Forest of the Forbidden Read online

  I snorted. “Susan, admit it, you are nosy and it’s going to kill you if you don’t find out.”

  She laughed.

  “Just ask her. If she doesn’t want to tell you, she won’t,” I answered, walking down the hallway toward my bedroom.

  “True. God, it’s like one big soap opera.”

  “Speaking of soap operas,” I said. “My cousin Melody is missing.”

  “What?!”

  I reached into my dresser drawer and pulled out a new pair of white socks. “Yeah, I guess she went to Club Nightshade last night to see some band play.”

  “Ah... Venom. I’d heard they were playing last night.”

  “Venom?” I’d never even heard of the band.

  “They’re from Europe, and are really getting popular. That gal who owns Club Nightshade must have spent a fortune to get those guys to play in Shore Lake. I’ll bet the tickets were outrageous.”

  “Huh,” I replied, pulling my socks on. “Well, that’s who Melody went to go see last night. Nobody has heard from her since.”

  “Wow. Hey, I heard the main singer, Slade, is a total hunk. I’ve heard him on the radio. If he’s as sexy as that voice of his, I wouldn’t doubt if every girl in town was trying to get in to see him last night.”

  “That’s not good,” I replied. “I’m sure a popular band like Venom would attract some real weirdoes.” I sighed. “Great, now I’m worried about Melody.”

  “She’s really missing?”

  “Well, she never came home last night. I guess I don’t really know.”

  “Maybe she’s been partying or something. You told me before that Melody likes to drink.”

  “Yeah. That’s what I hope is happening. My aunt is freaking out, though. She says that Melody hasn’t returned her texts or phone calls.”

  “Is that normal?”

  “She usually returns her texts, I guess.”

  “Crap, that’s not a good sign.”

  “I know.”

  “Hey, do you want to go to the club and find out if anyone knows anything? I’d like to check the place out anyway. I still haven’t been there.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “How would we even get in to that place? Tuesdays are Teen-Nights, right? It’s Friday.”

  “You forget – I have a fake I.D.”

  I grunted. “You know, I think everyone has one of those but me.”

  “Eh... it’s not like I use it very much. Curt Hammer made it for me last summer, after he forgot his credit card at home and couldn’t pay for his meal.”

  “So, you have a fake I.D. How am I supposed to get in?”

  She sucked in her breath. “I know... I know... you can use Katie’s! I still have hers because she’s been too damn chicken to use it. Hold on, I have it in my nightstand somewhere,” she said. “I talked Curt into making one for her, too. Yep, here it is. Wow, seriously, now that I look at the picture, I just know you could pass for her. No problem.”

  Katie was a girl Susan had graduated with last year, one I’d never met. I bit my lower lip. “I don’t know if this is such a good idea.”

  She groaned. “Come on, it’ll be fun. We don’t even have to drink anything; we’ll just ask questions. See if anyone remembers her. You’re the one who’s going to school to become a Private Investigator, right?”

  “A Forensic Investigator.”

  “Whatever. You know what I mean. Come on, Chelsey, let’s do it! The movie can wait.”

  I had to admit, it was an intriguing idea. “Well, maybe we can just stop in for a little while.”

  “Yes!” she said. “Like I said, I’ve been meaning to check the place out, but couldn’t find anyone to go with me.”

  “Great, now I know the real reason you suggested it.”

  “Chelsey! It’s not just that. I want to make sure Melody is okay, too,” she protested. “You know me.”

  “I know,” I replied, although I also knew that she and Melody had never really gotten along. But Susan was my friend and had a good heart.

  “Oh, I have to find something else to wear. I don’t want to look like a slob. I’m sure there will be some totally hot guys in that place.”

  “I’m not dressing up,” I said, looking down at my jeans and sweater. “Just so you know.”

  “That’s fine. You know what... I’m not dressing up either. Screw it.”

  “What time should I pick you up?”

  “Seven. I’m sure there will be a line to get in.”

  “Okay,” I said. “I’ll see you then.”

  “Cool. I can’t wait to check that place out. Who knows, maybe Melody will be back there.”

  “Maybe,” I said, although there was a knot in my stomach telling me otherwise.

  * * *

  Chapter Four

  Chelsey

  When I pulled up to Susan’s house and she got into the passenger side of my car, I smiled wryly. “Not dressing up, huh?”

  Tossing her light brown hair, she grinned. “If we’re going to be ‘undercover’, I figured I’d better play the part.”

  “We’re not actually ‘undercover’,” I said. “We’re just... investigating.”

  She pouted. “Yeah, but it’s more fun pretending that we’re ‘undercover’.”

  “Well, I guess in a way we are ‘undercover’,” I replied in amusement. “I mean we’ll be using fake I.D.s.”

  “Which reminds me...” She unzipped her black purse. “Here,” she said, handing me a Montana state driver’s license. “This is you.”

  I looked at the picture and my eyes widened. “This says I’m five foot eight.”

  She bit her lower lip. “You didn’t happen to wear heels, did you?”

  “Even with heels I’m not even close. Dang it.” I tapped my forehead against the steering wheel a couple of times. “Susan,” I said, turning to her. “I hope to God we don’t get arrested for this. My parents would kill me!”

  “Relax; they’re not even going to look at your height or weight. All they care about is the year on the license.”

  “Let’s hope so.” I looked at the girl in the photo again. I had to admit, she did look similar to me. Sighing, I slipped the I.D. into the front pocket of my jeans. “I just hope they don’t quiz me or anything.”

  “You worry too much. Trust me, they won’t.”

  I pulled out of her driveway. “Famous last words.”

  Giggling, she flipped down the visor and applied lip gloss. She rubbed her lips together and then flipped the visor back up. “You’re so paranoid.”

  “You should be, too. We’re breaking the law, and obviously, if we get caught, we’re screwed.”

  “Nah,” she said, slipping the tube of lip gloss back into her purse. “We won’t. Nothing interesting ever happens to me. The highlight of my day is counting my tips after I’m done working.”

  “I wouldn’t call going to jail interesting.”

  “You know what I mean. There is nothing exciting about my life. At least, not at the moment. My job is boring, my clothes are boring, and my love life is also freaken’ boring.”

  It was like déjà vu. I’d pretty much told my mother the same thing earlier.

  “Your clothes aren’t boring,” I replied, glancing at her sparkly silver sweater and black skirt.

  She smirked. “Yeah, it’s because I borrowed the outfit from my forty-year-old mother. How lame is that?”

  I laughed. “Well, your mom has great taste in clothes.”

  “She’s single. Single women usually do.”

  “You’re single, what’s your excuse?” I teased.

  She slugged me playfully. “Bitch.”

  “I’m just giving you crap. I’m wearing jeans and a plain old sweater. It’s not exactly exciting either.”

  “You’re pretty, though,” she replied. “You could wear anything and the guys wouldn’t notice because of those eyes.”

  “My eyes?”

  “Yeah. You’ve got cat-eyes.”

  “Really?
” I asked, glancing at them in the rearview mirror.

  “I’ve told you a million times, your eyes are wicked.”

  “Thanks,” I replied. “Although I have to admit, ever since Billy Santino said that my eyes freaked him out in the fourth grade, I’ve been kind of self-conscious about them.”

  She snorted. “Please...Billy Santino had a crush on you since the first grade. Your eyes didn’t freak him out, girlfriend. He just had it bad for you. Always did.”

  I had to stop my jaw from dropping. Billy had actually turned out to be pretty hot. Well, annoying as all hell, but definitely drool-worthy. “What? How do you know that?”

  “Because he told me. Told me he’d always wanted to ‘tap Chelsey’s ass’.”

  “Tap my ass?” I burst out laughing. “You’re kidding me?”

  “I know... what a pig, huh?”

  “I’d say, but seriously, I had no idea he was interested in me.”

  “That’s because he thought you hated him,” she replied. “I talked to him at the diner about a year ago and he told me that you used to glare at him all the time in the halls at your school.”

  I snorted. “I’m sure I did, because of the comment he’d made about my eyes!”

  She laughed.

  “Anyway, I would have never gone out with him. Heck, he cheated on Sandy Mayer during the last two years of high school, when they were dating.”

  “Did he really? Well, if I remember she was a royal bitch. She probably deserved it.”

  “Nobody deserves it,” I said, although Sandy had been a real snob and we’d never actually gotten along.

  Maybe it was because she knew her boyfriend wanted to tap my ass, I thought, stifling a giggle.

  “They were made for each other,” she said. “They’ll probably get married, have babies, and he’ll cheat on her with bathroom whores at Teddy’s, when he’s supposed to be working late.”

  Teddy’s was a seedy strip joint, just outside of Beaver Creek, and known for having broken up a lot of marriages. Rumor had it that many of the strippers would do anything for a twenty, and the place was always packed.

  “Yeah, I’ll bet you’re right there,” I replied, pushing Billy out of my mind. I turned on the radio and scrolled through the stations until I found a new song by Maroon Five that I really liked.

  Susan reached over, turned it up louder, and began singing with Adam Levine. “He’s so hot,” she said, as the song ended. “I need to buy one of his CDs.”

  “Yeah, I love his voice. Uh, here we are,” I said, pulling into the parking lot of the nightclub. I’d driven by it a couple of times on my way to Susan’s, but hadn’t given the place much thought until the last few hours. Now that the mirrored building was lit up with strobe and fluorescent lighting, it was pretty impressive, especially for such a small town in the middle of Montana. “Looks pretty... swanky.”

  Susan fluffed her hair as we parked. “I heard this place gets nuts after midnight.”

  I turned off the engine. “Since it’s one of the only clubs around, that doesn’t surprise me.”

  She unbuckled her seatbelt and grabbed her purse. “You ready?”

  “I guess so.” I looked at the building again and a knot formed in the pit of my stomach. “You sure we won’t get caught?”

  She opened the car door and got out. “Just act confident and you’ll be fine. Come on.”

  I slid out of the car and locked the doors. “Okay,” I replied, trying not to chicken-out. She’d obviously done something like this before at other bars, so she knew what she was doing.

  Clutching my purse tightly, we walked to the front door and found that there wasn’t a line yet.

  “Slow night?” asked Susan, handing the bouncer her I.D.

  “It’s early,” he replied, looking at the fraudulent card.

  “True. I know it gets pretty crazy here at night.”

  He didn’t reply.

  I stared at him nervously as he looked over her fake I.D. His nametag read “Honi”, and he was bald with a spider web tattoo that wrapped around his neck, and had muscles the size of coconuts on each arm. When he looked up, his dark eyes went directly to mine.

  I smiled innocently.

  “You’re next, Cupcake,” he said, handing Susan back her I.D.

  Cupcake?

  I cleared my throat and handed him the I.D., our fingers brushing. His skin was unnaturally cool, even for October, and the brief contact gave me the chills.

  He smiled a big, toothy grin. “You nervous?” he asked, his eyes glittering in the darkness.

  “No,” I answered, trying to look confident, although I was almost peeing my pants.

  He glanced down at the I.D. and then back at me. “Your I.D. doesn’t do you justice, Cupcake.” He smiled and handed me back the I.D. “You’re much better looking in person.”

  “Uh, thanks,” I replied, my face turning two shades of pink.

  “You two, behave,” he said. “Or we’ll have to get the whips out, and you don’t want that.”

  My eyes widened. “Whips?”

  He chuckled and looked at Susan. “She always this gullible?”

  Susan smirked. “Only after dark.”

  His face became serious. “That’s when you have to be the most careful,” he said. “Especially in this place. Pomaika`i, ladies.”

  My eyes widened. “What does that mean?”

  “Good luck.”

  His words made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. “Oh.”

  “Uh, thanks,” replied Susan, grabbing my arm and pulling me away.

  I glanced over my shoulder and noticed that he was still watching us.

  * * *

  Chapter Five

  Chelsey

  “That was weird,” said Susan, handing the coat-check girl her jacket.

  “I know. But at least he didn’t say anything about the I.D.s,” I whispered.

  She slung her purse over her shoulder. “Exactly. Told you everything would be cool.”

  I looked down the hallway leading to the dance area. It was dark and the music was so loud, it made my teeth vibrate. “You ready?” I asked, feeling anxious now that we were inside of the club.

  “Yeah. Should we get a drink?”

  “I’m just drinking soda,” I said, wanting to keep a clear head. I’d had a half-can of beer once, and even that had made me dizzy.

  “Suit yourself,” she said. “But I’m having a Cosmopolitan. I’ve always wanted to try one.”

  “What is that?”

  “It’s a martini.”

  “Oh.”

  She looped her arm through mine and walked me toward the bar. “We’re undercover, remember? We need to play the part.”

  “I can still do that without booze,” I said. “Not everyone drinks alcohol here, I’m sure.”

  “Fine, I’ll just tell everyone you’re my sober-cab.”

  “Great idea.”

  When we entered the main part of the club, I froze in my tracks, amazed at how big the place actually was. Not only did it have two floors, but on the first level, there was an expansive oval bar already crowded with customers, and a dance floor nearby that rivaled my old high school gymnasium. Next to the dance floor was a stage with music equipment from Venom still set up.

  “Look.” I pointed at the stage. “I wonder if they’re playing again?”

  “The club would have charged us an arm-and-a-leg to get in,” she replied. “Venom doesn’t play for free.”

  “I suppose. Too bad. We might have gotten information from them. About Melody.”

  “Chances are we wouldn’t have been able to get close to the band, even if they had been playing tonight. I’m sure their security is tight.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure you’re right.”

  A new hip-hop song began to play. “Come on,” hollered Susan as the volume increased. “Let’s get a drink.”

  I followed her to the bar, still paranoid that we were going to get caught and land in jail.
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  “Well, hello there,” said a hot bartender with light brown hair, green eyes, and a lazy smile. “Looks like we have some fresh blood here this evening. Excellent. So, what’s it going to be, lovely ladies?”

  Susan smiled. “I’ll have a Cosmopolitan.”

  “Great choice,” he turned to me. “And what about you? Same?”

  I shook my head and ordered a diet soda.

  “Sure you don’t want to add a little rum for fun?” he asked, leaning forward with a twinkle in his eyes.

  “No, that’s okay.”

  “Suit yourself,” he replied, and then began mixing Susan’s drink.

  “So, Brian,” said Susan, staring at his nametag. “I heard Venom was playing last night. Did they put on a good show?”

  “It was phenomenal,” he said, shaking her martini in a silver decanter. “Too bad you missed it.”

  “Why is their equipment still here?” I asked, nodding toward the stage. “Are they going to play again?”

  A guy standing next to me wearing a long, black, leather jacket turned around. He had dark hair and eyes so blue, they looked like tinted contacts. “Sorry to interrupt,” he said. “They are actually playing a song tonight. Just one.”

  “Really?” I asked, perking up.

  “Yep,” replied the stranger. “It’s the club owner’s birthday and he’s going to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to her.”

  “That’s awesome,” I replied, handing Brian a twenty-dollar bill. “Does she know?”

  “No,” he smirked. “So, keep it hush-hush or, I’ll have to kill you.”

  Susan snorted. “Really, Ethan? You seriously think that old line is funny?”

  My head whipped around. “You know him?” I mouthed.

  “Susan, humor is not one of my strong-points, which is why I never attempt it.”

  Brian burst out laughing. “Leave it to Ethan to try and freak out the ladies. Don’t listen to him, he loves messing with young girls.”

  “So, I’ve heard,” replied Susan, taking a sip of her drink. She licked her lips and set the glass back on the bar. “I’d also heard that you left town, Ethan.”

  He took a sip from what appeared to be a Bloody Mary. “Is that right. From who?”