by Laina Turner
******
Feeling restless after the morning’s excitement, I originally intended to go for a random drive, but as I got to thinking, I remembered something Brian had said to me last night. After getting past the personal feelings, I had filled him in on my experience with the senator. He, in turn, told me about his interactions with Tom Daniels. That was what came back to me as I drove. Brian told me about the day the Senator came into town and stopped by Brian’s shop, wanting to discuss some restoration work he needed done on one of the classic cars in his collection. The Senator had been feeling melancholy, mentioning to Brian that he felt like the world was closing in and that he always had people around telling him what to do. He said that the stuff he had to do wasn’t always what he wanted to do.
Brian told me he seemed depressed and not the happy–go–lucky guy he normally was. Brian also told me he found it very unusual that the Senator would confide these things to him over a two–hour period. He just hung out and watched while Brian worked—and talked incessantly. Brian said the most time he had ever spent there previously was a few minutes. He was always in a rush to get somewhere, so his behavior was strange.
I thought that, in light of what had just happened, I should head over to Brian’s house. He might have more to add. Of course, I hadn’t told any of this to either Cooper or Dirt. I had honestly forgotten, and even if I had remembered, it was just hearsay. I felt I needed to get more information from Brian, and then tell them. I didn’t want to start spreading gossip. God knows that happened enough. But I still felt a bit uneasy about the decision.
I pulled into Brian’s driveway but the house looked quiet and I didn't see his truck, so I assumed he wasn't there. Damn. Where could he be? I had decided to stop at the local greasy spoon, thinking that maybe Brian had gone for an early lunch but he wasn’t there. Oh well, I needed to meet Katy anyway.
