Page 19 of Shelter for Martina

She replied almost immediately.Of course.

Instead of texting her again, he just called. Her voice was soft and timid. “Hey.”

“Hi, babe. I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Are you kidding? I couldn’t sleep if I wanted to. I was hoping you’d come back.”

“I was just hoping you could sleep, but I should’ve known better. So I talked to Burgess.”

“Did you learn anything?”

“Yeah. And it’s complicated. So why don’t you go home tomorrow, get some clothes, and come to my place? You can stay the night and we’ll talk about what I’ve found out. Hopefully I’ll have even more news for you by then.”

“Sounds good. Should I bring something to eat, or will—”

“Don’t worry about food. I’ll take care of that. Just bring yourself. I should be home by four thirty.”

“Okay. Shoot me your address and I’ll be there.”

“Will do. And Martina?”

She was silent for a few seconds before she said, “Yeah?”

“Being with you last night? That’s the happiest I’ve been in a long, long time.”

He heard her sigh just a little. “Same here. If only Renita were—”

“I’m working on it, little girl. Try to catch a little nap before you have to go to work. I’ll see you this evening.”

“Okay. Bye, Albert.”

He smiled to himself at the sound of his name. “Bye, sweetie.”

He was still smiling when he fell into bed twenty minutes later. He rolled to his left side, pulled the other pillow into his arms, and wished like hell that it was her.

* * *

Bud hadinformation PhilAdams didn’t know he had, and he had every intention of following up on it.

Bright and early Friday morning, he pulled up in the driveway at the Adams’ house. He was sleep-deprived, but he was in good enough shape to do some questioning. There wasn’t even a chance to knock on the door when it flew open and a red-faced Adams stood there. “What the fuck are you doin’ here?”

“I’ve got some more questions for you, Mr.Adams,” Bud answered calmly and pulled out his little notepad.

“I ain’t got no answers for you. You need to get you a warrant and wait until I got my attorney with me.”

“You know your son came out of the woods last night.” Adams’ eyes bulged. “Yeah. Wondered if anybody had told you. He sure did. Early this morning, actually. Right up there on JimisonRoad.”

“Well, that’s good news. At least he’s safe.” For reasons Bud couldn’t fathom, Adams didn’t look all that glad to find out Burgess was okay.

“Yeah. And I asked him about the night he and Renita disappeared. He says she stayed behind with you to go muddin’.”

“What? That’s just… Nah. That didn’t happen.”

“Are you sure? Because he seemed pretty damn sure it did.”

Adams was quiet for a minute or two, then slapped his leg and let out a fake laugh. “Oh, yeah! I do remember that now! Yeah, she wanted to go muddin’, so I took her out on my four-wheeler.”

“Yeah? And where is she now?”

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