“Why?” Lin questioned, “ Because you thought I might get involved in something here?”
Neal sheepishly admitted that was at least partially true. “That’s not the only reason,” he said, “but you must admit you’ve had your share of close calls with killers recently.”
They finished their conversation by turning to the topic of their possible wedding date and plans they might need to make when Neal came. When the conversation ended, Lin felt much more relaxed and happy. “Neal is good medicine,” she told Sue when she returned to the room with coffee and cookies for them both. Sue gave her a sly grin. “I knew you needed to talk to him. Your earlier mood left a lot to be desired.”
“Oh, really, was it that obvious?” Lin teased. Sue only rolled her eyes as they both laughed at the situation.
***
Thankfully, the rest of the week was uneventful. The weather was consistently good and visitor numbers began to climb along with the temperatures as the Memorial Day weekend approached. Compared to what Lin was accustomed to around Charlotte however, it was comfortably cool in the highlands. Lin had traded days off so that she could be free on Sunday for their move.
The move out on Sunday morning was comparatively easy. After all, they had no furnishings to transport and most of their stuff was already on site in the garage. Nevertheless, it was already growing dark on Sunday evening when they put the last of their things into place at the house and decided they were hungry.
“I feel like a nice, gooey pizza,” Lin said, “The one we had earlier at Harris Teeter was really good and they have that salad bar too.”
“That sounds good,” Sue replied. “Besides I don’t feel like getting changed to go to a restaurant. Lets just run up there and get pizza and salad to bring back here.”
They hopped into the car and headed into town. “By the way,” Lin asked, “did you do any car shopping the other day? We’ve been so busy I forgot to ask about that.”
“Well, I really didn’t do too much. I got so absorbed in doing research the time slipped away, but I did go by the Toyota dealership. They had a couple of used 4-runners that appealed to me. Sally told me about a good mechanic here locally; I thought I’d ask about having him look them over. You have to be careful with a ‘used’ four-wheeled drive vehicle, no telling how they’ve been ‘used’. I’ve already talked to the dealer about doing that and he agreed. I think I’ll try tomorrow. I’m still off work, but I think we’ve pretty much got things at the house all fixed so I should have time.”
“I agree. We really worked hard today and things seem pretty much settled to me. We even have fresh linens on all the beds,” Lin smiled, “all we need now is a house guest”
“I know, I know,” Sue teased, “you can hardly wait for that fiancé of yours to show up, but I’ll bet you even money he’s going to want to whisk you off to the nearest fancy hotel room when he does come.”
Lin knew for sure she was blushing now. “He did mention making reservations somewhere,” she admitted, “but only for part of the time. He’s planning to stay with us.” She shifted the subject slightly. “Of course, I hope we can spend some time at the lake—to make some plans for the wedding—check out some possible places. There’s a lot to be done and I may need your advice when it comes to making some of these decisions.”
“You know I’ll help, if I can,” Sue was serious now. “I like to tease, but I’m very fond of both you and Neal. I consider you good friends and I, for sure, want to be part of your wedding plans. After all, I was there at the start of this romance.”
“Indeed, you were,” Lin smiled, recalling their times together in Arizona. “I still hope we can have the wedding in September. That may change though, depending on this work Neal might be doing—when it starts that is.”
“If that does turn out to be the case, I may well still be here,” Sue offered. Frank doesn’t expect to return until October or November at the earliest, and I may still be here writing at that time, if all goes well.”
Lin couldn’t help but notice Sue’s use of Dr. Leonard’s first name, but she made no comment. Sue had had more contact with their landlord than she had. She’d made most of the arrangements and had spoken with him alone on more than one occasion. Evidently, they were on a first name basis now.
By this time they’d arrived at the supermarket. They ordered their pizza and filled a box with salad ingredients to accompany it. While they waited for the pizza to bake, they had a cup of coffee at the Starbucks that was in the store. The pie was finished before the coffee so they juggled their cups as they carried their meal to the car.
They’d just walked in the door when the phone rang. The caller was John Clark, Ellie’s father. He asked to speak with Lin, so she took the phone while Sue began to organize the food for their take-out dinner.
“I apologize for not calling earlier in the weekend, Lin, “but Hillary and I just decided to ask for your help this afternoon. We got a call from the Watauga County Sheriff’s office on Friday. They’ve scheduled a competency hearing for that Hinson fellow who confessed to shooting Pete and Ellie for this week—Thursday, I believe. The deputy in charge of the case wants to interview Ellie prior to that. What all this means is that Ellie needs to come back to Boone for a few days, and we don’t want her to be there alone—or just staying with friends. With her shoulder and…”
Lin spoke up quickly, “John, we’d be more than happy for her to stay here with us, if that would help.” Lin wanted to ask if she had talked any more about Stefan but wasn’t sure how to get to that subject.
“That would be wonderful,” John sounded relieved. “I have to go out of town on business and Hillary has a lot of commitments as well—besides, she and Ellie seem to be at odds right now and…”
“You don’t have to explain, John; I understand,” Lin responded. “When will you be bringing her up?”
“Tomorrow, if that’s OK.” John sounded relieved. “That would give her a couple of days to schedule an appointment with the deputy prior to the hearing.”
“I’m working tomorrow and Sue will be out much of the day,” Lin replied, “but if you could call before you arrive, someone will be here to let you in.”
Arrangements were made and Lin spoke briefly with Ellie. She wanted to ask her if she planned to address her situation with her art professor but couldn’t find a way to work it in. Finally, she simply told Ellie she was looking forward to seeing her and ended the conversation.
“I know you have plans to check on those cars tomorrow. I could call Rachel and change my schedule to be available when Ellie arrives…” Lin didn’t want to intrude on Sue’s plans to continue car shopping.
“Nonsense,” Sue said. “They won’t be up here first thing in the morning anyway and, if need be, I’ll just take Ellie with me. Now sit down and let’s eat before the pizza gets cold.”
Chapter 7
The fine weather they’d enjoyed during the weekend was long gone when they awoke the next morning. Lin was up early to get ready for her workday. She’d started a project at the end of the previous week organizing some educational materials that were needed for a teacher workshop scheduled in July. She wanted to finish these up, hopefully today.
Sue was up early also. She was planning to take Lin to work and then pick her up about four that afternoon. In between she was meeting the mechanic and together they would go over the cars she was interested in. They’d agreed that, when John Clark called, Lin would let Sue know when to meet Ellie at the house.
LIn was more than happy to be heading out to the Parkway for the day—even though it was a difficult, slow drive. The all too familiar fog cast an eerie quality over the surroundings. Sue fairly crept along as they made their way carefully to Linn Cove.
When she arrived at the visitor center, Lin saw that Rachel was already at work in the back office sorting through the files they’d left the week before. Lin grabbed a cup of coffee and joined her. There were no visitors in the center as yet a
nd they would hear the bell ring if any came in. With the fog, it wasn’t likely they’d have many folks this early.
After some discussion about the materials they’d need for the upcoming workshop, Lin took over the sorting task; she was quite content to be busy and able to focus on something besides their soon to arrive visitor. She knew Ellie was coming for the Hinson hearing, but she fully intended to talk with her about Stefan. She strongly felt that Ellie needed to address that situation also.
The weather remained rather nasty, so the visitor count was definitely below average. It was also a Monday, typically slower than the weekends anyway. Lin didn’t leave the visitor center all day, but she did manage to stay quite busy. When word had come that Ellie was to arrive about noon, Lin had passed the information along to Sue so she could be at the house to meet her.
***
Ellie was with Sue when she arrived to pick Lin up. Evidently, they’d spent much of the afternoon car shopping with the mechanic, and they’d had a good time. Ellie seemed to be in great spirits, chatting away about the merits of the several cars she and Sue had looked at.
When they arrived at the house, Ellie readily pitched in offering to help out in the kitchen to the extent that she was able. Lin was surprised to see how much she could handle with only one good hand and arm.
The day had been busy for everyone, and the weather hadn’t improved at all. As it grew darker a heavy fog seemed to descend upon the Leonard house. You could see no further than the front porch even with the outside lights on. Sue went about turning on lamps to brighten the scene inside.
Ellie went upstairs to rest a bit while Sue began to make a batch of spaghetti sauce for their dinner. Lin offered to help prepare a salad and poured the two of them generous glasses of wine to accompany their efforts.
“What a day,” Lin confessed, “I didn’t sign up to have a college student as a summer houseguest, and I’m sure you didn’t either.”
“She’s really a good kid,” Sue came to Ellie’s defense, “she’s just young and her parents are concerned about her safety; you really can’t blame them. I really enjoyed being with her today, and I found out she knows a lot about cars too.”
Lin had almost forgotten that Sue had spent most of the day car shopping. “How did all that go, did you find something?”
“I think so,” Sue replied. “The mechanic wanted to have a bit more time to check out the vehicle that was my first choice, and the dealer agreed to let him take it to his shop this afternoon. He should give me a report tomorrow, and if it’s as good as it looks, I should have wheels by week’s end.”
“That’ll be good,” Lin smiled. “So far the sharing thing has worked well, but we’ll both have a lot more freedom with more transportation.”
“Indeed we will,” Sue agreed.
“With the move and Ellie’s coming here, I haven’t had a chance to ask you about your research. You were really getting into it last week, so I assumed you’d found something of interest,” Lin was happy to have at least a few minutes to catch up with things her friend had been doing.
“I really have found some interesting historical material and some information that’s more recent related to unsolved crimes around here. I was actually shocked to learn how many unsolved murders have occurred on the Parkway—both in the past and in recent years. In fact, I’d say it’s a lucky thing that man confessed to shooting Pete and Ellie,” Sue’s enthusiasm was evident.
Lin heard Ellie coming downstairs while apparently chatting with a friend on the phone. She turned to Sue, “One day really soon, we’ll have to make time to sit down and talk. I’m really interested and would love to hear about your findings thus far.” She rolled her eyes as Ellie came into the kitchen.
***
Over dinner, Lin reported on the work she’d been doing organizing educational materials for the upcoming teacher workshop.
“I think we had more fun,” Ellie commented, “I enjoyed car shopping with Sue.” She was in a light-hearted mood. It seemed that Ellie did know a surprising amount about cars. She outlined for Sue all the things she liked about the 4-runner they’d seen.
Next the conversation turned to the research Sue was doing for her book, which led Ellie to express her relief that someone had confessed to shooting her and Pete.
“My parents talked to the deputy sheriff and they told me it was some old man. He was out of his mind sorta had some condition…”
“Dementia,” Sue supplied the term. “He evidently felt threatened and confused. It’s unfortunate. He really wasn’t responsible for his actions, but nevertheless, Peter died and you were hurt.”
Ellie nodded, saddened by the loss of her friend.
Sue continued, “Since we’re talking about what happened, Ellie, let me ask if you’ve managed to recall more about the incident. It’s been over a week now and you’re definitely on the mend.”
Ellie shook her head, “Not really, sometimes I think I remember bits and pieces and,” she lowered her head, “I’ve been having some bad dreams. I dream that someone is chasing me and then I wake up in a panic, but I still can’t recall any details at all.”
“Maybe it would help if you talked to someone, maybe saw a counselor or something,” Sue suggested.
Ellie nodded, but then she said, “I don’t think I want to do that. Not yet anyway.”
Lin took the opportunity to tell Ellie something about her own experience in Arizona the previous year. “I couldn’t remember much about what happened in my case either,” Lin said, “especially not details. But Sue was able to help me recall some important things through a special relaxation technique she knows about. Actually, it made me feel much better to be able to clearly understand what happened.”
Ellie didn’t say anything, but she seemed troubled. Sue spoke up. “I’d be happy to help you try that Ellie, but only when you feel you’re really ready. In Lin’s case, the police were still trying to identify the person who hurt her. Things are different for you, there’s been an arrest, but if you want to try just let me know. It might help get rid of your bad dreams.”
Ellie only nodded, but she said nothing. She got up and began clearing the table. It was going to be slow with only one good hand, but it was clear she could manage just fine. Lin rose to help her, insisting that, since Sue had done the cooking, she and Ellie would take care of the cleanup. “You get out of here,” she teased. “Go read a book or work on your research—whatever.”
“If you’re going to chase me out, I’ll head for the office downstairs but feel free to join me later if you’d like,” Sue said.
Lin began loading the dishwasher as Ellie cleared the table and put up the leftovers. Lin was hoping she might get an opening to discuss the situation regarding Stefan. She really felt that Ellie needed to report his behavior to the university in any case, if not to the legal authorities. She wasn’t sure if Hillary had followed through on her promise to talk to her daughter about all this—John certainly hadn’t mentioned it when he called.
Lin hoped for an opening to broach the subject with the girl, but there wasn’t an opportunity. Finally, when the kitchen chores were finished, she suggested that they join Sue in the basement for coffee and cookies. She could smell the enticing aroma of dark roast brewing that wafted up the stairs from the office below. “You go on down, Ellie. I’ll bring some cookies and a couple of extra mugs and join you two shortly.”
Ellie made her way down to the basement office and Lin arranged a tray with extra mugs and a plate of oatmeal raisin cookies they’d purchased from the bakery at Harris-Teeter. Just as she left the kitchen and headed for the basement stairs she heard a sound as if someone was on the front porch. She quickly turned off the kitchen light and placed the loaded tray on a chair in the hallway. She crept quietly toward the front door, trying to determine if someone was, indeed, there.
Just then the doorbell rang. Lin flipped on the lights in the front hallway and approached the door directly.
“C
an I help you?” She spoke through the unopened door, “Who are you?”
“None of your business,” a disembodied voice boomed. Lin sneaked forward and tried to see the person from a window on the side, but he was too close to the door. “I’m here to see Ellie, not you. Send her out here, to the porch.”
By now Ellie and Sue had come upstairs and stood behind Lin in the hallway.
“That’s Stefan,” Ellie sounded truly afraid. “How did he know I was here? I don’t want to see him at all. Not now. Not ever.”
“Ellie doesn’t want to see you Stefan,” Lin spoke firmly. “I’m going to ask you to leave right now and not come back here. If you can’t do that, we’ll have to report you to the authorities.”
“Ellie, this isn’t over between us,” Stefan shouted, “I don’t care what you say. You’re mine and I’m not going to let you go—not for anyone—not ever. I’ll be back and next time you’d better be ready. You know I can hurt you and I will.” They heard him go down the steps and walk away, but Lin couldn’t hear any sounds of a car starting up or driving away.
“Maybe he parked down on the road. Sometimes sounds are muffled by these fogs.” Sue could see what Lin feared.
Ellie had collapsed on the bottom step. She was crying inconsolably.
Lin moved to comfort the girl. “I think we need to have a serious talk about this guy Stefan and your relationship with him.” Ellie nodded as Lin led her to the sofa and helped her to sit down, but she didn’t say anything. Lin observed that she was clearly shaken and afraid. Actually, they all were.
“I, for one, could use a good shot of sugar and caffeine after all that,” Sue said. “I think I’ll bring my coffee pot up from downstairs, and I see you already have some cookies ready.” She retrieved the tray and put it on the coffee table.
While Sue went downstairs, Lin decided to go ahead and talk to Ellie about her situation with Stefan.
“You said Stefan was different from your other boyfriends. How?” Lin was afraid of what she might hear.
Fogbound: A Lin Hanna Mystery Page 8
