“I’m so amazed. Nate hasn’t spoken to anyone in weeks. He’s sunk himself into this hole where no one could reach him. He’s been certain that his life is over, and no one will ever hire him or love him.” Alex couldn’t stop smiling.
“I just acted like I’d known him forever. He reminded me a lot of John, and I would’ve wanted someone to be nice to him if he had come home wounded and his family couldn’t be there for him.” Marie just shrugged, uncomfortable with his praise.
“He told his family not to come back, that he didn’t need their help. They were always hovering and doing everything for him. His mother kept trying to come in the mornings and dress him.”
“Oh, my. No wonder he was so happy when I let him be a man.”
“I think you just cashed in several dates worth of approval here, so just in the interest of disclosure, I’m going to kiss you now.”
Marie didn’t have time to protest as she was overwhelmed with a sweet and savory kiss that took her breath away.
“Do you have root beer chapstick on?” Marie giggled.
“Yes. What, is it too manly for you?”
“No, just unexpected.” Marie didn’t get to continue because Alex’s phone rang, scattering her next thought.
“Yeah, okay. I’ll be over to check it out and see if we can come up with a temporary fix until the new materials arrive. No, I understand, and I’d rather get it taken care of now before the cold weather hits this next week.” Alex looked at Marie in apology. “Be right there.” He hit the end button. “I’m so sorry. I have to go, but call me when you get done with your other date this afternoon. I would enjoy hearing all about it.” Alex smiled at her.
“I think something could be arranged, but I might be running off with some guy in a bow tie named Alexander. Fair warning.”
“No running off with any other guys named Alex, except for me, comprende?”
“Yes, sir.” Marie saluted and climbed inside her car. “I’ll message you when I get done.”
“Be careful,” he called after her as she exited the parking lot.
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Marie had had enough extra time to go home, eat lunch, and change into something a little nicer since Alexander preferred a classy woman.
She knew that parking would be terrible on the campus, even though it was the weekend, so she planned to arrive a little bit early.
The directions to the theater were very easy to identify and follow, so she found herself waiting for the other Alexander.
College students dressed in varying shades of casual to semi-formal bustled around her as she stood next to the statue of someone famous. The art building was on her left, and the theater building was on her right.
As she looked at her watch for the tenth time, Marie was beginning to wonder if she had been stood up, or had simply misunderstood where she was supposed to meet him.
There was a tap on her shoulder. “Have you been waiting very long?” Alexander stood behind her in a sport coat and tie.
“Not too long. You have the tickets already, correct?” Marie asked as she took his offered arm.
“Yes. Our own special seats so that we don’t have to share with others,” he responded as he escorted them inside past the ushers.
“Get ready to be amazed. This is a wonderful play.” Alexander took them to the only private box on the right side of the theater.
“Wow, you were right. I have never had the privilege to be in private seats before.” Marie took one of the two seats available.
There wasn’t time for anything else because the lights flashed and the crowd settled down.
Marie reached into her purse and turned her cell phone to vibrate and the screen’s light down. She saw Alexander frown, but was glad that he refrained from saying anything since she was already silencing her phone.
The curtain opened on a couple arguing.
Two hours later, Marie and Alexander exited the theater.
Marie tried to find something good to say about the play.
“So, what did you think?”
She felt his intense gaze on her as he tried to determine how honest she was being with him.
“Well, it was very different from what I was expecting. I know it was supposed to have a surprise ending, but I was a little surprised at the beginning and the middle, and the end as well.” Marie crinkled her nose in confusion.
“I really thought it was about some murders, but it was mostly a bitter couple who wanted to see if the younger couple could still love each other, even when another couple tried to come between them. That was what we just watched, right?” Marie asked, uncertain, hoping that he would take her question as interest.
“Yes. It’s more of a contemplation on the stages of a couple who used to be great once upon a time. Now, they are testing to see if the younger couple are as solid as they appear to be,” Alexander explained with a flourish. “The debates between Nick and George are rather stimulating, wouldn’t you say?” He turned to her for confirmation.
“I hope I don’t sound uneducated, but I really didn’t understand what they were talking about. It sounded kind of like they were discussing the merits of science vs. history, but they didn’t really explain why one was better than the other. The whole thing seemed to be simple, yet it was two men trying to one-up each other to show who was the better man.” Marie couldn’t keep the derision from her tone.
“That would be one way of looking at it. So, did you like it?” he questioned curiously.
“While it wasn’t what I’d expected, the acting was fabulous, and it really brought the story to life. I would be willing to come to another play in the future, if I was invited of course.” She smiled over at him, then realized they had managed to end up at her car.
“I guess I’ll go home for now and wait for you to call me again.”
“It was an enjoyable afternoon, but I had a change of plans which means, regrettably, I must part ways.” Alexander bowed at the waist.
“Thank you for a lovely time.” Marie spoke graciously as she got into her car.
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That evening, Marie’s phone dinged in response to her first text when she had arrived home.
Marie: Whatcha doing?
Alex: Still with Alexander #3?
Marie: No. Only went to the play with him, and then we parted ways. I doubt he’ll want to go on another date.
Alex: Were you mean?
Marie: No, but I don’t think I impressed him.
Alex: You didn’t like the play?
Marie: It was different from what I’d imagined, although the acting was good. I didn’t really get the point of the entire play. They didn’t tie it all up in a bow at the end, so I was left feeling unsatisfied.
Alex: I could help with that problem. ;)
Marie: We still don’t know each other well enough for that yet. I would like another date first.
Alex: So how do you think today went?
Marie: Well, I don’t think I’m as sophisticated I had assumed I was to begin with.
Alex: Does that mean you won’t go to the movies with me next week?
Marie: What? A movie and a play are totally different things. I would love to, but wait! What movie?
Alex: I was thinking a historical film with a love story, but it has some fighting it in so it’s a win-win for both of us.
Marie: How thoughtful of you. I enjoy war movies, and I heard there was a good one about a horse coming out next week.
Alex: Hmm…I feel a compromise. We go see this war movie next week, and I get to pick the next one, which will be more of a chick flick.
Marie: Compromise accepted. FYI, I picked that movie because I do like a good war movie. Depends on the chick flick you pick out as to whether I will want to see it or make you go by yourself.
Alex: Ha-ha, very funny. Honestly, it’ll be nice to have someone to watch a movie with. I tend to avoid going so I don’t have to go alone.
Marie: If we keep this up, we
might not ever have any alone time.
Alex: I could live with that kind of outcome. Even though I have a family, it still gets lonely when you do everything by yourself, except for work.
Marie: Did you get your work situation taken care of?
Alex: Yes, it was just a case of the wrong items being shipped and the company promised to have the correct items to us by Monday, so we can get the job finished by Christmas.
Marie: What do the veterans at the rehabilitation center do for Christmas?
Alex: Some of them have families that come to visit, but most either live too far away or have given up on them getting better.
Marie: Would most of them like the idea of Christmas, or are they just too cynical and depressed?
Alex: Very few would be opposed to Christmas, but the staff is stretched thin, so they don’t have time for more than a nice meal and a few little extras.
Marie: I’ll have to think about ways to make their Christmas brighter. When I come up with something, you might have to help me get it all together.
Alex: No problem. Hey, I have to run to dinner at one of my kid’s houses. I’ll text you again tomorrow.
Marie: All right. I’ll be watching the phone in anticipation.
Alex: Bye.
Marie: ’Night.
“Who knew this modern technology could be so much fun? Dating might not be so bad after all. Now, what could I do for those poor soldiers for Christmas?
Chapter 12
Sunni and Kristi pulled into the driveway of Aunt Marie’s house, only to find it completely dark.
“I don’t like the looks of this. She would never leave without calling me.” Sunni put the car in park and opened the door to check things out.
Kristi joined her, stopping to look into the garage first. “Hey, her car is in the garage.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a good sign or a bad sign.” Sunni used her key to unlock the front door.
The alarm system beeped as she entered. Crossing the room, she keyed in the code and the beeping stopped.
“She set the alarm, her car is here, the door was locked, but I’m thinking she’s gone. The house feels deserted.” Sunni sniffed the air, but didn’t smell anything.
“Cats!” Sunni exclaimed
“What do you mean, cats? I’ve never heard you use that cuss word before.” Kristi flipped on the overhead light.
“Aunt Marie would never leave her cat behind, and if she had been kidnapped, then her cat would have made the litterbox overflow and smell after two days. Take a sniff, no smell.” Sunni gestured happily.
“Okay, so if she wasn’t kidnapped, then where is she?” Kristi hated to burst her bubble.
“Peas and carrots!” Sunni cried in frustration.
“Ah, now that’s the Sunni I know. Let’s look around and see if we can find any clues she might have left.” Kristi went to the kitchen and began opening cabinets, searching for anything out of the ordinary.
Sunni headed back toward her aunt’s office. She flipped the overhead switch, which only turned the fan on, so Sunni made her way over to the desk lamp.
“Kristi, you need to see this!” Sunni yelled.
Breathless, Kristi arrived in the doorway. “Whoa! So this is what your aunt has been up to lately.” Kristi scanned the wall of printed articles and photos of men all named Alexander.
“She’s been dating men named Alexander and trying to do undercover work on her own.”
“It looks like she has two suspects that she’s been dating, two different men.”
“Well, three, but she crossed off the guy who worked at the convenience store.” Kristi read the note beside his name.
“This man isn’t a viable suspect because he was a horrible human being with no regard for others or the health of those who frequent his store. While he could plan out a simple con, there’s no way he could handle running drugs.”
“Look at this one.” Sunni read from the index card pinned to the bulletin board. “Veteran, divorcee, who devotes his time and energy to helping others. He might require several more dates to determine motives and availability.”
“This sounds like she likes this one,” Kristi commented. “Now this other guy looks like the one she was getting library books from.”
“She’s written about ten different index cards about this Alexander. He’s the one that I saw her getting something from at the bingo hall.” Kristi pointed to the shot of the man with a bow tie.
“He’s the librarian,” Sunni explained. “If Aunt Marie was getting a package from this man, then she might have it around here.”
They both started to look through all her papers and drawers.
“Do you know the password to her computer?” Kristi asked, frustrated when they didn’t find anything to help them.
Sunni turned the keyboard over to find the password taped to the bottom.
“Did you know that was there?” Kristi was amazed that Sunni had found it so quickly.
“No, but it’s what I would do to remember it.” Sunni sat down, then realized she had no idea what to look for on Aunt Marie’s computer.
“Why don’t you do this? You’ll find out if there’s something on here to find much faster than I would.” Sunni got back up and turned the chair toward Kristi.
Kristi spent the next few minutes looking through the computer’s history.
“I have the dating site, and she left it where it would automatically sign in, so now we can visit her chats and see what she’s been up to.”
“She’s been chatting with one of the Alexanders, but I can’t tell which one. The chat seems pretty normal and doesn’t look to have any information about drugs.”
M: I really enjoyed our date to the play the other night.
A: It was my pleasure. I hope that we can enjoy many more evenings on our cruise together.
“They’re going on a cruise?” Sunni asked disbelievingly. “What is she thinking?”
A: The cruise will be more of a classic retreat versus the cheesy themed cruises. This will have fine wine, fine music, and no children are allowed.
M: You don’t like children? You work at the high school.
A: I don’t dislike children in general, just not on a boat with me. They tend to do lots of running and screaming, generally managing to be in the way.
M: Ah, just checking. I love my nieces and nephews.
A: I have the details for meeting the ship. We meet tomorrow at noon and drive to the coast. It takes at least a week to arrive in London, then the return trip starts two days later. You’ll be gone for about sixteen to twenty days.
M: So, in other words, lots of outfits and evening wear. ;)
A: The age-old problem with women and clothes. Well, you have about twelve hours to decide which accessories will be the best to take with you.
M: See you soon.
“This is why you haven’t been able to reach her. Once you get on a cruise, the cell phones don’t really have reception when the boat heads out to sea.”
“So my aunt simply decided to go on a cruise with the one man we consider to be a suspect? How do we even know that she actually got on board the ship? Her car is still here, so did he pick her up?” Sunni paced nervously behind the chair while Kristi continued to search.
“It looks like he was supposed to pick her up. Let’s go see if she took any suitcases with her, and that may tell us what we need to know.”
Sunni hurriedly moved toward the closet in the office.
“Two of her suitcases are gone, but if she was going on a cruise, she would’ve taken the bigger ones. She didn’t pack for a cruise.” Sunni almost cried the words out.
“What are we going to do?”
“We’re going to call the cruise line and see if she bought a ticket, or if Alexander did.”
“Hi, yes. I was wanting to make sure that my aunt made it onto your cruise ship that departed.” Kristi glanced at the computer’s timeline on the chat. “Yesterday afternoon or earl
y this morning. We’ve had a family emergency and the only information she gave us was the cruise line.”
Kristi placed her hand over the phone’s receiver. “They’re looking it up to see which ship she’s on and how to contact her.”
“Yes, sir. You don’t have her name listed on any of the tickets? Could you try the boyfriend’s name, Alexander Fine? They were travelling together and he might have purchased her ticket. Kristi grimaced. “I see. So neither one is on the ship because they check everyone’s ID as they board, along with their passports. Okay, thank you, sir. She might have written the wrong cruise line down. We’ll check the others out.”
Releasing a breath of air she hadn’t known she was holding, Sunni started pacing again.
“We’ll have to confront him and see if he gives us a clue as to where he’s keeping her.”
“Oh, great plan. Let’s go tell the suspect we’re onto him, and then he can kill my aunt, who he has tied up in his basement.” Sunni was growing more frustrated by the minute.
“That’s it. We can pick up my girls, who he’s never seen, and then we’ll go and sell our package wrapping service to him. If he’s not home, then we can see about checking out his house. If we think your Marie’s there, we can break in.”
“Kristi, you want to use your children to spy on this guy and then break into his house? Who are you, and what have you done with my best friend?” Shaking her head in disbelief, Sunni turned the computer off and started for the front door.
“If that doesn’t work, we can always let Carolina snoop around,” Kristi offered.
“How about this? We go over to his house and find out if he’s home. Lights on, car parked at his house, and then we can decide if he’s somewhere with my aunt. This guy is too smart to simply kidnap someone and keep them at his own home.” Sunni countered Kristi’s offer.
“Deal, and when we don’t find anything, I suggest that we call in reinforcements. We can cover more ground and follow him if there are more of us taking turns.” Kristi stood on the front porch, waiting for Sunni to rearm and lock up the house.
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“Green beans! What now?” Kristi had taken the keys from her hand. “You don’t think I can drive?” Sunni stamped her foot in the melted snow as Kristi made her way to the driver’s seat.
The Mommy Detectives and the Bingo Hall Mystery Page 11
