Lemons 02 A Touch of Danger by Grant Fieldgrove Read Free Book Online Page B

her car, and then ran off to go retrieve it. With the flashlight in hand, we were ready to go. I grabbed Elise by the hand, told Jamie thank you and we were on our way down the hill.
    When we got to the cliff, Elise’s worries became fully understandable to me. We had no goddamn way of getting down the rocks on to the beach. At least not without climbing down some steps way down the way, then swimming over. Now I was sure it was a residence of one of the big three houses that was down there this morning.
    I had no other options, so I decided that Elise would have to make the climb down the rocks. I broke the news to her.
    “What?! There is no way in Hello Operator Give Me Number Nine that I climbing down these wet rocks. You see those sharp, jagged rocks down below? That is where I die if I have the slightest slip. Not going to happen. You do it.”
    “No way, those rocks are all dirty and shit. And you’ve seen my delicate hands. Not happening.”
    “Wait, let me see something,” she said, as she fished her phone out of her back pocket. “I’m checking the tides. Hold on.”
    I held. Remember that movie R.O.T.O.R.? It was a total Robocop rip-off with the world’s worst special effects and plot holes they almost literally fly a plane through. Man, that is great. I have that on VHS somewhere. Too bad I don’t have a VCR. Oh man, you know what else I have on VHS? Vanilla Ice’s acting masterpiece Cool As Ice. Man, that’s great. I need to look for a cheap VCR when I get back home…
    A hard punch in my arm snapped me from my thoughts. “Gahhh, what was that for?”
    “Pay attention! I was talking to you.”
    “God, sorry.”
    “This said that high tide occurred this morning at 10:12, after the murder, and again tonight at 8:28. Look how high the water is over there anyway. There is no beach. Whatever was down there has been washed clean or swept away. We’re out of luck, Archie.”
    Shit. Shit shit! Shit goddamn-it! She was right. This was a dead end. I gave my eyes a rub and tried not to get frustrated. It was a lot easier now with my medication. My stupid, wonderful medication. The same medication I tried so hard to overcome a decade and a half ago and have already fell right back in with after a mere six months. It was like an abusive relationship, tailored made for the Jerry Springer show. No matter how hard I tried to leave my abusive boy-frin, the pills, I couldn’t…“Cause I loves him, Jurry…ugh!
    “Okay, I don’t know what else we can do tonight. Let’s just go back to the rooms and start fresh in the morning. I’m thinking about calling Detective Anderson tomorrow to see if he can give me any info on Brad Jackson from old police reports or anything. I really want to talk to that housekeeper. I guess I could call Max too, over at the records department.”
    “That’s not a bad idea.”
    “I have my moments,” I tell her.
    “We can always take a road trip up to Hollywood if we need to. It’s not too, too far.”
    “I still haven’t even seen a picture of this guy yet.”
    “Who, Brad?”
    “I can’t believe you haven’t IMDB’d him yet on your phone.”
    “Me either. Geez. I’ll do it when we get back.”
    “Shall we?” She extends her arm and I hook mine around it as she leans her head on my shoulder and we start walking back up the hill at a leisurely pace.
    11.
    The next morning, the three of us decided to finally take the kids down to the beach, where they could play and I could make a few calls. We managed to get a fairly early start because I didn’t get much sleep last night. When my excitement and adrenaline were kicked in, it was hard to for me to relax.
    When we arrived in Pismo, the main street by the pier was packed with people, young and old, and I instantly remembered why my vacations usually never include large gatherings of assholes I don’t know. We parked in the lot and Elise and Jamie got the kids ready while I paid the meter. When everyone was situated, we