A little while later that morning, Donovan sat at a booth in the Perkins restaurant drinking coffee.
He got a few stares from the other customers while they looked at his black and blue eyes. They were curious as to what happened, so they started to whisper about their own theories.
He just got his cup of coffee and had placed his order in a few minutes ago.
Jodi walked up to the booth. "Good morning Donovan," she said then she saw his black and blue eyes were still a tad swollen. "What happened to you?" she said and was concerned while she sat down at his booth.
"Someone beat me last night," he said then took a drink of coffee.
"Who?"
Julie, the waitress, walked over to the booth and Donovan refrained from replying at the moment. She placed some silverware wrapped up in a napkin and menu in front of Jodi. "Can I get you something to drink?"
"Coffee, please," Jodi replied.
Julie smiled, then walked away from the booth.
Donovan glanced around the area to make sure other ears were not listening. He felt it as safe. "I don't know. He wore a ski mask."
Jodi thought about his comment for a few seconds. "I had a bad dream about a guy in a ski mask," she said then got the chills.
Donovan thought about her reply for a few seconds. "What did he do?"
Jodi pondered if she should say anything about her dream. "Oh, I don't remember that much, but he was scary."
Donovan opened his mouth to say something but didn't when someone approached the booth. He saw Julie with a cup of coffee in her left hand and a coffee pot in her right hand. He remained tight-lipped.
Jodi smiled while Julie placed the cup of coffee in front of her, then filled up Donovan's cup. "Would you like to order something for breakfast?"
Jodi looked at Julie. "Those French Toast were excellent. How about another order of that?"
Julie smiled at Jodi.
"You can bring my order when her order is ready," Donovan told Julie.
Julie smiled, acknowledging his request.
She walked away to place Jodi's order.
"Where did you get attacked? At the motel" asked Jodi then she took a sip of her coffee and wondered if Haneyville had crime like up in Lexington.
"No, out by the clearing by the lake. I had this strange feeling to search the woods. Then I came to a clearing, and I got a strong déjà vu feeling. Then I got this pain in my chest that came and went away real quick," he told her then he took a drink of his coffee.
Jodi looked at Donovan and knew there was something strange going on here. She took a drink of her coffee. "Did you tell the Sheriff of Haneyville what happened?"
"I did. He didn't appear to be overly concerned. He actually recommended that I leave town."
"Leave town? I wonder why?"
"I don't know. But he did state that the belief is still that Tiffany and Howie left Haneyville back in nineteen seventy and ray away up to Canada. He said something about Howie being a draft dodger."
Jodi opened her mouth to reply but did not say a word since Julie walked up to the booth with two plates of French Toast in hand.
Donovan and Jodi smiled at Julie while she placed their breakfast in front of them.
"Let me know if there's anything else you need," Julie said then walked away from the booth.
"Howie was a draft dodger?" asked Jodi then she thought about it for a few a seconds. "I'm not buying that," she added.
"That's what the Sheriff told me."
Jodi looked concerned. "I wonder why someone would attack you out in the woods?"
"I don't know, but I have my suspicions that it has something to do with Tiffany and Howie going missing," he said.
Jodi looked at Donovan and thought that could be the only reason.
It was quiet while Jodi and Donovan started munching down on their French Toast breakfast.
"Oh yeah, I also lost my iPhone out in the woods when that guy beat me up."
"You can use mine if you need to make a call," Jodi offered.
"Thanks."
It got quiet again while they both pondered the events that recently happened while they ate and drank coffee.
Twenty minutes passed, and Jodi and Donovan were finished with their breakfast and paid their bills.
Donovan and Jodi walked out of the Perkins restaurant's front doors.
They walked ten feet away from the front entrance of the restaurant.
Donovan stopped and looked at Jodi. "I'm thinking of going back and talking with Howie's father. Would you like to come along?"
"So I take it you're not going to leave like the Sheriff recommended?"
Donovan thought about her question for a few seconds. "No. I must work on this story. I don't know why, but I must."
Jodi looked at Donovan, and it did not take long for her to think about her answer. "I would love to tag along and see Howie's father," she said with a smile but was also curious with meeting George.
Donovan smiled then motioned for her to follow him over to his Buick.
When Donovan and Jodi arrived at his Buick, he played the gentleman and opened up the passenger door.
She smiled and loved being treated like a lady while she sat down in the passenger seat. Donovan closed the door then rushed around to the driver's side.
He got inside his car, started it up, and then backed out of his parking spot.
Donovan pulled his car onto Haneyville Road and headed east toward the town.
He did not notice Rock in his Impala following his Buick a safe distance behind.
A little while later, Donovan pulled his Buick into the driveway of George and Betsy Anderson's home.
Rock parked his Impala down the street and kept an eye on Donovan and Jodi while they walked over to George's front door.
Donovan rang the doorbell. They waited.
Over in Rock's Impala, he started to navigate through Donovan's iPhone while Donovan and Jodi waited at George's front door.
The front door of George's house opened, and George appeared.
"Hello, you're back," he said, then saw Jodi. "And you brought a lovely guest," he added then looked at Jodi for a few seconds. "Have we met before?" he asked her, as there was something really familiar with Jodi.
"No, sir, I'm visiting from Lexington," she replied, but she also had a strange feeling that she met George before.
"What brings you back here?" George asked then he saw Donovan's eyes. "What happened to you?"
"I got attacked early this morning out in the woods."
"Attacked in the woods? Why were you out in the woods this morning?"
"Researching my story, so anyway, I have a question about Howie."
"Please come inside, Kathy went to Kroger's for some groceries so we can talk for a few minutes," George said then motioned for them to step inside his home.
George closed his front door; the second Donovan and Jodi were in his living room.
"What's the question?"
"Did Howie get a draft notice from the Army just before he went missing?" asked Donovan.
George looked surprised Donovan dug up that information. "How did you find that out?"
"I don't reveal my sources."
George looked at Donovan and Jodi for a few seconds. "Yeah, he got his draft notice two months before he went missing."
"How did he feel about that?"
"Like so many of those kids back then, he did not want to go to Vietnam. He felt that that war was all wrong," said George.
"So is that why the Sheriff believes they ran off to Canada?" asked Jodi.
George hesitated for a few seconds. "I know Howie and Tiffany talked about moving to Canada. We had a huge argument about that the week before they went missing. I served in the Navy in the South Pacific in the second war, so I was firmly against him running off to Canada. I tried to tell him to enlist in the Navy," George said, and he looked upset recalling that memory. "I still have his draft notice, if you want to see it."
"Sure," said Donovan.
George motioned for Donovan and Jodi to follow him.
They followed George out of his living room, down the hallway and into Howie's bedroom.
Once Donovan stepped inside the bedroom, that strong déjà vu feeling came back. That strange déjà vu feeling also hit Jodi when she stepped inside Howie's bedroom.
Then his eyes widened the second he saw a silver trumpet on a stand in the corner of the room. He got curious and walked over to it.
Donovan saw it was a Conn trumpet when he picked it up and checked it out. "I also play the trumpet and have a silver Conn," he said while he continued to look the trumpet over. Donovan had another strange déjà vu feeling while he gripped Howie's silver trumpet in his right hand.
"Howie loved to play a Glenn Miller tune," George said then he paused while he tried to recall from his memory. "I forgot the song."
Donovan's eyes lit up. "I love Glenn Miller. I play that In The Mood song."
George's eyes lit up, and he snapped his fingers. "That's the song, In The Mood."
Donovan and Jodi looked surprised overhearing that from George.
He placed the trumpet back in the stand.
George walked over to Howie's old desk and opened up the top drawer. He removed a folded piece of paper then walked over to Donovan. He handed the paper over to Donovan.
Donovan unfolded the paper and saw the official draft notice. Jodi glanced over at the paper.
While they both looked at the draft notice, another déjà vu feeling hit both of them.
Donovan folded up the draft notice and handed it back to George.
George shoved it back in the desk drawer and closed it. "Do you have any more questions?"
"Not at the moment," replied Donovan.
"I'm here if you have any," George said then walked to the bedroom door.
It was quiet while George walked them through the living room and back to the front door.
George opened up the front door. "You shouldn't be running around in these here woods around town when it's dark. Some folks get a little nervous," he told Donovan.
"I won't and thanks for the information," Donovan said then he shook George's hand.
George smiled while Donovan and Jodi left his house.
He closed his front door. "Why is it that I feel like I know those two young kids?" he asked himself. He shrugged that thought off then walked away and headed into his kitchen for another cup of coffee.
Donovan and Jodi got inside his Buick.
He backed his car down the driveway and drove off down the street.
Rock was still in his Impala down the street and started to follow Donovan's car.
It was quiet inside Donovan's car while he drove down Forge Valley Avenue.
He made a right turn and drove down Addison Avenue.
Then Donovan's eyes widen with a thought. "Do you think that that guy that attacked me could have been Howie?"
"Howie? Why would you think it was Howie?" asked Jodi.
"Well, maybe for some strange reason he had been living in the woods as a hermit for all these years," Donovan replied, and the more he thought about it, the more he thought it was a possibility.
"I seriously doubt that Howie had been hiding out in the woods for the past forty years. Someone in Haneyville would have seen him by now and told his parents," said Jodi.
Donovan thought about her reply. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I must be stretching things a bit," he said then turned left onto Haneyville Road.
"Just a bit, but I'm thinking that that person that attacked you could have caused harm to Tiffany and Howie or maybe that attacker is protecting someone else," Jodi said.
Donovan glanced over at Jodi, and he knew her thoughts were heading in the right direction. "If nobody heard from them since that night in nineteen seventy, then someone probably ended their lives," he said.
Donovan and Jodi looked at each other, and they both had the same eerie feeling that that was what happened that night. But who could have caused those two kids harm was the big question?
A little while later, Donovan pulled his Buick into the parking lot of the Motel 6.
After he turned off his car engine, he glanced at Jodi. She glanced at him.
He had a strong desire to lean over and kiss her.
She had a strong urge to lean over and kiss him.
They both held back their desires.
"Well, I'm going to my room and jot down some thoughts about this story," said Jodi.
"Yeah, me too," he replied.
They both got out of his car.
"How about we meet for dinner?" he asked.
"Sounds great. What time?"
"How about six?"
"Meet at Perkins?"
"No, let's eat at this restaurant down by the lake. It has a better atmosphere and inside Perkins," he said.
"That sounds good. It's a date. I'm in room sixteen. You can pick me up there," she said.
"Okay," said Donovan, and he loved it when she used the date word.
They both walked away and headed off to their rooms.