Eleven Days: An Unexpected Love (49 page)

"You're right."

She
could tell
that
might not have been the answer he
had hoped
for, but
she
wanted to be honest. "Who's to say if you give
her
space
,
she
might give you a call later when
she
realizes what a great guy you are. I hope by then you meet miss right."
She
wanted him to have a little hope even though
she
knew in
her
heart
she
was
n't the right girl for Joe.

"Me too,
I guess I just had to hear from someone I trusted to be honest."

"I bet if you told the men about t
his
they
would
tell you to just get in
her
britches and move on
to the next
girl
."

He laughed so hard while rolling
his
head back. "You are right.
That
's exactly what they said."

"Joe, it is okay to give yourself some space to reflect. I think if you spend time away from
her
, you will look at everything differently. Now back to the problem at hand. I think chocolate covered donuts for the guys and I want cream cheese." Seeing
his
face so sad reminded
her
of a beaten puppy.

"Mike likes cream cheese too," Joe said.

"See another thing we have in common."

Joe teased
her
. "Height is not one thing you have in common."

"Hey now," she barked at him.

Out the door he went, laughing.

Joe
was
a sweet kid, and
she
was
right about
her
initial judgment of him. He
was
kind hearted
with
out hesitation to show it.

*****

Mike crossed
his
arms and appeared to be deep in thought while scanning their suspect board. "Joe."

"Yes sir."

"Let's think about removing the three guys in jail and Tony from the board. Before we take them off have Sara cross check these guys one more time. Also run a check on family and friends to see if any piece of paper connects them to
Lana
."

"Yes sir."

"I don't think they will find anything, but I
would
rather be safe than sorry. One more person I want Sara to check, Peter Waters. I want everyone and every account checked on him too. Maybe he knew who stole
his
identity."

"You got it."

Chapter 30

9:14 a.m.

Mike's phone rang and he immediately pushed the green button. "Hi Sara what do you have for me?"

"I have tons of stuff. Mike and you are working me to death."

"Hopefully your hard work paid off," he answered while digging out
his
pen and pad to take notes.

"As far as Tony, I cross re
ference everything I could find including every man, woman and pets.
I found nothing out of the ordinary. I looked to see if any family or friends used credit cards or cell phone any place but here. They haven't. I checked the other guys and looked where they were supposed to be, and they are clear too. All cell phone records confirm their whereabouts. As a matter of fact, all t
his
information helped them more than hurt them. I hope t
his
helps."

"What about Peter Waters?"

"
That
's a little harder. He
was
a salesman so he used
his
phone a lot and it will take awhile. Most of
his
calls were to strangers, but I'll let you know as soon as we've checked
out every caller
."

"Thanks Sara as usual you are the best."

"I know."

"
Do you have a
ny news on the DNA?"

"Nope,
"
she replied almost mad at them. They knew that information wouldn't be in for a couple more days.

"Then I take back the compliment you are the best." The guys laughed.

"I hear you guys,"
she
teased.

"Keep me informed," Mike said.

"I sure will.
"

Mike looked at Joe and Raymond. "What do you think?"

Raymond spoke first. "I don't think these guys committed murder. The only crime they committed
was
being stupid."

Joe shook
his
head in agreement.

"I think we need to put them in the not guilty file."

Everyone agreed.

Chapter 31

4:14 p.m.

Lana
could tell he
was
getting anxious to solve t
his
case. He
would
stand and stare at their board for thirty minutes at a time. Sometimes he
stood back and
look
ed
. Sometimes he go
t up close and look
ed
at it. Right now he
sat in the
chair leaning back staring at it
with
his
arms crossed.
His
yes fixated on the board and
she
could see
his
mind cranking.
Lana
walked over to the chair and started to message
his
shoulders.

"Hey baby
was
that
your sister-in-law on the phone yesterday?" Mike asked
with
out taking
his
eyes off the board.

"Yes,
she
wanted me to meet
with
the family about James' will. Why do you ask?"

"So what did you tell
her
?"

She
could tell he
was
a little nervous but
she
didn't know why. "I told
her
I didn't want anything of James
'
, and I
would
sign papers to give everything to
her
. Then I told
her
to overnight the papers to me. I need an address to email
her
. I forgot to ask you about
that
yesterday."

"How about we mail the papers to the Boston office and I'll make sure it gets to you. I'll write down the address and leave it by the computer for you."

"
That
sounds great."
She
understood why
she
couldn't receive papers at the beach house. Mike didn't want anyone at t
his
end of the road. Later
she
would
email
her
the addr
ess. "Mike, how did you know I talked
with
Sharon yesterday?"

"ESP, I'm just kidding. I opened the bedroom door and I heard you say Sharon. I didn't want to interrupt your conversation, so I just shut the door quietly. I know you don't get to talk to your family much considering our hectic week."

"Honey, you could have interrupted. You wanted to know about how many cans of beans to open, didn't you?"

He smiled and answered. "Now how did you know?"

"ESP, I know because I
would
have done the exact same thing.
That
's another thing we have in common, ESP,"
she
giggled.

He couldn't help smiling at
her
. He leaned
his
head back to give
her
a quick kiss, and
she
obliged. "Honey you are so funny," he said.

"What are you doing? When I walked up you were intensely looking at the board."

"I'm trying to put everything together for Ken so we can figure out the next step or at least what's going on in the killers mind." The board
was
covered
with
people's pictures, names and dates.

"Well I'll leave you alone and watch some TV."

"Baby, you don't have to leave me alone." He pulled up a chair next to him for
her
to
have a seat
. "You sit right there so I can sneak a kiss now and then." He didn't want
her
to be across the room watching TV. He wanted to be able to reach over and feel
her
warmth and see
her
smile. Mike had never felt love like t
his
before
, and he like it
. Everything about their love
was
perfect. They had so much common ground. Neither smoked, both were educated, both had a sons and a daughter, and they both owned a Dodge truck. But most importantly they shared values, beliefs, spirituality, and love. Lana's love went a step further,
she
loved everyone. Maybe
that
's because
she
taught school or maybe it
was
because of
her
upbringing. Either way, he loved
that
part of
her
. He also noted they were opposite in some ways.
She
was
outgoing and liked to meet new people, he didn't.
She
took everyone and everything at face value, he didn't trust enough for
that
.
She
's extremely sensitive, and he's not except
with
Lana
and
his
children. For the first time in
his
professional career he thought about
retiring. The past several years since
his
wife's death he poured
his
life into
his
job. He didn't want to do
that
anymore.
His
life now belonged to
Lana
.

"Okay, I'll help if you want me to, but I'm not sure if I can help much."
She
sat down and
her
legs were short enough to crisscross on the chair.

Mike thought
she
was
adorable. "I will certainly ask when I need some help you will be the first one on the list. I just have to think about all
that
is happening and trying to get a jump on him."

"I agree."
She
sat there and watched Mike work, and he
was
diligent, organized, and efficient.

After a few minutes he said to Raymond. "
Would
you mind going to the store and picking up the biggest cork board you can find and get some pins? When Ken gets here it will make it easier for us to back up and look at the situation. T
his
board is full."

"I'm on my way and I'll be back in twenty minutes."

She
watched
Mike work when
she
heard a car come d
own the road.
She
could tell vehicle
was
one of the guys. It
was
Joe
with
an armload of food.
She
ran out to help him.

With
in just a few seconds Mike stood
at
her
side. "
Lana
if you go out let me know. I
would
like to come out
with
you," he said as he reached for dinner bags.

"I'm sorry I didn't know I
had
to ask permission before coming out
to help
."

"We are all trained to look for suspicious behavior and you're not. We just want to keep you safe, isn't
that
right Joe?"