Chapter 21

It was well after 10PM when we returned home from our trip to Raleigh. I forced myself out of Tasha’s car. It was a job to clear the low slung, almost sled. I couldn’t remember it being that hard before my vacation in Eastern Europe.

“So Tasha, do you still want to ride in the morning?” I tried to confirm out plans.

“Why wouldn’t I,” she asked in return.

“Because you are likely to spend the day with my Indian doctor,” I demanded.

“Is he a Lumbee,” she asked being a pure smart ass.

“No, he is from India,” I suggested. Actually he could have been from Pakistan they all seemed the same to me.

“Okay, but can we go to Tonya’s diner for breakfast after our ride. She is not to know about the visit to the doctor’s office.” Tasha replied meekly.

I just nodded my agreement. Obviously Tasha knew something I didn’t know. I didn’t try to play doctor, I just decided to do what I could to make things easier for her. Even though I didn’t know what the things were. I did know that Tasha was nervous. I talked to her to try to keep her calm. We both knew the weight loss could be nothing, or something dangerous. She was young, but anything was possible.

Breakfast was mostly Tasha’s attempt at seeing Tonya without letting her know that there were demons being faced by her lover. Tasha spent a lot of time looking at Tonya while she worked. Tasha had me really worried by the time I paid the bill.

The drive to the doctor’s walk-in clinic in her Miata was only a couple of minutes. She parked in a space that required us to walk several feet. She had chosen a space in the shade of the only tree in the parking lot. It was away from the door, but neither of us minded the walk.

I was also so distracted that I had no problem exiting the Miata. I led the way into the doctor’s office. Unfortunately there several walk-in patients ahead of us. We sat in the lobby drinking weak coffee until 11:18AM.

Tasha was a wreck by the time her number came up. “Would you like me to go with you?” I asked.

Her answer was a simple head shake. She followed the overweight nurse through the doors of the waiting room. I prepared myself for a long wait. There was no way I could have prepared myself for a wait as long as the one required that August day. It seemed to drag on forever.

It was way past lunch time when Tasha came out. She had already cleared her bill, so she just wanted to leave. I should have asked her what was going on, while we were still inside. I got the impression she didn’t want me to know.

“Okay Tasha what is it?” I asked while standing in the shade, before we crawled into the car. “You knew more than you told me before we came, so now is the time to spill it.”

“They are going to run some blood tests. It will take a few days to confirm, but yes I think I know. It might be Huntington’s disease. It is on my mother’s side of the family. The family thinks her brother died of it in childhood. There was always the chance I could have it.

That is the reason that my father allowed me to go to school in America. Also why he was so proud of everything I did. He wanted me to cram a lifetime worth of memories, into the time I had before the symptoms showed themselves. I wanted to do everything while I still could. I hope it isn’t Huntington’s, but odds are that it is.”

“Let’s just forget it till we know for sure,” I said.

“Excellent idea,” she agreed. “So where are you taking me for dinner.”

“If you drive, let’s go back to the ocean from here. We wont even go home,” I suggested. It took almost three hours to get to Wrightsville beach (AKA Wrightsville Island). We didn’t stop along the way for lunch. Even so neither of us was hungry.

We checked into the Blockade Runner Resort Hotel. Since we didn’t have any luggage, we walked to a high end beachwear store along the main drive. The store was also near Mercer’s Pier. The pier was where we had hung out with Lucy.

Tasha bought a pair or jeans and two bikinis. She also bought a male cut sports type jacket. She insisted I buy a swim suit, and a jeans outfits. The idea was to dress for dinner in something never of us had worn before. It was kind of a new start, or maybe an alternate reality.

We returned to the Hotel for dinner at their fancy restaurant. I ordered things that just sounded good without having any idea what they were. After I made a complete fool of myself at dinner, we went to the lounge where I danced, if you could call a comtroled seizure dancing. At least it was with Tasha. When she showed signs of being tired, I accompanied her back to our room with two beds. We used only one.

The next day we hung out on the beach. Then went to the pier for lots of barely acceptable coffee. We watched the sun go down behind the town. It was too bad the sun couldn’t be convinced to set in the east.

I insisted that we stay longer, so that we could see the sun rise from the ocean the next morning. We went to a fish house restaurant for dinner. The shrimp was fresh, so I ordered a boiled version. We shared the shrimp, but still left over half the order. I hated to do it, but I didn’t have an appetite either. We stayed up most of the night, so that we wouldn’t miss the sunrise.

“Sarge,” Tasha said. “If the diagnosis is Huntington’s, I’m going home. I can’t promise to say goodbye, I’m not sure I can stand to do that.”

“Will you at least say goodbye to Lucy,” I asked.

“Yes, she deserves to know how much she means to me. You do know, don’t you?” she asked me.

“I know,” was my reply. “Now let’s get back to Siler City.”

We stopped on the way back for greasy hamburgers at a Dairy Queen restaurant. After the greasy lunch we drove straight home.

“So are we riding tonight or what?” she asked.

“Of course we are,” I replied.

We waited until we could stop at Tonya’s diner for dinner, before we left on the twenty mile ride. I still hadn’t come to grips with losing Tasha, because I didn’t really think she was sick. It was probably something hormonal, I told myself. It would be a pill a day for the rest of her life, worst case. I totally expected.

At Tonya’s I had Salmon Patties, navy beans, and coleslaw. A biscuit, banana pudding, and all the iced tea I could drink went with it. Tasha had a hamburger steak and french fries. I watched her push the large hamburger patty around the plate. She did eat most of the french fries. She also drank most of her one glass of iced tea.

Since I had the last several days with her, Tasha spent that night with Tonya not me. I didn’t blame her at all. She most likely still hadn’t called Lucy. The next morning at five, she was waiting in the parking lot for me.

“So how did it go with Tonya?” I asked.

“Fine, I didn’t tell her. I’ll leave her a note on her computer, if I leave,” she said.

I didn’t plan to tell her how to leave town. That was very much up to her. I didn’t think it would come to that, but it was none of my business. Some things were my business, but her relationship with Tonya wasn’t one of them.

We rode the twenty mile route in town. After the ride we stopped for biscuits and coffee to go from McDonald’s. We sat looking at the caboose and drinking our coffee.

“I wonder how old that thing is?” I asked.

“It probably goes back to the fifties,” she guessed.

“Yes at least. I understand it has been renovated twice since it got here even,” I said.

“Sarge you know I love you. Both as a father and as a lover,” she said. “You have walked a tightrope being both to me, thank you.”

She put her head on my shoulder and had a case of the sniffles. I allowed her to calm down completely before we rode home. Tasha went inside and I never saw her again.

First I tried to call when her car was gone at six when we usually went for our ride. I did my twenty miles and hoped that she was just busy doing something else. I checked off and on up until midnight. Tasha didn’t come home.

The next morning just before noon, I went to the police department to report her missing. I told the ‘missing person’ cop about her medical problems, but not the name of the disease she thought she might have. I wasn’t sure that she wouldn’t be home in time for dinner.

I gave the cop the address of Tonya, and the phone number for the SJL and Lucy. I also gave them the contact information for Force Protection Inc. One of those should have the number of her family. After my interview, I went home to wait the outcome of the investigation.

Before the cops called, the Prince’s lawyer called two days later. “Mr Selfridge. the princess is home safely in Saudi Arabia. The Prince wanted me to contact you so that you wouldn’t worry. His message is do not worry. The Princess’s family will do all that can be done for her. Also, she does not want to see you, so please respect that.”

“You need to contact the Siler City Police Department. They have an open investigation into her disappearance,” I explained.

“We will have your state department take care of that. The prince also wishes for you to accept all the things his daughter left in your Siler City. He will send you all the information.”

“Please tell him, I do not wish to profit from his daughter’s misfortune. I would much rather not take anything,” I said.

“It is what the princess wants,” he insisted.

“Well it’s not what I want,” I said it strongly so we could avoid going back and forth for hours.

For the next week I did not accept any calls period. I got messages from Tonya, Martin, at Force Protection, and Jim Mason at SJL. I returned none of them. I didn’t even return the messages from Lucy. I just wanted to be alone with my grief. During the third week I rode my bike to Tonya’s cafe. I had breakfast then returned home. I spoke to Tonya. but we both chose to ignore the subject of Tasha.

“Could I stop by sometime, I really need to talk to someone,” Tonya asked me on my way out the door.

“Not yet,” I replied sadly.

Time dragged on till it was suddenly four weeks since Tasha had disappeared. It was also mid September. The days were still hot, but the nights were much cooler. It was a sure sign that the fall of the year was coming sooner than later. I was riding my bike morning and evening as usual. It was much nicer temperature wise, than it had been at anytime while Tasha was in the picture. Everything seemed to be marked by Tasha time with me lately. Things were either before or after Tasha. I knew I wasn’t clinically depressed, just saddened by the loss of a friend. A loss to something I couldn’t fight. It wasn’t often that I couldn’t do anything. I guess that knowledge made the helpless feelings even worse.

I was down and about as low as I could go, when I got a call from Mason with the SJL. I have no idea why I answered it. Maybe it was the fact that I had hit bottom in only five weeks. I either had to climb back up, or find something else to help me sleep at night. There had been a time when booze helped me sleep. I kicked that, and swore I would never go back to it. Then drugs put me to sleep and kept me out for six months. I didn’t want to go back there either, so I answered the phone hoping for something else.

“Mason, what can I do for you,” I asked.

“I need you to go to Ringgold Ga. There is someone who needs to be interviewed about a shooting that happened five years ago,” Mason said.

How many times do I have to tell you, I’m not a cop.” I spit it out at him.

“I know, I know, but according to everyone I have talked to, you are a hell of a bodyguard. So I’m sending you down there with a former homicide cop. Your job is to keep your partner alive,” Mason said. “So how about it.”

“Have the cop bring a credit card,” I suggested.

“There is another member of your team. Maurice is coming to get you tomorrow, he will bring your credit card. Works just like last time,” Mason suggested.

“Great, this time I have a lawyer and a cop to watch over. Oh what fun.” I replied scornfully. “Anything else I should know?”

“The guy you are going to talk to is the member of a militia. I should say former member,” Mason suggested.

“Let me guess, the other members don’t want us to talk to him,” I guessed.

“God Sarge, you must be physic,” Mason joked.

“I should be laughing, but note I’m not. Does Maurice by any chance know about the militia?” I asked.

“He does, and he is depending on you,” Mason observed.

“So this is going to be one day in and out?” I asked Mason.

“I sure as hell hope so,” He replied.

“Is it going to be three of us in the car together?” I asked. “If it is we are going to need to rent a second car.”

“Maurice will be in an SJL car. Your new cop buddy will be in a personal vehicle. So play nice,” he admonished me.

“What time will he be here tomorrow?” I asked.

“He should be there around noon,” Mason suggested.

“Fair enough,” I replied.

I had a full afternoon to find a folding bike and try it out. I went to Walmart and found one for under a hundred and fifty bucks. I folded it up and placed it in the small, small cargo trailer. I pulled it home behind the scooter, with the Honda engine, which continue to pull very well. When I got home and opened the bike, I realized just how small it was. I knew it would have twenty inch wheels, but I hadn’t realize how small that is. It was also a step through frame. so I knew that I wouldn’t be doing any tricks or ramp jumps with it. But since I had never done anything other than use a bike for basic transportation and fitness, I doubted that it would ever fail me.