A Courtesy Call (Green Division Series Book #2) (7 page)

Did Ben find her? 

Terry looked at the notepad.

“She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina and works for Subaru as a receptionist apparently.  Ben said she wasn’t cooperative at first, but she came around with a little pressure.  They are going to have a phone interview when she gets out of work.  It’ll give her enough time to get her story together.”

*****

SLAM 

The front door closed violently.

“I don’t care if you are Raleigh Jo Dawson.  I don’t care if you are my ‘friend’. You have the Maine State Police calling me!  At work!  About something YOU
did in MAINE!  WHAT THE HELL!”  Jen’s pointer finger stayed aimed at Raleigh.

“I can explain.”

“Oh you are right, you are going to explain it to that trooper!  I have a DATE with him, to talk about the accident I apparently was involved in.  An accident with a cop!  The accident where I left the frickin’ scene and then had my phone disconnected.”

“Jen, let me explain.”

“You can explain it to Trooper Anderson.  That’s who you can explain it to.  Here’s his number.”  She pulled out a piece of paper with a number written on it.  “You can straighten this out, or I can.  I’d prefer you do it.  And trust me, you would too.”  She turned and walked back toward the door.  Her large J Lo style hips swayed fiercely.

“He was a game warden, not a cop.”

“What?” 

“The cop.  He wasn’t a cop, he was a Maine game warden.”

“I don’t care what he was. Fix this.”

“I panicked.  I didn’t mean to drag you into this.”

“Get me out of it.”  She opened the front door.

Raleigh collapsed into the oversized couch, no longer able to stand on her sea legs.

“Fire was spreading from the engine compartment to the cab.  And he was motionless inside, his door pinned shut by a tree.  Familiar plot, huh.”  She put hand on her forehead and closed her eyes.

Jen released an exaggerated sigh and walked back to Raleigh.

“This better be good.”

“I need you to do me this favor,” Raleigh said, her eyes pleading.  “Please.  I’ll talk to the trooper, but let me use your name.”

“Oh no, I don’t think so.  I’m not going to jail for you.”

“Hear me out.”

“This should be good.”

“All they need to know is you…me…dialed 911 for help.  That’s it.”

“If all you did was dial 911, why is a state trooper calling and threatening me?”

“Because they don’t know what happened.”  Raleigh sighed.  “Hell, even I don’t know what happened.”

“Why can’t you tell them this?  Why do you need me to b.s. this for you?  What the hell is going on Raleigh?”

“I don’t want to do this again.  I can’t do this.”

“Do what?”

“And Tom….he warned me…and the press…Jen...please help me.”

SEPTEMBER

“
Are you ready?”  Cass put the last of her luggage in front of the kitchen door.

“How long do you think we’re going away for?”  Mike looked at Cass’s three oversized bags.

“I’m prepared.”

“Prepared for the plane to crash on a deserted island?”

“Haha,” she mocked.

“I’d ask if you have everything, but I think the kitchen sink is probably already packed in here.”

“Funny man.”  She picked up two of her suitcases and walked to his Camry.

“We should call and let her know we are coming.” 

“That’s why it’s a surprise.”  She hefted the bags into the trunk. 

“I don’t kno—”  Mike was interrupted before he could argue his side.

“End of discussion.  We’re surprising her.” 

“I know you’ve been taking care of your gimp father for the past four months and all, but let’s not forget who is who.  I’m the parent here.”  Mike loaded his single bag and Cass’s last bag into the back seat. “Now that I’m back to par, I’m resuming my fatherly role.”

“Getting better,” Cass corrected.  “Because your daughter won’t let you do all the things you aren’t supposed to do, but try valiantly nonetheless.”

“Come on.”  He wrapped his arms around her and ruffled her hair like she was the little girl he sometimes forgot she no longer was.

“Dad!  Stop it!”  Cass pushed him back.  “You messed up my hair.”

Mike tossed her the keys.  “I’ll be right back.”  He locked up the house and returned to the idling car.

“I can’t wait to meet her.”  Cass was genuinely excited.  “And I know you can’t either.”

The seatbelt alarm beeped and Mike buckled.  “Of course I want to meet her.”

“Did you remember your inhaler?” 

“Stop worrying about me, I’m fine.”

“Did you?”  She glared at him.

“It’s in my carry on.  Are you going to be like this the entire week?”

“If I have to be.” 

Mike smiled at his daughter.  The average nineteen year old girl would not want to spend a week with their father on vacation.  But Cass was not the average girl.  There was no lingering teenage angst.  And since his accident their relationship had only grown closer, stronger.

The only visible after a
ffect from that fateful day was a scar that ran from his left temple to his cheekbone.  All of his other battle scars could be covered properly by clothing.  After he’d been released from the hospital, Cass moved home to help until he was able to take care of himself.  The first weeks were marginally manageable at best, but she made it all bearable, never lodging a single complaint. 

Mike wished a better life for Cass.  A life without pain and loss.  Without rejection and fear.   She was a joyous girl, but he wondered sometimes if it was all a front.  

Mike dug out his cell phone and dialed.

“You two must be leaving for North Carolina,” Chance answered on the other end.

“Heading to the airport now.”

“We’ll take good care off Sammy, I promise.”  Sammy was Mike’s black Labrador Retriever puppy, all of eight months old.  Cass brought her home as a present a month after his accident, a house buddy as she called her.  Mike wasn’t very receptive initially, but he warmed up quickly to the little pup. 

“She’ll fit right into the madness here.”  Chance laughed.

“How are you feeling?”

“Mitch told you, huh.”

“You know he can’t keep a secret.”

“And they say women are gossips.”

“Congratulations.” 

“Yeah, we’ll have our hands full now.”

“Don’t give him too hard a time for telling me.”

“I won’t.  He’s excited.  I’m happy he’s excited.  He’s a great father.”

“I know he is.”  Men didn’t come any better than Mitchell Meyers. “I called to let you know I left a bag of food in the garage if Mitch wants to swing by and pick it up on his way home.  She’s a hog.  Hopefully that will last, if not I’ll repay you when we get back.”

“Mike, please!  You think we’re worried about a bag of dog food?  Enjoy your vacation and relax.  R-E-L-A-X.”

“That’s all I’ve been doing for almost four months.”

“This is your last week of relaxing, so enjoy it.”

“I’ll try.  Thank you guys for taking her.”

“Not a problem.  She’s a good girl.  You guys have a good trip.”

“Thanks again.”

“Bye, Mike.”

*****

“Tom, he’s a tool.”

“We’ve been over this.  You say that about all of your co-drivers,” Tom responded.

“But he really is.”  Raleigh was frustrated.  “I’m not being a
diva
, he’s a condescending asshole.”

“He’s the only one who was willing to ride with you.”

“You didn’t look hard enough.”  Raleigh sat in the chair she frequented so much.  “I’m serious, I can’t do it.  He can’t ride with me.”

“Unfortunately you don’t have a choice in the matter, make it work.   You and Jon have won four rallies so you two must be doing something right.”

“Because I know how to drive, that’s why.  I’d do better with no co-driver over him.”

“That was an arrogant statement if I’ve ever heard one.”

“I’ve tried not to complain these past few months and I’ve practiced harder and longer than I ever have before.”

“Because you knew you had to and you have no room to complain.  Not after your little hospital stay made it into the press.”

Raleigh shook her head. 

“I wish I could be perfect, life would be a hell of a lot easier.”

“No one is asking you to be perfect.”   Their conversation was very civil and calm, another thing Raleigh had been working on.  “And you’ve improved vastly, in every aspect, I’ll give you that.  But, you are a team for better or worse.  The two of you will have to come to some kind of agreement.”

Raleigh didn’t like the answer, but accepted it with no other choice.  She wasn’t going to argue any further with Tom.  She rose to her feet.

“I’ll do the best I can,” she said calmly.

“Do you want me to talk to him?”  Tom leaned over his desk.

“That won’t improve anything.  Thank you for seeing me Tom.”

“My door is always open.  You may not like the answer, but it’s always open.”

She picked up her jacket and walked out of his office.  It was then she spied two people walking up the hallway, a middle aged man and a young woman no older than twenty with a massive bouquet of flowers in her arms.

OH DEAR GOD. 
Raleigh’s heartbeat instantly doubled.

“Hi, Jen?”  The young redhead inquired.

“Can I help you?  Jen responded professionally.

Raleigh turned her back ever so smoothly and slunk back into Tom’s office.

“Did you forget something?”  Tom asked.

“Ah, yeah, I wanted to talk to you about the graphic redesign on the car.”

“We’re redesigning the car?” 

Raleigh looked back into the hallway.  The slightly graying man held Jen in an embrace.  Clearly he wasn’t the hug a stranger type, but the effort was there.  Tears streamed down the redhead’s rose colored cheeks.

“Yeah, um, I was thinking we should change the color, the blue is just so, you know, done and blah.”

“Blah?”  Tom was confused by her peculiar behavior.

“Yeah, blah.  I was thinking we should try pink.  And pink is the color for breast cancer awareness, you can’t go wrong with that.”  She looked over her shoulder again.  The young girl had a vice grip on Jen. 
How did they get in the gate?