She didn't know when he'd reached across the console and taken her hand and while there was some comfort in having his strong hand gently caress her hand, the 12-year age difference between them was never far from her mind. She was pushing ever closer to 50 while Ben was still in his 30's. Sure, thanks to the miracle of good genetics Lane didn't look even close to her age. She smiled as she remembered the day she had introduced her kids to Ben.
When she and Ben met, she had told him she'd taken the job, found the house, and moved while her three kids were staying in Omaha for the summer with their paternal grandmother. The plan was to have the remodel finished at least two weeks before school started and she'd drive to Omaha and bring the kids back. Lane recounted her own move to Omaha when she was 13. Aunt Marta had moved her in the middle of summer and she had suffered through the remainder of the summer with no friends. Her idea was to give her kids a couple of weeks to get used to their new home and surroundings, then have them start school soon so they could make friends. She hadn't told Ben the ages of her kids and because he thought she was about his age, he had assumed her kids were young. To say he was surprised when he found out how old they were would be an understatement. The look on his face, when he found out Jake was in college, Jess was seventeen and going to be a high school senior, and Jamie at fourteen was going to be a high school freshman, still made her smile.
They'd been on the road for about an hour and were on Interstate 29 just north of St. Joseph, MO. As Lane flexed her hand, Ben gave her a gentle squeeze, released his hold, and glanced at her. "There's an exit for a rest stop ahead, do we need to make a pit stop?"
"I could stand to stretch my legs." Lane answered as she took another drink of her soda.
Ben pulled into the rest area and parked the SUV. It was a beautiful day, not yet too hot and humid the way it would be later in the summer. Lane wore her favorite non-work attire Levi 501 button fly jeans with sandals and a sleeveless pink cotton blouse with tuxedo pleating. She had her strawberry blonde hair pulled into a casual ponytail. She grabbed a white baseball cap from the back seat and quickly pulled her ponytail though the hole in the back as she put it on and got out of the SUV.
When Lane emerged from the ladies' room, she smiled as she watched several women of varying ages gawk (there was no other word for it) at Ben as he stood there waiting for her. She’d seen the phenomenon many times. They were leaving the Capitol Grill on the Country Club Plaza after having dinner one evening not long ago when someone had mistaken him for George Clooney and asked for an autograph. It didn't happen often, but there had been rumors that Clooney was going to be filming a movie in Kansas City and while Lane didn't resemble George's current paramour, she did apparently resemble his rumored co-star Laura Linney. Ben always told people they were mistaken, that he wasn't George Clooney. Sometimes they believed him and sometimes they thought he was Clooney and was just being a jerk. These tourists were determined and finally, Ben had agreed to have a photo taken with them and Lane. No doubt, they were regaling their friends in South Dakota with tales about the night they met George and Laura. Who knew what the ladies in the rest stop were thinking. He looked relieved as Lane approached and he took her arm and walked with her.
Chapter 5
A Friend of yours is a friend of mine
Lane called Maggie as they took the Interstate 80 exit over the Missouri river. They agreed to meet at Garden Café on 132nd and Maple in half an hour. Ben called Liz and told her the plan to meet Maggie at the restaurant. She suggested that she and Blake meet them there.
Surprisingly, Lane and Ben arrived first and told the hostess they needed a table for five. It was almost 11:30. The breakfast crowd had cleared out and the lunch crown was just starting to trickle in so there wasn't much of a wait, but it was long enough that Maggie, Liz, and Blake all arrived before the table was ready.
Liz was nearly as tall as Lane with blonde hair and blue eyes that lit up when she saw Ben. She walked up and gave him a hug. Ben lifted her off her feet and gave her a brief kiss on the cheek. "Hey pipsqueak. Good to see you." Ben introduced Lane, who introduced Maggie. Liz introduced Blake. Once the introductions were over, they followed the hostess toward a table in the back.
It turned out Blake was the investigator's name was Gary Blake. He was about 6 feet tall, had an athletic build, salt and pepper hair, gray eyes, and appeared to be about 50. Maggie was five feet seven inches tall, her once curly black hair had come in the color of chestnuts after chemotherapy, and the curls were no more than waves now. Her deep amber eyes showed signs that she hadn't been sleeping well.
Once everyone sat at the round table, Maggie again told about the last time she'd heard from Jeff. Between ordering and having coffee, iced tea and soda delivered to the table, Blake told the group what he’d found out.
“I spoke with the tow truck driver who picked Jeff up at the gas station that night. He'd said he took Jeff to a farmhouse where his truck had died. The driver gave it a jump-start and followed Jeff to the on ramp for Interstate 80; Jeff headed toward Omaha, the driver headed back toward Lincoln.” Blake paused when the food came, but continued when they were alone again. “I stopped and talked to the kid at the gas station. I showed him Jeff’s picture and learned that Jeff’s phone was dead when he came in. He bought a charger and once he got it charged, he made the call for the tow.” He looked at Maggie. “That must be how and when he sent you the email too.”
That seemed to be the last anyone had seen Jeff, but Blake didn’t speak those words aloud.
Liz asked about the last time Maggie had called Jeff's cell phone and suggested it was time to get a warrant so they could have a look at the cell activity. Maybe see if they could get a location on his whereabouts.
Maggie nodded. It had been over a week since Maggie had heard from Jeff, and she knew it was time to file a missing persons report.
Lane knew that Jeff’s phone was through Telco Unlimited, the cellular phone carrier where she was Chief Privacy Officer. It was a holiday weekend, but Lane knew if they could get a warrant for the phone records, she could get the information for them today.
They finished lunch, settled the bill and Blake asked Maggie if he could follow her to Jeff's house. She had keys and could let him in to look around. He'd take her to get the paperwork started on the missing person report afterward. They all agreed to meet in four hours at Liz's office.
The College World Series takes place in Omaha every June and hotel rooms are rare and can be expensive. While the start of the College World Series was still a week away, the teams, and fans were already beginning to descend on the city. But, Ben was a Platinum level Marriott rewards member, so even without a reservation, he had no trouble getting a room. It was just one room, but luckily, it was a two-bedroom suite and after a short conversation with Lane, they had agreed that they could share the bathroom.
With four hours to kill, they each pulled out laptops and cell phones and began checking e-mails and returning phone calls. Ben was a criminal defense attorney and a partner in a law firm with his uncles Sal and Vinnie Luciano and Vinnie's daughters Bianca and Daniela. He was preparing for a trial and was supposed to begin jury selection in a couple of weeks.