"Good morning to you too," Kenzie laughed, trying to make light of the situation despite Jillian's not telling her the full story about the previous night's encounter with Drake.
"Hey," Jillian laughed heartily. "Sorry, I thought you were asleep."
"Yeah, I just got up. I was going to take a shower actually."
"Go ahead, I just finished mine. I'll work on breakfast while you're in there."
"Sounds good."
"Do pancakes sound okay today?"
"That'll work. I haven't had pancakes in a while."
"Okay, I'll get started."
"Okay, I'll be out pretty soon."
Kenzie disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Jillian's behavior was starting to really get on her nerves. Something was clearly going on with her and Drake, and she acted like everything was perfect.
After turning on the water and stepping into the warm spray, Kenzie continued to ponder Jillian's actions. She didn't know Drake, but she got a bad vibe from him. Maybe he was stalking Jillian, and she was too afraid to report it. Stalkers did behave in such a manner, and a lot of stalking victims didn't report it because they were afraid of what would happen if they did. If that was the case, Jillian really needed her help.
But how could she go about it when Jillian got defensive whenever she brought it up? And even if she was a detective, she wasn't on a case, so Jillian wouldn't take kindly to her stakeouts either.
"You didn't have to wait for me," Kenzie said.
"Well, I wouldn't be a very good hostess if I didn't."
Kenzie giggled before sitting down next to Jillian and digging into her own pancakes.
"That sounds like fun. Swimming is my favorite kind of exercise."
"Great, and we can also sit in the sun and work on our tans. Or, well, just chat."
Kenzie laughed. She was naturally pale skinned, and no matter how hard she tried, she could never tan, even as a kid. She'd always burn and peel. Even fake tanning machines had no effect on her skin tone and burned her instead. But she didn't mind; being a fan of Asia, she was glad she had such fair skin, because over there, it meant beauty. She didn't mind being pale.
After they finished eating, Jillian put the dishes in the dishwasher and excused herself to her bedroom to grab her swimsuit. Kenzie went into her room and dug her swimsuit out of a suitcase. Normally she only wore one piece swimsuits, but she'd found a two-piece that covered her size 12 waist line, and she preferred it to a one piece. It sure made using the bathroom easier!
Once they were ready, Jillian and Kenzie headed back to Old Pier Beach. Several people were already gathered there, some surfing, some lounging, and some eating. School was out for the summer so some children were even running about. Some were with their families enjoying picnics while some were enjoying the prize booths and playground.
It truly was a beautiful day. One could swim, tan, play games, read, or do whatever they wanted on a day like this.
Kenzie and Jillian went into one of the changing rooms and put their swimsuits on before running out into the water. It was the perfect temperature, very warm but cool enough to keep them from boiling under the hot sun, and also cool enough to make it feel very soothing against the hot temperature. Kenzie had made sure to put on lots of sun block before diving in.
The two splashed each other, had swimming races and breath holding contests, and would occasionally just stop and chat while treading water. When their muscles began to get tired, they went back to the beach, the warm sand sinking between their toes and sticking to their wet skin. Kenzie wrapped a sarong around her waist, and the two put their sunglasses on before sitting and relaxing in two lounge chairs.
"I know, summer is the best part of living here," Jillian agreed.
Kenzie listened to the sound of the waves crashing against the shore and was reminded of the day Jillian had announced she'd be leaving Riverview for Sunset Valley. It was a week after their college graduation, and Jillian had come here for spring break and was reminded of how captivating it was. She'd even invited Kenzie to come with her, but Kenzie had declined. Riverview was her home.
But now she found herself wondering what would have happened if she had gone with her best friend and lived here. They'd be roommates again, both living out their dreams, and every day could be like this. Just like old times.
Kenzie sometimes longed for the past. As a child, her biggest concern was getting the latest toy. As a teenager, it was getting the best grades. In college, it was still about getting the best grades, though a lot of her time was also all about the guy she'd wrongly thought was so perfect.
Now, things were different. Those who had it all in high school would most likely have a brutal reality check. Kenzie had accomplished her goal and was living out her dream, but there were still simpler times that she longed for.
Like how Jillian would always tell her what was going on, unlike now, and how she was keeping everything with Drake a secret. In the old days, Jillian would tell her everything without a second thought. Now, it was like she was afraid to, and didn't trust her best friend. In a way, it really hurt.
Just then, Jillian's cell phone rang.
"Ugh, hold on," she said as she stood up to answer it.
"Hello?" she said into the phone in a singsong voice.
Kenzie gritted her teeth. That better not be Drake.
Jillian hung up her cell phone and turned to face Kenzie.
"Sorry about this, but that was my boss. I have a client who needs something remodeled. We'll have to cut this day short, I'm afraid."
Kenzie stood up. "That's okay, if I stay out here much longer I'll probably get burnt anyway."
The two friends gathered up their things, changed back into their regular clothes, and headed back to Jillian's house. Jillian put her things away and before leaving, said to Kenzie, "I'm not sure how long this will take, but please, make yourself at home. Feel free to eat something if you get hungry, and there are plenty of books on the shelf. Or you can listen to music in my room, since yours doesn't have a CD player, and you've got your laptop. Or you can even kick it in the hot tub."
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Thanks. Take your time, do a good job!"
"I will. See you later!"
"Bye!"
Jillian disappeared out the door, and as Kenzie watched through the glass, she saw Jillian pull away in her car.
Kenzie sighed. Still no word about Drake, and now she had the afternoon to herself. What was she going to do?
Normally she'd read or chat online, but she didn't have her books with her, and Jillian didn't have as good of a selection, and it was usually Jillian she was chatting to when online.
She was tempted to get into the hot tub, but she didn't want to use it without Jillian there. Plus, she'd never used one of those things before, so she was liable to break it.
Then she got an idea, and was excited about it in a way only a computer whiz could be. She could look up information on Drake and see if she could find anything on him and why Jillian was acting so strange.
Unfortunately, she didn't know his last name, so she only had his first name and physical appearance (what little she saw of it) to go on. But it was something.
So Kenzie went into her bedroom and fired up her laptop. Being a detective, she had access to police criminal archives. She didn't know that Drake was a criminal, but her gut instincts hadn't failed her yet.
Pulling up the archives, Kenzie typed Drake's name and description into the search engine. By description, all she could go on were the tattoos and their locations, plus a pierced ear and red hair. He'd been too far away both times for her to see what kind of tattoos he had exactly.
There were several hits on criminals named Drake with multiple body tattoos, a pierced ear, and red hair, so Kenzie scrolled through the hits to see if she could find someone closer resembling the Drake she knew. Unfortunately, she came up empty-handed.
"Maybe I'm just looking too much into this," she thought as she closed her laptop. "Maybe he really is just a psycho ex wanting to get his girlfriend back."
Still, her gut once again told her otherwise. And if that was all he wanted, why wouldn't Jillian mention their confrontation at the beach to her? It's not like she didn't know about Drake; she'd seen him the previous day at the consignment store and the way he'd behaved then.
Frustrated and confused, Kenzie stood up and paced the house. She looked outside and caught a glimpse of the mailman leaving. Jillian had said to make herself at home, so she might as well bring in the mail.
So Kenzie went outside toward the mail box. She opened it and peered inside. There were a few letters, most likely bills, but there was also a small package.
Kenzie reached into the mail box and withdrew all the mail. She then carried it all inside and deposited it on the kitchen island.
Kenzie looked closer at the package and saw that it did have a book club sticker on it, but there was no return address.
"That's weird," she said aloud, as was her custom, "how can anything be mailed with no return address? And all book club packages have return addresses on them."
It was wrong. It was an offense. It was intrusive. It was invasive. It was illegal. And yet, it was a detective's job. Plus, Kenzie had told herself she'd find out what was going on, even if it meant going behind Jillian's back.
She opened the package.
She didn't know what she expected to find inside, but nothing could have prepared her for what she actually did see.
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