Page 70 of Lorna's Savior
“What about it?”
Instead of answering, Veronica asked a question. “How’s Lorna’s swearing been at the office.”
Finn frowned, then looked at her in with wide eyes. “Shit, she told me once that she was using the words ‘monk’ and ‘ball’ instead of swear words. It was pretty ingenious. I never thought about Andy’s actual name being Monk Ball. Holy hell, no wonder she was upset.” Finn scrubbed his face, and looked at Ronnie. “No, she was pissed. Everything was going fine, and she never questioned Marvin telling her he was her father. She became upset when she learned Andy’s name.”
“I would do the same thing, Finn. I imagine it’s especially hard on Lorna because she’s been in a relationship with him for the last few weeks. Hell, it’s been months.” At Finn’s expression, she elaborated. “Lorna met Andy the day you gave her Janis’ job. You know how her mother is, and the day after that promotion, Kristen left on a world cruise. That same day, Lorna finally moved out of her mother’s house. Her new apartment just happened to be next door to Andy. They hooked up again, and again, and again. From my last call with her, two weeks ago, they’re practically living together.” She watched Finn’s expression, then sighed. “Finn, Lorna’s in love with Andy. I mean like I love you. That type of love.”
“Shit. And it probably didn’t help that when I met with Andy over drinks, he told me about his relationship with her. I never put any weight on his real name.”
“Yeah, now you know why she was so upset. She’d used his birth name every single time she swore. And he said nothing to tell her differently. Hell, she probably thought he was laughing at her the whole time. That’s a lot of humiliation to heap on someone—someone you love with all your heart—then take into consideration the way her mother treated her all her life. She’d be a wreck in the confidence department.”
“Shit,” Finn said as he shook his head. “I know she’s upset with me, because I knew Andy’s real name. Christ, what a shitstorm.” He looked off into space, then sighed. “How can I fix this?”
“Should you be fixing this? Shouldn’t this be between Lorna and Andy, or whatever the hell his name is? What did she say at work today?”
“She didn’t show up.”
“What?” Ronnie practically screamed. She grabbed her phone off the desk and called Lorna. “Voicemail.” Ronnie jumped to her feet and looked at Finn. “Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“Lorna’s apartment. Maybe she’s there.”
“I’m driving,” Finn said as he followed his fiancée to the door. Halfway between Ronnie’s office and Lorna’s apartment, they had to slow down, because they saw several police cars up ahead.
At one point, Ronnie looked out the window at the wreckage, and screamed,“STOP THE CAR!”She frantically pawed at the seatbelt. Finn pulled over and slammed the truck into park. Before he could ask what was going on, Ronnie was free. He swore when she whipped open the door, and took off at a dead run back to the accident scene. Finn caught up with her just as she stopped in front of a police office.
“Whoa, miss, you need to slow down.”
“Where’s the occupant of that car?” Ronnie demanded as she pointed to the mangled vehicle being loaded onto a flat bed.
“I’m not at liberty to say.”
Ronnie reached up and grabbed the man by his tie, and brought him down to her. Through gritted teeth, she said slowly, like she was talking to someone that wasn’t mentally all there. “Where. Is. The. Occupant. Of. That. Car.”
“Whoa, Veronica,” Finn stepped in and when she turned her glare on him, he held up his hands and took two steps back.
“Is there a problem here?” a voice said as he walked up to them. Seeing his deputy in peril, he turned to the woman, only to shake his head. “Ronnie?”
“Sheriff Bronson, where’s Lorna?”
“What do you mean ‘Where’s Lorna’? Who is Lorna? Please, Ronnie, before I cuff you, take your hands off my deputy.” Ronnie dropped the man so quickly, he stumbled away from her. After rubbing his neck, he reached for his cuffs. Seeing them, Ronnie glared at him. “Try it, I’ve tangled with a mountain lion twice and won. You’re nothing.”
“Easy now,” Amos Bronson said. He looked at Finn for help, and told his deputy to step away. “I’ll handle this.” As soon as the man left them, Amos turned on Ronnie. “What the hell, Ronnie? Why are you abusing my deputies.”
“Where’s Lorna?” Ronnie demanded.
“Stop,” Finn said as he wrapped his arm around her. He looked at the sheriff and said, “Lorna Hepplewaite is missing. She’s not answering her phone, and…”
“That’s her car.” Ronnie pointed to the car on the flat bed.
“How do you know?”
“Is there a sticker of a monkey juggling balls on the back right window?” Everyone held their breath as the sheriff walked around and came back, looking pale.
“Yes. Now, who is Lorna? Because I have to tell you, there was no one here when we arrived. We got the call about an abandoned car. The deputy you harassed was first on scene, and he called in a wrecker.” Amos called the man over to him, and at first he refused to answer any questions, until Amos threatened to put him on overnights. Then he started talking, but made sure to express his displeasure.
“Sir, with all due respect, these are civilians. I don’t feel comfortable talking about police matters in front of them.”
