The TV News said that the report of a horrible accident far out in the country had been confirmed and that the accident had claimed the lives of three of the area's citizens. No further information had been released at the time. I decided to get my coffee and to let Beverly sleep as she had had a rough day the day before and could probably use the sleep. I also had the thought that as she was the chief hostess and assistant manager at the restaurant that she was probably used to staying up late and then sleeping late. We had no place to go right then so it did not matter to me how long she slept, as restful sleep would help heal her.
I took my coffee back to the office area and resumed watching the morning news and weather and saw that the worst of the snow had passed and that sunshine was expected later in the week. However, continued cold would prevail, especially after the clouds left as clear skies always mean colder weather. Didn't matter to me as it was plenty warm inside the cabin.
Two days later the snow on the roads had melted enough or had been plowed enough to allow Beverly and I to get out and go to a medium sized town about 70 miles away and buy several different clothing outfits for Beverly along with underwear, socks, and even thermal underwear. I added some coveralls, winter boots, gloves, and a waterproof winter coat, too. We also bought all the personal items she might need. I paid cash for everything as Beverly did not have her purse or any money, but even more importantly, my cash would not leave a trail for anyone to follow like a credit card might do.
When we were finished clothes shopping, I said that we would go for dinner and then stop at a convenience store and fill up my SUV and pick up a couple of phones, then go to a different store and buy a couple more burner phones and then go at least one more and get a few more. While we were at the café, Beverly looked at me and said that while she was ever so appreciative of what I was doing for her, she was very concerned about what it was costing me and my time away from work. I told her that I had plenty of money and that I was on an early retirement due to selling my business for enough to live on for a long time. I neglected to tell her that that could be very, very long time before I had to even think about needing a job.
It was the same way for the next four days, then the second blizzard hit, dropping snow by the foot instead of by the inch it seemed. Snow and more snow and now to be forever known as the blizzard of 2017 and forever to be remembered as the one with the deep, deep snows. Beverly and I had become quite familiar and very comfortable with each other during this time and now had no secrets about ourselves. Beverly had confided in me that while she liked her job at the restaurant it was not where she wanted to be in another couple of years. She desperately wanted a college education and a degree and get into some portion of the business world as some type of manager where she could be a part of the decision-making process. She really thought she would be good at that as she was good at supervising people and planning their work.
Our friendship had developed into a budding relationship, finding us holding hands or just touching one another quite often, or giving each other impromptu hugs and quick kisses when we passed or were near. However, we had not developed into physical love making as yet, although the thought had cross both their minds many, many times over the past few days but both know it was a bit early to take that step just yet as neither wanted to make a mistake or take a wrong step.
That particular morning I was up and on my second cup of coffee when I heard the toilet in Beverly's room flush and then the shower start. Knowing that Beverly was up, I went to the kitchen and started to prepare breakfast after putting a clean cup by the coffee maker for Beverly. I was taking the food off the stove when Beverly came out of the bedroom and into the kitchen and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and a longer one on his lips, then a cheerful "good morning" before taking her coffee to the table where she sat down and asked if there was any new news about the situation.
"No, nothing new at all. In fact, it was hardly mentioned so I wonder if Steflano is trying to let it go away quietly so that it slips from everyone's mind."
"Do we have a phone or internet signal so I can try to contact Clarence and see if he knows anything?"
"Yes. Both in fact so pick one and let us see what we can find out but I prefer to use the cell phone as it does not have a return address the way an email does. Let's do it this way to be safe until we know where everyone's loyalties lie. Let me get you another cup of coffee while you place your call."
I sat at the table and listened to Beverly for a minute and then stopped her and asked her to put the call onto speaker so I could hear firsthand and ask questions if necessary. She did and by the time the call was finished talking with Clarence, we had learned that Steflano was very worried and was trying hard to find and silence Beverly before she could cause him more trouble. Clarence told them that somehow word had gotten out that, based on the tracks around the wreck site, that someone had picked Beverly up and had taken her away with them and that a search was on everywhere for them and that they were not sparing anything at all. Air searches were going to start now that the clouds were breaking up. The word on the street was that a huge reward was being offered for information on the whereabouts of Beverly and her companion, no questions asked. They thanked Clarence and he promised to keep his ears open for anything else. Feeling a little more comfortable with after talking with him, I told him that I would keep this one phone solely for him so he to use the number on his caller ID to call us anytime day or night with any information, but to please not give the number to anyone and we disconnected and sat back to think.
I thought for a few minutes and then told Beverly to go fix her face and makeup as she had a movie to make. She looked at me real funny like before the light of recognition came on. She did not say anything, just smiled, and quickly left to do as she was asked. When she returned, I was at the kitchen table with my laptop plugged in and on. A notebook beside the computer for her write prompts on.
"Beverly, we are going to start the fires burning to cook a goose, feathers and all. Now, first, make an outline of the points you need to make in order, either chronological or in order of importance. Then I want you to sit here in front of the web cam and tell the camera who you are and todays date and time and then describe in detail what you personally saw and heard that day along with any other information you personally have of events prior to the murder, and then tell what happened to you, leaving out where you are now or who you are with, other than that you are with a friend someplace safe. We will make a couple of calls to the FBI and maybe to the newspapers and TV stations and then send them a copy of your movie and your typed declaration of facts. That should start the ball rolling. We will download it all to flash drives and then we can go to some public access Wi-Fi point and send the information."
