-story, all of them seemingly built on a whim. She had been there as a kid many times, but she couldn’t quite remember where they had gone on the field trips. She had a vague notion that there had been ample signage describing each building. That would have to be enough.
“Don’t worry about me, chief. I can take care of myself,” she said, as he slid out of the truck. She unbuckled her seatbelt and scooted herself into the driver’s seat.
Jake shut the door and put his hands on the window sill, looking up towards Shandi. “Oh, I’m not worried. Not for you. Maybe for them. Someone is going to get in so much trouble after you’re done with them.”
She smiled. “Damn right. Your appointment is thirty minutes?”
“Thereabouts, yeah. I can text you when I’m done.”
“Okay. Sounds good.”
Shandi looked down at the steering column. She had ridden in this truck dozens—if not hundreds—of times, but this would be the first time she had driven it. She quickly figured out how to put it in reverse and did so, her foot still on the brake.
“Good luck,” Jake said.
She tried not to think about the fact that Deirdre waited for him in that building. She tried to focus on the fact that Deirdre and Jake shared only a doctor-patient relationship. She couldn’t be concerning herself with her insecurities, anyway. She had important things to do. She needed all her wits to get to the bottom of the beast mystery.
Without thinking, she put one of her hands over Jake’s.
“Thanks,” she said. “You too.”
