Ding Dong!! Is She Dead? (15 page)

Hearing the dogs barking, they returned up stairs to greet his parents. The kitchen porch door opened as Justin and Allie made it upstairs.

“Hello, Justin we’re home, did you check on lunch?” Georgia called walking in the door. She was five foot, four inches tall, with short brown hair and looked lovely in her Sunday suit and matching hat.

“Yes, mom the roast is done so I turned it down and put the rolls in to start cooking.” Giving Georgia a hug, Justin turned with an arm around his mother’s waist so that he could introduce Allie.

“Mom, this is Allie Foster. Allie, this is my mother Georgia Greenley.”

“Hello, Mrs. Greenley.” Allie held out her hand, but was taken by surprise when Georgia grabbed her and pulled her into a hug.

“Don’t you dare call me Mrs. Greenley. I’m G.G. to my friends.”

Hearing the porch door open, “This is my husband, James. James this is Justin’s friend, Allie,”

G.G. was so warm and friendly that Allie forgot to be scared of what this woman might think of her.

James walked into the room, he was tall about 6’3 with a dash of gray in his hair making him look dashing. James and Justin hugged as if they hadn’t seen each other in weeks.

Looking at the two men side by side, they were about the same height, but Justin was leaner and slightly more toned than his father. If Justin aged as well as his father had that would be okay in Allie’s book. Allie was surprised to find herself wanting to see how Justin aged and to grow old with him.

Unaware of where her thoughts had traveled, G.G. continued talking, “Justin why don’t you and Allie go set the table while I get out of these church clothes and into something more comfortable.” G.G. started to head upstairs.

“Um, Mom, I sort of invited a few more people to join us. Friends of Allie’s that need to get out of the city. It should be at least three more than you planned.”

“That’s no problem. You know that I always cook enough to feed an army. Just put out enough plates for eight and if it’s too many than we will clear them off when we are done.” G.G. didn’t seem to be the fazed in the least.

Allie and Justin set the table for eight and had just finished when the dogs started barking again. Signaling that Megan and Sally had arrived; they went out to meet them.

Allie let out the breath of air that she had been holding unconsciously. The feeling of relief that Allie had at seeing both of them get out of the car unhurt was unusual for her. Megan was looking much better since she had had a few more days of rest. Sally raced out of the car throwing herself into Allie’s arms.

“I was sooo worried, but then mom told me that you were hanging out with this handsome guy,” giving Justin an appraising look, ”I guess he’s kind of cute.” Sally disengaged from Allie and walked straight up to Justin.

“Dude, do you hit women?” Sally looked at him in all seriousness.

Justin understood that Sally had no idea most men would never lay a hand on a woman, so he got down on her level to answer her question.

“Sally I have never hit or hurt a woman or girl before. I hope that you can help me take good care of Allie while you take good care of you mama. Does that sound like a deal to you?”

Sally looked over at Allie, “Well, taking care of my mama is hard work since my daddy hurt her so I guess I can let you take care of Allie, but I’m warning you mister that you had better not hurt my Allie.” Sally finished by shaking her finger at Justin.

Seeing Megan join her daughter on the steps, Justin took over the introductions. “Hi, Megan I’m Justin. I hope that I pass inspection.”

Megan was trying hard not to laugh or be embarrassed by what Sally had said. She took Justin’s offered hand.

“I’m with Sally, if you have been protecting our Allie then, you are okay in our book.” Smiling at her daughter, she gave her a nod of approval.

Karen came forward, “Hey Justin, how’s it going?”

Leaning forward, Justin gave her a quick hug, looking over at Allie he explained.

“Karen and I got to know each other very well, since my brother dated her during high school. So I guess you are the body guard for these lovely ladies?”

“You guessed correctly. Hi, Mrs. G., hope that you don’t mind the extra guests for lunch.” Karen addressed her having seen her in the doorway, which was a good thing since she was the one guarding everyone.

Karen had been to many events at Justin’s house before and felt comfortable making herself at home. Since, no one else had seen G.G. standing in the doorway they weren’t sure just how much she had heard of their conversation and what Sally had blurted out.

Opening the door the rest of the way G.G. stepped out and greeted Megan with a hug instead of a handshake as well.

“Well, let’s not stand out here on the porch when the food is ready to eat. I cooked enough to feed an army, Karen, so you don’t have to worry about that big appetite of yours. There will be plenty to go around.”

Seeing Sally hang back, G.G. bent down. “Do you like macaroni and cheese Sally?” Having had a few grandchildren already, G.G. knew the way to a child’s heart.

“Yes, ma’am I do.” Sally whispered, suddenly feeling shy.

“Well, then you can carry it from the table to the kitchen for me, okay?” Seeing Sally nod, G.G. just led the way with everyone following her to help set everything on the table.

Finally situated at the table, G.G. looked up to James at the head of the table, “I believe that we are ready for the prayer honey.”

Holding hands around the table gave them a sense of family togetherness that Allie, Megan and Sally had been missing for such a long time.

Passing the food around the table, they were startled when Mark, Megan’s lawyer walked in.

“Hey, Aunt G.G., sorry I’m late. I had to run by the police station after church and it took longer than I thought it would.” Mark gave his Aunt a quick peck on the check and took the empty place next to Megan across from Justin.

Allie and Megan were stunned; they had had no idea that Mark was related to Justin or that he was connected to such a well-known family in the area.

Seeing the looks on the ladies faces, G.G. quickly stepped in so there wouldn’t be any awkwardness. “Mark is James’ nephew. He comes to lunch most Sundays with us since his mother died when he was young.”

Directing her attention to Mark’s greeting, “Any type of business that you have going on can wait until we have had dessert and don’t have little ears in the room to overhear what is going on.”

Contritely, Mark agreed. The rest of the meal was spent in discussing the pastor’s sermon and how it related to what was going on in their lives. This of course meant how it related to other people in town and how it would help their lives.

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After lunch was over and the dishes cleared away, the group adjourned into the family parlor that was the comfy living area. Sally was taken to the media room where Justin quickly set her up with video games to keep her occupied while they discussed the ongoing situation.

Justin sat on the couch next to Allie in the empty space with Karen on the other side of Allie. Mark had taken the seat next to Megan on the love seat. This left his parents in the two recliners which were their called seats. Like when someone called, “shotgun,” for sitting in the front seat of a vehicle. Their seats were permanently called so that no one else would sit in the recliners if they were present or they would give them up when G.G. and James came into the room as a sign of respect.

“So what in the world is going on? I have never met two more innocent and law-abiding citizens then these two ladies seem to be. Who could possibly want to hurt them?” James might have seemed like the quiet, stern rancher, but in reality he had a B.A. in psychology. He generally didn’t give his opinion unless he felt that no one else would be able to figure out the right answer. His job was to listen and let them head in the right direction all on their own.

“Would you mind explaining it all to them?” Megan didn’t feel comfortable telling the story since it sounded so horrible. She looked imploring at Allie.

Allie began the story with Mark filling in the legal details that he that he was able to make public. By the time of they had gotten to the second attack on Megan in the hospital, it was obvious that Mark was clearly attracted to Megan when he place a comforting hand on her arm.

After explaining how they spent the last week in a hotel and that they were moving to a new area that night since there had been more attacks against them, Allie gave a big sigh.

G.G. glanced at James to make sure that they were thinking the same thing.

“Ladies, we have a secure apartment downstairs and Mike has no idea that you would be here with us. We haven’t met or socialized with you before, so there is no reason to drag Sally around anymore than you absolutely have to. We have more ranch hands with guns and dogs to alert us than any hotel that you stay at. Plus, I need someone to fuss over and you girls would give me a good excuse for doing that. What do you say?” G.G. leaned forward expectantly, not many people refused her when she had an idea going.

Both Allie and Megan looked to Karen waiting for her to decide what seemed to be the safest course of action.

“I’ll say yes, but only if they still want us when they hear what happened the other night with Allie and Justin.” Karen had no intention of telling the local police or sheriff’s office about this specific change of address.

“The fewer people who know where these ladies are staying, the better it is for everyone. We are certain that there is someone on the inside that is feeding Mike information on their whereabouts. While we had expected this to happen, it is taking much longer to find him because he is one step ahead of us.”

“He grew up out on Lake Takawoma and is very familiar with the area, which unfortunately helps his cause. He could be staying in a deserted cabin or simply camping in a tent causing the officers that have canvassed the area to miss or overlook him. Considering that he knew exactly when Allie would be working at her job and managed to slip by the surveillance we had in place to keep her safe, it seems he has someone on the inside.” Nodding at Allie to continue the story where they left off, she settled back into the couch.

“I was working when I met Justin hanging out with some friends. He tried flirting with me all evening until we closed.” Allie gave an apologetic smile to Justin.

“Wait she turned you down, cuz? I didn’t think that was even a remote possibility.” Mark was thrilled that now he had something to tease Justin about for the next few months.

Justin simply rolled his eyes while Allie resumed ignoring Mark’s interruption. “Justin left and we finished closing the bar. I got the bouncer to walk me to my car and I guess that when I unlocked it; that was when Mike climbed into the back seat. I didn’t see him because both Stan and I checked the back seat. I turned to tell Stan I was okay when we both saw Justin hanging out by the door. Stan went to tell him to get lost, but by the time he got there, I had backed out. I was just switching to drive when something slipped around my neck. I knew that the only way to not be choked to death would be to hurt my assailant. I couldn’t hit anything behind me, so I revved the gas and took off for the dumpster. When we hit it, I guess that it threw Mike back into the seat because suddenly the rope was gone and I could breathe. I started to jump out, but both Justin and Stan were there.”

“Mike had opened up the door rear driver’s door as they got to the passenger side. He raced into the night and since he was wearing all black there wasn’t any way to chase him once he reached the edge of the parking lot. The Three W’s is not that well lit to begin with and once you are past the lighted area there would be no way to see where he went.”

“That was when I realized that Julie was missing from the group. She would have been the first person to be at my car and since she was undercover we hadn’t even realized that it was her car across the street. When Justin and Stan made the same conclusion, Justin took off across the road, while Stan stayed with me. I wasn’t feeling too hot right then.”

“Stan called it in to the cops while we made our way slowly over to her car. Justin made it just in time to stop the bleeding; Julie had been stabbed several times. Julie and I were taken to the hospital, while Justin followed. Stan had stayed behind to finish closing up and getting everything under control.”

“They released me, when I went out to find a phone so I could call for a ride; Justin was out there with my bag. So he drove me to get something to eat and then to his house so that I could rest without worrying that Mike would be back.”

Looking at Megan, she said,“I was really relieved to not have to stay at the hospital and there was no way that we were going to drive to the next town where ya’ll were just in case Mike followed us. I really hope that he got hurt when I crashed the car. I know that’s a terrible thing to wish on someone.” Allie just started crying. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I never cry.”

G.G. got up and came across the room, motioning for Justin to move. She scooped Allie into her arms and just let her cry. “I think that ya’ll can go in there and get the dessert served up. Allie and I will join you in a few minutes.”