Chapter 16

Elsa tapped her foot on the floor as she sat in the cabin of her jet heading back to Miami. She called her assistant Rosemary. "Rosie, it's me, Elsa."

"Where are you, ma'am? You left so quickly this morning! I didn't see anything on your schedule..."

"Something came up. Listen, I want you to pack a bag for me for oh, four days. And then I want you to meet me at the hangar at the airport. I'm leaving for Dallas in a few hours."

"Dallas, ma'am?"

"Yes, I just got a hot tip on some prime real estate that will be perfect for a new hotel. I want to check it out while I have the chance. It could go fast."

"Okay. I'll meet you there."

"Thank you, Rosie." Ahhh, Rosemary! You never ask too many questions, just enough to get the job done. I like that!

The airplane landed and was refueled by the time Rosemary appeared with the suitcase and a suit bag. "You'll be gone a few days?"

"Yes, so any meetings or appointments I had, please cancel them, Rosemary. Reschedule them for next week, if you can."

"Yes, ma'am. Good luck on your trip! Are you sure you don't need me to come with you?"

"It'll be fine, Rosie. I'm planning on having a little me time while I'm there, so it won't be all business."

Rosemary smiled. "That's good. I've been worried about you lately. With Mr. Axe gone, well, I've seen how it's affected you." She paused. "I hate seeing you so sad."

Elsa blinked. She hadn't realized that anyone noticed. None of her other staff said a word. "Thanks, Rosie. But if everything works out, I'll be happier again soon." She gave her a smile. "I'll see you in a few days!"

"See you soon!" Rosemary waved and backed up to the limousine. She got in, and the driver left as the airplane taxied to the runway.

The private plane touched down in Dallas and parked near an empty hangar. Elsa got out, stepped down the stairs, and wondered how she would find Agent Dani Pearce, but Agent Pearce found her.

"Hi," Dani said with a grin as she approached. "You're Elsa, right?"

"Yes, I am."

"Agent Pearce." The younger woman shook her hand. "But you can call me Dani."

"How'd you know who I was?"

Dani raised her sunglasses and looked into Elsa's eyes. "Sam showed me a picture of you once. I'd know you anywhere, especially after the way he talked about you." She nodded. "He loves you more than anything. I hope you know that."

"I do," Elsa nodded in reply. "That's why I'm doing this. I don't want to lose him."

"Good. Neither do we. So, let's go. I've got a pickup truck I rented." They started walking toward the older vehicle, and Dani looked down at Elsa's outfit. "Do you have anything more casual that you can change into?"

"Yes, I do." She waved her hand, and a man came running with her luggage. "If there's a place I can change, I'll put on some jeans and a shirt. I could get back on the plane and change there if I need to."

"That might be best."

Dani waited near the truck while Elsa trotted back to the airplane and changed. She left the suit bag behind and took only her suitcase, which was full of more casual clothes. She hurried to the truck, stuffed her case in the back of the crew cab, and Dani drove them away from the airport.

"You know where this Grandy, Texas is," Elsa asked her.

"Yep," Dani replied with a drawl and a smile. "We'll be there in about two or three hours, so you might as well relax."

So far it had been a long day. Elsa was only too happy to sit back and watch the miles go by. Each one got her closer to her Sammy, and as much as she would have liked to make them fly, patience would reap rewards. She knew that. She believed it with every bit of her being. She and Dani would find him and bring him home.

By the time they crossed the border of Grandy, Texas, it was late afternoon. The sun was in the west, lighting everything with a warm tinge as it slowly sank to the horizon. Dani found a motel on the west edge of town and pulled into the dusty lot.

"We'll get a room here, grab a bite, and see if we can find anyone yet tonight who's seen Sam... I mean, Jake."

"Good plan."

"I just hope they have a vacancy, because it looks like this is probably the only motel in town."

She didn't really care about a place to lay her head. She just wanted to go in search of her man. Elsa wouldn't admit how hungry she was. She hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast, and other than some water to keep hydrated throughout the day, she was running on empty. She followed Dani to the office, put down some cash on a room, and the two women turned toward the door.

"Wait a second," Elsa spoke softly to Dani, then turned toward the man at the counter. "Excuse me, Sir, is this the only motel in town?"

"Sure is. This ain't a very big town, you'll see."

Elsa nodded. "So if anyone was planning on staying for awhile, they'd come here?"

"Yep, if they don't have any relatives that can put 'em up."

"Do you happen to remember someone named Jake Baldwin staying here recently?"

A slow smile stretched across his face. "Oh yeah, I remember Jake. It ain't often ya meet a real live hero!"

Elsa asked, "When was he here?"

"Couple of weeks ago? Three weeks? Lordy, that time goes by fast!" The man shook his head. "Still think it was a darn shame how he was such a big hero and then bolted outta town. He musta been a real humble guy, you know? Didn't want the accolades, that's what Darrin said."

"Darrin?" Elsa gave the man her full attention and came back to the counter. Dani stood beside her listening intently.

"Yeah, Darrin Crosby. He owns the fillin' station and garage up on the corner of Main and Wilson. Jake worked fer him when his truck broke down, paid fer the repairs by helpin' him at the shop. Then Jake stayed on awhile and made some money before he up and left all of a sudden. So I heard."

"That's very helpful, Sir. Thank you," Elsa said with a smile.

"Who are you, anyway? You some reporter lookin' fer Jake?"

"No, just a friend. Thanks." Elsa turned away, hesitated, and turned back to the desk. "Which room did he stay in?"

"Number six." He grinned. "It's empty right now, and I could let ya have it fer another ten bucks."

Elsa pressed the key for the room he gave them into his palm and said, "We'll take it." His eyes widened and a raspy wheeze came out of him when she laid the crisp bill on top of the key. Then he turned, retrieved the key for room six, and handed it to her. "Thanks!" She left the office with Dani on her heels.

"Nice work back there, Elsa!"

"He was easy. Did you see the glint in his eyes? He was pretty proud to have rented a room to a hero!" She grinned. "And now we have a key to the room he stayed in. Think there's a possibility he left something hidden in there?"

"I don't know. When we go in, I want to check for listening devices anyway, so if he did, we'll find it." She stopped in front of the door with the number six on it. The key jingled on the keyring as Dani took it, opened the door, and carefully swept the room for bugs. "Okay, we're clear. I didn't find anything unusual."

Disappointed, Elsa locked the door behind her. "Now what are we going to do?"

"Let's go get something to eat. I don't know about you, but I'm starving!"

Dani parked the truck in front of their room and the two women walked the short distance east into town. On the main street they found a diner. Other than a sub shop, it was the only restaurant.

As Elsa studied the menu, she asked Dani in a low tone, "Are we going to talk to the other people in here?"

"Not yet. I think we should talk to that Darrin guy first." She cut herself off when the waitress stopped at their table. She placed her order, and Elsa followed. After the woman walked away, she continued. "If Jake was working for Darrin, then he'll know more about him than anyone. It'll also lower our chances of getting people suspicious if we limit who we talk to about him."

"You're right. I wasn't thinking about that." She met Dani's eyes. "I'm sorry. Jesse was right. It's a good thing I've got you along, because I wouldn't know the first thing about finding out information without letting everybody and their uncle know I'm looking for information!"

Dani laughed softly. "It's just part of the game, Elsa. You'll learn soon enough."

As they ate their dinner, the women couldn't help but notice that they attracted attention from some of the locals. Dani took it in stride. She knew what it was like in a small town, and that everyone would be keeping an eye on them. By morning, Darrin might even know they were in town, but not who they were or why. She came up with a plan and told Elsa about it after they returned to the room and settled in for the night.

Elsa sat on the bed and pulled a small stone out of her sandal. "I wonder if Sam went to that little bar I saw kind of kitty corner to the diner. Maybe people in there would know something. We could go in for a drink and put out some feelers, maybe, and..."

"Look, I know how eager you are to find Sam, but I've got a better idea." Dani sat on the bed and brushed her hair as she spoke. "Tomorrow, I'm going to tinker with the truck a little, so that we have a problem with it. Then I'll drive it over to the shop and while Darrin is looking at it, we can interview him."

"That seems easy enough."

"Only this time, let me do the talking. We might have to handle this guy more delicately. I doubt he has starry eyes for the town hero."

"He better not!" Elsa exclaimed and laughed. "Well, we better try to get some sleep, although it's doubtful on these mattresses. Seriously, how can they run a motel with beds like these?"

"I suppose you could teach them a few things," Dani said with a smirk as she set her brush on the dresser. "Which one do you want?"

Elsa knew what Dani was thinking. "He could have slept in either one of these." She studied the two beds for a few moments. "Knowing what I do about Sammy, he'd want to sleep facing the door, but not right by it. And he sleeps on the left side of the bed, so, I'll take that one." She moved to the bed on her right and slipped under the covers.

"Night, Elsa." She turned out the lamp on the stand between the beds.

"Hey Dani, do you think we should have aliases? When I signed the register, I used Eleanor Dorsey as my name." She paused. "It was my mother's name."

"That's fine. I'll be Jenna Lomax. I've used that one before, but it's not something someone's going to trace to me."

"Okay. 'Night."

"'Night."

Elsa closed her eyes and stretched her arm across the pillow beside her and pulled it closer. She sniffed the scratchy linen, but it smelled like bleach and harsh detergents, nothing at all like her Sammy. It dashed her fantasy. She swallowed back the disappointment and held the pillow close anyway as she drifted off to sleep. When he left her in Miami, Elsa demanded that the cleaning staff leave his pillow alone. Over the past few months she slept with it like a teddy bear, and she handled it so much, his scent began to fade. When she got desperate, she splashed it with the cologne he left behind to make it last longer. I'm so pathetic, but I can't help it! I want him home!

She dreamed of the day when it was safe for Sammy and his friends to go back to Miami. Maybe they could hide away somewhere, where just the two of them could be alone for a few weeks, a month, however long it took to erase the lonely months. But she knew him. He would be happy just to stay at the hotel and visit his haunts again. They missed him at Carlito's, no doubt. Yet she was certain that no one missed him as much as she did.