Outrunning Villainy

Chapter 10: Glorious Homecoming

Chapter 10: Glorious Homecoming





It was Engrid’s turn to drive. Andrew couldn’t find their cell phones in the car. Neither could remember what happened to them. They could have been left in the hotel room before the escape. They could be hiding under the seats or in the trunk where they couldn’t be found. Andrew felt guilty for not calling home, but they’d been unsuccessful in finding a pay phone. They’d asked a few gas station patrons to use their phones, but of course Andrew understood their refusal. He’d never let a total stranger at a gas station borrow his phone either. So, they kept driving. So far they’d made it as far as Missouri in a day. Not a bad day’s drive. They should be home tomorrow. They would definitely call from the hotel room and let Dora and Evan know that they were safe and sound and on their way home. Andrew hoped that Evan wouldn’t be too mad. He couldn’t blame him if he never spoke to him again, but somehow he just knew that wouldn’t happen. So, he stared out the window focusing on nothing while Engrid guided the small automobile through the rolling hills of Missouri and the northern St. Louis suburbs in route back home. They pulled off at a small motel by the interstate. They just wanted a clean place to sleep and a telephone.


Evan had fixed himself some food and sat in the living room eating it while watching some old rerun on television. While he was chomping on a bite of his sandwich, the phone rang. He swallowed it with the assistance of some water and answered the phone.


“Hello?”


“Evan, it’s Andrew.”


“Hi! Are you okay?”


“I’m fine…are you mad at me?”


“No…I just want you to come home.”


Andrew breathed a sigh of relief into the phone. “I’m so glad to hear that. I was worried ever since I left that you would never speak to me again.”


“At first I wanted to, but I love you too much to do that. I couldn’t do that to myself. So, just come home…that’s all I ask.”


“I’ll be home tomorrow. I’ll be there waiting for you when you get home from work.”


It was Evan’s turn to breathe an audible sigh of relief into the phone. He couldn’t suppress and huge grin and a giddy laugh, his love was coming home!


“Why didn’t you call earlier?”


“I wanted to! Believe I wanted to so bad it hurt, but I can’t find either of our cell phones and we stopped at a half dozen places and nowhere has a pay phone anymore. Then nobody at the places we stopped would let us borrow their phones…so I really tried to call you all day but I couldn’t. So, we kept driving so we could get home as soon as possible.”


“I’m just glad you are coming home and this whole fiasco is over.”


“I know…we’ll have a great story to tell when we’re old.”


“We’ve got a great story now! I just can’t believe that this even happened. It seems so surreal that you were suspected of a kidnapping and that Agent Mortar even had me convinced you were guilty as sin. He even had me convinced that Engrid was in on it somehow. I thought you were the most heinous person in history because you kidnapped Amanda and coerced Engrid into participating against her will. I didn’t think I’d ever trust anyone again if it turned out you were some sort of maniac.”


“I wouldn’t blame you…but that’s not the case! I’ve never hurt anybody. I did coerce Engrid a bit though- she wanted to stay put and fight her fight right there, but I convinced her that the police would put us in prison for the rest of our lives if we didn’t make a run for it.”


“That was mean.”


“At the time it was true. We would have landed in jail within five minutes of them finding Amanda, you know that. So, while it was a stupid thing to do, at the time it seemed the only option. Engrid understood and that’s why she finally decided to go.”


“I need to call Dora to let her know.”


“Engrid’s in the other room right now calling Dora to fill her in on our status.”


“That’s good.”


“What made you think I did it?”


“They found her in your storage unit. Plus you ran so far so fast. One minute you went for a walk, the next minutes you holed up in some motel in North Dakota.”


“You wouldn’t believe the lengths we went to to evade the police. I had to hide in an ice machine and Engrid had to hide in a toilet paper box. It was awful.”


“It sounds like it!” Evan laughed, “You hid in an ice machine?”


“Yes…you ratted us out.”


“How did you know that?”


“I call you and five minutes later the police are charging up the stairs. It wasn’t a huge leap.”


“Sorry about that. Agent Mortar had me so convinced you were thoroughly evil. It seemed the right thing to do.”


“I understand. I’m a little upset because of all the trouble it caused, but that’s okay now, it all worked out okay.”


Evan scowled a bit, “Caused you trouble? I was hounded tirelessly by the police and had your name and my conscience and convictions dragged through the mud. It was a horrid weekend of ups and downs and all sorts of mess.”


“I’m sorry about that. I know I shouldn’t have run away, but I panicked and so that’s what I did.”


“Well, as long as you get home safely.”


“I’ll have dinner on the table when you get home tomorrow.”


“I look forward to it. It had better be good,” he teased.


“It will be a gourmet treat beyond compare.”


“Good,” Evan laughed, “So, Engrid’s okay too?”


“She’s elated to go home. She said that toilet paper box wasn’t very comfortable.”


“I wouldn’t think it would be.”


“Besides, like I said, she didn’t want to leave in the first place. This was all my fault.”


“It’s fine,” Evan said, purposefully not denying Andrew’s culpability.


“I’m tired, though, we’ve been driving since we were released from jail this morning.”


“Okay, well I’ll finish by dinner then I’m going to bed too. I can sleep better now knowing that you are on your way home. That bed was so lonely last night.”


“Mine too.”


They said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. Evan was wrong, however, he did not sleep better that night because of all the excitement of the fact that Andrew would be home when he got back from work tomorrow afternoon. Evan tossed and turned all night long over this knowledge.


Dora was so relieved, she slept like a log. It was the first time in days she’d had a good, recuperative night’s sleep.


Engrid and Andrew were back on the road shortly after 8 am the following morning and so happy to be back on the road home.


Cecilia packed up her granddaughter’s things and prepared to go home. She asked the nurse again for Engrid and Andrew’s telephone numbers. The nurse relented and gave them the numbers she was provided when the dropped Amanda off at the detoxification center.


Cecelia called but did not leave a message when nobody answered. She hoped she would soon be able to express her gratitude personally. She was grateful that Engrid and Andrew had taken it upon themselves to find her granddaughter. She mentally kicked herself for not being more involved in Amanda’s life up to this point. If she’d been, she reasoned, she could have prevented this whole thing. Amanda was alive and bounding with energy. Cecilia just hoped and prayed that she would have the energy it would take to keep up with Amanda and keep her away from drugs again. Hopefully being in Greenville and not Columbia would help because she wouldn’t have the friends and contacts there that got her into narcotics in the first place. Cecilia regretted not being there for her granddaughter and she was determined not to let that happen again. She’d had plenty of time to think about it since the nurse informed her that she would be taking care of Amanda. The option of turning her over to social services really wasn’t an option Cecilia was willing to consider.


Engrid was never so excited as she was the moment the “Welcome to South Carolina” sign came into view up ahead. It was a portent that this whole painful mess was soon to be over. It meant that within a couple of hours, she would once again be in her home, safe and sound to live out her days in peace and harmony.


“Andrew…I was just thinking about it…what are you going to do about your job?”


“What do you mean?”


“You know what I mean…what if you get fired?”


“It’s okay. I have enough money to live off of.”


“Then why do you work at all?”


“It’s boring sitting at home all day.”


“That’s true,” she admitted, “I was just curious. I wondered if you’d planned that far ahead.”


“I did. I knew that I might lose everything over this mess, I’m glad I didn’t.”


“That goes for you and me both! I’ve never been so happy to see my house in my lifetime.”


“Mainly because you thought you might not see it again in your lifetime.”


A little over an hour and a half later, Andrew and Engrid rolled back into Deerfield. He pulled the car to a stop in front of Engrid’s house and hopped out to help her get her things out of the trunk.


“Do you want to come over from dinner tonight?” Engrid asked.


“No, I intend to spend the whole evening with Evan.”


“Sounds good…some other time then.”


“Yes.”


After getting her things in the house, Andrew went back to McWilliams & Jacobs Investments and begged to keep his job. Mr. McWilliams was incensed but Mr. Jacobs thought the whole scenario was funny, and plus Andrew had been a good employee and knew a ton about investments, so he was allowed to return to work first thing in the morning.


Once his employment future had been secured, he headed over to the grocery store. He had a nice dinner to prepare. He’d promised it, and it was his full intention to deliver on that promise. He owed Evan a lot more than a little food, but it would have to do for the moment. He picked out a few things, and went back home to get things ready. Evan would be home about 5:00 which was a bit early for eating, but it would have to do.


Andrew stood in his kitchen slicing up an onion. It felt incomparably wonderful to be back in his house. He’d been so excited to move in back in May. It was hard to believe that less than six months had passed since he arranged the furniture, shelved the books and the grandest move of them all, asked Evan to move in with him. That was the embarkation of the most fantastic adventure of his life. As he thought back over how much life had changed for so many in the past six months. There was Evan coming out to his mother and the subsequent drama. There was Engrid’s blood-soaked premonition of his murder and the subsequent drama. There was Grant’s return and attempted murder and the subsequent drama. There was Andrew either accidentally or subconsciously intent of coming out to his coworkers and his relationship with Evan and the subsequent drama. Then, there were accusations of kidnapping, conspiracy and a manhunt across the North American continent and the subsequent drama. It wasn’t until he pieced it all together that he realized just how dramatic his life had become in recent months. Who knew such high drama happened surrounding such a sleepy little hamlet as Deerfield, South Carolina?


His reverie was interrupted by the sound of a car engine decelerating. He threw the carrots and onions into the stew pot and stirred. The bread was baking and the succotash was finishing up on the back burner. He rushed into the dining room to finish laying out the dishes and setting the table. He could feel the excitement mounting but the car engine passed by and pulled into the neighboring driveway. He went to the window by the front door and peeked out. Dora was home. She was pulling shopping bags out of her Explorer. Slightly disappointed but also relieved that he had a few minutes left to finish getting everything together, he rushed back into the kitchen.


A few moments later, he heard the distinct whirring of the Cherokee as it approached. Andrew looked out of the kitchen window and sure enough, that was Evan behind the wheel of that vehicle. The Cherokee pulled into its customary place and its occupant disembarked. Andrew could barely stand it. He was so excited it was painful to wait. He didn’t realize Evan walked so slowly. He raced down the hall to the front door and snatched it open. Evan looked worried. He mounted the first step and for the first time since exiting his vehicle, he looked up. Andrew’s face fell. Evan smiled. Andrew’s face revived and he felt alive again. There was energy in Evan’s presence that lifted Andrew’s spirits. It was an energy that was renewing and rejuvenating. Andrew felt that with his love at his side, there was no problem too big or too small to handle. Evan rushed up the stairs and embraced Andrew strongly. The feeling of each other’s presence was exhilarating. Their lips pressed together in a long embrace.


Breaking their kiss, Evan stepped back, “Are you okay now?”


Andrew thought about it for a moment, “Yes. Now that you’re here and you’re not mad at me, I’m very okay.”


“Good,” Evan replied, and grabbed Andrew again and pulled him forward.


  Andrew ushered Evan into the dining room and seated him at the nicely appointed table. The food was still steaming and looked delightful. Evan smiled stay broad and toothy.


“I can’t believe you did all this so fast. What time did you get back in town?”


  “A couple of hours ago…it didn’t take me long to get everything together. I hope it’s good. It’s the least I could possibly do after all I put you though this weekend.”


Evan chuckled, “I won’t deny that!”


Andrew sat down next to him at the large dining room table.


“I’m glad you came back, I really missed you. There was a brief time I hated you, but I feel guilty about that now.”


“You had every right to hate me. I wouldn’t blame you if you still do. After all, whether I’m guilty of kidnapping or not, I still ran out on you and that was a stupid, idiotic thing to do.”


“I won’t argue with that either.”


  Evan didn’t say anything else for a few moments as he dished up his plate. He started eating. An awkward silence descended on the dining room.


“You are mad at me, aren’t you?”


Evan thought for a moment, “A little bit, yeah.”


“I understand. I’ll sleep in the guest room tonight if you want me to.”


“No, no…I’m not that angry. It’s just that…”


“That…what?” Evan prodded. He wanted to get to the bottom of this and get it over with as soon as possible.


“This is just been such a roller coaster for me this weekend. I was worried that you had gotten into trouble, and then I thought you actually did those awful things and then when you ran off like that I just knew you were guilty. Then that started to prey on my mind- how could I get mixed up with such people? First rapist Ray, then homicidal Grant, then kidnapper you…it began to make me wonder why I attract such awful, evil people. Then to find out that you aren’t really guilty and just panicked and fled. Now you’re back and you’ve done this for me…I don’t know what to think anymore. What if you are some conman and I’m just falling for the whole charade all over again. How stupid would I feel to find out that you’d tricked me again? What if I end up in jail because of my association with you? I just don’t know what to think anymore, Andrew. I love you to pieces but I don’t know if I can trust you.”


Andrew didn’t say anything for a few minutes. He just sat thinking, processing all that Evan had laid out for him.


“I don’t know what to say,” Andrew began, “I…I really wish I hadn’t run away. If I would’ve just stayed put, none of this would have happened. I might have spent a night or two in jail, but I would have been released. It was wrong of me to leave.


“But you didn’t know that at the time. You made the best decision you could with what you knew at the time. It was the wrong decision, but you made it and stuck with it.”


“I’m innocent of the kidnapping, Evan. I had nothing to do with that, you have to believe me. I would never do anything to hurt that little girl. Engrid and I just went searching for her because it seemed the right thing to do. You and your mom were with us the first night; you know what our motivations were when we were looking for Amanda.”


“I know. I guess I’m just overreacting. I know you didn’t have anything to do with it.”


“I’m glad you feel that way.”


Evan still didn’t say much for a few minutes. While he understood the rationale, Andrew was disappointed this wasn’t the enormously happy reunion he’d pictured in his mind as he was driving home from North Dakota. Andrew had built it up in his mind that it would be this joyous, raucous reunion and he was disappointed and annoyed that it wasn’t all forgive and forget. He realized that he’d misjudged what had been going on back in Deerfield in his absence. He didn’t really and truly understand until hearing Evan’s words that things had not been in suspended animation while he was away. Even while he was fleeing for his life, things continued in Deerfield. Things were said, opinions were held, and interactions took place of which he was unaware. All he’d known up until that point was his own assumptions and perceptions of things. It was slowly dawning on him just how much he’d hurt Evan by leaving.


“I didn’t realize all those things had happened while I was gone.”


“I know you don’t.”


“Can you forgive me?”


Evan thought about it for a moment, “Yes…it just might take me a few days. I was so convinced that you were guilty, it might take me a while to get that out of my head.”


“I understand. Do you want me to stay somewhere else tonight?”


“No…why do you seem so determined to leave again?” Evan snapped.


“I…I…I’m not going to leave.”


“Good, we have a lot to talk about.”


“Yes, we do.”


The boys finished their meal in an unexpected, awkward silence. Evan’s excitement over Andrew’s return was tempered by the nagging suspicions that plagued his mind over Andrew’s guilt or innocence.


After dinner, Andrew excused himself and went upstairs. Evan remained in the kitchen, having volunteered to clean up from dinner. Evan missed the way things once were. He felt the same about Andrew as before, his love for him had not declined. It was just the nagging suspicion that there was more to the story than Andrew was telling.


After cleaning up the dishes and wiping down the table, Evan went upstairs to check on his love. Andrew was asleep on the bed. He’d had an even more dramatic weekend than Evan. In 72 hours, he’d driven to North Dakota and back while evading capture by a multistate manhunt.


Evan sat in a chair in the corner and watched Andrew’s peaceful slumber. His emotions came back to haunt him in that dimly lit bedroom. His love for Andrew was overwhelming. Andrew was so sweet and loving and kind. Evan couldn’t fathom why he’d been so cold at dinner or why he ever believed at all that Andrew could commit the crimes of which he was accused.


He sat in that chair for quite a while watching Andrew sleep.


Engrid was in her own living room napping on her sofa, the TV remote control resting on her stomach. She’d intended to go to bed, but she’d dozed off right where the lay. She was startled awake by the doorbell. Who could it be at this hour? Engrid, nerves still raw from the events of the previous 72 hours lay perfectly still, hoping that it was her sleep deprived imagination. The doorbell rang again. The police were more adamant and would be banging on the door and shouting that it was the police. So, it must not be them. She crawled off the couch and stood up. She shuffled over to the window and saw that it was Evan, his hands shoved deep in his coat pockets with the evening chill.


She pulled the door open, “Evan…what’s going on? What’s the matter?”


“What binds two people together?”


“What?” She rubbed her sleepy eyes.


“What is it that binds two people together? What makes one person have such a deep and strong attachment to another person that it feels like if that person left, the world would end and you would die instantly?”


Engrid looked confused and exhausted, but let him in anyway, “Come in, Evan…it’s getting cold outside. She ushered him into the kitchen and got him a glass of milk. “What are you talking about?”


“I’m talking about me and Andrew, Engrid. I love him so much that my whole body ached when he left. I finally know what that vow means in the marriage ceremony…the part about ‘forsaking all others’ I know what that feeling is now. I’ve always wondered what conceivable emotion would make someone give up everything for one person. Now I know.”


“Well, good for you. Why are you here?”


“I needed to talk to someone. Andrew’s asleep- I didn’t want to wake him.”


“I was sleeping too.”


“You’re light was on. I figured you were awake. I didn’t mean to wake you.”


“It’s okay…so, you love Andrew. That’s good. I’m glad you finally found someone who makes you happy.”


“Not just happy, Engrid. Andrew makes me feel alive. I was the walking dead the whole time he was gone. Then when he came back, I was so…I don’t even know how to describe it. I was sad but excited, happy but ticked off…it was a terrible feeling. I want Andrew…he’s all I’ve ever wanted. I couldn’t or wouldn’t put words to it before, but it’s true. When I thought he was guilty, you have no idea how I felt. I felt like my insides had been ripped out and stomped on. It was the worst feeling I’ve ever had. Then when he came back, I wasn’t sure if he was guilty or not…all I know is that I don’t care if he is or isn’t. That bothers me a little that I love him no matter what he’s done.”


Engrid was finally waking up a little bit, “What bothers you?”


“That I don’t care if he’s guilty or not.”


“Okay…I don’t understand.”


“I love him no matter what, Engrid.”


“And this is a problem because…”


“It should matter. But I can’t help how I feel about him.”


“I know you can’t.”


“You do?”


“Well, sort of…I guess. I don’t really know what it’s like to love someone of your own gender, but I suppose that it probably feels a lot like what I feel about my late husband. George was a wonderful man, but I think that if he’d committed some terrible crime, I would still have feelings for him. I probably wouldn’t associate with him anymore, but that wouldn’t change how I felt about him.”


“You wouldn’t hate him?”


“I don’t know. I might.”


“I wanted to hate Andrew when I thought he was guilty because he’d lied to me and deceived me. But yet I couldn’t help it…I love the guy.”


“From what I can tell, you didn’t realize how much you loved him until he left.”


“Yes…that’s it! You don’t realize how much someone means to you until they’re gone.”


“I would agree with that. So, you didn’t realize you loved Andrew until then?”


“I thought I did, but not really. I know we haven’t known each other that long, but he’s my world. I can’t imagine a life without him in it. I don’t want to imagine that. I want him to be with me always and forever.”


“I always hoped you’d find this in your life. Andrew isn’t quite who I had imagined you falling in love with, but then that’s okay. It’s your heart not mine. It’s like my great-aunt Mable used to say, ‘You can’t tell your heart who to love.’”


“Did she say that about George?”


“No, George was a dreamboat. She said that about a cousin of mine who ran off with some roughneck. But it was more of a general saying of her’s in situations like this.”


“Andrew’s a dreamboat.” Evan’s eyes sparkled.


“To you…yes he is. You see Andrew through the eyes of your heart not though the eyes of the world. That makes a difference.”


“What do you mean?”


“I mean when you look at Andrew, you see something that is hidden from the rest of us. When you look at him, you see love; you see hope; you see devotion. When the rest of the world looks at him, they see just an ordinary guy. To you, he is extraordinary. The world may never understand what the two of you have because it’s something they cannot experience.  Does that make sense? It’s late, so I’m not sure I’m making any sense at all.”


“Yeah…it does. So, I guess when Andrew looks at me, he sees the same thing.”


“Ideally, yes. When you find someone like that, you’ve found your soul mate,” she rubbed the edge of her ceramic milk mug thoughtfully.


“My soul mate?” Evan sat back, astonished at the words.


“I suppose so, yes. If you feel this way about Andrew after all he’s put you through, it’s the only explanation I can come up with.”


“Do you think what he and I have is special?”


Engrid thought about it for a moment, “Yes. What you have is very special. Most people go through life and never find what you two seem to have. When the world looks at you, the world might see something terrible. The world might see something evil, but I sometimes wonder if that isn’t jealousy. The world is jealous because it wishes it has what you two have and so, it’s determined to destroy it. If you were a man and woman, perhaps the world might be more forgiving and see what you two have as an ideal to be striven for, but since you’re gay, it sees the same thing and labels it ‘evil.’”


“So you don’t think what we have is wrong?”


“I used to. Secretly, of course, but yes I did.”


“What changed your mind?”


“I don’t know. I just realized that there is more to the world than I’ll ever know. It’s hard to think of someone like you as evil. It’s easier to hate an idea or a concept or even a piece of propaganda, but it’s different when the ‘evil out there’ has a name, a face, a personality that is so contrary to what is claimed.  There are some aspects of love I’m not privy to. I’d rather live in a world with you in it than in a world without you. I don’t know if that’s an acceptable answer or not, but it is what it is.”


“It is. But why would God give me something so special and so rare and yet set up the rules against it? What I have is wonderful and I can’t imagine life without it, but the world is set up to tell me it’s wrong and evil and I shouldn’t be this way.”


“Perhaps God is not ‘the world’. In fact, often God does not like what ‘the world’ does down here. Perhaps he gave you this gift…Andrew is a gift…to teach you how cold and cruel the world can be. Perhaps this is God’s way of teaching you dependence on Him.”


“How so?”


“Well, if you were married to a woman, the world would love you and give you accolades for that. But since Andrew is not a woman, the world will despise you and try to take what you have away. Depend on God. Don’t depend on the world’s accolades; depend on what God has provided you.”


“God provided Andrew to me?”


“Yes. Plus He’s provided you with a beautiful home, a fun career, a loving mother and a crotchety old woman who thinks you hung the moon.”


“You think I hung the moon?”


“Don’t let it go to your head,” Engrid smirked, “But I do think very highly of you.”


“I guess you’re right, though, I do have it pretty good.”


“Yes you do. Now your soul mate is home alone…don’t let him get away.”


Evan stood up, “I won’t. He got away once and it won’t happen again.”


“Okay. I’m going to sleep. Whatever else you want to talk about can wait until morning.”


Evan let himself out and walked home. He went upstairs. Andrew stirred at the sound of the bedroom door opening. He rolled over and saw Evan’s shadowy form standing over him.


“What’s the matter? What’s going on?” Andrew asked.


“Nothing’s wrong, sweetie. Everything is just fine,” Evan stroked Andrew’s hair.


“So you’re not upset with me anymore?”


“No. I talked to Engrid about it and she’s set me straight.”


“Good for her…although not too ‘straight’ I hope.”


“Not at all…she got me to see what a wonderful gift we are to each other.”


“Good,” Andrew yawned and stretched.


Evan slid in next to Andrew and the two slept peacefully through the night.





                                                           #





In the days that followed, Andrew tried to return to some sort of normal routine. He gladly sat down at his boring desk and watched the looks of his officemates. Betty and the others eyed him. They knew he was innocent. Little old Andrew couldn’t hurt a fly, but there was still that shadow of a doubt. There was still that nagging little suspicion in the backs of their minds. The small town gossip had made its rounds and was doing its damage. Whether or not Andrew was in actually fact guilty was beside the point. The court of public opinion had ruled against him.


“Good morning,” he greeted them despite the stony silence. He’d made a run for it…that coupled with the fact that the missing girl was found in his self-storage unit sealed his fate. His reputation in this tiny southern hamlet was sullied forevermore.


“Good morning,” Betty and Darcy mumbled their replies.


After a few minutes, Darcy moseyed over to his desk. She sat in the customer chair and looked at him over her black plastic wire-framed glasses. “So?” she inquired.


“So what?” he asked.


“So, what’s the deal with that girl and you high tailing it to North Dakota?”


“There’s really nothing to it. I didn’t do anything wrong but the evidence was piling up against me. So, I panicked and fled. I’m not proud of it, but that’s what happened.”


“Then how did that girl wind up in your storage unit?”


“I really don’t know. Truthfully, I don’t care and I’d rather just drop the whole thing.”


“Fine with me…so you’re seriously innocent?” she cocked her head to one side, eyeing him with a mixture of pity and mirth.


“Yes.”


“Good.” She patted the legs of her dress slacks and went back to her own workstation.


“Oh, one last thing, I don’t mean to be nosy but…”


“Go ahead…”


“How’d Evan take it?”


“Like a champ.”


“Good for him…I’m glad he didn’t go too soft.” She smirked as she opened her web browser to a financial website to pretend to work.


“Darcy, can I ask you a question?”


She nodded her consent, “Of course.”


“Do people around here really think I would do something like that?”


Her pause told him everything he needed to know.


“What did I do that made people think that I would hurt someone like that?”


“I don’t know. I don’t know if it was something you did or said.”


“Then what was it? It seemed like everything was going so well for me here and then all this. Now there’s a cloud of suspicion everywhere I go. It’s weird. It like everyone went from thinking highly of me to whispers and insinuation. I don’t know why people didn’t defend me and immediately assumed I was guilty.”


“People do that,” Darcy shrugged.


“What happened to ‘innocent until proven guilty’?”


“It’s dead,” Mr. Jacobs announced from his office door, “That concept died a long time ago. Now, if you’re accused you’re guilty until proven innocent.”


“How can I prove my innocence?”


“You can’t,” he replied, “It’s up to us to trust you. You have to find out who did. The only way to prove you didn’t do it is to prove that someone else did. Until the kidnapper is caught, you will be guilty as sin in the minds of this town.”


The look of dreaded realization dawned on Andrew’s face.


“What’s with that look?”


“I was hoping to just put this all behind me and let the cops figure it out.”


“You could do that…” Betty said baiting him.


“Or what? I don’t have access to the forensics or anything. Whenever I meddle in the case, it looks like it all blows up in my face and it ends up looking like I’m guilty and trying to hide something.”


Andrew thought about it. “I don’t know what to do. If you have any suggestions, I’m all ears.” His officemates just looked at each other and shrugged. This wasn’t some crime novel or TV drama. This was real life.


After work, Andrew drove straight to Engrid’s house. She was sitting on her swing watching. It was as if she expected him to stop by.


“Engrid, we need to find whoever did this.”


“I know. I’ve been thinking about how to go about it.”


“You mean scheming…”


She waved her hand in the air, “Tomato/To-mah-to.”


“So what did you come up with?”


“I have a nagging suspicion I know who’s behind this. What I can’t figure out is how he knew which locker was yours.”


“Who?”


“Well, Amanda left the rehab center. By that time her grandmother was at home and had no idea any of this was going on. Her father was in jail so we can safely rule them out. It wasn’t me or you, Evan nor Myrtle had the slightest bit of motive.”


“Okay…so who’s left?”


“Well presumably when she left the rehab center, she returned to a life on the streets. The only thing we know about her life on the streets was that she was on drugs. I found out from asking around that her dealer often hung out in that park. He was the creepy guy we encountered.”


         “Why though? What was his motive?”


“Revenge.”


“Against me?”


“And me. He knew you and I were acquainted and I guess he surmised that if he got you in trouble, it would implicate me too. He’s the only plausible option. Either that or she was a good customer and he didn’t want to lose the business.”


“It’s thin.”


“It’s all we’ve got. But how on God’s green earth we can prove it?”


“Go to the police. Explain your theory.”


“What would that accomplish?”


“It’s simple my dear Engrid,” his eyes twinkled


“Oh it is, is it? Then by all means pray explain.”


“Amanda gave a description of the kidnapper. It wasn’t one of us, but maybe it was him. If she could give a positive ID, the case would be over. Simple.”


“That’s brilliant!” she exclaimed, eyes wide in wonder at the simplicity that had been staring them in the face all along. “That way this will all be over and people would quite looking at me like I was some sort of pedophile.”


“I’d like it if people would quit looking at me like that too,” Andrew replied.


“I’m going to call Agent Sørenson right now,” she picked up her portable phone off the floor of her front porch. She dialed the handset and held it up to her ear. She filled in Agent Sørenson on Andrew’s latest breakthrough. After exchanging a few closing pleasantries, she concluded the phone call.


         “So, he’s going to follow-up on it?”


         “Right away…he was excited about it too.”


         Engrid and Andrew leaned back and slowly rocked back and forth in the languid autumnal evening. Their names would soon be cleared, the real perpetrator would be behind bars and this whole mess would be permanently behind them. Andrew allowed a brief smile of self-satisfaction to creep across his face.


         “What are you smiling at?” Engrid inquired.


“I’m just glad we might have finally gotten this disastrous affair behind us.”


“It’s not behind us yet…they have to catch him. We don’t have a name or address. All we have is a very vague description and a general location where he might be.”


“I’m sure it will be over soon.”


“But if the police go snooping around there, they won’t find time.” Engrid stated matter-of-factly. She snatched her portable phone handset back up off the porch floor. She pounded in some numbers and held it up to her ear.


“Agent Sørenson, this is Engrid Matthews again.”


“Yes Engrid?”


“I’m encountered a problem. Well, if the police go looking for this guy, he’s not going to make himself known. We don’t have a name or anything. Okay…okay…”she listened for a few moments before speaking again, “I propose that Andrew and I go undercover. With police supervision this time of course. If he did frame us, he might intercept us to gloat a bit. If the police are watching, you can pick him up on something random and bring him in then have Amanda ID him. I know it could be dangerous, but we’ve been to this park before. I know it’s a long shot but it’s our best chance to catch this guy. I understand. I’m sure your people are great at catching perpetrators but you don’t know who you’re looking for. A tall, pale Caucasian male in dark clothes is really not that detailed of a description. I would love it if either he or I were wired. But the police would need to be quite a long way off and truly part of the landscape. If this guy suspects anything at all, it won’t work and Andrew and I could be in serious trouble. We would intercept the guy and then you would be able to tell from the conversation that we were speaking to him and then you could swoop in and grab him. I know it sounds simplistic. Are you familiar with Ockham’s Razor? This is the simplest answer. Agent Sørenson, with all due respect, I think this is our best shot. He knows us…what disturbs me is that he knows who we are. After all, he knew which storage unit was Andrew’s. Andrew,” she turned to him, “Did you go to your self storage unit between the time we encountered the man in the park and the time Amanda was discovered?”


“No.”


Engrid sat quietly sucking her teeth. The wheels of her mind spun in circles.


“Agent Sørenson, I don’t think that the ownership of self-storage units is public information is it? I didn’t think so…so how in the world did this guy know that Andrew even had a unit at all let alone which one it was. It’s too outlandish a coincidence for it to really be a coincidence at all. Andrew, when was the last time you went to your unit?”


“It was months ago; shortly after I moved into the house. It was mostly some books and things I don’t use but didn’t want to throw away. I’ve only been to the unit a handful of times, including when I viewed it before leasing it.”


“Do you remember if anyone around saw you?”


“No. The only person was the guy who owns the place who leased it to me. The other times I don’t think anyone else was around.”


“Are you absolutely sure?”


Andrew thought about it for a moment, “I’m pretty sure. There weren’t any cars and there weren’t any other patrons at their units.”


“Then how could he know about it? There must be some critical link somewhere that we’re missing. Perhaps if we find this guy and question him, we might find out what it is.”


“Mrs. Matthews?” She heard Agent Sørenson calling her name through the phone receiver.


“Yes?” she held it back up to her ear.


“When did you want to do this operation?”


“Well,” she looked at her watch, “It’s 5:45 now so would 6-7 hours be enough time for you get the men and equipment we’ll need?”


“Yes. I should be able to get everything approved by then. I’ll have to discuss it with Agent Mortar first since he’s the lead investigator.”


“Ugh,” Engrid sighed into the phone, “I really don’t like that man.”


“I know you don’t, Mrs. Matthews, but he’s in charge. I think your plan just might work; but if he doesn’t sign off on it, it will never happen.”


“Okay then, do what you must. Call me back as soon as you get the go-ahead.”


She pressed the off button once again ending her conversation with the SLED agent.


“Do you think Mortar will go for it?”


“I don’t know,” Engrid sat back, pushing back the porch swing with her feet and letting it glide forward. “Agent Sørenson is a bright man and I think he could crack the case if that idiotic blowhard Mortar would stay out of his way.”


“I guess there’s no love lost between the two of you.”


“Not the least. That man suspected us from day one for some reason and he tried his hardest to put two innocent people in prison for the rest of their lives. I’ve heard that it’s better for an innocent man to go to jail than for a guilty man to go free. But I’m telling you here and now, that’s bunch of hogwash if you’re the innocent man rotting in a jail cell.”


“Or hiding in a toilet paper box.”


“Yes…or hiding in a toilet paper box. Or an ice machine for that matter.”


“If Mortar says no, then what do we do?”


“I wonder if it would be illegal for us to find him in the park and call the police. We could say that he tried to attack us or something. Once he’s already apprehended, Mortar might be willing to throw us a bone and have Amanda see him to make a positive ID. That’s an even longer shot. Let’s just hope and pray Mortar says yes.”


“I think that’s illegal.”


“Why?”


“You can’t just make up charges against someone. I don’t know the legalese for it, but it can’t be right. But, if he is the type of person who sells drugs to teenagers, he might be dumb enough to have them on his person. We could call the police with an anonymous tip that someone is selling drugs in the park and have them come by and arrest him for possession of an illegal substance.”


“Now that’s good thinking, Andrew. Okay, so even if Mortar craps out on us, we just might be able to catch this good-for-nothing scumbag ourselves.”


Engrid kept pushing the swing back and forth lazily for a few minutes as the darkness of the evening set in. She glanced over at an approaching car.


“Your honey is home Mr. Garrison. I think you should go greet him.”


“You know what, Mrs. Matthews? Think I just might do that.” Andrew stood up and stretched his arms out over his head and then behind his back. He walked down the steps and headed home leaving Engrid alone on her front porch swing. She picked up her portable phone and went back inside to prepare her own evening meal. As she was making a grilled cheese sandwich in an old cast iron skillet, the portable phone, which was now on the counter, chirped.


“Hello. Yes, Agent Sørenson, I take it Mortar agreed to our plan? Yes. Oh good, I’m glad he was desperate for a lead. A desperate person is easily manipulated. So, what’s the plan? Okay. I‘ll fill Andrew in on the details.”


She turned off the phone turned off the burner and sat her sandwich on a plate. She grabbed her jacket of the coat rack by the door and scurried over to the neighboring house.


                                       #


Once on the porch, she rang the doorbell. Evan answered, “Hi Engrid, what’s going on?”


“Is Andrew home? I need to talk to him right now.”


Evan furrowed his brow in mock annoyance, “And a find how’d’ya’do to you too.”


“Sorry, this isn’t a social call, it’s an emergency.”


“Oh, what’s the matter?”


“Did Andrew fill you in on our discussion just before you got home?”


“No, he went upstairs and soon as he got home. I’ve been cooking supper ever since.”


“Oh, I was hoping he’d told you.”


“Sadly, I feel Andrew keeps more and more from me every day.”


“He shouldn’t. You’re a very trustworthy man, Evan. Anyone would be lucky to have you in their lives.”


“Thank you for the compliment. If you’d care the indulge me the details of you visit, I’ll treat you to supper at our house.”


“I’ve come to realize something very important about the case.”


Engrid filled Evan in on the details of her plan to exonerate herself and Andrew by catching the perpetrator in the park where this whole saga began. She could tell by the deepening redness washing across Evan’s face, his answer was not going to be in the affirmative.


“Absolutely not!” Evan burst, crossing his arms, “This is ridiculous!”


“What’s ridiculous?” Andrew asked, striding through the kitchen doorway. He’d come down the stairs after hearing Engrid’s voice.


    “It’s the only way we can clear our names,” Engrid replied, keeping her composure.


         “Uh-oh,” Andrew said, realizing what the topic was.


    “Let the police handle it. Every time you two try to solve it, you only make it worse.”


    “So far, that’s been true,” Engrid admitted, “but if the police go in there guns blazing, they’ll never catch him. Evan, I promise this is the best way.”


    “Can you promise you won’t get killed?”


    “I’m not going to get killed and neither is Andrew. We will have police protection they will be listening the whole time. This couldn’t be safer.”


    Evan sat on the sofa scowling at both of them, “I still want to go on record as being against this whole operation.”


    “Noted,” Engrid replied.


    “So, what are you going to do with him when you catch him?”


    “What do you mean? The police swoop in and nab him.”


    “Do you really expect it to go that smoothly?”


    “I’m sure there might be a few hiccups, but that’s basically how it will go.”


    “One of the hiccups wouldn’t include you taking a bullet to your brain, would it?”


    “No, as a matter of fact, it would not.”


    “Andrew, are you on board with this?”


    Andrew gulped and looked into Evan’s eyes. He was going to tell the truth this time. He couldn’t bear to see that look of betrayal in Evan’s eyes again. Regardless of the outcome, he was not going to get caught in another lie. “I don’t want to do it, but we have no other choice. We are the best chance the police have to catch the real kidnapper. Until he is caught, prosecuted and incarcerated, Engrid and I will always have an air of suspicion hanging over our heads. I don’t want to go through life with that cloud just over my head. I hope you can understand. Please don’t be mad at us.”


    “I’m not mad at you; I’m worried about you. I don’t know what I’d do if either of you got killed over this mess.”


    “Evan, I’m telling you that you don’t have to worry about anything. I know what I’m doing. I promise.”


    “How on earth can you know what you are doing?” Evan’s ire was raised, “Are you a cop? Are you a criminal? Are you some sort of government agent? No! You are a financial advisor. You can navigate the world of international banking, but you don’t know jack about bringing down a dangerous criminal who’s probably armed and probably already done time in prison. I’m telling you this is a disaster in the making.”


    “It is not,” Andrew retorted.


    “You should tell him,” Engrid said.


    “Tell me what? What aren’t you telling me that Engrid knows about you?”


    “He likes Hello Kitty.” Engrid replied with a slight smirk, “We learned a lot about each other on that fateful road trip.”


    Evan didn’t look amused, “What’s going on you two?”


    Andrew looked at the floor, “When I was in college and for a few years afterwards, I helped Uncle Ray’s former commander. He’s a United States General and he asked me to do some basic assignments. One thing led to another and I became known as an ‘ad hoc agent.’”


    “What on earth does that mean?”


    “It means I wasn’t a full time CIA agent, but I helped out with very basic assignments. Mostly I would deliver documents and information to American embassies abroad.”


    “What does that have to do with this?”


    “In the process I learned a thing or two about fending for myself against some pretty nasty people in some pretty nasty predicaments.”


    “Are there people looking for you?”


    “No, I was just a messenger boy. I was just a face in a sea of faces. I had a different identity every time I traveled with the agency. Trust me; I’m not important enough for them to spend time and money tracking me down.”


    “Are you sure?”


    “Yes. I’m certain that there are no foreign terrorists out looking to kill me. They wouldn’t even know who I was if they cared to try to find out. You are perfectly safe with me.”


    “Okay.”


    “You aren’t mad?”


    “No. After the stunts you’ve pulled the past 96 hours, this seems rather minor.”


    “That’s a relief.”


    “When was your last assignment?”


    “Two weeks before I moved to Deerfield.”


    “Where did you go?”


    “Venezuela. I can’t tell you any more than that.”


    “Okay. Did you have a security clearance?”


    “I still do.”


    “You aren’t going to take anymore assignments?”


    “No. I spoke with the general and asked for no more assignments.”


    “And he agreed?”


    “Yes. I was an ‘ad hoc agent’ and part of the agreement was that I could stop whenever I wanted to and I could decline any assignments I so chose to decline.”


“Why did you stop?”


“I wanted a stable life. I couldn’t have a stable life if every Friday afternoon I had to drive to the airport, fly across the world and then be back in time to resume my normal life the next Monday morning.”


“That makes sense. Why didn’t you tell me?”


“I wasn’t supposed to tell anybody. Engrid found out because of the natural progression of things. I couldn’t do some of the things I needed to do and answer any of her questions. So, my best option was to confess.”


Evan sat quietly for a few moments, churning over the latest revelation. He knew that he couldn’t stop Andrew and Engrid from going ahead with their plan and this latest bit of information actually made him feel a little safer. For his wiriness and seeming banality, Andrew Garrison hid some pretty astonishing secrets. Evan was slightly titillated that Andrew possessed high level government secrets that he could never divulge. Evan was turned on picturing Andrew as some secret agent 007 sneaking around the planet for the good of America.


He finally replied, “I guess you do know what you’re doing after all. Then, I guess I’ll have to agree for you to go ahead and clear your names. After all, it’s the only honorable thing for me to do.”


“I’m glad you understand,” Andrew said.


“How did you get started with the CIA anyway?”


“Uncle Ray used to be a spy. He was a for-real undercover operative. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Ray Morrison isn’t even his real name. Anyway when I went to live with him, he had to get out of the service and that’s when he transferred to the army. He couldn’t be globetrotting and taking care of a little kid. Then when I turned 18, Uncle Ray introduced me to the man who was his commanding officer. I can’t tell you his name. He told me about the ad hoc thing. I wanted to go something really cool and make a decent amount of money. When he told me how much I could make for just one weekend of sitting on an airplane, I saw nothing but dollar signs. At first it was cool but then I started getting sent on scarier and scarier assignments. At first I got sent to France, Brazil, Israel, fun, cool places like that. During my second summer of college, I actually went undercover at a university in northern Africa as an exchange student. There was a heroine ring operating through some of the faculty. My job was to buddy up to some of the professors and find out what was happening. They thought they’d found a willing American conspirator and they were all too eager to take me in after a couple of weeks. By the end of the summer, I had busted the ring and I spent a lot of time that fall shuttling back and forth from Auburn to The Hague because I had to testify in an international crimes court. Back here I had to appear like a typical class-cutting, daddy’s money student because I couldn’t tell my professors why I was absent from classes a lot that fall.”


“That sounds like it was fun.”


“It was. Exciting and terrifying. I liked it after it was over but it was scary during it. You always have to look over your shoulder. You have to pretend nothing is wrong while fearing for your life. If they do think something’s wrong, they could kill you and no one would ever know what happened to you. It’s fun in novels and on TV, but believe me, it’s not always a fun experience in real life.”


“I can believe that,” Evan replied, “My life is so boring.”


“It’s better that way.”


“So, those professors you testified against, you don’t think they would try to get revenge?”


“No. I was hidden from view and my voice was obscured.”


“Still, they had to suspect it was you. Did they hear the testimony you gave?”


“Yes, they heard the testimony.”


“I’m pretty sure they could figure out who ratted them out based on what the rat said.”


“I was told there was no way they could know it was me.”


“Still”


“But all they know is what I look like and that I’m American. They don’t know anything else. They wouldn’t have a clue where to begin looking for me.”


Evan sighed deeply, “Let’s hope that’s still true.”


“As for tonight, I’ve dealt with far worse than some drug dealer in a park. I’ll watch my back and I’ll bring myself and Engrid back safely. I promise.”


“I’m going to hold you to it.”


After Andrew filled Evan in on a little bit about his shady past, the hours were passed until it was time to depart.