Read Online No Return by Brett Battles - Free Book Online Page B

doesn’t seem worried about it.”
    “He’ll pay for it in the morning.”
    “I think Regina likes you.”
    “I’m sure she’s very nice,” Wes said, “but I’m attached.”
    Dori frowned. “Kind of attached, or very attached?”
    “Very.”
    “Really? Well, that’s good news,” she said, then added, “not for Regina, of course.”
    Wes faked a smile. “I’ll see you later.”
    “Will you?”
    “Good night, Dori. It was nice meeting you.”
    She regarded him for a moment. “Bye, Wes.” She disappeared back into the crowd.
    As Wes turned for the door, something on the wall behind the bar caught his eye. He stepped closer to get a better look. It was a framed photograph of Lieutenant Lawrence Adair, the same shot that had been in the paper. There was a black ribbon around the frame and several candles burning below it.
    That’s when it dawned on Wes. The missing photos on the walls, they must have also been of Adair. Taken down out of respect.
    So where was Wes’s pilot?
    He frowned to himself, then straightened up. It had been worth a try.
    After a quick glance back at the bar, he started to turn for the door, but paused. Someone had been looking in his direction. He turned back to see who it was, and was surprised to find Lieutenant Jenks, one of the pilots from the previous evening, staring back at him. The lieutenant smiled and raised his glass, tilting it in Wes’s direction.
    With a nod of acknowledgment, Wes turned back toward the door and left.

ANNA WAS ASLEEP WHEN WES RETURNED, BUT stirred when the start-up tone rang out as he booted up his laptop.
    “What are you doing?” she asked, barely able to keep her eyelids open.
    “Go back to sleep. I just want to check something.”
    “You did understand what I said about no sex, right?”
    “Right, if you’re asleep. I promise to wake you first.”
    A pillow flew across the room, landing near his feet. “Not what I meant.”
    He put his computer on the small motel-room desk, then walked over to the bed.
    “Get away from me.” She giggled as she pulled the covers over her head.
    He started to pull them down, but she held on tight, putting up a fight.
    “I’ll scream,” she said.
    “So will I,” he said. “I’ll claim you snuck in here and surprised me. I’ll say that you’ve been stalking me, then we’ll have to get a restraining order, and that’ll just make this relationship thing all the more difficult.”
    She struggled with him some more, but he was able to inch the blanket down below her chin. He leaned in and kissed her. Her lips remained pressed tightly together for several moments, then they began to soften and part.
    Finally she whispered, “You never told me what your mother said when you told her.”
    Wes kissed her again. “She said no woman is good enough for her son.” Another kiss. “Of course, I told her that you were already aware of your inadequacies.”
    “Oh, really.” She kissed him deeply. “Maybe you can detail them for me.”
    “Happy to.” He smiled. “Just give me a few minutes to check something.”
    “Ugh,” she said, pushing him off. “You really know how to kill the mood.”
    “Not kill it,” he said, standing up. “Just put it on ice for a few minutes.”
    “And that’s supposed to make me feel better?”
    “It’s all about anticipation.”
    As he sat back down at the desk, a second pillow sailed through the air and hit him in the back.
    Wes accessed the footage from the camera auto-backup drive. He wanted to see what Danny had shot of the crash. The night before, there had been no real reason to look at it. But now, after the picture in the newspaper, and his fruitless search of the pictures at the bar, he wanted to make sure he wasn’t crazy.
    The first shots were just B-roll stuff of the Pinnacles. Then there was the wide shot of Monroe standing next to the unusual rock formations. This went on for nearly thirty seconds before the image swung quickly to the left, then down at