Trying to figure out where Jill might be he slowly drove down the road through the quickly gathering darkness hoping his headlight would spot Jill walking back to her house. Unfortunately he reached the end of the road and had seen nothing. Since he had no idea of where to look for her he decided he would do the next best thing. Grandma said Maria had come looking for her earlier. He might not know where Jill was but he knew where Maria was. If he couldn’t find the one he would ask the other. Hopefully she knew where Jill could be found.
12
Jim drove through town until he came to the second of the new restaurants that Maria had said she worked at. Driving through town was slightly spooky this time of night. It seemed like it something dead. Nothing was moving. There were no people about on last minute errands or even eating at the restaurants. It was as if the town was afraid to be out after dark. Jim could certainly understand that feeling. If it weren’t for Jill he probably wouldn’t be out either.
When he turned into the dimly lit parking lot outside the place his lights quickly picked out Maria’s form leaning against the rear of the building. At first look it seemed as if she’d been expecting someone. But that couldn’t be right. She must’ve just been taking a break. His mind was making him see things that just weren’t there.
He thought he saw her smile as the lights pinned her in place but wasn’t sure. He slowly got out of the car but left it running as she held her hand up to block the beams shining in her eyes. When he’d first seen her everything had appeared normal, at least as normal as someone dressed in a restaurant outfit could look, but as he approached he noticed something wasn’t quite right. Her hair which was had been perfect every other time he’d seen her now looked as if a small tornado had passed through it. Usually she was one of those types that had to have everything just right and in place before she’d venture out into the world for all to see but now her hair was hanging down in her face like an old mop and what he could see of her face was flushed and pink like cotton candy. Maybe she had found Jill and things hadn’t turned out the way she wanted. Jill was nowhere to be seen so he reached into the car and turned off the lights.
As he walked up she tried fluffing her hair into some semblance of its normal look but quickly gave up when she realized it was doing no good. Jim saw a flash of red on her knuckles as she did and immediately suspected something bad had happened to her. Looking around the parking lot he saw nobody in any obvious places lurking about but he wasn’t sure about the shadows. They were dark and uninviting and seemed to be watching him. Any manner of creature could be hiding there. Even a creature like the Goatman. Pete’s words were getting to him. Not wanting to pursue that thought he turned his attention back to Maria.
“The manager was getting a little too touchy feely,” she said before he could even ask anything. “He didn’t seem to understand that when a girl says no she means no.”
Jim was instantly relieved. Not because she had been attacked but because it was by something human. When he’d seen nobody upon arriving he’d thought for a moment that maybe she had found Jill and they’d had some type of altercation and that maybe Jill, had come out on the wrong side of things. Quickly looking around again he saw no sign of Jill but that still didn’t mean they hadn’t met. He was still suspicious but since there was no sign of anything else he had no choice but to accept her explanation.
“Oh, I thought maybe something else might’ve happened,” he said.
“Now what else would you think could happen?” she teased. For someone who’d just been attacked she was in a good mood. Maybe she was into that type of thing. He’d seen and heard of some weird things since he’d left town. Maybe they were catching up to the normal world in ways other than just getting a few new places to eat. Then again maybe not. Her comment just reinforced Jim’s earlier thoughts about her being to strange for him to have anything to do with. If she was into stuff like that he wanted none of it.
“So did you change your mind about our date?” she asked hopefully. “Managers don’t really appreciate it when you knee them in the nuts, so I don’t think I have to worry about having a job anymore, which means I’m free to do whatever you want whenever you want.” The last part of her little request was said in such a way that Jim knew exactly what she wanted. It didn’t get his interest like she probably hoped it would. Quite the opposite in fact. Having a mental picture of what she insinuated made his skin crawl.
“No actually, I didn’t come looking for you for that reason.” He could almost see her deflate a little but that wasn’t his concern, Jill was. “I heard that you had come by looking for Jill earlier and was wondering if you’d found her or not.”
“Yeah I found her,” she answered. What had once been a voice filled with innuendo was now one filled with razors. If her words had been capable of cutting, Jim was sure he’d be dead. “Johnny told me he’d heard she was looking for me so I decided to go to her. You know, being nice and whatnot.” She smiled wickedly for a moment then continued. “Anyways, after I left the bitch’s, I mean Jill’s house I saw her walking up the road all alone. Why do you think she was alone Jimmy? Oh, I know, maybe she was coming from someone’s house or something.” Jim knew she was just trying to make him mad but he refused to take the bait. Instead he just stood there in the cold waiting for her to continue.
“Guess you don’t know either,” she continued. “Well, being the nice person I am I pulled over and asked her what she wanted. She asked me if I knew where Tommy had died. Well, needless to say I was surprised. I mean how would little old me know where something so horrible had happened. I told her this and asked her why and she said she wanted to go out and have a look at it. When I asked her why she just said she did and wouldn’t give me any kind of reason. For the life of me I can’t think why she would ask me of all people something like that. I mean I’m not the most innocent person in town but I wouldn’t have anything to do with something like that. Tommy was almost like family to me.”
Jim knew most of what she said was an act. Tommy hadn’t even known who she was when he’d left all those years ago. Then again maybe they did know each other. They could’ve hooked up after he left and he’d be none the wiser. He doubted it though. Tommy would never be caught with someone like her, she just wasn’t his type. She was right about one thing though. It was kinda strange for Jill to be asking about the place Tommy had died, and what was it she wanted to look for out there. What did she hope to find? Some clue that the police might have missed? He had to admit it was possible after seeing the local police force in action but still, why would she want to go there alone. Unless maybe she was trying to hide something. No, he thought, that couldn’t be it. Jill was a nice girl, he was just being paranoid. Instead of giving voice to his paranoia he came up with another question.
“Did you tell her where it was?” he began. “Her Grandmother told me she went for a walk, but now I can’t find her. She also said you came by so I figured you might know where she went. I’ve found you but not her. Now you tell me she was looking for the place Tommy died which doesn’t make any sense at all but if that’s where she went then that’s where I’m going. So, do you know where she is?” He knew he was babbling, but frankly he didn’t care. It was pitch black out now. He considered going back to Grandma’s to make sure she hadn’t come back but he’d only been gone for a few minutes. Looking at Maria he was sure she wasn’t going to be any help but she surprised him.