A Courtesy Call (Green Division Series Book #2) (20 page)

“Cass, calm down,” Aiden said confused.  “I have no bloody idea what you are talking about.”

“That
JEN
wasn’t Jen, it was Raleigh.  You knew!  Why would you lie about that?”

“I didn’t lie about it. I didn’t know about it until you flew out here, then I pieced it together.  She lied to me too!  I didn’t lie, I never lied.  It didn’t involve me.  It didn’t involve us.  I merely didn’t get involved in the semantics of it all.”

“Semantics?  What semantics?  You all lied!  Why couldn’t you tell us the truth?  I don’t understand.”

“You need to talk to her.  I had no part in it, you have my word.”  Aiden exhaled deeply

Cass went silent on the other end.

“Raleigh has a fear of the press.”  Aiden said knowing he was saying more than he should.  “I believe she lied to protect herself from being the 6 o’clock news and to save your father from that as well.”

More silence.

“It would be easier to stay mad at you if you didn’t have that cute accent,” Cass eased her anger.

“I’ll use it to my advantage,” he paused.  “How has Mister Kerr taken the news?”

“He’s been on the back deck for the past hour staring at his phone.  I think he’s trying to build the nerve to call her.”

“Should I forewarn her?”  Aiden asked.

“No.  This is between them,” Cass said surprisingly stern.  “They need to make it right.  This is the one time I won’t meddle.” 

“I agree.”

“You are supposed to agree.  Women are always right.”  She chuckled.

“I’ve learned that.”

*****

Mike stared at his phone and the moon alternately.  The connection they shared made sense now. The way her voice soothed him—it was her voice.  The way she looked at his scars was—it was because she had seen them before.  He sighed deeply and dropped his head between his knees.  He felt guilt for the way he’d judged her and treated her the first days of his vacation.

Mike knew what he was going to do.  And it wasn’t going to be a phone call.

On one side of the table sat State Trooper Ben Thomas and Game Warden Charles McAfee, on the other sat Tyler Thomas.  Tyler was visibly disturbed.  His hands moved nonstop, his lip twitched, and his knees shook the table.  Mike stood on the far side of the room with Tyler’s very upset father.

“Tyler, take us through what happened that day,” Ben said.  “Starting with what caused the accident.”

Tyler look anxiously at his father who nodded indicating he needed to tell the truth.  Inhaling a deep gulp of air, Tyler tried to speak, but became tongue tied.

“Tyler.”  Kip said sternly.

“Oo-kay.”  Tyler stuttered.  “We’d be—been fishing on the lake and—and lost track of time.  Jason had to be to work...”  Tyler’s memory went back to that day, a day he’d never forget.

Jason’s blue late model Civic screamed down the rutty dirt camp road.  Ninety miles an hour was out of control and Tyler knew it, but he wasn’t going to argue with Jason.  When they rounded a slight corner, the car fishtailed and Jason fought to control it.

“Truck!”  Tyler yelled holding the handle above his seat with one hand, pointing to the truck with his other.  They were in the wrong lane of the road and had no time, or control to change what was about to happen.

“Hold on!”  Jason yelled and he fought to keep control.  Ten seconds later, the Civic came to a screeching halt and Tyler opened his eyes.  They were stopped in the middle of the road, the truck nowhere around.

“Oh fuck!”  Jason yelled looking in the rearview mirror.  Tyler cranked his head around to see the truck in the trees.  Nothing more than a twisted shard of smoking metal, the boat it towed upside down and tossed a distance away.

Jason threw it in reverse and stepped on the gas. 

“Oh my god,” Tyler said in shock.  “It’s a Game Warden.”  Tyler bailed out of the car and barreled down the embankment. 

“Call 911!”  Tyler yelled to Jason. Jason didn’t listen and followed him down the hill.

“Mister, mister, wake up!”  Tyler yelled inside the broken window and shook his limp shoulders.  “I think...I think he’s dead.”  Tyler said in shock.

“No, no, no...he can’t be.”  Jason tried to open the door but the bent metal wouldn’t budge. 

“Call 911!”  Tyler yelled.  “Get your damn phone!” 

“We can’t!”

“Are you crazy?”  Tyler pointed.  “Get the phone.”  Tyler tried to open the back door, but it too wouldn’t move.

“He’s already gone. If we call for help, they will arrest us.  Our lives will be over man.”

“No!  Your life will be over!”   Tyler pointed at Jason.

“You’re as guilty as me,” he said calmly.  “We need to get out of here.  Come on.”  Smoke billowed up from the engine.

“Come on!”  Jason yelled loudly.

“Shit!”  Tyler took one fleeting look at Mike then followed Jason back to the Civic.

Ben and Kip stared coldly after Tyler finished his story.

“We thought he was dead.”

“He wasn’t,” Kip said unforgiving.

“Wait,” Ben said.  “There’s one detail about your story that doesn’t fit.  You two didn’t pull Sergeant Kerr from the truck?”

“No.  We couldn’t get the doors open.”  Tyler wiped tears from his eyes. 

“I’m sorry sir, I’m so sorry.”  He looked at Mike.  “If I’d known you were alive I swear I wouldn’t have left.”

“If you didn’t pull him out of the truck, who did?”

“I, I—I don’t know.  I wish we’d known, if we did we would have tried hard—harder.”

Mike looked at the boy confused.  The only explanation as to how Mike was pulled from the vehicle was that whoever forced him off the road at least took the time to extract him from the burning heap of metal.  The only heroic action of the cowards.  But that theory was out the window.  Raleigh found him outside the truck…she didn’t pull him out.  All she did was call 911.  That was her story.  If that was the case, how did he get out?  What reason would she have to lie about that?  Mike’s head reeled. 

*****

Raleigh’s phone rang non-stop until she finally shut it off.  Lacie’s meeting and test drive had gone well, all that remained was to negotiate a contract.  Lacie was mellow, easy going, but knew how to do her job as a co-driver and was confident, intelligent, and grounded.  Their personalities meshed and it made Raleigh’s day.  Hell it made her year. 

Raleigh hit the shower and changed for their business dinner.  On the way over to the restaurant, she turned her phone back on.  Mistake.  It rang again, the thirteenth time from a Maine number that was neither Cass’s, or Mike’s.  Finally, she got pissed and would take no more.

“I don’t know who you are, but you sure as hell are persistent.”
“If you’d answer you phone the first time, I wouldn’t have to call a dozen more times,” Ben tried to keep his calm.

“Who is this?”

“Ben Anderson, the Maine State Trooper who is handling the accident investigation involving Michael Kerr.”

“Oh,” She said suspicious as to why he was calling her.  The gig was up.

“Care to explain why you lied about your name there Jen?”

“Shit,” she said under her breath.

“Oh yeah, shit is right.  What else did you lie about
Jen?
”

“Nothing.”

“And why should I believe that?”

“I haven’t committed any crime trooper.  Unless you can prove otherwise our conversation is over.”

Dawn broke and colors of bright auburn streaked across the clear sky.  Bag in the backseat, Mike hit the road.  Time wasn’t on his side.  Raleigh was due to board her plane at 2pm bound for Alsace, France for her next race.  Mike’s flight plan put him in the Charlotte airport at noon.  His fingers were crossed he would make it there on time.  The original plan was to go direct to her house, but Aiden, the little interloper, keyed Cass up on Raleigh’s plans once he found out Mike’s intentions.

Mike landed in Philadelphia on time with a forty five minute planned layover, but the word DELAYED popped onto the screen beside his flight number.

“No...no...no, you’ve got to be kidding me.”  Mike dropped his shoulder bag.  “The weather is fucking perfect.” 

He’d checked the weather, it was clear on the eastern seaboard.  Any delay and he would have no chance to make it on time to catch her.       

“Ma’am, how long do you expect this flight to be delayed?”  He asked an attendant at his flight’s gate.

“I don’t know, sir.  There is a mechanical issue with the plane they are working on.  We expect no longer than a few hours.”

“A few hours?”  Mike bit his tongue.  “That’s no good.  Do you have anything that will get to Charlotte before two?”

“I know we don’t, but let me check the other airlines.” 

Mike waited impatiently.

“No sir, I’m sorry, this is the soonest flight.  We have another one leaving at 4pm.”

“That won’t work.  I’ll wait.”  Mike sighed.  “Thank you.” 

He stalked back to the seating area and plopped down, praying for the best.

*****

Flight delayed in Philly  -Mike

The text read on Aiden’s phone. 

You have until one, get here  -Aiden

He quickly hid the phone in his pocket.

“You can’t go a minute without looking at that phone,” Raleigh said as she threw clothing into her luggage bag.

“Yes, I can,” Aiden defended himself.

“Then why don’t you give it to me and we’ll see how long you can go.”  She held out her hand.

“I have no reason to prove myself to you, Miss.”  He crossed his arms.

“Mhm.  My bags are packed.  Is there anything I’ve forgotten?”  She asked both Aiden and herself.

“Did you bring any formal wear?”

“No.  It will give me an excuse to go shopping.”  She smiled playfully.

Aiden’s pocket vibrated.

Trying as hard as I can -Mike

Aiden didn’t respond.  He wouldn’t be holding her up at the airport so they could reconcile.  If she missed her flight, it would put off their entire agenda once they were on the ground in France.  And he wasn’t going to pay hell for screwing that up.   

*****

The flight finally boarded thirty minutes after it was set to depart.  Mike tapped nervously on the edge of his seat.  This would put him at the airport by 1pm, he hoped.  She left at 2pm.  It would still work.  It had to.  He didn’t take the day off and fly to Charlotte on a whim for her to slip away and be back to square one.

“Everyone please take your seats and prepare for departure.  We will be going over safety procedures in one moment.”

Mike looked at his cell phone.  Time crawled by. 

*****