Lost Summer: A Gripping Romantic Suspense

by M T Stone

  Had that been a message from uncle to nephew? Was he actually laying a trap for the drug cartel instead of accommodating them? Or did he just say it to throw him off? Putting down his thoughts on paper was actually creating more questions than answers. He suddenly wished that he had grabbed another cup of coffee.

  His thoughts turned more personal.

  He seemed so desperate to get Olivia back

  His partner was killed earlier in the year

  He started working in the area about the same time

  People die every day for knowing too much

  An ex-marine brought Leo the medals

  Carson is an ex-marine

  He went back to Google, searching for the nearest Marine recruiting office. If there was a local office, maybe someone would know about Mr. Sullivan’s war medals. If not, they could at least point him in the right direction. He sighed. The nearest recruiting office was in Bismarck, which was over two hundred miles away.

  “Little guy, you looking into joining the Marines?” his uncle’s voice boomed over his left shoulder, scaring the shit out of him.

  “Uh, yeah.” He whipped his head around while pulling his notebook onto his lap and closing it. “Is Bismarck the closest office?” he asked, feeling his heartbeat pounding in his throat.

  “That’s probably right.” Carson pulled up a chair next to him. “They send recruiters out here on a regular basis though. I’m sure they’ll be visiting in August or September. Are you sure you have the guts for it though?”

  “I don’t know . . . I’m just looking at all of my options.” Dylan shoved his notebook into his book bag while trying to get his heartrate to slow down.

  “Your eyes are totally dilated, dude.” Carson stared intently. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’ve had way too much coffee today,” Dylan replied. “I’ve been so tired lately that I’ve been drinking it by the gallon.”

  “Okay, well, I just stopped in to print out some maps for Thursday. I didn’t expect to run into you here. How’s Summer doing?” He leaned back and folded his hands behind his head, again seeming more relaxed than normal.

  “She can’t walk and is still coughing a lot, but at least she can breathe on her own now.” Dylan cocked his head, trying to get a read on his uncle. The calmness that he had been displaying recently was so out of the ordinary that it almost seemed like a red flag. “Why?”

  “Just curious. You seem to be wiped, and I know she wasn’t doing so well the first couple of days.” He actually seemed interested, but he showed no sign of emotion. “I think we should go fishing out by Missoula this fall. I’ve got a buddy who’s a fly-fishing guide out there.”

  “Sure, that would be great. I’ve always wanted to try that, but I never had anyone to go with,” Dylan replied, puzzled by all the twists and turns throughout their conversations.

  “You can bring Summer too, as long as you can convince her mother to come along.” Carson chuckled. “I don’t want to be a third wheel.”

  “Okay, at least I have a couple of months to work on her,” he replied with a laugh. “I’m glad I ran into you. I wasn’t feeling too good after our conversation this afternoon.” Dylan rose from the chair and held out his hand to shake Carson’s.

  Carson rose and grabbed his nephew, giving him a bear hug. “Yeah, I’m glad too. It’s good to see that you’ve quit playing detective and are getting serious about your future. Whether you go into the military or law enforcement, I can help pave the way for you.” He pulled back and looked him sternly in the eyes. “No more bullshit.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Dylan fumbled for words. “I’m just trying to figure out what I want to do for sure. If I have any questions, I’ll give you a call, okay?”

  “You can call me anytime. You know that, right?”

  “Yeah, I know.” Dylan slung his backpack over his shoulder and gave him a nod before heading toward the exit. He could feel Carson’s eyes following him all the way to the door. He had a way of making him feel uncomfortable even when they were having a civil conversation. Walking back to his car, he had visions of his car exploding, a victim of a car bomb, just like in a James Bond movie. His uncle had been more diplomatic this time, but he still wanted him to stop digging. He knew he should, but due to Carson’s persistence, he also knew there was something there to find. Since he couldn’t talk to Detective Thomas or Chief Sanders or a local Marine recruiter, he was running out of ideas. All he had was that blurry Facebook picture that he wanted to show Summer back at the hospital.

  It was nearly ten by the time he got back to Summer’s room. Olivia was sitting quietly in a chair reading a book, and Ryan was on the phone with his dad, finalizing the payment structure for the half-million-dollar loan. He had decided that it was best to pay the money right away instead of further jeopardizing the safety of his family. They had been through enough without some thug lurking around the neighborhood.

  “Are you staying here tonight?” Olivia asked with tired eyes.

  “Yeah, if that’s okay. I don’t really want to go home.” The sick feeling in his stomach had returned, and he still didn’t feel safe going home. It was kind of stupid. He knew he would eventually have to go home. He just didn’t want to go there tonight, since Carson was still lurking around town. He felt safe in this hospital room, and he had Summer there to make him feel better.

  “That’s fine. I was actually hoping you would. Ryan is completely stressed out, and I think it would be good if we went home for the night. We both could use some sleep.” She looked down at her daughter. “Is it okay if we go home for a few hours?”

  “Of course. You guys need a break,” Summer replied with a smile. “I’m feeling pretty good.”

  Ryan finished up his phone call while Olivia gathered up their things. He said good night to his daughter and gave her a kiss. “We’ll see you tomorrow, Sweetie.”

  “Good night, Daddy.” She smiled.

  After they left, the room fell quiet. Dylan grabbed his book bag and pulled out the picture he had printed. “Does this look familiar?” he asked, handing it to her.

  “That’s the picture! How did you get that?” she asked with wide eyes.

  “I printed it at the library. Whoever printed it out wasn’t logged into Facebook, so they had to stretch the image to make it bigger. That’s why it was so blurry.”

  “Well, I guarantee you that Leo didn’t have a Facebook account.” Summer snickered. “I don’t know how he would know the first thing about running a computer though.”

  “Actually, there are a lot of guys over at the library who look like they wouldn’t be able to run one,” Dylan replied. “But they figure it out, because that’s how you find jobs as well as porn.”

  “Oh, gross.” Summer gasped. “Ugh, that reminds me of another disgusting thing that Leo had.” Dylan tried to get her to elaborate, but she wouldn’t tell him. Instead, she let his imagination run wild. He knew it had to have something to do with porn, since that’s what triggered the memory. Magazines? Sex toys? It could be anything. “I’m not going to tell you, so come here and give me a kiss. I need to get some sleep.”

  Chapter 30

  The sunlight flickered through the window shades, waking Dylan from a few hours of deep sleep. He struggled to open his eyelids after being awake most of the night. The events of the previous day had convinced him that Carson had delivered those medals to Leo and that’s how he had found out about the land. Unfortunately, at the time, he hadn’t seen a clear way to prove it. About three in the morning, he thought about the creepy man who had given him directions to Leo’s place. He remembered him mentioning that another man had been out there asking for directions. He should be able to tell him whether it was Carson. If it wasn’t, then he would drop all of this craziness and move on with getting his life in order.

  He stood up and stretched, hoping to see some movement from Summer. He walked over to the bed and looked down upon her. She seemed to be breathing normally, and the numbers on th
e monitor were basically unchanged from the night before. After the last several days, he knew what her blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation levels were supposed to read. They all looked good.

  “How’s our patient this morning?” a nurse whispered, peaking her head into the room.

  “Everything looks good,” Dylan replied, stepping away from the bed to give her access.

  “Olivia called and they are on their way up, so I just wanted to do a quick blood draw,” she said, accessing the PICC line. “Olivia gets nauseous if she’s in the room when I do this,” she added, hooking up a saline flush and beginning the procedure.

  “Whoa, good morning,” Summer said, fluttering her eyes.

  “I’m sorry for alarming you,” the nurse replied. “I just need a few blood samples. I’m hoping to have some good news for you and your parents this morning.”

  “I think it will be good,” Summer replied with a smile. “I’m starting to feel better. My lungs aren’t nearly as itchy as they were yesterday.”

  “That’s great!” the nurse chirped as she continued the process of filling the collection tubes. By the time all three had been filled, Dylan was beginning to understand why it made Olivia nauseous. It wasn’t something you wanted to watch on an empty stomach. “I’m hoping to have some preliminary results within the hour.”

  “Sounds good,” Summer replied with a smile before turning her attention to Dylan, who had ambled over to the far side of the room and slowly worked his way back after the nurse finished.

  “Good morning, sexy,” Dylan cooed, leaning in to give Summer a kiss.

  “Sexy . . . you’re so full of shit.” Summer narrowed her eyes at him. “For now, I’m willing to settle for feeling human again.”

  “Me too.” Dylan stroked her arm and smiled down on her. “I’m going to run out to the farm that was next to Leo’s. I know it’s a long shot, but I want to find out whether Carson was the one who delivered those medals to Leo.”

  “Just let it go,” Summer protested. “I’m going to get better, the police have closed the case, and I don’t want you to get into any trouble.” She reached up, latching onto his arm with pleading eyes.

  “I know, but if he had something to do with your disappearance, then your mom and dad shouldn’t have to pay him that huge reward,” he explained. “I’m not going to let him get away with extorting a million dollars out of you guys. He doesn’t deserve it and it would take them forever to recover.”

  “So you really think he had something to do with all of this?” Summer asked with a look of shock. “That’s crazy.”

  “It is crazy, but either this was all a setup or I’m making all of it up in my head,” Dylan told her, determined to find out which was the case.

  “Well, at least wait for Dad so he can go with you.” Summer had an extremely worried look on her face, leading Dylan to regret his decision to share his plan with her.

  “No, I’d rather go alone. I talked to the guy last time.” The thought of that creepy experience had sparked his thinking in the middle of the night. At every other farm, Carson had taken the lead and spoken to whomever they came across. At that last farm, he had sent Dylan up to the house and stayed in the SUV. Looking back, that seemed a little weird. He leaned over the bed and gave Summer a lingering kiss on the lips. “I have to go. I need to stop by the house first to grab a few things.”

  “I really don’t want you going alone,” she pleaded again.

  “It’s the only way. I’m probably not even right on any of this. Either way, I’ll be back by noon.” He gave her another quick kiss before turning away. “I’ll call you on my way back.”

  The house was quiet when Dylan arrived, so he used the gate to access the backyard and sneak into the house through the side door. He crept into the pantry where his father’s Glock nine was stored and grabbed it from the top shelf. He opened the case, loaded shells into the clip, and slipped it into the gun. He pulled on his dad’s old vest and threw a gray hooded sweatshirt over the top of it. He shoved the gun into the right pocket and a box of extra bullets into the left. He snuck over to the fridge to grab a bottle of orange juice before slipping out the door unnoticed. It was too early in the day for one of his mother’s interrogations, especially since he had a loaded gun in his pocket.

  He squelched his anxious feelings as he got into his car and took off down the street, choosing to focus instead on his anger. He leaned over, tossing the extra bullets into the glove box, and caught the glimmer of Leo’s chrome handcuffs. He grabbed the handcuffs and shoved them into his pants pocket. After driving past the police station, he decided to pull the gun from his sweatshirt pocket and slide it under the driver’s seat. He honestly didn’t expect to use it, but he felt better having it along as insurance. After all, he had no idea whether he was completely off-base or headed straight into a shit storm. With one short visit with the crazy old man, it would be resolved one way or the other.

  Once out on the open road, he set the cruise on seventy and tried to relax. “It’s no big deal, I’m just going to talk to the guy,” he spoke out loud to himself. “Fuck, I’m going crazy here.” Reaching for the volume, he cranked up the radio, which was playing some classic Aerosmith. Anything to keep his mind occupied. About thirty minutes into the drive, he came to the corner where he had spent Saturday night with Carson. He turned at the intersection and headed north, beginning to wonder if he would be able to find the crazy guy’s farm. He had only been there once, and since he wasn’t driving, he hadn’t paid much attention. From what he remembered, it was about a quarter-mile west of the road and about a mile north of Leo’s place. If nothing else, he’d be able to find Leo’s lake on Google maps. After all, Google knows everything.

  After driving north for a couple of miles, the pavement changed to gravel and a cloud of dust kicked up behind the car. He knew he was on the right track. He drove past the first farm where Carson had stopped and gone to the door. He thought back to the uncertainty he had felt looking at that picture of Summer while waiting in the car. He thought about what he would do to Carson if he found out that he had something to do with her kidnapping. After passing the second farm, a cloud of dust suddenly appeared off to his left, a rare sight out in the sticks. He squinted, trying to see what type of vehicle it was, but it was too far away. It was most likely a farmer headed into town for supplies, he decided.

  Several minutes later, the road curved and he came to a bridge that crossed a river. It didn’t seem overly familiar, so he pulled over to the side of the road and brought up Google Maps on his phone. He didn’t want to waste the morning by driving around in circles. Unfortunately, he was met with sketchy 3G coverage and only two bars. His phone churned for over a minute before pulling up a basic map. He looked at the map for several seconds before deciding he needed to use Earth View, because the lake wasn’t showing up. After a short hesitation, he clicked it. The little thing started going around in a circle but nothing else was happening. “Son of a bitch!” He slammed his hand against the steering wheel in frustration.

  Sitting there waiting for a clear view of the map, a text message popped onto the screen. “What are you up to?” The message was from Carson. He briefly thought about replying but decided against it. Instead, he continued to focus on the map as it began to fill in, pixel by pixel. About two thousand heartbeats later, the lake finally appeared on the screen and it was only about a mile and a half to his left. That meant he was really close to the crazy dude’s farm. He looked down at the flashing blue dot in the center of screen and instantly felt as if he had been blindsided. “Fuck! I had that turned off,” he screamed at the phone. He clicked into the settings, punched the privacy tab, and saw it right there at the top of the screen: Location Services On. “I’m fucking screwed!” He quickly looked around in all directions for any sign of Carson’s SUV. There was no sign of anyone, but he had a limited view due to all the trees along the river.

  “I’ve got to get out of here!” he continue
d yelling at no one. He reached under the seat and pulled out the gun before making a left at the next intersection. The farm was about a quarter-mile to the west according to the blue dot, so he made the turn with one hand while hanging on to the pistol with the other. Part of him was expecting to see Carson’s SUV as he crept into the farm yard, but all was quiet. He stuffed the gun back into his sweatshirt and mentally prepared to accept whatever the man told him.

  Exiting the car, he moved quickly toward the door. The only sounds were a few birds singing in the morning sun and the wind rustling the leaves of a tree that had grown right next to the house. The old floorboards creaked as he went up the two front steps and vocalized his approach as he proceeded across the old porch toward the door. It had already been an adrenaline filled morning, but he actually felt like he was going to pass out by the time he rapped his knuckles on the old weathered door.

  “What do you want?” the same gruff voice grumbled, just like last time.

  “Hello, sir. I talked to you the other day about that missing girl. We found her, and I just have one more question for you.”

  He could feel his heart pounding as the guy muttered to himself while fiddling with the lock. He finally opened the door partway to get a look at him. “You must be Dylan, right?” the guy asked before cracking the door open a bit further.

  “Right . . .” he replied hesitantly, not remembering ever mentioning his name. He gripped his phone in his left hand and slipped his right hand into the other pocket.

  With a tug, the door popped all the way open. The guy stood there, momentarily giving him a cross-eyed glare. Dylan couldn’t help but stare at his scattered comb-over, stained off-white t-shirt, and grimy overalls. “Come on in. Let’s see what you’ve got.” He stepped back and motioned for him to enter.

  Dylan pulled the phone from his pocket and immediately realized he needed to use both hands to unlock it and scroll to Carson’s picture. Once he found it, he turned the phone toward the guy. “Was this the guy who stopped by a few months ago asking for directions to Leo’s place?” He stood in silence as the man leaned in to examine the picture.