Read Steve Demaree - Dekker 09 - Murder on a Blind Date for Free Online

mild
five on a scale of ten I called everyone on my Christmas card list to let them
know that Lou had been found and had survived his ordeal. I could tell a few of
them had to reach for the Whiteout, because they had already scratched Lou from
their next year's Christmas letter list. It was just as well. I knew some of
them, had received their Christmas letter only a month before, and I knew they
hadn't been to Europe twice last year. I wondered if
eleven months hence if Lou would put out a Christmas letter telling how he had
been kidnapped by a pack of wild dogs and a gypsy on crack.
     
    +++
     
    Around 8:00 the phone rang again. My phone hadn't rung that much
since the last election. I was hoping Lou hadn't found out that he was going to
have to have his leg amputated and wouldn't be able to come home for a while
longer.
    "Hello."
    "Is
this the love of my life?"
    "Beyonce,
is that you?"
    "I'll
Beyonce you. This is Jennifer and you know it."
    "Aniston,
Garner, Lopez, or Lawrence?"
    "Never
mind. I guess I have the wrong number. I was calling someone I thought would
want to know that I'm coming home soon. The day after tomorrow. But just in
case I do have the right number, you'd better get those posters of those other Jennifers
off your wall before I get there."
    "Oh,
are you moving in with me?"
    " I
don't think so, but you'd better take those posters down."
    "I
don't have any posters on my wall. I had Mark paste them on the ceiling when he
came over to shovel the snow. Oh, and I'm leaving town tomorrow."
    "Oh?
Where do you think you're going?"
    "To
pick up Lou. He's been kidnapped."
    "Oh
he has, has he? And I guess you've decided to pay the ransom?"
    "Don't
have to. Lou escaped."
    "What
are you talking about, Cy?"
    "Lou
really was kidnapped. Taken down to the Smoky Mountains . You can call Thelma Lou for
verification if you don't believe me."
    "I
plan to call her next."
    "George
and I are going down tomorrow to pick him up. He's in the hospital now, but he
gets released in the morning."
    "I
assume he was shot."
    "No,
just roughed up a little. But he was outside for a couple of hours after he
escaped before someone found him and took him to the hospital, and he had some
issues with that. Anyway, we may be back tomorrow. We might not be back until
the next day."
    "Is
this the George who's with the police department? The tall, dumb cop?"
    "No,
this is Cy who used to be with the police department, not quite as tall, but
brilliant."
    "Maybe
I should stay here a few more days."
    "Or
meet us in Gatlinburg."
    "No,
I miss my home too much. Hurry back! I might have a hug and kiss for you. But
if I call Thelma Lou and find out you've been lying to me, you'd better stay in
Gatlinburg."
     
     

8
     
     
    It was
still dark when I picked up George at 5:05 .  He brought snacks. It had been a while since I had had a Hostess
Twinkie before 7:00 . I turned on the dome light and
checked the expiration date. It said they were still good until 2030. George
told me it was one of the Twinkies left over from his twelfth birthday party.
He had brought some Hershey syrup to dunk them in, but I didn't want to mess up
my van, so we ate them with only the preservatives they came with. Well, George
brought orange juice, too. Once I dunked my Twinkie in the orange juice. It
added a little something. Every few minutes, before we took the first bite out
of another Twinkie, we pretended the one in our hand was a microphone. Man was
not made to sing along with 60s on 6 before daylight. Some of us weren't made
to do so anytime. I think we were sitting at a traffic light just before
getting on the interstate in Lexington when we looked at each other and sang You're the One That I Want. It
didn't matter that it wasn't a 60s song, or that it wasn't playing on radio. We
received two thumbs up from the two guys in the old Dodge Charger in the other
lane, who looked like they were on their way home, not out, and that they had
had a rough night. The light changed