Page 86 of Between the Lines

“That’s good thinking, Chaos.”

“I’ll have a more thoughtful analysis of them tomorrow.” I then look at the road we’re driving on. I haven’t been in LA for many weeks, but even I know we’re not on the familiar boulevard journeying back toward Bel Air. We’re climbing higher up the mountain drive instead.

“Where are we headed?”

Aiden taps his fingers against the wheel again. “There’s a place I want to show you.”

CHAPTER 32

AIDEN

The winding road climbs up the Santa Monica mountains that ring the Westside, separating Los Angeles from the Valley beyond. Charlotte shifts in the seat beside me, looking out the window.

“We’re heading higher?”

“Yes, we are.”

There’s a smile in her voice. “I feel like I’ve really seen your LA.”

“My LA.”

“Yes. Mansion in Bel Air. Your Culver City office, and Rodeo Drive for shopping, and dinner at Velveteen in Beverly Hills.”

“There’s no reason to ever leave the Westside,” I say.

She chuckles. “Yeah. I’m learning that.”

I tap my fingers against the wheel again. Something about her characterization doesn’t quite ring true. Or maybe it does, and that’s why it chafes.

“I like being out of the city more,” I hear myself saying.

“Yeah? Where?”

“National parks in Utah, in particular.”

She’s quiet, and then sighs a little. “Yeah. They’re great. I’ve been wondering about that, actually.”

“Wondering about what?”

“You were there to camp and hike. You do that a lot?”

“As often as I can. That, or being out on the water. There are beautiful places around here.” It’s been weeks since I was last out in the wild. Joshua Tree, Sequoia National Park, the Catalina Islands. They are all within reach.

“There are,” she says. “I haven’t explored the national parks around here as much.”

I glance at her. We could keep driving. Be in Joshua Tree in a few hours. The wild impulse takes me a few seconds to tamp down.

“You will,” I tell her instead.

She looks around. The incline is getting even steeper as I drive around curves in the road. “Where are we heading?”

“Mulholland Drive.”

“Oh. I’ve heard of that street.”

I turn onto it a few minutes later. It’s a curving snake of a road, nestled high up in the mountains, and mostly deserted this time of night. I rarely have cell reception up here. That might be my favorite part of driving out this way.

To the left of us is the sprawling cityscape, peeking out from between a few trees. It’s quickly hidden again behind a large estate. But not for long.

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