“Hey, what’s the town where the accident happened?” Alyssa asked.
“I think it was Fairplay. Or it was a town right near Fairplay. I don’t know—I never went there,” Neely said. “When my friend called I went straight to Denver to the hospital.” Neely turned to Sierra again. “So, do you have time to grab a cup of coffee after you get finished here?”
Sierra nearly shook herself in surprise. She did, in fact. But she said, “I’m sorry, I don’t. I’m on the run today.”
“And let’s put you under the dryer for a few minutes to speed up this color,” Rhonda said. “Girl, you do have the prettiest hair! And healthy! Want me to take off about an inch? Or less?”
“An inch is fine,” Sierra said.
She got under the dryer and considered Neely. What a lot of drama, she thought. Then she felt guilty—after all, the woman had just been through what must have been a terrible experience. But Sierra had the worst feeling about her...
Ten minutes later she was being shampooed and when she got back in the chair, Neely was gone. “She said to tell you goodbye and she’ll give you a call. She had to run,” Alyssa said.
“Thanks,” she said. Neely wanted to have coffee, but didn’t even have time to say goodbye?
“Have you been friends for a long time?” Alyssa asked while she was sweeping up the clippings on the floor.
“No,” Sierra said. “I just met her a month ago.”
“Really? She said you wanted her to make a trip to Santa Fe with you but she wasn’t sure how she’d find the time.”
“She said that?” Sierra asked, dumbfounded.
“She sure did. Why? Was it a secret?”
“No, it was...” Sierra stopped herself. Better to not make this any more complicated. “No, not a secret. I don’t think I can find the time, either.”
“She seems like a lot of fun,” Alyssa said. “Weird about that accident, though.”
“What’s weird?”
Alyssa leaned on her broom. “I’ve lived here almost my whole life. There were a couple of vacationers from somewhere back East killed on 289 a few years ago. A young couple. Their car was obliterated by a big rig. There were pictures in the paper and on the internet, it was on the evening news. Complete strangers put so many wreaths and crosses and stuffed toys by the side of the road it looked like a monument. Things like that just don’t usually go unnoticed.”
“Interesting,” was all she said.
After her haircut she found herself walking across the street to the fire department. She was in a bit of a daze. This was only the second time she’d gone looking for Connie, and this time she found him. He had a rag in his hand and was polishing up the chrome on the fire engine.
“Well, what a beautiful surprise,” he said, coming out of the open garage doors to meet her. He gave her a little kiss on the forehead. “I didn’t expect to see you today.”
“I was just getting my hair trimmed and the strangest thing happened.” She told him the story.
Connie frowned. “She made that whole thing up,” he said. “She know your boyfriend is a paramedic?”
“I told her I was seeing a fireman...”
“If there’s a fatality anywhere near my territory, don’t you think I’d know?”
“Well, I don’t know.”
“Rescue Flight was called out, Sierra. Sixty miles from here.”
“Maybe she got the location wrong?”
“I’ll check the logs on the computer. In fact, you can do that. It’s a matter of public record and the Colorado State Patrol can confirm. What do you know about it?”
“Seventeen-year-old boy driving, his first name was Brandon, the car was supposedly hit by a truck, he lay critical in a hospital in Denver for two weeks before he passed away. A few weeks ago. And she said it happened on 24. Is that a highway?”
“Yep, the one most of us take to Denver. Come on in, have a water or soda or something. I’ll look it up. It won’t take two minutes.”
“I’ll just wait,” she said. “I’m going to go pick up my clothes and get organized so I can be ready to go in the early morning.”
“But I’ll see you tonight?”
“Of course.”
Rafe came out to the front of the firehouse after Connie left and said hi. “Connie said he’s looking up something for you. How you doing?”
“Great. And how are Lisa and the kids?”
“Excellent. Grandma’s coming for a visit before summer’s over. They’ll shop for school clothes, she loves to do that. My mom likes to get in on some of that, too. I’ll probably take ’em all out on the lake a few times.”
They made small talk for a few minutes before Connie was back. “Will you give us a minute, Rafe?” Connie asked.
“Sure. See you later, Sierra.”
“Nothing, ” Connie said.
“Maybe it was farther away than she thought?”
He shook his head. “Statewide, no fatal involving a seventeen-year-old boy.”
“What if she had his age wrong?”
“There were forty fatalities in the whole month and one sixteen-year-old boy died. In Pueblo. No seventeen-year-olds. That’s as close as it came. And there’s no obit for a boy named Brandon.”
“Maybe I didn’t get the details right,” Sierra said, completely confused.
“She made it up, honey.”
“Why would she do that?” Sierra said.
“Who knows why people make up wild stories. For attention? To get out of something they don’t want to do? Some people just can’t help it—they’d make up a lie when the truth is more interesting. I don’t know about you but when someone flat-out lies to me, I don’t trust them anymore.”
“I just don’t get it,” she said.
“That’s the woman you really wanted to be friends with, right? The one who let you down. The one who doesn’t like animals?”
“Yep.”
“Hmm. My advice? Back away slowly.”
He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.
—Friedrich Nietzsche
Chapter 16
SIERRA AND CAL left for Denver to catch a plane early in the morning on Sunday. She left from Connie’s house. A couple of hours after she left Connie decided, it being Sunday, he’d drive to Denver, too. But he was going to see his mother. He called her to let her know he’d be driving up from Timberlake. When he got there, he and Molly went to the door. Janie Chambers opened the front door and beamed.
“Well, now, who is this?” she asked, bending to pet Molly.
“Her name is Molly,” he said. “I’m dog sitting for a friend.”
“She’s beautiful. She’s very excited.”
“It was a longer drive than she’s used to, I think.”
Only then did Janie hug her son. “It’s been a while. I made us lunch. I’m sorry but Beaner said he couldn’t come over. He had some plans he didn’t think he should cancel. Just between you and me, I bet he’s going to be out on the lake with friends.”