Thirty minutes had passed, and Donovan and Jodi drove down the dirt road in his Buick. They headed out to the clearing.
Donovan parked his car, and the clearing was void of any visitors this afternoon.
They got out of his car and checked out the area.
They looked to the left, and both had the same exact feeling at the same moment.
"Over there," he said while he pointed to the woods off to the right.
Jodi nodded in agreement.
Donovan and Jodi walked off and headed into the woods in the direction he pointed.
They scanned the area over while they walked through the woods.
They both stopped at the same exact time when they came upon a small clearing. It was the same spot Donovan received his beating.
They both looked around the small clearing, as there was something about this place.
"There's something about his spot," said Donovan.
Jodi nodded in agreement. "It gives me the creeps," she said.
"I know," Donovan replied while he looked around the area.
He spotted an old tree that had been dead for years. It looked like any small gust of wind would tumble it down to the ground any second. He walked closer to the tree.
Then it hit Donovan like a ton of bricks. "That's the tree from my dream," he said, and the more he looked at the dead pieces of wood, the more he believed it.
Jodi looked down at the ground and saw the two small rocks that stuck out six inches above the dirt. The rocks were in the soil and did not give the appearance they were placed there by someone. Nor did they look like potential headstones.
An eerie chill ran through her body.
A sharp piercing pain shot through her forehead that made her knees weak. She dropped to her knees in the dirt.
"You alright?" Donovan said while he rushed over to her.
"A sudden pain shot through my forehead," she said while he helped her to her feet.
Jodi looked down at the ground and moved away as if she found herself stepping in an ant pile.
"What's wrong?" Donovan asked, getting concerned.
"I don't like this place," she replied while her eyes welled up.
"Let's leave."
Jodi rushed away and headed back to the clearing.
Donovan was right behind her and wondered what spooked her.
Jodi rushed to the car and quickly got in the passenger seat before Donovan had the opportunity to be a gentleman.
Donovan got behind the wheel and started up this car.
"I don't care if I ever come back to this place," Jodi said and was visibly upset.
Donovan turned his Buick around in the clearing.
"Sorry about that," Jodi said while Donovan drove his Buick down the dirt road.
"That's alright."
"That spot in the woods felt like the same spot in the dream I had earlier," she said, and her eyes welled up a little.
Donovan looked at Jodi and knew these dreams were telling them something about the demise of Tiffany and Howie. "They were killed that night," he said.
Jodi looked over at Donovan and nodded in agreement.
"But who killed them?" he said while he stopped his car at the end of the dirt road by Stinson Road.
"I can imagine that the killer is long gone by now," she said while Donovan turned his Buick left on Stinson Road.
"That's a possibility," he said while he drove down the road.
It remained quiet in his car while Donovan drove back to the Motel 6.
Once he got back at the Motel 6, Donovan parked his Buick, and they got out of the car.
"Let's go to my room," said Jodi.
Donovan nodded in agreement then followed her to her room door.
Once they got back inside Jodi's motel room, they sat on her bed.
"Now what?" he asked.
Jodi stared at the bed covers that were still ruffled from their earlier sex session. "I don't know. Maybe some more dreams will provide some clues."
Donovan looked at Jodi. "Maybe they will," he said.
They sat on the bed and pondered their next move to find out if Tiffany and Howie were actually killed in the woods that night in 1970.
Then Jodi's eyes lit up with an idea. "Why don't we try to find Howie up in Canada?"
"How?"
"The Internet," she replied and got up from the bed and rushed over to the small desk. She grabbed her laptop and rushed back to the bed.
She sat back down and powered up her laptop.
She immediately did a search and found the Canada411 site. She typed in Howie Anderson in the Who search block and Canada in the Where block. They waited for the results and soon fifteen pages with five hundred and thirty-five possible Anderson candidates appeared.
"It will take another week of calling all these people," said Donovan while he looked at the results.
"Let's only call the Howie Anderson's and not the other ones. Maybe we'll get lucky," Jodi replied while she looked at the search results.
She got up with the laptop and walked it over to the small desk. She picked up her Smartphone from the desk and called the first phone number for a Howie Anderson.
"Hello," that Howie Anderson answered her call.
"Mister Anderson, I'm Jodi Lauder from Lexington, Kentucky. I'm looking for a Howie Anderson and Tiffany Carlson that once lived in Haneyville, Tennessee," she said into her Smartphone.
"I'm sorry, but I've never lived in the United States," that Howie Anderson said from her Smartphone.
"Tiffany's Buick was dragged out of Lake Haney recently," Jodi added and hoped that would help.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not that Howie Anderson. I was born and raised in Canada. I have proof," he replied and sounded serious.
"Thank you, and I'm sorry for bothering you," she said, then disconnected that call. "Strike one," she said while she looked at Donovan.
Donovan reached in his pants pocket and removed his iPhone while Jodi looked up the phone number for the next Howie Anderson.
He got up off the bed and walked over to her laptop.
He looked at another phone number for the third candidate.
He called that number while Jodi called the other number.
Donovan walked away and headed to the room door.
"Hello," another Howie Anderson answered the call from Donovan's iPhone.
"Mister Anderson, I'm Donovan Kirby from Melbourne, Florida. I'm looking for a Howie Anderson that was once from Haneyville, Tennessee. He's not in any trouble. I'm calling about the car from his old girlfriend Tiffany Carlson recently found in Lake Haney," he said into his iPhone.
"I'm sorry Mister Kirby, I'm Howie Anderson but I've been born and raised in Canada my whole life. Why are you looking for him?" the other Howie Anderson asked from the iPhone.
"He and his girlfriend Tiffany went missing in nineteen seventy. We're just trying to verify that there was not any foul play back then during that night. We're not trying to bring him back to the United States," said Donovan hoping that would make it easier for this Howie to confess.
"I'm still sorry, but I'm not that Howie Anderson and I can prove it," he said from the iPhone.
"Thank you Mister Anderson, and I'm sorry for bothering you," Donovan said then he disconnected the call. He looked over at Jodi while she just disconnected her call. She nodded that she again came up empty-handed.
Jodi and Donovan each called the next two Howie Anderson's on the list.
After three exhausting hours of calling one Howie Anderson after another Howie Anderson, they came up empty-handed. None of the guys they called confessed to being the Howie Anderson from Haneyville, Tennessee and each stated they could provide proof. This added more fuel to the fire that maybe something horrible happened to Tiffany and Howie during that night in 1970.
Jodi looked disappointed while she glanced at her laptop. "We hit a dead end."
Donovan's stomach growled while he glanced at her laptop.
"That sounds good. Want to go to the Lake View Restaurant again?" she said.
"That sounds nice," he replied and remembered their kiss out by the lake last night.
Jodi powered down her laptop, and then they left her room.
A little while later, Donovan and Jodi walked to his parked Buick in the Motel 6 lot.
Something caught their attention the second Donovan opened up the passenger door for Jodi.
They looked at Haneyville Road and saw a flatbed truck with Tiffany's car on the bed of it while it drove past the Motel 6.
The truck headed west out of town.
Donovan and Jodi stared at the car.
Jodi's eyes welled up for some strange reason.
Donovan looked over and noticed Jodi's eyes. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know, but the sight of that car made me feel so sad for some strange reason," she said then wiped away some tears that ran down her cheek.
"I wonder where it's going?"
"Who knows," said Jodi then she got inside Donovan's car.
He closed the door and headed over to the driver's side of his car.
A little while later, Donovan and Jodi had a table in the Lake View Restaurant.
They just ordered their dinner when Kent Riley walked up to their table.
"I see you're still in town," said Kent while he stood by the table.
"Yeah, I decided to stay for a while," replied Donovan.
"I take it you haven't had any more troubles?"
"No."
"Good," Kent replied and looked at Jodi. "I see you two are connecting. Both working on the story about that car found in the lake?"
"Yes," Jodi replied.
"Speaking of that car, we saw it being trucked out of town, where's it going?" Donovan curiously asked.
"Dad, I mean the sheriff, decided we no longer needed it, so he sent it off to an auto salvage place down in Knoxville," he said then he looked at Donovan and Jodi. "Well, you're probably wasting your time trying to write a story. The sheriff has always said those two ran off to spend the rest of their lives in Canada. Howie wanted to avoid being drafted into the Army and Vietnam."
"We tried finding a Howie Anderson up to in Canada that lived here in Haneyville and came up empty-handed. So, maybe your father's right," replied Donovan then something Kent said finally dawned on him. "Did you say, dad?"
"I did. The sheriff is my dad," replied Kent.
Donovan and Jodi took a quick glance at each other. Then Donovan looked back at Kent. "We'll probably leave here in a couple of days," he said.
"Well, sorry you wasted your time and enjoy our peaceful town while you're here," Kent said walked away.
While Kent exited through the door, he glanced back at Donovan and Jodi. Something about them being here started to bug him.
He left the restaurant.
The waitress walked up to Donovan and Jodi's booth with their dinner plates in hand.
"Are you planning on leaving soon?" asked Jodi the second the waitress left their table.
"I'm thinking about it. I mean we've been coming up empty-handed. Maybe those two kids are really up in Canada and want to forget about Haneyville," he said then took a bite of his steak.
Jodi looked at Donovan. Her gut still told her that something happened to them here. And besides, she was not ready to leave this quaint town. She really enjoyed her company with Donovan. "I'm not giving up that easily," she said then took a bite of her Lasagna.
Donovan thought about her comment, and he also did not want to end his time with Jodi. But part of him felt they were wasting their time on solving the mystery of the disappearance of Tiffany and Howie. But on the other hand, he was making ground with a beautiful woman than he loved every second he spent with her.
Donovan's iPhone buzzed in his pants pocket the second the waitress dropped off their checks. He reached inside and removed his iPhone.
He looked and saw, "We need to talk," text message from Lindsey. He continued to look at her text message for a few seconds. He tucked his iPhone back in his pants pocket.
While he glanced at Jodi, he could not help but think how he was not looking forward to going home to Lindsey. Lindsey was no longer the relevant girl in his life. Jodi now took her place this week. And while he looked at her, he could not understand why he felt smitten by being with her.
Donovan and Jodi had some idle chat during the rest of their dinner at the Lake View Restaurant. They did not bring up the topic of Tiffany or Howie during the rest of their conservation.