Jamie closed his eyes, trying to put himself back in the parking lot on Monday evening. It was dusk when he’d found Justin in his car Monday night. The student parking lot had been empty except for his truck and Justin’s SUV. He mentally scanned the parking lot and the exit.
His eyes almost popped open, “There was a car leaving the parking lot when I found Justin. I don’t know who it was or what kind of car it was, but I know it wasn’t Hannah Evans. Hannah drives a baby blue Beetle. A Beetle has distinctive tail lights.”
“That’s still good information, Bambino, let’s get the detective back in here. You can tell him what you know and we can get back home.”
Ben stood and rapped on the door letting Detective Duncan know he could come back in.
“Detective Duncan, I recognize two of the people in the photos because I know them. He pointed to the women he knew. They’re the sister and mother of one of my teammates. But, I didn’t see either of them on Monday or Tuesday. I do remember that there was a car leaving the parking lot on Monday. I don’t know the make or model, but it was a dark car maybe black or dark gray. It was a car, not a cross over or SUV. I didn’t get the license number and I don’t know that I’d be able to recognize it again if I saw it. That’s everything I can remember.”
The detective picked up the photo six-pack. He reached into his pocket and took out a business card, which he extended toward Ben. He looked at Jamie. “Call if you remember anything else.”
Ben reached into his own inside breast pocket and exchanged cards with the detective.
“What time do you leave for the game?” The detective asked as he looked at Ben’s card.
“The bus leaves at 2:30, we have to be at school at 2:00.” Jamie told him.
Ben looked from Jamie to the detective. “Tanner will be following the bus. The family is flying over and we’ll leave the house around 5:00. Call me or Tanner if anything comes up.”
Jamie looked at his father. Tanner is going to follow the bus, when will this nightmare be over?
Father and son walked out of the police substation and got into the Escalade. Jamie turned toward his father. “How much longer do I have to be treated like some helpless little kid? God, what are the guys going to think about Mr. Tanner following me around?”
Jamie was upset and with good reason. Over the last few days, he’d had a lot to process, but he should consider himself lucky that Ben was allowing him to ride the bus with the rest of the team. Earlier, Ben had seriously been considering calling the assistant coach and telling him Jamie would be flying to St. Louis with the family.
Ben took a breath. “Bambino, I know you want this to be over. Believe me, we all do. The guys won’t know who Tanner is or that he’s following the bus unless you tell them. I’m sure there will be a virtual caravan of vehicles leaving from school and going to St. Louis today. Tanner’s SUV will just be another vehicle in the line.”
Jamie looked at his father. Sure, that was probably true, but he knew the rest of the story, what he thought of as the truth. “Okay, but tell me just how Mr. Tanner is going to protect me from another vehicle anyway.”
Ben gave Jamie what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “Jamie, Roy Tanner is just going to keep an eye on the bus. He’ll check it out or have it checked before it leaves the parking lot to be sure it’s safe. He’ll be in the parking lot watching for anything suspicious, and he’ll follow the bus keeping an eye on every vehicle that comes close to it.”
Jamie didn’t look convinced, and Ben continued, “Imagine that it was Jess, your mother, or even Jake, and someone was a threat to them. What would you do?”
Jamie heaved a sigh. “Everything humanly possible to be sure that no one could get close to them.”
“Exactly. That’s all we’re doing now. No one has said you’re helpless or that you can’t take care of yourself. We’re just trying to make sure you don’t have to. You’ve done everything right so far, Jamie. Let’s keep it that way.”
Jamie looked at Ben. When he put it that way, it was hard to argue with. He laughed, and Ben looked at him.
“That’s quite a case you’ve presented. You really are a good lawyer, aren’t you?”
Ben chuckled as he reached over and tousled Jamie’s hair. “I hope I’m a good father. Because where you’re concerned, I’m a father first and a lawyer second.”
Chapter 25
Ben checked the digital readout on the clock as he pulled into the garage. Lunchtime. He wondered where the rest of the family was and whether it was all right to get everyone settled with left overs, or if Lane wanted to cook or maybe even go out. He knew that Lane usually made turkey and noodles with leftovers after the holidays, but unless Lane and Evie had made noodles, that was out of the running.
Ben parked the SUV and looked at Jamie, “Hey, Bambino, let’s go see what the lunch plans are.”
They walked through the garage and into the hearth room where Evie and Lane were sitting with Jess and Gabe. Ben kissed Lane’s cheek as he and Jamie entered the room. People often say, great minds think alike, and apparently, so do hungry stomachs. The group was discussing what to do for lunch as Ben and Jamie joined them. Ben smiled; he wasn’t sure whether the discussion was really necessary. He’d looked into the kitchen as he’d passed by and apparently, Lane (and perhaps Evie) had made egg noodles while he and Jamie had been gone. It wouldn’t take long to get some turkey stock on the stove and they’d have turkey and noodles within the hour.
When the conversation rolled back around to turkey and homemade noodles, Ben said, “You’ve been busy, I’ll start the turkey stock and cut up the turkey. I’d put carrots and celery in,” he looked around the room “if you’re a family of purists, I can leave them out.”
Lane patted his hand, “We are definitely purists when it comes to turkey and noodles.” She shook her head, celery and carrots were fine in soup, but this wasn’t soup. She had a friend who put egg droppings in her turkey or chicken and noodles. It was entirely possible that many people out there thought her way was without imagination and flavor. She stood and took Ben’s hand. “I’ll help you.” As they walked into the kitchen, she leaned close to him and whispered, “There’s something I want to talk with you about and I’d like to know how it went with the police.”
Ben went to the pantry, got the 20-quart stockpot, and brought it back to the kitchen. Under ordinary circumstances, Lane would have asked him if he thought they were feeding an army, but she already knew the answer.
Lane got the plastic containers of turkey and put them on the counter. She reached back in and got the plastic container of turkey stock and a container of chicken stock they’d purchased.
As she handed the containers to Ben, she said, “I’ll go first. Phillip called Evie this morning. He and Ralphie are getting married next month and he’s going to be calling me about the kids going to the wedding.” She took a breath. “Which brings up the fact that I’m going to have to tell him Jamie isn’t his son. I don’t know that it will be a big deal. You know the kids really haven’t had much of a relationship with him anyway, and before you ask, there aren’t any financial implications to that revelation. We had settled the child support issue before I found out I was pregnant and I didn’t go back to ask for any more money. I had a good job and I didn’t need the money, in fact, the child support always just went into the college fund anyway.”
Ben pulled her into his embrace. It seemed every day he learned more about what a strong woman she was. She’d raised three kids, one of them his, and done it, basically, on her own with practically no financial help from anyone. Well, she wasn’t on her own anymore and he was going to do everything he could to make sure she never was again.