“Please,” Jed said flashing his most charming smile.
“Well,” she started, looking down at his clothes obviously displeased, “it is highly improper that I let you in dressed like that. But I will make an exception in your case, in the future please come properly attired.”
Jed nodded. There won’t be a next time, trust me, he thought.
Pointing through the dining room to a set of double doors that led out onto the veranda, “You will find Nora out there with the prom committee, tonight is their meeting. Kent is around here somewhere, maybe Nora will know.”
Thanking her, Jed strode through the dining room to the veranda. He could feel heads turning all through the main dining room as he went. He was glad it was still early, so it wasn’t full. Talk about feeling like a freak. Mentally rolling his eyes, he opened the door and went out.
He could hear female laughter before he could see them. The veranda seemed to wrap around the side of the building and into the front. It must overlook the pond he saw as he pulled up.
Turning the corner, he was just in time to hear Vanessa ask Nora, “Nora, have you gotten Tyler to ask you to prom yet?” as she snickered.
Nora turned a bright red color, clearly embarrassed, “Umm.. “
Unexplainably jealous, Jed cleared his throat. All of a sudden, he had a dozen pairs of female eyes locked on him.
“Jed! Honey! How good of you to come!” Vanessa said jumping up from her seat and rushing over to grab onto his arm. Annoyed, he decided to stop this once and for all.
I stared at Jed. What was he doing here? Of course he just witnessed Vanessa making it clear to everyone that I didn’t have a date for prom. She made it sound as if I had to coerce someone into taking me. To make matters worse, she was all over him. Jealousy was quick to block out all coherent thought. It felt like whenever I was around Jed I was either embarrassed or jealous. I know that jealousy is a sin, and I tried to take a deep breath and relax. I don’t even have a claim on him for pete’s sake.
Gently but firmly he removed Vanessa’s hand from his arm and walked around the tables toward me. Squirming in my seat, I felt my heart start racing. Another common occurrence when Jed was around.
“Hi, sweetheart,” he said leaning down to kiss my cheek. “Can I see you for a minute?” Not waiting for my answer he grabbed my hand, and pulled me up out of my seat. With his arm around my waist, he walked us over to the railing. Then he leaned in close and whispered, “I need to talk to you and Charlotte for a minute. Is Kent here? Ollie is missing.”
I gasp. I didn’t have a good feeling about this.
Jed wrapped his other arm around me and drawing me close, said huskily, “I sure am glad to see you. You look beautiful.”
He was going to kiss me, I could tell. It was all I had thought about since today at school. The thought of the other girls watching, and of someone from the club seeing us and telling my parents, never crossed my mind as I felt his warm breath against my face. Just as his lips touched mine, we were interrupted by Kent.
“What do you think you’re doing Greyson!” Kent demanded, from out of nowhere.
Sighing, Jed brushed a kiss across my forehead and turned.
“What does it look like Barton?”
Someone, I am pretty sure it was Charlotte, snickered.
Stomping my foot, I walked over to Kent, I was mad. He was always embarrassing me in front of Jed and now most of the popular girls in school.
“Kent Barton, you mind your own business,” I demanded, poking him on the chest.
Hearing Jed chuckle, I whipped my head around. Now I was downright mortified. Everyone was staring at us. I am sure they had heard everything. Why did I seem to forget what was going on, whenever I got too close to Jed.
“And you!” I said mortified, pointing at him, “You stop laughing!”
Jed wiped the smile off his face quickly. He reached down and tried to grab my hand. He must have sensed that I was embarrassed.
In another of my not so brilliant moves, I tried to pull my hand back, but he was holding on to it firmly. I gave my hand a big tug trying to snatch it back and being a gentleman, Jed let go and I accidently slapped Kent in the chest with my flailing hand. Cringing, I sent Kent an apologetic grin as I felt my face heating up.
Sensing a scene, Charlotte quickly said good bye, gathered up our stuff and said,” Let’s take this discussion somewhere else.”
Grateful, I turned and walked with my head up, down the back stairs and onto the well manicured lawn toward the parking lot. Inwardly I could feel all the eyes of the other girls. I am sure I made a huge spectacle of myself. Vanessa’s eyes were practically boring into my back. I’m sure she was not happy to be dismissed by Jed, because of me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Charlotte take hold of Kent’s arm as he started after me.
Silently thanking her, I marched toward the Camaro. I sensed Jed beside me, before he said anything.
“Nora wait.”
“Are you going to embarrass me again?” I said still walking.
“Nora,” he said grabbing my arm and pulling me to a stop.
“I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I just found it so cute that you were mad at Kent for interrupting us. That was what that foot stomping was all about, wasn’t it?” he said with a grin.
“As if you’ll ever know,” I said still in a huff. It was hard to stay mad when he looked so gorgeous standing there.
Still grinning rakishly, he said,”Trust me Nora, that’s all I think about lately. I promise you.”
“I’m not supposed to get involved with you, you know,” I said honestly. What he said made me feel warm inside. He did look especially handsome standing there in the parking lot with the setting sun, shining his part of his face. It brought out the copper tone of his skin making his skin look golden and warm. The other side of his face was cast in shadows and gave him a dark dangerous appearance.
It struck me as ironic, that it so closely resembled how I felt about Jed. Part of me was drawn to him and the way he made me feel inside, while the other part was a little scared of him at the same time. I was still a little skeptical that someone like him, would be interested in me.
“Thank you,” he said quietly.
“For what?” I asked quietly, I could tell it was hard for him to say.
“For taking a chance on me,” he said, looking me straight in the eye. I felt it right down into my heart.
Nodding, I grabbed his hand as Kent and Charlotte walked up. Needless words would have ruined the moment.
I watched Jed swallow hard as he glanced down at our hands. As he looked back up, his expression was back to being the tough, defiant Jed that made people think twice about challenging him. I was starting to see through his tough appearance to the sensitive guy underneath.
“Jed has something important to tell us about Ollie,” I told them, “And Charlotte and I have something to tell you also, we stumbled onto a big clue.”
“Has anyone heard from Ollie, or seen him tonight?” Jed asked anxiously.
“The last I heard from him, he was going to call the number and see if he could get any information,” Charlotte said.
“What happened?” Kent said, hearing the anxiety in Jed’s voice and reading beneath the lines.
“He called me about an hour ago to say that they wanted to meet with him. I told him not to, but the line went dead. I rushed to the meeting sight, and found his bike, but no sign of Ollie. There was a black pickup truck pulling away when I got there, but I couldn’t follow them into the park on my motorcycle.”
“Do you think they took Ollie?” This was getting very serious. What were we going to do? I know that God is always with us and will protect us, all we need to do is ask. I sent a quick prayer to Heaven, that if Ollie was in danger that Jesus would protect him long enough for us to find him.
Letting go of my hand, Jed started to pace beside his motorcycle.
“I found this note taped underneat
h his bike seat,” he said, pulling it out of his pocket. “The problem is, I don’t know if they took him, or if he saw something and decided to go off on his own to investigate.”
“What are you thinking we should do?” Kent asked, getting right to the point. Kent seemed to have put his differences with Jed aside. He realized that out of all of them, Jed would be the one who would know what to do.
“We need to spread out and look for him. I don’t think he realizes the full extent of the danger he is in. The body of the first missing boy was found in the park this morning by a hiker.”
“It wasn’t on the news,” Kent said skeptically.
“I overheard someone talking about it today,” Jed lied. He felt bad lying to them. If anyone, he was pretty sure that these three were not involved in what was going on. But rule number one of undercover work was: do not blow your cover to anyone.
Charlotte, her mind always quick to see the big picture, said, “We need to check the park first. What if he is hurt and laying there somewhere?”
“I agree, but I need to dump my bike and we need something with four wheel drive and some flashlights. It is going to get dark soon,” Jed said. “I have everything we need back at my place, but it is going to take awhile to get there and get back.”
“Why don’t you and Kent go get your things, and Charlotte and I will start at where you found the bike and look around?” I suggested.
“No!” Kent and Jed said at the same time. Looking at each other, they shared a look of comradeship. If they couldn’t agree on the topic of Jed and Nora, at least they could agree that it was too dangerous for the girls to be by themselves.
“Absolutely not,” Jed said forcefully. “Neither of you are to go anywhere near the park without one of us,” he said, pointing to himself and Kent.
“Then how would you suggest we split up,” Charlotte asked.
“Nora goes with me, and you go with Kent,” Jed said. Looking at Kent, he asked, “Do you have a problem with that?”
“As long as you keep your hands to yourself, then no,” Kent said staring back with his chest puffed and his fists clenched in the universal sign of one male challenging another. Kent is a big guy, but Jed was just as tall and had him by about twenty pounds of solid muscle.
Ignoring the challenge and taking Kent’s words as agreement, Jed pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Just let me make a quick phone call, and then we can head back to the park and I will show you wear Ollie’s bike is,” Jed said, turning away.
I glared at Kent to stop challenging Jed. He mouthed. “Not Happening.”
“Thanks, Skip,” Jed said turning back to the group.
“Someone is going to bring a truck out and some flashlights and then take my bike back to my house. I agreed to meet him half way, which should be in about fifteen minutes.”
Getting on his bike, he looked at Kent and said, “Do you know where the old mill is?”
Kent nodded.
“Ollie’s bike is just to the right of it. You and Charlotte start there and see what you can find.”
Snagging my hand, he pulled me over, “You and I are going to get the truck and start from the park entrance closer to town.”
He wanted me to ride on the back of his motorcycle? I have always wanted to see what it would be like. I’ve wondered if it would be weird seeing the road flying by beneath your feet. Taking a deep breath, I swung my leg over the seat as he started the engine. The roar of the bike drowned out whatever Kent was saying. Which was probably a good thing, considering he didn’t look too happy.
“Here, put this on,” Jed said, handing me his helmet. I guess he didn’t plan on having someone else ride with him. He only had one helmet. Fumbling with the strap, I couldn’t seem to get it threaded back through the other circle to fasten it.
Gently moving my hands out of the way, Jed straightened the strap, and buckled it quickly. His knuckles brushed underneath my chin as he did. That simple touch had my pulse racing.
“Hold on tight Darlin’,” he said backing the bike up. To Kent and Charlotte, he said, “Send Nora a text every twenty minutes, that way we can check in.”
Nodding, Charlotte sent me a smile moving her eyebrows up and down. Laughing, I grabbed onto Jed’s waist as the bike picked up speed heading out of the parking lot.
It was exhilarating! The road flew past under my feet, just like I had imagined. The wind whipped at my clothes. The trees were a blur as the motorcycle growled and seemed to come alive as Jed accelerated through a curve in the road. After a few miles of bliss, I started to feel the cold. Even though it was a mild spring day for Michigan, the sun was starting to go down and my thin sweater and light pants were not nearly enough to ward off the chill from the wind.
Tucking my body behind Jed, I pressed as close to him as I could get. He was radiating heat like it was a warm summer day. I felt his finger’s touch my hand.
Suddenly he pulled over to the side of the road. “You’re cold” he said as way of explanation when I arched my brow at him.
Shrugging out of his leather jacket, he handed it to me, “Here put this on, I ‘m sorry I didn’t think about the cold.”
Starting to refuse, I caught sight of Jed wearing only a short-sleeved form fitting black t-shirt. Talk about a distraction. Jed slipped the jacket around me. It felt so warm, I couldn’t resist putting my arms through the sleeves. Inhaling, it smelled like Jed, warm and masculine, with a touch of...horse? Did Jed have horses? I realized that I didn’t know much about him. Yet, here I was on the back of a motorcycle, wearing his jacket and plastered against his back.
Pulling back onto the road, he asked, “Is that better?”
“Much,” I replied.
“Good, we’ll be there in a few minutes. We’re meeting him at the high school.”
As we headed toward town, I was suddenly aware of how this would look if anyone I knew saw me on the back of Jed’s bike. Surprisingly, I didn’t care. Jed had shown me that he was kind, sensitive and smart. I don’t care what other people think of him.
A white heavy-duty pickup truck was parked at the far end of the parking lot near the football field. Jed headed over to the truck. The lot was empty except for a few cars near the entrance. Sports practices must have all gotten over already.
As we pulled up next to the truck, an older man with close cropped blond hair got out. He had on jeans and a flannel shirt. He was several inches shorter than Jed and a few pounds heavier. His hands looked strong and capable. As he came closer, I could see that his hair was starting to turn grey at the sides. He looked about fifty, but he seemed to be in great shape.
He smiled warmly at me and said,”What a nice surprise! Jed didn’t tell me he had a guest.” Sticking out his hand, he offered it to me saying, “I’m Skip, What are you doing with this ruffian?”
I liked him instantly. Grinning, I said, “Hi Skip, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Nora Barton. Jed and I are in class together.”
Arching his eyebrows, Skip looked at Jed and said kind of stiffly, “It’s nice to meet one of your classmates, Jed.”
Rolling his eyes, Jed handed Skip the helmet. “Be careful with her ok. I just got a new paint job.”
Skip took the helmet and handed Jed the truck keys. “I’m just saying Jed,” he said seriously.
“I know,” Jed said taking the keys Skip held out. “How’s the mare?”
“Starting to progress, I’ll keep you posted.” Not to be deterred he said, “This was important business you said, right?”
Giving Skip an amused look, Jed didn’t comment, instead he said to me, “Get in, Nora.”
Getting in the passenger side, I watched Jed say a few more words to Skip. Whatever he said made Skip nod with chagrin. Clearly they were talking about something more than a mare. Then Jed slapped him on the back with a grin, and opened the door and climbed up the step into the truck. The truck was spotless inside with leather seats and a large back seat. It was obviously an older model, but must have b
een top of the line at one time.
My curiosity got the better of me, “I sense there was a double meaning in that.”
“What do you mean?” Jed stalled, starting up the truck.
“Don’t play dumb with me, I know you were talking about something else,” I said good-naturedly.
Turning those dark eyes toward me, he grinned rakishly, “After meeting you, Skip wanted to know if I had a less than gentlemanly agenda for tonight.”
“Oh!” I said laughing. “And what did you tell him?”
“I told him about searching for Ollie, but that should the opportunity come up, I wouldn’t be against taking advantage of it,” he said winking at me.
“I don’t doubt that you would,” I said laughing.
Seeing his opportunity, he reached across the seat, grabbing my hand, “We’re finally alone,” he said softly, pulling me toward him.
Pushing back on his chest, I shook my head.
“What?” he said holding me against him.
Pointing out the window, I gave Skip a little wave. He was still standing there watching us.
Jed followed my finger and seeing an amused Skip he mumbled something I couldn’t hear and sat up straight.
“Leave already,” he said under his breath.
Skip just put his hands on his hip and waited.
“Ok, Ok, we’re going,” Jed muttered, putting the truck in gear he headed toward the park.
Chapter 11
“That must be Ollie’s bike,” Charlotte said, pointing to the silver mountain bike lying on its side. “Let’s get out and go look.”
“Let’s take a minute to look at our surroundings, before we rush over there,” Kent said, grabbing her arm.
“Do you think someone is still here?” Charlotte asked nervously.
“No,” Kent said honestly,” It just doesn’t hurt to be cautious.”
Getting out of the Camaro, they walked around to the front and stood quietly looking around, listening for a sign that someone else was there.
The only thing they heard were the birds happily talking to one another. After a couple of minutes, Kent started toward the bike. “Ok, let’s go check it out.”
Undercover Justice Page 10
