Page 34 of Raging Inferno

“Dark hair, a mustache, and a beard. Glasses. Sharp dresser.”

Same description as Jessie’s.

“Oh, and he had a scar here.” She pointed from the corner of her mouth to her ear. “It looked nasty.”

Undeniably the same man. “Did he leave a way to contact him?”

“No. He said he wouldn’t be in the area long.”

A frisson of unease zipped through her nerves. Someone had been going around town, asking about her, and suddenly, the Cheerios had started dying one by one. Did it have something to do with her?

When Dominic returned, he made quick work of switching out the alarms, and then they said their goodbyes.

“It was so good to see you, Presley.” Tamera engulfed her, and Presley returned the embrace.

“If you change your mind, I’ll be at the funerals.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Chapter Seven

Tamera Watts tapped the almost-empty pack of Marlboros against her palm and shook loose a cigarette. She stuck it in her mouth with a shaky hand and lit the tip. It was a terrible habit she’d picked up almost twenty years ago. She’d found it was the only thing that calmed her nerves.

Tamera had been chain-smoking ever since she’d opened the door to find Presley Parrish standing on her porch. Pep. Goodness, she’d been hit with a wave of nostalgia at seeing her after all these years. She’d have been ecstatic if Presley hadn’t been bearing bad news. Nancy Baker was dead. First Margy, then Nancy. How was that possible?

Sometimes, it seemed like only yesterday when she, Margy, Nancy, Jessie, Charmaine, and Gwen had been best friends, hanging out and causing good trouble. They’d grown up together, from children to teenagers, through the good times and the bad. God, they’d had so much fun. Mostly, it felt as if it had happened to someone else.

Tamera glanced at the framed mirror on the wall and recoiled. Then she moved closer to stare in horror at the image reflected in the glass. Was that her face? She touched her cheek. Yep. Her. Good Lord, she’d aged significantly. She looked sixty instead of her late thirties. Wrinkled, sallow skin, thin, brittle hair, teeth stained brown with nicotine. No wonder Earl had left her. She was hideous.

Tamera sighed and sucked in another lungful of smoke. Presley had warned her to be careful. Did that mean she thought someone might come after her? Had the two women been murdered?

A loud peal rented the air, and she screamed, dropping her cigarette to the floor. She quickly stomped on it before it could light the cheap polyester rug on fire. She didn’t want to flambéherself like Margy and Nancy. Tamera winced at her callousness. They had been her friends once.

The noise sounded again, and she realized it was her cellphone. She fumbled for it on the desk and answered.

“Hello?”

“Tamera, it’s me.”

“Me, who—Jessie?Is that you?”

“Yes. Look, we need to talk.”

Tamera shook her head and realized Jessie couldn’t see the movement. “I-I can’t. I don’t have time. Sorry.”

“I’m in town now. Meet me at Davy’s on Canal Park Drive.”

“I said I can’t.”

“Tamera. Get here now.”

Jessie disconnected, and Tamera stared at her phone. Did she have the courage to see her old friend again after so many years? Once upon a time, they had been close, until their lives had been irrevocably altered. She had to admit she was considering it. It would be nice to have someone to talk to, especially one who had been through the trenches with her.

Tamera had been so jealous when she heard Jessie had married Sam King. At one time, Tamera had loved him. Then she’d heard stories of how he slept with anyone carrying two X chromosomes. Envy had morphed into pity.

What would Jessie think of Tamera now? She wasn’t the pretty cheerleader she’d once been. Would she make fun of her or laugh in her face? Only one way to find out.

Tamera grabbed her keys and headed to her car.

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