Eleven Days: An Unexpected Love (37 page)

Mike
was
shocked and relieved at the same time. Maybe Quent
was
right, t
his
had nothing to do
with
him or
Lana
.

Quent added. "I just can't imagine the Borders killing has anything to do
with
Lana
, but in t
his
job anything is possible. I'm going to head out and I'll think about it more when my brain gets some sleep. Good luck guys and let me know if I can help in any way." He left the number of the lab in case they needed it. He also tore off the page where he wrote down the blood types as he walked out the door.

"Raymond."

"Yes sir."

"We're not going to wait for the captain's approval. Let's quietly start the investigation. Did we
send
samp
les of the blood and sperm
to Sara?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, have
her
start processing everything."

"Yes sir."

Chapter 24

6:38 a.m.

Lana
turned on the TV when Mike left just so
she
would
have some noise other than the men talking in the other room. Two women were talking about a facial cream
that
helped dark spots disappear. It must be a real miracle cream because the women's before and after photo's made them look thirty years younger. The program kept being interrupted by the wind howling. Every once in a while
she
could hear sand and sleet hit the window and it made
her
feel fretful for some reason.
She
turned up the volume of the TV to drown out the wind.
She
couldn't seem to completely wake up, nor go back into a deep sleep.

The door opened and
she
peeked through one eye and noticed Mike shut the door
with
one foot.
That
let
Lana
know
his
hands were full.

First thing Mike noticed
was
her
t-shirt raised above
her
waist and
her
flat tummy
was
exposed. He sighed when he saw
her
curvy body.

Half awake
she
mumbled. "Hi baby."

"I have a surprise for you."

"I think I smell butter, so I bet its donuts."

He grinned. "You can't surprise a cook
with
food." He sat the plate on the night stand next to the steaming mugs of coffee. The pillow
was
curled up under
her
head and a lock of hair
was
tossed
across
her
nose. He remembered last night as he snuggled next to
her
,
her
hair
would
tickle
his
nose. He loved
that
. It's been years since
that
happened.
His
wife kept
her
hair short once their kids were born. Once in awhile
she
would
let
her
hair grow long.
She
only let it grow long to make Mike happy. He loved long hair.
Lana
could keep
her
hair as long as
she
wanted, the longer the better.

When
she
picked up
her
coffee
she
noticed creamer
was
in it.
She
looked at Mike in surprise. "I thought we couldn't eat or drink anything in the kitchen?"

"I sent one of the agents to get you some."

"
That
was
so sweet. I sure need it."
She
sipped
her
delicious coffee.
She propped
some of the pillows
against the headboard
so
she
could lean on
them and get comfortable. "Have you got much accomplished on the case
?"
She
asked while reaching for a chocolate covered donut.

"
It's progressing just fine.
As all the blood types come in we should be able to piece everything together. Speaking of the case, honey I wanted to ask you if you noticed anything unusual the past week."

"What do you mean?"
She
was
confused
by
his
question.

"T
he Borders were killed at least a week ago, and we don't think it's coincident or random. You have been here a week and I want to know if you remember seeing or hearing anything out of the ordinary." Mike
asked while
swigging
on
his
coffee
,
trying not to act upset or anxious. From past experience as a cop he knew if he acted calm everyone else
would
act calm.

"Other than three men trying to kill me and your agent being killed, and I nearly died on the road last night, and I fainted at the police department, and people died next door. Yes I
would
say a few things happened out of the ordinary."
She
was
teary eyed by now. How could he ask
her
such a ridiculous question?

Mike looked at
her
not knowing what to say. He realized how stupid
that
question
was
. Maybe he should have reworded it.

Before
she
could fuss at him anymore
she
remembered something. "Wait a minute. Remember at the restaurant I saw a familiar face?"

"Yes."

"I saw
that
same face at the police department when
they
loaded
me
in the ambulance."

"Where did you see him
?"

"He
was
standing
with
the news people, and he had
that
same mad look. But the oddest thing
I noticed,
he changed
that
mad look to a smirk, almost smiling. Another thing, as
they loaded me
in the ambulance I noticed he
looked
up, as if he
noticed
something. And Mike what I'm about to tell you may sound stupid."

"What?"

"He had the same face, but
his
hair
was
different somehow. Maybe he dyed it or combed it different, but it
was
noticeably
different. I never forget a face, but I couldn't tell you anything about hair, clothing, guns, shoes, or coats. My best friend can tell you everything designer someone is wearing, but
she
won't even know
her
sister as
she
passes by
her
. Is
that
weird?"

"No,
that
's not weird
at all, but honey I wish you would have mentioned t
his
earlier.
"

"I just thought of it. Remember I
was
a little out of my mind
."

"I want you to think real hard where you remember
that
face.
That
might be the key to catch t
his
person. Can you do
that
for me?" He got up and went to the bedroom door. "Raymond."

"Yes sir."

"
Lana
saw a guy
she
recognized
with
the media crew at the police department. Get some more deputies here and block the road. Put deputies watching the rent houses down the road. No one and I mean no one gets past the road at the end of the cul-de-sac. Don't let them give you any crap about their rights on the beach. If they get past the barrier arrest them for impeding an investigation."

"Yes sir and I'll get
the footage of the news crew and
the police department." Raymond knew Mike
would
give him more details later.

"Thanks." Mike shut the door behind him, and then he walked back and sat on the edge of the bed. "Go ahead honey."

"I
was
just saying, when I remember where I saw t
his
guy I'll tell you."

"Maybe retrace your steps from the minute you decided to come here. Sometimes
that
helps jog the memory. Listen babe, I've got to get busy making calls, come out if you're ready. As you heard Raymond is get
ting the
footage from the media, th
en I want you to look through every minute
." He kissed
her
and off he went to the other room digging out
his
cell phone.

"Mike?"
she
couldn't look him in the eye
knowing
she
had
with
held something else.

He gave
her
his
undivided attention. "Yes."

"Umm, I saw someone over at the Borders house a couple of days ago."

Mike tried not to look shocked or aggravated but asked."What did you see?"

"I saw someone
with
a red or bright orange coat and they were in the back yard. I thought maybe he
was
getting wood or wrapping pipes so I didn't think anything about it."

"Tell me exactly what you saw."

"I
was
just standing there dippin
g my tea bag
looking out the window when I saw the coat. The person move
d
from the front of the house to the back of the house and I think he did
that
twice."

"Keep going."

"
That
's all, except once it looked like he stopped and looked at t
his
house."

Mike
was
a somewhat
aggravated because
she
with
held
critical information. "Honey, if I sent an agent to the house, do you think you could remember all he did? We could have an agent retrace the movements of the person you saw."

"Yes, I think I can, but why?"

"The Borders were already dead, and the person you saw
was
probably the killer. If you can see it
all happen again maybe we can figure out
his
height, weight and hair color."

"I can tell you he had on a
black
ski hat."

"How could you tell
that
at t
his
distance?" He
was
amazed of
her
uncanny ability to notice detail.
She
would
have been a great cop.

"When he turned to look at t
his
house
his
face
was
so pale it looked white next to the black hat. I remember thinking
his
face needed a tan and he looked like a ghost. Then he pulled the mask over
his
face."

He reached down and kissed
her
and said. "Get up and get dressed,
I need you to help me with detective work.
"

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely, you are the only witness to a killer, and the more detail we can refresh your memory the better chance of catching him."

"Okay, give me a few minutes."
Since
she
didn't pay
that
close attention,
she
hoped
she
could
help at least a little bit.
But first
she
needed
her
first cup of java, and try to think about where
she
saw
that
face.
She
needed quiet to think.