Chapter 4: The Stakeout

The bar was dark and more crowded than the night before. Denise grabbed a table while Thomas went to the bar to get drinks. He returned to the table and sat down.

“Do you see Andrea?” he asked.

“No, not yet.”

They sipped their drinks and laughed at the sign someone put on the stage. A single chair was on the stage with the back facing the audience. A white sheet of lined school paper was taped to the chair with a hand-written note, “No band. Flat tire.”

“That doesn’t mean the music is any less loud,” yelled Thomas toward Denise. She shrugged in agreement.

Twenty minutes later they spied Andrea enter the bar. A couple rose from a booth in the corner at the same time.

“Go get the booth,” Thomas instructed Denise. He rose and made a path to intercept Andrea.

“Hello,” he said as he slid into a stool next to his future wife.

She took one look at him and rolled her eyes. Before she could get up he said, “Andrea, please, I need to talk to you for a minute.”

A look of terror quickly passed behind her eyes.

“How do you know my name?” She made to bolt from her chair and probably the bar when Thomas quickly touched her arm.

“Please. Andrea Ann Cotten. You live on Ridge Water Drive. Your mom and dad are Sally and Dan. Your sister was killed by a drunk driver.”

The look of horror returned to her eyes.

“Who are you?” she stammered.

“Please, trust me. I’m a friend. I just need to talk to you for a few minutes.”

Thomas paid for the drinks and escorted Andrea to the booth Denise secured.

“This is my girlfriend, Denise.”

The two women nodded at each other.

“Listen, Andrea, I’m really sorry to spook you, but we were here last night and saw you with a man. The bartender called him The Bear.”

Andrea wanted to run. She looked from Denise to Thomas.

Denise said, “Listen, he’s kind of like a psychic. Creeps me the fuck out sometimes, but he’s really good at what he does. This is important. Humor him.”

Andrea relaxed a shade and took a long pull from her beer.

“The man, last night?” prompted Thomas.

“Yeah, that was me, so what?”

“We ran into that man earlier today and he pulled a gun on us, that’s what,” snapped Denise, losing her temper. “We want to know who he is and why he pulled a gun.”

Andrea’s hand shook slightly.

“Yeah, everyone calls him The Bear. I think his name is Doug or Darren or something.”

“What can you tell us about him?”

Andrea finished her drink. Thomas waved to the waitress to bring another.

“I met him last month. We made out for a few minutes while dancing then he took me to his house. It’s just past this small church as you get close to the river.”

Thomas could see Denise look in his direction. It had to be the same church they saw earlier.

“Is he coming here tonight?” asked Denise.

Andrea nodded. “Yeah, he got a call on the bar’s phone last night and he left in a hurry. He said he would come back tonight. He wants to finish what we started.”

Thomas handed her the beer from the waitress.

“Here,” he said. “It’s your decision, but I think it would be best if you left right now and went home to your parents. You are in danger.”

Denise added, “Remember that psychic shit? I’d listen to him if I were you.”

Andrea ignored the drink and made a beeline for the door.

“Think she’ll go home?” asked Denise.

“I don’t know, but at least she probably won’t spend the night with The Bear.”

At the hotel, Denise and Thomas rode the elevator to their floor. Instead of going to their room they knocked on the door of the couple they spied playing naked in the hallway.

The woman opened the door wearing a tight sheer teddy across her torso and no panties. When she saw Denise and Thomas, she held the door wide open and called to her husband.

“You were right, they are coming to play.”

Thomas led Denise into the room and pulled the door shut in case anyone walked down the hallway.

“Actually, we’re not here to play, sorry,” said Thomas. “But I do need to ask a favor. Can we borrow your VHS recorder?”

The man paused then gave Thomas a wink. “Can we watch the video?”

“It’s a long story but I can say it won’t be a tape of us having sex.”

The man grunted in disappointment. He rolled off the bed, naked and carefree, even with others in the room. He pulled a bag off the floor.

He extended the bag to Thomas. “This legit? You’re not going to steal it, right?”

“I promise,” said Thomas, “you’ll have it back tomorrow morning.”

The man let go and said, “OK, just buy your own cartridge.”

Before Denise and Thomas left the room the woman said, “If you are back early, the invitation to play is always open.”

Denise smiled as she shut the door and said noncommittally, “OK, got it.”

Tensions started to rise when they rode the elevator back to the lobby. When they got to the car and started the drive to the marina Denise shook her in disbelief.

“Are we crazy?” asked Denise for the tenth time.

“Yes,” replied Thomas.

They thought it would be hard to find the entrance to the marina in the dark but they drove straight to the gravel road. Instead of turning, they continued to the crossroad and the small church. They circled back the way they came, and just as Andrea described, there was a house sitting well off the road partially hidden by the treeline.

“There it is,” said Denise, pointing to her right.

Thomas continued straight then did another u-turn. He found the start of what was probably going to be a driveway and backed into the opening. When they were mostly covered by a large limb he shut off the car engine. It was eerily quiet and dark. They could see the house from where they sat. Lights were clearly on in the main room.

“Damn, I’ve got to pee,” said Thomas. He opened his door and felt like a spotlight fell on him when the interior car light illuminated. He quickly and quietly shut the door and stood at the rear of the car. He unzipped his pants and began to relieve himself when he saw the lights of their target house go dark. A second later he saw The Bear leave his house and reach up to a planter on the porch. Thomas shook himself dry and ducked low so he could not be seen when the man left his driveway.

The Bear got into his car and exited opposite their direction and never saw their parked car. Thomas moved to the passenger door and opened it to talk to Denise.

“Did you see what he did? Think it is a key?” she asked.

Thomas nodded. He helped her out, then reached into the backseat to retrieve the VHS recorder before shutting the door.

“Yep, now let’s go. Who knows how much time we’ll have.”