Quicsilver Messenger

Chapter 7

After April left Steve lay back on the bed and tried to go back to sleep, but it was impossible. Since he arrived everything in this town seemed to revolve around April. Why was she on the road last night and what was her purpose of coming here this afternoon? He didn't have the answers to any of those questions and they bothered him enough to keep him from sleeping.

Her kiss had affected him as well and as he lay in bed, he relived how her soft supple body felt in his arms. He remembered how her nibbling lips and hungry tongue felt in his mouth. He knew he had given just as much as she and he felt her responding to his kisses. Beneath her spoiled and petulant surface lay a passionate heart, waiting to be set free.

Given a chance he would love to replace her smug smile with a look of devastating passion. However, he knew she could be a dangerous woman; she was smart, driven and incredibly gorgeous with almost unlimited wealth. If he saw her again, he would need to be very careful and his instinct told him they were definitely going meet again.

About 5:30 in the afternoon Steve gave up trying to rest so he got up, took a shower and dressed for dinner. He dressed simply in a long sleeve polo shirt, jeans and his leather bomber jacket. In deference to the area he wore his snakeskin cowboy boots. He walked down the grand staircase and moseyed over to the customer service counter.

A young lady who could be Catarina's twin was behind the desk, but her name tag said her name was Consuelo. Steve's curiosity got the best of them so his first question was, "Do you have a sister working here?"

She smiled a mysterious, conspiratorial little smile and said, "So I see you've already met my sister Catarina. Yes, we are twin sisters."

"Well you are both very beautiful and be honest I'm not sure I could tell you apart."

Consuelo blushed slightly and giggled as she said, "I know, we play tricks on people all the time and they let us get away with it. Is there anything I can help you with Mr. McKinny?"

Steve is a little taken aback that she knew who he was, but rushed forward anyway, "I was just wondering if you had any recommendations for places to eat around town?"

Consuelo ducked behind the counter and brought out a one-page photocopied map of Alpine. When she stood several additional buttons on her blouse had been undone. She first circled the hotel then began drawing lines to outlying areas, "If you like barbecue you have the Texas Fusion." She completed the line to a location about three blocks away. "If you like Italian we have La Trattoria over here or we have family-owned Mexican or Chinese places on every other street corner."

She started handing the maps Steve, but as he reached for it she pulled it back towards counter at the same time she leaned way over-the-counter. As she leaned over-the-counter the top buttons of her already low-cut blouse opened wide threatening to spill her breasts all over-the-counter. What magnificent breasts they were too with their firm, full bounty making quite an eye full.

Steve had been reaching for the map, but was stunned at the sudden turn of events. He froze halfway to the map with his eyes jumping between the delectable offering on the counter and her eyes. His mind shut down for a second and he had no idea what to say, but thankfully Consuelo filled in the gap.

"After you've had your dinner and you're ready for dessert my sister and I are available to liven up your evening. Maybe even a Latina hat trick." Consuelo leaned forward even further uncovering the pink edges of her breast's aureole.

Steve was still frozen halfway to the map when she began speaking. His eyes were still glued to the delicious site displayed on the counter, but when she mentioned dessert and hat trick his eyes lifted to confirm that she was kidding. She wasn't, and her eyes had a smoky lustful stare making sure that he knew this was a real offer.

Consuelo licked her lips sensually, "We have this great recipe that involves a blue vein sausage smothered in rich tasteful Spanish honey." Her smoky eyes were filled with promise as she ended, "Our recipes are very flexible, but when we share, I can guarantee you will leave satisfied."

Steve slowly closed the remaining distance to the counter and gently removed the map from her fingers. He laid the map on the counter as he leaned over with his lips slowly advancing towards hers. He stared into her golden eyes as his tongue slowly caressed her lips. At the same time his fingers toyed with her décolletage teasing her exposed breasts.

She sucked in a large breath then softly moaned at the dual assault. Her eyes were on fire as his fingers dipped underneath her dress and scraped her turgid nipple. She continued to stare at him as her lips parted inviting him to explore her mouth. Steve kissed across her cheek and gently nibbled her ear as he whispered, "Thank you for the delicious offer, but I must decline. After dinner I'm going to the Marfa lights, so it will be late when I get back."

Consuelo shivered as his lips and breath tickled her ear, but that quickly morphed into a lusty moan as his fingers pinched her nipple. He slowly stood up stepping back from the counter leaving her shaking with the sudden turn of events. Her face was filled with desire, her nipples throbbing beneath her blouse and her womanly folds swimming in her juices. The seductress had been seduced.

Steve picked up the map of the counter, giving a slight nod to the still frozen Consuelo before he thanked her for her help. He turned and walked out the front door and only then did Consuelo stand up. She took a deep cleansing breath stressing her already strained blouse and yet another button popped open. She picked up the phone, punched in several numbers and when someone answered on the other hand she said, "He's going to the Marfa lights after dinner."

Consuelo took a wobbly step backwards and sat heavily on the stool behind the counter. She took a shaky breath trying to forget about his tender tongue and naughty fingers, but forgetting proved more difficult than she thought.

Steve decided a good meal of Texas barbecue sounded good, so he headed off to the Texas Fusion. He found it right where Consuelo's map had told him it would be and he was early enough so the crowds weren't horrific. The sign at the entrance told him to sit anywhere he pleased, so he chose a table at the back of the restaurant. Here he was out of the way and figured he could enjoy a leisurely dinner.

He was sitting for only a few minutes when a tiny redheaded woman sidled up to his table. Her face had a rainbow of freckles across her nose and cheeks. The name badge on her tight-fitting blouse read Grace. Her green eyes gave her a beautiful Irish look and when she spoke her lilting accent hinted that's where she might actually be from. "What can I get you to drink honey?"

Steve changed his opinions and thought maybe she had been born in Ireland, but she had lived in Texas long enough to pick up all the colloquialisms. Steve looked into her eyes and ordered, "A tall glass of water with some lemon and a Dos Equis Amber with lime."

The waitress gave him a saucy smile and said, "Good choice hun, I'll be right back!"

She turned and walked away swinging her delightful hips as she went. The motion drew his eyes and he noticed her long legs, taut and a delicious ass all encased in a pair of painted on jeans. Steve shook his head as he realized, Alpine had a wide array very beautiful woman.

Steve sat staring out the window for a few minutes until he felt people staring at him. He looked around the restaurant and saw stealthy glances pointing his way as people talked in hushed tones. All the waitresses surrounded Grace and he could see her blushing as several of them talked to her. He was definitely not used to being the cause of the small-town gossip, but he tried to look away and mind his own business.

A few minutes later Grace came up to his table with a tall glass of water and lemon sticking out of it, in one hand. In the other hand the tall ice-cold frosty mug of amber beer with a lime perched on the rim. Steve nodded and looked into Grace's eyes as he said, "Thank you, Grace, that beer looks really good right now."

Grace looked at him and glanced back over her shoulder at all the waitresses. They were waving their hands in obvious sign telling her to go for it. She turned back around and cocked her hips to the side and said, "That's not the only thing that looks good in here."

Steve noticed as she turned back around to her blouse was unbuttoned way below her breasts. Her white freckled chest glaringly displayed against her dark-colored blouse. He knew her blouse had not been that way before. As he looked back up to her face, he saw her cheeks were red, but her eyes were bright with excitement.

As he looked at her not sure what to do next, she stammered, "I have a special I can offer you tonight. We could share a tube steak burrito smothered a special female nectar."

Steve saw her face turn bright red and he had bet all the other waitresses had put her up to this. Steve pulled one of the other chairs close to his and patted it softly saying, "Grace could you sit with me for a few minutes?"

She slowly sat in the chair with her face getting redder by the second. Steve heard a small cheer from the other waitresses and as he looked over, they began to scatter. Steve turned his attention back to Grace and said, "Grace, could you tell me what's really going on here? You're the third woman that has propositioned me since I've been here, and trust me, that never happens."

Grace looked down embarrassed and mumbled, "I knew I wasn't pretty enough for you."

Steve put his finger under her chin and lifted her face until she was looking into his eyes. Then he whispered, "You are very beautiful and sexy woman. Any man would be honored to have you in his arms, but that's not what's going on here. I want you to tell me what's going on, why did the waitresses want you to make a pass at me."

Grace smiled sheepishly and said, "Well Mr. McKinny, you are about the closest thing to a celebrity we've had in a long time. Nothing ever happens in this town and then suddenly April Hunt is kidnapped, and you save her. That makes you the most exciting man that's come to this town and long time."

Steve looked at her and smiled, "That's not the whole story is it?"

Grace looked a little more comfortable, "For a woman, trying to compete against April Hunt is like trying to take Brad Pitt from Angelina Jolie. Princess April can have any man she wants and the fact that she came to your hotel room today tells all of us that she wants you."

Steve had a shocked look on his face. April's and his movements were under the intense scrutiny of the very active rumor mill and everybody knew his every move. Grace smiled a little bit more and said, "She's our version of the Royals and everyone tracks her movements like a hawk. Likewise, every woman here and wants to take a shot at besting April. If one of us could get the man that she wants, well, we would be a rock star in this town."

Grace leaned in closer and whispered, "None of us know what happened in the hotel room this afternoon, but everyone knew that April was shaken. She had gone into your room her arrogant spoiled self, but when she came out, she was just a girl. You're the only man that any of us had ever seen stand up to her and put her in her place."

"To all of us that means you're exceptionally special. You don't cave in to her rich beautiful persona and you're looking for something deeper. Like I said we don't know what happened, but it was something special and a lot of us are looking for special."

They sat together huddled in silence for a few seconds looking into each other's eyes until Steve lifted his hand and cupped her face. He swept his thumb gently across her cheek as he said, "Thank you, Grace for telling me all of this and for your bravery, but I'm only here for a couple of days. It wouldn't be fair to anyone if we should get involved."

Grace looked at him for a second with a look of astonishment on her face. "I can really see why April was so taken by you. You are a very strong, imposing and dominant man, but one that also has a sensitive side and knows how to treat a lady. It's very rare in these parts." Grace stared at him wistfully for a few seconds and Steve could tell she didn't want to give up on him yet.

Grace pulled her chair little bit closer pressing her breasts into his arm. She looked at him with her best adoring and impassioned look. Then in a seductively hopeful voice said, "If you change your mind you know where I am and I guarantee you'll never regret it if you come for me." She sat up straighter in her chair and in a more professional voice asked, "What would you like to eat Mr. McKinny?"

Steve sat up with all complements, but chose to only address her last question. "Grace, I'll leave that up to you. Bring me whatever your best dish is and thank you for talking to me."

Grace got up put her chair back where it belonged then went back to the kitchen with all the waitresses trailing wanting to know what happened. Steve nursed his beer for about a half-hour until Grace brought out a huge platter of food and a second beer. As she set the plate in front of him Steve noticed she had not buttoned up her blouse. The view allowed him a tantalizing glimpse at her small, but delicate and perky breasts.

Grace saw his eyes fixed on her chest and wiggled just a little bit to give him a better view. After their discussion the pressure was off and he was just a very nice guy that she enjoyed being around. When he finally looked back up into her eyes, she explained what the food was, "This massive piece of meat over here is actually a Bison rib. This piece on the side is barbecued Elk and the last piece is a bighorn sheep sausage. Then there is of course, the obligatory beans, toast and slaw."

Steve looked back up into Grace's eyes and said, "Thank you this looks very delicious and different." Steve's hand wrapped around Grace's shoulders and brought her face even closer. When she was close enough his lips brushed her cheek in an almost brotherly kiss. "Thank you for the honest conversation and genuine company."

Grace blushed a little bit as a huge grin split her face and she happily skipped away back to the kitchen. Steve dug in to the food with every bite being more incredible than the last. He definitely needed to put this on his list of fantastic restaurants. Everything was deliciously different, but with enough familiarity to make it comfort food.

Steve felt stuffed to the gills when he was finally finished and when Grace returned to ask about dessert he declined. When he asked for the check Grace told him there was none. He gave her a confused look then she told him that the Hunt family owned the restaurant and his meal was complimentary. He had no idea how much the meal should of cost, but he dropped two twenty-dollar bills on the table for Grace as he walked out.

Steve took a slow walk around the town noticing that most of the shops were beginning to close. He made a slow meandering walk back to the hotel and tried to sneak through one of the side doors in an effort to avoid the twins. He made it up to his room pausing only to grab all of his camera gear and exited to the parking area to find his car.

The drive to the Marfa was about 45 minutes and he was not in a hurry so he just moseyed through the streets until he got to the highway. His Road trip CD was still in the player and Sheena Easton's

Strut

was playing and while he liked the song, he wasn't in the mood right now. At the next red light, he sifted through his CD case and decided a Moody Blues compilation fit his mood right now. He popped it in just before the light turned green.

The strains of

Nights in White Satin

from The Moody Blues were in full swing as he turned onto highway 90 heading towards Marfa. Steve still had several hours before the Marfa lights were supposed to appear, so whenever he found a side road, he did a little exploring. He wound up getting several spectacular pictures of the mountains glowing in the sunset.

By the time he reached Marfa he was mellowed out and ready to see what the Marfa lights were all about. Steve followed the signs to the official viewing platform where supposedly the Marfa lights could be seen. There were three other cars there as he setup his tripod and camera and the other people there had cameras setup on tripods.

The Marfa lights appear a couple of hours after sunset and they were supposed to be these ghostly visions that float over the landscape. They appear to be balls of light roughly head high and could be white, yellow, red, orange and sometimes blue or green. They occur year-round and at different times of the night. The apparitions sometimes float across the landscape and other times they dart quickly from point-to-point.

The studies of the lights have found a correlation with the traffic on the nearby highway 67. Many have implied that it is some kind of reflection of car lights on the highway, but Steve thought they just made really interesting photos. With a long exposure on his camera they would paint themselves into different surreal pictures. They made lots of very cool pictures with lights flashing over the ghostly landscape and that's what Steve was hoping for.

In the waning hours after sunset as the time approached for the lights to appear, Steve saw a car approach the parking area. Strangely enough he didn't park in the area but stayed at least 100 to 200 yards away. Steve wondered if this is the local that knew better vantage point and started to wander over to that position. He was about half way to the other car when the lights began appearing and Steve rushed back to his camera. He began frantically taking several pictures and, in this case, he decided to use his new digital SLR camera instead of the film.

In the car parked at the back of the lot, was a gentleman that had his rifle and scope trained on Steve's back. The gentleman was still wearing his Stetson and ostrich Lucchese boots. When Steve started walking towards him, he was afraid he may just have to end it all right here. Fortunately, Steve turned back and he had time to ponder the situation.

His plan to discredit Steve as a kidnapper and woman abuser had not gone the way he wanted it to. The damn sheriff hadn't even locked him up for Christ sakes. If he couldn't discredit him then he needed to kill him. The discreditation action was cleaner and he had really hoped that would work, but it looked like it hadn't.

He rested his rifle on the passenger window sighting on Steve. He waited to see if some of the other photographers would leave before Steve did and sure enough one by one, they all left leaving Steve alone. Once everyone except Steve was gone, he began his shooting procedure. First sighting in, controlling his breathing and as he began to squeeze the trigger his cell phone vibrated in his pocket.

The vibration in his pants perked up the hackles on his neck and scared the tar out of him. He almost jerked on the trigger sending his bullet careening off into the distance. Fortunately, he pulled his finger away in time before the round went off. He pulled the rifle from the window and looked at his cell phone. The caller ID said it was the Holland hotel and so he answered it brusquely.

On the other end was a hushed female voice, "This is Consuelo, April just went up to Mr. McKinny's room. She bribed me to give her a key so she could wait for him in the room. What do you want me to do about it?"

He thought for a few minutes then said, "Let's let it play out Consuelo and see where this goes."

He ended the call, picked up his rifle and ejected around from his rifle. Slid the rifle back into the case and put it on the back seat of his car. He quickly turned the engine on and headed back towards Alpine. On the way back he began pondering what this new development meant and where he could go from here.