Parfait

26: Caprese Pt. 2

Kal juts out his lower lip before hoisting himself up. "Let's go," he says, extending his hand.

I take it and he helps me get up. "Are we going to leave Lucky here?"

He glances at her and a smile spreads itself across his lips. "She's almost asleep. I don't think anyone will notice."

"Kal, even I don't let her in my room when I'm not in there. What if she...does her deed on your bed or attacks your books?"

Kal's eyes widen for a second but he waves it off as he sits next to where the adorable little creature is laying and strokes her back. "You're not going to ruin anything, are you?"

Lucky doesn't even look at him.

Kal sighs and strokes her again before putting on his shoes and a dark green hoodie. He nods towards the window, raising an eyebrow as if to ask if we're still going, so I nod and hop outside.

Instead of going to Trader Joe as I had planned, Kal suggests we walk around the town in case we spot the silver van. Seeing as it's too early for them to be in alleys, I agree.

It's strange walking with Kal. I mean, we have walked together to Parfait many mornings and afternoons, but that's mostly it. There's always a purpose and a duration. Now, we wander around, checking our surroundings so much I feel like my eyeballs will roll out of their sockets. Still, I'm taken aback when I realise we're in the town centre, right outside from Caprese, one of Eliza's favourite restaurants.

I stop on my tracks and close my eyes as the fragrance of the tomato puree and mozzarella invades my nostrils along with the mouth-watering smell of bacon. If I were a cartoon, I would have been flying in the air now and being led to the source of the deliciousness that is Caprese's pizza.

Opening my eyes again, I notice how alive the town is still. People of all ages, dressed up or dressed down, walk around, check out the shops, look if there are any empty tables. I know for a fact the older people will go home in the next hour while the younger eat around before going to one of the two bars in here, Halo and Thunder.

"Summer! Isn't that the one?"

I shift my gaze from the hydrangeas surrounding the entrance to Miss Marmalade to the road, where Kal is pointing at a silver van passing by.

"It has to be," I mutter before I start running along with it, or at least trying to.

Kal yanks the hood of my jacket. "Couldn't you have been more obvious?" he whisper-yells but his eyes don't leave the road, even though I'm glaring at them. "Let's go, but we need to be more discreet."

"Well, we have to be quick or else we'll lose them!"

"NC 54872," Kal mumbles.

I cock my head to the side. "Their plate number?"

"Yeah, isn't that what we wanted?"

I sense my shoulders slumping down. "Yeah, I guess."

Kal grins. "Great." He grabs his phone from the pocket of his sweatshorts.

Stupid boys and their stupid pants with pockets that fit 5-inch phones.

"I jotted it down," he announces before slightly furrowing his brows. "You don't seem very happy about it."

I shake my head. "What? No, of course I am. It's just... It was too easy."

"We were lucky," Kal says. "We're going to call the police tomorrow and give them an anonymous tip and that's it. They won't be able to ignore that man's murder even if they wanted to."