Part 24 (1/2)
Ben's pulse roared. Max Sommers had been there that day. Maybe he would remember the man. Maybe he even knew him.
”What is the blond man doing?”
”Buying a...camp stove.”
”Does he say anything else?”
”No, only...h.e.l.lo'.”
Blakely s.h.i.+fted a little in the chair he'd pulled up next to the sofa. ”Do you know the date?”
A small frown tugged between Autumn's eyebrows. ”It's...summer.” She moistened her lips. ”Dad and I are going...climbing. I'm visiting him for the...weekend.”
”Is there anything else you can recall?”
”The man...seemed nice. I thought...it would be nice if I could meet someone like him.”
A chill ran down Ben's spine. The profiler had said the man could be charming, that women were attracted to him. The thought of Autumn anywhere near the b.a.s.t.a.r.d made Ben's blood run cold.
”You did very well, Autumn,” Peter Blakely continued. ”Now I'm going to start counting, beginning with the number one. By the time I reach five, you will be wide awake and able to remember everything we've said. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.”
Autumn's eyes slowly opened. She sat up on the sofa and looked straight at Ben.
”Burlington,” she said. ”I saw him in Burlington.”
Twenty.
As soon as Peter Blakely left the apartment carrying a check made out to him by Ben, Autumn dialed her father. Max had been with her the day she had seen the blond man. Maybe her dad had seen him again, maybe he even lived there in Burlington.
She hadn't mentioned anything about her dreams to Max. She was afraid he would think of the last time it had happened and how distressed she had been and she didn't want him to worry. Now she was frantic to talk to him to see what he might recall. The phone rang and rang but there was no answer. Finally, the message machine kicked on.
”Max and Myra here. Leave us a message.”
So they were officially living together now. Interesting. Things between her father and Myra had begun to move fairly rapidly since the time he had spent in the hospital.
”It's Autumn, Dad. It's important I talk to you. Give me a call. If I'm not at home, call me on my cell.” She hung up and turned to Ben. ”He isn't there.”
”So I gathered.”
”Now we're waiting for two return calls. I hate waiting, don't you?”
”We've got our cells. It's past lunchtime. Let's get out of here for a while, go get something to eat.”
”Good idea.” They'd had coffee and a Bisquick coffeecake she had whipped up earlier that morning, but that had been hours ago. They headed downstairs then walked over to The Shack, a nearby cafe, for sandwiches and a bowl of soup.
They were almost finished with the meal, sitting in one of the three small booths at the back of the shop drinking coffee and sharing a piece of cheesecake, when Autumn's cell phone rang. She didn't recognize the caller ID number.
”Hey kiddo, it's your old man.”
”Dad, where are you?”
”Me and Myra are in Reno. We're on our honeymoon. We just got hitched!”
”Dad!”
”Yup. Alaska Air's got a direct flight down and we just hopped on and right-quick we were here. We were planning to call you tonight with the news.”
Several strange emotions went through her: doubt, worry, disbelief and denial were only a few. ”You got married? But you said-”
”I told you I was going to make Myra an honest woman.” He said something to Myra that Autumn couldn't hear and both of them laughed. ”This is the happiest day of my life.”
The joy in his voice began to reach her. He really did sound happy. Maybe he would be. She really hoped so.
”Congratulations, Dad. I wish you both the very, very best.”
”Thanks, darlin'.”
She mouthed across the table to Ben that her dad had gotten married and he seemed surprisingly pleased.
”Good for him,” he mouthed back.
”Say h.e.l.lo to your new step-mama,” Max said and handed Myra the phone.
”Hi, Autumn honey. I'm so happy.”
”I'm happy, too,” Autumn said, wis.h.i.+ng she meant it a little more. The two of them talked for a while, Autumn again expressing her best wishes. ”Ben sends his congratulations, too.”
”You better grab that one, sweetie. He's a real peach.”
Her insides tightened. She wasn't grabbing anyone and especially not Ben.
Fortunately, Max came back on the line. Autumn blocked the thought of her dad having s.e.x with Myra and the stress it might have on his heart.
”There's just one thing, Dad, before I let you get back to your honeymoon.”
”What is it, darlin'?”
”Dad, I need you to think about a trip we made up into the Cascades a few years back. I'm not exactly sure what year, but it was in the summer and we were going camping. Before we left, we stopped at the sporting-goods store and bought some equipment-a new tent and I think I bought a sleeping bag. Do you remember, Dad?”
”Not offhand.”
”It's really important. There was a man there, a blond man. He said h.e.l.lo to us.”
”h.e.l.lo? That's it? You expect me to remember some guy in the sporting goods store who said h.e.l.lo?”
She sighed into the phone and shook her head at Ben. ”It was just a long shot. I thought you might have seen him sometime since, maybe even got to know him.”