Aftermath

Ch 51: Among the Clutter

Kota

The moon was low. Even the streetlights seemed to be dimmer than normal. Morris was parked down the street, somewhat further than usual to avoid being stuck in the mud again. The low light would make it harder for him to see anything we were doing, even if he could see around where the Cadillac was parked in between us.

North scowled in his direction. "I hate that douchenozzle," he muttered before turning to me. "Let's figure this out and get you back inside."

I was tired of being treated as though I couldn't do anything. "It's not that cold out here. I'm not sick, just hurt."

Now his scowl was directed at me. "You're taking g*ddman antibiotics, aren't you? That means a compromised immune—oh, fuck, I'm not arguing this shit with you. I told your mother I'd make sure you went to bed, and now you're out here. Let's figure out if someone's fucking with your car."

Slowly, I opened the door, and satisfied, North dropped to his knees and inched toward the car, intent on seeing if it was leaking.

I sat down in the passenger seat. Even the dome light was low, but there was enough light for what I needed.

I thumbed through the gas log, quickly finding the latest entry. I did a few calculations on mileage and gasoline, feeling yet again as though I was thinking through a wad of cotton. Still, I arrived at the answer, then double-and-triple checked it.

So that's it. Either the car sprang a fuel leak somewhere less than two weeks after North checked it, or someone is sabotaging my car.

North was back on his feet, leaning in through the door frame. "Well?"

My spurt of ire had been forgotten now that I was face to face with the problem. "Even with going out to Victor's and the driving he did today, there should be almost a quarter of a tank left." I closed the log and put it back in the glovebox. "Did you find a leak?"

"Nothing's dripping, but I bet he didn't put enough gas in there to leak."

Or the fuel leaked out on the way here. Neither of us had to say it, as we knew that the other was already thinking it.

"I'm going to have to tow it and check it out," North said, giving me a hand as I climbed out of the car. "You know what Mr. B's going to say."

"I have a pretty good idea." Disgusted, I started to kick the back tire but thought better of it, fearing I would lose my balance in front of North.

"I'll tow it to be safe. I don't know how long I'll need it," North said. "You need anything out of it?"

I had no idea. "Maybe. It won't take me more than a few minutes to check."

"Shit, Kota," North grumbled. "Erica's going to kill me."

"Mom'll be fine. Just give me a few minutes." I opened the back door, almost doing a double-take at the clutter. Somehow Nathan and I had accumulated a lot of stuff. Considering the amount of time we spent in the car, it wasn't surprising.

North's phone sounded, and he put a finger in his other ear as he answered it. "Hello? Yes, we've just checked it out."

Based on his tone and the way he was suddenly standing up straighter, I was sure it was Owen, asking for a report. North continued to talk to him, though I felt his eyes on me as he did.

Deciding to ignore him, I tossed a couple of jackets aside, feeling a sense of déjà vu' come over me. Like the toaster mechanism, it was more of a sensation than a clear memory, and I wondered which part of the missing twenty-four hours I was possibly flashing back to. Probably not my date with Sang or whatever mysterious errand Morris had mentioned.