Page 42 of Dark Obsession

“No, I didn’t think it would be.”

More silence. Finally Cody sighed and said, “For fuck’s sake, I hate this distance between us. But I’m still angry at you, okay? It doesn’t mean I want a divorce. I just need to be mad for a little bit until I get over it.”

“Oh, okay.” Demmy fell silent, but Cody had known him long enough to be able to read into it. It wasn’t actually silence; it was hesitation. Demmy had more to say. Finally, he said, “But…”

Cody grinned and sank a little lower in the seat, dropping one hand to his thigh and the other steering from the bottom of the wheel as he kept two car lengths back from the Spirit. “Yes?”

“But I need you to know that I’m angry, too.”

“You?” Cody couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice. “About what?”

“The way you reacted, for one. And the way you treated me. Not to mention that you don’t trust me to be able to read a situation.”

“Okay, okay,” Cody said, pushing himself back up in the seat as his jaw clenched. “I can see we both still need a bit more time.”

“Yeah.” Demmy said with an exasperated tone, “But I still love you, and I don’t want a divorce.” They both chuckled at that. Then Demmy added, “But I also want to point out that you didn’t say you loved me. You just said you don’t want a divorce.”

“You gotta have the last word, don’t you?”

“Yep.”

Another shared laugh. It wasn’t their usual laughter, carefree, warm, and connected. But it was a start.

“Well, I just called to tell you I’m taking a drive, so I may be a little later than I thought.”

“All right. Be careful.”

Cody raised his eyebrows at that, but kept from saying, As careful as you were at the vampire house?

Just barely.

“I will. See you later.”

He disconnected and chewed his lip. Tipping his head side to side, he cracked his neck. He and Demmy were going to have to have a long talk sooner rather than later.

The make up sex was going to be epic.

The working brake light brightened again, and Cody saw sunlight spark off the Spirit’s glass as Andy turned off Route 118. Cody sat up even more and eased off the accelerator. The two cars he’d been keeping between them rolled on past the road Andy had taken.

The Spirit had turned onto Hemlock Way, one of the even narrower blacktop roads that ran north and south, connecting the larger ones. Cody hadn’t been out this way in years. In high school, and a little bit in college and afterwards, a group of them would party out in these fields until the owners chased them off. But there wasn’t anything out here he knew about, unless this guy was leaving the county.

He drove a short distance past Hemlock Way before doing a three-point turn and slowly approaching the intersection again. The Spirit was just climbing a rise about a quarter mile away, and Cody waited for it to drop down out of sight again before he turned onto the road, keeping his speed low. He’d give this whole spy routine another five or ten minutes before turning back for home.

About two miles from 118, Cody leaned in over the wheel, squinting to see through the buttery-yellow evening light. The Spirit turned off the road to the right and vanished behind a row of windbreak trees that then changed to tall stalks of corn. Was that a driveway or another county road? He passed a couple of long driveways that cut between cornfields to farmhouses, and a short distance later, he came to the windbreak and slowed. A gravel driveway ran along the west side of the trees a few yards before twisting off to the left behind a tussock of grasses as tall as him. The slight breeze sent the seed-heavy stalks swaying, giving him quick glimpses of a black cinderblock building hunkered down behind. It wasn’t a farmhouse, that was for sure.

Casting a glance at the sun low in the sky, he told himself to just go home and save the follow-up for another time. But as if on autopilot, he turned into the narrow track, following the twists and curves until it opened onto a gravel parking lot butted up against the building. Now that he was closer, he could see that not only had the walls been painted black, but the windows, too. It had the look of a roadside bar, just with no sign flashing a name, and no neon beer signs or pithy messages on an illuminated marquee board. A few vehicles were parked around the lot, the Spirit included.

Cody eased into a space a good distance away from the Spirit and cut the engine, the sudden quiet after the crunch of gravel beneath his tires sending a chill through him. He studied the building. Nothing moved. He couldn’t see any cameras or outdoor lighting except for a pendant light with a tin shade hanging above the door, and a big LED light on a pole at the far back corner of the parking lot. Tall stalks of corn stood in rows behind and to the sides of the building and lot, extending off into what seemed to be infinity.

He shouldn’t have come this far. He should go back home right now.

The driver’s door of the Spirit flew open and Andy climbed out. His movements were clipped and jerky as he closed the door then checked to see if it was locked. It wasn’t, and he swung it open, slapped the knob down, and slammed the door again. He turned toward the building, paused to adjust the leather jacket, briefly took something small and black out of a pocket to check it, then jammed it back in again. He walked steadily to the entrance and went inside.

He should go home. Needed to. This could be dangerous.

But Andy had gone inside. And Cody really wanted to learn what Andy knew. He checked all around the parking lot, but all he saw was a few cars parked in an attempt at an even line. No one else was in sight. He stared at the black door. It was just a roadside dive bar. He’d been in plenty of them before. Hell, the Hollow Leg was only a step or two above this place. And the sun was still up, at least for another ten or fifteen minutes.

Drawing in a deep breath, he held it to the count of five before releasing. This was all going to be okay. He’d just take a quick look around and get out. If he sent a text now, Demmy would most likely call him immediately, and there’d be an argument and Cody didn’t want to go inside this place with that kind of a chip on his shoulder. He was going to go in there with his usual chip on his shoulder.