Freckles...Chapter 4 (maybe PG-13)

Even breathing next to her. The scent of an permeating aphrodisiac wafted over to her. The all too familiar smell lit up the olfactory part of her brain along with a rush of memories of and with Mark. Tabitha seemed drawn to him. She had thought that she had put enough distance between him and her, but obviously she hadn’t. She thought she could struggle against him and fight, but she lost. This was the first time when it felt good to lose. For such a man who she still loved. She had wanted to get away form him because on some level she knew he was bad for her. And another issue was that her family would never approve. He was an artist and he lacked a certain race. Tabitha thought it was ridiculous and had struggled against her family and parents. She declared to them that it didn’t matter, but they old-fashioned ways got in the way. She wanted to please her parents and family, but also wanted to please her own happiness and desires. Eventually and regrettably she caved into them.

But now, with her man in her bed, she didn’t know why she ever listened to them. He was great for her; he challenged her; and he loved her. There was nothing more that she needed as far as a mate. Tabitha had met other men, who were good and proper for her according to her family’s requirements, but they lacked that sparkle –the finesse, which he had in abundance. 

Other areas of her life were less than stratifying. Tabitha wanted the little girl, her goddaughter, to be okay. She deeply wanted her friend back. That loss was the worse lost she had experienced EVER.

She shot out of bed. She sat straight up in her bed. The light was shining through the slits in the window. The white sheer curtains danced in the wind. She shoved the covers aside and swung her legs out of bed. ‘How could I be so selfish?? I didn’t even think about Desmin last night! I was too wrapped up in Mark to check on her!’ she chastised herself.

Mark stirred a little and rolled over the side. Tabitha was in too much of a rush to notice him there. Her only thoughts were on Desmin. She quickly checked her dress. She was wearing the same slacks and button down shirt as yesterday. She checked her face in the mirror by her bedroom door. Her room was at one end of the hall, while Desmin’s room was on the other end. She was bounding down the hall, but realized if Desmin was still sleeping, she might wake her with the noise. She decreased her gait and sailed as quickly and quietly across the hall without a noise. She halted before Desmin’s door. She put her ear against the white wood door. She heard nothing from outside the door. She put her hand lightly on the brass knob. She turned it quietly fully before she pushed it open. The same sheer white curtains hung, dancing, besides the window. The white bed was made neatly and nothing was out of place. She looked at the clock on the girl’s bedside table and it read 7:08. 

‘Oh no,’ she thought. ‘Where is she?’ Tabitha’s heart rate rose and she tried to calm herself down by saying 

‘There is a logical explanation for where she is. Don’t be so frantic.’ She sailed quietly to the bathroom. No one. Down the stairs to the foyer. No one. She checked the kitchen. No one. Dining room. No one. Downstairs bathroom. No one.

‘Maybe she has gone out!’ she thought. She checked the coat closet. Desmin’s coat was hanging in the closet. She checked the backdoor window. She looked out across the sunlit back lawn. She peered across to where the bench was. She thought for sure she would find Desmin there. But she wasn’t there and after blinking her eyes, she was certain Desmin was gone.

She ran up the stairs. She went to her room and found Mark still in bed. He was now hugging the pillow. Tabitha stopped for a moment to look at him. He was heavenly sleeping. His beautiful face, he ruffled hair. She quickly snapped out of it! And sat beside him,  looking over him, and began to shake him with her small hands.

“Mark, Mark, wake up!” He stirred a little, but he was a heavy sleeper. She felt like she was trying to wake the living dead. “Mark,” he groaned and turned over again. “Mark, my goddaughter is missing! Wake up!”

He rolled over again and looked up at his barely opened eyes. “Are you sure,” Mark whispered groggily up at her. “I am sure; I looked everywhere! She isn’t anywhere. I can’t believe I didn’t check on her last night.”

Mark sat up, propping himself on his elbow. He looked concerned. “You were in no condition of take care of yourself last night. You were too smitten by my alarmingly good looks. Don’t worry about her. She couldn’t have gone far.”

He hopped out of bed, stumbling, almost falling, and pulled on his pants that lay on the floor. Tabitha just looked at him with eyes that said, “Why are you pants on the floor?”

“I got too hot last night so I had to take them off! Nothing happened, except I got to lay next to your glorious body!”

“Oh, stop it!” “Calm down, I am going to help you look for her.” He grabbed her hand as he said, “It is going to be okay. I will help you.”

Tabitha was a little assured and felt assured by his calm demeanor. Still holding his hand, she followed him downstairs behind him. They went to the coat closet and grabbed their coats. “Did you already check the immediate grounds?” “Yes, I did!” “Okay, let’s hop into my car and we will look for her.” She thought about it for a second. “Wouldn’t it be better if we both took our own cars.” “Let’s go in one. If I find her, she might not trust me enough to come back with me. I don’t want to scare off the girl!” “Okay, you are right,” she admitted.

They got into the car. He started the car and it roared to life! He shifted the gear into drive. They lumbered down the gravel path, down towards the main driveway. The longer they drove the more they both lost hope. They surveyed the extensive ground and Desmin was nowhere to be found. They checked the lake, everywhere. They checked the small sylvan of trees, the smallish wood, etc… She was nowhere to be found. “Desmin, where are you?? Mark, where could she be?” Her brow furrowed deeply. She looked older than she really was.

“Honey, let’s call the police to report her missing.” “Okay, we can just drive there now,” and added hopefully, “Maybe we will spot her on the way there!”

“Yes, that is a definite possibility!” It was only a 10 minute drive, but for the worried Tabitha, it seemed like an hour before they finally reached the old brick police station. The bright blue car stuttered to a stop in front of the station. When they got out, Tabitha was almost hysterical. Mark knew that look and he took her both hands and looked calmly into her face. “Everything  is going to be fine,” Mark quietly and reassuringly into her eyes. Tabitha just nodded her head, afraid to speak because she might lose her cool. 

 He let her hands fall to her side. He opened the door and held it to let her in. 

The counter was right up in the front standing right in front after they went through the door.

Two policemen sitting there were chomping on a white frosted donut, holding it in one hand and a coffee in another. The shorter one looked up from his feast and eyed her blankly. With his mouth full of donut crumbs, he greeted her, “Ma’am, how may I help  you?”

“Yes,” she began, but faltered. Mark took over. “Yes, we want to report a missing person.” “Who is this missing person? How long has he or she been gone?” the officer said still disinterested. 

“Her name is…” “Desmin,” Tabitha chimed in. “She is my goddaughter and when I woke up this morning she was gone. We looked everywhere for her. I have no idea where she has gone.

The other officer finally looked up unaware of the situation that was going on around him. “Hi, Tabitha, how are you today?” It was Freddy! “Freddy, my goddaughter is missing! When I woke up this morning, she was gone. I can’t find her anywhere!” “Oh no. Okay, it hasn’t been 24 hours yet, but I know about your situation. Let me go talk to the boss and let him know. Let’s see what we can’t do!”

Tabitha seemed relieved that Freddy was taking her seriously. She knew him since she was little. They grew up together and went to the same school. Although they didn’t grow up in the same socio-economic status, they were good friend. He cared about her. Freddy had had a small crush on her when they were growing up, but in high school Freddy met his future wife and now was happily married with two kids. He felt bad about the situation Tabitha was in and could only imagine how distraught she was. He knew how much he worried about his own children and would want someone else to take it seriously if they were lost. Besides it was a pretty small town and he believed that everyone should help when they could and provided the best service possible.

His partner, who was sitting next to him at the desk, was of a different disposition. He would only do what he really needed to do. He wouldn’t bend over backwards to help anyone. Tom was a tough nut, who was also bitter about never making detective and seemed to take it out on other people. In the last year, when he was passed over for a promotion, he had grown even growler than ever. Freddy had been really annoyed with Tom, but they were still friends.

“Please take a seat,” Tom offered. “Thanks,” Mark and Tabitha said in unison. No sooner had they taken their seat, the lt came out from the back. He was a tall man with wide shoulders and even a wider smile. He would have been intimidating except that she already knew him. He was the kind of man who had a commanding presence. He was so commanding he was almost presidential!  He could have won major if he wanted to try for it. Everyone knew him anyway. He was widely liked and made a good lieutenant, and an even better husband.

“Follow me into my office and we can discuss what options we have available at this time.” They followed him, past two rows of two desks each to the back office. The florescent lights cast a purplish hue over the whole room. It was bad feng shui; awful. Mark thought to himself, ‘What? Is their budget that bad, that they can’t even afford good lighting? I would die in this office. Now, it’s time to focus on other matters. You’ve got to focus.’

 it was the artist in him that revolted against the room. He was very sensitive to those kinds of things. He liked to have a good feeling when he walked into a room or house. If he got a bad vibe from a place, he usually would not return. He loved the feeling he got from Tabitha’s house, especially her bedroom. It seemed like and airy to him. He loved the white decorating. He liked more of the industrial style of decorating. Her home was like heaven to him. Now to the matters at hand which was the missing girl.

 Outside the door read: ‘L.T. D. Andersen.’ in white letters on black. They went into the room. It was a little better. It was lit with the same lighting as the open room before entering, but the plus side was the light pouring through from the open window. That was the redeeming quality of the room. A few overgrown plants were nestled above the tacky white metal cupboard above which gave the room some character. The grand wooden mahogany desk was the focal feature of the room and stood out as the best part of it. 

“Please have a seat, Tabitha?” look at Mark said, “My name is Lieutenant Andersen. I know you already, but who is this?”

 Mark replied frankly, “My name is Mark. I am Tabby’s friend!” 

“Is that Mark…Mark, Litchen?” Mark was caught off guard by the recognition. No one ever seemed to recognized him.

“Yes, that’s right. Mark Litchen. I’m impressed that you know who I am. We can talk about that later. So, Tabitha’s goddaughter went missing this morning. We looked for her in the house and the extensive property and she wasn’t anywhere to do found.”

“Yes, I understand about the situation. Is there anywhere you think she might have gone? Any places that she likes to go?”

“Well, she is new my house. She just came to live with me this past week—she doesn’t know the area. She lived in the town before at her mother’s house before she died.”

“Wait a minute,” the lieutenant interrupted lifting up and raising his hand in front of his body, “Is it possible that she went to her former house?”

“I guess that is possible, but it would be an hour walk from my house to her mom’s house. But I guess it’s possible.” Tabitha looked over at Mark and he shrugged his shoulders at her, not knowing what to say if anything.

“Where is the old house?” LT Andersen inquired very calmly. He knew that getting agitated about each and every situation was counterproductive. He often encountered very frantic people and  there was no reason to add to the commotion. Even if he was feeling stressed, disturbed, agitated, angry or any other disruptive emotion, he held it inside until the appropriate time, which was after work, at the bar or at home or in a quiet moment by himself. He felt that a boss, over many people, and especially in his line of work, should show a certain amount of decorum and not show emotions to keep the other members of the force streamlined. He hoped he showed them a good example of what to be like. 

He began again, “Here is what we are going to do. We will send a patrol car in the area of the house and have an officer look for sign of a break-in. The house is now vacant, correct?”

“Yes, it is. I hope they can find her. I want to take our car over there to check it out, too. She needs someone there with her. She shouldn’t be along right now” Tabitha chimed in. Mark smiled when he heard the use of “our” car from her. The Lieutenant nodded as she said this and replied, “Yes, you can follow the patrol car. Okay, let me call this in and we will get a set of officers to patrol the neighbor around the house and all other cars available to canvas the city. Tabby, we are going to find her,” he reassured her.

The lieutenant got up from his chair and left the room. “Just one moment. I will be with you in a minute,” he said leaving the room. Tabitha grabbed hold of Mark’s hand and squeezed it. He smiled and squeezed her hand right back. She felt a little more secure with everyone around her helping her. Tabitha felt the love and sense of community she had not felt for a while. ‘I guess it was always there,’ she thought, ‘I just had to look for it.’ She was also glad that Mark was there. His timing couldn’t have been more perfect. She was amazed at his timing actually. It was as if he had extrasensory perception—like they had a link to each other. The kind of romantic link that she only thought existed in romance novels and classic novel of an area bygone.

The lieutenant back in a flash. “Okay, everything is in order. Freddy and I will take one patrol car. You will be following us. What is the address of the house?”

“1134 Meadowlark Lane, sir.” “Okay, you will follow us and there will be an additional five patrol cars patrolling the city and outlying areas. Let’s hope into the cars.”

Outside seemed a little bit colder and Tabitha shivered a little bit even in the sunlight. Mark opened her door for Tabitha and she slid into the blue car. He went around to the other side of the car and opened the door. Got in and again roared the car to life. The lieutenant’s car flashed around in front of them, pulling out from the parking lot. They followed the cop car. Tabitha lay back in the passenger seat, breathing, letting her chest rise up and down, and trying to calm herself down with the rise and fall of her breaths as if they were the waves of a calm ocean. Mark turned his head to look at her. She looked peaceful and he felt horny. ‘It is not the time to think about that now,’ he laughed to himself quietly—too quietly for Tabby to hear.

The lines of trees zoomed past them. The noise from the open windows changed as they whizzed past each one. It was almost hypnotic for Tabitha who had slipped deeper down into her seat. She settled down away from the situation. It was a nice place to be. She was so worried from the time that she woke up until now, and there wasn’t any time for her to seek some peace and quiet. Now she has a few restful minutes by herself. Everything else around her melted away, even the company of Mark. 

She woke up the scenery around her. The sights were more and more familiar. The houses looked very nice and colorful. It brought back memories of her and Olivia walking down the street laughing and gossiping about the happenings of their small elementary school—that memory made her happy and sad at the same time.

Each house as they got closer and closer to Olivia’s old house, made her heart race and her breath get shorter and shorter.  The wide lawn they approached stood in front of a stately white house with a dark red wooden door. The house was dark all around. The lawn was a little overgrown with some blades sticking above the rest, waving in the light breeze. It seemed more desolate than Tabitha was used to seeing it. Before it seemed like there was music coming from the house and lively merriment. She remembered playing croquet and having delightful picnics out on the lawn. She felt a tinge of regret and sadness being there. 

There were no lights on in the house and there didn’t seem to be anyone around. It was a stark contrast of its former glory. ‘How could it be that only a few weeks could have changed the place so much’ Tabitha mused sadly.

They parked on the curb side by side. They got out of the car like quicksilver. Mark stood there—one hand on his hip and the other hanging to his side, his long legs jutting out and firmly places on the ground. Solid as an oak tree he stood. With Tabitha by his side, long and lean—they were a match perfectly suited to each other. She had flowing brown hair, when it wasn’t tied in the back or up in a neat bun, which would line the length of her back. Tabitha had always had long hair that ended in curls. Small pearl earrings hung down from her ears; and sometimes were accompanied with a pearl necklace for more formal occasions. Her soft eyes and neat mouth paired together were lovely. Her lips were a light pink shade. Her long neck seemed fragile—her shoulders were softy slopping and white as snow. She wore a pink blouse that tied together prettily in the front. Over it she wore a cream colored cardigan. Her slim hips held a tight blue jean and her legs with grounded with a nice pair of black ballet flats.

“Let’s take a look around,” ordered the lieutenant. We will go around the back and you and Mark take the front,” he said looking at Tabitha and Mark. 

Both of the officers looked tall in their uniforms. They gaited across the lawn towards the back of the house. When they were out of sight, the pair started up the walk. Despite the place being neglected it was very pretty and they stepped up to the dark red door. The red door took on new meaning to Tabitha. Once a happy red, it seemed like the color of blood to Tabitha. She gently placed her white hand on it and it shook a little. A larger hand placed over hers. Its warmth gave her some heart and with that he tried the knob on the door. It gave in and opened with little effort. It did give Tabitha a start when it opened. So easily it had given way. He swung the door the rest of the way. Mark stepped in, but Tabitha was more hesitant. She looked down. A single tear cascaded down her cheek. She had not been in the house since the death of her dear friend. It was heart breaking.

He looked back at her. He stepped in closer to her. His hand again when up to her cheek and wiped away the tear. “Don’t be sad. With every loss comes a rebirth. She must have meant the world to you. It is alright to come in,” Mark cajoled with his opposite hand outstretched towards the inside of the house.

“Yes, you are right. I can’t stay out her all day,” she laughed, cheering up herself. “Now that’s the spirit!” Mark laughed with a sly smile that brightened his whole face. His dark eyes seemed to dance even in the low light.

She followed him into the house. The chill quickly hit them. The small foyer was open to the formal living room. All the furniture were covered with ghostly white sheets and flowed and swayed from the fresh air. The house was full of a musty scent. Whilst she stayed there, Mark headed down the hallway towards the back of the house. Nearing the door, he was the face of the officer. He twisted the lock and opened the door.

Freddy and the lieutenant swept in. Juxtaposed with the quiet of the house, the lieutenant’s voice boomed through the house, “Did you find anyone here? Was the door open?” Mark replied, “We have not found anyone and yes the door was unlocked, but not open. It easily opened though.”

“Have you checked any of the room?” he followed the reply. “No, we have not.” “Let’s fan out…”

When Mark looked around Tabitha was gone. It could have only been a second when he was answering the queries of the lieutenant. “Tabby?” said, but his words fell on a deaf ear.