CHAPTER 9

The conversation was obviously at mid point when they got out of the car. Amy did not really need to hear the rest of it though. She knew who they were talking about without even hearing his name. As Garcia came casually strolling by, he decided to include Amy in on the conversation by asking, “did Cal ever tell you what happened?”

Amy was leaning up against her car with her arms crossed. She was not in a very good mood at the moment and, even worse, she felt no serious need to hide it. She kept her answer short, “not really.”

Bob stopped at the hood of the four by four and leaned on it, “guys we have got to find out what they did to him down at the city. Seems only fair.”

Danni shook her head in disgust as she passed Johnson, “you guys are morbid. You know that right?” She then stopped and took a look at Amy and asked quite genuinely, “thought you were sick or something?”

Garcia laughed and answered for her, “more like sick of, I bet.”

Amy looked away towards the dunes and mumbled, “I got a cold.”

It did not seem as if anyone was going to leave the parking area so Garcia said what he needed to here, “dragon.” That got Amy’s attention and Garcia continued, “just keep on painting that big bulls eye on your head girl. You’ll find out what reign of fire is.”

Danni became inquisitive and not the least bit concerned, “what the hell are you talking about?” Garcia snickered, collected Bob, and they both took off for the Station’s porch where Calvin had just stepped out. That left Danni standing there wondering if, maybe, she shouldn’t follow them. Amy was obviously not in a very good mood and, there was something else. It disturbed Danni more than the thick air between them. When Danni looked in Amy’s eyes she almost felt like she was seeing someone else entirely. Where was that sometimes ditzy, usually meek, mostly bubble headed, little girl with the mop of red?

When it was clear that Amy was not going to say a thing, Danni just told her, “why don’t you just say it?”

Now Amy looked Danni in the eye and it only confirmed what Danni was thinking. There was fire behind those eyes. There was a resolution in that face. Danni almost wondered who this person was. Amy was still Amy but, why did it feel like there was so much more?

Despite this, Amy seemed to be bound and determined to avoid confrontation, “about what?”

Before Danni could answer that, and she was not so sure she even wanted too, Calvin stuck his head out from around the corner of the station and called out from the front porch. “Somebody go get Shannon will ya? She went up the beach.” When Danni waved back and indicated she would, Calvin added, “and while you’re up there. Would you tell Chuck to pick up the goddamn phone!”

Danni nodded to Amy, “come on.” At first Amy did not want too but, Danni would not move nor relent. Amy pouted but she joined Danni. They were silent as they walked out past the dunes and half way up the beach. Then Danni worked up the courage, “you’re mad at me.”

Amy drew a seriously contorted face and replied, “no I’m not. Why would I be mad at you?”

Why was it that, suddenly, Amy looked as if she were genuine. That had obviously caught her off guard and suddenly that wall dropped. Danni felt a sigh of relief as she replied, “Tony?”

The wall came right back up, “why would I care about Tony?”

“I kissed him Amy,” Danni said. She had gone three or four steps before she noticed that Amy had stopped in her tracks. Danni stopped and looked back. She was uncomfortable as she said, “a couple of times actually.”

It was clear that Amy was absorbing all of this information. That kind of surprised Danni because, up till now, she would have sworn that Amy already knew. It sure seemed like everybody else did. It left Danni squirming and wondering if this was about to turn into a shoot out on the beach. Amy was definitely in deep thought. Then she turned off the thinking, put on a smile, and went right back to walking. As she brushed past Danni she said in a cute little voice, “I wish you two the best.”

Danni had to catch back up with the girl who was already calling out for Shannon. Danni actually had to grab Amy’s arm to slow her down. Amy jerked it back violently. Danni tried to explain, “he didn’t kiss me back Amy. Ok? The guy is still hopelessly in love with you.”

“Oh right Danni,” Amy crossed her arms and went back in to pout mode, “like that’s supposed to make me feel better?”

What was that supposed to mean? Danni sadly replied, “it would me.”

Shannon came stomping out of the dunes right then and Danni was very relieved to see her. The teen stopped right between the two older girls and told them, “finished throwing punches yet? Cause if you haven’t I’m going back over there.” Finally, Amy and Danni stepped back from each other and unlocked their eyes. Shannon rolled hers and told them, “guys, we got a problem, so if you could both stop acting like you’re my age, you know, for a couple of minutes at least. After that, hey, I’d love to see some hair pulling.”

Danni snapped at the girl, “what is it Shannon!?”

The hostile tone did not seem to phase the kid one little bit. She simply pointed back towards the dunes and nodded for them to follow. Shannon led them right to Chuck’s rusty front door, that led down into his bunker. It was already wide open when they arrived and Shannon explained, “I was texting with Rusty. He had the day off and stuff, so anyway, I came down here to grab a… um something.”

Danni knew damn well what the teenager had come down here to grab. About the only thing that Chuck kept in this bunker was dirty clothes and beer. Danni did not figure that Shannon had some emergency need for a ratty muscle shirt so, that only left one possibility. Of course there was other assorted junk down here but, Danni wondered if Chuck even knew what half this crap was.

Amy gave a mild protest, “you know they’re expecting us back at the station. What’s the emergency Shannon?”

Danni wandered over to the cot where Chuck usually slept. She poked through some of the crap and had to ask, “guys, when’s the last time anybody actually saw Chuck?”

Shannon was pouting too hard to notice the question. She pointed out a funny plastic crate to Amy. Shannon also became a little confused by the look on Amy’s face. It was the look of, shock? Shannon dismissed it and went right back to angry, “that’s my phone! See it!” It was sitting on top of the crate and Shannon was none too happy about it as she explained, “I sat it over there when I was looking for… anyway, I go back too it and the damn thing is blank now. It’s ruined. I can’t even get it off the crate!”

Danni was more concerned about what she was seeing on the other side of the bunker. Actually, when she thought about it, it was more like what she was not seeing. She blew Shannon off with, “we’ll burn you another phone. It’s no big deal. I’m more worried about…”

Amy pushed Danni and that almost most started a fight. Then Danni realized that Amy was dragging Shannon along too. Amy pushed them out of the bunker, slammed the door shut, and then spun the lock into place. The red head began frantically pacing around in a frenzy. She was looking for something but, Danni could not figure out what. Finally Amy came to a stop and then answered the barrage of questions with, “that’ll have to do for now.”

Danni was still confused. She took a step back towards the door but, Amy got in her way and her mood made it clear that any more steps would result in a fight. Danni decided to back off and with a small hint of anger she asked, “what the hell? Amy? What’s gotten in to you?”

Amy was almost hyperventilating. She bit her bottom lip and then after a moment of bouncing she said, “oh god, um, I can’t believe I’m saying this. Uh, guys, we need Jake.”