Where She Lies

Chapter 26: A Condition Breaker and a Troublemaker

"Why?" I sit up in surprise.

"I don't know," Trevor shakes his head, "She just told me to get you guys and go to SqUiSHy's."

"How are we supposed to get there? She took the car." Quinn sits up too.

"Walk, I guess." Trevor shrugs.

Quinn stands up and pulls me to my feet with him.

"Well, if it's so urgent then this might be a problem." Quinn says.

"Which means we'd better get going." Trevor nods in agreement.

"Yeah," I frown and glance back at the TV, "I guess so."

"C'mon," Quinn chuckles and pushes me towards the door, "Looks like you really got hooked on that movie."

"Nooooooo, don't make me go." I whine as I get shoved outside right after Trevor, followed by Quinn.

Quinn rolls his eyes and smiles at me as the three of us make our way down the driveway. Trevor decides to walk ahead of us by a little bit while we walk side by side. We honestly should probably be hurrying, but for some reason I don't feel like it.

"Don't worry, you have me to keep you company." Quinn winks.

"Don't get so full of yourself," I smack him in the shoulder, "Besides, you did break one of my conditions."

"What," Quinn's head turns in my direction, "I didn't break any - oh..."

He suddenly stays silent and I find it quite funny. He actually thinks he's in trouble, hah. He's in for a surprise. I shake my head and laugh silently to myself which gains an odd look from Quinn. We walk in silence the rest of the way to the diner. I honestly don't mind though. I got to soak in the strangely orange sky and the way the sun looks as it's going down. We pass through the glass double-doors and I spot Esmee sitting at a booth in the back next to Camden, the teenage worker who's usually here. I pick up on how he's nervously fidgeting next to Esmee and leaning his head down so that his bangs shield his eyes. Either he's the type of kid who's nervous about hanging out with people who are older - even though he's seventeen and I'm only nineteen, in fact none of us are even twenty-one yet. But Camden's usually outgoing so I'm guessing that's not the case. Maybe it's because Esmee told him a criminal's coming too? Even though Quinn's innocent I'm sure that would set off some alarm bells. Somehow I'm getting the feeling that's not right either, so what is it?

"Uh, Esmee," Trevor rubs the back of his neck nervously, "Should we-"

"Sit, he's here to help us." Esmee waves her hands to the red booth seat across from her.

The three of us reluctantly glance at each other before agreeing and sliding into the booth across from Esmee and Camden.

"So, what's up?" Trevor asks.

"Go ahead Camden," Esmee nudges him, "It's okay, tell them."

"Well," Camden swallows hard, "One night I forgot to lock the cellar up and so I came back since I wasn't that far away. I would've come back anyways but I if I would've taken any longer I probably would've missed what I saw. When I went down to the cellar to inspect it I noticed that the one shelf of supplies was moved a good few feet from where it used to be. I just shrugged it off and I was about to head upstairs so that I could lock the door to it when I heard footsteps. It was weird though because the footsteps were coming from behind me and I was facing the stairwell. There aren't any exits from the cellar besides the stairwell so I got creeped out and hid behind a row of shelving that didn't have any gaps. When the footsteps stopped and I heard a loud scraping sound I moved so that I could see what was happening, but I made sure to stay hidden. There was this woman with mostly brown hair, except for a few strands of red here and there, pushing the supply shelf back to where it originally stood. It was weird, honestly, it's like she walked through the wall or something - which is impossible."

"That's definitely weird," Quinn speaks up, "Did you see her face at any point in time?"

"No, I'm sorry, but I didn't." Camden frowns.

My stomach twists in knots as I ponder whether that could've been my mom or not. She has reddish-brown hair. I always used to complain how I loved her hair color, but I got my dad's dark brown hair instead. Don't get me wrong, dark brown hair is pretty too, but her hair is beautiful. Quinn notices my tension and when he looks at me all I can do is mouth the words 'my mom' to him. His expression turns grim and he nods before focusing his gaze back on Camden.

"Do you know if there are any secret tunnels leading out of here and back? That could explain it." Quinn asks.

"I'm not sure," Camden scratches his head, "Maybe. You guys can go down and check if you want to. Esmee told me you guys are detectives and that you were looking for mysterious happenings. She said it could help with this one case that you guys have, so I asked Mrs. Willis and she gave you guys clearance to go through the place - just don't break anything."

Oh? So he doesn't know who Quinn is after all? Does he live under some kind of rock or something - he used to be all over the news and tons of people talked about it. Being in a diner all day I'm sure he had to have overheard something. Then again, if he never saw what he looks like, then I guess he wouldn't know. Although wouldn't his name be kind of a red flag? Blah me and my mind rambles.

"Thanks, I'm sure that'll help." I smile at Camden.

He mirrors my smile as he slides out of the booth.

"Well," He looks at his watch, "I should be going. It was nice meeting you guys and I hope you find something."

He waves to us before taking off his apron, grabbing his belongings, and heading out the doors.

"I guess we should start investigating then." Esmee sighs and slides out of the booth.

"Yeah, we'd better hurry." Trevor sighs as well and joins Esmee outside of the booth.

"Are you guys coming or do you want some time to talk?" Esmee raises her brows at us.

Trevor chuckles beside her and it takes one of my death glares to shut him up.

"Yeah, we'll follow you here in a second." I smile and wave them off.

"What was so funny?" Esmee's voice carries over to us as her and Trevor walk towards the cellar.

"We should probably follow them, who knows what Trevor will do." I roll my eyes and get out of the booth.

I make it about halfway across the room but I stop when I hear Quinn stand up and walk over to be. I wouldn't have been able to hear him if it weren't for the quietness that's hanging over the room like a blanket.

"Hey, um, Kimberly," He taps my shoulder and I turn around to face him, "When you said that I broke a condition, does that mean..."

I watch as he trails off and looks more vulnerable than I've ever seen him. I don't know if it's amusing that he's worrying this much or if it's touching. A little bit of both I suppose. I lean up on my tippy-toes and place a quick kiss on his lips. As soon as I pull away from him I notice how the doubt in his eyes has cleared and his lips are turned up in a smile.

"Pfft," I wave my hand and start walking towards the cellar but pause in the doorway and look over my shoulder at him, "What condition?"

His eyes twinkle at me with amusement and as I turn to descend the staircase I know that he's following me because his scent fills the air around me. As I stand at the bottom of the staircase it's obvious to me that the supply shelf is out of place. Time to find the cat in this cat and mouse game. Where oh where could you be, mother?