Kentucky Rain
Chapter One
~~~~~~~~~
Chapter One
~~~~~~~~~
Seven lonely days and a dozen towns ago
I reached out one night and you were gone
Don't know why you'd run, what you're running to or from
All I know is I want to bring you home
So I'm walking in the rain, thumbin' for a ride
On this lonely Kentucky backroad
I've loved you much too long; my love's too strong
To let you go, never knowing what went wrong.
Chet sighed deeply as he stood looking at the gas station time forgot. It’s pumps didn’t know what a credit card was and the numbers that counted the gallons pumped were far from the LCD readouts he was used to. For the fiftieth time that day he cursed the circumstances that had him traipsing from one pathetic, forgotten town to the next, searching for something he was afraid he’d never find. She didn’t even want him to find her.
Scuffing his boots against the concrete curb, he knocked yesterday’s mud from them… ‘gotta make more room for today’s mud’, he thought glumly. At last the ancient pump finished it’s job and he jammed the nozzle back into it’s resting place. With a glance at the grizzled man who’d said exactly two words to him since picking him up 45 minutes ago…‘Where to?’. Chet shuffled off toward the office, wondering what sort of sub-human manned this relic of a business.
~~o~~
'Five, six… seven, eight, nine… ten… eleven, twelve'… Sue’s eye’s blurred and she gave up trying to count the bills being thumbed through by the miscreant on the video. The quality was horrible. Tara’s usual magic hadn’t worked on it and Jack had apologized to no end when he handed it to her to scrutinize. “Just do the best you can. If you can’t get anything, I’ll talk to them. They can’t expect miracles.”
“Not from me anyway; they need to go to a higher source for that.” Screwing her mouth at an angle and giving him a ‘don’t you pity me?’ look she’d taken the DVD and sequestered herself in the conference room for the rest of the afternoon, trying to make out words from mouths that were little more than a blob of pixels. Now it was five ‘til five and she could feel the ache behind her eyes growing… time to stop.
The door inched open and then held it’s position, allowing the person behind it to watch her unobserved for a few seconds. When she punched a button and the light from the monitor in front of her faded away, Jack eased in and leaned against the wall. Her head was down, eyes closed and fingers at her temples, trying to ease the tension stored up there. Glancing at his watch, he tried to remember what time it had been when he gave her the DVD and she’d disappeared behind the paneled door. Two? Two, fifteen maybe? And here it was quitting time… even teenage boys playing video games would have taken a break or two to raid the ‘fridge in that amount of time, but she’d kept at it. He should have checked on her earlier, but his duties had way-laid him…
He leaned toward the table and knocked on it sharply, causing it to vibrate under her elbows. She started; her eyes flying open, but she said nothing… only giving him a reproachful look.
Sorry. You left Levi with L-u-c-y.
“He gets restless in here, locked away from everyone. Did you need me?”
His nostrils flared slightly and his eyes narrowed a bit as he seemed to give the question careful consideration before he lifted a hand and gestured toward the monitor. “Just wondering if you were able to get anything off the video…”
“A few words, and we know money changed hands, but that‘s about it. When they faced the camera I could read them some, but most of the time they were turned away and the video is so fuzzy…”
“Don’t worry about it. I spoke to the sheriff’s department while you were looking at it and I told them not to expect much.”
“But those girls… if I could read the video, we might have learned something…”
“I know. But we’re expecting more video tomorrow, and I told them they’ve got to do better this time. Fortunately for us, these guys seem to be happy to stay in one spot for the time being.”
Sue blew out a long breath and rubbed her eyes with a forefinger and thumb. “I hope so.”
He was across the room and his hands on her shoulders before he realized he was moving. Curling his fingers into the tensed muscles on either side of her neck, he steadied her when the inevitable startled jump came. Before she had a chance to pull away, he began moving his thumbs in a circle, softly pushing into her flesh and easing the tightness. She slumped forward slightly and in a matter of seconds he heard a jittery breath escape her, followed by a half moan - half sigh. Her head lolled forward, giving him better access to her neck and he happily took the offering, parting her hair and sliding his fingers to rest against each side; working his thumbs up and down methodically.
For a time, she moved her shoulders and rocked her head side to side, trying to aid his efforts, but now she stilled and he heard her breathing even out as she became suspiciously still. He leaned over, trying to see her face but a curtain of hair covered it so he was forced to pull it back gently. “Sue?”
Her eyes had drifted shut, lulled by his rhythmic ministrations, but they flew open when his finger brushed her cheek and she flushed guiltily. “Jack? Oh, I’m sorry. I… I…”
“It’s OK.” But she wasn’t watching him, her embarrassment too great to face him.
Jack clamped a hand around her upper arm and waved the other hand, finally bringing her apologies to an end. “It’s OK…Come on, I‘ll spring for pizza and then it‘s home and bed for you.”
“But m-o-o-o-o-m...”
Pulling her to her feet, he scrunched his eyes and jerked a thumb toward his chest. “Go ahead… mock me, I can take it. I’m secure in my masculinity.”
Sue grinned and began circling her chest with her hand. “Sorry Jack, I just meant you don’t have to watch out for me. I’m fine, really.”
“I was kidding.” He leaned close and teased her with his eyes. “ And I know you’re OK, but you’re also tired, and so am I. So let’s grab a bite and pick this back up tomorrow.”
A troubled expression crossed her face at his words. “What if these girls don’t have ‘til tomorrow…?”
********
