Eleven Days: An Unexpected Love (50 page)

"Absolutely, who else can make lasagna like you," he answered
with
a smile and a wink.

"Okay guys, quite ganging up on me. You win. The next time I come outside I'll ask your permission. I'm starving lets go in and eat. Joe, I made you some sweet tea."

Mike asked. "You didn't make any tea for me?"

"I'll think about it, you scolded me,"
she
said as
she
winked at Joe.

He caught on quickly. "You know Mike,
Lana
likes me better. Haven't you figured
that
out yet?"

Mike raised
his
eyebrow at
her
. "Is
that
true?"

"What can I say, Joe is adorable."

They were debating
her
affection when Raymond drove up and got out of the SUV
with
a cork board. "I see I made it in time for dinner, I'm starved. Hey
Lana
you shouldn't come outside until we patrol."

The three of them laughed, and Raymond looked at them bewildered.

Everyone fixed their plates and sat down at the kitchen table, all the men got spicy Chinese. Mike got generals chicken extra spicy, Joe go broccoli beef in spicy brown sauce, and Raymond got Kung Pao shrimp.
Lana
got sweet and sour chicken.

Mike looked over at
her
dish. "I see you got the sissy dish."

Raymond and Joe tried not to laugh. "Well, I am a girl so I guess it's okay if you call me a sissy. Guys, I know t
his
is an inside joke, but I don't get it. What is it
with
you guys and sissy stuff? Mike thinks I'm a sissy because I drink cream in my coffee."

Joe and Raymond said at the same time. "We noticed Mike has started to use cream too."

Mike ignored them and answered
her
."To relieve tension sometimes we order Chinese and get the hottest Chinese we can stand. If one of the agents gets sweet and
sour
anything, it's considered the sissy dish. And babe even though you are not an agent, we will make you an honorary agent."

"Well, I'm not going to be the one
with
a stomach ache tonight. And I'll pass on being the honorary agent if it means I have to drink my coffee black or get extra spicy anything. You all are so mean." Thank goodness
she
was
res
cued by a car pulling up in the drive
.

Mike
was
the first one who stood. "You all finish, I know it's Ken and I'll get the door." He pushed
his
chair in and winked at
her
as he
left
. "Hey Ken I'm glad you made it safe. How
was
your trip?"

"Bumpy, but we made it in one piece. Where do you want us to set up
my computer
?" He grunted as he
was
lifting
his
heavy suitcase.

Mike picked it up
with
no effort and sat it on the coffee table. "Right over here, we have a table set up and we have a cork board
we bought for you. I thought we could
set it up together and
hash over the case. In the meantime
I'll make a pot of coffee."

"Sounds great and we'll need
that
for sure. While you do
that
I'll get everything out of the car."

Joe heard him and immediately jumped up and met Ken at the door to offer
his
assistance.

She
could see Mike smiling. He
was
proud of Joe.

That
was
her
cue as well. "I'll make the coffee."
She
walked over to Ken and introduced herself. "Hi Ken I'm
Lana
and it is so nice of you to come help."

He extended
his
hand and smiled. He
was
shocked at how beautiful and friendly
she
appeared. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you. Many times when I get called in
on a case
and
I don't get to meet the victims. So t
his
is a rare treat to be able to confer
with
you about the situation and be able to hear firsthand how all t
his
unfolded. Besides, it's nice to meet such a pretty lady who captured Mike's heart. Mike didn't tell me how beautiful you are."

"
That
hurts my feelings," said
Lana
while puckering up
her
lips in sadness.

Mike
was
not going to let
that
statement pass him by
with
out a rebuttal. "I haven't had the time to discuss
Lana
. But your right
she
is beautiful." He couldn't help himself and he reached over to give
her
a hug.

"How did you know about me and Mike?"

"I can just tell. It's written all over Mikes' face and in
his
voice. I've know Mike for many years, and I
knew
him when
his
wife died and I've even introduced him to a few ladies. Never has he looked at any of them like he does you. And I must admit he has great taste, and I'm so glad he found someone so nice."

She
gave him a hug and w
his
pered. "Thanks."

About
that
time Joe walked in toting a suitcase and
that
was
Lana's cue. "I need to get busy and make you guys some coffee."

The men finished
setting up their boards and they were discussing many different angles.

Exhaustion had set in and
she
knew
she
couldn't be any help.
She
walked into the living room and watched them work for a few minutes. "Mike if you all don't think you need me, I'm going to bed. It's been a long day."

"I don't think we need you right now." Mike looked at the guys for a yes answer.

Ken spoke
first
. "I think we have everything under control. But if you don't mind, we might wake you up if we have an epiphany. Sometimes the answer can come only from you."

"You can wake me up any time. I'm not as hard to wake up as Mike. Maybe in the morning you will have all the answers."
She
waved good night to everyone.

Mike followed
her
in the bedroom. He looked over
his
shoulder and told the guys. "Let's take a few minutes." Mike shut the bedroom door behind him.

"I guess I'm never going to get
that
back rub,"
she
said.

He grinned. "Yes you will, and you will get a lifetime of back rubs.
I sure wish I could crawl
in bed
with
you."

"Me too, it will be lonely tonight."

"We can only work so long, so in a few hours we will call it a night, and I'll come snuggle
with
you."

"Mike have you ever not solved a case?"

He thought about it for a few minutes. "Off the top of my head I can't think of any, maybe a few,
why do you ask?"

"I just hope t
his
is added to your solved cases. But what if you don't solve it, will I have to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life?"
She
looked down thinking about how horrible
that
would
be.
That
's no life at all.

"We are putting in extra effort into t
his
case, and we will solve it. We have already made a lot of headway in the other room and by morning we will have accomplished a lot. Not only
that
, Ken brought
his
special
computer. He's going to stay up all night entering data. After
that
, we wait on the miracle."

"I sure hope so,
that
would
be great."
She
did hate to say t
his
, but it did not surprise
her
that
Ken had a
special
computer. He seemed like the nerdy computer type. He
was
a smaller man, about five-eight.
His
stature
was
small, especially compared to the other men. He wore glasses, and
she
noticed he squint
his
nose
trying to hold the glasses in place.
His
ears stuck out a lot and he
was
going bald.

Mike took
her
head
with
both hands and kissed
her
. "I'll see you in a little while."

"Okay. I love you."

Before he opened the door he w
his
pered. "I love you infinite." Then he stepped into the living room and closed the door behind him.

Lana
laid
in the dark
and
for some reason
she
was
extremely nervous. Not so much nervous, but more of a feeling.
Her
granny always told
her
Indians had a six sense.
She
hoped
her
feeling went away by morning.
She
brushed it off as being tired.
She
snuggled up to Mike's pillow and fell asleep.

Chapter 32

Day 10

7:34 a.m.

Finally a day
that
was
clear and su
nny.
Lana
peeked out and the light
nearly blinded
her
it
was
so bright. The ocean and lighthouse were clear and lucid. Other than a few gulls balking and flying, everything
was
calm and surreal. The brightness made it look warm outside, and
that
excited
her
.
She
looked at Mike
with
exuberance. "Do you realize t
his
is the first day since I've been here
that
it's been sunny?"

"You're right, but it's still cold." He needed to remind
her
.

"Who cares about the c
old, I'm getting cabin fever. I want
to sit on the back porch and look at th
e ocean. The guys could
use the fresh air too. Please Mike will you go outside and sit
with
me?"
She
leaned over and sweetly asked by w
his
pering in
his
ear. "Mike I haven't been outside since the grocery store and I need the fresh air and so do the men. Come on baby."

"Yes we could use the fresh air, and you'll stay on the back porch?" Under normal circumstances Mike
did
not allow anyone under protective custody to go
anywhere without securing the place.
Even though
she
was
n't officially under
his
custody,
she
emotionally
was
under
his
care. He
would
love to go out and sit
with
Lana
. And he couldn't wait until summer so they could lie in the hammock
that
Mike puts on the porch every spring.

For the time being,
her
safety
was
great
est
concern
. He
could
send the guys out to check
out
everything. He
thought
s
he
would
be safe if
she
stayed on the porch. Ninety percent surrounding the house
was
water and it
would
be difficult to maneuver around the house
with
out an agent seeing him. If any boats were spotted,
Lana
could be rushed in immediately. Mike
knew the routine of the marshals like the back of
his
hand,
but
his
gut instinct knew not to let
her
out of
his
sight.