One Kiss

Chapter 23

"You had to know that was exactly what you'd find. The guy hasn't planned all of whatever he's up to only to be caught by something as simple as a customer complaint." She pulled her legs up onto the couch and shrugged.

West flopped sideways onto his side of the sectional with a deep sigh. "Yeah, but I was hoping for some luck. Using the tow company's trucks to lift cars would make sense."

"It would, but he also works nights, so the chances of someone seeing him boost a car are slim."

"But not zero," he replied.

"You have a point, but still, you've seen the trucks his uncle uses, they're benign. The paint is so faded I doubt anyone would be able to identify the company even if they did see the truck take the car. Hell, they don't even have the company logo on them. They're an assortment of trucks he's bought used from companies that have folded and he never repainted them. So, even if someone did report the truck it would lead to a dead-end because the companies don't exist any longer."

West sat up. "Which would make it even harder to identify who took the cars unless someone somewhere kept a list of who bought the trucks. And knowing what we do about Seth how much do you want to bet those records were somehow lost? Do you think his uncle is in on the car thefts?"

She shrugged. "I suppose it's possible, not that that helps us."

"No, it doesn't but it would make sense. I mean, I doubt Seth could hold together such a large operation right beneath his uncle's nose, he'd have to know about it. There is also the fact they only use those crappy trucks with the faded paint at night. During the day, they use the fresh, nicely painted trucks with the company's logo on them."

"Yeah, I agree."

"And what are you two up to?" Josh asked as he came into the room.

"Trying to figure out how to trap Seth," West told him.

"Yeah, probably not gonna happen," he said as he took a seat in one of the chairs adjacent to the couch. "I mean, how long has he been doing this, you've known about it for years. It's obvious he isn't an idiot or the cops would have caught him by now."

"Tell me something I don't know," West said with a groan.

"Putting aside the conundrum of Seth Bradford for a moment, what do you think of the decorations?" Josh asked.

"Conundrum?" West asked before he looked at Alyssa. "Did you get him one of those word-a-day calendars again? I do not want another year of him attempting to fit strange words into conversations."

She giggled. "Nope, I don't want that either. That was a mistake."

Josh snorted. "I hate both of you. So, decorations?"

"They're beautiful as always," Alyssa told him. "I see you've added a couple of trees this year. The one floating in the center of the pool is interesting."

"Right? It's epic. That setup was damn hard to design. I don't want some drunk ass knocking it over during the holiday party, it had to be sturdy."

West rolled his eyes. "You are weird, man."

"Hey just because you are an uncultured neanderthal don't diss my decorations."

"That doesn't even deserve a reply. All right, I have shit to do. I'll see you two later." West stood. "We doing dinner later?"

"Yeah, I tossed everything in the slow cooker earlier for beef stew," Alyssa told him.

He nodded and left the room.

Josh sighed and sank in his seat. "No one appreciates my decorating genius."

"I do, but I don't want all the genius to swell your head so I dole the compliments out over time."

"Har har, you are so funny. I have everything planned out for the holiday party. It's going to be the best one yet. I need to talk to my brother about alcohol, be back in a bit." He rose and left the room.

Alyssa shook her head. Josh loved the holidays and it was next to impossible to get him to tone things down. If he had big plans for the party then it was probably going to be over the top. Dancing female, scantily clad Santas was her best guess. It was probably a good idea to ask him to make certain he didn't offend anyone, he'd have to add in a few scantily clad male Santas. She giggled.

When her phone rang she answered it with a sigh, she had homework to finish she didn't have time for conversations. "Hello?"

"Alyssa?"

She sat up straighter. "Zay?"

"Uh, yeah, look I know you don't want to talk to me but ... I didn't get to talk to you the day of the accident and I wanted to make certain that you're okay."

"Oh, yeah totally perfect despite the fact someone tried to murder me. How are you?"

"What?"

"I asked how you are, everything good with you and Seth?"

"You can't make a statement like that and then gloss over it!" he protested.

"Well, if you don't want to tell me how you are then I suppose we have nothing to discuss, do we?" she asked in a far calmer tone than her feelings dictated that she should use.

"Alyssa, come on! You can't throw out a statement like that so casually.

"I can if I choose to. Can't prove it was an attempt at murder of course, but it coincidentally came after a rather confrontational conversation with your slimeball boyfriend, so you'll excuse me if I continue to gloss over the details with you."

"Why do you guys insist on blaming Seth for everything that goes wrong in your life?" he shouted.

"I look for the obvious, Zayden, and he is the obvious suspect."

"I didn't want to hear this bullshit from Josh and West the day of the accident and I don't want to hear it now! You can't throw out accusations like that, you have no proof!"

"And I can't help you if you can't see what's right in front of you. Don't call me again, Zayden, I doubt there is any sort of conversation we can have without it dissolving into an argument." She disconnected and stared down at the phone, tears filling her eyes. It wasn't fair, Zay had always been so level-headed, why couldn't he see how dangerous Seth was? "Because love is one fucking blind ass bitch," she muttered.

It didn't matter, she couldn't help Zay if he didn't want to accept help. Like an addict, Zay had to hit rock bottom before he realized how deep into it he was. It hurt to have to sit back and let events unfold, but there was little she could do.