Danni Rose (The Sherwood)

“We’re here,” Walker said. He looked around for his brother’s car. It wasn’t here. “And Jesse isn’t.” He glanced at the time on the dashboard. They had ten minutes until the time that he told Jesse to be here. Jesse wasn’t known for his punctuality. Simon put the truck in park and settled back against the seat. He closed his eyes, resting against the head-rest.

Walker glanced at Simon. “How are things between you and Rachel?” He asked. He had noticed his hands-on Rachel’s shoulders, comforting her as if it were the most natural thing in the world, even though they had been divorced for two years.

Simon didn’t open his eyes or respond at first. Then he said, “It felt good to be with her.”

Walker chuckled. “Ever think of making it permanent again?”

A snort of derision came from Simon. “Then we start to argue. Then, it gets ugly all over again. What then, Walker?” He still hadn’t opened his eyes.

“What if it had been Rachel that had been hurt?” He asked.

Simon’s eyes flew open and he glared at Walker. “Low blow,” he snipped at Walker.

He chuckled at the man who he considered more of a father than the man who had fathered him. “I’m just saying that maybe you aren’t so happy without her.”

Simon shook his head at Walker. “I’m not. Is that what you wanted to hear? You and Danni are just alike.”

“How’s that?” Walker asked.

“She’s always trying to push us back together too with her little talks and innuendos.”

Walker smiled. Danni believed in love. She believed in happily ever after and fairy tales. She believed in him. He wasn’t sure what he believed in, yet here he was trying to convince Simon that these things existed. He settled back in his seat and rested his head against the window pane. He was tired. He let his eyes close and he waited to see if his brother showed up.

At ten-thirty, Simon poked him in the shoulder. “Thirty minutes late, Walker. He’s not coming.”

Walker had drifted off to sleep. “Dammit.” He stretched and yawned. “I guess we go to the Severe and see what kept him.”

“All right,” Simon agreed. He started up the truck and backed out of his spot. He headed the truck out of town, down 68 towards Severe.

They neither one spoke. Walker watched the woods that surrounded the two-lane road. The trees still thick and green. Soon, though, they would turn color and fall to the ground. Soon, they would scatter across the road and the limbs would be bare. Soon, winter would come, and Walker needed to decide what to do with his life. At thirty-five, he couldn’t wash dishes forever. He couldn’t hide away in Ike’s kitchen, hiding from the world because it was safe.

Simon turned on the signal and the clicking noise caused Walker to glance over. He was turning into the motel. Walker looked for his brother’s car. It wasn’t there but Walker directed Simon to the room where he last saw Jesse. When the truck stopped, both men got out. The housekeeper was two doors up from Jesse’s room.

“Did the man in room two hundred check out?” He asked.

“No, the girl still there sleeping. I didn’t want to bother her. Don’t know where the man and the other girl went,” she replied. She disappeared into the room she was cleaning.

Walker stepped onto the sidewalk and peered into the window. The housekeeper was right. A woman was in the room, lying on her side, tucked beneath the blankets. “One of the girls is in there. She might know where Jesse is.”

Simon knocked on the door. Walker stepped back to the window and peered through the tiny crack in the curtain. The girl inside didn’t move. He glanced at Simon. “She didn’t move,” he informed him.

“Maybe she’s a heavy sleeper?” Simon suggested.

“Maybe something is wrong,” Walker retorted.

“Doom and gloom,” Simon replied. Then he knocked again. “Anything?”

“Nope.” Walker peered through the crack in the curtains. “She didn’t move.”

“Shit,” Simon replied. He took out his phone and called 911.

“What are you doing?” Walker asked looking between Simon and the unmoving figure in the bed.

“Calling the police,” Simon replied.

That was the last thing that Walker wanted to hear.

Chapter 10