Mango Lucky (17 page)

"Wait until you see the inside." Anna grabbed my hand and guided me to the door.

"You won't believe how much room it has inside."

She opened the door, and waved me in.

I wiped my feet on the floor mat that Anna had placed below the entry, and stepped in.

The inside was bright and clean, with smooth white walls, white kitchen counter and cabinets, and white trimmed windows.

At the far end of the trailer was a dinette table that presumably folded into a bed. At the near end was a small bathroom with toilet and shower.

In the center, a kitchen on the same side as the entry door, and across from that was small table with two seats.

Anna stepped in behind me, "Isn't this cool? Everything a person needs."

I could tell she was proud of her new home on wheels.

"Anna this is great. I would have never guessed it would be so nice inside. Is this new?"

"No, it just looks new. It's actually ten years old. But the previous owner really took good care of it."

Anna took a breath and continued, "I was driving through Vero today and saw this on an RV lot. I pulled in expecting the price to be way too high.

"But the dealer made me an offer I couldn't pass up. You'll never guess what I paid for it."

Anna paused, waiting for me to guess the price.

Thinking about what I'd seen similar trailers sell for, I said, "I'd be surprised if it was under ten thousand dollars."

Anna nodded in agreement. "That's what I was thinking. But when the dealer said I could have it for fifty five hundred, I couldn't resist.

"That price included electric brakes, a full tank of propane, and a thirty day warranty."

I nodded, "That is an amazing price. It looks like you got a great deal.

"So how well does it tow behind the Cruiser?"

Anna smiled, "It's tows beautifully. In fact, other than it blocking my rear view mirror, you can't really tell it's there going down the road."

I put my hand on her shoulder, "Anna, you did good. I'm really happy for you."

She nodded, then pointed at the dinette, "Sit down. We need to talk."

Uh-oh. I knew this couldn't be good. Whenever a woman tells you she needs to talk, it almost never ends well.

I sat and waited for the bad news.

55

"Walker, I've been keeping some things from you. I wanted to tell you earlier, but I just didn't find the right time.

"Well, now's the time.

"First of all, you never asked my last name, and I never told you. My full name is Anna Parker."

She paused, waiting for me to say something.

"Okay," I said, "So your name is Anna Parker. Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

She frowned, "How long have you been in Florida?"

"Three months. Why?"

"That explains it. You weren't here when it happened.

"See, six months ago while I was reading meters on my route, I was assaulted.

"I was out on foot, walking between homes, reading meters. A man walked up behind me and hit me in the head with an iron pipe. "

She pointed to the scar on the back of her head.

"I was knocked unconscious. When I woke up, I was on the ground, my shirt had been ripped off, and this guy was standing over me with a knife.

"He sat down on my legs and when he did, I reached for my belly pack. I pulled out my gun and shot him. Twice.

"He fell on top of me and I blacked out. I woke up in the hospital three days later. They told me the guy was dead.

Anna looked away, then continued. "A neighbor's security camera caught the whole thing. They gave the video to the sheriff, and he said it was a clear case of self defense. They didn't charge me.

"But they released the video of the attack to the media. And the news stations ran it over and over and over. They called me Anna 'get your gun' Parker.

"The video of the attack made headlines all over Florida, and it wasn't long before politicians used me as an example of why the state needed tougher laws.

When she paused, I said, "Anna, you don't have to tell me this."

Shaking her head, she said, "No, you should know."

She continued, "Since I was on duty when it happened, the power company covered all my medical expenses. They continued to pay me during my recovery.

"But then the family of the man I shot sued the company. Said it was their fault I had a gun. They said the guy would still be alive if the company hadn't allowed me to carry a gun on duty.

"The judge threw the case out. But after that, the power company decided it couldn't set a precedent by allowing an employee to get away with carrying a gun. So they quietly let me go.

"They gave me a good severance package, and that's what I've been living on ever since.

"Because of the video, just about everyone in Florida recognizes my name or face.

"And I should have told you about this earlier."

A few moments passed in silence, then I said, "Anna, I'm sorry you were attacked. But I'm glad you were able to defend yourself."

She smiled. "There's one more thing I need to tell you. And you might not like this.

"You know that first day, when I picked you up in the rain?"

I nodded.

"Well . . ."

Before Anna could finish, someone knocked at the door.

56

Anna opened the door to an older man. He was holding a printed page with a photo on it.

The man looked familiar, but I didn't immediately recognize him.

"Hope I'm not disturbing you folks. But my dog is lost, and I'm visiting everyone here in the park checking to see if they've seen him."

He handed Anna the sheet of paper he'd been holding, and it had a photo of a black lab. Below the photo was one word, "Jake".

I looked at the man and said, "Jake's missing?"

The man looked at me closely, and I could see the recognition in his eyes.

"You're the ones who pulled my car out of the sand on Monday. And I saw you on the beach Tuesday."

"Yes, that's right. And Jake was with you on Tuesday."

The man nodded, "Yes, that's the day he went missing.

"See, when the tide came in, we went back to our car in the Sebastian Beach lot. I went to the restroom and Jake stayed outside. When I came back out, he was gone.

"I thought he had run back to the beach, so I went and looked for him. But couldn't find him.

"I figured he'd eventually come back to the car, so I stayed and waited for him.

"I waited until they ran me out of the park when they closed the gates at dark, and still no Jake."

"I drove up and down the beach road until midnight, and still didn't find him.

"I finally went home, and this morning I made up these fliers with his picture and went back to the beach looking for him.

"Jake has never run off before. He sticks with me. So the only thing I could figure was maybe someone over here at the campground got him.

"Maybe they thought they were rescuing a lost dog."

He paused, then said, "So, have you seen him over here?"

Anna and I both shook our heads.

I spoke first. "The last time I saw Jake was when he ran up to you on the beach Tuesday. Have you called Animal Control? Maybe they picked him up."

"Yes, I called Animal Control. They said no."

I could tell the man was distraught. His Jake was missing.

I introduced myself, "I'm Walker and this is Anna. And if you want, I'll help you find Jake."

"Me too," Anna chimed in.

The man brightened, "I'm Walt. And I would appreciate any help I can get finding Jake."

He pulled a map of the island out of his pocket.

"I've been searching around the beach parking lot because that's the last place I saw him. From there, I hiked down to the McLarty museum, and still no Jake.

"My plan now is to to talk to everyone here in the campground, then go back to the beach and look some more."

As I looked at the map, I could see there were eight miles of beach that Walt had yet to cover.

I pointed to the map, "I can cover the beach from the museum down to Treasure Shores park. "

Anna nodded, "I'll cover the other side of the road in the same area. Let's exchange phone numbers so that if we find him, we can let each other know."

We exchanged numbers, and Walt reached for the door. Before stepping out he said, "I'm offering a five thousand dollar reward if you find him."

I shook my head, "I'm not interested in the reward. I just want to see you reunited with Jake."

With a pained smile, Walt said, "Call me if you find him." Then he left the trailer.

I turned to Anna, "Jake the wonder dog is missing. We've got to find him."

She nodded, "Yes, we do. Let's get started."

57

We still had at least three hours of daylight, so we decided to immediately begin our search for Jake.

Anna drove to the McLarty museum and dropped me off. Her plan was to drive the back roads on the Indian River side of the island, while I hiked the dunes south of the museum.

We'd detected in this area the day before, and it was the last place I'd seen Jake. So starting here and going south, I hoped that he'd somehow returned to this area and gotten lost.

I began hiking south, staying on the road side of the dune, while staying off the sea oats which were protected by Florida state law.

I eventually found and followed a trail up over the dunes, used by other travelers and perhaps even by Jake.

Slogging through the soft sand on the dry side of the dune was hard going, but being higher up allowed me a better view of the area.

The search was frustrating. There were no signs of Jake, just signs of beer parties thrown by late night revelers.

After an hour of searching, I checked in with Anna. She answered on the third ring.

"You find him?" she asked.

"No, nothing over here. How you doing on your side?"

"Not good. Nothing over here except a lot of muddy roads."

I could hear the discouragement in her voice.

"Let's keep searching until dark. Call me if you find anything." I hung up.

Continuing my search, I began to run out of public beach and encountering private homes behind walls and gates. The only way around these was to get back on the road and walk the shoulder.

My phone chimed. It was Anna.

"Walker, it's getting dark. Time to call off the search. I'm heading out to A1A. Be on the road so I can pick you up."

A few minutes later, Anna pulled up in her Land Cruiser, which was now splattered with a layer of milky mud.

I got in and she shook her head, "No Jake. But maybe Walt had better luck."

I called, and he had struck out as well. No luck in finding Jake.

We all agreed it was too dangerous to hike the dunes or the highway at night, and that we'd resume our search in the morning.

Back at camp, Anna was subdued. I could tell something was bothering her.

"Anna, what's up?"

"Just bummed out about Jake. I thought we'd be celebrating my new trailer tonight. But with Jake missing, I feel bad for Walt."

I nodded, then said, "I've got an idea. Let's invite Walt over for dinner. He can tell us more about Jake and we can work out plans for tomorrow's search."

Anna smiled, "That's a good idea. You call him while I go look through your freezer for something to cook for dinner."

I called Walt and invited him over to eat with us. I explained that we wanted to find out more about where Jake could be, as well as work out plans for tomorrow's search.

Walt accepted our invite, and said he'd be right over.

Anna returned from my motorhome, her arms filled with food and plates. She said, "I'm going to cook in my new trailer. Hope you don't mind."

I didn't.

Thirty minutes later, Walt pulled in behind Anna's Land Cruiser.

We were standing outside Anna's trailer, and she spoke first, "Glad you were able to make it. Hope you like salmon."

He nodded, "Salmon sounds great." Then he walked up to Anna's trailer, and ran his hand over the exterior.