Ben watched Lane as he spoke into the speakerphone “Hi, Maggie.  Have you heard anything from Liz yet?”

“Yes, I’ve spoken with her and with her investigator.  I can’t thank you both enough for everything you’re doing for me.”

“Hold the gratitude until we have Jeff back home.  I look forward to meeting you in person tomorrow.”  Ben nodded to Lane, pulled out his cell phone and said, “I need to handle this, so I’ll leave you two alone to chat.”  He pointed toward the garage.  He walked through the house and made his way through the garage toward the driveway as he clicked away on his phone.

Chapter 4

North by Northwest or how to get to Omaha

The Parker kids left for L.A. bright and early on Saturday morning. As Lane stood in the driveway waving her farewell, Ben's Lincoln Navigator pulled to the curb. Her trip to Omaha was either going to alleviate her worry about her family alone on a road trip across the country, or it was going to magnify it beyond all tolerable measures. Lane understood why Maggie was clinging to the hope that Jeff and some woman were somewhere ignoring everyone and everything else. But, she also knew that Jeff loved his mother and that neither love nor lust would allow him to ignore Maggie's phone calls for a week. He might not tell Maggie where he was, what he was doing, or with whom he was doing it, but he would at least send an e-mail or a text saying he'd be out of pocket for a while. Something had happened to Jeff, Maggie knew it, and so did Lane.

She waved at Ben as he walked toward her. She couldn't help but smile. A woman would have to be blind, dead, or both not to see how classically handsome Ben was. He was 36 years old, stood 6 feet 4 inches tall had dark wavy hair and hazel eyes. The best way to describe him was that he could be George Clooney's much younger, much taller, much, much better looking brother. He was intelligent and witty. He was the first and best friend Lane made after moving to Kansas.

"Hey, Red. Are you packed and ready to leave or do you need some time to mourn the empty nest?"

Lane laughed.  "I don't have an empty nest. An empty nest would be much cleaner. Just poke your head into Jake's room to see what I mean. That boy left his room looking like he was just running to the corner store."

Ben laughed as he followed her into the house.

"Let me grab a soda and then I'm good to go. Do you want one?" She asked as she headed toward the fridge.

"I'm good." Ben said as he picked up the small suitcase she’d left in the hall.

When she opened the door to the Ben's black Lincoln Navigator, Lane wasn't surprised to find that Ben had gotten her a 32 ounce Diet Dr. Pepper when he'd stopped for gas. She smiled. This would be their first road trip together and she wondered what kind of traveler he'd be. Lane knew from experience that it was a three to three and a half hour drive between her house and Omaha depending on traffic and the number of stops. Some men were better than others were at understanding the bathroom stops needed by women and children. That 32-ounce soda and the can of Diet Dr. Pepper in her hand meant that Lane would need to stop at least once.

They talked amiably as they made their way north on I635. Ben told her that he'd gotten an e-mail from Liz that morning and he handed her his i-phone so that she could read it. Liz related that she'd put her investigator, Blake, to work, poking around to see what he could find out about where Jeff had been last Friday and in the week since. Lane pondered whether Blake was the investigator's first or last name as Frank Sinatra sang softly in the background.

She looked at Ben as she placed his phone on the console between them. Lord, the man was gorgeous. She shook her head, thinking, what is wrong with me. He turned his head toward her and flashed a perfect smile with just the right amount of concern.

"Do you want to talk about your friend and her son?"

Lane nodded and told him about Maggie; how they'd grown up together. Maggie with her olive complexion and curly black hair and Lane with her fair skin and golden hair, were like two ends of a spectrum. They'd spent their time in that little town riding bicycles roller skating, jumping rope and swimming together. She couldn't tell him when they met; Maggie had just always been there in the house next door.

She told him about moving to Omaha when her aunt Marta got married and about how she and Maggie had eventually lost touch.  But, it was only a few years until Lane had enrolled in college at the University of Nebraska Omaha campus and Maggie had gotten a job in Omaha and the two had become roommates. She told him about Maggie's marriage and divorce and that her friend had cancer and a hysterectomy when Jeff was just three. About how after over the years, they had drifted together and apart still knowing all of the time that if either needed anything at all, she only had to make a call to the other.  Ben was a good listener, making encouraging sounds at all of the right times.

Ben met Lane shortly after she'd moved to Kansas. The church they both attended was collecting items for a garage sale fundraiser, and Fr. Palmert had roped Ben into doing pick-up duty with him.  Lane’s newly purchased house had come with kitchen appliances; there was even a washer and dryer in the laundry room. Because she planned a complete remodel of both the kitchen and the laundry room, by taking both rooms down to the studs, she neither wanted nor needed the appliances; and so she had called to arrange the donation. Ben and Fr. Palmert had come to make the pickup, and after assessing the situation, Ben told her he’d come back and help her move some things later.

During the three years since they'd met, they had talked about family. But, they'd never exchanged life stories. Ben knew bits and pieces about her life before they met, just as Lane knew bits and pieces about his. He knew she had no siblings and had been raised by her aunt.  Lane knew that Ben was the oldest of five children.

She didn't know when he'd reached across the console and taken her hand and while there was some comfort in having his strong hand gently caress her hand, the 12-year age difference between them was never far from her mind. She was pushing ever closer to 50 while Ben was still in his 30's. Sure, thanks to the miracle of good genetics Lane didn't look even close to her age. She smiled as she remembered the day she had introduced her kids to Ben.

When she and Ben met, she had told him she'd taken the job, found the house, and moved while her three kids were staying in Omaha for the summer with their paternal grandmother. The plan was to have the remodel finished at least two weeks before school started and she'd drive to Omaha and bring the kids back. Lane recounted her own move to Omaha when she was 13. Aunt Marta had moved her in the middle of summer and she had suffered through the remainder of the summer with no friends. Her idea was to give her kids a couple of weeks to get used to their new home and surroundings, then have them start school soon so they could make friends. She hadn't told Ben the ages of her kids and because he thought she was about his age, he had assumed her kids were young. To say he was surprised when he found out how old they were would be an understatement. The look on his face, when he found out Jake was in college, Jess was seventeen and going to be a high school senior, and Jamie at fourteen was going to be a high school freshman, still made her smile.

They'd been on the road for about an hour and were on Interstate 29 just north of St. Joseph, MO. As Lane flexed her hand, Ben gave her a gentle squeeze, released his hold, and glanced at her. "There's an exit for a rest stop ahead, do we need to make a pit stop?"