Chapter 9: You should be happy

Thane sat in a booth by himself at Monroe’s, debating whether or not he should call London. In normal circumstances, contact was prohibited until the assignment was completed. Nevertheless, with the death of his driver, his injuries and the people he’d interacted with, was putting him close to a department-wide cleanup.

Not to mention his strange attachment to Kate. He had distanced himself so far from his emotions involving normal humans, that he struggled getting them under control. If he wasn’t actively keeping them silenced, his thoughts would go straight to her.

He sipped his tea, occasionally looking at the entrance to the restaurant, part of him wanting Kate to walk in while hoping she wouldn’t.

To his right, a man asked, “Mind if I sit down?”

Without waiting for Thane’s answer, the man seated himself across from Thane, tossing his gray duster to the far end of the bench from where he sat. He held up a hand and called to a waitress, “Sallie, could I get a coffee to go?”

Thane was reminded just how far he was from civilization upon seeing the Sheriff. Instead of wearing a uniform, the man wore a brown corduroy vest over a maroon dress shirt. His light brown, shoulder length hair was brushed back and had a slight part in the middle.

“Based on Doc’s description, you must be Thane Edwards,” the Sheriff intertwined his fingers together and rested them on the table. “He told me you were in an accident, how’re you feeling?”

“Fine, thank you.” Thane took another sip of tea.

“Sure does seem that way,” Sheriff Wilson’s tone was calm and collected. He looked up when Sallie came by and set a paper cup and lid in front of him. She smiled at him, glared at Thane and walked away.

Thane noticed she wasn’t chewing any gum.

“Look, Mr. Edwards, I don’t know how they handle things in England, but if we got someone who’s willing to drive off after hitting someone, I need to be involved.”

Thane rubbed his thumbs against his cup. “There’s very little I saw and less that I can remember. I didn’t see the vehicle that struck me,” ‘Because there wasn’t one,’ he thought. “After I pulled myself from the car I was unconscious until almost morning.” He took another sip. “Without anything useful and because I was fortunate to sustain little injury, I didn’t feel the urgency to report anything.”

The Sheriff nodded. “Do you know if your vehicle was blocking the road?”

Thane lied. “You should find it at the bottom of a hill. I couldn’t tell you where,” he finished off his drink. “It shouldn’t be difficult to spot, I haven’t seen another Rolls Royce Ghost since arriving in your country.”

Sheriff Wilson took a notepad and pen from his pocket, flipped it open and wrote the model of the car down. “You’re right, I’ve not heard of that make or model. Mind if I ask where you were headed?”

Thane couldn’t remember the nearby cities as the maps he often used were labeled very differently. He guessed, “A business conference near Saskatoon.”

One of the Sheriff’s eyebrows arched up. “Any particular reason you chose to drive instead of fly?”

Thane pushed his empty cup away and folded his hands in front of him. “Preference.”

Sheriff Wilson tapped on his notepad with his pen. “Do you need to notify any family or friends?”

Thane nodded. “It’s been taken care of.”

The watch on the Sheriff’s wrist beeped. He pulled back his sleeve, and pressed a button on the side of the device to turn it off. “Alright Mr. Edwards, if you can think of anything else, the station isn’t far from here. My door is always open.” After putting on his duster, he took his cup of coffee, laid down a couple dollars and left.

Not long after the Sheriff departed, Tim entered, scanning the tables for Thane. He jogged to where Thane was and sat down. “Thane, you need to hear this,” Tim paused and looked down. “This seat is warm.”

Thane yawned. “Yes, I just met with Sheriff Cole Wilson.”

“Is he going to find the guy that ran you off the road?”

“No.” Thane said without any hesitation. “It is hardly a concern, as I will be gone later this evening or sometime tomorrow. Thank you, for the loan by the way. I will reimburse you, with interest.”

Tim put up both his hands and shook them, indicating Thane to stop talking. “Yeah nobody cares about that right now. Thane, some guy showed up at my store just before we closed. A guy I’ve never seen before, who was almost as strange as you, or at least Kate and I thought so. He seemed focused only on Kate. He said he was staying at the Winding Trails Inn. Do you think it could be. . .?”

Thane closed his eyes and shook his head as he sighed. “You say he was staying at the Winding Trails Inn?”

Tim nodded.

“I told you, those I work with are disgusted by the lives of a commoner. They would never show their faces here. What did he want?”

“He said he’d seen all the movies at the Inn and wondered if we had anything else,” Tim scratched his neck. “He seemed really interested in Kate.”

“So you said. Well Tim, I don’t know what to say. She’s a beautiful woman with a sweet personality. There are few in this world who wouldn’t be interested in Miss Holland.” His words came out more bitter than he intended.

Tim looked irritated. “Thane, do you care about her or not? No, I don’t have any concrete evidence on this guy, but Thane I’m telling you, there was something off about him.”

Thane stared at the random directions of wood grain lines on the table. “Did you get his name?”

“He paid with cash.”

Thane nodded. “What did he look like?”

Tim’s eyebrows scrunched together. “He’s about as tall as you, but really lean. He had dark hair, cut short like a lawyer’s. Pretty sure he was recently shaved.”

Thane’s eyes widened. He sat up, his full attention on Tim. “How long was he in the store?”

Tim instinctively backed up on the bench. He knew Thane wouldn’t hurt him; it didn’t change the fact he was a big guy. “I dunno, I think he was talking to Kate for a minute or so before I came back up front.”

Thane massaged his temples. ‘Why does everything have to be so difficult?’ He thought. “Did Kate return home?”

“Yes. I think so. I mean, I don’t know why she wouldn’t,”

Thane got to his feet and sprinted to the door.

***

Thane first went to her apartment, where she was either ignoring him or wasn’t there. As soon as a light came on in an apartment adjacent to hers, he left the small complex and started toward The Winding Trail Inn.

Through the extra large window from outside, he spotted her sitting in a seat near the front desk, engrossed in a movie on a small television set. He could not comprehend why he missed her so much. While seeing her comforted a part of him, he wanted more to go to her and be a part of what she was doing. He wanted to hear her response to the questions he had for her and watch her expressions when he answered her questions for him.

He wanted to know who she was and why.

Just as Thane started forward, a man wearing black walked in from a hallway joining the central office to the rooms.

Kate looked up and saw the man at the same time the man noticed her sitting in front of the TV. The two of them smiled, approached one another and began talking.

Thane wanted to believe the man was a threat. He wanted to believe it was the man who killed his driver, John Lambert.

But he wasn’t.

The families he worked with had a look to them he could identify with a glance.

The man talking to Kate, while attractive, lacked the grace, flawless complexion and predatorial movements they all possessed.

It pained him to see how the stranger made Kate smile.

‘You should be happy,’ his mind said to him.

“I’m not.” he replied out loud.

Turning away from the Inn, Thane began walking back to the restaurant.

He would leave tonight, if possible. Tim had told him the taxi made drop offs and pick ups at Monroe’s if the roads were clear enough. Once finished with business at Skettus Hold, he’d never return to the States again.

Tim was still in the booth at Monroes, swirling a fry in some ketchup. When he saw Thane, he pushed the remnants of his meal away to the far end of the table and asked, “Is Kate okay? Did you find the guy?”

Thane stared into nothing, he only registered bits of what Tim had said. In response, all he could say was, “It’s fine.”

Tim held his hands out. “That’s it? What do you mean-”

“Go home Tim,” Thane’s voice was callous. “Just drop it and go home.”

Tim lowered his hands and curled his fingers into a fist. For a long time, he said nothing, his mouth moving around like he was going to say something but kept it shut. Finally he swallowed and said quietly. “Okay Thane. I’ll go.” Scooting out of his side of the booth, he got up and left.

Thane went to the payphone inside the restaurant and called the only taxi service that was willing to make the drive to Caribou Falls.

On the other end of the phone a woman’s voice answered, “OneWay Taxi service, how can I help you?”

“Yes, I was told you can make pickups in Caribou Falls?”

Furious typing ensued on the other end. Between the clacking keys she said, “It takes about four hours to get out that way sweety, you okay with that?”

“That’s fine, thank you.”

Suddenly the typing stopped. “Well would you look at that?” she whispered incoherently to herself as she read. “Looks like someone will be out that way in under an hour.” More rapid-speed typing. “Could I get your name and where you’re headed?”

Thane proceeded to provide the dispatcher with all the information she required and then hung up the phone.

Returning to his booth, he sat down and quietly waited for his cab to arrive.