Chapter Nine
Jonah
Sleep eluded me last night as I lay there thinking about Ally and Sam. Saturday was only one day away but somehow it felt like an eternity. Knowing that Sam was going to be at Little League signups made me much more interested in serving as an assistant coach. I really wanted to get to know Sam better. When he asked so innocently, yet almost desperately, if I would be their hero, it tore at my gut like nothing ever had before. A boy needed his father. Where was Sam’s? That would be a hell of a personal subject to bring up. What would Ally say if I asked her? Would she shut down on me? Tell me to mind my own damn business? He may provide invaluable insight to understanding his mother. Then I lay there in bed, running over countless date ideas. I needed something that wasn’t over the top, but I still wanted it to be special and memorable. But what? After chasing ideas around my head for over an hour and not catching a single one, I decided to get dressed and work off some frustrations with a good long run.
Descending the stairs in my two-story brick home, I headed to the kitchen for fuel. After chugging a bottle of icy water and downing a couple bananas, I grabbed my phone to check for messages. Shane’s search should have turned up something on Ally by now. A look at my watch told me it was only four forty-five in the morning. Shane would sure as hell kill me if I called him this early. Maybe I should just to piss him off, I chuckled to myself before jogging out the door.
My normal route was only slightly rigorous but this morning, I felt I needed to push myself harder. Whenever I had a lot on my mind, a long hard run always helped me to think things out and clear my head of cobwebs. Hitting the pavement in front of my house, I turned and went in the opposite direction than I usually did. Going south would take me close enough to Ally’s place that I could check up on things while they slept. Stalking again are you, Jonah? I groaned out loud. Hell, if I didn’t chill out a bit, I would run her off. Then I would be totally screwed. I argued with myself a little more before deciding to make a quick pass by her place anyway. I continued to head south on a ten-mile round trip.
So, what did I really know about Ally? She was twenty-nine, around five foot, six inches, soaking wet about one hundred sixty-five pounds. That woman had an hour glass figure that could make a grown man cry. Funny thing was she had no clue how beautiful she was. With her deep green eyes and full lips, set into her creamy white skin dotted with those damn freckles scattered across her face, she was breathtaking in a way that went beyond classical beauty. Those freckles mesmerized me. Such small little dots that created a strong urge to revisit one of my childhood past times, connect the dots. I wanted to connect her dots, with my tongue. They peeked out from the edges of her shirt on her chest and arms. I was totally obsessed with the damn things. How far did they go down on her chest? Did she have them anywhere else, like her stomach or back? Hell, I was getting hard as I jogged just thinking about all her stunning nuances.
Picking up my pace so that I wouldn’t be caught jogging around town with a hard-on, something else dawned on me about her appearance. Her hair was lush, and an auburn color of sorts that didn’t quite suit her for some reason. Mentally comparing Sam’s freckles and reddish blonde hair to his mother’s, a light went on in my head. Damn, she colored her hair? Why? Red hair on her would look fucking amazing. I mentally shrugged thinking of how often my baby sister had changed her hair color over the years. It had to be just a woman thing.
Hell, Shayla even had rainbow colors in her hair as a teenager. Smirking I remembered how Shane and I used to tease her about it. We took turns calling her Rainbow Bright and Lucky Charms, which pissed her off and she would chase us with a whiffle ball bat. She seldom caught us but when she did, those damn things hurt like crazy. Pumping my legs at a good steady pace to keep my cardio in check, I realized I was getting close to the turnoff to head toward Ally’s. Glancing down at my watch, I knew I was making suitable time but needed to push it, since it was almost six am. Sam had school and they would be waking up soon to start their day.
Dawn had already broken with people headed out for errands or work. A few cars passed and their inhabitants waved as they passed by. Our town of Wordly, Illinois, was a decent sized town of about twenty thousand people. Just small of enough to not be a busy rat race but big enough you could get lost in if that was what you wanted. Growing up here was amazing. Wordly had just about everything a family could want. There were several grade schools for the younger kids and one large high school for the older teens. The town’s park boasted a large in-ground public swimming pool and surrounded by ten acres of greenways. We had choices in shopping, from mom-and-pop stores to a few big chains that had moved in about twenty years ago. Wordly was considered a Metro-Saint Louis town, located only twenty minutes from downtown St. Louis Missouri. Its location made it a prime area for commuters going back and forth to the city for work. We had the best homecomings, parades, celebrations and lots of community events. Our family had been involved with the town all our lives.
Mom instilled in all of us a desire to be members of the community and helping out whenever we could. As adults, we all did our part. Shayla was quite involved in the PTA, plus boy scouts with her son. Shane devoted his free time to coaching Little League as soon as our nephew was old enough to play T-ball. And I helped organize swim lessons and other activities at the youth center. This year when Shane’s assistant coach moved out of town, he asked if I would be interested in helping out. I jumped at the chance to mentor a team of kids that I could stick with and help grow up. Once a team was formed in Little League, most of the primary players stayed through the years with a few new additions each year. I was anxious for signups tomorrow.
As I turned the corner onto Ally’s street, the sky had lightened a bit more and I could almost see her place. This was the older side of town but still well-kept. A lot of the residents in this area were working families or older, retired people. I spent a lot of time in this neighborhood as a kid and so did Shane. Shane’s best friend, Brent lived here with his aunt and uncle and I had a girlfriend or two in this area back then. Those were the days. I smiled to myself. We were carefree and totally full of ourselves.
Growing closer to Ally’s end of the street, I noticed a light come on in the house. OH SHIT! Just about then I saw the curtain barely move as someone peeked outside. Looking around, I took stock of an older brown van sitting caddy-corner from their place. As I grew closer, the light inside went out suddenly and the van’s loud diesel engine sputtered to life. The driver gunned it several times and then peeled out.
What the hell? Kicking myself into high gear, I went full throttle with the hopes of catching the license plate. No such luck. Ducking between houses, bushes scratching and cutting at my arms, I headed for the next street over thinking I could catch sight of it there, but I was too late. The van had picked up speed and was already on Main Street and heading East. I kept going hoping it would get stuck at a stop light. Pumping my legs as hard as I could, I saw the van hit the exit for the highway and then it was just gone. Damn it! Taking measure of my pace, I slowed it down a bit to give my pounding pulse a chance to recover after such a huge surge of adrenaline. I wanted to keep going but there was no point. I needed to cool down and call Shane now.
Slowing myself more for a few blocks, I finally slowed to a walk and grabbed my cell phone out of my pocket. I dialed Shane at home. I got his voicemail and that set my temper off. Fuck Shane, answer the damn phone. I dialed him again. Answering the second call, I started rambling in great detail about what just happened without so much as a greeting to my brother.
“Jonah, its barely six-thirty in the morning. What the hell are you doing by her place anyway?” Shane replied with a yawn.
I filled him in about the situation at the diner and the tires. That got his attention.
“Ok man, but don’t blow this out of proportion. Did you see the person in the vehicle? Get a license plate number? Did he get out of the vehicle at all?” Shane shot out quickly.
Answering no on all counts. I said, “Come on Shane, this can’t be a coincidence! First the grocery store, then last night with the tires and now a van sitting outside her house. There is fucking no way it is! What have you found out about Ally? Anything that can help us?”
“Jonah, look, I dug as much as I dared yesterday and so did Brent. Something is way off here and I don’t have a good feeling about it at all. But you can’t guarantee this van is related to the other events at this point. That part of town has a bunch of families with teenagers in them. It could very well have been some dumb kid. Don’t go chasing ghosts that aren’t there at this point. Let’s concentrate on what we do know to be fact and go from there. Got it?” Shane finished in a calming voice to me.
“Alright Shane, I am headed back to the house and will be in by eight,” I said.
“Oh Jonah?” Shane left an open-ended question at me.
“What?”
“Quit stalking her until we know if she needs it or not. You really need to chill out before you smother her and end up pushing her away. Ok? Now get your ass moving SEAL!” Then Shane hung up on me. Just like that.