As it turned out, it was three nights before I was able to deliver Sally May back to her home and family. By then I was walking kinda crooked. For someone who just wanted to experiment before settling down, I found she had been imaginative and down right insatiable. Just my kind of girl.
Sally lived in a tiny rural community that in a strange way I felt right at home in. Her family was a wonderful group of down to earth people that reminded me of my own. Little formal education was overcome with hard earned wisdom and common sense.
Sally had been scared of the reception she thought she would receive after her running away. She had been worried without cause. Her family was so happy to get her back they smothered her with love. I especially noted the reaction of a young neighbor. He didn't throw himself all over her, but I could read his eyes and I hoped Sally had also.
They were very nice to me. They insisted on pressing enough food and drink at me to last a normal human for a month. I tasted the home made wine and decided that, as good as it was, I would wait till I was somewhere safe before enjoying it. I didn't want to be howling at the moon when the sun was coming up. Again.
They made objections when I told them I had to leave that night but gave in. I stood on the darkened porch and gave Sally one more long hug.
"You'll be happy here Sally."
"I know." She smiled happily. "I'm glad I got to meet you but here is where I belong and where I'm staying. Besides," her face grew dreamy, "Did you see the way Sean was looking at me?"
I should have known. I kissed her one more time and she went back in the house. I turned to go down the steps. I hesitated when I heard the rocker on the far end of the porch squeak. Looking that way, I saw the coal of a pipe glow, showing me a worn, deeply lined face. I realized it belonged to Sally's grandmother.
"Come here child."
I walked to her, as obedient as I would have been to my own grandmother. She patted an empty space on a chair beside her rocker. I sat and she looked at me for what seemed a very long minute.
"When I first saw you I was sure you was a haint. I didn't want to invite you in. But you brought Sally May home safe and sound and never asked for a thing." Her eyes probed me. She took my hand, turning the palm up. The moon had come out from the clouds and the silvery light poured over us.
She didn't look at my palm. Rather, her fingers gently followed the lines there while her gaze continued to hold my eyes.
"Your journey has been a long one child. Full of laughter greater than most people know, and laden with deeper sorrows too. It draws towards an end though. Perhaps not a final one, perhaps a change, as mysterious as the one that started you on the trail you follow now."
I shivered. My Irish soul stirred uneasily to the deep cadence of her voice. For once, the ringing of my cell phone was a welcome interruption.
"Get moving," Robert's voice instructed me without any wasted greetings. "He hit again in South Carolina."
After listening to his account of a double murder with all the ear marks of our killer, I responded. "I'm heading for Georgia. Maybe I can get ahead of him. I'll call later."
I disconnected and headed for my car. Sally's Grandmother's voice brought me up short.
"One more thing child. This... man... you seek. He's a shadow out of your past. Be careful. God go with you."
I reached my destination the next evening. A mixture of small hamlets, rural areas and one city that actively catered to the tourist trade was perfect for him. I stirred uneasily at the thought of "him". Who was he? What was his connection to me?
I decided to stop at a small restaurant for some coffee and a chance to review the latest findings that Robert had faxed to an FBI office on my route here. I also hoped to indulge is a little discreet eavesdropping. I looked for a place that would be frequented by locals more than tourists. Later I would try to find the local cops watering hole.
I pulled in to the parking lot of a place called "Jason's". It looked like a family type place so I went in and was soon seated at a table with a cup of coffee steaming in front of me. Thank goodness caffeine still affects my body. Double that I can still taste it when its strong enough.
I took out the folder I had picked up in South Carolina. I studied the reports while keeping on eye on the room. I grimaced as I read of the last killing. This time it had been both a young man and a young woman, apparently a couple. They had almost been torn apart. I really had to find this guy.
In looking around, my eyes settled on a woman sitting at the next table with three children. She was quite attractive. Just a bit taller than me with dirty blonde hair, she didn't look old enough to have two teenagers for daughters. The older one called her "Mom" though, so I guessed she was.
My attention was drawn to the door where I saw a yummy looking guy come in. A bit over 6 feet with a powerful build and a broad smile. For a moment I was hoping the smile was directed towards me, but of course it wasn't. The petite blonde got to her feet and hugged him as a chorus of "Daddy" came from the girls, as well as a small boy I assumed was their younger, much younger brother.
