Chapter 5

After Leesha left, I went upstairs, and put on my bathing suit. I grabbed the cordless phone on my way out the door, and headed towards the pool. Alex and Sally were laying on a couple of the many lounge chairs around the pool, soaking up the sunshine. I chose a chair on the other side of the pool, and put my dark glasses on to shield my eyes from the sun, and to make sure that they couldn't see what I was looking at. I watched the girls lying in the sun, remembering the events of the night before. They were so young, and so vibrant, so alive. The word young was what stuck in my mind. They were just children, and given the events with Sally a few weeks ago, and with Alex the night before that made me a molester. I started seeing visions of handcuffs, and police, and prison. What had I done?

The sound of the phone ringing snapped me out of my self-loathing. "Hello." I answered.

"Mark?" It was Leesha's grandmother.

"Hey Granny, how's things going?" I shouted into the phone. Granny is eighty-four, and starting to lose her faculties, but her mind is still sharp as a tack.

"Not real good here. Is Leesha there?" She sounded a little distraught.

"Uh, no Granny, she's supposed to be over there."

"Oh wait a minute, I have another call. Bye." And Granny hung up.

"That's strange." I said aloud to myself. I dialed Leesha's cell phone number. It rang four times and went to voice mail. I didn't leave a message. Her phone going to voice mail told me that she wasn't where she said she was going. I just hoped that she was all right.

I got up from the chair, and headed back into the house. I changed from my swimsuit into some jeans and a t-shirt. I walked back out to the pool, and told Sally that I would be right back.

"Is everything ok?" She asked me.

"Yea sweetie, its ok, I just got something I got to do. I'll be back shortly."

"Ok, see ya when you get back." She replied.

"You guys don't stay out here too long, the sun is hot today." I said as I walked back into the house.

I grabbed my keys off of the desk, and headed to the garage. I backed my old pickup out, and headed down the cobble stone driveway. Once on my way to Granny's house, I kept my eyes peeled for any signs of disturbance along the sides of the road. I took out my cell phone, and called the Sheriff's non-emergency line and asked if there were any accidents reported along state route ninety-seven. The dispatcher assured me that there hasn't been any.

"Where could she be?" I wondered to myself, thinking the worst. I made it all the way to Granny's house, and to my surprise, Carla's car was in the driveway. I got out of the truck, and bounded up the stairs of the front porch. Out of breath, I knocked on the front door.

"Is Leesha here?" I asked Carla when the door opened.

"No Mark, this isn't her weekend. I haven't seen her."

"This isn't her weekend?" I sounded perplexed.

"No, Her weekend was last weekend. Charles pulls one, I pull two, and Leesha the other." Carla started looking worried. "Mark, what's wrong?"

"I thought Leesha had two weekends a month?" I was now wondering why Leesha would lie about this.

"Nope. Where is she Mark?" Carla was getting worried now.

"I don't know." I said. "But, I'll find out. Sorry I disturbed you guys. Say hi to Granny for me will ya?" I bounded back down the steps, and got back in the truck. I didn't know where else to look, or what she possibly could be doing. How long had she only had one weekend? Why was she lying to me?

I got back to the house, tossed my keys back on the desk, and saw the girls piled up on the couch watching TV.

"Anyone call?" I asked. I was pretty sure what the answer was.

"Nope nobody. Did you get everything done?"

I stood there looking in the direction of the TV, but not really seeing it. I was lost in thought about where my wife was, and what she was doing, and even with whom.

"Uncle Mark?" Sally whistled to get my attention.

"Uh... Yea... What?" I stammered.

"Did you get everything done?" She asked me again.

"Uh, yea honey, I got it all done." I said as I turned towards my desk.

I sat down in my desk chair, and powered up my laptop computer. I got online, and checked the bank account. It was all still there, like it was supposed to be. I checked my work e-mail, my personal e-mail. There was nothing from her recently. I looked at the clock, and she had been gone for just over three hours now. I was stumped. I didn't know what happened to her, or where she was. The knowledge of what the schedule was with her grandmother was disturbing. "I'll find out soon enough when she gets home. If she gets home." I thought.

The rest of the afternoon went by uneventfully. Don and Brenda came and picked up Alex at about five thirty. I made some chicken for dinner, and Sally and I ate. About seven thirty, Sally announced to me that she was tired, and was going to her room to read, and probably fall asleep. Leesha should be home by eight fifteen or so. Promptly at eight fifteen, just like she'd done every other time she had to sit with her grandmother, I heard the Caddy come up the drive way. I got up from my desk, and went to the garage door through the kitchen to meet her. I opened up the door, and saw her checking herself out in the mirror. She turned her head, and her face turned white when she saw me.