Funeral Daze by Dorian Box

Author:Dorian Box [Box, Dorian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Friction Press
Published: 2023-07-14T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

Sunday at the shop had been slow, aggravating Jessica’s already pent-up vexation. Her father still hadn’t called and continued to ignore their calls, even after she left a desperate voicemail plea.

Danny spent the day sweating under a dust mask, smoothing Rasheed’s board with a sanding block. Jessica helpfully observed it was finally looking like a surfboard.

Around noon she suggested they call Erin and invite her to lunch. Danny liked the idea but said, “How do we explain what happened yesterday when the detective called? She’s definitely going to be wondering.”

“I guess we can tell her the truth. I trust her. I have a good instinct about people. Just like I did with you back in the old days.”

Danny laughed. “The old days? You make it sound like we’ve known each other for a hundred years.”

“Maybe we have, Danny.”

Erin said she just finished a five-mile beach run and was famished. She met them at the shop and they walked to Luno’s Lobster Trap. Danny had been going there since he was a kid selling lobsters he bagged diving. As always, Luno gave him a rousing greeting.

“Everyone loves Danny,” Jessica said.

Jessica ordered a grilled-cheese sandwich. Danny and Erin shared the catch of the day. Mackerel, broiled to perfection. Jessica took the lead during a dessert of Luno’s famous Key lime pie with real whipped cream.

“Thanks again for the surfing lesson, Erin. It was awesome. I should have listened to your advice and not stood up and almost drowned. So, you’re probably wondering what happened when Danny got that phone call before you left.”

Danny was used to her directness, but it caught Erin by surprise.

“Well, I did wonder. It didn’t sound like good news, but please don’t feel like you have to explain it to me.”

“We do feel that way. Because we like and trust you.”

We. It had become a regular thing with her, Danny noticed, referring to them as a unit.

Erin listened intently to Jessica’s recounting of the bizarre events, occasionally glancing at Danny with an incredulous Did that really happen? look. Each time, he nodded resignedly.

“So now I’m going to sue my parents,” Jessica said when she got to the end. “To make them come home.”

“Well, that part is still up in the air,” Danny said.

When they parted after lunch, Erin gave Danny a quick goodbye hug. Sunday night, he found himself thinking about it and drifted off to sleep on a cloud of warm thoughts.

He woke up Monday morning to overcast skies and their looming meeting with Rodriguez to go over the cocaine story. It rained all day. Their late afternoon drive to the police station was as gloomy as the weather.

“There’s a parking spot,” Jessica said, pointing.

Danny pulled the Hyundai in and turned off the engine. “Ready?”

“I guess. I’m not even sure what the point is anymore. If we’re not helping my parents or trying to get our funeral home back, why do I care if someone’s smuggling cocaine? It’s no skin off my nose.”

Danny vaguely remembered his grandmother saying that.

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