Eleven Days: An Unexpected Love (28 page)

Mike stood in front of the fire staring at lies
with
in it.
His
eyes sparkled
against
the glow of the flames.
With
a poker in one hand and
his
other hand holding on to the mantle
was
a sight to see. Now and then he
would
poke a little at the fire and a few sparks
flew around in a circle
then fizz
ed
out, screaming a
his
sing sound as they go. He
seemed to be
mesmerized.

Watching him,
she
couldn't resist putting
her
arms around him and giving him a big hug.

He reciprocated the gesture
with
zeal, along
with
a kiss.

She
noticed how gentle he always
seemed to be
with
her
. Once he got used to
her
she
hoped he
would
get a little feistier.
She
was
n't a china doll and
she
would
n't break. Even when he held
her
hand he
tried to be
gentle.

After a few seconds of kissing, he asked
her
. "How long do we have before the potatoes are done?"

"About two hours,"
she
answered know
ing why he asked. The same idea grew
in
her
own
mind and body.

Mike walked over to the stereo and played some soft music. He easily moved the heavy coffee table to the side. He smiled at
her
, held out
his
hand and asked. "
Would
you like to dance?"

"Oh yes!"
She
knew Mike didn't know t
his
, but
she
loved to dance. There were many women who
would
find t
his
gesture romantic.
Lana
found
his
spontaneity a turn on, better than foreplay. It couldn't get any better than t
his
.

They swayed back and forth interlocking their fingers. Along
with
the songs came kissing, and
with
the kissing came taking off the clothes. After several songs, and nearly all their clothes off, Mike picked
her
up and carried
her
to their bedroom.

He finished undressing
her
with
rhythm of the music. He never lost eye contact as they swayed to the music flesh touching flesh.

*****

In each other's arms, they lay content and drained.

Mike drifted off to sleep.

Lana
wanted to sleep, but
she
had to cook dinner.
She
wished they
would
have ordered pizza or grabbed chicken.
She
lay next to Mike as long as
she
possibly could. Quietly
she
crept out of bed and went to the bathroom and put on one of Mike's t-shirts. It
seemed really
cold in there and
she
looked around to find the source. The window
was
cracked, maybe an inch.
She
gasped! Fear rose in
her
beyond anything
she
knew before and s
he
could hardly breathe.
Was
someone in the house
with
them? Oh God!
She
could feel
her
heart pounding in
her
throat.
She
was
terrified.
She
tried to focus.
She
tried to think. Get Mike, he'll know what to do.

She
ran and jumped on the bed, b
reathing sporadic
ally
. "Mike, get up someone's in the house."

He
tried
to understand
why she was so upset.
He
rubbed
his
eyes,
groggy from sleeping. "Babe
calm down, what makes you think
someone is in the house?" He sat up in bed trying to focus.

"The bathroom window is unlocked and cracked. Go look for yourself. I noticed it
how cold in there and
I saw it open,"
she
said
with
a trembling voice.

When he heard
her
fear, he knew
the severity of it all.
He felt the panic through
her
voice. Mike tried to console
her
. "Honey, I left it open after my shower t
his
morning before we left. I always open
the window when I shave."

"Mike, I closed and locked it before we left, and
that
was
after you were done in the bathroom. Please get your gun and look,"
she
begged him.

Her
shaking body and throbbing veins in
her
throat told him the seriousness of
her
fear. He quickly put on some boxers.

"Mike, think about it, the light
was
on in the kitchen. Do you think
that
was
a coincident?"

"No, I don't." He got
his
gun out of its holster an
d walked to the back door
.
The back door
was
unlocked and ajar. In the patches of snow he could see footprints. Mike stood there in disbelief. He knew
he locked the
back door
before they left the house, and when he
walked through the house
after they got home
. How did he get in
the house
?
His
face turned white. "Come on and let's get dressed, we're getting out of here." Mike grabbed
his
phone and immediately called the police.

While he
was
on the phone
Lana
motioned
she
would
take
out the potatoes. Mike nodded okay.

As
she
turned on the light
she
screamed for Mike.

Mike ran in the kitchen holding
his
gun
down to
his
side
. "What's the matter?"

Lana
pointed at the counter
with
a trembling hand. "Look,"
she
said
with
weak voice
,
barely audible.

The steak
lied
on the counter
with
a knife stuck through it.

He couldn't believe
his
eyes. Someone
was
in t
his
house when he made love to
his
Lana
. He wanted to kill him. He wanted to go outside and find him, make him pay. But he couldn't leave
her
, not when
she
was
so terrified
. "Honey let's get dressed and wait for the police. I'm going to search every inch of t
his
house. I want you to stay behind me."

"Okay."

Mike checked every nook and cranny.
She
felt relieve when
she
saw the
police lights coming down the road.
She
was
so relieved the
adrenaline crash made
her
weak and
she
had to sit down
on the couch
.

Police cars rushed to the house and
Lana
could hear them skid on the gravel as they came to an abrupt stop. There were several cars and the lights lit up the entire street. Detec
tive Paul Quentin, called Quent
was
the lead detective and
they were
good friends
with
Mike.

Mike met him at the door. When
Lana
followed Mike, he motioned for
her
to stay in the house. "Hey Quent, thanks for coming out, I appreciate how quickly you got here," Mike said as he shut the front door behind him.

Staying in
was
a relief for
Lana
.
Her
body shook
so bad
she
went and s
tood in front of the fire, trying to calm down
her
nerves
.
Reflecting back the last twenty minutes,
she
couldn't remember everything.
She
always heard about people being in traumatic situations and not remembering, whether it
might
be
a rape,
car crash, or someone dying. The last thought
remembered was the cold
feeling, after
that
,
she
could only remember seeing white spots. Fear consumed
her
. When James died
she
remembered everything. But
that
was
sorrow not fear. One thought that kept
her
fearful.
What if Mike
would
n't have been there?
That
thought made
her
shake even more.

Police were everywhere,
outside and
inside
dusting for prints
.
She
didn't know what to do
with
herself so
she
decided to pack. While
she
was
in the bedroom
she
heard
some men talk
outside the bedroom window.
She
peeked out and
Detective Quentin and Mike pointed
to
something on
the wall. CSI were everywhere and
she
noticed they
cast some
footprints
in the snow
.

After twenty minutes Mike stuck
his
head in the living room. "Babe, are you ready to go?"

"Yes, I'm more than ready."

Mike reached for the suitcase and he waved to a few of
the officers as they walked to
his
truck
. He put the suitcase in the passenger's seat and
Lana
slid in the middle.

*****

Nothing
was
said for a couple of miles. "Mike, what were you doing on the wall outside the bedroom?"

At first, Mike didn't want to answer. He told Quent it could wait until they left. Quent insisted the evidence had to be processed immediately. They had no way of knowing
if it
would
rain or snow. Collecting evidence
was
imperative to gather as soon as possible. He took a deep breath before answering
her
. "Whoever
came to
the house masturbated on the wall outside the bedroom window?"

A wave a panic swept through
her
. Even though law enforcement
was
n't
h
er
field,
she
imagined why
he
would
be
there. "
That
's disgusting, does
that
mean he
watched
..."
she
pause
d to swallow.
"... and listened
?"