Eleven Days: An Unexpected Love (29 page)

"I don't know, but I'm assuming he did."

"Oh God, what the hell is going on around here? Mike, please be honest
with
me,
was
t
his
from the men who delivered the wood? Surely t
his
can't be a coincidence."

"Here's the honest answer. I know it doesn't have anything to do
with
the men who delivered the wood. They're in jail. There were several footprints in the snow and since it snowed today, it has to be someone else. We'll let the police do their investigation and we'll know more when they're finished."

Chapter 20

9:45 p.m.

"Where are we going?"
She
asked.

"I called a friend and we're going to Hull, to
his
beach house. He has a beach rental.
His
name is Raymond Smith and I work
with
him. He offered
his
place tonight so we'll have a safe place to stay."

She
couldn't get the vision out of
her
mind. "Someone
stood outside the
house
and watched
us make love. Mike do you know how violated I feel? Doesn't
that
bother you?"
She
suddenly felt
desperately sick to
her
stomach. "Mike please pull over, I'm going to be sick."

By
her
reaction he knew he had to hurry, he slammed on
his
brakes and the truck slid to a stop and just in time.
She
jumped out of the truck and didn't make it ten feet before
she
heaved. Since
her
stomach was empty a
ll
she
could do was
dry heave
.
The pain in
her
head only heightened every time
she
heaved.

"Honey, what can I do?"

She
cried and threw up at the same time letting
her
emotion
s got the best of
her
. "N
othing
,
I
'm sorry I got sick." Tears ran down
her
cheek
.
She
knew none of t
his
was
Mike's fault. The whole thing
seemed
unbelievable to
her
.
She
led a simple life at home and all t
his
was
more than
she
bargained for and
her
stomach
told
her
that
.

"Honey we'll stop someplace and get something in your stomach. How does
that
sound?"

She
stood up and took a deep breath. "How far do we have to go? And where is t
his
place Hull? Maybe we can get something to eat there."
She
could tell they were very near the water, because
she
could hear the ocean nearby.

"It's at the tip of a peninsula near Nantasket beach, and it's about twenty minutes away."

"Do you think what happened tonight had anything to do
with
the two men who delivered the wood?"

"No, my guess it's some vagrants wondering around the rentals looking for a place to sleep. Maybe they were pissed we were there."

"Whatever happened to the other guy who delivered the wood?"

"What do you mean the other guy?" Mike
tried not to appear
shocked by the statement.
His
cop interrogation mode k
icked in, b
ut he
would
be extremely gentle
with
Lana
.

"One of the guys you arrested
was
not one who delivered the wood. The police officer said it
was
his
son. So, I just thought he had two sons."
She
explained while holding
her
stomach and listening to it gurgle.

Mike tried to act cavalier about
her
statement. "Did you tell the police
?
"

"No because they never came to talk to me. I fell asleep in the car."

"Honey
that
might be who
was
at the house tonight."

The hurt in
her
stomach started acting up again when
she
remembered him and
his
demeanor. "I'm a little shocked if it is him
.
"
She
thought back and he seemed quiet and timid. Even though he seemed gross, he
seemed nice and
cordial to
her
. He nodded to
her
as
she
walked by, then he looked down
towards the ground
. Nothing he did gave
her
the impression he
would
harm
her
.

"Honey I'm going to pull into the diner down the road and get you a cup of coffee and something to eat, and we are going to talk about t
his
."

When they walked in they sat in a booth at the farthest corner of the diner.
She
felt better when she smelled
food cooking and the plates clattering. There were many people
in the restaurant along with some truck drivers who sat
at the counter
and watched
the news on the TV. Mostly they were
interested the weather especially t
his
time of the
year. The waitress walked over holding the
menus.
Lana
ordered
with
out looking at it. "I
would
like a small cheese burger well done
and
a side of onion rings, Mike do you know what you want?"

H
e ordered crab cakes
with
slaw.
She
guessed every place on the coast had crab cakes and slaw. The waitress asked what they wanted to drink, and they both ordered tea, and
she
wrote down their order and left while never looking up
at them
.

"I want to make sure I have t
his
straight." Mike questioned. "The two men who delivered the wood are not the same two men arrested at the house?"

"
That
is correct."

"But the older man who delivered the wood told you the man in the truck
was
his
son?"

"
That
is correct."

"Well the older man who
delivered the wood, according to detective Quentin, has only one son, and he's the one arrested at the house," Mike said. When he saw the look on
her
face, he stood up and walked around the booth and sat next to
her
. Mike talked softer because he didn't want anyone to overhear. "Baby t
his
is very important, what did
the guy in the truck look like, d
o you remember?" Mike waived over the waitress and asked for some paper.
She
brought a piece of paper and a pen to Mike.

"He had filthy brown hair a little below the ears, but not quite to the shoulders, and he had brown eyes and
his
hair
was
about the color of Kevin's the police officer. H
e's
abo
ut 5'11" and about average built
, not muscular and not fat. He had a small scar on
his
chin and a mole by
his
eyebrow, um, the left one. I noticed it because the hair in the mole
was
very black. I guess it could be a birthmark, I'm not sure. He
was
missing what looked like a front tooth, third from the left or there
was
a gap in
his
teeth. He had a tattoo on
his
hand
that
said Satan lives here, or something about Satan. I think he
might have been
missing a pinky fingernail but I'm not sure, I didn't want to stare. I want you to know I am horrible about remembering names, but I never ever forget a face,"
she
paused trying to think of something
she
might have missed.

Mike's mouth dropped open. He
was
shocked of all the details
she
remembered. "How did you get all
that
information from looking at him in a truck on a gloomy wet, snowy day?"

"When I brought the money to pay for the delivery, he
had started
unloading the wood."

"Baby, you should have told me. He could have been the guy
who
was
there tonight. He could have come back to hurt you. If I
would
not have been there, God only knows what
might
have happened to you."

Tears whelped up in
her
eyes because
she
thought he
had scolded
her
.

He gave
her
a hug. "I've got to call Quent." Just as he
grabbed
his
phone, the waitress brought their food, but Mike didn't hang up knowing the importance of t
his
call. He stood up and walked to a corner to talk privately to Quent.

When Mike sat down,
Lana
asked. "Do you think you will get him?"
Sh
e
asked while
playing
with
her
food. The onion rings weren't done enough for
her
.
She
liked them almost burned.

"I know we will, don't worry your pretty little head about
that
. Besides, the description you gave and all those little details something should pop up on the computer. I'm starved. Your burger looks great and it smells good."

She
could tell he
tried
his
best
to reassure
her
. "I'm hungry too, so much for the steak."

They looked at each other and grinned.

It
amazed
her
how quickly Mike puts
tragedy on the top shelf,
she
guessed
that
's the cop in him.

*****

They pulled up to the rental house in Hull and the air
was
much colder on the peninsula. When they arrived Raymond
was
inside cleaning up and turning everything on
and uncovering the furniture
.
Lana
noticed he had a new Dodge Journey, so new it didn't have a license plate yet.
She
wondered if all Mike's team liked Dodge.

Raymond heard them drive up and he greeted them at the door.

"Hey Raymond, I do appreciate you letting us use the house. I
would
like for you to meet my girlfriend,
Lana
.
Lana
t
his
is a very good friend and colleague Raymond Smith."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you and thank you so much for allowing us to stay here."
Lana
noticed he
seemed
a little younger than Mike. He had hazel eyes
and
about six feet tall
with
sandy blonde hair.
His
frame
was
much smaller than Mike
, but well buil
t
like Mike
.

When Mike introduced
her
as
his
girlfriend Raymond looked bewildered, but he didn't say anything. He knew when to ask questions, now
would
n't be the best
time. "It's nice to meet you too. I'm sorry to hear about your troubles." He glanced quickly at Mike. He
knew he could see in
his
eyes if there might be a problem. The look in Mike's eyes told
him the answer of yes.
He
would
call Mike later to get the scoop. "I'm going to head home if you don't think you'll need anything else. My wife sent some coffee, sugar and cream for the morning."