Sparks Will Fly
Sparks in Time

Excerpt

I’d just gotten out of a cold, relaxing, well-needed shower when the telephone rang. With a towel tightly wrapped around my hair, I ran into the living room and grabbed the receiver on the fourth ring.
“Hello?” Already out of breath, I collapsed onto the couch.
“Rhi?” Lexi sounded skeptical. “Why are you panting? Did I call at a bad time? Do you have some hot specimen tied up in your room?”
She wished! I laughed hysterically at her suggestion, which couldn’t have been further from the truth. Lexi would’ve probably done something that crazy, but not me. I, Rhiannon Faith Richardson, aka Modest Mary, would never commit such an act. Just the thought made me blush, even when I sat alone in my own house.
“Yeah, Lex, you know me, Miss Tie Me Up And Spank Me Senseless!”
Her turn to laugh. “You’re a nut!”
“No, I’m exhausted.” I sighed and closed my eyes.
“How many tonight?”
“Four. Tomorrow, I’m going for five.”
“You’re insane. I couldn’t run a mile if my life depended on it.”
“It’s called metabolism, Lex. I’ve worked hard to get to this point. It’s a lifestyle. You like men, I like exercise.”
She laughed again. “See, I don’t understand that. Don’t you have needs? Aren’t you interested in men at all?”
“I’m not as free as you are, okay. I lack your confidence. Of course, I like men. What in the hell does that mean?”
“It means you don’t ever go out, Rhi. You need to go on a date, put on something slutty and cut loose at a bar for once in your life. Flirt with men that aren’t your type, just to prove you can.”
“That’s just ridiculous.”
“No, it’s just fun, which you have forgotten all about since you got this job.”
“Don’t say that. I’m fun. I’m just really trying to be successful. I have all these dreams, and playing won’t get them to come true.”
“Yeah, yeah. I get it. All work and no play. Let’s put all that aside for the umpteenth time. I have something to ask of you.”
“What?” I got a little nervous.
She always went to the extreme. I never knew what to expect from her and assumed that had been what drew me in all these years.
“I have someone I’d like you to meet. His name is Corey, and he works for True Star Cable.”
“And you know this person how?” I wedged the phone between my cheek and the couch then crossed my arms to wait for what would surely be an interesting story.
“He came to install my satellite dish this afternoon.”
I figured he’d be another stray. Lexi picked up men like she ran a halfway house for hotties or something. Obviously, she’d slept with a lot of guys, but that was a completely subjective statement since I considered three partners to be a lot. That tiny number pretty much proved my inexperience in the men department.
Lost for words, I sat there thinking about what she’d just said.
“Rhi? Are you still there?”
“Let me get this straight.” I tried to keep an open mind and not offend her. “You want me to go out with some random guy you’ve known for ten minutes.” My calm tone disappeared. “Are you kidding me? How unlikely is that?”
“Actually, it’s a done deal. I already told him you’d go. He had a friend with him named Ace, and oh my God the guy was smokin’ hot, Rhi. I worked out a double date.”
Her voice sounded so excited. How could I crush her hopes by not going?
“Fine.”
She squealed like a teenager. Being thirty, I hadn’t squealed like that about anything in a very long time. Lexi and I were the same age actually, but she definitely made me feel younger than my age and that happened to be another thing on the list of things that drew me to her.
“You are really gonna like this guy, Rhi. I promise. He’s got really dark brown hair, almost black and iridescent eyes. I swear one minute they looked green and the next sort of gray. He’s tall and tan and just perfect for you.”
“How do you figure that? I’m plain Jane ordinary, and he sounds exotic and mysterious.”
“Quit degrading yourself. You have the perfect body, the perfect hair, the perfect face. I’d love to have your natural beauty.”
I started feeling skeptical. “If he’s so hot and perfect, why aren’t you going out with him?”
“Because he didn’t ask me. Ace did.”
That made sense but really made me think. “So basically Ace beat him to it?”
“Actually, I don’t think Corey had any interest in me. He said hello but never really made an effort to talk to me. Believe me, I tried.”
I pictured her signature moves, tossing hair and giggling. Men seemed to love that about her. Unfortunately, I’d never mastered the art of flirting therefore sucked at it.
“So, what’s the plan? When and where?” Already, I felt nauseous.
“Saturday night, seven o’clock at Loca Lina’s.”
Being one of my favorite restaurants, I didn’t object to the location.
“Sounds good. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I’m hitting the sack.” I sighed.
“You’re such an old lady, Rhi.”
“Thanks.”
She laughed. “Bye.”
I lay there for a few minutes, just staring at the ceiling. Goose bumps spread across my arms, reminding me I hadn’t put clothes on yet. Quickly, I grabbed my bathrobe from a hook on back of the bathroom door then tied it tightly and went to the kitchen for a glass of water.
There were several sounds, like car doors from the front of my house. Discreetly, I peeked out the blinds on the bay window. Thankfully, my driveway looked empty, but across the street, it looked like party time.
Several figures moved around in the yard. I couldn’t make out their gender but assumed they were male considering that house had a reputation for the ladies of the night. Lots of times, I’d sit in my house with the lights off wondering what went on over there. I’d watch out the window at the heavy traffic through there.
My grandmother left me the house I lived in. She died several years prior, after I had moved in to take care of her. The neighborhood had been really nice back in the day but recently thugs over ran that area.
Jolted from thought by gunshots, my eyes were wide with shock. Did someone get shot? Should I call 9-1-1? I took a deep breath and kneeled down on the floor to continue my observation. Right before my eyes, a man stumbled from the porch. The street light gave me a better view.
He wore a dark colored long sleeved shirt and jeans. Both hands were grasping at his chest as he staggered toward the driveway. His head turned toward my house, as if he could see me. Before I could duck out of sight, his glowing eyes caught mine. It was the weirdest thing, but I didn’t have time to think about it because he kept moving and just as he reached for the handle of a parked truck, another figure appeared from the shadows behind him.
To my horror, the second person took two steps forward, lifted his right arm and fired another round into the already injured guy. My whole body jerked like an electrocution, as the victim fell to the ground. Before I could react, the shooter looked up toward the sky, spread his arms wide and practically growled like an animal. That’s when I saw one of his arms was shorter than the other. It looked like it stopped at the elbow. Maybe he’d lost it in an accident or something. I didn’t ponder long because he too looked right at me with the same shining eyes and pointed to me, then he ran off into the shadows between two houses.
I was utterly in shock by then. My eyes darted straight back to the lifeless body left behind and saw a bright spark shoot into the air. The entire block illuminated like at a bonfire. It was so bright I couldn’t look, but within seconds, the body engulfed in flames and disappeared.
In a daze, I blinked several times then it hit me. Gasping, I dropped to the floor.
“Oh my God, Oh my God!” Unsure what to do, I crawled across the floor and grabbed the phone. Shakily, I had to dial 9-1-1 twice because I hit the wrong buttons the first time.
“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” The dispatcher asked.
“Someone’s been shot!” My panicked voice didn’t even sound familiar.
“Okay, ma’am calm down. What’s the address?”
“8210 Market Street.” I couldn’t think straight.
“Is the person a man or woman?”
“Man, I think?”
“You think?” She sounded skeptical. “Is he breathing?”
“I don’t know. I’m across the street.” And he spontaneously combusted without leaving so much as an ash. I didn’t tell her that because she’d think I was a lunatic. I thought I was a lunatic. No way had I seen that.
That woman must be frustrated by my answers. I would’ve been. Eventually, we hung up and within minutes, I heard sirens. My whole body shook with fear. Had I just witnessed a murder? I didn’t dare look out the window again, but remained seated on my couch, huddled underneath a fuzzy blanket, thinking about what I’d witnessed.