Tequila Shots

Chapter 10

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing."  —Helen Keller

Brent's POV

"What's on?" I asked, observing the tense silence.

The whole family was gathered in the living room, their eyes fixated on what was showing on the TV. Rachel was biting her nails and tapping her feet at the same time. I could tell she was nervous. Drew's gaze never left the screen. He narrowed his eyes, something he did when he trying to focus on what he was looking at. Javier sighed occasionally and Hayden looked like he could pee his pants.

"They found the body of the missing girl. Dead for about a week," Hayden replied me.

"Wait... what missing girl?" I couldn't recall hearing any news about a girl going missing in shadow creek.

"Daria Reyes. 18 year old girl from Davenport went missing last week and the police recovered her body from the lake, two towns over," Drew explained.

"That explains why I didn't hear about it. Well, that's fucked up."

"Tell me about it," Javier sighed.

"What are you going to do, Drew?" Hayden asked and we all turned to face the boss who had his hand on his chin, dragging the imaginary beard.

"Nothing. I'd do nothing. Nobody knows what is really going on at the moment. We don't know if she had a disagreement with a close acquaintance or if a psychopath is on the loose. My gut tells me it's the latter though. It's been almost a year ago but I can bet the case about that 40 year old is somehow tied to this. No one knows if the fucker will get to shadow creek. No one knows when he will get to shadow creek. I'll stop by the station and talk to sheriff. He'll know what the hell is going on. Y'all should be safe and stay close."

"Damn, bro. You gave a whole speech," I smirked.

"I'm dead fucking serious, Brent," he glared at me.

"Never said you weren't," I shrugged. "I only said that you gave a whole valedictorian speech."

"Whatever," he huffed.

Rachel patted down his back like she was pacifying an angry dog. I just didn't like serious situations. It unsettled me. I just liked to lighten up any tension. I know a lot of shit goes down when we go to sleep at night. The evil perpetrators move around doing the evil that they know and then we wake up to find missing people and dead bodies. I just didn't want to live life in constant paranoia of having to watch my back in fear of something chasing me or hunting me down.

"I have to head out. See you guys later," Javier stood up from the couch, smoothing out his crisp suit trousers.

"Bye, Javi!" we chorused.

He waved as he walked out of the room. Hayden went with him and I followed shortly after. I had shit to do and even though the case bothered me, I just wasn't going to let it hamper my mood.

****

She was here. I could tell before I saw her walk through the doors of my bar. Nessa walked into the bar shortly after her so I assumed she had come with her but I wondered why they were together. I remained where I was, resting against one of the pillars, not making any move to wave her over or approach her. Her eyes scoured the room and she strained her cute eyes, trying to pick out a familiar face out of the crowd of strangers. Her eyes fell on me and a smile graced her face. It wasn't one of fondness but rather of relief that she finally found someone she knew. She walked over to me and I was drawn to how gracefully she moved. One leg in front of the other.