No Return

She fidgeted for a moment, biting the inside of her cheek.

“You want to tell me what’s going on?” he asked.

More fidgeting. She was starting to open her mouth when the bathroom door swung open, and Anna, now dressed, sheepishly emerged.

“Hi,” she said.

Alison stared at her as if she wasn’t sure Anna was really there. Then her shoulders sagged a little. “Sorry. I … um … I didn’t mean to disturb … I’ll just … I’ll-”

“No, it’s all right.” Wes hesitated, then added, “I’m sorry. I should have told you before.”

“You don’t have to tell me anything.”

He could tell she wanted to leave, but she didn’t move.

“Anna and I have been going out for several months.”

She bit the inside of her lip again, then said, “Great,” without any enthusiasm. “Good for you guys.”

Wes reached out to touch her arm, but she pulled away.

“Don’t,” she said. “I … I …”

“Alison, why don’t you tell us what’s going on?” Anna said.

Alison shot her a dirty look, but then quickly closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and seemed to relax a little. “Sorry, I’m just worried.”

“About what?”

“Tony. He’s not back yet.”

“How do you know?” Wes asked.

“I knocked on his door to tell him about the break-in, but he didn’t answer. That was hours ago and he’s still not back.”

“You’ve been awake this whole time?” Wes asked.

She gaped at him as if the answer should be obvious. “I’m freaked out, and when I get freaked out, I can’t sleep. You know that.”

“Could he have decided to go back to L.A.?” Wes asked.

Alison shook her head. “How would he get there? He didn’t have a car. Besides, he would have told one of us.”

“Maybe he hooked up with someone like Danny did,” Anna suggested, “and went home with them.”

Alison was quiet for a moment. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“God, let’s hope he didn’t hook up with someone like Danny did,” Wes said. “She’d be old enough to be his mother.”

A smile from Anna, but Alison’s expression didn’t change.

“He’ll probably show up sometime tomorrow hungover and smiling,” Anna said.

Alison took another deep breath. “You’re probably right. That’s got to be what happened. Nothing like a little overreacting, huh?”

“Totally understandable,” Wes reassured her.

She took a step toward the door. “I’ll get out of your hair.”

“You want me to walk you back to your room?” Wes asked, realizing a second after it was out of his mouth that it was the wrong thing to say.

But before Alison could jump on him, Anna said, “I’ll do it.”

Alison pulled open the door, then turned back. “Just tell me, am I the last one to know about you two?”

Wes shook his head. “Not even close. Dione’s the only one on the crew who knows.”

A wan smile and a nod, then Alison stepped outside, Anna following behind her.

Several minutes later Anna let herself back in.

“Well done,” she said. “I see your people skills are in top form.”

“I know. I could have handled that a little better.”

“Yeah. I can think of about two dozen ways right off the top of my head.”

“Sorry.”

The smirk that had been on her face held for a moment longer, then melted. She walked over and put her arms around him. “At least she knows now.”

“Yeah,” he said, trying to smile. “So what did you two talk about?”

“She’s my friend. I just wanted to make sure she’s going to be okay.”

“And is she?”

He could feel her shoulders go up and down. “Hope so.”

As they climbed back into bed she asked, “So what were you dreaming about?”

“Huh?”

“You sounded like you were having a bad dream when Alison knocked on the door.”

“Was I?” he said. The dirt. The plane. Anna in danger. “I don’t remember.”

29

“They took what?”

Wes had waited until after breakfast Sunday morning to call Dione with the news.

“We got lucky,” he said.

“Tell me how we possibly got lucky.”

“We don’t have to reshoot.”

Dione said nothing for a moment. “Don’t jerk me around, Wes. Are you serious?”

“Serious,” he said. “We lost the backup. But I hadn’t removed the original footage from the cards in the cameras yet. We will need a new backup drive, but we won’t have to shoot anything again. The only thing we’re missing is the footage on the card the Navy took. And we should be getting that back sometime this week.” Well, he did have one thing from that card, the loop of the pilot that he’d saved to the thumb drive in his pocket. But he wasn’t going to tell her that. “Of course, without the laptop I can’t start editing.”

“I can live with that,” she said, brightening.

“Tell me that again when I give you the bill for a new computer.”

“Sorry,” she said. “I’m being a jackass. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Just pissed.”

“Understandable. Did the motel give you a new room?”

“Yeah,” he said. “They’re comping my stay. Anna’s room, too.”

“Why Anna’s?”

He winced. He’d forgotten Dione had already been gone when that happened. “Someone broke into her room Friday night. Didn’t take anything, but it was enough for the motel to move her into the room next to mine.”

“Jesus, Wes. What the hell’s going on up there?”

Wes didn’t know what to say.

“Was it the same people who broke into yours?” she asked.

“The police don’t know yet.”

“Anything else you want to tell me?”

Well, there was the chase. But he decided to save that bit of news until she got back. “No. That’s it for now.”

“I would hope so,” she said, then paused. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. Check if there’s anyplace there where you can get a new drive. If you can’t find one, text me and I’ll get one before I head back up.”

“Okay.”

“And, Wes, no more excitement, all right?”

“I’ll do what I can.”

Once he hung up, he went over to Anna’s room.

“How’d she take it?” Anna asked.