Found and Destroyed: The Second Sarah Martin Mystery

by Danelle Helget

  Chapter Twenty

  BUZZZZZZZZ!

  “Ah! I’m awake!”

  I walked to the door on weak, half-asleep legs and glanced at the clock. It was 11:00 p.m. Wow, he’s late. I swung the door open, and there stood Derek. He had a duffel bag over his shoulder, a paper bag in his arms, and a six pack in the other hand.

  “Hi, sorry I’m late. I … I got stuck taking care of something. I brought snacks!” he said raising the beer.

  “Come on in.”

  I wondered if it was too early to give him a key. My heart was still racing. I stepped aside so that he could enter. He set the bag and beer down and I helped him unpack.

  “Thanks for picking this up. I have close to nothing here. I’m really not hungry for snacks, but I’ll have a beer,” I said and pulled one out of the plastic ring.

  Derek unpacked Fritos, chocolate Chex mix, and butter-pecan ice cream. It looked good, but I was still full from dinner.

  After the groceries were unpacked, I saw Derek reach for his cell phone on his belt. He looked at the screen, then tipped it away from me and pushed something on it. When he glanced back up, his face was weird.

  “I’ll take a beer too,” he said with a strange voice. My guard went up. I had that uncomfortable feeling in my gut. “Is the game on?” he asked.

  Glancing back to the TV, I informed him, “Nope, it’s over.”

  “Did they win?” he asked.

  I took a pull on my beer, “I don’t know. I fell asleep watching, while I waited for you.” He looked like he didn’t have anything to say. “So what thing were you stuck doing?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t being too nosy.

  After another sip of his beer, he set it down and took a moment to collect his thoughts. “When I got back to my apartment there was a friend there who needed someone to talk to. This friend is going through some tough stuff right now and needed to bend someone’s ear. Sorry I was late.”

  “Oh … it’s no problem … you just looked stressed, and I thought I’d ask. Do you want to talk about it?”

  “No, I think the situation will work itself out. I couldn’t do anything for them but listen, but I think it helped them, so it was time well spent, hopefully. I just hope that your nap gave you a bit more energy for us tonight,” he said stepping into me.

  “Well I was sleeping … but you have my attention.”

  He tipped his head down and kissed me. When we parted he handed me his beer.

  “Save me a spot on the couch, sweetness. I’m going to use the bathroom,” he reached behind me and set his wallet and phone on the end table by the couch, then removed his coat and shoes.

  Just after he’d shut the door to the bathroom his phone vibrated. I looked down at it. It showed an incoming call from Jodi. Huh, I wonder who Jodi is. I set his beer on a coaster next to his phone. I sat on the couch and flipped through the channels. There was nothing on. Derek re-entered the room and plopped down next to me. His phone buzzed again.

  “You missed a call when you were in the bathroom too,” I said nonchalantly. He looked over at his phone and turned it off. “Do you have to get that?” I asked.

  “Nope, it’s nothing. Sorry. It’s off now.” After flipping through the line up three more times, I looked over to Derek and told him I was tired.

  “Sorry I just can’t keep my eyes open anymore. I’m going to head to bed. Do you want to watch TV for a while, or join me?” I asked him.

  “I’ll be in a few minutes,” he said.

  I walked into the bedroom and changed into a shorts and t-shirt and climbed into bed. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that he was hiding something. After about twenty minutes I heard Derek’s voice quietly talking. He must be on the phone. I strained my ear to hear but could only make out a few mumbled words: No, had, chance, call, anymore, I’m serious.

  When it got quiet I heard him sigh loudly. The TV clicked off and I heard empty cans fall into the garbage. Derek walked into the bedroom dropped all his clothes, except his boxers, on the floor and slid into bed. I didn’t move and pretended to be asleep. He scooted over and threw his arm around me.

  “Good night, beautiful,” he whispered, then kissed my cheek softly and fell asleep.

  I woke up to Faith licking my hand. Monday, my least favorite day of the week. Derek was out of bed already. The shower was on, so I knew I wasn’t too far behind him. I moaned and rolled over to look at the clock—7:03 a.m. I threw the covers off and waddled into the kitchen. There was some juice and some breakfast food left in there. I drank the juice, but didn’t feel like making anything else. Derek must think that I’m really lazy, or that I don’t know how to cook. I do know how, I just don’t enjoy it that much. Plus I have the money to eat out, so why not do that? Someday soon I’ll cook him a nice meal, just to show him.

  I noticed his phone on the counter. I really wanted to look at it, but I felt I shouldn’t. But I wanted to. But it’s wrong. But I can’t stand it. But it’s an invasion of privacy. But he is my boyfriend. But … Ahhhh! Screw it! I’m looking! I reached for the phone and heard the shower shut off. I quickly turned it on and hit the green phone button for recent calls. My adrenaline was pumping. I quickly scrolled the list. It showed the last seven calls were from Jodi. The latest being an outgoing call to her at midnight, which was about when I had gone to bed and heard him talking softly. What the heck? I’m sure it was work, or a cousin wondering about Kelly. I put it back to the main screen and set it down exactly where I’d found it. The bathroom door opened and out walked Derek.

  “Mmm, good morning,” he said, taking my face in his hands and kissing me.

  “Oooh, good morning,” I said with a smile. He smelled good. Fresh, soft, clean-shaven face. Mmm, Mmm. “What time do you want to head out?” I asked.

  “Soon, I was thinking we could grab something to eat on the way. The faster we get there the faster we can leave. I want to get a few hours of sleep in before my shift tonight.”

  “Okay, I’m going to take a quick shower and we can be on the road in thirty.”

  I went to my room, picked out my clothes, and went to the bathroom. After a quick shower, I dressed in jeans, a cute fall shirt and half sweater, and casual brown shoes. I put some mousse in my hair, brushed my teeth, and did a few swipes of mascara on my top lashes. I took a moment to put some extra lotion on my arms. They’d begun itching in the middle of the night again. Next, I scurried to the bedroom and packed up everything I needed to bring with to the cabin and set it by the door. Derek took my keys and said he’d start running stuff out to the Jeep. I put some food in a small cooler to take with, then got Faith’s meds, food and litter box. Back in the bathroom I shot my hair quick with a blow dryer and put the finishing touches on it. After closing all the blinds, turning down the heat, and shutting off all the lights, we headed to our Jeeps.

  I followed Derek in my red Jeep all the way to Morris. I still get a kick out of the fact that we have the same vehicles. The drive was long, but it felt much better going there knowing that Cory and Kyle were behind bars. I passed the time by calling Kat. We chatted about my new situation with Derek and her date with Wes. Her date went well. They were seeing each other again later this week. After I got done talking to her, I had an incoming call.

  “Hello?”

  “Yes, this is Sara? Sara Martin?”

  “Yes, this is she …” The voice sounded familiar.

  “Yes, lady. This Rocko Sanchez. I in C.S Landscaping. You owe me money. Your yard is cleaned up, yes? You back home now, yes?”

  “Oh, hi! Um, no I’m not back home yet. Later this afternoon I’ll be back in town.”

  “Oh, oh, okay. You pay me when you back. Sorry. When you back here, you stop in a pay me, or I send you bill instead. One is easy for you? Si? Yes?”

  “Yes. I’ll stop in and pay you. That’s easy for me. How late are you open today?”

  “Five. We close five. No close five oh one … five oh twoooo … No! We close five! Okay, lady?” he asked.
<
br />   “Okay. I’ll be there before five. Thank-you.”

  “Yes, yes. Good bye,” he said and hung up. I smiled and shook my head. That guy cracks me up!

  Looking out the window, I noticed that Derek was talking on his phone, too. I wondered if it was Jodi—who was this Jodi? I was sure I didn’t need to worry about it. I usually wasn’t the jealous type, but the situation with my ex-husband and my late, ex-bestfriend had caused me to have my guard up and my trust of people way down.

  I called my mom to help clear my mind. I thanked her for the meal and told her, again, that I was sorry about not telling her what had happened sooner. We talked about it for a while and I let her go. I really didn’t want to re-live that horrible situation. I just wanted a break from it. I tossed the phone on to the seat next to me and noticed Faith walking on top of the bags of stuff in the back. She was very curious and getting so big. I was kind of sad that she was looking more like a cat and less like a kitten.

  I turned the radio on and just drove for a while. My mind was busy and I was trying my best to not stress about anything. I enjoyed the time in the car, but there weren’t any good songs on, so my mind went back to wondering. Rex popped into my mind. He was gorgeous and I was missing his face. It felt wrong to think that, but it was true. I liked Derek’s face too, but there was something about Rex.

  RING! RING! My ring tone filled the air. While reaching for the phone I went out of my lane and hit the rumble strips. I corrected quickly and straightened out. I saw Derek shaking his finger and looking at me in his rear view mirror when I looked down at my screen. I didn’t recognize the number.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, darling! It’s Miss Kitty! Just making sure we are still on to meet later today. Is that going to work for you, love?” Elenore Kitstoff asked.

  Oh, man. I was hoping she’d lost my number. “Ummm, I, well …” I stumbled trying to think of an excuse not to meet her.

  “Stop, my dear, you’re babbling,” she insisted. She made me feel like I was a nerd and she was a high school bully. “What are you doing right now?” she demanded.

  “I … um, I’m driving to Morris to visit someone in the hospital, and then heading back to Nisswa.”

  “Okay, so let’s make it a dinner date at that shabby diner on main street,” she said.

  “Morning Glory, or Ed’s Bar-B-Q Pit?” I asked.

  “Morning Glory. There are not a lot of choices, but I try not to frequent the Pit,” she told me. “Let’s make it 6:00 p.m. That’ll give you enough time,” she said, as if she were in charge.

  I wanted to say, “You’re not the boss of me,” and stick my tongue out at her. I didn’t. “Ah, yeah, sure, that’s fine,” I obediently answered. “See you then.”

  “Oh, and Ms. Martin …”

  “It’s Sara. You can call me Sara.”

  “Fine, Sara, come alone. Later, darling,” she said and disconnected.

  Oh boy, now what? She thinks I’m psychic. I can’t read minds. My dreams were a total fluke. I haven’t had one since Carrie and Lily were found. I have no abilities whatsoever that would be of any benefit to her. I don’t know why she is even calling me.

  My phone rang again. Sheesh! It was Derek.

  “Hello!” I said.

  “Hey. Hungry?”

  “Yes.”

  “We’re almost there. How about Perkins in Morris before we go to the hospital?” he asked.

  “That’s fine. I’ll follow you.”

  I threw my phone down and dug in my console for the car charger and plugged it in. We pulled in to Perkin’s and walked in together. Faith had a nose up against the glass quietly meowing. I made a mental note to bring her a treat on the way back. The only bad thing about traveling back and forth between the Cities and Nisswa was hauling her around. She had to spend a lot of time in the Jeep. Besides being active in the Jeep, she did travel well, and I always left her litter box on the floor in the back seat, just in case. She was such a good cat. We placed our orders and both went to use the bathroom. Derek was back at the table when I returned.

  “So … you were on your phone a lot,” he said. “Lots of people, or just a long chat?”

  “Well, four different calls actually. There was Kat, my mom, C.S.Landscaping, and … Miss Kitty,” I said and quickly took a drink of my juice.

  “Miss Kitty?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is that a nickname?”

  “Yes, her real name is Elenore Kitstoff.”

  I wasn’t giving him much but I didn’t really know what to tell him. That, and I knew he probably wouldn’t like me to get involved in her issues, especially since last Friday night.

  “And … this is a friend of yours?”

  “Umm, no. More like a friend of Nisswa. She has called me a few times and wants to meet me and chat.”

  He looked me up and down with squished eyebrows. “Oh, so she’s a reporter,” he concluded.

  Maybe I should let him have that. Nah, with my luck, he’d ask for the article next week. “Not really. I’m not sure what she wants. Tannya said she’s an older lady, who married rich and is a diva. She seems to think that I can dream the future, or the past, and I possess some special ability that she needs the service of.”

  Derek was drinking his pop and almost spit it out with a laugh. “What did you tell her?” He squinted his eyes at me. “You can’t … can you?” he questioned.

  Oooh, this could be fun … I better not. “No, of course not. And I did tell her that, but she refused to listen, and basically demanded a meeting with me tonight.”

  “Just tell her no.” It seemed like a simple concept.

  “I tried. This woman is used to getting what she wants, and she’s actually very good at getting it. She wouldn’t listen, and told me where to meet her and when.”

  The waitress brought our food and we dug in. After a few bites it was my turn.

  “You were on your phone too. Any crazies bothering you?” I asked.

  “None I can’t handle,” he said with a wink and a smile.

  He offered nothing further, and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to push it.

  We finished eating and I said I’d cover it. Derek tried to argue, but I reminded him that he brought more than enough food to my apartment this weekend, so it was my turn. On our way back to the Jeep, Derek’s phone rang, but he ignored the call. Seriously? He never ignores calls. It was beginning to really bother me. I mentally scolded myself, knowing that it shouldn’t.

  Through the window of my Jeep I could see Faith lying in the sun on the dash board. I hoped she wasn’t cold. The temp was in the low forties. We were only in the restaurant for about forty-five minutes, so I figured she was fine. I followed Derek to the hospital and parked next to him in the lot. I jumped down from the Jeep and locked it behind me.

  “I can’t stay very long. Faith will get cold,” I told him.

  “I don’t plan on staying long either,” Derek said.

  He took my hand and we walked into the building together. In the elevator he pressed me up against the wall and thanked me for coming with him. I kissed him to say you’re welcome. When the doors parted, we walked out and down the hall to Kelly’s room. Kendall was there with Doug and Kathy.

  “Hello, everyone,” Derek said as we entered the room.

  His mom and dad were both on the far side of Kelly’s bed and Kendall was closest to the door. They all came over to us and hugged us. I had shared more hugs with people in the last year than I had in my entire life. Kelly was sitting up and looked really good.

  “Hey, sis,” Derek said. “You look great!”

  “Thanks,” she said, her voice sounding good too. “Kendall brought my makeup. It feels good to know I have it on, as silly as that sounds.”

  “Whatever works,” Derek said shaking his head.

  I leaned over and gave her a hug. I always felt a bit weird hugging her because I didn’t know her outside of the hospital. “Well, your brother doesn’t get it, bu
t I understand completely,” I assured her.

  “Thanks. It’s good to see you guys. Thanks for coming. The doctor was just in a little while ago and said that I should be able to go home tomorrow. I still have a lot of follow up visits and physical therapy but at least I won’t be stuck in here anymore,” she told us.

  “Wow, that’s great!” I said. “How are you feeling?”

  She tipped her head side to side and said, “Pretty good. When I get up and go for walks down the hallway I have some pain in my stomach, but nothing too bad. It feels like a lot of work just to walk, but that’s because my muscles haven’t been used for so long. The nurse said that it will take a few days to improve. Since I tire very quickly I can’t go back to work or school for at least two weeks, at which point the doctor will see how things look and let me know if I’m cleared.”

  “That’s great news, Kelly!” Derek said. “I have great news too.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Did you find him? Did you find Cory?” Kelly anxiously asked .“We did! And when I say we did, I mean we did!” he said pointing a finger back and forth between him and me. “I couldn’t have done it without Sara. She basically used herself as bait and led us to him.”

  “No, that’s not true,” I told her. “I helped where I could, and then it was out of my hands.”

  Derek told the entire room the story of Friday night and made me out to be some sort of hero. The whole family seemed grateful and said that they were extremely thankful for what I’d done. Kathy was really upset about the kidnapping, and so were Doug and Kendall, but Kathy was full of rage and hated the jerk for what he’d done, not only to her daughter, but to me too.

  “Jesus, who the hell do these guys think they are?” she demanded.

  Derek put an arm around her, “Well, they’re in the slammer now and will be for a long time. They’re being charged with multiple counts of kidnapping, burglary with intent to harm, attempted rape, possession of stolen goods, drug possession, grand theft auto, trespassing, driving while under the influence, failure to appear, and for Cory, attempted murder, and fleeing a police officer. And that’s just a start! I’m sure there’ll be more. Those two jerks will be in there a long time.”