From The Dead by John Herrick Page A

Saturday
night. The swerve snapped Jesse’s head backward and pinned it
against the headrest.
    “I could’ve driven and avoided breaking my neck,” he
quipped.
    Humorless, Jada didn’t break her concentration. She
shook her head but didn’t need to say a word.
    No, they wouldn’t dare take his car to where they
headed tonight. After all, someone might see Jada climb out of a
car worth a mere half of its original—and affordable— retail
value.
    She extinguished her cigarette in the ashtray, where
she left it to smolder in ferocious defeat.
    By day, Jesse marveled at the high hills of foliage
and bare, clay-colored land that sat in royal loftiness overhead.
Even now, under the cover of night, he caught their silhouettes,
which surrounded the freeway. He and Jada whizzed through Simi
Valley on their way to Heights, a nightclub located on the bluffs
above. When she’d heard a rumor that a group of trendy young actors
frequented the venue on Saturday nights, Jada had jumped to follow
suit and network with them. From Jesse’s perspective, her actions
had to be considered borderline stalking, but he had grown
accustomed to her erratic behavior by now. Beyond the connections,
she craved the air of importance that accompanied her mental
Rolodex.
    “Do me a favor,” she said. “If we catch them there,
let me do the talking. Go refresh my drink, okay?”
    Jesse continued to stare out the window into the
night.
    “And don’t stick with beer like you usually do,” Jada
continued. “If you see what they’re drinking from a distance, try
to mimic it.” She smacked the steering wheel. “Oh, whatever you do,
don’t mention to anyone here that you’re an extra who works
part-time in a camera shop, okay? I don’t need to look like a loser
tonight.”
    “Do you ever listen to the way your words sound when
you—“
    “I think Dale’s going to be there, by the way.”
    Jesse drummed his fingers against his leg. “Why is
that guy a sudden fixture in our lives?”
“Come on, we went through this already,” Jada sighed. “He’s a
friend from work. Why are you so touchy about it?”
    “You didn’t mention why he keeps showing up in odd
places. I ran into him at the apartment when he picked up a script
the other day.”
    “He enjoys advising films rather than practicing
medicine.”
    “Oh, of course.”
    He wasn’t in the mood to argue. Unknown to Jada, he
hadn’t gotten out of bed after she left the apartment that morning.
He didn’t want to. As sunlight poured into the room, he buried
himself under the sheets. The hours passed, and when he checked the
clock, it was four in the afternoon. That scared the hell out of
him and urged him out of bed before Jada could find out.
    Jada checked her lipstick in the rearview mirror.
“And try to act like you haven’t been fucked up in the head the
past few weeks, okay?”
    What a fool he was. This woman didn’t love him. And
without her, he had nothing left.
    Jada continued to talk, but Jesse zoned out and
retreated into himself.
    * * *
    Jada left her BMW with the valet at the front of the
building. Together, she and Jesse walked through Heights’s lobby
and into a large room filled with patrons. On occasion, the club
rented its facilities to wedding parties as a reception site, with
the ceremony held on the patio outside, which overlooked the valley
and its scores of traffic.
    In one corner of the room, a light flashed behind a
DJ, whose music throbbed throughout the venue and screamed into
Jesse’s ears.
    Jada leaned over and shouted, “See anyone
familiar?”
    Jesse scanned the room. He wanted no part of the
crowd tonight but determined to mask it.
    When he failed to spot a celebrity presence, he shook
his head.
    “I’ll see what I can find out,” Jada said. “Go get me
a martini.”
    Despite its size, the room had a snug ambience. A
series of semi-transparent curtains adorned the walls. Their fabric
dropped down to serve as partitions between otherwise open,