Page 89 of The Attraction File

THIRTY-FIVE

Edgar

May 31, Fifteen Years Ago

As much as the house appeared tiny and run down on the outside, the inside was well kept with a feminine touch.

“I just finished making some soup. Would you like some?” The beautiful woman stood in front of me as I sat at her small pine kitchen table. Her smile was warm, inviting, and everything I wasn’t expecting.

I thought she would be just as bad as Damien. A terrible mother who put her boyfriend before her daughter, causing the girl to run away. That’s the scenario I made up in my head last night before I ripped open the letter her daughter left behind in that tree and read it.

“That would be nice. Thank you. There’s a bit of a cool wind out there.”

She nodded and gazed toward the window. Her smile faded as she became lost in the rustling leaves waving at her from outside.

“Ms. Bechmann?”

My voice broke her from her trance and she peered over at me, grinning once again. But it wasn’t as bright as before. “Right, I’ll scoop you a bowl.”

She puttered around the kitchen and it gave me a minute to look around.

There were two pictures in gold frames that were hanging on the wall between the kitchen and the eating nook. They were both of her daughter. One was when her daughter was in elementary school. A huge smile on her face, all teeth, except for two missing in the front.

The other, a sharp contrast, and I suspected more recent. She stood in the front driveway with her arms wrapped around herself as Damien draped his arm across her shoulders. Her head was turned away while his smile was wide and lazy and on full display for the camera.

It sickened me the way he touched her.

“He’s gone you know,” Ms. Bechmann said as she ladled out the soup from a large metal pot on the old black stove.

“What?”

She carefully took the bowl to the counter and turned to me. “Shane. He’s gone. Left this morning and said he wouldn’t be back. Do you know him? Is that why you’re here?”

I took a moment to look at her. Really see Ms. Bechmann. Her eyes held sadness with a tinge of worry. But the way her eyes held me, they were full of suspicion. If what her daughter wrote in that note was true, her mom was scared right now.

“Yes and no.”

After getting out a plate that she placed the soup on, she brought it over to me with a spoon.

“Be careful, it’s quite hot.”

“It smells wonderful.”

It did. My stomach rumbled as I realized I hadn’t eaten dinner yet. I sipped at the broth on the spoon and my eyes widened at the amazing flavor. I took another spoonful, getting a chunk of beef and carrot. Blowing on it, I finally pushed it past my lips and the beef practically melted in my mouth.

“Wow. This is amazing.” I moaned the words.

“Thank you. It’s my daughter’s favorite.” She glanced away. Her lip trembled so I placed my hand on her arm for reassurance.

“That’s why I came here tonight, Ms. Bechmann.”

As she turned back to face me, her eyes widened with hope.

“I do know Shane, but I’m not one of his friends. You see, he used to be my mother’s boyfriend several years ago.”

“Oh, I see. You want to meet the woman who took him from your mother? Well, I have to tell you, I didn’t know Shane had been with another woman when we met. Trust me, I would never have gone out with him if I had known. Besides, we only met a few months ago.” She took a deep breath.

I shook my head. “No, I’m not here for that. I mean, I was here last night to find Shane. I sat right outside your house in my truck with a gun in my hand waiting for him to come outside, but someone else came outside instead.”

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