Free Burden Of Blood by Wenona Hulsey

motor.
     
    “Well are y’all going or staying?” Nicole asked as she revved the car up again making her point loud and clear.  Kat went around to the passenger side of the car to get in but Luke stood where he was.
     
    “I’m going into the police department to check for myself if anything has been done yet.  You have my number if you need me right?” Luke said as he reached out, touching Nicole’s shoulder.  His face was full of worry and something else but it was gone before Nicole could figure it out.  Maybe regret, but for what?  Was he upset that she had pushed him away?  Quickly she buried the thought in the back of her head because there were more important things to worry about.  Her personal life wasn’t even a blip on the radar right now.  Ha, who am I kidding!  What personal life ?
     
    “Ok, we’ll let you know if we find out anything and you do the same for us…. thanks Luke.” She put the Chevelle into gear and gunned it down the drive.
     
    *****
     
    Nicole had not said a word to Kat since they left the house.  She was still upset with both Luke and her over the scene in the front yard.  They are acting crazy as hell!  If it was Kat’s dad out there, she would have had me going door to door last night.  She thought as she tightened her grip on the Chevelle’s steering wheel and began urging the car faster down the winding country road.  After a few more miles of silence, Nicole let out a deep sigh then turned to face her friend.  The look on Kat’s face had Nicole laughing with tears in her eyes in an instant.  Kat’s eyes were as wide as saucers, she had one white-knuckled hand grasping the handle on the door and the other was pulling her seat belt as tightly as she could manage without cutting off the blood to lower half of her body.
     
    “Are you okay Kat?” Nicole snickered, barely containing her laughter.
     
    “Oh yes, just peachy…Would you slow the hell down, you’re gonna kill us!” She sneered at Nicole, not finding anything humorous in the situation.  Her brows were pinched together in a stern glare and her normally beautiful bronze skin was two shades lighter.
     
    Nicole glanced down at the dashboard noticing the reason for Kat’s state.  She was going eighty on a road with many hair-pin turns and a speed limit of forty.  She eased off the accelerator, shrugging her shoulders.  “The car handles good so it didn’t feel like I was going that fast.  Sorry Kat.” With a sigh, she focused her attention back on the road.
     
    “You know your dad’s gonna flip when he sees you’re driving his baby.” A mischievous smile crept over Kat’s face.  “You know, I think I’ll tell him you were treating her bad so he’ll ground the hell out of you.  You’ll be stuck in that pink fluffy room of yours for a month.” She started to giggle at her own joke as she playfully poked Nicole on the arm.  They laughed together at the image of a grown woman locked in her childhood room.
     
    Soon, they made their turn onto the road James would have taken on his way to the boat dock.  All smiles faded as they both went on high alert, looking for any sign of James or his truck.  They drove slowly down the narrow road, walled on each side by large pine trees.  Whenever a small trail would open up into the woods, Nicole would slow the car to a crawl so they could look for any clue the area had been used recently.  Each trail was meticulously checked with the same result - nothing.
     
    Before they realized it, they were pulling into the wide opening that housed the parking area for fishermen’s vehicles while they were out enjoying the lake.  It must have been a peak fishing day because the lot was packed and there were also several people fishing along the bank, surrounding the dock area.
     
    “Do you see his truck anywhere?” Kat asked hanging out of her window as they drove at a snail’s pace around the lot.
     
    “Not yet.” Nicole was starting to