Lana turned on the TV when Mike left just so she would have some noise other than the men talking in the other room. Two women were talking about a facial cream that helped dark spots disappear. It must be a real miracle cream because the women's before and after photos made them look thirty years younger. The program kept being interrupted by the howling wind.
Every once in a while she could hear sleet hit the window, and it made her feel fretful for some reason. She turned up the volume on the TV to drown out the sounds. It seemed she couldn't fully wake up, nor go back into a deep sleep.
The door opened, and peeking through one eye, she noticed Mike shut the door with one foot. That let Lana know his hands were full.
First thing Mike noticed was her T-shirt raised above her waist, exposing her flat tummy. He sighed when he saw her curvy body.
Half awake she mumbled, "Hi baby."
"I have a surprise for you."
"I think I smell butter, so I bet it is donuts."
He grinned. "You can't surprise a cook with food." He sat the plate on the night stand next to the steaming mugs of coffee. The pillow was curled up under her head, and a lock of hair was tossed across her nose. He remembered last night as he snuggled next to her and her hair tickled his nose. He loved that. It's been years since that happened. His wife kept her hair short once their kids were born. Once in awhile she would let it grow long to make Mike happy. He loved long hair. Lana could keep her hair as long as she wanted, the longer the better.
When she picked up her coffee, she noticed creamer was in it. She looked at Mike in
surprise. "I thought we couldn't eat or drink anything in the kitchen?"
"I sent one of the agents to get you some."
"That was so sweet of you, I sure need it." She sipped her delicious coffee. She propped some of the pillows against the headboard so she could lean on them and get comfortable. "Have you accomplished much on the case?" she asked while reaching for a chocolate covered donut.
"It's progressing, but it does take time. As all the blood types come in, we should be able to piece everything together. Speaking of the case—I wanted to ask you if you noticed anything unusual the past week."
"What do you mean?" She was confused by his question.
"The Borders were killed at least a week ago, and we don't think it's a coincidence or random. You have been here a week, and I want to know if you remember seeing or hearing anything out of the ordinary." Mike explained while swigging on his coffee.
"Other than three men trying to kill me and your agent being killed, and I nearly died on the road last night, and I fainted at the police department, and people died next door. Yes, I would say a few things happened out of the ordinary." She was teary eyed by now. How could he ask her such a ridiculous question?
Mike looked at her not knowing what to say. He realized how stupid that question was.
Maybe he should have reworded it.
Before she could fuss at him anymore, she remembered something. "Wait a minute.
Remember at the restaurant, I saw a familiar face?"
"Yes."
"I saw that same face at the police department when they loaded me in the ambulance."
"Where did you see him?"
"He was standing with the news people, and he had that same mad look. But the oddest thing I noticed, he changed that mad look to a smirk, almost smiling. Another thing, as they loaded me in the ambulance I noticed he looked up as if he noticed something. And Mike what I'm about to tell you may sound stupid."
"What?"
"He had the same face, but his hair was different somehow. Maybe he dyed it or combed it different, but it was noticeably different. I never forget a face, but I couldn't tell you anything about hair, clothing, guns, shoes, or coats. My best friend can tell you everything designer someone is wearing, but she won't even know her sister as she passes by her. Is that weird?"
"No, that's not weird at all, but honey I wish you would have mentioned this earlier."
"I just thought of it. Remember I was a little out of it."
"I want you to think real hard where you remember that face. That might be the key to catch this person. Can you do that for me?" He got up and went to the bedroom door. "Raymond."
"Yes sir."
"Lana saw a guy she recognized with the media crew at the police department. Get some more deputies here and block the road. Put deputies watching the rental houses down the road.
No one—and I mean no one—gets past the road at the end of the cul-de-sac. Don't let them give you any crap about their rights on the beach. If they get past the barrier, arrest them for impeding an investigation."
"Yes sir, and I'll get the footage of the news crew at the police department." Raymond knew Mike would give him all the details when they were alone.
"Thanks." Mike shut the door behind him then walked back and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Go ahead honey."
"I was just saying, when I remember where I saw this guy I'll tell you."
"Maybe retrace your steps from the minute you decided to come here. Sometimes that helps jog the memory. Listen babe, I've got to get busy making calls, come out if you're ready. As you heard Raymond is getting the footage from the media, then I want you to look through it." He kissed her and went to the other room, digging out his cell phone.
"Mike?" She couldn't look him in the eye knowing she had withheld something else.
He gave her his undivided attention. "Yes."
"Umm, I saw someone over at the Borders house a couple of days ago."
Mike tried not to look shocked or aggravated but asked, "What did you see?"
"I saw someone with a red or bright orange coat in the back yard. I thought maybe he was getting wood or wrapping pipes, so I didn't think anything about it."
"Tell me exactly what you saw."
"I was just standing there dipping my tea bag looking out the window when I saw the coat.
The person moved from the front of the house to the back of the house. I think he did that twice."
"Keep going."
"That's all, except once it looked like he stopped and looked at this house."
Mike was somewhat aggravated because she had withheld critical information. "Honey, if I sent an agent to the house, do you think you could remember all he did? We could have an agent retrace the movements of the person you saw."
"Yes, I think I can, but why?"
"The Borders were already dead, and the person you saw was probably the killer. If you can see it all happen again, maybe we can figure out his height, weight and hair color."
"I can tell you that he had on a black ski hat."
"How could you tell what he was wearing at this distance?" He was amazed by her uncanny ability to notice the tiniest details. She would have made an exceptional cop.
"When he turned to look at this house—his face was so pale it looked white next to the black. I remember thinking his face needed a tan, and that he looked like a ghost. Then he pulled the mask over his face."
He reached down and kissed her and said, "Get up and get dressed, I need you to help me with some detective work."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely, you are the only witness to a killer, and the more detail we can pull from your memory the better chance of catching him."
"Okay, give me a few minutes." Since she didn't pay that close attention, she hoped she could help at least a little bit. But first she needed her morning cup of java, and to try to think of where she saw that face. She needed quiet to think.