Chapter 23

I was at the front door with my thermos of coffee when Thia pulled up. I walked out and got into the passenger side of her SUV. Once I was seated she spoke. “You felt like we needed to meet in the car?” she asked.

“I’m not really sure where we need to meet. I know we need to meet and I know the police are looking at me. They may have the state cops looking at me as well.” I suggested.

“What do they know?” Thia asked.’’

“About you nothing as far as I can guess. Have you ever visited Alyson at The Haven?” I asked.

“Absolutely not, I have seen her there of course, but I’ve never done anything in The Haven to draw attention to myself,” she said.

“The the only questions could be about what happened at the car wash the evening before she was killed. Nothing that had anything to do with her murder happened. So we don’t need to talk about it. Unless they can prove you were in the house I don’t think you need to mention it. If they do have a reason to bring you in, do you have an alibi?” I asked.

“For the time I think so yes. I don’t know how she was killed yet so I can’t be positive. They haven’t done a full postmortem yet.” Thia informed me.

“Then we aren’t even sure there is a case yet,” I suggested.

“Well they have ruled out guns and knives. Otherwise they are still investigating,” Thia further explained. “Dad you don’t think I had anything to do with this do you?”

“Of course not,” I said.

“Good she said as she pulled into the parking lot at the lake. She leaned over and kissed me. I have been wanting to do that all day. Long before I knew about Alyson’s death. I loved kissing you both. I’m just so sorry this thing happened to Alyson. I’m going to miss her.” Thia explained. “Who killed her?”

“Well, if it wasn’t either of us. It probably has something to do with the research I was doing,” I suggested. “I’ve been researching a cold murder case in Chapel Hill. Who and why is another issue.”

“Turn this over to the state police. Since I’ve finally found you, I don’t want to lose you again,” Thia suggested.

“Thia listen honey, there can be no us. It will ruin Jon’s life. There will always be questions following him around,” I explained.

“We have to work this out. I need you. I think about you all the time. I think about Alyson as well, but I ache for you.”

“Please let me hold you,” Thia begged. I made sure we were alone, then I held her and kissed her. It was very touchy feelie as we continued to hold and kiss each other. I couldn’t resist rubbing Thia’s back as I held her. I knew the effect touching her ass was having on her because she moaned softly. She also reached down and rubbed my penis. Which convinced me to hold her boobs and to massage her nipples. I knew I should not be doing it, but I couldn’t stop myself. I did not have any coherent thoughts at all. I was sure that I was operating with a faulty moral compass. I was unable to stop myself.

Thia and I were both in the middle of completely inappropriate behavior when her phone rang. It was Jon telling her it was time to pick him up. She quickly dropped me at home then went to Jon’s school. I am sure Thia looked like hell since she was in hurry. Fortunately Jon had called at the beginning of the 9th inning. I swore we had to come up with a better plan for whatever was going to happen between us.

Since I was riddled with guilt, I slept poorly. The upside to that was that it was easy to get out of bed. Easier than most mornings anyway. I was dressed for my early summer morning walk by 6AM. Since no one was planning to walk with me, I was able to leave right away. My summer hiking outfit was a pair of cut off carpenter shorts, and a cut down lightweight sweat shit. The shirt happened to be traffic cone orange in color. I also wore what we called high top basketball shoes when I was a kid. In the hammer pocket, of the cutoff jeans, I carried the folding baton. In my hands I carried the homemade walking stick, and in my ordinary jean pockets, I carried my mini wallet, my dumb phone and my house keys.

I was pretty well stripped down to essentials for my hike. I realized, as I almost always did, that my world revolved around that morning hike. When it rained like hell, it was a day pretty much lost. The rain meant I couldn’t walk, and that I chose not to ride my scooter.

It was raining gently when I opened the front door that morning, so I pulled on my ninety nine cent plastic film poncho and started walking. I could always turn back if it got worse. As I walked I tried not to think about Alyson. After a few minutes I knew that was going to prove impossible. I remembered walks with her all along the same route. Places she had to stop to rest and places she stopped to watch the people, who later found there way into her stories as fringe characters. I had to admit that walking alone was a lot more efficient, and also a lot less interesting.

Since it was raining a little more by the halfway point, I didn’t bother to check my dumb phone for the time. I just continued to walk. On the return walk I tried to decide what I would do to help find Alyson’s killer. The return trip passed much faster. I was much more engaged with the trip, since I also was planning. I had failed to make a plan up until that time. Making a plan was a big deal. The plan called for me to do very little for the next few days.

I had run enough investigations to know that at that moment it was a matter of the best use of assets. I had very little, if any assets at all. The city cops had more assets on the ground and better access to additional resources. The best thing I could do was to spy on the local cops. My plan for the day was to look for weaknesses in their security which I could exploit. It would mean trading what little I had for access to the local team.