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“Hey, there.” Constance smiled. “How you feeling?”
Tabitha thought about it for a second. She was supposed to sayfineorgood. That’s what a normal person would say. “Unstuck,” was what came out of her mouth. Once the word left her lips, Tabitha wondered if she meant physically or mentally, but it was probably both. Her insides no longer felt like plastic wrap, clinging to itself.
“Excellent.” Constance didn’t seem to think Tabitha’s word choice was weird or required explanation.
“Um.” Tabitha dug around in her short’s pocket. “My aunt gave me a tip.” She drew out the ten-dollar bill, knowing it was probably not a decent percentage of what the massage would’ve cost, but it was all Auntie El could part with.
Constance shook her head. “I don’t take tips.”
“Um.” Tabitha fumbled with the bill, unsure of what to do now.
“I appreciate the gesture,” Constance continued. “But it’s a policy I have. I like to think of my services as part of the health care profession. Nobody tips their nurse, right?”
“They probably should,” Tabitha said, thinking of all Auntie El’s long days and nights as she slipped the bill back into her shorts. “But thank you. This was really lovely.”
“It was my pleasure. Let’s book you for next week. I’m trying out a few new techniques I learned at a workshop. If you’re willing to be my guinea pig, the massage will be free again.”
“Oh, I couldn’t.” Tabitha really wanted to, though. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt that relaxed. Even when she slept, she didn’t come unstuck like that.
“But you’d be helping me.”
“I...” Tabitha looked down at Trinity, who seemed to be smiling. “Are you sure?”
Constance nodded. “Positive.”
“Um. Okay, then.”
“Great.” Constance turned back to her computer. “Same day and time?”
“Yes, please.”
“Great.” Constance clicked on her keyboard. “You’re all set, then. I’ll probably see you at the gym before your appointment. You can let me know how you’re feeling between massages.”
“Awesome. Thank you again.”
“Anytime. Bye, Trinity!” Constance waved at the dog. Trinity wagged her tail.
As Tabitha led Trinity outside, along the garden path, through the gate and to her car, the sky seemed bluer than it had when she got here. Her body felt like a towel that had been wrung out of all its heaviness and her brain as clear as the sky. The incident at the gym on the Fourth of July didn’t seem as big a deal now and her memories of Afghanistan felt like they lived less deeply inside her bones. She didn’t know how long these feelings would last, but she’d take whatever she could get. Days. Hours. Minutes. Any little bit helped.
Sean swung by the Dudes’ apartment complex on his way to the storage shed where he kept his old Harley. He wasn’t sure that they had Delaney’s bike, but he also wasn’t sure they weren’t guilty as fuck. Off duty, all he was going to do was look around.
As he wove through the lot, looking for a bike that he knew he wasn’t going to find, he replayed his and Delaney’s frantic text conversation from last night.
I saw ’33.
What? Where?
On the way home. On Prince Blvd. Going South. I was going north. I made a U-turn as soon as I could but it was no use. By the time I got headed in that direction, it was gone.
You sure it was your bike?
I’m sure. My motorcycle is too rare to be confused.
She had a point, even though Sean was initially in disbelief that not only was the motorcycle still in one piece and still in the area, but apparently the thief had also decided it would be a good idea to ride it around.
Don’t lose sleep over it, Sean had texted, though had privately wondered if he was talking to himself. I’ll look into it tomorrow.
There was no Indian Four motorcycle in or around the Dudes’ apartment complex. After an intensive scouring of the area, Sean looked at his watch and cursed. He was late getting to Castillo’s house and hoped Miguel hadn’t been waiting for him long. When Sean had called that morning to ask to borrow his partner’s husband’s truck, he was surprised by Miguel’s offer to help, even though he hadn’t been surprised by Sonia’s suspicion.
