“Fog?” He looked at the blue sky, then back at her.
“Yeah, it was really weird.”
“Go on.”
“I heard someone groan.”
“The hawk?”
She shook her head. “I thought it might be the hawk’s owner or something. Then the fog sort of drifted away, and there was a man.”
“The naked man?”
She sighed with relief. He was finally getting it. “Yes, the naked man.”
“What did he say?”
“That his name was Crisco, and he was from another planet. I forget what name he called it. And that he was here to take me back with him. That’s when I maced him and ran home.”
He closed the pad and slipped it, along with his pencil, back in his pocket.
“Do you want me to show you where I saw him?”
“I don’t think that will be necessary.” He came to his feet and marched down the steps, heading toward his patrol car with purposeful strides.
“Where are you going?” She jumped up and followed.
He suddenly turned, and she had to skid to a halt to keep from plowing into him.
“Ria, if it wasn’t for the fact that I’ve known your mom and dad for at least twenty years, I’d run your butt in for making a false report,” he said with more than a touch of exasperation.
“But he was there.”
“Think about what you’re saying, girl.” His eyes suddenly filled with pity. “A hawk lands in front of you, fog rolls in when the sun is out. Then, apparently, the bird turns into a naked man who tells you he’s an alien and wants to take you back to his planet.”
Okay, it did sound crazy. “But it happened.”
“Do you want me to call your mother for you?”
She shoved her hands down deep inside her pockets. “No, I don’t want you to call Mom. I’m not having a spell or anything.”
“They have doctors in Dallas who might be able to help you, you know.”
“I’m not crazy!” She turned on her heel and stomped back toward the house.
Of course you’re not crazy.
“Shut up!”
“I was only trying to help,” Heath said.
“I wasn’t talking to you.”
Silence.
Great. Dig the hole a little deeper.
She strode up the steps and into the house. Then it hit her. Everyone in Miller Bend had a police scanner. She supposed it would be all over town by this afternoon that she was seeing aliens—and talking to the voice in her head…again.
Another mark against her. At least it would give the townspeople something to talk about at the July Fourth festivities this weekend. Unless something out of the ordinary happened that would give everyone something better to talk about.
Yeah, right. What could top her seeing a hawk, then a thick fog, then a naked man who claimed to be an alien and wanted to whisk her off to his planet?
Nope, they’d definitely be talking about her.
Chapter 2
“Hey, Ria, seen any aliens lately?”
Ria froze in the process of unfolding her camp chair. She recognized the voice—Ben Dansworth. He was a real dweeb, and had been since third grade.
“Don’t pay any attention to him,” Ria’s mother said as she settled into her chair. “He’s an ass. Let’s enjoy the parade. After all, it’s the Fourth of July. We’ve been blessed with nice weather, and how often do we get to watch a good parade?”
In Miller Bend? Nearly every holiday was all. New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Chinese New Year…name it, and they had a parade. And then there were the celebrations that went along with the parades. They even had an Old Settlers reunion celebration—and parade. And it was the same floats, with only minor changes to denote why they were celebrating.
But a flood of warmth settled around Ria as she watched her mother make herself comfortable, smiling as she looked around at the people she’d known since the day she was brought into this world.
Living forever in their small town suited Ria’s mom. Maggie Lancaster was a slice of hot apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a warm summer day. She was crocheted sweaters and homemade quilts.
And she’d gotten stuck with a defective kid.
Ria only wished she didn’t have to screw up all the time. Or hear the voice inside her head.
I beg your pardon. I’m not just a voice inside your head. I happen to be part of you. If you would pay a little more attention, I could explain everything.
“Shut up.”
“What, dear?” Her mother glanced Ria’s way, the lines around her mouth and eyes deepening.
Great. Ria had told her mother she no longer heard the voice. It was just a small white lie so her mom wouldn’t worry.
Ria smiled. “You know, shut up. Not shut up when you tell a person to shut up. I meant shut up, as in, look at the Women’s League float. Pretty snazzy, huh? That kind of shut up. We-worked-pretty-hard-for-this-parade-and-it-shows kind of shut up.” Great, now she sounded like an imbecile.
Maggie smiled. “It is quite nice, isn’t it? I told you all those hours you helped would pay off, and I was right.” She sat taller in her chair. “Look, there’s your father. Doesn’t he look handsome?”
Ria breathed a sigh of relief, glad she’d averted a possible disaster. Her mom had questioned Ria about what she’d seen in the woods, then asked if Ria was feeling okay. She could just imagine what people had been saying, and what her mother was thinking.
She drew in a deep breath. It was all behind them now. Well, almost. There were still people like Ben Dansworth, who liked nothing more than to make a big deal out of anything that happened to her. May he rot in hell.
No, Ria would make sure her mother didn’t have any more worries. At least, not where her daughter was concerned. An army of naked men could run through town, and Ria wouldn’t say a word.
If I see any sexy naked men running through town you can bet I won’t stay quiet.
And Ria would ignore the voice.
Snort. You haven’t been able to ignore me before. Why do you think you can now?
Nope, she wasn’t going to even think about Shintara. Instead, she’d concentrate on the parade.
Her father was driving the fire truck, since he was the chief. He beamed, waving at the crowd. Pride threaded its way through her. She had the best-ever parents.
She put two fingers in her mouth and whistled. If she’d had a bullhorn, she couldn’t have gotten his attention any better. She had a great whistle. Her father spotted them and waved. It wasn’t very ladylike to whistle that loud, but she didn’t care. He’d taught her to whistle like a guy, and she was quite proud she could.
Her gaze moved farther down the truck, past the firemen squeezed on top and all of them waving at the crowd. Sometimes she wondered if men ever grew up.
Her eyes grew round and she almost swallowed her tongue. Not that anyone really could, but it certainly felt like it as she began to cough and sputter.
“Are you okay?” Her mother patted her on the back.
She couldn’t look away. It was him—the naked guy who’d stepped in front of her on the trail. He sat at the very back of the fire truck, on top, arms crossed in front of him, as if he owned the damned thing or something. At least he had on clothes today.
“That man…”
Her mother’s gaze followed where Ria pointed. She smiled as she relaxed in her chair again. “You must mean Kristor Valkyir. We call him Kris. Isn’t he handsome? He’s from another country.”
“You know him?” Her mother knew the serial killer?
“Yes, dear. He’s very nice. We rented him your old room.”
“You rented him my…” she stumbled over the words. It took a moment for her brain to connect the dots, but when she did, she thought her head would explode. “You rented him my room!”
Her mother’s expression quickly changed to concern. Several people turned and stared. Ria lowered her voice. “You rented him my room?” Maybe she’d misunderstood.